Ernie Alexander Movies

When widower Stephen Blake (Melvyn Douglas) and divorcee Edith Farnham (Mary Astor) are the only guests at a snowed-in mountain resort, sports director Snirley (Romaine Callender) and hostess Alma Peabody (Dorothy Stickney) try to promote a romance between Stephen and Edith. However, Stephen's son Tommy (Jackie Moran) and Edith's daughter Brenda (Edith Fellows) think this is a rotten idea and do what they can to prevent them from getting together. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

Much against his will, Spanky McFarland had been entered in a kiddie talent contest by his ambitious mother (Kitty Kelly). Hoping to dissuade his Mom from forcing him into a theatrical career, Spanky arranges for the other Our Gang kids to "razz" him during the performance, thereby making certain that he'll lose. While backstage, however, Spanky befriends little Marianne Edwards, who desperately needs the prize money to buy a new dress. Stricken by stage fright, Marianne rushes offstage in tears before she can go into her act. Touched by the girl's plight, Spanky is now determined to win the contest and turn the prize money over to the girl--but the other Gang members don't know that, and they're primed to greet Spanky's recitation with a barrage of boos, catcalls, noisemakers and peashooters. As in the previous comedy Our Gang: Mike Fright, this two-reeler scores its biggest laughs by contrasting the pretensions of "professional kids" with the down-to-earthness of the Gang. As an added bonus, this film marks the debut of future series stalwart Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. "Beginner's Luck" was originally released on February 23, 1935. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Down in San Diego was previewed as Young Americans, which is why prints still exist bearing both titles. The film is essentially a gussied-up MGM version of an "East Side Kids" pictures, even unto casting Leo Gorcey in a major role. A gang of teenagers with too much time on their hands decide to pool their energies when the marine-cadet brother of pretty Betty Haines (Bonita Granville) gets into trouble. It all leads to the roundup and capture of a Nazi spy ring, bent on sabotaging San Diego harbor. Much of the film appears to be an audition for several of MGM's fresh young contractees, including singer-dancers Ray McDonald and Dan Dailey Jr. Down in San Diego was also a milestone of sorts, representing the 100th film made by supporting player Henry O'Neill within an eight-year period. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The racy, ribald Cole Porter musical Du Barry Was a Lady is here given a thorough dry-cleaning by prudish MGM. Richard "Red" Skelton takes over the role of Louis Blore (played on Broadway by Bert Lahr), while Lucille Ball steps into the shoes of the original play's Ethel Merman. The story proposes that Blore is a men's room attendant in a New York nightclub who has a yen for gorgeous showgirl May Daly (Lucille Ball). After drinking a potent mixture, Louis dreams that he is King Louis XV of France, and May is the magnificent Madame Du Barry. Also showing up in Louis' dream is Alex Howe (Gene Kelly), who in "real life" is the guy who ends up with May at fade out-time. It's hard to determine what's more fun to watch in Du Barry Was a Lady: the three stars, the antics of supporting player Zero Mostel, or the incredible sequence in which Tommy Dorsey & His Band -- including drummer Buddy Rich -- perform in 18th century garb and powdered wigs. Five of the original Cole Porter songs are retained for this Technicolor-ful film: "Katie Went to Haiti," "Do I Love You, Do I?," "Well, Did You Evah?," "Taliostro's Dance,", and, best of all, "Friendship." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Our Gang's resident crooner, has been preparing for weeks to perform in a radio talent contest. With Spanky McFarland as his manager, Alfalfa is a shoe-in for first prize -- until neighborhood bully Butch (Tommy Bond), who intends to perform a violin solo on the same radio show, threatens to blacken Spanky's eye unless Alfalfa withdraws from the contest. The terrified Spanky convinces Alfalfa that he has "a frog in his throat" and will be unable to perform. Eventually, however, Spanky's conscience gets the better of him, and he urges Alfalfa to sing anyway -- with surprising results. In the early scenes of the serial, the viewer is given a guided tour of the Gang's paste-and-paper "voice studio" (complete with Darla Hood as receptionist and Eugene "Porky" Lee and Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas as go-fers). Framing Youth was originally released on September 11, 1937. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When wealthy young Jerry Tucker moves into town, the Our Gang kids line up to greet him. Alas, Jerry is a snobbish sort, though he immediately turns on the charm when he meets little Jane (Jackie Taylor), the erstwhile girlfriend of Wally Albright. Worried that Jane's head will be turned by Jerry's shiny new toy fire engine, Wally and the Gang build a fire truck of their own --- an impressive effort, constructed from virtually every piece of scrap metal and every stray wheel in the neighborhood. The story comes to a riotous conclusion when Jerry and the Gang race their respective fire engines down one of those very steep hills that one finds only in two-reel comedies. Originally released on March 3, 1934, "Hi'-Neighbor!" was the first of many top-rank "Our Gang" films directed by Gus Meins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

I Am the Law is arguably the best of the late-1930s films inspired by the racket-busting career of New York district attorney Thomas E. Dewey. Edward G. Robinson switches to the right side of the law as the Dewey counterpart, here named John Lindsay (!) A feisty, no-nonsense law professor, Lindsay is approached by a group of concerned citizens to act as special prosecutor to rid up their (unnamed) state of big-time lawbreakers. He wastes no time taking charge, storming into the prosecutor's office and firing anyone whom he suspects of being "on the take." With the help of his dedicated law students, who work alongside him for free, Lindsay purges the local government of such corrupt influences as Eugene Ferguson (Otto Kruger), the outwardly respectable "brains" behind the rackets. Among the minor pleasures in I Am the Law is watching Robinson dancing the Big Apple with gun moll Wendy Barrie in an early scene, and his firing of suspicious-looking Charles Halton with a brusque "Don't like your face! Never have! You've got shifty eyes and a weak chin!" (which, indeed, were Halton's screen trademarks). Barbara O'Neil, who the following year played Scarlet O'Hara's mother in Gone with the Wind, is quietly effective as Robinson's supportive wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bebe Daniels, all of 34, portrays an ageing movie star who refuses to admit she's too old for the ingenue role in an upcoming musical. Alice Faye is a hopeful chorus girl, while Ray Walker is a would-be director. All the young people get their deserved breaks when Daniels gets wise to herself and settles for a character role in the film--and also admits that the young girl (Rosina Lawrence) whom she's been passing off as her sister is really her daughter. Both Alice Faye and Bebe Daniels are given plenty of opportunities to sing and dance, which is as it should be. But Music is Magic falls short of perfection thanks to the doggedly unfunny comic relief of Frank Mitchell and Jack Durant, who may well be the worst team in motion picture history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another of MGM's Wallace Beery-Jackie Cooper assault on the tear ducts, O'Shaugnessy's Boy casts Beery as oafish but lovable circus animal trainer Windy O'Shaughnessy. Believing himself happily married to acrobat Martha (Sara Haden), Windy is shocked to discover that Martha has walked out on him with their young son Stubby (Jackie Cooper). Conditioned by his nasty mother and nastier aunt (Leora Maricle) to think that Windy is a no-good, Stubby grows up despising his father, who has been reduced to a mere circus roustabout. Windy's comeback with a brand-new animal act coincides with his lachrymose reconciliation with his beloved so -- but not before one of those nick-of-time rescue scenes so beloved by MGM's scenario department. Cast as "Stubby as a Child" is Spanky McFarland, who like Jackie Cooper was a member of Hal Roach's Our Gang Kids. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Working on the theory that the only thing funnier than Laurel and Hardy is two sets of Laurel and Hardys, Our Relations milks its central mistaken-identity situation for all it's worth. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are two solid citizens, happily married and highly respected in their community. One morning, Hardy receives a letter from his mother, containing an old photo of himself and Laurel with their twin brothers, Alf Laurel and Bert Hardy. Mamma also reveals that Alf and Bert turned out to be "bad lads" and ran off to sea, and that reportedly they'd been hanged for taking part in a mutiny. "Isn't that calamitous!" remarks Hardy, who conspires with Laurel to hide the facts about their no-good brothers from their wives. Meanwhile, in another part of town, the S.S. Periwinkle pulls into port. Among the crew members are the selfsame Alf and Bert, who have decided to entrust their pal Fin (James Finlayson) with their month's salary. Fin has promised to invest the dough so that the boys will become millionaires "before you can say Jack Robinson". Alf and Bert are then summoned to the cabin of their captain (Sidney Toler), who orders them to pick up a valuable package for him, then meet him later at Denker's Beer Garden. While waiting for the captain at Denker's, Alf and Bert are captivated by a pair of waterfront floozies, Alice (Iris Adrian) and Lily (Lona Andre). Talked into buying the girls a huge meal for which they haven't the necessary funds, Alf and Bert decide to go back to Fin and reclaim their money, leaving the contents of the captain's package-a valuable pearl ring-with tough waiter Joe Groagan (Alan Hale) as security. Later, Laurel and Hardy take their wives Betty (Betty Healy) and Daphne (Daphne Pollard) to lunch-and, inevitably, they end up at Denker's Beer Garden, where the equally inevitable mix-ups begin to occur. Things snowball from bad to worse before both sets of twins, an angry captain, a disgruntled Fin, the wives, the floozies, a genial drunk (Arthur Housman) and a brace of smooth gangsters (Ralf Harolde and Noel Madison) all converge at the upscale Pirate Club. Several slapstick complications later, Laurel and Hardy are captured by the gangsters, who threaten to dump the boys in the river with their feet encased in cement if they don't cough up the pearl ring. Alf and Bert come to the rescue, and all is well, at least until the film's boffo punchline. Based on W.W. Jacobs' short story The Money Box, Our Relations is perhaps the most plot-heavy of Laurel and Hardy's features for Hal Roach Studios. It is also one of their funniest, as well as their most lavishly produced. The film was officially listed as "A Stan Laurel Production"-as if Laurel hadn't been the prime creative force behind all of the team's previous films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A followup to the musical-revue short Our Gang Follies of 1936, the one-reel Reunion in Rhythm was apparently filmed under the title Our Gang Follies of 1937. Its release title reflected the fact that, in addition to such current Gang members as Spanky McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Darla Hood, Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas, and Eugene "Porky" Lee, the film also features return appearances by former "Our Gang" stalwarts Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornman, Joe Cobb and Mathew "Stymie" Beard. The occasion is a class reunion at Adams Street Grammar School, where the students stage a show for the entertainment of the alumni. Musical highlights include "Baby Face", performed by Darla and Porky; &"Broadway Rhythm", performed by Spanky and the ensemble; and a medley of &"Going Hollywood" and "I'm Through With Love", sung by Alfalfa and Georgia Jean LaRue. Originally released on January 9, 1937, "Reunion in Rhythm" is the least satisfying of the "Our Gang" musicals, perhaps because the kids seem a tad over-rehearsed this time out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In their last film for Hal Roach, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play employees at the Sharp and Pierce Horn Factory, where the workers tend to go beserk at a rate of one per hour. Driven crazy by the cacophonous G-minor horn, poor Ollie begins to tear the factory apart, screaming "Horns to the left of me! Horns to the right of me! Horns, horns, HORNS!" Sent home to recuperate from his nervous breakdown, Ollie is told by his doctor (James Finlayson) that he is suffering from Hornophobia: "In fact, you're on the verge of Hornomania." Advised to take a restful ocean voyage, Ollie nixes the idea, noting that he hates the high sea. Stan suggests that the two of them rent a small boat and keep it tied up on the dock, so that Ollie can get all the fresh sea air he wants without ever leaving port. Alas, the boys' tiny boat is accidentally set adrift, with Stan, Ollie and escaped killer Nick Grainger (Rychard Cramer) on board. Ordered to prepare breakfast for the ill-tempered Nick, the boys hope to subdue their captor by making him a "synthetic meal": String for spaghetti, soap for cheese, sponge for meatball, lampwick for bacon, and so on. Unfortunately, Nick catches on to their scheme and forces Stan and Ollie to eat the ersatz meal themselves. The boys are finally saved from Nick's wrath when Stan remembers that the sound of trombone will transform Ollie into a fighting demon, but don't count on a completely happy ending when Laurel & Hardy are involved. Cowritten by former comedy great Harry Langdon, Saps at Sea looks more like two or three 2-reelers strung together than a coherent feature film; still, it contains some great gags, most of them taking place in Ollie's apartment, where the plumbing and electrical appliances have been bollixed up by cross-eyed janitor Ben Turpin. Though hardly a classic, Saps at Sea earned Laurel & Hardy some of their best-ever reviews, and would turn out to be their last totally worthwhile feature film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This musical drama stars Dick Powell as the son of an admiral (Lewis Stone), who'd rather sing than go to sea. Through the genteel pressures of Powell's girlfriend and nightclub partner Ruby Keeler, Powell dons Navy garb and becomes a hero. Busby Berkeley had nothing to do with this one; the direction was in the capable hands of sentimentalist supreme Frank Borzage. The Borzage touch was particularly noticeable in a heartrending--but non-maudlin--scene in which Ross Alexander is "washed out" as an Annapolis cadet. Shipmates Forever proved to be a treasure trove of background music for the Warner Bros. cartoon department. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide