Peggy Ryan Movies

Co-written by director Richard Quine and Blake Edwards, All Ashore has so many excellent individual components that one wishes the sum total was better than it is. Mickey Rooney, Dick Haymes and Ray McDonald play a trio of eternally broke sailors, on shore leave at Catalina Island. Because of his propensity for getting into trouble, Rooney is the drudge of the group. Even so, it is Rooney who stands the best chance of succeeding when all three gobs set their sights on lovely millionaire's daughter Barbara Bates. McDonald's perennial dancing partner Peggy Ryan is on hand for a few musical numbers, while Haymes gets to display his rich singing voice as he woos Jody Lawrance. Highlights include an elaborate "opera bouffe" dream sequence and a running gag involving a pianist with twelve fingers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though no longer employed by Universal in 1949, pert Peggy Ryan continued to show up in movie musicals for a variety of studios. Produced by up-and-coming Eagle Lion studios, Shamrock Hill features Ryan as feisty Irish-American colleen Eileen Rogan. The girl's steadfast belief in the existence of leprechauns comes in handy when land developer Ralph Judson (John Litel) evicts the residents of Shamrock Hill so that he can build a television station. The film concludes with a lighthearted courtroom sequence that owes more than a little to the finale of 20th Century-Fox's Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Naturally, Peggy Ryan is afforded several opportunities to sing and dance, usually in the company of personable leading man Ray McDonald. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The producer/screenwriter team of Michael Fessler and Ernest Pagano turned out several offbeat comedies for Universal in the 1940s; curiously, the one with the most fanciful plot, That's the Spirit, is the most conventional of the bunch. On the verge of fatherhood, happy-go-lucky Steve (Jack Oakie) innocently finds himself in the company of a breathtaking blonde who isn't his wife. Before Steve can explain, he abruptly dies and his soul ascends to Heaven. Each year for the next 18 years, Steve shows up at the celestial complaint department, demanding an opportunity to return to earth and square himself with his wife, Libby (June Vincent), and his now-grown daughter, Sheila (Peggy Ryan). Finally, departmental head L.M. (played by Buster Keaton, a "regular" in the Fessler-Pagano films) agrees to send Steve back, though no one will be able to see or hear him. The rest of the film concerns the invisible Steve's efforts to guide his family toward true happiness -- no small task, as it turns out. Featured in the cast of That's the Spirit is Jack Oakie's real-life wife, Victoria Horne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

At 88 minutes, Here Come the Co-Eds is one of the longest of Abbott & Costello's Universal starring vehicles, and though not necessarily the best, it manages to sustain a high comic content throughout. The scene is a financially strapped girl's college, where professional dancer Molly (Martha O'Driscoll) lands a scholarship. Molly's manager-brother Slat (Bud Abbott) has arranged this as a means to publicize his sister's showbiz career, which angers the college's chairman of the board (Charles Dingle), who threatens to foreclose on the school. To keep tabs on Molly and also find ways of raising the mortgage money, Slats and his pal Oliver (Lou Costello) takes jobs as school caretakers, immediately running afoul of ill-tempered groundskeeper Johnson (Lon Chaney Jr.) One of Slats' schemes involves a championship basketball game, in which Oliver, hypnotized into thinking that he's petite female student "Daisy Dimple", effortlessly sinks one basket after another (Costello, a top high school athlete, performed these scenes without the aid of a double). What ultimately saves the college is a concert by Phil Spitalny and his all-girl orchestra, featuring "Evelyn and Her Magic Violin." While the obligatory chase scene in Here Come the Coeds (this time involving a sailboat on wheels!) is a disappointment, several of Abbott & Costello's comic setpieces are hilarious, notably the time-honored "Jonah and the Whale" routine and the "oyster in the chowder" bit. Funniest line: while performing a musical duet with costar Peggy Ryan, Costello sighs "I feel just like Donald O'Connor." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A musical comedy star whose career is just starting to take off returns home from military school. En route, he meets a pretty girl whom he begins to woo. Unfortunately his hometown girl friend is waiting for him at the station and typical romantic mayhem ensues amidst many lively songs and dances. Songs include: "Is It Good or Is It Bad?" "Mighty Nice to Have Met You," "Spelling Prep," "I Gotta Give My Feet A Break," "Love Is Like Music," "My Song," and "Sailor Song." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this musical comedy, a soldier falls in love with a very young woman who in turn has a crush on an older, more sophisticated man. When the older gent goes to New York, she follows as does her younger suitor. While in the Big Apple, the soldier encounters the older man's ex-wife who is still in love with him. The soldier helps bring the couple back together and is rewarded by being united with his true love. The story was adapted from a Sinclair Lewis play. Songs include: "Gremlin Walk," "It's the Girl," "Yippee-I-Vot," "With a Song in My Heart," "All or Nothing at All," "You're a Lollapalooza," "At Sundown," and "L'Amour Toujours L'Amour." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two Bowery vaudevillians compete to be the first to produce shows on Broadway. They might be friends were they not so convinced that each has stolen ideas from the others. This bouncy musical chronicles their rivalry and the success they find after they finally team up. Unfortunately the success is short-lived when one of them suddenly departs to work for a beautiful woman. This time the feud erupts with a vengeance. Fortunately, their paths again cross and a happy ending follows. Songs include: "Just Because You Made Dem Goo Goo Eyes at Me", "There'll Always Be a Moon", "Coney Island Waltz", "Yippie-I-Addy-I-Ay", and "Wait Till the Sun Shines Nellie". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this WW II musical, a young man suddenly finds himself in charge of his family when his father is called to war. To help the flagging spirits of local factory workers, the plucky lad, his siblings and his schoolmates put on a lively little show. With a little work, he even convinces Count Basie to come with his band. Songs include: "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" (Ted Koehler, Harry Barris, Billy Moll), "Basie Boogie" (Count Basie), "Dream Lover" (Clifford Grey, Victor Schertzinger), "Dark Eyes," "Jurame," "The Road Song," and "Romany Life" (adapted by Inez James, Buddy Pepper). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Andrews Sisters headline this musical. They play the lead act at a popular nightclub. The trouble begins when they hire a few students from a financially foundering dance school for their newest production. One of the dancers, a rich young socialite, desperately wants to be in it too, but her prurient maiden aunts refuse to allow her to disgrace their family by becoming a common chorine. She and the club owner (who must have the aunt's permission because the girl is underage) try to convince them, but it's not easy. Meanwhile the talented girl finds herself falling hopelessly in love with the club bandleader. In desperation, the ingenious club owner has the obliging Andrews dress up as the aunties and sign the consent forms. The real aunts are infuriated when they discover the ruse and in a tizzy rush down to the club. They arrive just in time to catch the girl's performance and a predictably happy ending ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

By popular consensus, Allan Jones' best Universal mini-musical of the 1940s was the timely When Johnny Comes Marching Home. Jones is cast as war hero Johnny Kovacs, who wearies of the adulation heaped upon him and takes refuge under an assumed name in a theatrical boarding house. Here he befriends orchestra leader Phil Spitalny and his all-girl aggregation, including the inimitable Evelyn and Her Magic Violin. When Army officials trace Johnny to the boarding house, his new friends assume that he's a deserter and try to convince him to return to duty. All is explained during the closing production number, which in addition to Jones and the Spitalny girls spotlights Gloria Jean (singing "You and the Night and the Music"), Donald O'Connor, Peggy Ryan, Jane Frazee, and the Four Step Brothers. That Universal was able to bring this star-studded entertainment in under budget and within a 73-minute running time is nothing short of miraculous. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

14-year-old Shirley Temple receives her first on-screen kiss in this innocuous romantic comedy. Temple is cast as the titular Annie Rooney, the starry-eyed, idealistic daughter of erstwhile --and impoverished--inventor Tim Rooney (William Gargan). Annie is swept off her feet by intellectual high-schooler Marty White (Dickie Moore), the son of a millionaire rubber magnate (Jonathan Hale). At first cold-shouldered by Marty's snooty friends, Annie wins them over at a party with a lively jitterbug dance (future choreographer Roland DuPree, who appears in the film as Joey, doubled for Dickie Moore in the dance sequence). It is, however, a different story with Marty's socially conscious parents, who are appalled by such riff-raff as Annie's dad and grandpop (Guy Kibbee). But circumstances change when, in true "touring stock company" fashion, Tim Rooney comes up with a new form of synthetic rubber which Mr. White simply cannot do without. In later years, Shirley Temple's co-star Dickie Moore would recall that the much-publicized scene in which he kisses Temple was extremely embarrassing for him, inasmuch as it was the first time he had ever kissed any girl; conversely, in her autobiography Temple cheekily pointed out that it most certainly wasn't her first time, and that she breezed through the scene with her customary professional aplomb. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The sailor in this entertaining 20th Century-Fox programmer is Danny Malone (Jon Hall), while the lady is Sally Gilroy (Claire Trevor). Danny's impending marriage to Sally is put on the back burner when she is put in charge of an orphaned baby (Bruce Hampton, playing a girl!) During naval maneuvers, the infant is accidentally deposited on board Danny's ship. Chaos reigns supreme until Danny hits upon a way to set things right. But before this mess can be cleared up, Danny and Sally will have to be reunited, something that their cast-off sweethearts Georgine (Katherine Aldridge) and Rodney (Larry "Buster" Crabbe) would like to prevent. Written by Lt. Commander Frank "Spig" Wead (of Wings of Eagle) fame, Sailor's Lady boasts one of the most impressive casts ever seen in a mere B picture, including Joan Davis, Wally Vernon, Dana Andrews, Don "Red" Barry, Kane Richmond, Ward Bond, Peggy Ryan, Barbara Pepper, Marie Blake (Jeanette MacDonald's sister) and George O'Hanlon (old "Joe McDoakes" himself). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It matters not at all that the famed "wrong way" flight of aviator Douglas Corrigan, who in 1938 tried to fly from New York to California by way of Ireland, was probably a carefully calculated publicity stunt. The end result was that Corrigan became a household name, and as such was an ideal candidate for film stardom. RKO Radio shelled out a considerable amount of money to purchase "Wrong Way" Corrigan's life story, enhancing the publicity value of the resultant The Flying Irishman by casting Corrigan himself in the leading role. It's too bad that the same amount of effort wasn't lavished on the film itself, which is a ponderous, perfunctory tale of a barnstorming flyer who, unable to get a legitmate pilot's job because he never went to college, resorts to a variety of colorful methods to make a living. Like many other non-showbiz celebrities, Corrigan was constitutionally unable to play himself convincingly, so it's up to such supporting actors as Eddie Quillan, Paul Kelly, Robert Armstrong, Donald MacBride and Joyce Compton to take up the slack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide