Harold Peary Movies

It should not be surprising that all three Bradley girls are contestants in a local beauty pageant. It should also surprise no one that there's plenty of sibling rivalry in the air. Things get even dicier when the three sisters meet their competition--none other than Dr. Janet Craig (June Lockhart). (One wonders if anyone saw this episode when it was originally telecast opposite the network premiere of the Oscar-winning film Tom Jones!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Elvis Presley plays Scott Heyward, the son of a Texas oil millionaire in this thin storyline. Scott changes places with the poor but honest water-skiing instructor Tom Wilson (Will Hutchins) to find out if women love him for himself or his money. Tom goes to the posh penthouse previously occupied by Scott, and Scott takes over as the instructor. Scott's father Duster (James Gregory) blows a gasket when he finds out what his son is doing. Boat builder Sam Burton (Gary Merrill) talks Scott into driving his new boat in the big race. Elvis delivers 8 songs in one of the more lackluster vehicles of his 1960s film catalogue. A bevy of beauties, some exciting race scene, and glossy production all help this one across the finish line. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

After a dangerous tiger turns on its trainer and escapes from the circus, a small town in Texas finds itself in an uproar over its capture. As it is hunted by numerous parties, a young girl begins protesting and starts a nationwide movement to plead for the tiger's safety. As the situation gains more attention, the local attitude is torn by politics and outside pressure. At the time of its release, this feature (taken from a book by Ian Niall) was quite different for Disney as it portrayed realistic small-town politics rather than an ideal community. The titular tiger, on the other hand, seemed to have an uncanny knack of choosing baddies to prey upon while leaving all well-meaning folks alone. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Per its title, Wetbacks deals with the smuggling into the US of illegal Mexican aliens. The villains are played by John Hoyt and, of all people, Harold "The Great Gildersleeve" Peary. Hoping to smash Hoyt and Peary's smuggling operation is fishing-boat skipper Lloyd Bridges, who, unbeknownst to himself, is being monitored by the US immigration service. Nancy Gates costars as a supposed femme fatale who turns out to be one of the good guys; likewise deceptively cast is veteran screen heavy Barton MacLaine. Wetbacks was directed by Hank McCune, a part-time comedian whose early-1950s TV sitcom was allegedly the first such program to utilize a recorded laughtrack. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The last and least of RKO Radio's B-series based on radio's "Great Gildersleeve", Gildersleeve's Ghost is a standard "scare" comedy redeemed by some enthusiastic performances. The barely relevant title comes from the fact that the film opens in a graveyard, where two spectral ancestors of Springfield water commissioner Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve (Harold Peary) discuss his chances in the upcoming mayoral election. The rest of the film takes place in a spooky old mansion, where mad scientists Wells (Frank Reicher) and Lennox (Joseph Vitale) are experimenting with an invisibility formula. Their unwilling subject is vivacious blonde Terry Vance (Marion Martin), whose ability to appear and disappear at will causes a lot of embarrassment for poor old Gildersleeve. The film doesn't miss a trick: there's even an extended bit involving a gorilla. Very basic stuff, Gildersleeve's Ghost admittedly delivers plenty of laughs. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Gildersleeve on Broadway was the third in a series of RKO B-pictures inspired by the radio sitcom The Great Gildersleeve. Harold Peary once more stars as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, water commissioner and resident blowhard of the town of Springfield. In this one, Gildy accompanies his pharamacist friend Peavey (Richard LeGrand) at a druggist's convention in New York. Here he becomes romantically involved with wealthy widow Mrs. Chandler (Billie Burke) and brassy gold-digger Francine Gray (Claire Carleton). He also spends his time dodging the arrows of a nut named Homer (Hobart Cavanaugh), who thinks he's cupid. Things get sillier and sillier before the film's slapstick setpiece, which finds Gildy teetering on the edge of a skyscraper. Midget actor Walter Tetley, who played Gildersleeve's nephew Leroy on radio, shows up in a bit role as a bellboy in Gildersleeve on Broadway. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed on leftover Magnificent Ambersons sets, Here We Go Again is the most endearingly wacky of RKO Radio's Fibber McGee & Molly vehicles. The story begins as the popular radio duo prepares to leave their home town of Wistful Vista and embark upon a second honeymoon. After discovering that hotel where they originally stayed 20 years earlier is now a rundown fleabag, Fibber (Jim Jordan) and Molly (Marian Jordan) head to fancy-schmansy Silver Tip Lodge, where they run into Molly's former sweetheart Otis Cadwalader (Gale Gordon) and Fibber's "friendly enemy" Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve (Harold Peary). Meanwhile, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy pals Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd are trying to enjoy an outdoor camping trip, only to be periodically interrupted by a hungry bear and an irascible Indian tribe. The destinities of the various characters are brought together when Cadwalader tries to convince Fibber to invest in a revolutionary motor-fuel formula, while Bergen romances Gildersleeve's pretty niece Jean (Ginny Simms). Also contributing to this "comedy salad" are Fibber McGee and Molly regulars Bill Thompson as wispy Wallace Wimple and Isabel Randolph as haughty Mrs. Uppington, and Edgar Bergen's radio orchestra leader Ray Noble. Highlights include Fibber's special effects-laden billiard game, Charlie McCarthy's song-and-dance number "This Delicious Delirium" (the dapper little dummy is rather obviously doubled by a midget in the long shots!), and the film's whimsical black-comedy fadeout gag. An enormous box-office hit, Here We Go Again is an absolute must for old-time radio aficionados. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Several popular radio personalities converge in the RKO Radio "comedy salad" Look Who's Laughing. Taking a vacation from his radio series, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen sets out in his private plane, accompanied by his dummy Charlie McCarthy. Developing engine trouble, Bergen makes a forced landing in the town of Wistful Vista, home of Fibber McGee and Molly (Jim and Marian Jordan). Here he gets mixed up in a municipal dispute between Fibber and Throckmorton Gildersleeve (Harold Peary) over the impending construction of a local aircraft factory. Before the film's multitude of complications can be straightened out, Fibber and Molly find themselves aloft in a runaway plane, while Charlie McCarthy falls in love with a squeaky-voiced little girl (who turns out to be Molly in disguise). Best scene: A disconsolate Charlie getting "wasted" on ice-cream sodas while counterman Sterling Holloway looks on sympathetically. Lucille Ball is largely wasted as Bergen's secretary, while Fibber McGee and Molly's radio announcer Harlow Wilcox shows up in a character bit. A box-office bonanza, Look Who's Laughing spawned an abundance of future screen assignments for Bergen, McCarthy, Fibber, Molly, and "Gildersleeve." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Comin' Round the Mountain was a tailor-made vehicle for bucolic radio humorist Bob "Bazooka" Burns. After striking out in New York, backwoods musician Jed Blower (Burns) and his hillbilly family band return to their native Tennessee. Here they land a job at a tinker-toy radio station in a community plagued by a long-standing family feud. Also causing local headaches is a continuing political tug of war over the maintence of the city's poorhouse. Hoping to solve everyone's problems, Jed runs for mayor, using the radio station as his podium. Old-time radio aficionados will enjoy seeing such Fibber McGee and Molly regulars as Harold Peary (the Great Gildersleeve), Bill Thompson (the "Old Timer") and Cliff Arquette (Grandpappy) in supporting roles, not to mention perennial Bob Hope stooge Jerry Collonna and Jack Benny's rotund announcer Don Wilson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi