Lea Penman Movies
- 1957
Virtually every major city in the 1950s harbored some sort of political corruption or other, providing plenty of material for the "exposé" school of filmmaking. Portland Expose is a fact-based account of skullduggery in the Oregon metropolis. Inspired by revelations made during the Senate's McClellan Committee hearings, the story concentrates on an honest tavern owner named George Madison (Edward Binns) who is involuntarily sucked into the city's rotten-to-the-core political machine. When Madison refuses to allow his establishment to serve as the gathering place for hoods and delinquents, the powers-that-be threaten to harm his family. Only after his daughter is attacked by a syndicate flunkey does Madison decide to fight back. At great personal risk, he manages to tape-record damning evidence against Portland's "untouchable" criminal kingpin (Russ Conway). The supporting cast includes such radio and TV "regulars" as Virginia Gregg, Larry Dobkin, Frank Gorshin and Joe Flynn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Binns, Carolyn Craig, (more)
Samuel and Bella Spewack's English adaptation of French playwright Albert Husson's morbidly humorous stage piece My Three Angels was brought to the screen as the heavily laundered but still wickedly funny We're No Angels. The scene is French Guiana, a few days before Christmas. Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray play three Devil's Island "lifers" who escape from the infamous prison and hide out amongst the free colonists. In need of clothing and money, the trio makes plans to rob milliner Leo G. Carroll and his family. "We'll cut their throats for a Christmas present", Bogie, a convicted forger, remarks laconically. "That might spoil one's belief in Santa Claus" replies philosophical wife-murderer Ustinov. The three escapees are deflected from their larcenous intent when they grow fond of Carroll, his wife Joan Bennett and their daughter Gloria Talbott. Discovering that Carroll is on the verge of bankruptcy, the convicts offer their services as household help (the sight of Bogie in an apron is worth the admission price in itself). Complications ensue when Carroll's nasty, wealthy cousin Basil Rathbone comes calling to audit the store's books. Not wishing to see the family evicted, the convicts calmly discuss the possibilities of murdering the troublesome Rathbone. They are saved the trouble when Adolphe, the pet poisonous snake owned by Ray, slithers out of its box and accomplishes what the convicts had only contemplated. Adolphe also helps smooth the path of happiness for Carroll's daughter Gloria, who thinks she's in love with Rathbone's duplicitous nephew John Baer. From all reports, the set of We're No Angels was a happy one, a fact reflected in the warm, engaging performances of its stars. The film represented the final screen collaboration between star Humphrey Bogart and director Michael Curtiz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, (more)
Fancy Pants is a musicalized remake of the oft-filmed Harry Leon Wilson story Ruggles of Red Gap, tailored to the talents of "Mr. Robert Hope (formerly Bob)". The basic plotline of the original, that of an English butler entering the service of a rowdy nouveau-riche family from the American West, is retained. The major difference is that main character (Bob Hope) plays a third-rate American actor who only pretends to be a British gentleman's gentleman. Social-climbing American heiress Lucille Ball hires Hope to impress her high-society English acquaintances, then takes him back to her ranch in New Mexico. Though there are many close shaves, Hope manages to convince the wild and woolly westerners that he's a genuine British Lord--even pulling the wool over the eyes of visiting celebrity Teddy Roosevelt (John Alexander). Never as droll as the 1935 Leo McCarey-directed Ruggles of Red Gap, Fancy Pants nonetheless works quite well on its own broad, slapsticky level. If the ending seems abrupt, it may be because the original finale, in which a fleeing Bob Hope and Lucille Ball were to be rescued by surprise guest star Roy Rogers, was abandoned just before the scene was shot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, (more)
- 1950
Stella is an out-of-left-field black comedy in which star Anne Sheridan is upstaged by an uproarious supporting cast. At a family picnic, a none too likeable uncle dies from accidentally eating poisoned mushrooms. The other family members don't want to be accused of murder, so they leave it to the stupidest branch of the clan, personified by David Wayne and Frank Fontaine, to dispose of the body. When it is learned that Uncle had a hefty insurance policy, the family tries to palm off various corpses as the genuine article. The final image is of Wayne and Fontaine digging hundreds of holes in the field where uncle is resting; it seems they can't remember where they buried him! Stella is based on a somewhat more serious novel by mystery specialist Doris Miles Disney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sheridan, Victor Mature, (more)
