Jack Haley Movies

No relation to the later Clifton Webb vehicle of the same name, Sitting Pretty is a dated but likable film about the songwriting racket. Jack Oakie and Jack Haley play a pair of would-be tunesmiths who team up with aspiring dancer Ginger Rogers. Through the kindness of a tippling director (Lew Cody), the trio is given a bid for stardom in a movie musical directed by an excitable Russian (Gregory Ratoff). The characters played by Oakie and Haley were loosely based on Paramount's real-life songwriting team Mack Gordon and Harry Revel, who show up in bit parts. Sitting Pretty is the film that introduced the sprightly tune "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Former child actor Johnny Downs acts his first adult lead in this nonsensical but charming little musical which benefits greatly from the appearance of Eddy Duchin and his band. To keep troublesome socialite Johnny Marvin (Downs) out of mischief, Coronado Hotel manager Carlton (Jameson Thomas) persuades Duchin to hire the lad as a band member. Johnny falls in love with singer June Wray (Betty Burgess), but she mistakenly believes he is interested in her sister Violet (Alice White), newly married to sailor Chuck Hornbostel (Jack Haley). Marvin Sr. (Berton Churchill) and June's vaudevillian father Oscar (Leon Errol), meanwhile, conspire to keep their offspring apart by exaggerating their differences, but after a jaunt into Mexico -- during which the young hero impersonates a doctor in order to spring Chuck and his pal Pinky Falls (Andy Devine) from the local jail -- Johnny and June are reunited with the blessings of their fathers. Accompanied by Eddy Duchin and His Orchestra, Betty Burgess, Johnny Downs, Jack Haley, and Leon Errol perform "All's Well," "Coronado by the Sea," "Doing the Coronado," "You Took My Breath Away," and "Down on the Isle of Oomph," all by Richard Whiting and Sam Coslow. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

One of the last Fox releases before the studio's merger with 20th Century, Redheads on Parade stars John Boles and Dixie Lee as washed-up movie star John Bruce and aspiring singer Ginger Blair. The couple is given the opportunity to co-star in a film financed by Augustus Twill (Raymond Walburn), who has a crush on Lee. Not wishing to rock the boat, press agent Peter Mathews (Jack Haley) assures Twill that Ginger is crazy about him, without bothering to consult the girl beforehand. The plot isn't straightened out until the film's premiere, by which time Twill has gone broke and Mathews has had to work overtime to scare up new "angels." Leading lady Dixie Lee was, of course, the real-life Mrs. Bing Crosby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy a persistent, pesky fountaineer takes to following two government agents in hopes of becoming one of them. Finally the agents reach their breaking point and begrudgingly appoint him as an F-Man. The youth takes it all very seriously and hilarity ensues until he proves his courage and mettle in the face of ruthless gangsters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Hotel barber Joe Jenkins (Jack Haley), who's obsessed with newspaper stories about high-society celebrities, is dragooned into posing as eccentric millionaire Aloysius Merriweather (Monroe Owsley) at a fancy weekend party. At first thrilled at the prospect of hobnobbing with the 400, Joe is less than thrilled when he's forced to continue the charade after Merriweather is rendered unconscious in a traffic accident. Getting off to a bad start with heiress Patricia Randolph (Betty Furness) -- who loses her speedboat, beach house and clothes thanks to his bumbling -- Joe redeems himself by saving her father's (Raymond Walburn) automobile business. Whether or not he can save himself from Spike Nolan (Tom Dugan), the gun-wielding brother of Owsley's neurotic bride Mazie (Rosina Lawrence), is another matter! Mister Cinderella is a typically frantic farce from the Hal Roach comedy mills, with a marvelous scene-stealing performance by Arthur Treacher and a brisk musical score (culled mostly from Roach's Laurel & Hardy and "Our Gang" comedies) by Marvin Hatley and LeRoy Shield. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The hyped-up 1930s radio feud between bandleader Ben Bernie and columnist Walter Winchell is all but forgotten today, but that doesn't lessen the entertainment value of the Bernie/Winchell vehicle Wake Up and Live. Amidst the bickering of the two stars, the film traces the progress of mike-shy singer Jack Haley (whose singing voice was dubbed by Buddy Clark). Leading lady Alice Faye tricks Haley into singing on the air with Bernie's orchestra, which results in Winchell doing his best to discredit both Bernie and Haley. Eventually Haley and Alice Faye fall in love, and Ben and Walter patch up their differences. So successful was Wake Up and Live that 20th Century-Fox rushed Bernie and Winchell into a follow-up, Love and Hisses (38), but by that time their feud had taken second place in the hearts of America to the equally contrived "battle" between Jack Benny and Fred Allen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Film collectors take note: Hal Roach's Pick a Star is not a Laurel and Hardy picture, though the popular comic duo does make a brace of amusing cameo appearances halfway through the film. A remake of Buster Keaton's Free and Easy, this is the story of how small-town gas-station owner Joe Jenkins (Jack Haley) tries to help his sweetheart Cecilia Moore (Rosina Lawrence) realize her ambition to become a movie star. At the behest of travelling entrepreneur Stone (Russell Hicks), Jenkins organizes a talent contest, the first prize being a trip to Hollywood and a screen test. When Stone turns out to be a crook and skips town with the proceeds of the contest, Cecilia is heartbroken, but Joe promises to go to Hollywood himself and make the right connections to assure her rise to stardom. Alas, the best Joe can manage in Tinseltown is a busboy job at the Colonial Club, a fact he tries to conceal from Cecilia and her wisecracking sister Nellie (Patsy Kelly) when they unexpectedly arrive in California as guests of movie-matinee idol Rinaldo Lopez (Mischa Auer). In desperation, Joe pretends to be a nightclub entertainer, but when this ruse is revealed, Cecilia angrily walks out on him, accompanying Rinaldo first to his movie studio and then to his apartment. Naturally Rinaldo has seduction on his mind, but innocent Cecilia doesn't realize this until Joe storms into the apartment with blood in his eye. Ashamed for his lascivious behavior, Rinaldo arranges for Cecilia to have a screen test for producer Klawheimer (Charles Halton). At the last moment, Cecilia suffers an attack of "camera fright," but Joe gently coaches her through her test, and there's a happy ending for all concerned -- even for sister Nellie, who's been relentlessly cynical about the storyline from first scene to last. Cast as "movie stars," Laurel and Hardy show up briefly in the movie-studio scenes to participate in a reciprocal-destruction sequence with their old screen nemesis Walter Long, and to perform an amusing musical routine with "dueling" harmonicas. Pick a Star has been reissued as Movie Struck, while the Laurel & Hardy scenes were released separately to TV as the ersatz two-reeler A Day at the Studio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thanks for Everything is an unjustly forgotten lampoon of media promotional stunts. Jack Haley wins a contest sponsored by an ad agency, which is looking for the perfect "average American." The contest's avaricious promoters (Adolphe Menjou and Jack Oakie) use poor Haley as a merchandising tool by having him endorse all sorts of products. When Haley's girl friend (Arleen Whelan) realizes that the hapless fellow is being exploited as a means of controlling the advertising industry, Haley insists that the promoters cease and desist or he'll blow the whistle. The promoters respond by discrediting Haley as a crackpot, but justice triumphs in the end. Thanks for Everything is capped by a bizarre sequence in which Menjou and Oakie convince Haley that World War II has broken out--a sequence filmed one year before this actually occurred! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1917 and 1932, Kate Douglas Wiggins' bucolic novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is herein refashioned--and completely, totally, utterly rewritten--as a vehicle for 10-year-old Shirley Temple. Unable to land a radio contract for himself and his niece Rebecca Winstead (Temple), fly-by-night vaudevillian Henry Kipper (William Demarest) leaves the girl in the care of her aunt, Miranda Wilkins (Helen Westley), who runs a little farm with the help of hired hands Homer (Slim Summerville) and Aloysius (Bill Robinson). Miranda has an intense dislike for "show folks", but her next-door neighbor Anthony Kent (Randolph Scott), a talent scout for a major radio network, sees great possibilities in the talented Rebecca and secretly arranges an audition. In short order, Rebecca becomes the biggest sensation on the airwaves, whereupon the mercenary Kipper returns out of nowhere and demands that Miranda return the girl to his care. By now, Rebecca and Miranda have grown to love one another dearly, and the girl doesn't want to leave the farm, but she does what she is told--only to foil the conniving Kipper with a convenient last-minute "illness" (a scene that provides a showcase role for Franklin Pangborn) as a nervous standby organist). Future Titanic costar Gloria Stuart appears as Gwen Warren, obligatory love interest for Anthony Kent. Musical highlights include a medley of hit tunes from Shirley Temple's previous films (including, inevitably, "On the Good Ship Lollipop"), and a climactic tap duet spotlighting Temple and the inimitable Bill Robinson, danced to the tune of Raymond Scott's "Toy Trumpet". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The third and definitive film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy, this musical adventure is a genuine family classic that made Judy Garland a star for her heartfelt performance as Dorothy Gale, an orphaned young girl unhappy with her drab black-and-white existence on her aunt and uncle's dusty Kansas farm. Dorothy yearns to travel "over the rainbow" to a different world, and she gets her wish when a tornado whisks her and her little dog, Toto, to the Technicolorful land of Oz. Having offended the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), Dorothy is protected from the old crone's wrath by the ruby slippers that she wears. At the suggestion of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (Billie Burke), Dorothy heads down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, where dwells the all-powerful Wizard of Oz, who might be able to help the girl return to Kansas. En route, she befriends a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a Tin Man (Jack Haley), and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr). The Scarecrow would like to have some brains, the Tin Man craves a heart, and the Lion wants to attain courage; hoping that the Wizard will help them too, they join Dorothy on her odyssey to the Emerald City.

Garland was MGM's second choice for Dorothy after Shirley Temple dropped out of the project; and Bolger was to have played the Tin Man but talked co-star Buddy Ebsen into switching roles. When Ebsen proved allergic to the chemicals used in his silver makeup, he was replaced by Haley. Gale Sondergaard was originally to have played the Wicked Witch of the West in a glamorous fashion, until the decision was made to opt for belligerent ugliness, and the Wizard was written for W.C. Fields, who reportedly turned it down because MGM couldn't meet his price. Although Victor Fleming, who also directed Gone With the Wind, was given sole directorial credit, several directors were involved in the shooting, included King Vidor, who shot the opening and closing black-and-white sequences. Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg's now-classic Oscar-winning song "Over the Rainbow" was nearly chopped from the picture after the first preview because it "slowed down the action." The Wizard of Oz was too expensive to post a large profit upon initial release; however, after a disappointing reissue in 1955, it was sold to network television, where its annual showings made it a classic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

Another of Jack Haley's comedy vehicles for Pine-Thomas productions, One Body Too Many casts Haley as timid insurance salesman Albert Tuttle. Much against his better judgment, Tuttle makes a business call at a sinister old mansion, intending to sell life insurance to the owner. He proves a bit late, inasmuch as the owner has just kicked the bucket. The mansion is full of avaricious relatives, who are obliged by the dictates of the decedent's will to remain in the house until the authorities claim the body. Realizing that dead man's niece Carol (Jean Parker) is a damsel in all kinds of distress, Albert decides to stick around to keep Carol from meeting her uncle's fate. Though there's a murder-mystery angle in One Body too Many, the audience knows who didn't do it the moment Bela Lugosi shows up as a butler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide