Andrew Tombes Movies

Betty Grable's final film was a remake of the 1934 Bing Crosby-Miriam Hopkins musicomedy She Loves Me Not, which in turn was based on a play by Howard Lindsay. Betty and Sheree North star as a couple of striptease "artistes" who have the bad luck to witness a murder. Hoping to evade the killer, the girls hide out in a small college town, where they immediately win the hearts of the male frat brothers. One of these is overaged undergrad Robert Cummings, who falls for Betty, while Sheree settles for not-terribly-bright Orson Bean. A subplot concerns the unending get-rich-quick schemes of college president Charles Coburn. Before the story can be resolved, both Betty and Sheree are placed under hypnosis, with hilarious results. It could not have rested well with Betty Grable that Sheree North stole the show in How to Be Very, Very Popular--especially with her energetic rendition of "Shake, Rattle and Roll"--but Betty was on the verge of retiring anyway, so what the heck? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Judy Canova continues to bring home the box-office bacon for Republic Pictures in Oklahoma Annie. Judy plays Judy, Queen of the Cowgirls, a backwoods shopkeeper who falls in love with new sheriff Dan Fraser (John Russell). In order to stay in close proximity with the handsome lawkeeper, Judy performs an act of courage which earns her a deputy's badge. Working together, Judy and Dan do their best to rid their community of corrupt politicians, beginning with their assault on a local gambling den. When Dan is kidnapped by the bad guys, Judy rallies all the womenfolk in town and heads to the rescue. Even nonfans of Judy Canova will enjoy this rambunctious musical comedy, with the star functioning full-force on all eight cylinders. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This "Joe Palooka" entry concentrates on Joe's porcine pal Humphrey Pennyworth (played by Robert Coogan, the brother of former child star Jackie Coogan). When soft-hearted pugilist Joe Palooka (Joe Kirkwood Jr.) arrives for a bout in Humphrey's home town, everyone gets sucked into a crooked scheme concocted by duplicitous town mayor Phiffeney (Jack Kirkwood). Nothing is meant to be taken seriously in this one, as indicated by the film's climax, which degenerates into an old-fashioned pie fight. As usual, top billing in Humphrey Takes a Chance is bestowed upon Leon Errol as Joe Palooka's dyspeptic manager Knobby Walsh. Joe's girlfriend Anne Howe is played by Lois Collier, the latest in a long line of actresses to essay this role. Also released as Joe Palooka in Humphrey Takes a Chance, the film was inspired by the "Joe Palooka" comic strip by Ham Fisher. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this western-musical comedy, a remake of Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938), two vaudevillians find themselves stranded on a Texas dude ranch. Comic mayhem ensues as they cope with time in jail, a rodeo, and eventually love. They also help save the ranch from two greedy thugs trying to force the owners to sell. The story includes a Friz Freleng animated dream sequence featuring Bugs Bunny and caricatures of the two actors. Songs include: "Every Day I Love You Just a Little Bit More," "Hankerin'," "I Don't Care If It Rains All Night," "There's Music In the Land," and "I Wanna Be a Cowboy In the Movies" (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Broadway musical Beat the Band was boiled down to B-picture terms in this RKO Radio programmer. The plot concerns Damon (Philip Terry), a bandleader who finds himself financially embarrassed when he returns from WW2. In order to earn enough money to reassemble his orchestra, Damon poses as a famed Italian voice teacher. His first pupil is would-be songstress Ann (Frances Langford), whose family fortune figures prominently in Damon's comeback scheme. Ralph Edwards, emcee of the then-popular radio series "Truth or Consquences," provides comic relief as Damon's crooked business manager. The musical highlights include a "hot" arrangement performed in a boiler room by the Gene Krupa Orchestra. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This episodic holiday film centers around a rich spinster aunt whose greedy nephew is attempting legal action to take her estate. Before he makes a final decision, a caring judge tells the spinster that she can rally together the three foster children she raised to help her keep the estate, he will delay the nephew's action. Now she must find her three grown boys who have gone in wildly different directions. One is a boozy cowboy involved in a baby racket, another is a deadbeat deeply indebted to the nephew, and the other is a successful owner of a South American cafe on the lam for a con-job he didn't commit. She endures and adventurous journey, but the three do manage to come together on Christmas Eve, save the estate, and give the conniving nephew his due. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Although Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) agrees to remain at Mesa City for a couple of days so that California (Andy Clyde) and Lucky (Rand Brooks) can partake in various amusements, the stay becomes more of an ordeal than a holiday when the local bank is robbed during a square-dance competition. A case of mistaken trunks puts California in jail and it is up to Hoppy to clear his name and catch the real culprits. The real bank robbers manage to escape in one of those newfangled horse-less carriages, but as horse-less carriages are wont to do, then as now, this one runs out of gas at the most inopportune moment. Co-scripted by character actress Ellen Corby, Hoppy's Holiday was produced by its star, William Boyd. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

In this musical, a struggling songwriter endeavors to make it big in Tin Pan Alley. She is befriended by the widow of a famous composer. The budding lyricist manages to convince the widow to allow her to make some small changes in her husband's music. She does, and it becomes a tremendous success. Songs include "Oh What a Lovely Dream" (Milton Drake, Ben Oakland), "It's a Blue World" (Bob Wright, Chet Forrest), and "I Don't Know How You Did It" (Doris Fisher, Allan Roberts). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

"You can live a long time in three days -- sometimes when you're in a tight spot, you can live a year in ten seconds." US Army Air Force Major Bob Collins (Robert Cummings), Captain "Shakespeare" Anders (Don Defore), and Lt. "Handsome" Janoshek (Charles Drake) are three happy-go-lucky combat pilots, decorated heroes who are on a tour promoting War Bonds. Their public relations representative from the Treasury Department, Ivy Hotchkiss (Lizabeth Scott), finds at first that can't do much more than tag along, picking up after them and observing their carousing, especially Collins, who seems to have a wide array of female acquaintances in every city they visit. Indeed, although she says little about it, their carousing is out-of-proportion to their circumstances -- yes, their current mission involves a lot of cramped traveling cross-country. shaking hands, endless speechifying, and even more endless listening to tributes to the heroism of the air corps, all of which gets boring and tiring very fast; but these men act like they're burning the candle at both ends, almost manic in their pursuit of women and laughs, and just as devoted to the three of them enjoying anything they do together, past the point of pilots' usual comraderie. They go so far as to sneak out ahead of one extremely important rally, but eventually Ivy gets them to straighten up and fly right, at least when they're supposed to, and the trio -- who has taken a liking to her for being such as good sport -- agrees to behave, at least when they're supposed to be meeting the public. After a few more misunderstandings, some of them comical, she actually gets to like the trio; the four of them become friends, and Ivy starts getting especially close to Bob, despite his womanizing ways -- but whenever she asks Handsome and Shakespeare about Bob's story, they get very close-mouthed and vague. She doesn't think too much of it, enjoying the time she's having with them, until the truth is accidentally dumped in her lap by a well-meaning medical officer (Rhys Williams) -- that Bob, for all of his freewheeling, happy-go-lucky outlook on life and love, is terminally ill. She suddenly understands their behavior and the true depth of the friendship that Handsome and Shakespeare share with him -- she's also nearly shattered, but she dares not let Bob know that she knows, for fear of destroying what little time he has left. The trio at last becomes a true foursome, bound together around Bob and Ivy. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Johnny Hart (Rod Cameron) is on the run from the law after killing one of the men who shot his partner. He passes through a town and stops at a saloon owned by singer Lorena Dumont (Yvonne de Carlo). The two seem a good, albeit tempestuous match, although Johnny has no plans to marry -- Lorena has other ideas and a shotgun wedding ensues. Blackie (Sheldon Leonard), an outlaw who is jealous of the marriage, informs Lorena of Johnny's wanted status, and he ends up getting caught by the law after their wedding night. He serves six years and returns to find that he and Lorena don't get along any better than they did before, and that he's also the father of a five-year-old girl (Beverly Simmons). Also lurking about is Blackie, whom he recognizes as one of the men who killed his partner, and Blackie wants Johnny out of the way so he can marry Lorena. Johnny and Lorena fight over custody of their daughter and Blackie nearly gets them each killed at one point or another. He kidnaps their daughter before Johnny dispatches him. He finally realizes that the only way he can win Lorena is to meet her cup for cup and blow for blow, until she understands that he loves her. The film, a sort of Western Taming of the Shrew, ends on a note of romance and reconciliation. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

In this high-spirited musical comedy, J. Newport Bates (Eddie Bracken) is a millionaire who finds women are only interested in him for his money. When he becomes infatuated with Teddy Collins (Veronica Lake), a cigarette girl, he tries to hide his true identity from her, hoping she'll be interested in him for himself rather than his bank account. However, once Teddy figures out who he is, Bates drops her, and he is about to give up on women entirely when he meets Sue Thomas (Marjorie Reynolds), a nice girl who isn't interested in his money (or at least not yet). Musical satirists Spike Jones and his City Slickers also appear, though most prints are missing a bit from one of their musical numbers: a verse from a song that made fun of Eleanor Roosevelt was clipped after the film's initial engagements. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

There's slightly more fancy than fact in this lavish film biography of legendary American composer George Gershwin, but oh! That music! Director Irving Rapper had wanted Tyrone Power to play Gershwin, but Power was still serving in the Marines, so Rapper had to settle for Robert Alda--who isn't bad at all, just a trifle over-enthusiastic. The film traces Gershwin's rise from a "song plugger" for a Manhattan music publishing company to the heights of international fame and fortune. Gershwin's first big hit is "Swanee," introduced on Broadway by Al Jolson (who plays himself, making his first film appearance in six years). In collaboration with his lyricist brother Ira (well played by Herbert Rudley), George pens hit after hit in show after show. Impresario Charles Coburn is happy with this, but George's kindly old music teacher Albert Basserman wants his prize pupil to aspire to something more artistic. Gershwin responds with "Rhapsody in Blue", which debuts at Aeolian Hall in 1924 under the baton of bandleader Paul Whiteman (also playing himself). As his fame and workload grows, George finds he has no time at all for romance; the two (fictional) ladies in his life, both of whom eventually realize that they'll always have to play second fiddle to Gershwin's muse, are musical comedy star Joan Leslie and socialite Alexis Smith. Gershwin continues to compose such masterpieces as "An American in Paris", "Cuban Overture", "Concerto in F" and the 1935 folk opera Porgy and Bess. He will not allow himself to rest on his laurels, ruthlessly pushing himself to top all his previous accomplishments. Finally, the strain proves too great: George Gershwin dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1937, at the age of 39. Featured in the cast as themselves (in addition to those already mentioned) are Gershwin's lifelong friend Oscar Levant, producer George White, and Broadway performers Tom Patricola and Hazel Scott. Morris Carnovsky and Rosemary DeCamp play George's parents, while Julie Bishop is cast as Ira's wife Lee, who is saddled with the film's silliest line: "Ira, promise me that you'll never become a genius." Alternately hokey and inspired, Rhapsody in Blue has weathered the years as one of Hollywood's most solid biopics. And, as a bonus, we are treated to a virtually complete performance (running a full reel) of the title composition. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this comic western, a Broadway star leaves his musical revue to go West and help out his troubled friend. While there, the performer finds himself forced into becoming the town sheriff. Mayhem ensues, but somehow, the crooner manages to round up a band of killers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi