Wilda Bennett Movies
(Preston Sturges) wrote and directed this classic romantic comedy starring Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck, who are involved in a scintillating battle of the sexes, as Sturges points up the terrors of sexual passion and the unattainability of the romantic ideal. Henry Fonda plays Charles Pike, the heir to the Pike Ale fortune ("The Ale That Won for Yale"). An ophiologist (a snake expert), he just spent a year "up the Amazon" looking for rare snakes with his cynical and protective guardian/valet Muggsy (William Demarest). He arrives to board the S.S. Southern Queen bound for New York, and immediately becomes the main order of business for a collection of single women looking to nab the eligible bachelor. Amongst those watching Charles board are a trio of con men and cardsharps -- Colonel Handsome Harry Harrington (Charles Coburn), his partner Gerald (Melville Cooper), and the Colonel's daughter Jean (Barbara Stanwyck). All three see Charles as a pushover and at dinner, while all the women are ogling Charles, Jean wins the day by sticking out her foot and tripping him. Complaining to Charles that he should watch where he is going, she gets him to escort her to her cabin so that she can replace her broken heel. Charles is sexually attracted to Jean, but when Charles is about to make a pass at her, she pulls back, telling him, "You ought to be put in a cage." Back in the dining room, Charles is introduced to the Colonel and the three play cards, Charles winning $500 from the Colonel and $100 from Jean. But Charles is merely being set-up for the next game when the Colonel will come in for the kill. Back at Jean's cabin, Charles and Jean sit close and something happens she hadn't planned -- she becomes attracted to Charles too. The next morning, Muggsy warns Charles that the Colonel and Jean are cardsharks, but Charles won't hear of it. Meanwhile, the Colonel is looking forward to fleecing Charles, but Jean doesn't want any part of it. Jean participates in the card game between Charles and the Colonel, making sure than the Colonel doesn't cheat. But while Jean waits on deck for Charles after the game, the Colonel plays Charles a game of double-or-nothing, with Charles losing $32,000. Jean, angry with her father, makes the Colonel tears up Charles' check. The next morning, Muggsy proves to Charles the three are con artists. Devastated, Charles shows Jean the photograph, claiming he knew she was a criminal the morning after he met her. Jean is determined to get even with Charles ("I hate that mug!"). Docking in New York, the Colonel reveals he merely palmed the $32,000 check. But that's not enough revenge for Jean. Impersonating an aristocratic English woman, Lady Eve Sidwich, Jean has herself introduced to Charles. Planning to make Charles to fall in love with her again, she intends to break his heart like he broke her own. As she explains, "I've got some unfinished business with him -- I need him like the axe needs the turkey." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Barbara Stanwyck, (more)
- 1940
William Holden and Bonita Granville, heavily if not convincingly decked out in "old age" makeup, recall on their 35th wedding anniversary how they first met in 1904. Holden was a brash college freshman, while Bonita was the daughter of a local judge (Vaughn Glaser). Since Holden couldn't stay out of trouble, the judge prohibited him from visiting his daughter, but the boy opposed the edict and ended up being arrested--with Bonita managing to have herself thrown in jail as well. The anecdotal storyline comes to a comically ironic conclusion when the ageing Holden complains that he can't control his own headstrong son. Based on the "Siwash" stories by George Fitch, Those Were the Days gets by on its nostalgic appeal, but cannot be considered one of William Holden's more significant pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, Bonita Granville, (more)
- 1939
In this comedy drama, young high school student Henry Aldrich tries to tone down his natural mischievousness and shuck the reputation of being the worst student in school. It isn't easy and his father, who was an excellent student at Princeton, doesn't help. Fortunately, by the story's end, the young man is able to overcome all obstacles and prove himself. Following this film, the character of Henry Aldrich became popular and so several subsequent films were made around him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Cooper, Betty Field, (more)
- 1920
William Williams (Henry Harmon) named his daughter (Wild Bennet) Conscience for a reason -- he's a Puritanical New Englander whose beliefs veer towards the rigid and dogmatic. So when Conscience falls for Stuart Emmett (Kenneth Harlan), an author who has written a book on free thought, Williams blows his stack. He insists that she marry Eben Tollman (George Cowl), an older man who has money. Tollman helps his suit along by stealing a letter the girl has written to Emmett, who leaves town. So Conscience marries Tollman, but when she finds out about the purloined missive, she sends for Emmett. He returns and gets into a fight with Tollman which results in the older man being tossed into the lake. While the film ends with the couple in a clinch, it never does explain what happened to the waterlogged husband. It was based on a best-selling novel, The Tyranny of Weakness, by Charles Neville Buck. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1914
Movie star Mary Pickford was reunited with her theatrical mentor, producer David Belasco, in this filmization of Pickford and Belasco's stage hit A Good Little Devil. Beginning with a tableau wherein Belasco conjures up visions of the play's characters, the film segues into the story of a little blind girl (Pickford, of course) who brightens up the lives of all those around her. Featured in the cast is young Ernest Truex as the male juvenile. Unfortunately, the director chosen for the film was Edwin S. Porter, who despite his ground-breaking The Great Train Robbery (1903) was a singularly uninspired filmmaker. As a result, Good Little Devil was little more than a photographed stage play, well below the standards of Pickford's earlier efforts for D.W.Griffith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
