Franklin Pangborn Movies
American actor Franklin Pangborn spent most of his theatrical days playing straight dramatic roles, but Hollywood saw things differently. From his debut film Exit Smiling (1926) to his final appearance in The Story of Mankind (1957), Pangborn was relegated to almost nothing but comedy roles. With his prissy voice and floor-walker demeanor, Pangborn was the perfect desk clerk, hotel manager, dressmaker, society secretary, or all-around busybody in well over 100 films. Except for a few supporting appearances in features and a series of Mack Sennett short subjects in the early 1930s, most of Pangborn's pre-1936 appearances were in bits or minor roles, but a brief turn as a snotty society scavenger-hunt scorekeeper in My Man Godfrey (1936) cemented his reputation as a surefire laugh-getter. The actor was a particular favorite of W.C. Fields, who saw to it that Pangborn was prominently cast in Fields' The Bank Dick (1940) (as hapless bank examiner J. Pinkerton Snoopington) and Never Give a Sucker An Even Break (1941). Occasionally, Pangborn longed for more dramatic roles, so to satisfy himself artistically he'd play non-comic parts for Edward Everett Horton's Los Angeles-based Majestic Theatre; Pangborn's appearance in Preston Sturges' Hail the Conquering Hero (1942) likewise permitted him a few straight, serious moments. When jobs became scarce in films for highly specialized character actors in the 1950s, Pangborn thrived on television, guesting on a number of comedy shows, including an appearance as a giggling serial-killer in a "Red Skelton Show" comedy sketch. One year before his death, Pangborn eased quietly into TV-trivia books by appearing as guest star (and guest announcer) on Jack Paar's very first "Tonight Show." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1933
Lionel Barrymore plays a Marshall Field-like Chicago businessman who emerges from the wreckage of the 1871 fire to build a department-store empire. Barrymore is aided by his Jewish manager Gregory Ratoff, who despite his business acumen is never made a full partner. The store magnate's four children grow up to be disappointments, preferring to squander dad's money and refusing to enter his business. Manager Ratoff realizes that Barrymore's offspring are worthless, and quietly buys up their shares of the store in order to save the business from ruin, emerging with full charge of Barrymore's empire. Only when Barrymore is on the verge of death do his children rally around him and promise to make something of themselves. A well-made 20th century equivalent to King Lear, Sweepings was remade less effectively as Three Sons in 1939. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lionel Barrymore, Alan Dinehart, (more)
- 1933
In this crime comedy, a stenographer is kidnapped after she witnesses a mob hit. The hostage soon finds herself the object of the crime lord's affections. She earns his trust and then escapes. She hops a bus and heads for L.A. where she plans on clearing the name of her girlfriend, the prime suspect in the killing. The speeding bus is pursued by the gangsters. Toward the end, the plucky girl must drive the bus herself to make it to safety. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Noel Francis, Donald Dillaway, (more)
- 1933
An earthy, fun-loving radio pitchwoman finds it difficult to live up to her squeaky-clean public persona as the "Purity Girl of the Air." This comedy chronicles the frantic efforts of her bosses to keep her on the straight and narrow when she goes out on the town. It's not easy because she is a shameless flirt. To put the kibosh on her constant coquettishness the publicity guys come up with the idea of having her choose a "professional sweetheart" from the many male admirers who frequently write her. They choose a naive Kentucky hayseed and much to everyone's surprise the Purity Girl falls in love with him. Unfortunately, after their radio wedding, the gal plans to ditch her radio gig and live the quiet life of a country housewife leaving the publicity men in a real quandary. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Norman Foster, (more)
- 1933
Emerson Treacy stars in this Mack Sennett-produced comedy short as Clarence, a hapless would-be lover (a "quivering mass of dormant sex appeal") who can't work up the words or the courage to propose to Betty (Joyce Compton). He makes the mistake of relying on his uncle (Walter Catlett), a fast-talking city-slicker who isn't half as smart as he thinks he is, for advice. And soon, Clarence's upper-crust rival (Franklyn Pangborn) seems to have the inside track for Betty's affections. Catlett steals most of the movie with his mix of zany schtick and fast-talk connivances, including a machine-gun like delivery at times. The slapstick bits are predictable but Catlett's inspired comedic outbursts pick up any slack in the action, which even finds room for a comedic dream sequence that's positively surreal in Catlett's scenes. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1933
Design for Living was based on the stage comedy by Noel Coward, though little of his dialogue actually made it to the screen. Playwright Fredric March and artist Gary Cooper both fall in love with Miriam Hopkins, an American living in Paris. Both men love the girl, and the girl can't make up her mind between the two men, so the threesome decide to move in together--strictly platonically, of course. As the men gain in success and prominence, the chasteness of the "menage a trois" begins to be threatened, and soon both March and Cooper clash over Hopkins. She reacts by marrying her wealthy but dull boss (Edward Everett Horton). Miriam is bored to tears until March and Cooper invade one of her husband's stuffy parties and chase the tiresome guests away. Miriam's husband huffily agrees to a divorce, and the girl returns to her unorthodox relationship with her two former suitors. The subtle homosexual implications of the Noel Coward stage original were dissipated by the presence of the aggressively masculine Gary Cooper and Fredric March in the film version of Design for Living. Replacing these implications were the equally subtle but more "mainstream" boudoir innuendos of director Ernst Lubitsch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Gary Cooper, (more)
- 1933
It is time for Spanky McFarland and his family to have a group portrait taken, and prissy photographer Otto Phocus is the man for the job. At least, that's what Otto thinks, before he's worn to a frazzle trying to coax a smile out of the taciturn Spanky. Meanwhile, the rest of the Our Gang kids inadvertently lay waste to Mr. Phocus' developing room. Originally released on October 28, 1933, "Wild Poses" benefits from a strong adult cast: Franklin Pangborn as the persnickety Otto Phocus, the Burns-and-Allen clones Emerson Treacy and Gay Seabrook as Spanky's parents ---and even a surprise guest appearance by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1933
Headline Shooter is a brisk comedy/melodrama about a newsreel photographer (William Gargan). He prefers to risk his neck to get "swell" pictures, while his reporter girl friend (Frances Dee), though no less fearless, would prefer that he give up his dangerous profession. Ralph Bellamy (as always!) is around as Frances' "stable" boyfriend, who of course loses the girl. The story wraps up as Gargan rescues Dee from a band of kidnapping gangsters (though neither the girl nor her captors seem to regard the situation as life-threatening!) Padded out with yards and yards of stock newsreel footage, Headline Shooter is highlighted by the opening-scene appearance of humorist Robert Benchley, playing a radio announcer at a beauty contest who can't think of any descriptive phrase other than "feminine pulchritude." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Gargan, Frances Dee, (more)
- 1933
In this sassy dramatic comedy, two reform-school girls finally graduate and as soon as they get out decide to board a New Orleans-bound stern-wheeler and rustle up a couple of handsome, wealthy men. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea, (more)
- 1933
This is a musical comedy which starred Bing Crosby and included the song "Auf Wiedesehn". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1933
Distantly related to Frederick Lewis Allen's non-fiction book of the same name, Only Yesterday uses fictional characters to trace the years between 1917 and 1929. Wealthy New Yorker John Boles recalls a long-ago affair with southern belle Margaret Sullavan. She gave birth to his child without ever naming the father, then moved to New York herself and set up a dress shop. As the stock-market crash of 1929 wipes out his life savings, Boles becomes remorseful over how he's forgotten Sullavan, who is now dying. He acknowledges that he is the father of her child, and promises to make a good life for the boy despite his dire financial situation. Only Yesterday opens with a remarkable montage sequence showing the devastating effects of the Depression; after that, it never quite gains momentum despite the superb performance of Margaret Sullavan (in her film debut). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Sullavan, John Boles, (more)
- 1932
A broad lampoon of celebrity worship, The Half-Naked Truth stars Lee Tracy as a carnival huckster and Lupe Velez as a "kootch" dancer. Reaching for the moon, Tracy passes Lupe off as an exotic foreign princess--and manages to pull the wool over the eyes of all Manhattan. Now "famous for being famous", Lupe is employed for special appearances by Ziegfeldish impresario Frank Morgan. When the fraud is revealed to the world, Tracy returns to the carnival, with Lupe (who's loved him since Reel One) at his side. Half-Naked Truth co-stars Eugene Pallette as Tracy's assistant; the bullfrog-voiced Pallette has a wonderful moment in which he discovers that he's been mistaken for "Princess" Lupe's head eunuch! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lupe Velez, Lee Tracy, (more)
