Marjorie Lord Movies

One of the silliest and most unbelievable of the Universal Sherlock Holmes series, Sherlock Holmes in Washington is also undeniably one of the most enjoyable. The story gets under way when an Allied spy (an unbilled Gerald Hamer, one of this series' "regulars") smuggles a valuable piece of microfilm into the U.S. The film is hidden in a matchbook cover that passes through several hands, ultimately ending up in the possession of Washington, D.C., socialite Nancy Partridge (Marjorie Lord). Brought to Washington from London to help locate the missing film, Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) do their best to rescue Nancy from the clutches of the Axis villains -- nearly losing their own lives in the process. And when the case is finally solved, Holmes reveals that there's still another twist to the proceedings -- a few minutes before he delivers his obligatory patriotic quote from Winston Churchill. One of the delights of Sherlock Holmes in Washington is the casting of George Zucco and Henry Daniell as the bad guys; both actors also played Holmes' archenemy Moriarty in other series entries. It's also fun to see poor old Watson tangle with American slang and a wad of bubble gum, and to watch as Holmes and Watson driven past a series of famous D.C. monuments -- covering several miles in a matter of seconds! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No relation to the 1953 musical film of the same title, About Face is a 43 minute Hal Roach "Streamliner." Sgt. Doubleday (William Tracy), the man with the photographic memory, and his former topkick Sgt. Ames (Joe Sawyer), go on a night on the town. After accidentally sparking a barroom brawl, our heroes crash a society party overseen by perennial Marx Brothers foil Margaret Dumont. The evening is capped by a wild car chase. Marjorie Lord and Veda Ann Borg provide the scenic attractions in this old-fashioned slapsticker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Timber is a typical Universal Pictures amalgam of he-man virility and endless spools of stock footage from earlier films. Newly recruited from MGM, Dan Dailey Jr. stars as Kansas, a two-fisted troubleshooter from the U.S. Forestry Service. Kansas, his pal Arizona (Andy Devine) and mill owner Quebec (Leo Carrillo) try to find out who's been plaguing Quebec's lumber camp with a series of highly suspicious accidents. It all builds up to a literally cliff-hanging climax involving a runaway timber truck. The late "B"-film historian Don Miller has noted a booking error made by Universal Pictures when the studio shipped out Timber on a double bill with Chapter One of the Universal serial The Great Alaskan Mystery -- which was comprised almost exclusively of highlight footage from Timber! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Few promotional films have received such wide circulation, and for so long a period, as 1939's Middleton Family at the NY World's Fair. Originally designed as a 50-minute, full-color "informercial" for Westinghouse, the film follows a "typical" American family as they take in the wonders of the World's Fair at Flushing Meadows, Long Island. Naturally, the Middleton Family is most impressed by the collection of futuristic time- and labor-saving appliances at the Westinghouse exhibit. The film's most fascinating sequence finds the Middletons in awe at that miracle of modern technology--Television. Instead of the usual collection of unknowns, the cast of The Middleton Family etc. is comprised of quite a few familiar faces, including Harry Shannon (Kane's dad in Citizen Kane) as dad, Ruth Lee (costar of the Robert Benchley one-reelers) as mom, Marjorie Lord (future "Mrs. Danny Williams" on The Danny Thomas Show) as daughter Babs, and Jimmy Lydon (two years away from his "Henry Aldrich" series) as son Bud. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey's final film is far from their best, but at least it never plunges to the depths reached by their earlier Silly Billies and Mummy's Boys. Adapted from an unproduced stage play called The Kangaroos, High Flyers casts Bert and Bob as Jerry Lane and Pierre Potkins, operators of an amusement park kiddie-airplane concession. Newspaperman Dave Hanlon (Jack Carson) persuades the boys to fly out to sea to pick up a life preserver which purportedly contains precious photos taken by Hanlon of the British Royal Family. What our heroes don't know is that Hanlon is head of a gang of smugglers, and that the preserver contains stolen jewels and a cache of drugs. But what Hanlon doesn't know is that, despite their boasts, Jerry and Pierre have never flown a real plane in their lives. Upon scooping up the preserver, the boys accidentally open a package of cocaine powder, whereupon they become really high flyers (how this scene got past the censors is astonishing). They crash-land in the backyard of wealthy Horace Arlington (Paul Harvey), who fears that there's a sneak thief at large on his property (actually the "crook" is Arlington's pet dog). Assuming that Jerry and Pierre are the private eyes, he's summoned to his estate to protect the priceless Markoff Diamonds. Arlington gives the boys full reign over the household, allowing Jerry to romance Arlington's daughter Arlene (Marjorie Lord) and Pierre to spoon with household maid Maria (Lupe Velez). Things get really hectic when Hanlon and his fellow thieves converge on the Arlington household, demanding that Jerry and Pierre help them steal the Markoff gems -- or else. The whole mess is viewed with alarm by Arlington's eccentric wife Martha (Margaret Dumont), who fancies herself a fortune-teller. There are isolated moments in High Flyers that rank with Wheeler and Woolsey's best, notably Bert Wheeler's imitation of Charlie Chaplin and Bob Woolsey's song-and-dance duet with Lupe Velez. Also fascinating in a bizarre sort of way are Velez's impressions of Simone Simon, Dolores Del Rio, and Shirley Temple! All in all, however, High Flyers is a stilted, mechanical effort, garnering the team some of their worst reviews. Whether or not Wheeler and Woolsey would have been retained by RKO after the lukewarm box-office reception to this film is a moot point: Gravely ill with kidney disease, Robert Woolsey was confined to his bed after the film wrapped, where he remained until his death 14 months later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey are atypically cast as bickering "friendly enemies" in On Again-Off Again. Based on the old stage farce A Pair of Sixes (previously filmed in 1930 as Queen High), the film stars the comedians as Hobbs and Horton, co-owners of a profitable pill manufacturing concern. Forever at each other's throats, the partners are in danger of losing their business thanks to their incessant squabbling. In desperation, their attorney George Dilwig (Russell Hicks) suggests that Hobbs and Horton solve everything with a wrestling match: the loser must agree to become the valet of the winner for a period of one year -- and must also pay a hundred-dollar fine every time he refuses to do the winner's bidding. By a fluke, Horton wins the match, whereupon Hobbs is compelled to wait on him hand and foot. Humiliated, Hobbs refuses to tell his fiancee Florence (Marjorie Lord) about the arrangement and ships her off to Florida, whereupon Horton, hoping to force Hobbs to break the agreement and thus forfeit his share of the business, spreads rumors that Hobbs is fooling around with Mrs. Horton (Esther Muir), then invites Florence to a party at his mansion. Hobbs gets even by dismissing all the servants and hiring a passel of low-lifes (Patricia Wilder, Pat Flaherty et.al.) as temporary help. The feud comes to a head when crooked salesman Toler (George Meeker) tries to convince both Horton and Hobbs to invest in a questionable business scheme, leading to a nocturnal slapstick chase through the Horton estate. Never before had Wheeler and Woolsey been involved in so complicated a plotline; indeed, both comedians seem positively winded at the end of the film. Despite all that's going on, there's still time for a couple of engaging musical numbers, including the ironic opener "One Happy Family" and Bert Wheeler's re-creation of his classic "crying while eating" vaudeville routine. Opinions are divided on On Again-Off Again: Some fans consider it the worst of Wheeler and Woolsey's features, while others regard it as a welcome step up from their previous mediocrities Silly Billies and Mummy's Boys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide