Ruth Tobey Movies

The same studio that brought forth Father Was a Fullback was responsible for Mother is a Freshman. Loretta Young stars as Abbigail Abbott, the widowed mother of coed Susan Abbott (Betty Lynn). In order to legally validate Susan's scholarship fund (a legacy of her late grandmother), Abigail enrolls in the university as a freshman. Here she is wooed by Professor Richard Michaels (Van Johnson)--much to Susan's dismay, since she'd set her cap for the professor herself. Rudy Vallee reprises the "stuffy middle-aged suitor" characterization he'd essayed in such previous comedies as The Palm Beach Story and Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer. Mother is a Freshman afforded audiences the opportunity of glimpsing 20th Century-Fox's familiar "college campus" sets in full Technicolor (these standing sets were also seen in black & white in such 1949 releases as Mr. Belvedere Goes to College and It Happens Every Spring). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this sequel to the 1944 teenage comedy Janie, Joan Leslie replaces Joyce Reynolds in the title role, playing the virtuous but amorous daughter of Edward Arnold and Ann Harding. Janie marries the soldier (Robert Hutton) she'd met in the earlier film, hoping to help him set the course of a successful civilian life. Robert Benchley (who'd died the year before this film was released) is a delight as the husband's dry-witted stepfather, doing his best to help the young couple in spite of themselves. Complications ensue when hubby's former girl friend (Dorothy Malone) shows up. Janie Gets Married ends with the old flame extinguished and Janie and her husband in each other's arms. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The wild and woolly early days of New York -- when it was still known as New Amsterdam -- provide the backdrop for this period musical-comedy. In 1650, Peter Stuyvesant (Charles Coburn) arrives in New Amsterdam to assume his duties as governor. Stuyvesant is hardly the fun-loving type, and one of his first official acts is to call for the death of Brom Broeck (Nelson Eddy), a newspaper publisher well-known for his fearless exposes of police and government corruption. However, Broeck hasn't done anything that would justify the death penalty, so Stuyvesant waits (without much patience) for Broeck to step out of line. Broeck is romancing a beautiful woman named Tina Tienhoven (Constance Dowling), whose sister Ulda (Shelley Winters) happens to be dating his best friend, Ten Pin (Johnnie "Scat" Davis). After Stuyvesant's men toss Broeck in jail on a trumped-up charge, Stuyvesant sets his sights on winning Tina's affections. However, as Broeck begins to organize his fellow New Amsterdamians in a bid for independence, he tries to convince Stuyvesant that working for justice might do him more good that following his current policies of graft and corruption. Based on a Broadway musical with songs by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson, Knickerbocker Holiday's score was beefed up for its screen incarnation with a number of new tunes by Sammy Cahn and Jules Styne, though the best known song from the stage version remained the best remembered selection from the film, September Song. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

When Lew Ayres' wartime conscientious-objector status caused MGM to drop the actor like a hot potato, Ayres' "Dr. Kildare" series became the sole responsibility of Lionel Barrymore as the crusty Dr. Leonard Gillespie. In the first Kildare-less entry, Calling Dr. Gillespie, the ageing medico has a new assistant, refugee Dutch surgeon Dr. John Hunter Gerniede (Philip Dorn). Both Gillespie and Gerniede tackle the case of schizophrenic homicidal maniac Roy Todwell (Phil Brown), who is quite a handful to say the least. The story comes to a more suspenseful conclusion than usual as Todwell stalks Gillespie in the dead of night. MGM star-to-be Ava Gardner has a tiny, uncredited bit role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town is given the Hollywood treatment in this adaptation directed by Sam Wood featuring an evocative score by Aaron Copland and outstanding production design by William Cameron Menzies. Frank Craven is Mr. Morgan, the narrator and our guide through the small town of Grover's Corners in the more innocent American times of 1901, 1904, and 1913. Mr. Morgan chronicles the lives of a handful of Grover's Corners citizens, centering upon Emily Webb (Martha Scott), the daughter of the local newspaper editor (Guy Kibbee), and George Gibbs (William Holden), the son of the local doctor (Thomas Mitchell). Emily and George fall in love and the film details their difficult courtship, marriage, and tragic childbirth. The film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, losing out to Rebecca. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Upset that his youthful sweetheart Darla Hood has once again thrown him over in favor of neighborhood bully Tommy "Butch" Bond, Our Gang member Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer tries to forget his troubles by watching a sidewalk performance by famed hypnotist Professor William Delmore (John Davidson). Chosen as a subject, Alfalfa is hypnotized into believing that he is the fearless D'Artagnan, of Three Musketeers fame. Armed with this bold new personality, Alfie not only sweeps Darla off her feet, but also challenges the dumbfounded Butch to a duel. The results, while not deadly, are devastating for both Alfalfa and Butch. The one-reel Our Gang comedy Duel Personalities was originally released March 11, 1939. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide