Roman Bohnen Movies

The Song of Bernadette is a reverent recounting of the life of St. Bernadette of Lourdes. As a teen-aged peasant girl growing up in the tiny French village of Lourdes in the 19th century, Bernadette (Jennifer Jones) experiences a vision of the Virgin Mary in a nearby grotto. At least, she believes that she did. The religious and political "experts" of the region cannot accept the word of a silly little girl, and do their best to get her to renounce her claims. Bernadette's vision becomes a political hot potato for many years, with the authorities alternately permitting and denying the true believers' access to the grotto. No matter what the higher-ups may think of Bernadette, there is little denying that the springs of Lourdes hold some sort of recuperative powers for the sick and lame. Eventually, Bernadette dies, never faltering in her conviction that she saw the Blessed Virgin; years later, she is canonized as a saint, and the Grotto of Lourdes remains standing as a permanent shrine. The 20th Century-Fox people knew that The Song of Bernadette would whip up controversy from both the religious and the agnostic. The company took some of the "curse" off the project with a now-famous opening title: "To those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. To those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible." Jennifer Jones' performance in The Song of Bernadette won her the Best Actress Oscar in 1943. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A remake of Return of Jimmy Valentine (1936), Republic Pictures' Affairs of Jimmy Valentine is a sequel of sorts to the oft-filmed O. Henry story Alias Jimmy Valentine. In the original tale, an incognito safecracker blew his cover by rescuing a little girl from a safe, prompting a detective who'd planned to arrest the criminal to let him off scot free. Affairs of Jimmy Valentine is set some twenty years later: A radio station decides to improve ratings by launching a nationwide search for reformed cracksman Jimmy Valentine. The search leads to a small town--and a mysterious murder. Roman Bohnen plays the kindly old editor of the small town's newspaper, who may or may not be Guess Who. Acted and directed with a slick professionalism that belies its small budget, Affairs of Jimmy Valentine has been released to TV in an abridged version titled Unforgotten Crime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Grand Central Murder was intended as a followup to the MGM "sleeper" Kid Glove Killer, with the earlier film's star, Van Heflin, appearing in a similar role. When bitchy actress Mida King (Patricia Dane) is bumped off in a private train car at Grand Central Station, police inspector Gunther (Sam Levene) gathers together all likely suspects. One of these is wisecracking private eye Rocky Custer (Heflin), who endeavors to uncover the genuine murderer himself before Gunther slaps the cuffs on him. Custer's seemingly casual, off-the-cuff methods of detection prove infuriating to Gunther, but guess who solves the mystery-and a particularly baffling one at that--by fadeout time? The film received a mixed reviews from the New York critics, who enjoyed the mystery angle but found fault with Hollywood's convoluted concept of Grand Central Station's floor plan and its unbelievably close proximity to a fictional Broadway theatre (even so, these critics also applauded the ongoing illusion of trains arriving and leaving throughout the picture). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

What's a modern guy to do when his wife's ideas about marriage are a bit too modern for his taste? Andre Casall (Charles Boyer) is a successful, free-thinking playwright who becomes infatuated with a progressive female doctor, Jane Alexander (Margaret Sullavan). They marry impulsively, and Andre soon learns that Jane's ideas about marriage are a bit different from his own -- she demands that they keep separate apartments, and they are to meet only once a day, at 7 a.m. This isn't quite the way that Andre had imagined wedded bliss, and he is soon scheming to make her jealous, in hopes that she'll demand a more traditional living arrangement. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

By 1941, Wallace Beery was pretty much confined to playing two characters: The reprobate with the heart of gold, or the old-line martinet who resents the incursions of progress. In The Bugle Sounds, Beery opted for characterization #2, playing entrenched Cavalry sergeant Hap Doan. Accustomed to horses and horsemen, Sgt. Doan has a great deal of trouble adjusting themselves to those newfangled armored cars and tanks that the modern Army has introduced to his troops. By the time he's seen the error of his ways and entered the 20th century, old Hap has somehow gotten himself mixed up with enemy saboteurs. The secondary love interest in The Bugle Sounds is handled by William Lundigan and Donna Reed, while Wally Beery is offered a more mature amour in the form of boisterous Marjorie Main. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 1939 film version of John Steinbeck's classic novel was a surprising choice for comedy producer Hal Roach; in fact, Roach had no intention of filming the property until forced to do so as a result of a lawsuit brought by director Lewis Milestone. Burgess Meredith stars as itinerant farm worker George, who travels in with his cousin and best friend Lennie (Lon Chaney, Jr.). George dreams of saving enough money for a farm of his own, a dream shared by the retarded giant Lennie, who merely wants to "tend the rabbits." Unfortunately, George has never been able to stay at a job very long, thanks to the trouble often caused by Lennie's feeble-mindedness. Still, George is fiercely loyal to Lennie and would never think of deserting him. Hired by rancher Oscar O'Shea, George and Lennie run afoul of the boss' belligerent son Curley (Bob Steele); his bored wife Mae (Betty Field) starts flirting with poor Lennie, who, not knowing his own strength, accidentally strangles the girl, leading to even more tragic consequences. Despite being endlessly parodied in Warner Bros. and MGM cartoons ("Which way did he, go George? Which way did he go?") Of Mice and Men retains its raw dramatic power. On its initial release, however, it proved a bit too powerful for many filmgoers, and it lost money. The highly acclaimed American composer Aaron Copland wrote the musical score. The 1981 TV remake of Of Mice and Men starring Robert Blake and Randy Quaid, was a virtual scene-for-scene remake of the 1939 version. The 1993 theatrical remake, starring Gary Sinise (who also directed) and John Malkovich, is perhaps closer to the source than its predecessors, but only time will tell if it attains the classic status of the Lewis Milestone version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An early Technicolor musical that concentrates on the fashions of the late 1930s, this film was reissued under the title All This and Glamour Too. The top models of the era, including several who are advertising household products, are in the cast. The plot centers around a chic boutique, whose owner, George Curson (Warner Baxter), tries hard to please his customers while keeping peace with his unhappy wife. A wealthy young woman, Wendy Van Klettering (Joan Bennett), decides to take a job as a model at the fashion house, just to amuse herself, but her presence annoys Curson, who must put together the best possible show to compete with rival fashion houses at the Seven Arts Ball. The film includes several hit songs, including the Oscar-nominated "That Old Feeling" by Sammy Fain and Lew Brown. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide