Rosina Lawrence Movies

It is Valentine's Day, and Our Gang members Spanky McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas and Eugene "Porky" Lee aren't impressed. Deciding that romance is the bunk, the boys form the He-Man Woman Hater's Club. Alfalfa is willing to go along with this until he falls head over heels in love with classmate Darla Hood. Hoping to scotch this relationship, Spanky, Buckwheat and Porky insert soap in the sandwich and cream puff that Darla has prepared for Alfalfa. Tortuously, Alfie downs the nauseating repast, rather than hurt Darla's feelings. Things get worse for the would-be Romeo when schoolteacher Miss Lawrence (Rosina Lawrence) prevails upon Alfalfa to offer a bubbly (in every sense of the word!) rendition of "Let Me Call You Sweetheart". The "Our Gang" one-reeler Hearts Are Thumps (sometimes misidentified as Hearts Are Trumps) was originally released on April 3, 1937. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Prospectors Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy head to the western town of Brushwood Gulch, two men on a top-secret mission. The boys have been entrusted by their recently deceased partner Cy Roberts with a deed to a valuable gold mine, to be delivered in person to Roberts' daughter Mary (Rosina Lawrence). Stan inadvertently spills the beans to crooked saloon owner Mickey Finn (James Finlayson), who proceeds to pass off his own wife, saloon chanteuse Lola Marcel (Sharon Lynne), as Mary Roberts. The ever-trusting Stan and Ollie fall for the subterfuge hook, line and sinker, handing the deed over to Lola. Upon running into the real Mary, who slaves away in Mickey Finn's kitchen, Our Heroes vow to retrieve the deed. A battle royale ensues, with Stan, Ollie, Mickey and Lola passing the deed around like a football. Ultimately, Lola manages to wrest the deed away from Stan by tickling him into helpless submission. Chased out of town by the sheriff (Stanley Fields), who harbors a grudge against the boys from a previous misunderstanding, Stan and Ollie sneak back to Brushwood Gulch in the dead of night, hoping to break into Finn's saloon, steal back the deed, and place it firmly in the hands of Mary Roberts. Upon this foundation is built Way Out West, arguably Laurel & Hardy's best feature film (many aficionados prefer Sons of the Desert). Highlights include the aformentioned tickling and burglary scenes, Stan literally eating his hat after losing a bet, Ollie's perennial plunges into a pothole, and the boys' charming singing-and-dancing interludes. Also take note of Marvin Hatley's Oscar-nominated musical score, and the presence of a young, thin Chill Wills as one of "The Avalon Boys". Even if you're not a fan of The Thin One and The Fat One, you'll be limp with laughter at the end of Way Out West. ~ 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

Having successful moved his top comedians Laurel & Hardy from short subjects to features, producer Hal Roach endeavored to do the same with the Our Gang Kids in 1936's General Spanky. Set in the South during the Civil War, the story focuses on Spanky (George "Spanky" McFarland), an orphaned shoeshine boy who works his way down the Mississippi by riverboat. After messing up the activities of crooked gambler Simmons (Irving Pichel), Spanky is forced to jump ship, along with his newfound buddy, fugitive slave child Buckwheat (Billy Thomas). The kids find shelter in the home of handsome Marshall Valiant (Phillips Holmes), who just before marching off to war instructs Spanky and Buckwheat to protect Marshall's sweetheart Louella Blanchard (Rosina Lawrence) in his absence. Taking his responsibilities seriously, Spanky forms a "home guard" consisting of Alfalfa (Carl Switzer), Porky (Eugene Lee) and several other local kids. In this capacity, they manage to fend off a clumsy Northern regiment commandeered by Spanky's old nemesis Simmons, thereby earning the lasting friendship of a kindly Yankee general (Ralph Morgan). The Civil War setting is not entirely appropriate to the antics of Our Gang, and as a result General Spanky is more peculiar than funny. The film's lukewarm box-office performance might have spelled the end of "Our Gang" had not Hal Roach's distributor, MGM, demanded that the series continue in short-subject form. ~ 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

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

When little Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas and Eugene "Porky" Lee bring some firecrackers to school, older kids Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer and Spanky McFarland conspire to get the explosives away from the youngsters ---not out of any regard for safety, but because Alfie and Spanky want to set them off themselves! Posing as "G-Men", the two older boys manage to get their hands on the firecrackers, but Buckwheat and Porky have the last laugh during Alfalfa's classroom recitation of "The Charge of the Light Brigade. Rosina Lawrence again appears as schoolteacher Miss Lawrence. The one-reel "Our Gang" comedy "Two Too Young" was originally released on September 26, 1936. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In MGM's three-hour-plus The Great Ziegfeld, William Powell stars as the titular theatrical impresario, whose show business empire begins when he stage-manages a tour for legendary strongman Sandow (Nat Pendleton). With nary a penny in the bank, he charms European stage star Anna Held (Luise Rainer) to headline his "Follies", and later marries the luscious Ms. Held. From 1907 onward, Ziegfeld stages annual editions of Broadway's most fabulous revue, dedicated to "Glorifying the American Girl" but also giving ample time to develop the comic talents of Fanny Brice (played by herself), Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor and many others. Eventually, Ziegfeld abandons Ms. Held in favor of other beauties, setting the stage for the "telephone scene" which won Luise Rainer the first of her Oscars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a con artist gets elected to the chamber of commerce in his home town. He then goes there with three fellow grifters who are not welcome until they pay off the bad bonds they sold the town. Fortunately, the protagonist wins a fortune at the track and pays the debt. Despite this, the three persist with their con games and mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Bebe Daniels, all of 34, portrays an ageing movie star who refuses to admit she's too old for the ingenue role in an upcoming musical. Alice Faye is a hopeful chorus girl, while Ray Walker is a would-be director. All the young people get their deserved breaks when Daniels gets wise to herself and settles for a character role in the film--and also admits that the young girl (Rosina Lawrence) whom she's been passing off as her sister is really her daughter. Both Alice Faye and Bebe Daniels are given plenty of opportunities to sing and dance, which is as it should be. But Music is Magic falls short of perfection thanks to the doggedly unfunny comic relief of Frank Mitchell and Jack Durant, who may well be the worst team in motion picture history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide