Jackie Gleason Movies
Rotund comedian-actor Jackie Gleason (born Herbert John Gleason) broke into show business at age 15 by winning an amateur-night contest and went on to perform in vaudeville, carnivals, nightclubs, and roadhouses. In 1940 he was signed to a film contract by Warner Bros., and he debuted onscreen in Navy Blues (1941). His career was interrupted by World War II, but at the war's end, Gleason returned to Hollywood, this time playing character roles in a number of films. His film work, however, lent little strength to his career, and he performed in several Broadway shows before achieving major success as the star of such TV comedy series as The Life of Riley, The Honeymooners, and The Jackie Gleason Show. It was during his reign on television that Gleason created such enduring characters as Ralph Kramden (the loud-mouth busdriver from The Honeymooners), Reggie Van Gleason, and Joe the Bartender. As a result of the comedic talents he displayed on TV, he became known as "The Great One." Gleason returned to films in the early '60s in lead roles, both comic and dramatic (he earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance in The Hustler [1961]), but he never had as much success in movies as he did on TV. He did have some success in the late '70s and early '80s playing a good-ole'-boy Southern sheriff in the Smokey and the Bandit series of action-comedies. His long career also included a period when he composed, arranged, and conducted recordings of mood music. Gleason died in 1987 of cancer. His grandson is actor Jason Patric. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1948
In this whimsical fantasy, a young girl suddenly discovers that her horse is really a reincarnation of her beloved uncle who upon his death bed was heard to say that if could ever come back, he would want to be a race horse that wins the Kentucky Derby. When the girl's relatives learn of her beliefs, the greedily try to have her declared incompetent so they can get a hold of her estate. Fortunately, October the horse (it really is her reincarnated uncle!) intervenes, wins the Derby and gives them all pause for thought. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Terry Moore, (more)
- 1942
Columbia's belated effort to cash in on the popularity of Abbott & Costello's Buck Privates was the raucous and generally amusing wartime comedy Tramp, Tramp, Tramp. Jackie Gleason (the same!) and Jack Durant are teamed for the first and only time as Hank and Jed, a pair of dimwitted barbers who are forced into bankruptcy because all their customers have marched off to war. Figuring that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, Hank and Jed try to join the Army themselves, only to be rejected for a variety of reasons (When asked to read the eye-chart, Hank says he can't-not because he can't see, but because he can't read). Still wishing to serve their country, our heroes set up a "home guard" unit, and in this capacity manage to trap a gang of homicidal crooks. To his credit, Jackie Gleason does not try to imitate his idol Lou Costello, but the A&C influence is felt throughout this trivial little laughspinner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Gleason, Jack Durant, (more)
- 1942
This parody of gangster flicks centers on an incarcerated gangster who decides to reform after he is released from Sing Sing. He and his cell mate have earned a small fortune in investments and are planning to buy a dog track. Unfortunately, another prisoner eavesdrops and attempts to force the fellow to use his savings to buy a luggage store and then dig a tunnel to the bank next door so they can easily rob it. The reformer and his partner refuse. They sing a different tune when they learn that most of their money was lost by their third partner. In desperation, he buys the suitcase outlet. While he tries to deal with his many customers, the other two bumblers attempt to dig, but it's not easy because every time someone comes in, they must stop their noisy operation. More trouble follows when another gangster tries to get in on their operation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, (more)
The direction of Warner Bros.' Lady Gangster is credited to one "Florian Roberts," who on closer examination turns out to be veteran helmsman Robert Florey, working pseudonymously. Faye Emerson plays the title character, aspiring actress Dot Burton, whose chance association with a gang of bank robbers leads inexorably to a life of crime. She eventually ends up in prison, where she participates in a break-out. Her regeneration comes about when she rescues Kenneth Phillips (Frank Wilcox), the only man who has ever shown her any kindness, from being rubbed out by the mob. The supporting cast includes Julie Bishop (who only a year earlier had been billing herself as Jacqueline Wells), and Jackie "C." Gleason, wasted in the role of a rotund henchman. Lady Gangter bears some traces of the 1932 Warner Bros. drama The Life of Vergie Winters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Emerson, Julie Bishop, (more)
In his last screen appearance, bandleader Glenn Miller plays--are you sitting down?--a bandleader. The film's main plot involves small-town girl Ann Rutherford, who impulsively marries George Montgomery, a trumpeter in the Miller band. Rutherford soon finds that she isn't particularly suited for life on the road, nor is she prepared for the petty jealousies and backstabbings prevalent among the other orchestra wives (Lynn Bari, Carole Landis et. al.) She eventually leaves Montgomery, an event which coincides with the breakup of the band. But both the band and the marriage are salvaged through the benign conspiratorial schemes of Glenn Miller and a repentant Rutherford. Those who aren't interested in the various plots and subplots in Orchestra Wives will be captivated by the endless supply of blue-ribbon tunes, including I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo, At Last, and Serenade in Blue. Guest stars include Tex Beneke, The Modernaires and the Nicholas Brothers. Watch for an uncredited Jackie Gleason as a bass player and Dale Evans as Ann Rutherford's friend in the soda-fountain scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Montgomery, Ann Rutherford, (more)
- 1942
Escape from Crime is a pared-down (51 minute) remake of 1933's Picture Snatcher, with Richard Travis in the old James Cagney role. Recently paroled from jail, Red O'Hara (Travis) manages to wangle a photographer's job at the tabloid newspaper managed by hard-drinking Cornell (Frank Wilcox). Flamboyantly "grabbing" photos where no one else can, Red is able to support his wife Molly (Julie Bishop) and child, but the stigma of his prison sentence still hangs over him. Only by rounding up his former gang is Red able to square himself with police lieutenant "Biff" Malone. Though billed third, Jackie "C" Gleason has a very minor role as an overfed convict. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Travis, Julie Bishop, (more)
- 1942
A musical remake of the 1936 comedy Second Honeymoon and the starring debut of Betty Grable, Springtime in the Rockies tells the not unfamiliar story of Vicky Lane (Grable, a Broadway dancer despairing over the tardiness of her partner Dan Christy (John Payne) who, as it turns out, has instead been busily engaged in a bit of extracurricular activities with socialite Marilyn Crothers (Trudy Marshall). In disgust, Vicky teams up with a former partner, Victor Prince (Cesar Romero), and leaves for the great outdoors while Dan attempts to go on without her. Unfortunately, the Commissioner (Jackie Gleason), Dan's harried agent, can only find backing for a new show if Dan and Vicky reunite and soon everyone, including ditzy secretary Rosita Murphy (Carmen Miranda) and Dan's flibbertigibbet valet McTavish ($Edward Everett Horton), descends on the Canadian resort of Lake Louise where Harry James and His Music Makers make their headquarter. The usual complications arise but McTavish suddenly inherits a handsome sum of money and agrees to back a new show starring Vicky and Dan, Victor and Rosita, and the ubiquitous Harry James.Betty Grable performs "Ciribiribin and other popular selections, Carmen Miranda makes mincemeat of "Chattanooga Choo Choo" (in Portuguese, no less!), while band vocalist Helen Forrest and the Music Makers take care of the film's hit tune, Harry Warren and Mack Gordon's "I Had the Craziest Dream". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Grable, John Payne, (more)
- 1941
Humphrey Bogart plays Gloves Donahue, a rough-hewn but essentially decent New York gambler. The Runyonesque plot gets moving when Gloves tries to find out what's holding up his favorite restaurant's daily shipment of cheesecake. Paying a call on the bakery, Gloves stumbles into a Nazi spy ring, masterminded by Conrad Veidt. Mixed up in all this is nightclub singer Kaaren Verne, whose loyalties are in question in her early scenes but who turns out to be as true-blue as the patriotic Gloves. Combining a quick wit with quicker fists, Gloves and his "mob" thwart the Nazis before they're able to skip the country. The cast is a movie buff's dream, ranging from Jane Darwell as Bogart's mom to Peter Lorre as a cynical Nazi flunkey to William Demarest, Frank McHugh, Phil Silvers and Jackie Gleason as Bogie's favorite cohorts. The film's best scene would have us believe that Bogart could confound a gang of erudite Nazis with a steady stream of Manhattan slang. One shudders to think how leaden All Through the Night would have been had George Raft accepted the role of Gloves Donahue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, (more)
- 1941
The 1940 peacetime draft spawned a whole slew of military and naval comedies, the most successful of which was Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates. In this vein, Warners' Navy Blues features several studio contractees (including Ann Sheridan and Jack Carson), a few borrowed comedians (Jack Oakie, Jack Haley, Martha Raye) and a plethora of forgettable musical numbers. The plot: A ship's crew goes on leave in Honolulu, has a high old time, meets a few pretty girls, and heads back to sea. That's all. Modern viewers will get a kick out of spotting Navy Blues supporting actor Jackie Gleason, who must have relished the opportunity of working with his idol Jack Oakie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sheridan, Jack Oakie, (more)
Francis Albert Sinatra (1915-1998) went a long way for a kid from Hoboken, NJ. He became one of the world's most admired singers, a recording star, a radio star, and an Academy Award-winning actor. Part of a ten-tape collection, this program features 1950s archival television footage of "the Chairman of the Board" (Sinatra) singing and clowning with "the Great One" (Jackie Gleason) in a comedy sketch involving a weekend at a ramshackle cabin that Gleason is trying to sell Sinatra. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide
