Margaret Irving Movies

For their first film in a year, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello played it safe with a medley of old burlesque routines and slapstick setpieces -- and never mind a coherent plot. The boys play Eddie and Albert, a pair of plumbers hired to fix the pipes of a fancy society mansion. While a masquerade party takes place on the first floor, our heroes wreak havoc in the bathroom on the second floor. The angry owners (Thurston Hall, Netta Packer) shoot off a letter of complaint to the plumbers which gets mixed up with an invitation for a fancy weekend party. Thus it is that Eddie and Albert, accompanied by their female cab-driving pal Elsie (Marion Hutton), show up dressed to the nines at a posh country estate. While the boys get mixed up in further comic complications, Elsie carries on a romance with wealthy and handsome Peter (Kirby Grant). Things come to a head when a valuable painting is stolen, prompting Eddie and Albert to chase after the thieves by commandeering a fire engine! Released in most areas simply as In Society, this slapped-together comedy proved beyond all doubt that Abbott and Costello's appeal had not slipped during their screen absence. Highlights include a variation on the burlesque chestnut "Floogel Street" (here renamed "The Susquehanna Hat Company"), a wild and crazy fox hunt, and the climactic fire-engine pursuit, which was lifted virtually in toto from W.C. Fields' Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Baroness, daughter of the Hungarian prime minister, is played by Annabella. The Butler, last of a long line of family retainers, is played by William Powell. The butler works for the baroness' father, and the relationship between baroness and butler is outwardly chilly but subliminally affectionate. The butler, something of a political activist, becomes leader of the party opposing the prime minister. The baroness despises her "hired man" for defying her father, but gradually realizes that she is in love with the butler. Steadfastly avoiding any hint of the German expansionism that would ultimately engulf the real-life Hungary, The Baroness and the Butler is fast if forgettable entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Contrary to popular belief, the Nelson Eddy-Jeanette MacDonald Technicolor confection Sweethearts is not based on the 1913 Victor Herbert operetta of the same name (though most of Herbert's songs remain intact), but a Dorothy Parker-Alan Campbell brainstorm about a popular Broadway singing duo, starring in a long-running production of Sweethearts. The early portions of the film take place during a purported presentation of the Herbert piece, with Eddy and MacDonald singing their hearts out and Ray Bolger providing comic relief. We then segue into a long sequence wherein producer Frank Morgan, celebrating Sweethearts's six-year run, insists that Eddy and MacDonald attend a lavish party, where the weary performers are called upon to continue singing throughout the evening. Hoping for a few moments alone after escaping the party, Eddy and MacDonald are besieged at their apartment by friends, co-workers, hangers-on and sponging relatives. Seeking peace and quiet, the couple agrees to leave Sweethearts for the comparative calm of Hollywood. But their entourage, fearing that they'll lose their meal ticket if Eddy and MacDonald leave New York, arrange to inaugurate two profitable road companies of Sweethearts by contriving to split up the loving couple. Cleverly sidestepping the sugary sweet sentimentality that one might expect from an MGM musical of the era, the delightful Sweethearts is hampered only by its overlength. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy drama, a Yale tennis star endeavors to be a good sport at every turn. He finds a girl and together they elope. One day, while he is off on a business trip, she resumes a old fling. When he finds out, the tennis player discovers he is a sore loser, but not nearly as sore as the woman's lover after he finishes beating him up. When he is finished with him, he then goes to his cheating wife and gives her a good spanking. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Director John Farrow was always at his best when dealing with desperate men in desperate situations. One of Farrow's lesser but still fascinating 1930s assignments was the Warner Bros. actioner Men in Exile, starring Dick Purcell as American fugitive from justice Jimmy Carmody. Escaping across the Mexican border, Jimmy becomes inexorably involved in a noisy South American revolution, only with several other shifty-looking expatriates. For the sake of heroine Sally Haines (June Travis), Jimmy cleans up his act long enough to do the right thing at the right time. The "John Farrow touch" is especially evident during a tense climactic scene in which it appears that one of the protagonists is about to be executed by firing squad. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Actual footage of the 1936 Berlin Olympics is rabbeted into the action of this superior Charlie Chan entry. Assigned by the U.S. Navy to track down a gang of international spies, Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) heads to Berlin, where as luck would have it his son Lee (Keye Luke) is representing the United States as a member of the Olympic swimming team. Among Lee's teammates is Richard Masters (Allan Lane), who has unfortunately fallen under the spell of the alluring Yvonne Roland (Katherine De Mille), much to the dismay of his sweetheart Betty Adams (Pauline Moore). What no one knows (but Chan suspects) is that Yvonne is one of the spies, in league with the mysterious Arthur Hughes (C. Henry Gordon). Yvonne hides a stolen secret weapon in Betty's luggage, leading to a not-so-merry chase through Berlin, and the ultimate kidnapping of Lee Chan by the villains. Plus, there's a murder to be solved, and Berlin police chief Strasset (Fredrick Vogeding) isn't about to let Charlie Chan get the credit. Ironically, Charlie travels from New York to Berlin via the dirigible Hindenburg -- which crashed into flames the same week that Charlie Chan at the Olympics was released (PS: The Nazi swastika on the tail of the airship was matted out by the special-effects crew). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jack Holt stars as Robert Bailey, a Henry Ford-like auto industrialist who decides to give his millions away to various charitable causes. Naturally, this arouses hostility amongst Bailey's friends, relatives and associates, some of whom have murder on their minds. When he elects to give away his company stock to his faithful employees, Bailey's intimates converge upon him, making a last-ditch effort to make him change his mind. When the inevitable murder attempt finally comes to pass, Bailey is shocked to discover that the culprit is his oldest and most trusted friend. Like most Columbia "B"'s of the period, Under Suspicion boasts a top-rank cast, including three former Marx Brothers foils: Margaret Irving, Esther Muir and Purnell Pratt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The MGM historical "spectacular" San Francisco was allegedly based on a three-sentence synopsis, submitted verbally to producer B.F. Zeidman by studio troubleshooter Bob Hopkins. The story begins on the Barbary Coast on New Year's Eve, 1906, as rakish but likeable political boss Blackie Norton (Clark Gable) hires demure young singer Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) to perform at his rowdy Paradise gambling house. Local priest Father Mullin (Spencer Tracy), Blackie's best friend, disapproves of the exploitation of the lovely Mary, feeling that she's suited for classier surroundings. Jack Hurley (Jack Holt), Nob Hill socialite and Blackie's political rival, agrees with Father Mullin and offers the girl the opportunity to sing with the San Francisco Opera. Blackie, who's fallen in love with Mary but won't admit it to himself, jealously holds on to her contract, forcing Mary to walk out on him. For the rest of the film, Mary is torn between the "respectable" lifestyle offered her by Hurley and the baser creature comforts provided by Blackie. It looks for a while that Hurley has won out, but fate takes a hand in the form of the devastating San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906 (a special effects tour de force for art directors Arnold Gillespie and his uncredited associate James Basevi). Hurley is killed in the holocaust, while Blackie, desperately searching for Mary in the rubble, at long last finds religion and prays to God for his sweetheart's salvation. At the end, an unidentified bit player shouts defiantly "We'll build a new San Francisco!" -- and by golly, they do! The Hollywood censors were not so much bothered by the sexual subtext of San Francisco or its harrowing earthquake finale as they were by a scene in which Father Mullin is knocked down by an unrepentant Blackie. To "purify" this potentially blasphemous sequence, screenwriter Anita Loos quickly added an earlier scene in which Mullin and Blackie, both dressed in turtleneck sweaters, genially duke it out at an exercise gym, whereupon the priest cold-cocks Blackie with the greatest of ease. By establishing that Mullin could have punched out Blackie, but chooses not to in the controversial later scene, not only allows that scene to pass, but also strengthened the priest's character. San Francisco proved to be one of MGM's biggest hits, remaining in almost constant reissue for the next three decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This was one of Charley Chase's last comedies for producer Hal Roach. Here, Charley is determined to attend his local movie theater's "Bank Night" (a common promotion in the '30s, which involved a contest with a cash prize). He leaves a stack of work to make it home on time and after dinner, he takes off with his wife (Rosina Lawrence) and daughter Mary (Darla Hood, from the Our Gang series). Little Mary is called on stage to pick the winning number and instead of reading it off the piece of paper, she calls out Charley's, which she has written on her hand. The theater manager straightens things out, but it turns out the number on the paper is Mary's. The audience protests loudly so Charley insists that they draw again. This time the number belongs to his wife. Everyone thinks the contest was rigged so the whole town vilifies Charley and his boss fires him. To rectify matters he insists on holding the drawing again the next night -- this time his ex-boss's number is picked and the crowd dissolves into a free-for-all. This two-reel picture was originally called Bank Night and shot as a feature, but distributors were wary of it -- none of their theaters, many of whom had their own "bank nights," were amused by the subject matter. So the film was cut and the references to "bank night" were toned down. Even then theaters shied away from it, which is too bad because it contains a number of great slapstick scenes -- Charley's after dinner trouble with a piece of lemon pie is near-classic. Chase (under his real name Charles Parrott) and Harold Law directed, along with Alan Hale, Sr. (yes, the character actor), who was uncredited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

All but forgotten today, the George Abbott-John Cecil Holm stage comedy Three Men on a Horse was once a staple of the community theatre and summer-stock circuit (a 1958 TV production starred no less than Johnny Carson). Though a faithful adaptation of the Broadway original, this 1936 film version avoids staginess thanks to the sprightly direction of Mervin LeRoy. Frank McHugh plays a meek, henpecked greeting-card writer who has an uncanny knack for picking winning race horses. Wandering into a bar after a spat with his wife (Carol Hughes), the prognosticative McHugh is "adopted" by Runyonesque horseplayers Sam Levene, Allen Jenkins and Teddy Hart. Held a virtual prisoner by the three gamblers, McHugh is unable to return to his job at the greeting card company, forcing his boss Guy Kibbee to realize for the first time the indispensability of his missing employee. A very slight piece, Three Men on a Horse is buoyed by the talents of the above-mentioned actors, as well as such reliables as Joan Blondell, Edgar Kennedy and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Casting an envious eye towards the huge box-office take of Columbia's Grace Moore vehicles, Republic hoped to strike gold in a similar fashion by fashioning a screen property for Kansas-born Metropolitan Opera diva Marion Talley. As it turned out, Follow Your Heart was Talley's first and last film, but Republic at least deserved a gold star for effort. The star is cast as Marian Forrester, the daughter of onetime opera star Madame Bovard (Henrietta Crossman). Recalling the many heartbreaks and disappointments attending her own stardom, Mme. Bovard refuses to allow Marian to pursue a singing career. But with the surreptitious help of handsome Michael Williams (Michael Bartlett, another real-life singer) and bumbling but lovable voice teacher Henri Forrester (Nigel Bruce), Marian makes her Met debut, and her mother gracefully bows to the inevitable. Though there's plenty of "straight" singing throughout Follow Your Heart, the film's highlight is a burlesque of the "Sextet" from Lucia di Lammermoor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide