Lionel Stander Movies
Born in the Bronx, hulking, raspy-voiced comic actor Lionel Stander attended the University of North Carolina before making his professional stage debut at age 19. He appeared in a number of two-reel comedies produced at Vitaphone's Brooklyn studio before heading to Hollywood in 1935. Usually cast as a brutish gangster with intellectual pretensions, he was also memorable as the acerbic Corny Cobb in Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), the vengeful press agent Libby in the original A Star Is Born (1937), and Archie Goodwyn in a brace of Nero Wolfe mysteries produced by Columbia. An outspoken political liberal, Stander ran into trouble with the Dies Committee during the first Communist witchhunt in the early '40s, and by the end of the decade was blacklisted altogether when he refused to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee. He supported himself as a stockbroker and journeyman stage actor until he was "rescued" by director Tony Richardson, who cast Stander in an important role in The Loved One. After his riveting portrayal of an American mobster in Roman Polanski's Cul-de-Sac (1966), he became something of a cult figure in Europe, working steadily in spaghetti Westerns and crime thrillers. Back in the U..S in the 1970s, he essayed one of his best roles as Liza Minelli's agent in Martin Scorsese's New York, New York. TV fans knew Lionel Stander best as resourceful general factotum Max on the Robert Wagner-Stefanie Powers adventure series Hart to Hart (1979-1994). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
It's December of 1941, and the people of California are in varying states of unease, ranging from a sincere desire to defend the country to virtual blind panic in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus begin several story threads that comprise the "plot" of this strange period comedy, a sort of satirical disaster movie, from Steven Spielberg. The stories and story threads involve lusty young men, officers (Tim Matheson) and civilians (Bobby Di Cicco) alike, eager to bed the young ladies of their dreams; Wild Bill Kelso, a nutty fighter pilot (John Belushi) following what he thinks is a squadron of Japanese fighters along the California coast; a well-meaning but clumsy tank crew (including John Candy) led by straight-arrow, by-the-book Sgt. Tree (Dan Aykroyd), who doesn't recognize the thug (Treat Williams) in his command; and homeowner Ward Douglas (Ned Beatty), who is eager to do his part for the nation's defense and, despite the misgivings of his wife (Lorraine Gary), doesn't mind his front yard overlooking the ocean being chosen to house a 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. There is also a pair of grotesquely inept airplane spotters (Murray Hamilton, Eddie Deezen) who are doing their job from atop a ferris wheel at a beachfront amusement park; a paranoid army colonel (Warren Oates) positive that the Japanese are infiltrating from the hills; a big dance being held on behalf of servicemen, being attended by a lusty young woman of size (Wendie Jo Sperber) eager to land a man in uniform; and General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell (Robert Stack), in charge of the defense of the West Coast, who can't seem to get anyone to listen to him when he says to keep calm. And, oh yes, there's also a real Japanese submarine that has gotten all the way to the California coast under the command of its captain (Toshiro Mifune) and a German officer observer (Christopher Lee), only to find itself without a working compass or usable maps. Its captain won't leave until the sub has attacked a militarily significant, honorable target, and the only one that anyone aboard ship knows of in California is Hollywood. By New Year's Eve, all of these characters are going to cross paths, directly or once-removed, in a comedy of errors and destruction strongly reminiscent of the finale to National Lampoon's Animal House (as well as several disaster movies from the same studio), but on a much larger and more impressive scale. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, (more)
You shouldn't be able to go wrong with a title like A Boy, a Girl, and a Dog, but this 51-minute cheapie comes perilously close. Jerry Hunter is the boy, Sharyn Moffett is the girl, and a dog is the Dog. The boy and girl volunteer the dog for military service. The dog becomes a hero in the K-9 corps. Oh, yes, there's a Lovable Old Gramps, in the person of Harry Davenport. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Hunter, Sharyn Moffett, (more)
- 1968
Director Anthony Mann's final film (Mann died during the filming, and the production was completed by the film's star, Laurence Harvey) is a kitchen-sink espionage drama with Harvey as Eberlin, a Russian spy and double-agent, homesick and pining for the Russian steppes. It is in this risky mood that Eberlin falls in love with the emaciated Caroline (Mia Farrow). Complications arise when he is directed to kill a Russian spy -- but the Russian spy happens to be himself. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Tom Courtenay, (more)
A Star is Born came into being when producer David O. Selznick decided to tell a "true behind-the-scenes" story of Hollywood. The truth, of course, was filtered a bit for box-office purposes, although Selznick and an army of screenwriters based much of their script on actual people and events. Janet Gaynor stars as Esther Blodgett, the small-town girl who dreams of Hollywood stardom, a role later played by both Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand in the 1954 and 1976 remakes. Jeered at by most of her family, Esther finds an ally in her crusty old grandma (May Robson), who admires the girl's "pioneer spirit" and bankrolls Esther's trip to Tinseltown. On arrival, Esther heads straight to Central Casting, where a world-weary receptionist (Peggy Wood), trying to let the girl down gently, tells her that her chances for stardom are about one in a thousand. "Maybe I'll be that one!" replies Esther defiantly. Months pass: through the intervention of her best friend, assistant director Danny McGuire (Andy Devine), Esther gets a waitressing job at an upscale Hollywood party. Her efforts to "audition" for the guests are met with quizzical stares, but she manages to impress Norman Maine (Fredric March), the alcoholic matinee idol later played by James Mason and Kris Kristofferson. Esther gets her first big break in Norman's next picture and a marriage proposal from the smitten Mr. Maine. It's a hit, but as Esther (now named Vicki)'s star ascends, Norman's popularity plummets due to a string of lousy pictures and an ongoing alcohol problem. The film won Academy Awards for director William Wellman and Robert Carson in the "original story" category and for W. Howard Greene's glistening Technicolor cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, (more)
Writer/director Luigi Comencini originally created Le Avventure di Pinocchio as a five-and-a-half-hour miniseries for Italian television. This 134-minute version, featuring various guest stars, was released theatrically. Pinocchio (Andrea Balestri) is a wooden puppet carved by Geppetto (Nino Manfredi), who is turned into a little boy by a magical fairy (Gina Lollobrigida). She insists that he be obedient and loving to his father Geppetto, but the rebellious Pinocchio tries to live independently -- and encounters many ordeals, from being turned into a donkey to getting swallowed by a whale. After he and Geppetto escape from the whale, Pinocchio is able to be the good son his father deserves. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- 1972
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Helmed by acknowledged horror master Lucio Fulci, the political satire All'onorevole Piacciono le Donne stars Lando Buzzanca as Gianni Pupis, a powerful politician who takes a fall in the public eye after his habit of slapping women on the behind leads him to humiliate a different country's leader, causing an international incident that leads Gianni to the church in hopes of rehabilitating his image. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Unlike Clint Eastwood, who in the 1960s was cast as the Man With No Name, Beyond the Law star Lee Van Cleef has a name, and a very functional one. Van Cleef is known to one and all as Bandit Turned Sheriff. Actually, a more appropriate cognomen would be Bandit Turned Sheriff But Still a Bandit, since Van Cleef only pretends to reform so that he can steal a cavalry payroll. Since it's hard to watch Beyond the Law with a straight face to begin with, the producers wisely decided to turn this spaghetti western into a semi-comedy. Released in Italy in 1967 as Al Di La Della Legge, Beyond the Law was distributed in the US in 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Van Cleef, Antonio Sabato, (more)
A tough adventurer and his sidekick find outlaws and rowdy women in this action-filled spaghetti western. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, (more)
In this documentary-inspired thriller, P.J. McNeal (James Stewart) is a reporter who is asked by his editor to look into a potential story: their newspaper has been carrying an ad offering a substantial reward for information regarding the murder of a policeman that occurred eleven years ago. It turns out the ad was placed by a cleaning woman named Tillie Wiecek (Kasia Orzazewski); her son Frank (Richard Conte) was convicted of the crime, but she is thoroughly convinced her son had nothing to do with the killing. McNeal doesn't believe for a moment that Frank could be innocent, but he sees a good human interest story in Tillie and writes a piece that receives a great deal of favorable attention. Brian Kelly (Lee J. Cobb), McNeal's editor, thinks there might be more to this story and asks P.J. to look into the original murder case. To McNeal's surprise, Frank passes a lie detector test in which he proclaims his innocence, and the more he digs into records on the case, the more he finds wrong with the original investigation; some evidence is missing, much is inconclusive, and the reporter begins to wonder if Frank might have been railroaded after all, or if the police might be trying to keep something quiet. Call Northside 777 was based on a true story. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Richard Conte, (more)
- 1989
- R
Directed by Susan Seidelman and written by Alice Arlen and Nora Ephron, Cookie comes across as an inconsequential piece of fluff, bolstered by a quirky performance by Emily Lloyd. Lloyd is Cookie Capisco, the daughter of mobster Dino Capisco (Peter Falk), who has just finished thirteen years in prison. Dino wants to get out of jail, settle some old scores, and make up for lost time with his daughter. His illegitimate daughter, that is -- since Cookie's mother, Lenore (Dianne Wiest), has been Dino's longtime mistress. Dino's actual wife Bunny (Brenda Vaccaro) has, he thinks, been kept in the dark about Dino's mistress and his daughter. Dino decides that the best way to get to know Cookie is to hire her as his chauffeur. With her ears attuned to the conspiracies floating around Dino, she quickly discovers that her father's old crony, Carmine (Michael V. Gazzo), has been swindling him and that Dino's life is in jeopardy. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Dianne Wiest, (more)
- 1966
The fact that there isn't a single likeable character in Cul de Sac does not diminish its artistic value in the least. Ageing, furtively kinky Donald Pleasence is married to sexy young Francoise Dorleac. The couple's hermitlike tranquility is shattered when wounded gangsters Jack MacGowan and Lionel Stander invade their home and hold them hostage. As Dorleac urges her tremulous husband to do something, the two criminals begin behaving in a fashion that can only inadequately be described as eccentric. Drawing upon two of Polanski's favorite themes-isolation and latent insanity--Cul de Sac actually improves upon each viewing, assuming that the viewer has the intestinal fortitude to sit through it once. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Pleasence, Françoise Dorléac, (more)
The disaster genre gets the exploitation treatment in this gruesome tale of survival at sea from director René Cardona Jr. In the wake of a violent cyclone, the remaining passengers of a downed airplane find refuge on a passing boat carrying the survivors of a shipwreck. Without a clue where in the world they are, a shortage of food and water, and the surrounding waters teeming with man-eating sharks, the tensions are soon on the rise. El Ciclon was released in the U.S. as The Cyclone. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
20th Century-Fox's 1943 filmization of Richard Tregaskis' best-selling book Guadalcanal Diary does full justice to the spare, lean prose of Tregaskis' eyewitness account. The incidents in the "diary" are tied together by an off-screen narrator into a cohesive storyline. The principal characters in this wartime chronicle are marine sergeant Lloyd Nolan, chaplain Preston S. Foster, Mexican enlistee Anthony Quinn, and a Dodgers-lovin' Brooklynite, played by William Bendix. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Preston S. Foster, Lloyd Nolan, (more)
Hangmen Also Die is set in Czechoslovakia during the Nazi occupation. Czech loyalist Brian Donlevy assassinates the vicious Gestapo leader Heydrich, then goes into hiding. The wounded patriot is sheltered by history professor Walter Brennan, who is already under surveillance by the Nazis thanks to his veiled classroom attacks on the Third Reich. Fifth columnist Gene Lockhart arranges for the professor and 400 other Prague citizens to be rounded up as hostages, to be killed if Heydrich's assassin is not revealed. Ultimately Lockhart himself is framed by the citizenry, giving the actor full scope to cringe and cower as only he could. Persuasively directed by Fritz Lang, Hangmen Also Die was based on a story by Lang and expatriate German playwright Bertold Brecht. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, (more)
- 1979
Originally telecast September 25, 1979, Hart to Hart was the pilot film for a series which officially debuted three days earlier. Robert Wagner and Stephanie Powers play the fabulously wealthy, blissfully happy married couple Jonathan and Jennifer Hart. He's a conglomerate CEO, she's a mystery author; together they solve crimes whenever their schedules allow. In this first escapade, the Harts tackle the case of a friend's death at a fancy health spa. Lionel Stander is on hand as the Harts' gravel-voiced general factotum Max. The closing sequence of Hart to Hart includes a cameo appearance by Robert Wagner's real-life wife Natalie Wood, billed under her real-life name Natasha Gurdin. Coincidentally, the supporting cast features Wagner's future wife Jill St. John. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Stefanie Powers and Robert Wagner return as the Harts, married private eyes who in this made-for-TV movie interrupt their carefree lives to investigate a group of corrupt government contractors. Lionel Stander also returns as their sidekick Max, with Mike Connors and Ken Howard as guest stars. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Television's fabulously wealthy amateur crime-fighting duo, Jennifer (Stephanie Powers) and Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) returns. This time the well-groomed twosome and their trusty valet Max team up with a Big Apple gumshoe to discover the identity of the villain who has been sabotaging Jennifer's play. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, (more)
- 1994
In this feature-length continuation of the popular husband-and-wife television detective series, the fabulously wealthy and impossibly attractive Jonathan (Robert Wagner) and Jennifer (Stephanie Powers) Hart travel to the town of Kingman's Ferry to mourn the death of Jennifer's mentor. Suspecting foul play, the duo launch an investigation that reveals that burg's idyllic appearance masks a seething underbelly of deception. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
In this made-for-TV movie inspired by the popular series Hart to Hart, jet-setting Jennifer and Jonathan Hart (Stephanie Powers and Robert Wagner) are attending a party for a successful publisher on his private island resort. Jennifer happens to overhear two men discussing a murder they plan to commit -- and their intended victim appears to be Jonathan. Suddenly the Harts have to find out why Jonathan has become a marked man while staying out of harm's way as they track the killers. Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die also stars Mike Farrell and Paul Williams. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
No sooner have millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his journalist wife Jennifer (Stefanie Powers) have been introduced in the feature-length pilot episode of Hart to Hart than the couple is indulging in their favorite hobby, amateur sleuthing; it's all for a good cause of course, inasmuch as the Harts are hoping to solve the murder of an old friend at a so-called health spa. One week after the pilot aired on ABC, the Hart to Hart series proper got under way with its first 22 episodes. Frequently in harm's way during this inaugural season is the glamorous Jennifer Hart, who in the official season opener is targeted for death by a person claiming to be her cousin; a few weeks later, a looney lady (Kathleen Lloyd) who has long fantasized about being Jennifer decides to eliminate the "original"; and further down the line, Jennifer unwittingly signs her own death warrant when she commissions a portrait of herself. Both Jennifer and Jonathan are neck-deep in peril on several occasions, usually when they try to get away for a bit of rest and relaxation: for example, a vacation in Mexico goes sour when the Harts find themselves fugitives from both the local constabulary and a gang of drug dealers; a skiing weekend in Vail goes downhill when Jonathan and Jennifer are marked for death by electrocution; and a luxury cruise culminates with the Harts stuck in the middle of a blood feud between two rival teams of jewel thieves! And on separate occasions, an antique auto and a Buddha statue plunge the protagonists into the world of international espionage. In other adventures, the Harts adopt clever disguises to hunt down a killer of prostitutes; Madelyn Rhue guest stars as the latest girlfriend of the Harts' crusty chauffeur Max (Lionel Stander), and like most of Max's amours she turns out to be a crook; Jonathan is forced into a "duel a mort" with a sadistic fencing champ; the couple's pet dog Freeway dashes off to parts unknown with vital murder evidence clamped between his teeth; and a psychic employee of Hart industries bids fair to send Jonathan and Jennifer to the next world a bit ahead of schedule. Somehow or other, Jonathan and Jennifer survive to appear in the season finale, which concerns a scheming playboy who literally "plays" people like chess pieces. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, (more)
