Douglas Wood Movies

For reasons unknown, the change-of-pace Bob Hope vehicle That Certain Feeling is out of favor with many Hope buffs. Bob plays Francis X. Dignan, the overly neurotic "ghost" for popular comic-strip artist Larry Larkin (George Sanders). When Larkin's syndicate complains that his work isn't as amusing as it once was, he anxiously tries to hire back Dignan, who walked out on his boss over a petty disagreement. Dignan needs the money, but he'd rather do without the aggravation; this won't be easy, since Larkin is on the verge of marrying Dunreath Henry (Eva Marie Saint), Dignan's ex-wife. Enusing complications include the pompous Larkin's efforts to adopt a troublesome young boy (played by future "Beaver" Jerry Mathers) as a publicity stunt, and a wild night of drunken revelry which leads to the rekindling of Dunreath's affection for Dignan. The story comes to a raucous conclusion during a chaotic "Person to Person"-style interview show. Pearl Bailey adds spice to the program as a musical maidservant, while real-life cartoonist Al Capp (no stranger to "ghosts" himself) appears as himself. That Certain Feeling was based on The King of Hearts, a play by Jean Kerr and Eleanor Brooke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With a female protagonist as its only selling point, Cattle Queen trots out a farfetched Western story of Queenie Hart (Maria Hart), a rather glamorous bleached blonde cattle driver in 1866 Wyoming. After conning a potential buyer (Robert Robinson) into believing that Queenie's herd is diseased, nasty would-be empire builder Duke Drake (Robert Gardett) is confronted by the girl's new tough foreman, Bill Foster (Drake Smith). In retaliation, Drake frames Bill for a stage robbery, actually committed by his own henchmen, and arranges a phony trial presided over by the saloon's bartender, Judge Whipple (Douglas Wood). Queenie, however, interrupts the "trial" with the news that the townswomen have all elected Jim marshal. To uphold the decision, Bill has secured the release of three convicted outlaws: Blackie Malone (Joe Bailey), Bad Bill Smith (James Pierce), and Shotgun Thompson (Emile Meyer), two of whom join in the fight against Drake and his gang. With all this muscle -- and the power of prayer! -- Queenie finally bests Drake in a climactic shootout. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Harriet Craig is the third film version of George Kelly's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Craig's Wife. Joan Crawford stars as the title character, a thoroughly selfish woman who prizes her house and her possessions above all else. Harriet Craig is even willing to spoil the business opportunities of her husband Walter (Wendell Corey) to avoid losing her precious home. When her self-involvement causes turbulence in the romantic life of her cousin (K.T. Stevens), and when her husband's eyes are finally opened to his wife's true nature, Harriet Craig is at long last hoist on her own petard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The never-solved disappearance of Judge Crater in 1930 was the inspiration for RKO's The Judge Steps Out. Alexander Knox (who also co-scripted the film with director Boris Ingster) plays Bailey, a highly respected Boston magistrate who is fed up to the gills with his workload and his troublesome wife (Frieda Inescourt) and daughter (Martha Hyer). Thus, he decides to hit the road, eventually taking a job as a hash-slinger at a roadside diner. Here he is treated with compassion and understanding by his boss Peggy (Ann Sothern), who, unaware of Bailey's true identity, likes him for himself rather than his prestige. This offbeat comedy-drama manages to keep the audience guessing as to how things will turn out for everyone concerned. Filmed in 1947, The Judge Steps Out was withheld from American release for nearly two years; before making the rounds in the U.S., it was shown in Great Britain under the title Indian Summer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Newly arrived at Columbia, quickie producer Sam Katzman tried his hand at a musical with I Surrender Dear. Gloria Jean stars as Patty Nelson, the daughter of "old fashioned" radio disc jockey Russ Nelson (Robert Emmet Keane). When Patty's bandleader boyfriend Al Tyler (David Street) gets her father's radio job, she walks out on him. The lovers are eventually reunited, but not before plenty of misunderstandings and musical numbers. Worth noting is the presence in the cast of three real-life deejays: Jack Eigen (immortalized by Nichols and May's "Jack Ego" routine), Peter Potter (of Juke Box Jury fame), and future Today Show host Dave Garroway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Acclaimed playwright George S. Kaufman made his directorial debut with this broad political satire. Senator Melvin G. Ashton (William Powell) is a long-time congressman for whom the phrase "dumb as a log" would be fitting if one were not afraid of insulting the trees. After more than twenty years of representing his clueless constituents, Ashton decides to take a shot at the presidential race, and hires Lew Gibson (Peter Lind Hayes) is his press agent. Party topkick Dinty (Charles D. Brown) considers Ashton an utterly hopeless candidate, especially after he begins making fantastic campaign promises no one could possibly keep, but Ashton turns out to be a bit more shrewd than expected. The senator has kept a detailed journal documenting the many underhanded deals his colleagues have had their hands in over the years; all he has to do is slip the diary to a reporter and most of congress will be run out of town on a rail. This possibility seem all the more urgent when Ashton starts dating Poppy McNaughton (Ella Raines), a journalist. The Senator Was Indiscreet boasts a fine supporting cast, including Ray Collins, Allen Jenkins, Hans Conreid, and a cameo appearance from Myrna Loy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A precursor of sorts to the 1999 Julia Roberts vehicle The Runaway Bride, It Had to Be You stars Ginger Rogers as Victoria Stafford, a wealthy girl who has been engaged three times, and has three times chickened out at the altar just before saying "I do." Determined to wed her fourth fiancé, Oliver H.P. Harrington (Ron Randell), Victoria is on the verge of saying those two little words, when suddenly she sees the vision of her "dream lover," George (Cornel Wilde), whom she has envisioned since childhood. Ultimately our heroine meets an in-the-flesh lookalike for her imaginary sweetheart: a no-nonsense fireman named Johnny Blaine, who indeed was a childhood friend of Victoria's. So, do wedding bells finally ring? Not on your life. Though Victoria is ga-ga over Johnny, the feeling is far from mutual -- and besides, there are several reels to go before the end title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Warner Bros. musical My Wild Irish Rose purports to tell the life story of popular 19th century balladeer Chauncey Olcott-or at least, the version set down by Olcott's daughter Rita. Starting his career in minstrel shows, Olcott (Dennis Morgan) is given his first break by stage luminary Lillian Russell (Andrea King), who casts him as her Broadway leading man. Though their relationship is platonic so far as Russell is concerned, the newspapers have a field day concocting an imaginary romance, driving a wedge between Olcott and his hometown sweetheart Rose Donovan (Arlene Dahl). No matter what his personal problems, Olcott rises to heretofore unimagined show-biz heights with his sentimental Irish ballads, including "A Little Bit of Heaven", "Mother Macree" and, of course, the title tune. I Love Lucy fans will be amused by the casting of a generously toupeed William Frawley as famed Irish tenor William Scanlan, who after his voice fails him generously passes the torch of celebrity to Olcott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical, an orphan is under the false impression that her newly found relatives are filthy rich. Lacking the heart to tell her the truth, the relatives move into an abandoned mansion to entertain her and her fiance. Songs include: "That's Good Enough for Me", "A Man Is a Brother to a Mule", "Judy and Dick", and "Cheer for the Team". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

That new-fangled swing music is the focus of this musical comedy. The trouble begins when a music school dean boards a train to meet her husband the symphony conductor. En route she meets Harry James, the big band leader. She is deeply impressed by the swingin' beat of the new music. It becomes her newest passion. Unfortunately, back at her school, her superiors do not share her enthusiasm and she is fired. She remains determined to introduce the kids to the new sound. She and James team up to perform the music on campus. Songs include: "As If I Didn't Have Enough on My Mind," "I Didn't Mean a Word I Said," "Moonlight Propaganda," and "Do You Love Me?" ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Shadow (Richmond) investigates the murder of an art dealer with his only clue being a stolen jade statuette. ~ All Movie Guide

Elizabeth MacDonald (Claudette Colbert) is a newly married corporate librarian in 1918 Baltimore working for a chemical company owned by the Hamilton family and managed by Larry Hamilton (George Brent). Just as she is celebrating the armistice and anticipating the return of her husband John (Orson Welles), she learns he was killed in action, just days before the cease fire. Pregnant with their child and alone in the world, she is taken in by Larry Hamilton, who has loved her from afar and is driven by sympathy for her plight. She has her baby, a boy named Drew, and she and Larry marry, raising the child as his own and never telling the boy of his real father. Meanwhile, in an Austrian hospital, a horribly wounded and disfigured American officer (Welles) without any identification insists to the doctor treating him (John Wengraf) that he be allowed to die. The doctor saves his life, but the shock of his injuries and the strain of his recovery causes him to lose his memory, and he ends up adopting a new identity. Cut to 1939, and the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe. Drew (Richard Long) is about to graduate from college and wants to join his fraternity brothers, who are planning on going to Canada, signing up with the Royal Canadian Air Force, and heading to England to fly against the Germans. Drew is not yet 21, however, and needs the permission of his parents, but Elizabeth is appalled by the notion of losing Drew to war the same way that she lost John.

Into their family comes a visitor, Erich Kessler (Welles), a crippled, ailing Austrian refugee and chemical expert hired by Hamilton's company, who arrives in Baltimore with his young daughter Margaret (Natalie Wood). Kessler starts to recognize places in the city, including the home where Elizabeth lived, and when they meet, despite her discomfort at having an Austrian army veteran in the house, she does her best to welcome him. Elizabeth also starts to notice little aspects of Kessler that remind her vaguely of John. But much as she is haunted by these strange similarities, she is appalled when Kessler seems to encourage Drew to pursue his goal of fighting the Nazis. Even Kessler's presence in their home, despite his genial and deferential manner, is a vexation to Elizabeth, bringing the horror of the war and what the Nazis represent into their midst and making Drew even more fervent in his desire to join up and fight. When Margaret displays terrible fears and nightmares, it comes out that she isn't really Kessler's child at all, but the daughter of the doctor who saved his life (he and his wife had been executed by the Nazis).

Larry, meanwhile, must watch from the sidelines, not aware of Kessler's real identity and unable to resolve the conflict between his admiration for Drew's intentions and his love for his wife. When Drew decides to ignore his parents' wishes and go to Canada and enlist without their permission, Kessler follows and stops him (despite his own weakened condition), and brings the young man home. A confrontation ensues upon their return, and Kessler explains to her that, whomever she thinks he might have been, the past has passed. Elizabeth finds the strength and courage to face the future, and the coming of the new war and what it may bring. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this lively entry in the Boston Blackie mysteries, Blackie gets in trouble when he helps a friend auction off a first-edition Charles Dickens book and discovers that it was counterfeit. As a result of his involvement in the con, Blackie must clear himself after being accused of murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide