Hattie Noel Movies
- 1943
Honeymoon Lodge is a musical variation on the old Awful Truth plotline. Divorce-bound Bob and Carol Sterling (David Bruce, June Vincent) make a last-ditch attempt to avoid their legal breakup by restaging their mountain-resort honeymoon. Things get complicated when a rancher named Big Boy (Rod Cameron, in a Ralph Bellamy-style "sap" role) shows up at the resort in ardent pursuit of Carol, while Lorraine Logan (Harriet Hilliard) sets her cap for Bob. Though it has more plot than usual for a film of this kind, Honeymoon Lodge is worth seeing only for its musical highlights, including a few delightful numbers teaming Harriet Hilliard with her real-life bandleader husband Ozzie Nelson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Bruce, June Vincent, (more)
- 1941
No relation to the Cracked Nuts he directed in 1931, this hokey sci-fi-comedy from director Edward F. Cline stars Stuart Erwin as Lawrence Trent, a country rube who wins a refrigerator-slogan contest and gets some money for his efforts. Meanwhile, mad scientist Boris Kabikoff (Mischa Auer) builds a silly-looking robot in his own image and hooks up with a New York patent attorney (William Frawley from I Love Lucy) to bilk Trent out of his prize money. Shemp Howard plays the robot as a lusty creature with a penchant for skirt-chasing and is used by black servant Chloe (Hattie Noel) to do housechores and frighten her husband Burgess (Mantan Moreland), who has a gambling problem. Una Merkel co-stars with Astrid Allwyn and Pierre Watkin. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1941
In this drama two children return from their separate boarding schools to a nasty surprise. The father of one is romantically involved with the other's aunt. The two immediately try to destroy the love affair. They all get involved with chasing some thieves and end up in jail. There the judge marries the lovers and the children are finally able to accept it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Una Merkel, (more)
- 1941
The unlikely combination of John Wayne and Joan Blondell adds a bit of vinegar and spice to the so-so costume drama Lady for a Night. Blondell is cast as Jenny Blake, owner of the Memphis Belle-not a WW2 bomber, but a gambling ship moored just outside New Orleans. Jenny's partner and erstwhile suitor is local political boss Jack Morgan (Wayne). She loves Morgan, but decides to marry for money and prestige, and to that end weds "black sheep" socialite Alan Alderson (Ray Middleton). Her new in-laws are infuriated by this marriage of convenience, and do everything they can to ruin Jenny in the eyes of society. When Alderson dies suddenly, his vengeful mother Julia (Blanche Yurka) accuses Jenny of poisoning her husband. Throughout the subsequent trial and scandal, Morgan stands loyally by Jenny's side, convincing her at long last that he's been the "right man" for her all along. Hattie Noel, who two years earlier lost the role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind to Hattie McDaniel, essays a neat Mammy-like characterization as Jenny's all-knowing maidservant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, John Wayne, (more)
A seemingly quiet Midwestern town is the hiding place for a number of sordid secrets in this melodrama based on Henry Bellamann's best-selling novel. Parris Mitchell (Scotty Beckett) is a young boy growing up in the town of King's Row, where he becomes close friends with Cassandra (Mary Thomas), a quiet girl who isn't popular with the other children. Parris is also friends with Louise (Joan Duvalle), a rich girl who looks down on others; Drake (Douglas Croft), a good-natured but self-centered type; and Randy (Ann Todd), a girl with a wild tomboy streak. It's a testimony to Parris' character when Cassandra and Louise both invite him to parties on the same day and he decides to go to Cassandra's, because he's not sure who else might be there for her. However, his friendship with her begins to fade after her father, local psychiatrist Dr. Tower (Claude Rains), decides to withdraw her from public school and tutor her at home instead. Years later, Parris (now played by Robert Cummings) is a promising medical student studying psychiatry with Dr. Tower, and while he's stayed in contact with Cassandra (now played by Betty Field), she remains at a curious emotional distance from those around her. Randy (now played by Ann Sheridan) romances Drake (now played by Ronald Reagan), who has inherited a fortune and is living the high life to the fullest. However, Drake is also involved with Louise (Nancy Coleman), who is not allowed much of a social life by her father, Dr. Gordon (Charles Coburn), and she fears that the more outgoing Randy will steal Drake away from her. When Parris decides to travel to Europe to further his studies, Cassandra asks if she can join him; he's not keen on the idea, but he considers it. He is then shocked to learn that Cassandra has been killed by her father after he learned that she was with child, shortly before taking his own life. Drake, meanwhile, loses his money through a series of unfortunate circumstances and is forced to take a job with the railroad; when he is injured at work, he's taken to Dr. Gordon for treatment. However, the doctor never approved of Drake's romance with Louise and was even more upset when he decided to leave her for Randy; in retaliation, Dr. Gordon amputates Drake's legs, even though his condition in no way justified it. Meanwhile, Parris comes back from Europe and makes the acquaintance of a local resident, Dr. Sandor (Erwin Kalser), while becoming infatuated with his daughter, Elise (Kaaren Verne). He also learns of Dr. Gordon's shocking mutilation of Drake, who is determined to somehow live a normal life despite it all, with Randy by his side. Kings Row was nominated for three Academy Awards (including Best Picture of 1943), and is generally conceded to feature the best performance of Ronald Reagan's Hollywood career; he titled his autobiography Where's the Rest of Me?, after the key line of his most memorable (and challenging) scene in the picture.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1940
In this remake of the 1926 silent hit (which was in turn based on a hit musical from 1919), Anna Neagle stars as Irene O'Dare, an Irish girl of humble beginnings who comes to New York in search of work. She finds a place as a shopgirl at a fashionable and expensive boutique managed by Mr. Smith (Roland Young). Irene does well at her new job and soon finds that two wealthy men are vying for her affections. Don Marshall (Ray Milland), the owner of the store, is much attracted to Irene, but so is socialite Bob Vincent (Alan Marshal), which does not come as a pleasant surprise to Eleanor Worth (Marsha Hunt), Bob's sweetheart. Irene features several (but not all) of the songs from the original stage production, including "Castle of Dreams", "Worthy of You", "You've Got Me out on a Limb", and "There's Something in the Air". The "Alice Blue Gown" number was shot in Technicolor, while the remainder of the film is in black and white. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Neagle, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1940
In this low-budget musical, two sets of politically ambitious parents attempt to pair up their youngsters who unfortunately despise each other and only pretend to like each other to please their parents. On the nights they are to go out, they sneak out with their respective true loves. It all works well until the unwilling couple find themselves falling in love for real. songs include: "I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now", and "Got Romance". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis O'Keefe, Constance Moore, (more)
- 1940
Previously filmed in 1916 with Mary Pickford's brother Jack in the lead, Booth Tarkington's irresistable coming-of-age novel Seventeen serves as a tailor-made vehicle for 18-year-old Jackie Cooper. The star is cast as William Slyvanus Baxter, a high school boy who is undergoing the pangs of First Romance. The object of his affections is flirtatious debutante Lola Pratt (Betty Field), an "older woman"-at least a whole year older! Losing his head completely, William spends all of his hard-earned money on the fickle Lola, only to learn a valuable (and very expensive) lesson about loving neither wisely nor too well. Norma Nelson is hilariously hateful as William's tattletale kid sister, while Otto Kruger and Ann Shoemaker are quietly effective as the boy's exasperated but understanding parents. Obviously rushed into production to capitalize on the successful teaming of Jackie Cooper and Betty Field in 1939's What a Life!, Seventeen is an excellent effort in its own right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Cooper, Betty Field, (more)
- 1940
Festooned with flashbacks, Married and in Love is a minor domestic drama given Tiffany treatment by director John Farrow. Helen Vinson plays a vain, selfish woman, unhappily married to Patrick Knowles. Impulsively, Helen decides to kick over the traces an elope with college sweetheart Alan Marshal. It so happens that Marshal is also married, to Barbara Read. The events leading up to Helen and Alan's rash behavior are detailed with a complexity that rivals Citizen Kane. All Married and In Love would have needed to move into the A-picture category was a more bankable cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Marshal, Barbara Read, (more)
Though Ginger Rogers' starring vehicles always turned a profit for RKO Radio, many filmgoers thought of Rogers only in terms of "Fred Astaire's partner." Others considered her a delightful comedienne, but no great shakes as a dramatic actress. Thus it was both a personal and professional triumph when Ms. Rogers walked home with an Oscar for her performance in Kitty Foyle. Based on Christopher Morley's Story of an American Girl, the film, told in flashback, relates the progress of working-girl Kitty Foyle (Ginger Rogers) as she pursues her Cinderella dreams. While employed at a department store, Kitty is wooed by Dennis Morgan, scion of a wealthy Philadelphia family. She flirts with the notion of marrying Morgan for his money, but decides that he's a bit too weak-willed for her tastes. Kitty enters into a romance with poor-but-dedicated doctor James Craig, then does an about-face by accepting Morgan's proposal. She quickly runs afoul of Morgan's snobbish family, who are so tightly bound by centuries-old tradition that Kitty is moved to exclaim "You mean to say you let all those dead people tell you what do?" She walks out on Morgan, then discovers that she's pregnant. Even after the trauma of delivering a stillborn child, Kitty is too proud to go back to Morgan. When true-blue Craig comes back into her life, Kitty, repeating her favorite phrase "By Judas Priest!", decides to forego money for love. Though successful to the tune of an $860,000 profit in 1940, Kitty Foyle seems stilted and over-rehearsed when seen today, save for the refreshing spontaneity of Ginger Rogers' performance. The film's best scene is the opening montage of the American Woman's "progress" once she enters the workplace (an uncredited Heather Angel is the central character in this delightful pantomimic vignette). Featured in the cast of Kitty Foyle is director Sam Wood's daughter Katherine Stevens, better known as K.T. Stevens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Dennis Morgan, (more)
This Technicolor sequel to 1939's Jesse James does without the services of the earlier film's star Tyrone Power, who after all was shot dead by that "dirty little coward" Bob Ford (John Carradine). Repeating his portrayal of western outlaw Frank James, Henry Fonda is promoted to top billing here. As depicted by scenarist Sam Hellman, Frank has retired from his life of crime to become a peaceful farmer, though he has never given up his search for the treacherous Ford. The killer and his cohorts are eventually rounded up, but are pardoned due to political intervention. That's when Frank slaps on six-guns once more to seek his own form of justice. Featured in the cast is Henry Hull as a top-of-his-lungs crusading newspaperman and Jackie Cooper as a headstrong young sprout who pays the ultimate price for his bullheadedness. Making her screen debut is Gene Tierney, in the role of an Eastern reporter who wants to tell Frank's true story to the world. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, (more)
- 1939
A big city lawyer returns to his tiny home town to enter the firm of his late father. His father's partner is happy to have him, but the partner's lovely daughter is even happier.. Every one is happy until the young attorney decides to represent the local villain, a ruthless factory owner who cares more for money than his employees. When the abused workers go on strike, the partner drops the factory owner's account, but the young slicker stays with the magnate. This upsets the partner's daughter. Tragedy and chaos follow when gangsters get involved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Hayward, Joseph Allen, Jr., (more)
- 1939
A remake of a 1930 Universal film, Little Accident was the third starring vehicle for androgynous juvenile star Baby Sandy. Hugh Herbert stars as Herbert Pearson, self-styled infant specialist on a big-city newspaper. When father Tabby Morgan (Ernest Truex) abandons his bundle of joy (Baby Sandy) on Pearson's desk, the latter is forced to play "papa"-and to play it with expertise-at the risk of losing his job. The slapstick consequences give way to thrills and spills when Baby Sandy finds himself (herself?) headed for a whirring laundry machine. Like its same-named predecessor, Little Accident was based on a play by Floyd Dell and Thomas Mitchell (yes, that Thomas Mitchell). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Herbert, Florence Rice, (more)
