William Newell Movies

Neither James Cagney nor Bette Davis were particularly pleased with the outdated screwball comedy The Bride Came C.O.D., but both performers behaved with thorough professionalism, doing a lot more for the film than the film did for them. Davis stars as flighty heiress Joan Winfield, whose impending marriage to bandleader Allen Brice (Jack Carson) does not rest well with her oil-rich father Lucius K. Winfield (Eugene Pallette). When Joan announces that she intends to defy her father's wishes and elope with Brice, Winfield hires charter pilot Steve Collins (Cagney) to kidnap the girl and deliver her back home, C.O.D. Nearly bankrupt, Steve goes along with the scheme, but on the return flight his plane crashes in the desert. Realizing that he's only a few miles from civilization, Steve schemes to keep Joan from signalling any potential rescuers by chasing her into an old tunnel and convincing her that they're hopelessly lost. When Joan tumbles to the scheme, she forces Steve to let her marry Brice. The surprisingly cooperative Steve agrees, knowing full well that he still has a few aces up his sleeve. So guess who Joan ends up with at fadeout time? Genuine laughs are few and far between in this hectic farce, but at least Bette Davis has one hilarious moment, predicated on her outraged delivery of the word "Mustard!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Strawberry Blonde is the second, and by far the most well-regarded, of the three film versions of James Hogan's play One Sunday Afternoon. James Cagney stars as Biff Grimes, a turn-of-the-century dentist married to onetime suffragette Amy Lind (Olivia de Havilland). A former convict, Biff has great difficulty keeping his temper--and when alderman Hugo Barnstead (Jack Carson), the man responsible for Cagney's unjust prison term, shows up one Sunday afternoon to have a tooth pulled, the pugnacious dentist begins developing homicidal urges. In a lengthy flashback, we learn that Biff and Hugo, once the best of friends, were business partners in a construction firm. When one of their buildings collapsed due to shoddy materials, Biff was sent to jail for five years, while Hugo escaped scot-free. Even worse, Hugo stole Biff's girlfriend Virginia Brush (Rita Hayworth), the "strawberry blonde" of the title. The flashback over, Biff sharkishly welcomes Hugo into his office, fully intending to bump off his old enemy. But during a reunion with his "dream girl" Virginia, Biff realizes for the first time that Amy was the right girl for him all along, and that Hugo did him a favor by taking the strident, shrewish Virginia off his hands. Letting Hugo off with little more than a sore jaw, Biff takes Amy in his arms--but not before settling a few old accounts with his fists, just for old time's sake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

San Antonio Rose is an amiably wacky mini-musical evenly divided between its "official" stars, The Merry Macs, and a strong cast of supporting clowns. Robert Paige plays roadhouse operator Con Conway, whose establishment is in danger of being squeezed out by its competition. Stranded entertainers Hope Holloway (Jane Frazee) and Gabby Trent (Eve Arden) decide to revivify Conway's establishment by staging an energetic floor show built around the talented Merry Macs. A rival club owner dispatches his two top hooligans Jigsaw Kennedy (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Benny the Bounce (Shemp Howard) to wreck Conway's club by posing as waiters, but the two stupes are easily cowed into submission--by the leading ladies! San Antonio Rose never stops moving, not even during the closing credits, as the Merry Macs reprise the energetic novelty tune "Mexican Jumping Beat". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland, stars of the 1940 hit Arise, My Love, were immediately reteamed for Skylark. Adapted from the play by Samson Rafaelson, the film stars Colbert as the wife of a neglectful businessman Milland (her role had been played on Broadway by Gertrude Lawrence). Brian Aherne is a handsome bachelor who hopes to win Colbert away from her husband. At first enjoying her vacation from marriage, Colbert finds she can't keep up with Aherne's peripatetic lifestyle, and returns to Milland. Skylark's comic highlight is a slapstick sequence in which Colbert tries to prepare lunch in a yacht during a storm. The scene was shot in a single take, an accomplishment in which the actress took justifiable pride. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Woo-woo Hugh Herbert is the star of Universal's Slightly Tempted. Herbert plays a kleptomaniac who promises to go straight for the sake of his daughter Peggy Moran. But old habits die hard, and soon Herbert is lifting valuables at the home of wealthy widow Elisabeth Risdon. Fortunately, the old lady takes a liking to the loveable thief. A bunch of professional thieves complicate matters by trying to enlist Hugh in their ranks, but all's well when the film's 60 minutes run their course. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

