Arnold Stang Movies
American actor Arnold Stang was a professional almost all his life -- but unlike other "professional kids," he actively sought a career and wasn't strong-armed into it by ambitious parents. Winning an audition at age nine on radio's Horn and Hardart's Children's Hour, Stang launched a two-decade stint as one of radio's most stalwart supporting players. He appeared as a regular on Let's Pretend, and later was generously featured on Gertrude Berg's serialized family drama The Goldbergs. As his skills increased, Stang discovered he could get laughs, and worked steadily with such comedians as Eddie Cantor, Jack Benny, and especially Milton Berle, with whom Stang continued his association on television. On the satirical Henry Morgan Show, Stang was a regular member of the comedy stock company, most often as a nerdy teenager named Gerard. Stang started doing cartoon voiceovers in the '40s, beginning with Popeye the Sailor's pal Shorty, then moving into a lengthy hitch as "Hoiman" the mouse in Paramount's Herman and Katnip series; he also performed in 24 episodes of Hanna-Barbera's 1961 cartoon series Top Cat, playing the title role in a "Phil Silvers" manner until the sponsors demanded less of Silvers and more of Stang. In films since 1942's My Sister Eileen, Stang had his best movie role in Man with the Golden Arm (1955) where he played Frank Sinatra's skuzzy but loyal pal Sparrow - a characterization eerily reminiscent of Dustin Hoffman's Ratso Rizzo in the much-later film Midnight Cowboy (1969). During the '50s, Stang was the TV spokesman for Chunky candy, fondly remembered by today's baby boomers for his enthusiastic "Chunky...what a chunk o' chocolate!" Still active in the '90s, the owlish, bespectacled Arnold Stang delighted his long-time fans with an amusing character role in the John Hughes film Dennis the Menace (1993). Stang died at age 91 in December 2009. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1951
Two Gals and a Guy was a low-budget attempt to cash in on the "guests" of the Indians. These three bitter enemies must join forces to escape their captors and warn General Custer (James Millican) of the upcoming ambush at the Little Big Horn. Nominal leading lady Polly Bergen was "discovered" in Warpath, though in fact she had previously appeared in two other films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Alda, Janis Paige, (more)
- 1948
Radio humorist Henry Morgan made his film debut in So This is New York. Based on The Big Town, a collection of stories by Ring Lardner, the film traces country bumpkin Morgan's progress as he uses an inheritance to take a trip with his wife (Virginia Grey) and sister-in-law (Dona Drake) to the New York of the 1910s. He encounters numerous oddball characters, the most colorful of which is a drunken jockey (Leo Gorcey). The boxer and at least four other Broadwayites (Hugh Herbert, Rudy Vallee, Bill Goodwin and Jerome Cowan) complicate Morgan's life when they court his wife's sister--most of them hoping for a slice of that inheritance. The movies were not the ideal medium for the satiric barbs of Henry Morgan, though he plays his role well and carries the film with assurance. In addition to being Morgan's first picture, So This is New York was also the maiden voyage for producer Stanley Kramer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Morgan, Rudy Vallee, (more)
- 1945
Let's Go Steady was Columbia's annual "audition" musical, spotlighting the studio's latest crop of young contractees. Cheated out of their bankroll by a phony music publisher, a group of talented youngsters come to New York, hoping to promote their songs with their own, self-stage musical revue. Trouble is, none of the big-time bandleaders want to risk utilizing unknowns. Thus, the kids persuade a GI band to showcase their tunes, thereby attracting big-time support from various Broadway bigwigs. Standing out among the youthful cast members are June Preisser, Arnold Stang, and a personable singer-drummer named Mel Torme. Screenwriter Erna Lazarus manages to work in a plug for Columbia's Cover Girl, while director Del Lord, a graduate of the studio's Three Stooges comedies, finds a spot for perennial Stooge supporting player Vernon Dent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat Parrish, Jackie Moran, (more)
- 1942
Rosalind Russell plays aspiring Ohio journalist Ruth Sherwood, who heads for New York to seek her fortune, accompanied by her sister, Eileen (Janet Blair), an aspiring actress. The girls take a basement apartment in Greenwich Village, which becomes a gathering place for several oddball characters, including a football jock (Gordon Jones), his silly wife (Miss Jeff Donnell) and an eternally drunken fortuneteller (June Havoc). Ruth tries to sell her writing, but is advised by a friendly magazine editor (Brian Aherne) that she'll never succeed unless she writes from her own experiences. Meanwhile, Eileen is continually getting in trouble due to her ingenuous attractiveness. Ruth secures an assignment to interview several visiting Portuguese sailors, who follow her to her apartment, are immediately entranced by Eileen, and break up the joint with an impromptu conga line. Everyone ends up in jail, and it looks as though Ruth is going to have to leave New York without achieving success. But when Ruth begins writing about her life with her sister Eileen, she becomes a success -- and wins the love of the magazine editor in the bargain. My Sister Eileen was based on a series of autobiographical articles by real-life writer Ruth McKenney, who with Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodhorov adapted these stories into a Broadway play. The play was later musicalized for the stage as Wonderful Town (again with Rosalind Russell), while the film version was itself adapted into a separate movie musical in 1955. There was also a brief 1960 TV series, starring Elaine Stritch and Shirley Bonne. As an added fillip, the 1942 My Sister Eileen includes a fleeting guest appearance by the Three Stooges! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, (more)
- 1942
Victor Mature and Lucille Ball top the star-studded cast of RKO Radio's Seven Days Leave. Mature plays Johnny Grey, an eternally smiling GI who suddenly falls heir to $100,000. There's just one catch: Johnny must marry heiress Terry (Ball), whom he's never met, within a seven-day period. Once this familiar premise has been set up, the film segues into an unending parade of supporting comedians and specialty performers, including Harold Peary (in his traditional "Great Gildersleeve" radio persona), Ralph Edwards (shown hosting his popular airwaves quizzer Truth or Consequences), announcer Charles Victor (likewise emceeing his Court of Missing Heirs radio program), singers Ginny Simms and Marcy McGuire, south-of-the-border entertainer Mapy Cortes, and bandleaders Freddy Martin and Les Brown. Also on tap are a brace of future TV favorites, Peter Lynd Hayes and Arnold Stang. The choreography is by director-to-be Charles Walters, making his Hollywood debut. Seven Days Leave should not be confused with the 1944 RKO Radio "B" Seven Days Ashore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Lucille Ball, (more)
- 1942
Bob Hope's first starring vehicle for producer Sam Goldwyn borrows the title of Bob's 1942 autobiography They Got Me Covered and very little else. Co-scripted by Leonard Q. Ross (aka Leo Rosten), Leonard Spigelgass and Harry Kurnitz (among many others!), the film casts Hope as Robert Kittredge, the Moscow correspondent for a major American news service, who is fired when he neglects to file a report about Hitler's invasion of Russia. Hoping to get back in the good graces of his boss Norman Mason (Donald MacBride), Kittredge steals another reporter's story about a Nazi spy ring operating in New York. Though officially a comedy, the film is curiously unfunny at times, with Hope playing an unsympathetic, unappealing character who'll step on anyone -- including his long-suffering sweetheart (Dorothy Lamour) and a hysterical kidnap victim (Phyllis Povah) -- to get ahead. Otto Preminger is funnier (perhaps intentionally) as the head Nazi. A few good gags notwithstanding, They Got Me Covered is nowhere near as satisfying as Hope's second Goldwyn effort, The Princess and the Pirate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, (more)
