Earl W. Baldwin Movies

Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo, the stars of 1950's Flame and the Arrow, are reteamed in the lusty adventure romp South Sea Woman. It all begins at the military trial of Marine sergeant O'Hearn (Burt Lancaster), facing a court-martial for desertion. In flashback, O'Hearn recalls how he was stranded in Shanghai while trying to break up the impending marriage between his pal David White (Chuck Connors) and brassy nightclub photographer Ginger Martin (Virginia Mayo). The two marines try to make it back to Pearl Harbor, but they undergo several hair-raising adventures along the way, including a sticky involvement with a group of French resistance fighters. The upshot of all this is that O'Hearn arrives in Pearl after the Japanese attack, and as such is branded as a coward. It is up to Ginger Martin to provide the evidence that will clear our hero -- but she isn't too fond of O'Hearn at the moment. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello temporarily leave their usual Universal stamping grounds to star in the Huntington Hartford production Africa Screams. Costello plays the colorfully inept Stanley Livingstone, a meek book salesman who poses as a big-game hunter at the behest of his shifty pal Buzz Johnson (Abbott). It's all part of a scheme to extract some money from adventuress Diana Emerson (Hillary Brooke), who intends to search for a lost diamond mine in the heart of Africa. It seems that Stanley has committed to memory a long out-of-print book which contained a map to the mine. Despite his mortal fear of wild animals, Stanley accompanies Buzz, Diana, and Diana's henchmen on the African expedition. The subsequent comic complications involve a legendary giant gorilla, a cannibal tribe, and a friendly orangutan who falls in love with Stanley. Animal trainer Clyde Beatty and big-game tracker Frank Buck make cameo appearances while character comics Shemp Howard and Joe Besser provide laughs as, respectively, a nearsighted gunman and a sissified flunky. Also on hand are boxer brothers Max Baer and Buddy Baer, who engage in an amusingly unconvincing display of fisticuffs. But the film belongs to Abbott & Costello, who are in fine form. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This curious mixture of comedy, romance and melodrama teams up comic actor Eddie Bracken and glamour girl Veronica Lake, two of Paramount's most popular stars of the mid-1940s. He plays Ogden Spencer Trulow III, a wealthy kleptomaniac; she plays Sally Martin, who may or may not provide the "cure" for the lovesick Trulow. As it turns out, Sally is a professional thief, part of a gang planning to rip off the Romanoff necklace. Trulow tries to prevent this, and in so doing divest himself of his own kleptomania. Sally's cohorts aren't at all interested in Trulow's problems, and accordingly spend half the film trying to bump him off. Buried somewhere in the glossy silliness of Hold That Blonde is a pre-WW1 play by Paul Armstrong; some of the sight gags in the film are even older than the Armstrong original. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Those willing to accept Carmen Miranda as a "typical" 1920s type will be able to swallow the rest of the lavish but rather silly 20th Century-Fox musical Greenwich Village. Most of the action takes place in a New York speakeasy managed by tough guy Danny O'Mara (William Bendix). Providing entertainment in this rowdy establishment is songwriter Kenneth Harvey (Don Ameche), singing sensation Bonnie Watson (Vivian Blaine) and fortune-teller/dancer Princess Querida (Carmen Miranda). Harvey aspires to become a serious composer, while O'Mara has yearnings to produce a hit Broadway show. Everything works out to everyone's satisfaction by fadeout time, and Harvey (of course) falls in love with Bonnie. Specialty acts included the ballroom dance team of Tony and Sally De Marco, the precision-tap specialists The Four Step Brothers, and an up-and-coming group of nightclub comedians called The Revuers (Judy Holliday, Adolph Green, Betty Comden and Alvin Hammer), whose main routine, alas, ended up on the cutting room floor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A combat picture was virtually a license to print money in 1942, and RKO Radio's The Navy Comes Through was no exception (net profit: $542,000). Most of the film takes place on the ramshackle old merchant-marine freighter, skippered by Captain McCall (Ray Collins). The captain and his stalwart crew-the most stalwart of which are Mallory (Pat O'Brien), Sands (George Murphy), Babe (Jackie Cooper), Tarriba (Desi Arnaz) and Berringer (Max Baer Sr.)-keep busy by blowing Nazi bombers and U-boats to smithereens. The crewmen cap their accomplishments by capturing a Nazi supply ship and using it against its own navy. The easily forgettable romantic subplot concerns Sands' on-and-off relationship with Myra (Jane Wyatt). The Navy Comes Through was inspired by Borden Chase's serialized Saturday Evening Post story "Pay to Learn". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Eve Arden played her first bonafide film-starring role in the 1941 Warner Bros. "B"-picture She Couldn't Say No. A brilliant lawyer, Alice Hinsdale (Arden) is obliged to act as secretary to her legal-eagle fiancé Wallace Turnbull (Roger Pryor) because he can't abide the notion that his wife might be smarter than he. Taking on a breach-of-promise suit, Turnbull represents the defendant, only to discover that the attorney for the plaintiff is none other than newly-liberated Alice. Once before a judge and jury, Alice and her female client resort to "women's tricks" to win the case -- proof positive that She Couldn't Say No is a product of its times. The film's basic premise was used to better effect in the 1949 Tracy-Hepburn starrer Adam's Rib. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This slightly laundered remake of the 1932 courtroom classic The Mouthpiece stars George Brent as brilliant but unprincipled DA Steve Forbes, a character based on legendary lawyer William Fallon. After railroading an innocent boy into the electric chair, Forbes goes on a bender, then cynically builds up a new practice as a criminal attorney. His underhanded legal tactics cause a rift between Forbes and his idealistic younger brother Johnny (William Lundigan), despite the fact that it was Steve's income that enabled Johnny to finish law school. Angered that his brother has enabled big-time gangster J.B. Roscoe (Richard Barthelmess) to continually elude the law, Johnny turns in damning evidence to the FBI. On Roscoe's orders, Steve frames Johnny on a murder charge, but reforms his ways in the nick of time. Based on a play by Frank J. Collins, The Man Who Talked too Much was remade in 1955 as Illegal, with Edward G. Robinson in the lead. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Olivia DeHavilland stars as a music student whose education is secretly subsidized by the aging owner of a phonograph factory (Charles Winninger). The old man hopes to vicariously live his own musical aspirations through the young woman's success. DeHavilland, however, is just as interested in romance as in music, and with the help of her best friend (Jane Wyman) she sets about to win a handsome husband (Jeffrey Lynn). Featured in the supporting cast are William Orr, the son-in-law of studio head Jack Warner (and later a TV producer) and former silent screen ingenue Mabel Taliaferro. My Love Came Back, a remake of a mid-1930s Austrian film musical, was the first Hollywood assignment for director Curtis Bernhardt. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Slight Case of Murder is a breakneck-paced comedy starring Edward G. Robinson as a tough but good-hearted bootlegger. When Prohibition is repealed, Robinson faces a financial crisis: His beer tastes so awful that no one wants to drink it legally. As an additional headache, Robinson is under scrutiny from the Law, which is waiting to slip the cuffs on him for the slightest infraction. He arrives at his rented Saratoga mansion with his wife (Ruth Donnelly), daughter (Jane Bryan) and adopted son (Bobby Jordan), only to discover that a killer has left four corpses in his bedroom. Robinson and his stooges are forced to hide the bodies before his future son-in-law (Willard Parker), who happens to be a cop, tumbles to the dilemma. Based on a stage play by Howard Lindsay and Damon Runyon, A Slight Case of Murder a just as entertaining in the 1990s as it was fifty years ago (please ignore a tepid 1953 musical remake titled Stop, You're Killing Me). Surprisingly, this film was not a favorite of star Edward G. Robinson, who felt that director Lloyd Bacon rushed through the material without taking full advantage of its comic potential. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The last and least of Warner Bros.' Gold Diggers musicals, Gold Diggers in Paris at least has the novelty of a Gallic setting. The stars this time are Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, and Warners musical perennial Hugh Herbert. There aren't really any "gold diggers" (i.e. young ladies on the prowl for rich husbands), merely a troupe of stranded nightclub chorines whom Vallee passes off as a ballet troupe in order to win an international prize. Busby Berkeley's choreography is far from his best, especially since he's dealing with real dancers this time instead of geometrically arranged nonmoving bodies. The one song of note is "The Latin Quarter," later put to excellent use in countless Bugs Bunny and Pepe Le Pew cartoons. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Those beautiful Busby Berkeley babes are back at work, seeking financial backing for a Broadway show. Salvation comes from a meek hypochondriac (Victor Moore) who'd rather the girls get his insurance money than his murderous business partners. Dick Powell isn't the male star of the show, but does show up as a glib insurance agent. A lesser but still enjoyable entry in Warners' Gold Diggers musical series, Gold Diggers of 1937 is very much a mixed bag. For every topnotch number like "With Plenty of Money and You," there's an excruciating experience like the "military" finale "All's Fair in Love and War." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Broadway legend Al Jolson and his second wife Ruby Keeler costarred in this thin backstage musical. In keeping with Jolson's earlier starring films, the plotline is melodramatic to the point of risibility. Jolson plays an irresponsible performer whose unprofessional antics incur the wrath of Actor's Equity. Suspended from the stage, Jolson spends all his money on gambling, but is "cured" after his wife (Ruby) is wounded when Jolson shoots it out with a rival. Musical highlights include "A Latin From Manhattan", "A Quarter to Nine" (Jolie's at his best here) and the title number. The script of Go Into Your Dance is predictably full of references to the offstage Jolson/Keeler relationship; reportedly, Al's on-set adlibs became more insulting and abusive as the marriage deteriorated. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi