Jules Munshin Movies
An American comedian with hang-dog eyes, Jules Munshin began his career singing, dancing, and telling jokes in the Catskill resorts. He later switched to vaudeville, which led him to Broadway, where in 1946, he became a star after starring in the musical Call Me Mister. During the late '40s, he began appearing in MGM musicals. His most memorable role was playing one of the three carefree sailors on leave in On the Town (1949). Munshin then resumed his stage career, and only infrequently returned to films. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1969
- G
This hilarious parody pokes fun at Charlie Chan movies and features Zero Mostel as an inscrutable Asian detective, Inspector Hoku, who must keep international spies from getting hold of a newly developed robot. In-jokes abound and slapstick mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A man begins monkeying around with his new farm with hilarious results in this comedy for the whole family. American Hank Dussard (Dean Jones) inherits an olive plantation in a small French village after his uncle passes away. Hank soon gets a crash course in the expense of hiring pickers for the olive harvest from Father Sylvain (Maurice Chevalier), the local priest. Hoping to cut expenses, Hank buys four monkeys, and teaches them how to pick olives. While the plan looks good on paper, it doesn't go over well with the town's farm laborers -- who threaten a strike if Hank doesn't get rid of his new help. Hank also has troubles with his new work force when he discovers that his monkeys are all female, and the arrival of a male chimpanzee takes their minds off the olives. Monkeys, Go Home! features Maurice Chevalier in his final screen role; the supporting cast also includes Yvette Mimieux and Jules Munshin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Dean Jones, (more)
- 1964
In this comedy, a Yankee musician is working in Paris when he encounters a movie star chasing after her naughty French poodle Monsieur Cognac. The name is most apropos for the little doggy is quite the lush when it comes to booze. This suits the hard-drinking musician just fine and the two go out on a bender. Later the star and her father find the toasted twosome. The star begins falling in love with the musician. Despite her father's objections, the two get married. Unfortunately, Mr. Cognac accompanies them on the honeymoon. He becomes quite jealous of the woman's new husband and ruins their wedding night. Because she refuses to relinquish the dog, their new marriage is nearly destroyed. They separate until the husband manages to bring home Pink Poupee, a charming female poodle. Suddenly Mr. C forgets all about his jealousy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Christine Kaufmann, (more)
- 1957
Dean Martin's first solo film after his split with Jerry Lewis was very nearly his last. Dino plays Ray Hunter, a Conrad Hiltonesque playboy hotelier at large in Rome. Taking charge of his latest acquisition -- a huge hotel with the titular 10,000 bedrooms -- Hunter finds himself being pursued by the daughters of wealthy Vittori Martelli (Walter Slezak). For a while, it looks as though the youngest daughter Nina (Anna Maria Alberghetti) has the inside track, but big-hearted Ray, realizing that Nina would be happier with a boy her own age, settles for older sister Maria (Eva Bartok). The poor box-office take for this old-fashioned musical comedy seemed at the time to foretell the end of Dean Martin's film career, but he was rescued by his well-received appearance in The Young Lions. The funniest aspect of Ten Thousand Bedrooms was its promotional trailer, narrated by Teddi Thurman, then famous as the sultry weather girl on the weekend radio series Monitor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Martin, Anna Maria Alberghetti, (more)
Silk Stockings, a musical version of the 1939 Greta Garbo film Ninotchka, was adapted for the stage by George S. Kaufman, Leueen McGrath (the then-Mrs. Kaufman) and Abe Burrows, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The Broadway production, starring Hildegarde Neff and Don Ameche, ran 478 performances. The 1957 film version cast Fred Astaire as a movie producer and Cyd Charisse as dedicated communist functionary Ninotchka. In the original 1939 film, Ninotchka was sent from Mother Russia to Paris to check up on three commissars, who in turn had been ordered to retrieve a fortune in Czarist jewels. This time the commissar trio, played by Peter Lorre, Jules Munshin and Joseph Buloff, have been dispatched to Paris to reclaim defecting Soviet composer Wim Sonneveld. Since Astaire wants the composer to write the songs for his newest musical, he plies the commissars with wine, women and song, dissuading them from their mission. When Ninotchka shows up to retrieve the errant Russians, Astaire turns on the old charm with her as well. She gradually succumbs to the combined lures of romance and capitalism, but returns to Russia when she believes that Astaire has thrown her over for film-star Janis Paige (delivering a hilarious take-off of swimming star Esther Williams). But Astaire convinces her that he truly loves her, and all is well. Most of the Cold-War comedy in the Broadway production of Silk Stockings remains intact in the movie version (Soviet official George Tobias, seeking information on his predecessor, looks up the man's record in "Who's Still Who"). Also surviving virtually untouched is the Cole Porter score, including "All Of You," "A Chemical Reaction," "Without Love," "Satin and Silk," "The Red Blues," "Stereophonic Sound," and the rollicking "Siberia" (which offers the spectacle of a singing, dancing Peter Lorre!) Watch for Fred Astaire's future TV-special partner Barrie Chase as one of the dancers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, (more)
- 1953
In this musical farce, bandleader Ray Ventura runs across a baby and mistakes it for his grandchild and takes the tot on tour with his orchestra. Meanwhile, the infant's parents frantically wonder where he has gone. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1949
That Midnight Kiss served to introduce the film-going public to MGM's newest singing sensation, Mario Lanza. Just as he did with Deanna Durbin at Universal, producer Joe Pasternak removes the "stuffy" onus attached to classical music by presenting Lanza as a down-to-earth truck driver named Johnny Donetti. When it turns out that Johnny has a splendid singing voice, he gets a minor job at the Philadelphia opera company sponsored by aristocratic Abigail Trent Budell (Ethel Barrymore). Abigail's granddaughter Prudence (Kathryn Grayson) is instrumental in bringing Johnny to public attention by insisting that he replace the opera troupe's defecting star tenor. Featured in the cast are Keenan Wynn as Lanza's best pal, J. Carroll Naish as his "Whatsa matta you?" Italian father, and MGM's resident musical genius Jose Iturbi as himself. That Midnight Kiss served its purpose by transforming the relatively unknown Mario Lanza into a box-office champion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathryn Grayson, Mario Lanza, (more)
Three sailors on a 24-hour pass -- Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra), and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) -- decide to soak up the sights and sounds of New York. Each one finds romance within those 24 hours: Gabey with aspiring dancer Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen), Chip with lady cabbie Hildy Esterhazy (Betty Garrett), and Ozzie with paleontology student Claire Huddesten (Ann Miller). That's all, right? Wellll....Ivy passes herself off as a celebrity, but she's actually a kootch dancer in Coney Island. Claire and the boys inadvertently topple a dinosaur replica at the Museum of Anthropological History. And Hildy breaks any number of speeding laws attempting to get the lovers together and straighten out all misunderstandings. Adapted from the Broadway musical by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Leonard Bernstein, On the Town is one of the freshest, most exhilarating musicals turned out by the old MGM regime. The stars' verve and camaraderie are contagious, and the songs are staged by legendary musical director Stanley Donen and Kelly himself with wit and innovation. Highlights include the opening "New York, New York" number, shot on location and flat-cutting from one image to another at a dizzying pace, and Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen's ""Miss Turnstyles Ballet."" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, (more)
So baseball pictures never make money, eh? Try telling that to MGM, which raked in a box office gross of $4 million on their 1949 baseball musical Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Set in 1906, the film concerns the adventures and misadventures of The Wolves, a champion ball club. The team's success is contingent upon the double-play combination of "O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg." But while Goldberg (Jules Munshin) lives to play baseball, O'Brien (Gene Kelly) and Ryan (Frank Sinatra) would rather pursue their off-season vaudeville career. Both erstwhile song-and-dance men decide to stick around on the baseball diamond when they mutually fall in love with the Wolves' new owner, the lovely K.C. Higgins (Esther Williams). Though O'Brien wins K.C. for himself, Ryan is compensated with the aggressively affectionate Shirley Delwyn (Betty Garrett). Gambler Joe Lorgan (Edward Arnold), who has bet heavily against the Wolves in an upcoming Big Game, woos O'Brien away from the team with promises of a big role in an upcoming musical comedy. Having let down K.C. and the rest of the team, O'Brien vows to redeem himself by playing in the crucial game. Lorgan gets wind of this, and orders his henchmen to do away with O'Brien. Hoping to shield his buddy from harm, Ryan beans O'Brien with a pitched ball, thereby incapacitating the prodigal player. The crooks are vanquished, and K.C. forgives O'Brien. But upon learning that Ryan had knocked him out, O'Brien charges onto the diamond, thirsting for revenge. Believe it or not, this action results in no fewer than two winning home runs! We offer you this detailed synopsis because it's likely that you'll be too entertained by the film's musical numbers to pay any attention to the story. Outside of the title number and Gene Kelly's solo "The Hat My Father Wore on St. Patrick's Day," the picture's best songs are contributed by Betty Comden, Adolf Green and Roger Edens. Take Me Out to the Ball Game is so delightful as it stands that one can only wonder what the film would have looked like had MGM's first choice Kathryn Grayson--or the studio's second choice, Judy Garland--played the Esther Williams role (In a similar vein, the Frank Sinatra character was originally to have been played by real-life Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, (more)
Fred Astaire had announced his retirement before the cameras began to roll on Easter Parade, but he decided to accept the film's leading role when its original star Gene Kelly became incapacitated. The thinnish plot, which finds Astaire trying to turn chorus girl Judy Garland into a star in order to show up his former partner Ann Miller, is hardly what keeps the audience's eyes riveted to the screen. All that truly matters are the 17 musical numbers, all written by Irving Berlin (ten were standards, while seven were new to this film). Among the many highlights are Astaire's slow-motion version of "Steppin' Out," the Astaire/Garland duet "We're a Couple of Swells," the opening rendition of "Happy Easter," and the closing performance of the title number. So successful was Easter Parade that plans were immediately drawn to reteam Fred Astaire and Judy Garland in The Barkeleys of Broadway; this time, however, it was Garland who withdrew, to be replaced by Astaire's most famous vis-à-vis, Ginger Rogers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, (more)
