Emory Parnell Movies

Author William Saroyan's corn-shucking brand of sentimentality works wonders in this 1943 filmization of his novel. Narrator Ray Collins is dead before the film begins; thus he is able to provide an all-seeing overview of the tiny community of Ithaca, California. The principal character, played by Mickey Rooney, is Collins' son; as the delivery boy for the local telegraph office, Rooney keeps in close contact with virtually every family in town, which results in several comic and poignant moments. Rooney's older brother Van Johnson is in uniform, off fighting World War II; his sister Marcia Hunt is the erstwhile sweetheart of telegraph-office supervisor James Craig. The "circle of life" concept that unifies the anecdotal plotline is best illustrated by the film's final image: after Johnson dies in battle, his best friend, parentless John Craven, is more or less adopted by Collins' family. Reportedly, The Human Comedy was MGM chief executive Louis B. Mayer's favorite film, an apotheosis of Mayer's devotion to "family values." Among the many small-part players populating Human Comedy are Barry Nelson, Robert Mitchum, Don DeFore, Jay Ward (later the producer of Rocky and His Friends) and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

More so than most wartime films, Mission to Moscow must be viewed within the context of its times. Requested by President Roosevelt to make a film supportive of America's Russian allies, Warner Bros. turned to the memoirs of Ambassador Joseph H. Davies, who spent several years prior to WWII in the Soviet Union. As played by Walter Huston, Davies is a pillar of incorruptable integrity, reporting the facts "as I saw them" (only in later years was Davies revealed to be something less than a paragon of virtue who was willing to alter opinions for political, personal and financial expedience). Sent to Moscow by FDR as a means of finding out if Russia is a potentially trustworthy ally in case of war, Davies and his family are given the royal treatment by the Commissars, who display the social, technological, agricultural and artistic advances made under the Stalin regime. Invariably, the Russian citizens are shown to be singing, smiling, freedom-loving rugged individuals-in contrast to the Nazis, who are depicted as humorless automatons. In its efforts to present the USSR in the best possible light, the film glosses over the notorious Purge Trials of 1937, presenting the trials as scrupulously fair and the defendants as unabashed traitors to the Soviet cause. At one point, Russia's annexation of Finland in 1939 is "justified" by Davies' explanation that the Soviets merely wanted to protect their tiny neighbor from Nazi domination! It is unfair to label Mission to Moscow as Communistic or even left-wing, since it was merely parroting the official party line vis-a-vis US/Soviet relations in 1943. Even so, screenwriter Howard Koch found it very difficult to get film work after the war because of his contributions to this "Pinko" project (conversely, Jack Warner pulled a Pontius Pilate, washing his hands of the matter by insisting that he was strongarmed into making the film). Seen objectively, Mission to Moscow is top-rank entertainment, superbly and excitingly assembled in the manner typical of Warners and director Michael Curtiz. The huge cast includes Gene Lockhart as Molotov, attorney Dudley Field Malone as Winston Churchill, Maynart Kippen as a benign, pipe-smoking Stalin, Charles Trowbridge as Secretary Cordell Hull, Leigh Whipper as Hailie Selassie, Georges Renavent as Anthony Eden and Alex Chirva as Pierre Laval, along with the more familiar faces of Ann Harding (as Mrs. Davies), George Tobias, Eleanor Parker, Moroni Olsen, Minor Watson, Jerome Cowan, Duncan Renaldo, Mike Mazurki, Frank Faylen, Edward van Sloan, Louis-Jean Heydt, Monte Blue, Robert Shayne and even Sid (sic) Charisse. Original prints of Mission to Moscow include a 6-minute prologue delivered by the real Joseph Davies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A sequel to the Hal Roach "streamliner" The Devil with Hitler, That Nazty Nuisance is much funnier, albeit nearly as tasteless as the earlier film. Bobby Watson, Hollywood's foremost Adolf Hitler impersonator, plays Der Fuhrer as a pompous imbecile, and who's to say his interpretation wasn't accurate. The plot requires Hitler to summon his Axis partners Mussolini (Joe Devlin) and Suki Yaki (a Hirohito clone played by comedy foil Johnny Arthur) for a secret meeting. For the purposes of secrecy, the three dictators travel to the island nation of Norom (spell it backwards). Fortunately for Truth, Justice and the American Way, Hitler and his stooges are sabotaged by shipwrecked American sailor Benson (Frank Faylen) and island beauty Kela (Jean Porter). A bit strong for contemporary tastes, That Nazty Nuisance provided 48 minutes of solid laughs for its wartime audience. The film has since been released to television as Double Crossed Fool. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As she burns at the stake, a 17th century witch, Jennifer (Veronica Lake), places a curse on her accuser (Fredric March), so that from this day forward, all of his descendants (each played by him) will be unhappy in marriage. After several hilarious through-the-years examples (the Civil War-era Fredric March runs off to battle rather than endure his wife's nagging), we are brought up to 1942. Wallace Wooley (March) is a gubernatorial candidate, preparing to wed snooty socialite Estelle Masterson (Susan Hayward) -- the well-to-do daughter of a publisher who is backing him. A bolt of lightning strikes the tree where Jennifer had been executed three centuries earlier, thereby freeing the spirits of Jennifer and her warlock father, Daniel (Cecil Kellaway). Wallace meets Jennifer when she materializes in a burning building, obliging him to save her life. The revivified sorceress does everything in her power to induce Wallace to fall in love with her -- even destroying the ceremony in which the wedding is supposed to take place. The attempts succeed, and the two marry, but on their wedding night, Wallace refuses to believe Jennifer's claims that she is a witch. Frustrated, she attempts to convince him by doctoring the gubernatorial election -- in his favor. Based on the Thorne Smith novel The Passionate Witch, the rollicking I Married a Witch can be considered the forerunner of the TV series Bewitched, but only on a surface level. The film had been scheduled to be directed by Preston Sturges and to be released by its producing studio, Paramount; the end result was helmed by René Clair (his second Hollywood film), and was distributed by United Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wings for the Eagle is an overbaked but sincere tribute to the wartime defense workers at the Lockheed Aircraft Plant, where a good portion of the film was made. Hoping to dodge the draft, Corky Jones (Dennis Morgan) lands an "essential" job at Lockheed, eventually realizing the importance of his work and thereby renewing his own patriotism. Along the way, Corky and his pal Brad Maples (Jack Carson) bicker over the affections of Brad's former wife Roma (Ann Sheridan). A note of pathos is introduced in the form of Lockheed supervisor Jake Hanso (George Tobias), who loses his job when it is learned that he never became a US citizen but who demonstrates his loyalty to the United States in a variety of ways. When Jake's fighter-pilot son Pete (Russell Arms) is killed in the Philippines, a reformed Corky Jones joins the Air Force himself, single-handedly shooting down a Japanese Zero "For Jake and Pete." This incredible flag-waving coda aside, Wings for the Eagle is a reasonably believable yarn, definitely a product of its times yet perfectly capable of entertaining an audience of the 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A woman's attempt to disguise herself as an underage girl mushrooms into a series of humorous deceptions in this romantic comedy. Ginger Rogers stars as Susan Applegate, a young woman living in New York who, nearly broke and sick of the city, decides to head home to Iowa. Lacking the money for a regular ticket, she pretends to be an unusually tall 11-year old girl named Sue-Sue in order to pay half-price. The train conductors catch on to her scheme, however, forcing her to take refuge in the car of Major Philip Kirby (Ray Milland). The kindly major virtually adopts the "lost little girl," and circumstances force Susan to play along and accompany him to the local military academy. There the fun begins, as she struggles to deal with the unwelcome romantic attentions of countless young cadets and her own increasing attraction to the engaged Major Kirby. The Major and the Minor was the first Hollywood feature helmed by the legendary Billy Wilder. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Aircraft plant worker Robert Cummings is accused of sabotaging his factory and causing the death of a co-worker. Actually, Cummings is the fall guy for a clever ring of Nazi spies, headed by above-suspicion American philanthropist Otto Kruger. Our hero goes on a cross-country chase after genuine saboteur Norman Lloyd, all the while pursued himself by the police. Along the way, he acquires a reluctant "travelling companion" in the form of Priscilla Lane, who at first despises Cummings and intends to turn him over to the authorities at the first opportunity, but who gradually comes to realize that the boy is innocent. Alfred Hitchcock intended Saboteur to be the American equivalent to his British The 39 Steps, employing such details as the solid-citizen villain, the handcuffed hero, the unwilling blonde heroine, and any number of stopovers with a variety of offbeat characters (a travelling "freak" show, a compassionate blind man, a grizzled old prospector who turns out to be one of the spies, etc.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this dark drama an iron-willed older sister forcibly thrusts her only modestly talented younger sister into a Broadway career. She does this to desperately try to keep her little sis from falling into the same small-town trap of marriage to a dull working-stiff and endless hours of taking care of babies and household drudgery. The bigger sister gets her chance when two handsome vaudevillians come to town. Seeing that one of the fellows eyes her younger sibling, the elder connives to get the two together. The scheme works and the smitten performer dumps his long-time partner in exchange for a career with his new love. That might have been hunky dory, but the ambitious big sister wants more for her sister and convinces her to become a solo act. So upset is the jilted partner that he commits suicide. Still the big sister refuses to stop pushing until finally the younger girl gets fed up and rebels in a bitter confrontation that only results in more tragedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

If MGM's Red Skelton could make the mystery/comedy Whistling in the Dark, 20th Century-Fox's Milton Berle could show up in the mystery/comedy Over My Dead Body (Berle's reputation for lifting gags from other comics now extended to lifting plot material). Berle plays a mystery writer who forever writes himself into corners and is never able to finish a story. While visiting his wife (Mary Beth Hughes) at the office where she works, Berle overhears several men discussing the suicide of a coworker. Struck with a brilliant notion, Berle decides to confess to the murder of the dead man, certain that he'll be able to wriggle out of the situation and thereby have plenty of material for a story. Alas, it turns out that the deceased gentleman was murdered, and Berle is nearly sent to the chair. In emulation of the Bob Hope/Willie Best combination in The Ghost Breakers Milton Berle is teamed with a "scared" black elevator operator, played by a superb African-American radio and vaudeville comedian named Wonderful Smith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Wayne stars in this hard-driving oater which was co-written by character actor Paul Fix. Wayne plays Rocklin, a chauvinistic cowboy who arrives at the KC Ranch in Santa Inez to apply for a job as a foreman. But when he finds that the owner has died and that the ranch is now being run by two women -- Clara Cardell (Audrey Long) and her aunt Miss Martin (Elizabeth Risdon) -- he hardheadedly refuses to work for the women. But later on, Clara comes looking for Rocklin, asking his help in obtaining a letter from the town's corrupt judge Garvey (Ward Bond) that proves that Clara is old enough to be the legal owner of the ranch. Rocklin arrives in Garvey's office just after Garvey has burned the letter. The two tangle, with Rocklin sending Garvey crashing through his door. After the fight, Rocklin meets Arly Harolday (Ella Raines), another female ranch owner. Rocklin's views on women enrage Arly so much that she gets her stepfather (Donald Douglas) to hire him to work on her ranch, just so she can fire him. But in spite of Rocklin's primitive attitudes, Arly falls in love with him. Meanwhile, things are heating up as Garvey and other corrupt officials try to get control of the KC ranch. In order to get rid of Rocklin, a murder rap is pinned on him, forcing him to leave town. Hiding out at the KC ranch, he learns that he is the nephew of the ranch's dead owner and the rightful heir. Arly arrives to help Rocklin and to tell him that the murder Rocklin is accused of committing was actually committed by Arly's stepfather, who is working with Garvey and Miss Martin to get the deed to the ranch. With all that information under his cowboy hat, Rocklin cocks his gun and goes out to face the bad guys for a final showdown. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The nationwide search for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind formed the basis of Claire Booth Luce's satirical Broadway comedy Kiss the Boys Goodbye. By the time the film version came out in 1941, Gone with the Wind was yesterday's news, but the picture still manage to elicit loud laughter from moviegoers bombarded by bad news from Europe. When Broadway producer Bert Fusher (Jerome Cowan) decides to produce a lavish musical version of a best-selling civil war novel, he dispatches director Lloyd Lloyd (Don Ameche) and composer Dick Rayburn (Oscar Levant) to the Deep South, in search of a genuine Southern-belle leading lady. Lloyd and Rayburn end up on the Georgia plantation of Tom Rumson (Raymond Walburn), where they are forced to sit through an impromptu audition by Rumson's niece Cindy Lou Bethany (Mary Martin). Lloyd can't stand the girl, but Rayburn is enchanted by her-never suspecting that Cindy Lou is a phony, who prior to this meeting had never stepped below the Mason-Dixon line. Eventually, Lloyd and Cindy Lou fall in love and the show goes on. Many of playwright Luce's more pointed barbs have been blunted by the Hollywood censors, with the more pungent gags replaced by lavish musical numbers. Still, Kiss the Boys Goodbye is a lot of fun, especially whenever the magnificent Elizabeth Patterson (cast as Mary Martin's unreconstructed-southerner aunt) takes center stage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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