Barnett Parker Movies
A busy supporting actor of the 1930s who was often cast as the quintessential English manservant, tall, dapper-looking Barnett Parker had appeared with such British stage stars as George Alexander and Fred Terry prior to making his Broadway debut opposite Billie Burke in Mind the Paint Girl. The year was 1912 and the busy Parker immediately established himself as the typical "silly ass" British comic, "silly ass" being a description favored by the actor himself. Parker, who went on to appear opposite such legendary stage stars as Lew Fields and Lou Tellegen, moonlighted in movies from 1915 to 1920, chiefly for the New Rochelle-based Thanhouser company, where he scored quite a hit playing Astorbilt, the millionaire hero of the comedy Prudence the Pirate (1916). Parker spent the next decade or so on the boards but returned to films in 1936 to play a seemingly endless series of butlers, servants, and waiters. His death was attributed to a heart attack. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1941
The very first Disney feature to include live-action footage, this behind-the-scenes documentary about the studio's animation process includes the cartoon short of the title, which in later years was often exhibited separately from this film. Robert Benchley stars as himself, a visitor to the Disney lot, where he intends to pitch an animated version of the children's fairy tale The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame to Walt Disney himself. Benchley wanders away from his studio-appointed guide and tours the facilities himself, where he sees various new cartoons in the process of being storyboarded, including a Baby Weems short. Benchley also meets Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck, and a young animator (played by Alan Ladd) before being corralled to Disney's screening room, where he is shown the company's new short, none other than The Reluctant Dragon. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Benchley, Frances Gifford, (more)
- 1941
Cesar Romero plays an outwardly tough prohibition-era gangster who in reality wouldn't hurt a fly. He maintains his "killer" reputation by planting evidence of his involvement at the scenes of other crooks' crimes. Romero begins aspiring for respectability when he falls in love with Virginia Gilmore and adopts the orphaned Stanley Clements. Through his own non-homicidal means, Romero redeems himself by wiping out a genuinely nasty gangster boss (Sheldon Leonard). Tall, Dark and Handsome was remade in 1950 as Love That Brute, with Paul Douglas in the Cesar Romero role--and with Romero playing the villain! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cesar Romero, Virginia Gilmore, (more)
- 1941
Kisses for Breakfast is a dumbed-down remake of the 1930 marital comedy The Matrimonial Bed, itself based on a British stage play by Seymour Hicks-which in turn was adapted from a French farce by Yves Mirande and Andre Mouzey-Eon. With that pedigree, it's amazing that this frenetic 1941 slapsticker isn't better than it is, but it just isn't, that's all. Knocked out during a fight, Rodney Trask (Dennis Morgan) awakens with amnesia, totally unaware that he's just married Juliet Marsden (Shirley Ross). His only clue to his identity is an address found in his coat pocket, which leads him to the South Carolina home of Juliet's cousin Laura Anders (Janet Wyatt). A year passes, during which Rodney straightens out Laura's financial problems and wins her love. After their marriage, Rodney and Laura decide to visit her northern relatives-including, naturally, wife number one, Juliet, who has come to believe that Rodney is dead and is about to take a new husband. What follows is a endless series of silly slapstick gags, with poor Juliet receiving a great deal of unwarranted punishment at the hands of the capricious Laura. The mess eventually straightens itself out, by which time both heroines have thorougly alienated the audience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Morgan, Jane Wyatt, (more)
- 1941
Bucolic lawyer John Wayne takes on big-city corruption in A Man Betrayed. He sets out to prove that an above-suspicion politician (Edward Ellis) is actually a crook. The price of integrity is sweet in this instance, since Wayne happens to be in love with the politician's daughter (Frances Dee). Man Betrayed can be viewed from the vantage point of the 1990s as an attempt by Republic Pictures to broaden the range of its biggest star, John Wayne. That it doesn't quite work is forgotten as the audience luxuriates in the sheer professionalism of the whole endeavor--and besides, the Duke does get to put up his dukes on more than one occasion. Man Betrayed has been released under two alternate titles: Wheel of Fortune for American television, and Citadel of Crime (coincidentally the title of a like-vintage Republic "B" picture) for British audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Frances Dee, (more)
- 1941
Also released as The Great Awakening, New Wine purports to recreate an incident in the life of Austrian composer Franz Schubert. Though the real-life Schubert was chubby and homely, he is played on screen by the slim-and-handsome Alan Curtis. Unable to convince the world of his talent, Schubert is on the verge of starvation when he is rescued by a gorgeous patron: Countess Anna, portrayed by Curtis' then-wife Ilona Massey. In the film's most memorable scene, Ludwig Van Beethoven (Albert Basserman) advises Schubert to finish that Unfinished Symphony. It's that kind of picture. At least New Wine is full of glorious music, written by Schubert and his contemporaries and only slightly Hollywoodized in the arrangements. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ilona Massey, Alan Curtis, (more)
- 1940
In this musical, the second entry in a five-film series, a thrift shop owner sells his business and buys a small time radio station. He begins looking for sponsors. He finds one with a department store owner who will only lend him the money if he will allow his daughter, an aspiring tap-dancer and singer, to perform on the air. This is unfortunate as she is tone-deaf. To compensate, the owner hires a real singer to dub the daughter's voice. The singer and the owner's nephew fall in love and mayhem ensues. Songs include: the Oscar nominated "Who Am I?," "Swing Low Sweet Rhythm," "In The Cool of the Evening," "Make Yourself at Home," "The Swap Shop Song," "The Trading Post," "Sally," "Ramona," "Sweet Sue," "Dinah," "Margie," and "Mary Lou." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenny Baker, Frances Langford, (more)
- 1940
It is perhaps unnecessary to point out that the MGM programmer Hullabaloo bears no relation to the 1960s rock-and-roll series of the same name. Frank Morgan plays Frank Merriweather, an old-time actor who tries to revive his fading career on radio (just as John Barrymore was then doing in real life). His first attempt at radio success culminates in a Welles-like "Invasion of Mars" scare, which loses him his job. Merriweather manages to redeem himself in the last scenes by trotting his talented youngsters (Virginia Grey, Virginia O'Brien and Leni Lynn) before the microphones. The film's funniest scene finds Merriweather offering a re-enactment of the recent MGM feature Boom Town, delivering astonishingly accurate imitations of Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr-a bit of cinematic ledgerdemain accomplished by dubbing the Boom Town soundtrack over Frank Morgan's lip movements. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Morgan, Virginia Grey, (more)
- 1940
In this musical drama, a construction worker becomes the guardian of a 12-year old girl after one of his buddies is killed. She and he head to New York to look for her uncle, a vaudevillian. With the help of a good pal, they soon find the uncle. The three searchers encounter trouble when the pal uses all their money to buy a ramshackle restaurant. Fortunately, the construction worker saves them by turning the dump into a red hot night spot. Songs include: "I Haven't The Time To Be A Millionaire", "Meet The Sun Halfway", "April Played The Fiddle", "The Pessimistic Character (With The Crab Apple Face)", "If I Had My Way", "Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider", and "Rings On My Fingers". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Gloria Jean, (more)
- 1940
The third film version of Earl Derr Biggers' novel Love Insurance, One Night in the Tropics stars Allan Jones as a hotshot insurance salesman who sells a policy to his best pal Robert Cummings. Cummings will earn $1 million if he fails to marry his fiance Nancy Kelly. Half of the policy is underwritten by tough gambling-house owner William Frawley, who panics when Cummings heads for a Caribbean isle in pursuit of Peggy Moran. As for Kelly, she wants no part of Cummings once she finds out she's a pawn in his policy. Well, who cares? The real attraction of One Night in the Tropics is the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, here making their feature film debut in the roles of Frawley's flunkeys. Though they never get in the way of the plot (worse luck!), Abbott and Costello have plenty of time to perform several of their best routines, including "Mustard," "Jonah and the Whale," and a tantalizingly brief excerpt of "Who's on First?" Outside of A&C's contributions, the film boasts several pleasant if forgettable tunes by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. Though not a big box-office success, One Night in the Tropics garnered such positive reviews for Abbott and Costello that the team was rewarded with its own vehicle, the 1941 cash cow Buck Privates. Note: many TV prints of Tropics are struck from the 69-minute reissue of the late 1940s, in which the "straight" plot was pared to down to give more emphasis to Abbott and Costello. The original 82 minute version was recently restored for videocassette release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allan Jones, Bud Abbott, (more)
- 1940
This slick marital farce features Joel McCrea as T. H. Randall, a race horse owner whose devotion to his work causes a strain in his relationship with wife Valerie (Nancy Kelly). Unable to stand any more neglect, Valerie divorces Randall, even though the audience is well aware that she's still in love with him. Reduced to poverty by his huge alimony payments, Randall cooks up a scheme with lawyer Bill Carter (Roland Young) to marry off Valerie to staid Paul Hunter (Lyle Talbot). But during a weekend party at the home of dowager Ethel (Mary Boland), Randall resents the attentions lavished upon Valerie by rakish young Freddie (Cesar Romero). It doesn't take a Rhodes Scholar to figure out who winds up with whom in the last scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel McCrea, Nancy Kelly, (more)
- 1940
In this comedy, actor Hugh Herbert plays six different roles. Only one of the roles is a man. The story centers around a dizzy music lover, who has grown rich through real estate deals. Also figuring in the story are a cab driver/performer, and a down-on-her-luck, aspiring singer. They meet when she hails his cab as she skips out on her former boarding house because she cannot pay rent. The cabbie takes her to his boarding house. All of the residents are struggling performers. Unfortunately, they are all about to be evicted as none of them can pay rent. All of the tenants put together a show to try to earn money. They then turn the house into a nightclub. It is just about to fold when the real estate tycoon arrives and is impressed. He then remembers that he owns the building. The kind tycoon gives the place to the cabbie and the singer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Herbert
- 1940
Love Thy Neighbor was produced to capitalize on the famous radio feud between comedians Jack Benny and Fred Allen. The two stars (actually friends in real life) play "themselves," constantly at each other's throats due to real and imagined slights. Benny complicates matters by falling in love with Allen's niece, played by Mary Martin. The battling comics briefly patch up their differences when Benny rescues Allen from an out of control motorboat, but the truce doesn't last long. The final scene takes place during a musical revue starring Benny, which Allen tries to break up with a slingshot. The Benny-Allen feud was already old news by the time of Love Thy Neighbor, and the film is merely an uninspired attenuation of a threadbare premise. The result is a letdown for fans of both Jack Benny and Fred Allen--though there are a handful of genuinely funny one-liners, as well as adroit supporting contributions from Mary Martin and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. The best scene in Love Thy Neighbor is the animated opening-credits sequence, produced by Warner Bros.' "Looney Tunes" mentor Leon Schlesinger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Benny, Fred Allen, (more)
- 1939
This fun-filled spin-off of the Rodgers & Hart Broadway musical by the same name, features Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney as two young children of vaudevillian parents who aren't included in their parents travels, so they set out to produce a show of their own. Rooney's the driver here and he's up against the administrators of a fogy state-run trade school, who think the whole show idea is nonsense. A listening judge gives them 30 days to put on the show and prove they don't belong in the jail-like school. The rest of the action involves the highly talented kids successful efforts to not only stage the show, but to bring the whole troupe to Broadway. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, (more)
- 1939
In this romance, a young woman journeys from Syracuse to New York to see her sweetheart, a prominent architect. She is bitterly disappointed to discover that he has lost interest in her. The residents of the women's hotel at which she stays offer the heartbroken lass words of encouragement. They tell her to take a stand and to show him what he is missing. She takes their advice and becomes a renowned fashion model. Naturally this piques the designer's interest and he wishes to court her anew. Of course, she by then has many suitors, so he must really work to win her back. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sothern, Linda Darnell, (more)
- 1939
This comedy is set in New York and centers upon a singing Irish cop who causes quite a sensation among two producers when he sings at the annual Policeman's Ball. For a long time, they have been looking for a voice for their new cartoon feature, "Paddy the Pig," and the cop is just perfect. The policeman is tickled pink at the prospect of being a star and begins telling all his friends about his good fortune (he has no idea what they plan to do with his voice). Eventually he ends up marrying one of the producers, who still hasn't told him the truth. Suddenly the night of the big premiere finally arrives and all of the policeman's old friends and colleagues are there. As it begins, the policeman is appalled and humiliated to see that he has been mocked and has become a laughing stock. He immediately spurns his new wife and goes back to the police force. Time passes, and fortunately, the two reunite and settle their differences. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phil Regan, Jean Parker, (more)
- 1939
A distinct letdown from their previous MGM films, the Marx Bros.' At the Circus nonetheless contains intermittent moments of high hilarity. When Jeff Wilson (Kenny Baker) is in danger of losing his circus to crooked creditor Carter (James Burke), Jeff's faithful roustabout Antonio (Chico Marx) enlists the aid of seedy attorney J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho Marx). Despite the best efforts of Loophole, Antonio and general hanger-on Punchy (Harpo Marx), Jeff is robbed of the circus payroll by two flies in the ointment, Goliath the Strong Man (Nat Pendleton) and Little Professor Atom (Jerry Marenghi, later known as Jerry Maren). Also in on the plot to wrest control of the circus is aerialist Peerless Pauline (Eve Arden), with whom Loophole has a cozy tete-a-tete while walking on the ceiling (no kidding!) In a last-ditch effort to raise the necessary funds, Loophole romances Jeff's wealthy aunt Mrs. Dukesbury (Margaret Dumont). The finale takes place at a fancy society party at the Dukesbury mansion, with Punchy and Antonio hijacking the scheduled entertainment and replacing it with a full-fledged circus performance. Weighed down by an excess of plot and a surfeit of misfire gags, not to mention one of sappiest romantic subplots in film history (involving sappy tenor Kenny Baker and sappier ingenue Florence Rice), At the Circus still keeps audiences happy with Groucho's rendition of the deathless "Lydia the Tatooed Lady" (by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg) and the zany denoument, wherein pompous conductor Fritz Feld and his orchestra are set adrift in the middle of the ocean and the magnificent Margaret Dumont is shot out of a cannon. Best gag: When Eve Arden stuffs the circus payroll into her blouse, Groucho turns to the camera and whispers "There must be some way of getting that money back without offending the Hays Office." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, (more)
M.G.M.'s opulent costume drama Marie Antoinette marked a return to the screen after a two-year absence for reigning Queen of M.G.M. Norma Shearer. Shearer plays the title role of an Austrian princess who is married off to Louis Auguste (Robert Morley), the Dauphin of France. Marie, by becoming the Dauphine, finds herself plopped smack in the middle of French palace intrigue between Louis's father King Louis XV (John Barrymore) and his scheming cousin, the Duke of Orleans (Joseph Schildkraut). With Louis unable to consummate his marriage to Marie, she takes to holding elaborate parties and gambling her fortune away. In a casino, she meets the handsome Count Axel de Fersen (Tyrone Power) and they have an affair. But when Louis XV dies and Louis becomes King Louis XVI, Fersen takes his leave, telling her that he could carry on an affair with a dauphine but not the Queen of France. Marie vows to be a great queen and remain loyal to her king. But the Duke of Orleans is plotting against Louis XVI, financing the revolutionary radicals. When the monarchy is overthrown, Louis and Marie are thrown into prison, awaiting execution. But when word gets back to Fersen, he travels back to France in an attempt to rescue Marie. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, (more)
- 1938
Three manicurists hope to become entertainers through the auspices of their wisecracking agent (Fred Allen). Sally (Alice Faye) is the smart one, Irene (Joan Davis) the funny one, and Mary (Marjorie Weaver) the cute-and-innocent one. The girls secure work in a Greenwich village nitery, where Sally falls for star singer Tony Martin. The threesome's career becomes stalled until Mary inherits an old ferry boat, which she converts into a floating nightclub. Among the highlights of Sally Irene and Mary is a jitterbug number by Joan Davis and supporting appearances by Jimmy Durante and Gypsy Rose Lee (billed under her real name, Louise Hovick). The film was based on a non-musical play by Eddie Dowling and Cyril Rood, previously filmed in 1925. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alice Faye, Tony Martin, (more)
- 1938
Two of MGM's top juvenile stars, Judy Garland and Freddie Bartholomew, team up for the otherwise unremarkable Listen, Darling. The story gets rolling when widowed Dotty Wingate (Mary Astor) decides to remarry for the sake of her children Pinkie (Garland) and Billie (Scotty Beckett). To prevent her mother from making this fateful move, Pinkie and her best pal Buzz (Bartholomew) conspire to "kidnap" Dotty by convincing her to take a cross-country motor trip. En route, the vacationers make the acquaintance of lawyer Richard Thurlow (Walter Pidgeon). Immediately altering her plan, Pinkie decides that Thurlow would make a perfect stepfather, and the rest of the film is devoted to the zany methods implemented by the kids to bring Thurlow and Dottie together. Early in the proceedings, Judy Garland sings "Zing Went the Strings of My Heart", easily the film's most memorable moment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Garland, Freddie Bartholomew, (more)
- 1938
Hold That Kiss is a cute story cutely played by the irresistably cute Maureen O'Sullivan. She plays working girl June Evans, who meets handsome Tommy Bradford (Dennis O'Keefe) at a society wedding. June assumes that Tommy is wealthy, and Tommy assumes same about June. Both keep up the artifice throughout their courtship until the inevitable revelation, remonstration and reconciliation. Most MGM programmers of the 1930s included at least on "offbeat" comedy setpiece, and this one is no exception: After attending a dog show, June is obliged to go home with a huge, slobbering Saint Bernard (one wonders whether Maureen O'Sullivan enjoyed the company of the dog any more than she did the companionship of Cheeta in the "Tarzan" pictures). Stealing every scene he's in is Mickey Rooney as June's obsteperous kid brother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Sullivan, Dennis O'Keefe, (more)
- 1938
Love may be a headache, but without it, how would MGM programmers like this one ever have been made? Franchot Tone is cast as Winchellesque radio commentator Peter Lawrence, who becomes the unexpected savior of fading Broadway favorite Carlotta Lee (Gladys George). Suffering from a string of bad plays, Carlotta is vaunted back to public favor when she decides to adopt two orphans (Mickey Rooney and Virginia Weidler), a bit of "heart interest" exploited by the fast-talking Lawrence. Trouble is, Carlotta can't stand children and has only adopted the tykes for publicity purposes. This puts the kibosh on the blossoming romance between the actress and the commentator, and it takes a comic-opera kidnapping plot to set things right. Ted Healy, mentor of the Three Stooges, made one of his last screen appearances in Love is a Headache, which was released several months after Healy's death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franchot Tone, Mickey Rooney, (more)
- 1938
"Discovered" for American films by Cecil B. DeMille, popular Hungarian actress Franceska Gaal made the last of her three Hollywood screen appearances in MGM's The Girl Downstairs. A Cinderella yarn, the film stars Gaal as scullery maid Katerina Linz, who is romanced by callous playboy Paul Wagner (Franchot Tone). Actually Paul is in love with Katerina's mistress Rosalind Brown (Rita Johnson), and is using our heroine merely as a means to gain access to Rosalind. Ultimately, however, a chastened Paul realizes that he's genuinely in love with Katerina-but now he must prove himself worthy of her. Comedy relief (and what a relief) is provided by the ever-reliable Walter Connolly and Billy Gilbert. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franziska Gaal, Franchot Tone, (more)
- 1937
Based on a popular drawing-room drama by Frederick Lonsdale, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney stars Joan Crawford as a jewel thief who poses as an aristocrat. It is Crawford's intention to pilfer a valuable pearl necklace while attending a society party in the company of partner-in-crime William Powell. Here she attracts the attention of Robert Montgomery, a young nobleman who is amused by Crawford's wittiness in the face of the haughty bitchery of Benita Hume. When Montgomery turns out to be a bounder and Powell and Crawford are revealed to be criminals, Crawford does some quick thinking that not only gets her off the hook but puts the two-faced Montgomery in his place as well. Previously filmed in 1929 with Norma Shearer in the lead, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney would itself be remade in 1951 as The Law and the Lady, with Greer Garson as the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, William Powell, (more)
- 1937
Richard Thorpe's comedy Double Wedding (1937) marked the seventh screen pairing of William Powell and Myrna Loy, known for their popular appearances together in the Thin Man series. Powell is Charlie Lodge, a bohemian artist who lives in a trailer, camped in an auto parking space in a busy city. Lodge believes that work is meaningless - that life should be full of entertainment and relaxation and nothing else. Loy is Margit Agnew, a stylish dress-shop proprietor who constantly works herself into the ground. Margit has picked a suitable husband for her younger sister Irene (Florence Rice), a rather dull and ineffectual young man named Waldo Beaver (John Beal). While together, Irene and Waldo happen upon the improvident Lodge. Charlie subsequently encourages the girl to break free of the oppressive constraints of her fiance and sister, and to pursue her dreams of heading out to Hollywood and becoming an actress; Irene immediately fancies herself in love with Charlie. Loy intervenes by confronting Powell --and anyone who can't guess who's going to fall in love at this point should be drummed out of the theater. This amusing and affable by-the-numbers MGM comedy was based on a play by Ferenc Molnar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Myrna Loy, (more)
- 1937
The notorious Orient Express provides the setting for this romance involving two rival reporters in pursuit of a munitions baron. The two rivals eventually fall in love, but not before they are implicated and subsequently cleared of a plot to kill the arms maker. The munitions man also falls in love and decides to use his skills for making more peaceful products. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Madge Evans, (more)