James Dunn and Frances Gifford were husband and wife when they costarred in PRC's Hold That Woman. Dunn plays Jimmy Parker, ace operative for Skip Tracers Ltd., a process-serving firm. Repossessing a radio from a recalcitrant debtor, Jimmy finds a fortune in stolen jewels hidden inside the box. Arrested for theft, Parker spends the rest of the picture trying to recover both the jewels and the radio, the better to clear his name and keep his job. Frances Gifford (evidently the "woman" of the title) plays Parker's business partner and erstwhile sweetheart Mary Mulvaney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There are three key characters in Anatole Litvak's filmization of Aben Kandel's novel City for Conquest, as opposed to the six or more in the book -- but the real star, to a large extent, is New York City and its entire population. For purposes of the movie, however, the dramatic arc is linked to James Cagney, as honest, unpretentious truck driver Danny Kenny, whose life is involved with two other people -- his kid brother, Ed (Arthur Kennedy), a gifted musician trying to survive in the rough-and-tumble world of New York's Lower East Side, and Peggy Nash (Ann Sheridan), the neighborhood girl from the Lower East Side whom he's loved, one way or another, since he was a kid. Danny is happy doing what he does, driving a truck, but when Ed's scholarship is cut in half, he reluctantly takes an offer of a boxing match to raise the cash he needs, going into the ring under the fighting name "Young Samson." At about the same time, Peggy -- who loves to dance -- has her head turned by Murray Burns (Anthony Quinn), an ambitious but sleazy aspiring professional dancer. Eventually Peggy goes into partnership with Murray and is ultimately driven by her own ambition to leave Danny after she accepts his marriage proposal. By now, he's getting up in the boxing world, and in his bitterness over losing Peggy he accepts a bout for the world's welterweight championship. He's not overmatched as a boxer, but the money involved in this fight is just too big for it to be honest, and Danny is left all but blinded when his opponent's handlers slip resin dust onto his gloves. Danny is left seemingly a shell of a man, though he's content with his lot in life as far as it goes. He doesn't want any special attention or favors from anyone; the only thing he would like, though he's too proud to admit it, would be for Peggy to come back. But by now her dancing career with Murray has fallen apart, and she's too tortured by guilt, over the sequence of events she helped start, to come near Danny. It falls to Ed, who has never given up composing, to express the inexpressibles that each of these characters feels through his music. His first major classical work is a symphony ostensibly about New York City, which he conducts in its premiere at Carnegie Hall; but it's also about Danny and his life, and his dreams. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In his final Our Gang appearance, Tommy Bond essays his usual role as the Gang's eternal nemesis Butch. This time, Butch wins the heart of little Darla Hood, leaving heartbroken Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer to cry in his alphabet soup. Mistaking the boy's doldrums for indigestion, Alfalfa's dad (William Newell) prepares to give his son a good dose of Seidlitz Powder -- or, as Alfie calls it, "Settles-It" Powder. Later on, the kids pay a visit to Butch's jerry-built chemistry lab, where the young troublemaker is mixing up what he thinks is an explosive. Recognizing the mixture as Settles-It Powder, the crafty Alfalfa offers himself as Butch's guinea pig, "bravely" downing the concoction in hopes of impressing Darla. Alas, the powders haven't been properly combined, and before long a bloated Alfalfa is floating into the sky, while the rest of the gang frantically scurries to his rescue. Filmed in November of 1939, the one-reel Bubbling Troubles was held back from release until May 25, 1940. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Of the many MGM Our Gang comedies focused on whiny child actor Robert Blake, the one-reel All About Hash is often cited as the worst of the bunch. It seems that little Mickey (Blake) is upset over the fact that his parents (Louis Jean Heydt and Peggy Shannon) spend every Monday night arguing. The reason: Mickey's mom invariably serves hash from the Sunday-dinner leftovers, and Mickey's dad hates hash. To teach the two adults a lesson, the Our Gang kids stage a skit on a local radio program, ending with a heartfelt plea by Mickey to stop the quarrelling. All About Hash was originally released on March 30, 1940. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frank Capra's classic comedy-drama established James Stewart as a lead actor in one of his finest (and most archetypal) roles. The film opens as a succession of reporters shout into telephones announcing the death of Senator Samuel Foley. Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), the state's senior senator, puts in a call to Governor Hubert "Happy" Hopper (Guy Kibbee) reporting the news. Hopper then calls powerful media magnate Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), who controls the state -- along with the lawmakers. Taylor orders Hopper to appoint an interim senator to fill out Foley's term; Taylor has proposed a pork barrel bill to finance an unneeded dam at Willet Creek, so he warns Hopper he wants a senator who "can't ask any questions or talk out of turn." After having a number of his appointees rejected, at the suggestion of his children Hopper nominates local hero Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), leader of the state's Boy Rangers group. Smith is an innocent, wide-eyed idealist who quotes Jefferson and Lincoln and idolizes Paine, who had known his crusading editor father. In Washington, after a humiliating introduction to the press corps, Smith threatens to resign, but Paine encourages him to stay and work on a bill for a national boy's camp. With the help of his cynical secretary Clarissa Sanders (Jean Arthur), Smith prepares to introduce his boy's camp bill to the Senate. But when he proposes to build the camp on the Willets Creek site, Taylor and Paine force him to drop the measure. Smith discovers Taylor and Paine want the Willets Creek site for graft and he attempts to expose them, but Paine deflects Smith's charges by accusing Smith of stealing money from the boy rangers. Defeated, Smith is ready to depart Washington, but Saunders, whose patriotic zeal has been renewed by Smith, exhorts him to stay and fight. Smith returns to the Senate chamber and, while Taylor musters the media forces in his state to destroy him, Smith engages in a climactic filibuster to speak his piece: "I've got a few things I want to say to this body. I tried to say them once before and I got stopped colder than a mackerel. Well, I'd like to get them said this time, sir. And as a matter of fact, I'm not gonna leave this body until I do get them said." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Zany radio comedian Joe Penner delivers one of his best (and most believable) screen performances in the Runyonesque comedy The Day the Bookies Wept. Penner stars as Ernest, the trainer of a broken-down racehorse named Hiccup. It seems that the nag turns into a potential champion whenever he's promised a bucketful of beer. Poor Ernest remains ignorant of this, but Hiccup manages to locate enough brewski on his own to win the inevitable Big Race. Betty Grable, still a year or so away from full stardom, is an appealing heroine in this likeable contrivance. ~ Hal Erickson, 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