Season Two of the lighthearted adventure-mystery series Hart to Hart opens with Jennifer Hart (Stefanie Powers, the glamorous journalist wife of millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner), once more mired in peril when she comes to the rescue of a bride whose new husband has vanished and left both ladies at the mercy of mobsters. Then it is Jonathan's turn to look death in the face when he witnesses a murder, only to promptly develop amnesia--forcing the killer to cook up an appropriate demise for Jonathan lest his memory come back. Later, the Harts' gravel-voiced chauffeur Max (Lionel Stander), forever unlucky in matters of the heart, gets bollixed up in a sinister scheme involving a stolen necklace when his supposedly dead wife shows up hale and hearty after 10 years. And the Harts' pet dog Freeway is the unwitting catalyst of a plot revolving around a secret formula and a mad doctor. Other episode highlights this season include "This Lady is Murder", in which Jennifer is mistaken for her lookalike Dominique (also Stefanie Powers) by a gang of cutthroats; and "Murder in Paradise, wherein series star Powers is reunited with her former Girl From UNCLE vis-à-vis Noel Harrison. Robert Wagner gets to show off his versatility when he impersonates a cold-blooded hit man in "Murder is a Drag"; and both stars adopt disguises in another episode to trap a band of counterfeiters. The season ends when, while cleaning up after a robbery in their absence, Mr. and Mrs. Hart discover a hidden vault in the recesses of their home--only to be promptly sealed up inside. Just another average day in the lives of Jonathan and Jennifer Hart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, (more)
- 1981
Season Three of Hart to Hart begins with the emphasis on Max (Lionel Stander), the ratchet-voiced chauffeur and general factotum of millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his globetrotting journalist wife Jennifer Hart (Stefanie Powers). An amateur horticulturalist, Max creates a rose which he names after Jennifer--but, as usual, the situation becomes "guns and roses" thanks to a homicidal flower expert. Later in the season, the Harts go on one of those vacations which they always hope will take them far, far away from murder and mayhem; alas, after their car breaks down in Acapulco, the couple is swiftly embroiled in a plot to assassinate a political leader. Still later the couple finds themselves in a variation on Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, which not only boasts a nifty whodunit plotline, but also accommodates guest appearances by Carol Lynley, Bernie Kopell (The Love Boat), Ron Glass (Barney Miller), David Doyle (Charlie's Angels and even Florence Henderson! And speak of guest stars: Magician Harry Blackstone does a villainous turn in an episode aptly titled "Murder Up Their Sleeve"; a pre-"Freddie Krueger" Robert Englund shows up in a story involving a glamous singer and a costume made of stolen jewels; future movie headliner Ed Harris is a key figure in an episode in which Jonathan is blinded by a psycho specializing in using poisonous chemicals to kill his victims; and Ray Milland makes his first appearance as Jennifer's father in an adventure wherein "daddy" turns out to have quite a checkered past. Later episodes involve a defecting Russian ballerina, a demented Souther Belle, dirty work in the vineyards of Jonathan's winery, a misdelivered suit leading to the proverbial body in the hotel room, a packet of valuable baseball cards which almost spells three outs for Jonathan and Jennifer. And in Hart to Hart's third-season finale, Jonathan and Jennifer are sucked up in an elaborate insurance fraud in which phony car accidents result in very real deaths. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, (more)
- 1982
The opening episode of Hart to Hart's fourth season demonstrates that, even when doing something as benign as purchasing a new bed, millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his journalist wife Jennifer (Stefanie Powers) will eventually find themselves neck-deep in danger, intrigue and murder. Nor does the "fun" let up in the next episode, wherein Eva Gabor guests as Jennifer's oft-married aunt, whose latest march down the aisle bids fair to be her last march anywhere. A later visit to Jennifer's old prep school not only features yet another of the Hart's old family friends who has turned murderer, but also rabbets in a clip from one of Stefanie Powers' feature-film appearances from the 1960s (hilariously passed off as a home movie of her "school play"!) And just when the Harts think that they're safe and sound in their own home, they are left at the mercy of homicidal thieves when their chauffeur-bodyguard Max (Lionel Stander) is lured away under false pretenses. As in past seasons, several guest stars show up to join in the merry mayhem. A new spin on the old grand guignol chestnut "The Most Dangerous Game", in which Jonathan and Jennifer become the human prey of a demented big game hunter, features both former Hitchcock protégée Tippi Hedren but also onetime Man From UNCLE costar David McCallum (Stefanie Powers had of course been the "Girl From" that same acronymic organization). Julie Newmar, who'd once been memorably bound and gagged by Robert Wagner in an episode of his 1960s series It Takes the Thief, turns the tables as a hitwoman who holds Jonathan and Jennifer prisoner. And Amanda Blake makes a rare post-Gunsmoke appearance in a tale involving a "trick" cigar that proves anything but funny for poor Max. Season Four ends in a virtual reprise of Hart to Hart's 1979 debut episode, with Jonathan and Jennifer Hart visiting a health club that's not so healthy after all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, (more)
- 1983
The fifth and final season of Hart to Hart is something of a retrospective: "Two Harts are Better Than One finds millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his journalist wife Jennifer (Stefanie Powers) recalling the day they first met--and also recall how they were nearly killed on the occasion! As the season rolls on, the Harts encounter danger at a polo game and a fox hunt; Jonathan unwittingly boards a fighter jet triggered to explode in midair, and later has a slightly less lethal game of doubles with tennis legend Martina Navratilova (in another episode, Tai Babilonia skates in for a cameo role); a Grecian vacation is "highlighted" by a deadly cross-country car race; a stopover in Rhodes involves the Harts with homicidal smugglers; and Ray Milland returns as Jennifer's father Stephen Edwards, this time the target of extermination by a nutcase claiming to be his long-lost illegitimate daughter. The series' 100th episode finds Jennifer hiding in a convent to avoid being offed by gangsters; the following week she barely has time to catch her breath when she is stalked by a demented stage manager during a charity stage show. The Harts' loyal chauffeur-protecter Max (Lionel Stander) is spotlighted in an episode in which he falls for a victimized pensioner, played by Dorothy Lamour. And still another movie great, June Allyson, plays a penpal of Max who is deluded into thinking the old reprobate is a millionaire. A decade after its cancellation in 1984, Hart to Hart would return in the form of eighth feature-length TV specials. The last of the original series' hour-long episodes, "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch", guest stars Patrick MacNee in the story of a 20 million dollar jewel theft--and guess which couple finds themselves smack in the middle of the situation? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, (more)
- 1935
Obviously filmed on a tight budget, RKO Radio's Hooray for Love nevertheless has as much sheer entertainment value as any high-priced Busby Berkeley spectacular. Gene Raymond plays Doug, a college boy who aspires to become a Broadway producer. With reluctant songstress Pat (Ann Sothern) as his star, Doug stages a big-time revue, financed by Pat's father, a seedy con artist known as the Commodore (Thurston Hall). When it turns out that The Commoder hasn't a cent to his name, Doug is tossed into jail, but salvation is at hand in the form of a wealthy widow (Georgia Caine) who's set her cap for Pat's reprobate father. Lionel Stander has several choice moments as a temperamental Russian orchestra leader, as does Pert Kelton as a talentless soubrette, but the film's strongest selling card is the presence of the matchless Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Fats Waller. The musical highlight is Robinson's "I'm Living in a Great Big Way," accompanied by Waller and Jeni Le Gon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sothern, Gene Raymond, (more)
