Blanche Ring Movies
One of America's great vaudeville entertainers, Blanche Ring is probably best remembered for introducing two of her era's great song hits, "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine" and "Rings on My Fingers, Bells on My Toes." That was in 1911, but Ring had earlier popularized Jean Schwartz and William Jerome's "Bedelia" in the 1903 Broadway show The Jersey Lily and "My Molly-O" in Sergeant Blue (1905). The stocky comedienne was brought to the screen in 1915 courtesy of actor/producer Hobart Bosworth who starred her as a typical American tourist finding romance in Mexico in The Yankee Girl. The film was successful enough but Ring did not film again until 1925, when her nephew, director Edward Sutherland, persuaded her to play W.C. Field's matronly love interest in It's the Old Army Game. Later still, she was one of a handful of veteran vaudeville entertainers briefly spotted in Bing Crosby's If I Had My Way (1940) and played a minor supporting role in a late-entry screwball comedy, Having Wonderful Crime (1945). A member of a prominent show business dynasty, Blanche Ring was the sister of Cyril Ring and the sister-in-law of silent star Thomas Meighan. Her signature tune "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine" enjoyed renewed popularity after being performed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the 1997 blockbuster hit Titanic. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1945
Having Wonderful Crime spotlights Michael J. Malone, the murder-solving attorney created by author Craig Rice. The film is also ostensibly based on a novel by Rice, though precious little of the original actually made it to the screen. The story begins as Malone (Pat O'Brien) brusquely informs his newlywed friends Jake and Helene Justus (George Murphy and Carole Landis) that he's not going to allow them to suck him into another murder mystery. Unfortunately for the attorney, Jake and Helene shortly afterward attend a stage magic show wherein the star magician (George Zucco) disappears for real! Their investigation leads to a resort hotel literally packed with murder suspects. When the newlyweds learn too much for their own good, it's up to Malone to come to the rescue and nab the killer. One of the suspects is played by an actress named Anje Berens, who as "Gloria Holden" previously starred in Dracula's Daughter (1936). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat O'Brien, George Murphy, (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)
- 1926
W.C. Fields' It's the Old Army Game is an expansion on four Fields stage skits, originally performed in the Broadway revue The Comic Supplement. Described in the opening title as "the epic of the American druggist," the story begins late one night, in the apothecary shop of Elmer Prettywillie (Fields) in Ocala, Florida (where the film was location-shot). Aroused from his slumbers by a frantic customer (Elise Cavanna), Elmer discovers that all the woman wants is a two-cent stamp -- which she doesn't pay for. Attempting to mail her letter, the woman inadvertently sets off a fire alarm, which brings the local fire brigade to Elmer's store. The minute they leave, a real fire breaks out, which Elmer has to extinguish himself. Trying to get back to sleep on the back porch of his store, poor Elmer is continually awakened by the sounds of the neighborhood, ranging from a squalling infant to a steady stream of street vendors. After a hectic and typically profitless day behind the counter of his store, Elmer takes his family on a picnic, during which he ends up on the grounds of a Florida estate which he hopes to purchase. Only after nearly wrecking the grounds does Elmer discover that the property is not for sale. Cult figure Louise Brooks, then the wife of director Eddie Sutherland, plays Elmer's counter assistant Marilyn. It's the Old Army Game was remade as It's a Gift (1934) while certain plot elements and gags resurfaced in Fields' talkie 2-reeler The Pharmacist (1932). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- W.C. Fields, Louise Brooks, (more)
