Al Shean Movies

The lovable characters from the popular comic strip by Charles M. Schulz appear in this full-length feature. The perennial failure Charlie Brown attends the National Spelling Bee and manages the worst sandlot team in the history of baseball. Linus loses and retrieves his security blanket. Snoopy the beagle dances wildly and plays shortstop. The irascible Lucy Van Pelt tricks Charlie Brown into kicking the football, but at the last minute she pulls it back and sends him flying onto his back. Although he loses the spelling bee, his friends gladly welcome Charlie Brown back to town upon his return. Nearly two-dozen songs are included. The characters remain true to the original works of Schulz, and great care was taken in matching the appropriate voices to the character's personalities. This is the first of many successful animated features of the gang from Peanuts. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Hitler's Madman is based on an all-too-real wartime atrocity. John Carradine portrays Heydrich, the vicious SS officer put in charge of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Heydrich is killed by the Czech underground, prompting the Nazis to plan a horrible retaliation. The Gestapo selects the Czech village of Lidice for annihilation: They kill all the male villagers, throw the women and children into concentration camps, and torch Lidice into nonexistence. The victims of Nazi tyranny become martyrs to the underground cause, ending the film on a note of triumph. Based on a narrative poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, Hitler's Madman was produced by the "poverty row" PRC studio, but was sold to MGM and given a class-A presentation at choice theatres throughout the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

All that MGM's Ziegfeld Girl lacks is Technicolor; otherwise, the film has talent and "sock" entertainment value in abundance. The story focuses on three showbiz hopefuls-Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr and Lana Turner-and the efforts to attain the lofty status of "Ziegfeld Girl." Garland is compelled to leave her family vaudeville act; she bids her dad Charles Winninger a tearful farewell, and later falls in love with Turner's brother Jackie Cooper. In her bid for success, Lana forgets all about her faithful boyfriend James Stewart, who turns to bootlegging to come up to the financial stature of Lana's new beau, socialite Ian Hunter. Lamarr nearly dumps her impoverished violinist husband Philip Dorn as she climbs the ladder of success. There are happy endings in store for two of the three female leads, but we'll let you watch the film yourselves to find out who wins and who loses. Featured in the cast are Tony Martin, Edward Everett Horton, Eve Arden, Dan Dailey, and, in a poignant cameo as a wardrobe woman, the "ever popular" Mae Busch. Song highlights include "Minnie from Trinidad", "You Never Looked So Beautiful Before", "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", "Laugh? I Thought I'd Split My Side", "Caribbean Love Song", "Whispering", "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean" (performed by Charles Winninger and the surviving half of the Gallagher-and-Shean duo, Al Shean-who happened to be the Marx Bros.' uncle), "You Stepped Out of a Dream" and "You Gotta Pull Strings." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Weaver Brothers hit the road and taste the hobo's life in this, the sixth, entry in the eleven-film "Weaver Brothers and Elviry" comedy-drama series. The singing hayseed family's journey begins when a drought destroys their farm. The young travelers soon hook up with a band of tramps and end up in a small town that has been nearly destroyed by the floods that occasionally roar through it. The Weavers' are moved by the townsfolk's plight and so decide to stay a spell and help out. When not appearing in film, the Weavers were known as the "The Arkansas Travelers" and frequently performed on the Grand Ole Opry. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jeanette MacDonald and Lew Ayres make strange bedfellows in the overproduced MGM musical Broadway Serenade. She plays aspiring singer Mary Hale, and he plays her husband, struggling songwriter James Geoffrey Seymour. The couple's vaudeville act breaks up when Mary is hired for a big-time Broadway revue. As she rises to the top of the show-business heap, Seymour hits the skids, having lost his inspiration. On the verge of divorcing Seymour to marry a wealthy producer, Mary finally realizes that her life will be incomplete without her husband by her side. Saving the film from drowning in a sea of cliches are Jeanette MacDonald's musical renditions, not to mention the comedy relief of Frank Morgan and veteran vaudevillian Al Shean. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alternating effortlessly between comedy and suspense and back again, Too Hot to Handle stars Myrna Loy as a famous aviatrix and Clark Gable as an opportunistic newsreel photographer. Gable and rival shutterbug Walter Pidgeon agree to accompany Loy on her search for her missing brother, sensing a good story and excellent photo op. Their odyssey takes them into the deepest jungles of the Amazon, where Gable's photographic prowess saves everyone's lives when hostile natives attack. Along the way, both Gable and Pidgeon fall in love with Loy. The classic opening sequence in Too Hot to Handle, in which the resourceful Gable fakes a bombing raid for the benefit of his cameras, was allegedly conceived by Buster Keaton, then a free-lance MGM gag man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 12-episode Universal serial Tim Tyler's Luck was based on the comic strip of the same name by Lyman Young (the brother of "Blondie" creator Chic Young). Frankie Thomas stars as youthful adventurer Tim Tyler, who heads to Africa in search of his scientist father (played by veteran vaudevillian Al Shean). Along the way, he links up with Lora Lacey (Frances Robinson), who hopes to capture Spider Webb (Norman Willis), the man responsible for the incarceration of Lora's brother. Once they've reached the Dark Continent, Tim and Lora are exposed to every imaginable peril before Spider can be brought to justice. Like many of the best 1930s serials, Tim Tyler's Luck is chock-full of familiar movie names from the past, including Jack Mulhall, Frank Mayo and Stanley Blystone (incidentally, the "Pat O'Brien" in the cast is not the Warner Bros. star of the same name). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A handful of German soldiers readjust to civilian life in the bitter wake of World War I in this follow-up to the classic All Quiet On The Western Front, which like the first film was based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque. After the signing of the armistice, Capt. Von Hagen (John Emery) dismisses what is left of his troops, who march home to an uncertain future. Tjaden (Slim Summerville) finds himself helping to fend off rioters demanding food from a shop owned by the town's mayor (Etienne Girardot); the grateful mayor in turn offers Tjaden his daughter's hand in marriage. Weil (Larry Blake) becomes a political activist and finds himself acting as a spokesman for another group of citizens demanding precious food; this time, Weil is shot by troops led by his former commander, Capt. Von Hagen. Willy (Andy Devine) visits his former schoolteacher, who presents him with an ironic gift -- a toy gun he took away from Willy when he was a boy. And Albert (Maurice Murphy) comes home to discover his fiancée has wed another man, a man who avoided the war but found ways to profit from it at home. In a fit of rage, Albert kills the man, and finds himself on trial for his life. Combining a strong anti-war message with prescient warnings about the dangers of the rising Nazi regime, The Road Back was intended to be a powerful and controversial picture, and Universal entrusted it to their finest director, James Whale. However, by the time shooting was completed, new management had taken over the studio, and Nazi officials began applying pressure to Universal (as well as members of the film's cast) to delete the material critical of the Nazis, threatening to scuttle European distribution of future Universal product if their demands were not met. Universal bowed to their wishes, and the film was partially reshot with another director, and the remainder extensively re-edited, leaving the final product a pale shadow of what Whale had originally intended. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ronald Colman stars in David O. Selznick's classic production of Anthony Hope's swashbuckling adventure. The film takes place in a mythical Central European kingdom with Colman in a dual role as King Rudolf V and Rudolph Rassendyl, a visitor from England who's a distant cousin to the prince. Arriving in the city of Strelsau, the inhabitants are startled by Rudolph's resemblance to the prince. Spotted by two of the prince's aides, Captain Fritz von Tarlenheim (David Niven) and Colonel Zapt (C. Aubrey Smith), the Englishman is taken to meet the prince at his hunting lodge. The two lookalikes have dinner together as the prince tells Rudolph of the preparations for his upcoming coronation as king. The next morning, Zapt wakes Rudolph and informs him the prince had been drugged the night before and is now in a coma. Because of their similar appearance, Zapt prevails upon Rudolph to impersonate the prince at the coronation, otherwise the prince's evil brother Black Michael (Raymond Massey) will be crowned in his place. With the assistant of Zapt and von Tarlenheim, Rudolph bluffs his way through the coronation, successfully fooling Michael, who is shocked to see his brother alive. Crowned king, Rudolph then meets Princess Flavia (Madeleine Carroll), the prince's fiancee. As they proceed to the reception, Princess Flavia is amazed how kindly the prince is now treating her. Rudolph is falling in love with her, but Michael suspects something foul and dispatches Rupert of Hentzau (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) to investigate the matter further, preparing to gain control of the throne at any cost. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The MGM historical "spectacular" San Francisco was allegedly based on a three-sentence synopsis, submitted verbally to producer B.F. Zeidman by studio troubleshooter Bob Hopkins. The story begins on the Barbary Coast on New Year's Eve, 1906, as rakish but likeable political boss Blackie Norton (Clark Gable) hires demure young singer Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) to perform at his rowdy Paradise gambling house. Local priest Father Mullin (Spencer Tracy), Blackie's best friend, disapproves of the exploitation of the lovely Mary, feeling that she's suited for classier surroundings. Jack Hurley (Jack Holt), Nob Hill socialite and Blackie's political rival, agrees with Father Mullin and offers the girl the opportunity to sing with the San Francisco Opera. Blackie, who's fallen in love with Mary but won't admit it to himself, jealously holds on to her contract, forcing Mary to walk out on him. For the rest of the film, Mary is torn between the "respectable" lifestyle offered her by Hurley and the baser creature comforts provided by Blackie. It looks for a while that Hurley has won out, but fate takes a hand in the form of the devastating San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906 (a special effects tour de force for art directors Arnold Gillespie and his uncredited associate James Basevi). Hurley is killed in the holocaust, while Blackie, desperately searching for Mary in the rubble, at long last finds religion and prays to God for his sweetheart's salvation. At the end, an unidentified bit player shouts defiantly "We'll build a new San Francisco!" -- and by golly, they do! The Hollywood censors were not so much bothered by the sexual subtext of San Francisco or its harrowing earthquake finale as they were by a scene in which Father Mullin is knocked down by an unrepentant Blackie. To "purify" this potentially blasphemous sequence, screenwriter Anita Loos quickly added an earlier scene in which Mullin and Blackie, both dressed in turtleneck sweaters, genially duke it out at an exercise gym, whereupon the priest cold-cocks Blackie with the greatest of ease. By establishing that Mullin could have punched out Blackie, but chooses not to in the controversial later scene, not only allows that scene to pass, but also strengthened the priest's character. San Francisco proved to be one of MGM's biggest hits, remaining in almost constant reissue for the next three decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Virtually all of the Chesterfield Pictures efforts of the 1930s served as starring vehicles for Hollywood's best character actors. It was Henrietta Crossman who headed the cast of the 1936 Chesterfield production Hitch Hike to Heaven, sharing star billing with former silent-movie matinee idol Herbert Rawlinson. Crossman plays Deborah Delaney, manager of a small but intrepid band of touring repertory actors, while Rawlinson is cast as Deborah's son Melville De la Ney, a famous movie actor (which puts him on the outs with his mom, who despises movies). One of the members of Delaney's company is Melville's son Daniel (Russell Gleason), who is in love with the troupe's ingenue Jerry Daley (Polly Ann Young). Through a series of misunderstandings, Jerry winds up as a correspondent in the divorce action between Melville and his wife Nadia (Lela Bliss). The ensuing scandal finishes Melville in Hollywood, but by film's end, his reputation has been restored while Jerry also becomes a prominent film star -- not to mention the bride of Daniel Delaney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jack Benny is cast against type as a small-time con man in this lightweight MGM programmer. Whenever he manages to outsmart himself, Calvin (Benny) returns to his ever-patient wife Alice (Una Merkel) to bail him out. In dutch with the law again -- this time he's managed to offend the IRS! -- Calvin and his cohort McGurk (Ted Healy) try to make their escape in a stratospheric balloon. Incredibly, this impromptu flight results in a government contract to produce a whole fleet of similar balloons, which manages to rescue Calvin from the clutches of cloddish treasury agent Henry Potke (Nat Pendleton). Though it earned back its cost, It's in the Air was Jack Benny's final film for MGM. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Productions moved from MGM to Warners with Page Miss Glory--along with Cosmopolitan's biggest commodity, actress Marion Davies. The plotline has something to do with a composite photo prepared for a magazine contest: The combined facial attributes of Garbo, Dietrich, Harlow and Kay Francis make up this picture, which wins an award for photographer Pat O'Brien. When pressed to produce his fictional "Miss Glory," O'Brien scours the country in search of the girl whose face matches the composite. And that's where lowly chambermaid Marion Davies comes in. After a dizzying taste of fame and fortune, Davies renounces her new celebrity for the love of Dick Powell. The title song of Page Miss Glory was given a more entertaining showcase in the "art deco" Warner Bros. cartoon Miss Glory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide