Leon Belasco Movies

Except for a few clips from 1937's Topper, Cary Grant is absent from the proceedings of the 1939 sequel Topper Takes a Trip, though his Topper co-stars Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke and Alan Mobray are back in harness and in fine fettle. Picking up where the first film left off, we find mild-mannered banker Cosmo Topper (Young) being sued for divorce by his wife Clara (Burke). It's all because of Topper's questionable behavior while at the mercy of mischievous ghosts George and Marion Kerby (Grant and Bennett). All the ghosts had wanted to do was "liberate" Topper from his stuffy existence, thereby performing a good deed that would allow them entree into Heaven. George Kirby was permitted to ascend to the Choir Invisible, but for obscure reasons the spirit of Marion was left behind. She decides that the only way she'll be allowed past the Pearly Gates is to reunite Mr. and Mrs. Topper, and to that end follows Clara to Paris and Monte Carlo. This time, Marion is joined in her mission by Skippy, a ghostly pooch who, like his mistress, can appear and disappear at will. As in the earlier Topper film, Roy Seawright's special effects vie for top comedy honors with the superb performance by Roland Young as the ever-flustered Cosmo Topper. Equally amusing are supporting players Veree Teasdale, Franklin Pangborn and Alex D'Arcy. The second of producer Hal Roach's Topper films (based on the novels by Thorne Smith), Topper Takes a Trip would be followed in 1941 by Topper Returns...and, of course, by the eternally-rerun TV series of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Spunky Joan Blondell is practically the whole show in the diverting comedy Good Girls Go to Paris. Blondell is cast as ambitious college-campus waitress Jenny Swanson, who yearns to see the sights in Gay Paree. She gets her chance by latching onto British exchange professor Ronald Brooke (Melvyn Douglas), who is en route to the City of Light. Once she sets foot on French soil, Jenny proves the veracity of the film's title by straightening out the wayward family of dyspeptic millionaire Olaf Brand (Walter Connolly)-though for a while it looks as though she's a "bad girl", merely out to take the Brands for every penny they've got. In later years, Joan Blondell ruefully recalled that the film's original title was Good Girls Go to Paris Too, but the Hays Office nixed that harmlessly suggestive monicker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jeanette MacDonald and Lew Ayres make strange bedfellows in the overproduced MGM musical Broadway Serenade. She plays aspiring singer Mary Hale, and he plays her husband, struggling songwriter James Geoffrey Seymour. The couple's vaudeville act breaks up when Mary is hired for a big-time Broadway revue. As she rises to the top of the show-business heap, Seymour hits the skids, having lost his inspiration. On the verge of divorcing Seymour to marry a wealthy producer, Mary finally realizes that her life will be incomplete without her husband by her side. Saving the film from drowning in a sea of cliches are Jeanette MacDonald's musical renditions, not to mention the comedy relief of Frank Morgan and veteran vaudevillian Al Shean. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In It's a Date, the teenage diva Deanna Durbin is cast as Pamela Drake, the daughter of celebrated stage actress Georgia Drake (Kay Francis). Hoping to find success as an actress herself, Pamela energetically lobbies for the role of the maid in an upcoming play based on the life of St. Bernadette -- a role that has already been given to Georgia. When those conducting the auditions hear Pamela's singing, however, they quickly change their mind and offer the part to her. The rivalry between Pamela and Georgia intensifies when both fall in love with handsome middle-ager John Arlen (Walter Pidgeon). Innumerable complications follow, leading to a happy ending for both mother and daughter, though not quite the ending that either one had in mind. Deanna Durbin's musical repertoire this time out includes "Musetta's Street Song" from La Bohème, "Loch Lomond," "Love Is All," and a curious climactic rendition of "Ave Maria." It's a Date was remade in 1950 as Nancy Goes to Rio, with Jane Powell and Ann Sothern. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Egyptian mystic Andoheb (George Zucco) is ordered by his High Priest (Eduardo Ciannelli) to stand guard over the sacred mummy of Kharis (Tom Tyler), who thousands of years earlier was entombed alive for falling in love with Egyptian Princess Ananka. Kharis can be revived or neutralized at will through the simple expedient of burning a handful of tanna leaves, a plot device that is hammered home on several occasions. Meanwhile, perennially broke archeologists Steve Banning (Dick Foran) and Babe Jenson (Wallace Ford) persuade itinerant magician Solvani the Great (Cecil Kellaway) to finance an expedition in search of Ananka's sarcophagus. Solvani's daughter Marta (Peggy Moran), suspecting that Steve and Babe are a couple of con artists, tags along with them to Egypt. Also on hand is the ubiqutious Andoheb, in his daytime guise as professor of Egyptology at the Cairo Museum. After ordering Kharis to bump off expedition members Dr. Petrie (Charles Trowbridge) and Ali (Leon Belasco), Andoheb turns his attentions to the beauteous Marta, with whom he hopes to live "in eternity" with the aid of those handy tanna leaves. But when he kidnaps Marta, Andoheb breaks his sacred trust, and thus must pay with his life at the hands of the vengeful Kharis. Much of Hans J. Salter's pulsating musical score was lifted from Son of Frankenstein. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tugboat Annie Sails Again stars Marjorie Rambeau as the rambunctious female skipper created by Norman Reilly Raine. In this one, Tugboat Annie is threatened with the loss of her job as cap'n of the tacky tugboat Narcissus, much to the delight of Bullwinkle (Alan Hale), skipper of the rival Salamander. In order to raise $25000 in a hurry, Annie agrees to tow a drydock to Alaska, but this plan is scuttled when another, sleeker tug lands the contract. Annie saves the day-and her job-when the other tug gets into trouble on the high seas. The romantic subplot is handled by Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan, both of whom are as cute as can be. Incidentally, outtake footage exists of Tugboat Annie Sails Again wherein pert Ms. Wyman cusses like a sailor while splashing around in a studio tank. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

W.C. Fields heads to Esoteric studios to pitch a story idea to producer Franklin Pangborn. The producer wants to make a conventional romantic musical starring Fields' niece, teen-aged soprano Gloria Jean, but "The Great Man" has other ideas. As Pangborn sits in dumbfounded silence, Fields unravels an incoherent farrago which begins with him travelling to a Russian colony in Mexico--by way of an airliner with an open observation platform. Fields dives from the plane when his precious flask of gin falls overboard; he lands safely at the mountaintop mansion of the formidable Mrs. Hemoglobin (Margaret Dumont). Playing a kissing game with Hemoglobin's beauteous daughter (Susan Miller), who has never seen a man before, Fields decides to make a quick exit when Mama wants to get in on the game too. Reunited with Gloria Jean in the Russian colony, Fields learns that Mrs. Hemoglobin is worth millions, so he climbs back up the mountain, ignoring such obstacles as a displaced African gorilla. Disposing of his rival Leon Errol, Fields is about to wed Mrs. Hemoglobin, but is talked out of it at the last moment by Gloria Jean. At this point in the narrative, producer Pangborn can stand no more. He tells Fields to take his nonsensical screenplay and vacate the premises. After a brief episode at a soda fountain ("This scene was supposed to be in a saloon, but the censors made us cut it out"), Fields drives off to new adventures with his niece--but not before a zany slapstick car-chase finale, prompted by Fields' mistaken belief that he's rushing a corpulent middle-aged lady to the maternity hospital. W. C. Fields' original screenplay for Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (written under the fanciful pseudonym of Otis Criblecoblis) made a lot more sense than what ended up on screen, but Fields' extended absences from the studio, coupled with Universal's desire to reshape the film into a vehicle for their new star Gloria Jean, necessitated a complete restructuring of the plot. While hardly Fields' best or most representative film, Sucker is an excellent example of the sort of nonsensical "nut" humor in vogue in 1941 thanks to Olsen and Johnson's Hellzapoppin'. And, occasionally, the film stands still long enough to allow W. C. Fields to mutter a priceless aside or toss off a perfectly timed double-take. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical comedy, a motley band of musicians have only their extreme poverty in common. They end up writing a hit and getting a recording contract. The trouble is, the composer's works are never played without another band member doctoring them up to make them swingier. Fortunately, the composer isn't too averse to the changes as he has just won the heart of the beauty who sings his revamped songs. Songs include: "Where Did You Get That Girl?" (Harry Puck, Bert Kalmar, sung by Helen Parrish), "Sergeant Swing," "Rug-Cuttin' Romeo" (Milton Rosen, Everett Carter). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This remake of Ferenc Molnar's play The Guardsmen focuses on an opera star (Nelson Eddy) who tests the fidelity of his wife (Rise Stephens) by wooing her in disguise. The film was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Sound and Best Score. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Rosalind Russell stars as a no-nonsense judge who dabbles in sculpting in her spare time. Walter Pidgeon costars as a reporter assigned to discredit Rosalind after she rules against his boss (Edward Arnold) in a divorce case. Pidgeon plans to frame the judge in a compromising situation, then blackmail her into reducing the alimony. He succeeds in humiliating Rosalind, but regrets his actions when he realizes he's fallen in love with her. All ends happily in this glossy derivative of MGM's earlier Libelled Lady (36). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cesar Romero plays an outwardly tough prohibition-era gangster who in reality wouldn't hurt a fly. He maintains his "killer" reputation by planting evidence of his involvement at the scenes of other crooks' crimes. Romero begins aspiring for respectability when he falls in love with Virginia Gilmore and adopts the orphaned Stanley Clements. Through his own non-homicidal means, Romero redeems himself by wiping out a genuinely nasty gangster boss (Sheldon Leonard). Tall, Dark and Handsome was remade in 1950 as Love That Brute, with Paul Douglas in the Cesar Romero role--and with Romero playing the villain! ~ 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