Sam Hearn Movies
- 1958
Having gained a measure of TV fame by 1958, the nightclub comedy duo of Dan Rowan and Dick Martin decided to give movies a try with Once Upon a Horse. Dan and Dick play Dan Casey and Doc Logan, a pair of nitwitted cowboys who turn to outlawry because they can't make a go at any honest profession. Stealing a valuable herd of cattle, the boys' dreams of financial security are dashed when they're forced to raise money to feed their stolen bovines. Martha Hyer costars as Miss Amity Babb, a resourceful saloon hall owner who applies 20th century business methods to her 19th century operation. For nostalgia buffs, several western-movie favorites (billed as "Our Old Pals") make cameo appearances, including Tom Keene, Bob Livingston, Kermit Maynard and Bob Steele. Hal Kanter's screenplay is full of clever, satirical touches, most of which proved to be too smart for the room in 1958. A financial disappointment, Once Upon a Horse (aka Hot Horse) would be Rowan and Martin's last joint film effort until 1969's The Maltese Bippy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, (more)
- 1955
It's all settled: Lucy (Lucille Ball) will be allowed to go along when Ricky (Desi Arnaz) and his band take their European tour, and so will Fred and Ethel Mertz (William Frawley, Vivian Vance), inasmuch as Fred has been temporarily appointed Ricky's manager. Alas, Lucy won't be able to get a passport until she produces her birth certificate -- which she can't. But there's good news from the passport officials: if Lucy can provide at least two people willing to verify that they've known her since birth, she can cut through the bureaucracy. However, the witnesses fall through, leaving Lucy no other option but to try to stow away on the Europe-bound ocean liner -- and this leads to the classic slapstick set piece wherein Lucy is locked in a steamer trunk. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sheila Bromley, Robert Forrest, (more)
One of the most subtle and sophisticated of the musical comedies that came out of MGM's Arthur Freed Unit in the '40s and '50s, The Band Wagon stars Fred Astaire as Tony Hunter, a movie star whose career is in a downturn. Looking for a boost, Tony decides to try starring in a Broadway musical. His friends Lester and Lily Marton (Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray) have written a show they feel would be just right for Tony, and the three team up with Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan), a self-styled "genius" director, who gets the idea to turn the play into a revised version of Faust. Cordova's more pretentious ideas don't always sit well with the Martons, and Tony isn't too happy with his leggy co-star, Gaby Gerard (Cyd Charisse), whom he's convinced is too tall (then again, she thinks he's too old). But when the show proves a disaster in out-of-town tryouts, everyone realizes they have to put aside their differences if they want a show that will be on Broadway for longer than four hours. The Band Wagon featured a rare American appearance for British musical star Jack Buchanan, who does a fine soft-shoe with Fred Astaire on "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan." Astaire also shines in the numbers "Shine on Your Shoes" and "The Girl Hunt," a witty Mickey Spillane parody. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, (more)
Pat (Katharine Hepburn), a college phys-ed instructor, enters into professional competition as a golf and tennis player. Mike (Spencer Tracy), a likeable but unscrupulous sports promoter, first attempts to bribe Pat to lose, but later becomes her manager. Pat performs brilliantly until her insufferable fiance Collier West (William Ching) shows up; West always manages to make Pat so nervous that she can't win to save her life. At long last, West walks out, having found Pat in a compromising situation with Mike. Though she'd previously kept her distance from Mike, Pat suddenly realizes that she's fallen in love with him and--after a few crooked gamblers are disposed of--Pat and Mike become partners on a permanent basis. Pat & Mike reunited Tracy and Hepburn with their favorite director, George Cukor, and their favorite scenarists, Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. Watch for real-life golf and tennis champs Gussie Moran, Babe Didrickson Zaharias, Don Budge, Alice Marble, Frank Parker, Betty Hicks, Helen Dettweilerand Beverly Hanson as "themselves" -- and also keep an eye out for ex-ballplayer Chuck Connors, making his acting debut as a highway patrolman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, (more)
- 1952
Mitzi Gaynor plays legendary vaudeville headliner Eva Tanguay, whose signature tune was the bouncy "I Don't Care". The film's actual producer George Jessel costars as "himself;" the gimmick is that Jessel wants to produce a biopic based on Tanguay, but can't get a handle on the story until he interviews all those who remember the lady. This throughline allows Gaynor to impersonate Tanguay without the added encumbrance of a plot. Well, there is a love story involving Tanguay and her vaudeville partner (David Wayne), and some welcome comic relief from "professional neurotic" Oscar Levant, but otherwise The I Don't Care Girl is more a revue than a movie. At the end, inveterate scene-stealer George Jessel shows up backstage during one of the flashback sequences, "Just to see how the story will turn out." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mitzi Gaynor, David Wayne, (more)
The satirical bite of Gogol's play The Government Inspector is dispensed with in favor of traditional Danny Kaye buffoonery in The Inspector General. Kaye plays the illiterate stooge of two-bit medicine-show- entrepreneur Walter Slezak. Abandoned by Slezak, the starving Kaye wanders into a corruption-ridden Russian village, which is all geared up for a visit from the Inspector General. Mistaking Kaye for that selfsame royal inspector, the townsfolk fawn on the confused Kaye, granting him his every whim and plying him with all sorts of bribes. In the original Gogol play, the boorish phony inspector takes advantage of the villagers' error by laying waste to the town and seducing a few local maidens; in the film, Kaye is as pure as the driven borscht, as is his true love (Barbara Bates), the only honest person in town. The treachery is in the hands of Slezak, who fakes Kaye's death and tries to blackmail the crooked local officials. The deus-ex-machina arrival of the real Inspector General foils the crooks and places the nonplused Kaye in the job of town mayor. Those of you who read the play in college may remember it ends with everyone frozen in horror when the genuine inspector shows up, with Gogol's stage directions insisting that the actors hold their fearful poses for a full sixty seconds. Be assured that in the film version of Inspector General, nothing stands still--least of all Danny Kaye, who cuts quite a swath through several Sylvia Fine/Johnny Mercer specialty songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Kaye, Walter Slezak, (more)
- 1936
The third film of Paramount's "Big Broadcast" series follows the pattern of the first two titles: negligible plot with plenty of memorable music and guest stars. Jack Carson (Jack Benny) owns the radio station this time out; he doesn't get along with the sponsors, and many are threatening to pull their advertising off the air. Jack's solution? Put on a big show, of course, with a handful of the biggest stars of the day. George Burns and Gracie Allen appear once again, this time as the hosts of a golfing program; musical guests include Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, Gene Krupa, Larry Adler, and Leopold Stokowski. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Benny, George Burns, (more)
- 1936
A Florida-bound train is filled with romance and intrigue in this comedy. Among the passengers is a millionaire bon vivant carrying $1 million in diamonds. He is fully aware that a gang of would-be jewel thieves have followed him and so pretends to be an invalid with an ice bag perpetually stuck to his head. Of course, the bag actually contains the diamonds. He puts some fakes in a different place to keep the thieves entertained. When the train reaches its destination, the police are waiting for the crooks. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Oakie, Sally Eilers, (more)
