John Boles Movies

Storywise, Thousands Cheer is thin stuff indeed. Insouciant PFC Eddy Marsh (Gene Kelly) wants to put on a Big Show for his fellow serviceman. Along the way, Eddy falls in love with Kathryn Jones (Kathryn Grayson), the daughter of Colonel William Jones (John Boles). End of story. The principal selling angle of Thousands Cheer is the presence in the cast of virtually every musical talent on the MGM payroll: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Red Skelton, Eleanor Powell, Jose Iturbi, the Kay Kyser Orchestra, Bob Crosby and his Bobcats, the Benny Carter band, Ann Sothern, Lucille Ball, June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven?..the list goes on and on and on. Since Thousands Cheer was designed as a patriotic wartime morale-booster, it is indeed ironic that the film was written by Paul Jarrico and Richard Collins, both of whom would be blacklisted during the Red-baiting 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Universal and producer/director Henry Koster had plans to make Diana Barrymore, the daughter of John Barrymore, into another Deanna Durbin with Between Us Girls, an ambitious sub-screwball comedy that undoubtedly owed some aspects of its existence to The Major And The Minor (in addition to anticipating elements of the Van Johnson/June Allyson vehicle Too Young To Kiss). Barrymore plays Caroline Bishop, an ambitious and gifted young actress and the daughter of actress Christine Bishop (Kay Francis). On a visit home, she discovers that her mother is involved in a serious romance -- which could lead to her re-marrying -- with businessman Steven Forbes (John Boles), but that he is under the impression that Christine is at least a decade younger than her actual age. When Forbes announces his intention to meet Christine's "young" daughter -- whom he presumes is on a visit home from boarding school -- in order to help her mother, Carrie pretends to be a 12-year-old; but she also meets his friend Jimmy Blake (Robert Cummings), who takes a paternal interest in the seemingly badly adjusted child, whom he believes is being neglected emotionally. This impression is only reinforced when Carrie must invent an alcoholic "aunt" to explain a picture in the Bishop home. The problem is that she genuinely starts to fall in love with Jimmy -- but by the time she recognizes this dilemma, it's too late to sort out the masquerade without admitting to dishonesty all around. And how will Carrie juggle her two "roles" within the family, and her own life as a theater actress with a production of Rain (in which she is to play Sadie Thompson) coming up? ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

At one time Universal's "prestige" director, James Whale had slipped off the A-list by the end of the 1930s; even so, his films remained both intriguing and entertaining. In Whale's Sinners in Paradise, an airplane cracks up during a storm and crash-lands on an uncharted South Sea island. All nine passengers survive unscathed, including runaway bride Anne Wesson (Madge Evans), fugitive criminal Robert Malone (Bruce Cabot), blonde strumpet Iris Compton (Marion Martin), crooked senator Corey (Gene Lockhart), "radical" heiress Thelma Chase (Charlotte Wynters), munitions salesmen Jessup (Don Barry) and Brand (Morgan Conway), and cheerful Chinese cook Ping (Willie Fung). Forced to fend for themselves, the marooned passengers are helped along by resident beachcomber Jim Taylor (John Boles), a convicted murderer who has escaped to the island to "find himself". What he finds, of course, is romance in the form of Anne Wesson. A remake of a silent film of the same name, Sinners in Paradise was extensively re-edited before its general release, just as Whale's previous The Road Back had been. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Former musical comedy star Edward N. Buzzell called the shots on the Universal programmer As Good as Married. John Boles plays a wealthy businessman whose inability to keep his love life in order threatens both his financial and emotional well-being. Faithful secretary Doris Nolan is determined to save Boles from himself. She marries him "in name only" to keep him away from his arduous lady friends, and to provide him with an income tax deduction. Love, of course, isn't supposed to enter into the picture, but you know how these things turn out. As Boles' architect friend, Walter Pidgeon plays the "Ralph Bellamy" part of the guy who loses the girl. For an essentially minor comedy, As Good as Married boasts an impressive behind-the-camera talent lineup: F. Hugh Herbert co-adapted the screenplay from "an idea" by Norman Krasna. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This musical parody follows the exploits of American performers in Hungary. The story begins as a Yankee wrestling trainer becomes friends with a gringo singer who works in the same Budapest nightclub as a female ventriloquist. When the singer is dumped, the trainer offers to help him with his romantic life. The singer then gets involved with the ventriloquist who is married to a notorious swordsman who has successfully killed 40 men in duels. Trouble ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In her much vaunted screen debut, Metropolitan Opera star Gladys Swarthout takes on David Belasco's 30-year-old operetta about the female leader of a gang of vigilantes battling usurpers plotting to steal valuable land grants. The masked Don Carlos (aka Rosita Castro) uses her operatic voice as a call to arms, singing Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin's "If I Should Love You," "Thunder Over Paradise," "Where Is My Love?," and other selections, but her attempt to lynch accused bandit leader Joe Kincaid (Charles Bickford) fails when government agent Jim Kearney (John Boles) puts a stop to the unlawful proceedings. Despite interference from Don Castro (H.B. Warner), who has promised his daughter to Don Louis Espinoza (Don Alvarado), Kearney falls in love with the songstress, unaware that she is Don Carlos. But when Kincaid and his hordes storm the Castro rancho, Kearney is battling right alongside the lovely vigilante. Rose of the Rancho had previously been filmed in 1914 by Cecil B. De Mille as a vehicle for silent star Bessie Barriscale. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The old Edward Peble play The Littlest Rebel was gussied up in 1935 as a Shirley Temple vehicle. The curly-topped child star plays Virgie Cary, who lives in Southern-Plantation splendor with her dad Herbert (John Boles) and mom (Karen Morley). The family's idyllic existence is shattered when the Civil War breaks out. A captain in the Confederacy, Herbert Cary marches off to the battlefield, leaving his faithful family retainers -- including philosophical old Uncle Billy (Bill "Bojangles" Robinson) -- to watch over Virgie and Mrs. Cary. No one, however, is prepared for the ravages of war, thus Virgie is forced to endure the destruction of her family home and the death of mom after lingering illness. Desperately trying to make his way home for one last reunion with his wife, Herbert is arrested as a Southern spy. Fortunately, Yankee colonel Morrison (Jack Holt) takes a liking to the tenacious Virgie and tries to escort the girl and her father to safety. As a result, Morrison is arrested for desertion, and both he and Herbert are sentenced to be shot. Making her way to Washington in the company of faithful Uncle Billy, Virgie secures a pardon for both her father and Col. Morrison from an avuncular Abraham Lincoln (Frank McGlynn Sr.) The stereotypical treatment of black characters in The Littlest Rebel is more offensive than usual, with "happy darkies" nervously pondering the prospect of being freed from slavery and shivering in their boots when the Yankees arrive. But Bill Robinson manges to cut through the color line with his astonishing terpsichorean talents, especially in his closing "challenge dance" with Shirley Temple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This adaptation of the oft-filmed Jean Webster novel Daddy Long Legs has been tailored to the talents of Shirley Temple. The orphaned daughter of vaudeville entertainers, Elizabeth Blair (Temple) is the most precocious charge at super-strict Lakeside Orphanage, regularly disrupting protocol with her extemporaneous performance of such songs as "Animal Crackers in My Soup" at the dinner table. While paying a visit to the orphanage, wealthy trustee Edward Morgan (John Boles) is enchanted by cute little Elizabeth -- and even more so by the girls more mature sister Mary (Rochelle Hudson). He secretly arranges for the sisters' release from the institution, sets them up in a lavish mansion, and finances their education. When Mary almost falls in love with another man, it is miss-fixit Elizabeth who brings Mary and Edward together, capping this bit of cupidity with her trademarked exclamation "Oh, my goo'ness!" The first Shirley Temple vehicle specifically aimed at children, Curly Top contains some wonderful character bits from its adult cast, notably Etienne Girardot, Rafaela Ottiano and Jane Darwell as the orphanage officials and by Arthur Treacher and Billy Gilbert as the hero's household servants. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This off-beat romantic melodrama contains elements of comedy not usually found in the genre as it tells the story of the love between a show girl fleeing from her husband, a grifter. She heads to a mining company and ends up involved with a dam engineer. When a dam accidentally breaks, the engineer's wife is conveniently swept away. Happiness ensues. The flood footage was lifted from The Johnstown Flood (1926). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In his only musical-comedy appearance, Spencer Tracy stars as fast-buck promoter Smoothie King. Our hero's latest scam is to pass off Hollywood extra Wanda Gale (Pat Patterson) and forger Limey Brook (Herbert Mundin) as British nobility, getting both of them prestigious jobs at a movie studio. Eventually Wanda becomes a big star, falling out of love with Smoothie along the way in favor of her leading man Hal Reed (John Boles). But Smoothie takes it all in stride; after all, there's still a world full of chumps and suckers, ripe for fleecing. Future film producer Harold Hecht handled the choreography, while the songs were provided by such noteworthies as Harold Adamson, Burton Lane, Richard Whiting and Gus Kahn. The slaphappy screenplay for Bottoms Up was a joint effort by producer B. G. DeSylva, director David Butler and Tracy's comedy-relief co-star Sid Silvers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dedicated to "the memory of Florence Nightingale," White Parade might have been better dedicated to the cliche experts at Fox Studios who put this highly entertaining, highly predictable film together. The film chronicles the probationary period of a new team of student nurses in a midwestern hospital. Loretta Young has top billing, so we know she'll make first cut. In fact, Young is so magnificent she practically walks on water; even when offered the opportunity of marrying wealthy John Boles, she chooses to devote her life to nursing. Adapted from a novel by Ryan James, The White Parade managed to cop an Academy Award Nomination for Best Picture of 1934--one of eleven nominees that lost to It Happened One Night. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on an idea by Will Rogers, the story concerns the efforts by the President of the United States to get the public's mind off the Depression. To this end, he appoints Broadway impresario Lawrence Cromwell (Warner Baxter) to the new cabinet position of "Secretary of Amusement." Wasting no time, Cromwell sets about to nationalize the entertainment industry, organizing singers, dancers, actors and other variety artists into batallion-like touring units. Cromwell is fought at every turn by a cartel of wealthy industrialists, who've been profiting from the Depression and have no desire to see America pull itself upward. Happily, every effort to bribe or cajole Cromwell into giving up his mission is thwarted and the Department of Amusement goes on to help the the country at a time when its citizens most needed it. Among the highlights are an energetic "revival-meeting" musical number by Aunt Jemima (Theresa Gardella), and 6-year-old Shirley Temple's rendition of "Baby Take a Bow." Originally released at 80 minutes, Stand Up and Cheer was edited to 69 minutes for reissue, then to 65 minutes (removing most of Stepin Fetchit's scenes) for television: it was this last version which was computer-colorized in 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide