Edward McWade Movies

Margaret O'Brien, MGM's newest child sensation, was given her first starring vehicle with Lost Angel. O'Brien plays Alpha, who has been groomed to be a genius by a trio of well-meaning but misguided professors (Philip Merivale, Henry O'Neill and Donald Meek). Taking pity on the reluctant prodigy, police reporter Mike Regan (James Craig) takes it upon himself to "deprogram" Alpha and transform her into a normal, healthy child. In an effort to inflate this B picture into "A" proportions by increasing the running time, the scriptwriters contrive a silly subplot involving a gang of Runyonesque gangsters (headed by the ineluctable Keenan Wynn). Margaret O'Brien's appeal may be elusive to modern viewers, but she was a proven audience favorite back in 1944. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tyrone Power made his last screen appearance before a three-year stretch in the Marines in this World War II drama. Lt. Ward Stewart (Tyrone Power) has served with distinction as the commander of a PT boat, so his uncle, Adm. Bob Stewart (Minor Watson), gives him a new and more challenging assignment aboard a submarine. Before shipping out, Ward enjoys a night on the town, where he meets and romances a pretty schoolteacher, Jean Hewlett (Anne Baxter). However, when Ward reports for duty, he discovers he'll be serving under Lt. Cmdr. Dewey Connors (Dana Andrews), who happens to be Jean's boyfriend. On leave and on land, Ward and Dewey are soon caught up in a romantic rivalry, while on duty and under the water they must work together to ferret out Nazi U-boats. Crash Dive received an Academy Award nomination for the special effects work in the film's battle sequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a news editor writes a scandalous expose about a notorious gangster. The gangster then has the gall to sue him for libel and mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Irene Dunne plays a flibbetygibbet socialite who inherits a farm in Arizona. She can't seem to manage either her money or her private life, thus seeks advice from outside sources. Irene falls in love with fledgling Manhattan psychiatrist Patric Knowles, and marries him in the hope that he'll solve all her problems. Lady in a Jam was advertised as one of the most expensive comedies ever made; the studio was banking on the reputations of star Irene Dunne and director Gregory LaCava to draw crowds. But when the film failed (it shifted emotional gears a bit too often for 1942 film fans), both the lady and the gentleman found their careers in "a jam"--from which Dunne recovered but LaCava didn't. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fresh from his Broadway triumph as "The Stage Manager" in Our Town, veteran actor-playwright Frank Craven heads the cast of Columbia's The Richest Man in Town. Craven is cast as wealthy banker Abb Crothers, who has carried on a lifelong feud with newpaper publisher Pete Martin (Edgar Buchanan). After a particularly vitriolic exchange of words, Martin gets even by publishing Crothers' obituary somewhat ahead of schedule. The repercussions of this capricious act eventually cause the miserly Crothers to reassess his priorities in life. A romantic subplot concerns Martin's daughter Mary (Eileen O'Hearn) and glib touring-show promoter Tom Manning (Roger Pryor). Though Frank Craven is officially the star, Richest Man in Town was intended in part as a showcase for Edgar Buchanan, who'd skyrocketed to prominence on the strength of his villainy in Columbia's Arizona. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first of director Frank Capra's independent productions (in partnership with Robert Riskin), Meet John Doe begins with the end of reporter Ann Mitchell's (Barbara Stanwyck) job. Fired as part of a downsizing move, she ends her last column with an imaginary letter written by "John Doe." Angered at the ill treatment of America's little people, the fabricated Doe announces that he's going to jump off City Hall on Christmas Eve. When the phony letter goes to press, it causes a public sensation. Seeking to secure her job, Mitchell talks her managing editor (James Gleason) into playing up the John Doe letter for all it's worth; but to ward off accusations from rival papers that the letter was bogus, they decide to hire someone to pose as John Doe: a ballplayer-turned-hobo (Gary Cooper), who'll do anything for three squares and a place to sleep. "John Doe" and his traveling companion The Colonel (Walter Brennan) are ensconced in a luxury hotel while Mitchell continues churning out chunks of John Doe philosophy. When newspaper publisher D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold), a fascistic type with presidential aspirations, decides to use Doe as his ticket to the White House, he puts Doe on the radio to deliver inspirational speeches to the masses -- ghost-written by Mitchell, who, it is implied, has become the publisher's mistress. The central message of the Doe speeches is "Love Thy Neighbor," though, conceived in cynicism, the speeches strike so responsive a chord with the public that John Doe clubs pop up all over the country. Believing he is working for the good of America, Cooper agrees to front the National John Doe Movement -- until he discovers that Norton plans to exploit Doe in order to create a third political party and impose a virtual dictatorship on the country. The last of Capra's "social statement" films, Meet John Doe posted a profit, although Capra and Riskin were forced to dissolve their corporation due to excessive taxes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this version of the oft-filmed stage play by James Montgomery, Nothing But the Truth stars Bob Hope as an up and coming young stockbroker working in Florida. He makes a bet with his coworkers that he can tell nothing but the absolute truth for 24 hours, and the other bettors are determined to keep tabs on him to make sure he doesn't falter. The rest of the action takes place aboard a yacht, where Hope's undiplomatic truthfulness gets him into hot water with a wealthy client, several other influential people, and his girl friend (Paulette Goddard). Hope's coworkers contrive to trick Hope into losing his wager, but African-American valet Willie Best foils their scheme. The picture ends with Hope having to explain his curious behavior for the past 24 hours without offending anyone (P.S.: he pulls it off). Nothing But the Truth was Paramount's third Bob Hope/Paulette Goddard costarring effort, all three based on past stage successes. The film lay unseen for years after its 1941 release due to legal tangles, but was finally made available again through the auspices of film historian Leonard Maltin in the early 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Old stock shots are blended with freshly filmed material in the Universal programmer Hot Steel. Richard Arlen plays a metallurgist who brings his formula for super-strength steel to a mining town. The formula is promptly stolen, putting everyone under suspicion. To make matters worse, a murder is committed, and the evidence points to Arlen. Helping the hero clear himself are true-blue comic sidekick Andy Devine, Devine's kid sister Peggy Moran, and leading lady Anne Nagel. Watch for Joe "You Crazy, You!" Besser in the role of "Siggie." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Margie is one of the fast and funniest of Universal's pocket musicals, though its two-director dichotomy hardly seems necessary. Newlyweds Bret (Tom Brown) and Margie (Nan Grey) both aspire to show-biz careers: he wants to be a songwriter, while she is desirous of becoming a radio scripter. Inevitably, Bret and Margie quarrel and break up, only to be reunited by their efforts to snag "banana king" Gomez (Mischa Auer) for a lucrative radio contract. The old 1920s tune "Margie" is heard throughout the proceedings, frequently fitted out with ludicrous new lyrics ("Bananas! We're Always Thikin' of Bananas!" etc.) by a zany songwriting team (Eddie Quillan and Wally Vernon). And just in case anyone should take this thing seriously, Andy Devine bursts onto the set in full cowboy regalia, guns at the ready--only to withdraw apologetically a few seconds later, explaining that he's in the wrong movie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a remake of The Crowd Roars, two auto racing brothers become rivals on the racetrack when the older brother tries to keep his younger one from dropping out of school and becoming a driver too. The stubborn younger brother just gets behind the wheel of someone else's car and the race is on. During the reckless running of the race, the older brother's best friend is killed precipitating the beginning of the end for the older driver. The brother pulls himself out of his personal nose dive when he must take over for his younger brother during the Indy 500. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this lively programmer a con man hires a character actor to masqueraded as the recently assassinated dictator of a tiny Latin American country so he can bilk an arriving American ambassador out of his fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

It's Swing Music vs. the Classics in the easy-to-take Warners tunefest Naughty But Nice. Dick Powell dons the obligatory spectacles as a staid music professor Hardwick, who harbors a desire to become a songwriter. With the help of aspiring lyricist Linda McKay (Gale Page), Hardwick pens a little ditty that, through a fluke, becomes a smash hit. Not entirely prepared for show-business success, Hardwick falls into the clutches of predatory vocalist Zelda Manion (Ann Sheridan), leaving poor Linda in the lurch-at least until the last reel. Ronald Reagan breezes through one of his then-typical wiseguy supporting roles, while ZaSu Pitts, Vera Lewis and Elizabeth Dunne are likewise typecast as Hardwick's maiden aunts (conversely, the Professor's other aunt, played by Helen Broderick, is a real hep-cat). Virtually all the Harry Warren/Johnny Mercer songs in Naughty but Nice have been adapted from the works of such past masters as Mozart, Bach and Wagner-and old device, but one which works beautifully here. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Despite the presence of Busby Berkeley in the director's chair, Comet Over Broadway contains nary a single musical number. Instead, the film concentrates on the lachrymose private life of stage star Eve Appleton (Kay Francis). While appearing in amateur theatricals, Eve indirectly causes the death of a fellow actor at the hands of her husband Bill (John Litel). When Bill is thrown into jail, Eve goes on the road, appearing in one cheap stock company after another to earn enough money for her husband's parole. Seven years pass, during which time Eve becomes the toast of Broadway. Falling in love with playwright Bert Ballin (Ian Hunter), Eve almost forgets the reason that she climbed to stardom in the first place, but by the final reel she elects to give up personal happiness to remain loyal to her incarcerated husband. Way, way down the cast list of Comet Over Broadway is Linda Winters, who as Dorothy Comingore achieved stardom in Orson Welles'Citizen Kane (1941). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide