Mikhail Rasumny Movies

John Steinbeck cowrote this sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart-wrenching study of small-town hypocrisy. Shiftless Benny (who is never seen) has been tossed out of his Southern California town by the "proper" citizens. Drafted into the army, Benny is killed in action--and now that he's a hero, his old home town gears up for a Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony. Suddenly the same upright townsfolk who'd previously scorned Benny and his impoverished father (J. Carroll Naish) bend over backward to prove how much they "loved" the boy. Only Dorothy Lamour, playing Benny's former sweetheart, sees through the sham, though she's honor bound to celebrate Benny's heroism. A Medal for Benny bestows top billing upon Lamour, but the film's true star is J. Carroll Naish as Benny's volatile Italian papa--a performance which won Naish an Academy Award nomination. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An unofficial remake of the 1935 Alice Faye-George Raft vehicle Every Night at Eight, And the Angels Sing stars Dorothy Lamour as Nancy Angel, unofficial leader of a struggling, Andrews-like singing sister act. Nancy is in love with saxophone player Happy Morgan (Fred MacMurray), self-appointed "protector" of the Angel Sisters. Unfortunately -- and as it turns out, unharmoniously -- Nancy's sister Bobby (Betty Hutton is also ga-ga over Happy, but he barely acknowledges her existence. Meanwhile, the third Angel sister, Josie (Diana Lynn), stands on the sidelines and cracks wise. Before a happy ending can be realized, virtually every person in the cast goes through an extended period of poverty, which at one juncture forces Happy to form a singing-waiter act with his longtime crony Fuzzy Johnson (Eddie Foy Jr.. Although the film's title song is (surprisingly) never performed, And the Angels Sing is otherwise a smorgasbord of typical 1940s tunes, with Betty Hutton taking front and center with her inimitable "scat" renditions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

George and Helen Pasashvily's colorful memoir Anything Can Happen was delightfully brought to the screen by the Paramount producing team of William Perlberg and George Seaton. Jose Ferrer heads the cast as Eastern European immigrant Giorgi Pasashvily, whose wide-eyed innocence and uncertain grasp of the English language causes him no end of trouble during his first months in America. Things take an upward turn when Giorgi falls in love with American girl Helen Watson (Kim Hunter). The film, like the book that preceded it, is told episodically, with moments of high comedy alternating with scenes of tender pathos. As miserly-but-golden-hearted Uncle Besso, Oscar Karlweis has a death scene that is one of the best and most moving of its kind. When originally released in 1952, Anything Can Happen was heralded with a coming-attractions trailer hosted by Edmund Gwenn, which was every bit as enjoyable as the film itself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A half-hearted derivation of Ninotchka, Comrade X stars Clark Gable as an American news reporter stationed in Russia. Gable is actually the mysterious Comrade X, who has been smuggling provocative stories about the crumbling Soviet government out of the country. Threatened with exposure by a hotel porter (Felix Bressart), Gable agrees to help sneak the porter's beautiful daughter (Hedy Lamarr) out of Russia. The girl is a devout "old line" Communist, and thus is regarded as a potential counter-revolutionary by the paranoid Soviet leaders. Gable pretends to be a Communist himself to win Hedy's trust, inviting her to America to espouse her cause. He finds he can only secure her passport by marrying her, which leads to the anticipated complications. The Soviet higher-ups imprison Gable and Lamarr, sentencing them to death--but suddenly the counter-revolutionaries take charge of the government prison and arrest the arresters! The new man in charge (Sig Rumann) is Lamarr's political idol, but when he reveals himself to be vulnerable to blackmail and bribes, Lamarr becomes disillusioned by the Party Line and accompanies her new husband Gable to America. Filmed just before the "shifty" Communists were metamorphosed into brave freedom fighters by World War II-vintage filmmakers, Comrade X is of marginal historical value. Otherwise, it is an unfunny low point in the careers of Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this war drama, a commercial pilot joins the air corps of a South Pacific island, and there he finds that he must contend with a dictator. He also falls quietly in love with the leader's girlfriend. Unfortunately, the evil leader is the head of the air corps, and to get rid of the young man who threatens his relationship, he send the hero on a suicide mission. The two rivals end up in a dogfight. Fortunately, the hero wins the fight and gets the girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A remake of the 1939 French film Battement de Couer, Heartbeat reunites star Ginger Rogers with her Kitty Foyle director Sam Wood. Ms. Rogers plays Arlette, a reform school alumnus who is recruited by Faginlike Professor Aristide, headmaster at a school for pickpockets. Before long, Arlette becomes Aristide's prize pupil, and is being groomed for bigger things. Assigned by a corrupt foreign ambassador (Adolphe Menjou) to steal a valuable watch from wealthy and handsome diplomat Pierre (Jean Pierre Aumont), Arlette not only bungles the job, but also falls in love with her would-be victim. Heartbeat wasn't the first mediocre American remake of a French film, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lucille Ball offers a seminal version of her Lucy Ricardo TV character in Her Husband's Affairs. Ball is cast as Margaret Weldon, the wife of advertising executive William Weldon (Franchot Tone). Though Weldon is successful, Margaret can't help but feel that he'd be more successful if she were to take an active part in his business affairs. The fun really begins when Margaret tries to help Weldon promote a crackpot inventor (Mikhail Rasumny) who's come up with a revolutionary new embalming fluid. As in the previous year's The Hucksters, Madison Avenue and Big Business are targetted for a great deal of derisive ribbing. If only Her Husband's Affairs were as funny as everyone involved seems to think it is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hold Back the Dawn begins with a shabby immigrant (Charles Boyer) wandering onto a Paramount sound stage and telling his life story to director Mitchell Leisen (who actually directed this film). In flashback, we see that Boyer was once a conscienceless gigolo, desperate to flee Nazi-occupied Europe. He makes it to Mexico, where he pretends to fall in love with shy schoolteacher Olivia de Havilland. It is his plan to marry her, thus be able to enter the United States; then he intends to dump her and pursue the woman he really loves. Boyer's regeneration, and the price he pays for his previous callousness, brings Hold Back the Dawn to its tearful conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Luise Rainer's last Hollywood film was the economically produced wartime drama Hostages. Adapted from the novel by Stefan Heym, the story is set in a Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakian village. Rainer plays Milada, the daughter of collaborationist Lev Preissinger (Oscar Homolka). Totally apolitical herself, Milada is won over to the anti-Nazi cause by resistance leader Paul Breda (Arturo de Cordova). The drama intensifies when a Nazi officer commits suicide; the Gestapo, hoping to justify future outrages, claim that the officer was murdered, arresting 26 villagers as hostages. The ending could classify as tragic, but in 1943 it was considered inspirational. With so much plot and so many characters, poor Luise Rainer has very little to do; if the film has any real star, it is William Bendix, who is superb as a deceptively slow-witted resistance fighter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The German Mascottchen was inspired by the Bromme operetta of the same name. Had the producers waited a few months, they could have included Bromme's songs, and thus spared themselves the slings and arrows of abrasive music lovers. Kathe Von Nagy stars as a Budapest salesgirl who, through luck and pluck, becomes a celebrated musical comedy star. Along the way, she does her best to help her boyfriend, a two-bit ham actor. The "hero" repays her kindness by leaving her for another woman, but by the third-act curtain he comes to his senses and returns to Von Nagy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One Night in Lisbon is one of several pre-1942 films which used the screwball-comedy form to comment upon the raging war in Europe. While transporting American warplanes to the beleagured RAF, Texas flyboy Dwight Houston (Fred MacMurray) is caught in a London air raid. Scurrying to a shelter, Dwight meets icy, well-bred Briton Leonora Pettycote (Madeleine Carroll), with whom he falls in love--a feeling that is far from mutual at first. Eventually responding to Dwight's charms, Leonora agrees to join him for a night's revelries (as soon as the Nazi bombers head home, that is), but their budding relationship is complicated by the unexpected presence of Dwight's ex-wife Gerry Houston (Patricia Morrison and Leonora's erstwhile sweetheart, Cmdr. Peter Walmsley (John Loder). Escaping their respective suitors, Dwight and Leonara end up in neutral Lisbon, only to land in the middle of a Nazi spy ring. Although poor Leonora gets the worst of it at the hands of the villains, she is game enough to realize that she wants to spend the rest of her life with the footloose Dwight. The film is filled to overflowing with familiar character faces, including Britishers Edmund Gwenn and Dame May Whitty, French émigré Marcel Dalio and even perennial Laurel and Hardy foil James Finlayson. One Night in Lisbon was based on There's Always Juliet, a pre-WW2 play by John Van Druten. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pirates of Monterey is set during the early 19th century, at a time when California was asserting its independence from Mexico. Rod Cameron plays Phillip Kent, a devil-may-care mercenary hired to transport a shipment of rifles to the American army detachment at Monterey. Along the way, he is forced to do battle with Mexicans, Indians and various and assorted thieves. Somehow, he finds time to pitch woo with the tempestuous Marguerita (Maria Montez), whose fiery Mexican dance routines are something to behold. Less exciting to watch than it is to read about, Pirates of Monterey at least has the advantage of Technicolor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide