Jerome Chodorov Movies

In this comedy, a married couple is deeply embarrassed when their daughter reveals her father's indiscretions on a national TV show for children. It is doubly embarrassing when it is revealed that none of the allegations are true. It seems the child overheard a slightly inebriated conversation during her parent's thirteenth wedding anniversary in which the father disclosed that he and his wife had slept together before their marriage. This leads the daughter to believe that they are about to be divorced. Fortunately, the whole mess is straightened out in the end, and peace is restored. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Eagle-Lion studios inaugurated its new "big budget" western policy with 1948's The Man From Texas. James Craig stars as the El Paso Kid, who can't make up his mind whether to be an upstanding, decent citizen or a masked bandit. He continues to vacillate all through the picture, much to the dismay of his wife Zoe (Lynn Bari, in a rare sympathetic performance). Among those benefitting from the Kid's "good" spells is the Widow Weeks (Una Merkel), who's in danger of losing her farm. Singing star Johnnie Johnston wanders in and out of the proceedings as a frontier balladeer, occasionally commenting upon the action -- a device later used to better effect in Lang's Rancho Notorious and Zinneman's High Noon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the high school drama-class perennial by Jerome Chodhorov and Joseph Fields, Junior Miss stars Peggy Ann Garner as a troublesome teenager. Garner means well, but can't help meddling in the affairs of her father (Allyn Joslyn) and other unsuspecting grownups. Most of the story revolves around Peggy's matchmaking habits: she pairs up her uncle (Milo O'Shea) with the daughter of her father's employer, which nearly loses dad his job. The mess sorts itself out before the third-act curtain, with Garner promising to mind her own business...until next time. Keep an eye out for a brief appearance by a young Mel Torme. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rosalind Russell plays aspiring Ohio journalist Ruth Sherwood, who heads for New York to seek her fortune, accompanied by her sister, Eileen (Janet Blair), an aspiring actress. The girls take a basement apartment in Greenwich Village, which becomes a gathering place for several oddball characters, including a football jock (Gordon Jones), his silly wife (Miss Jeff Donnell) and an eternally drunken fortuneteller (June Havoc). Ruth tries to sell her writing, but is advised by a friendly magazine editor (Brian Aherne) that she'll never succeed unless she writes from her own experiences. Meanwhile, Eileen is continually getting in trouble due to her ingenuous attractiveness. Ruth secures an assignment to interview several visiting Portuguese sailors, who follow her to her apartment, are immediately entranced by Eileen, and break up the joint with an impromptu conga line. Everyone ends up in jail, and it looks as though Ruth is going to have to leave New York without achieving success. But when Ruth begins writing about her life with her sister Eileen, she becomes a success -- and wins the love of the magazine editor in the bargain. My Sister Eileen was based on a series of autobiographical articles by real-life writer Ruth McKenney, who with Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodhorov adapted these stories into a Broadway play. The play was later musicalized for the stage as Wonderful Town (again with Rosalind Russell), while the film version was itself adapted into a separate movie musical in 1955. There was also a brief 1960 TV series, starring Elaine Stritch and Shirley Bonne. As an added fillip, the 1942 My Sister Eileen includes a fleeting guest appearance by the Three Stooges! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1922 George S. Kaufman-Marc Connelly play Dulcy was based on a delightful character created by columnist Franklin P. Adams: Archetypal "dumb wife" Dulcinea, who continually spouted cliches like "There's never a policeman around when you need one" and "Don't take any wooden nickels." Lynn Fontanne created the role of Dulcy on stage, followed in 1923 by Constance Talmadge in the first screen version, then by Marion Davies in 1929's Not So Dumb, the first talkie version of the Kaufman-Connelly comedy. This 1940 remake stars Ann Sothern as dizzy Dulcy, who hopes to improve her aviator boyfriend Gordon Daly's (Ian Hunter) business prospects by holding a fancy dinner party. The result is a disaster, but the introduction into the plotline of a Chinese war orphan (intended as a timely touch) solves everyone's problems. Like the original play, the film is stolen by Dulcy's ex-con butler, here played by "Big Boy" Williams. A very young Hans Conried has a cute running gag as a saturnine author, whose ongoing efforts to find solitude in a canoe are continually (and literally) scuttled by the zany Dulcy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodramatic historical drama, the lives of Mexico's Maximilian and Carlotta are chronicled. The story follows their brief reign as figureheads for Napoleon III. The two doomed rulers were terribly naive and had no idea that they were universally despised by the native population. Upon her return to Europe, Carlotta goes mad with grief when she realizes that her beleaguered husband, trapped by a rebel uprising in Mexico City, will receive no aid from their backers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In director Reinh Schunzel's film Rich Man, Poor Girl, the upper crust collides with the more financially unfortunate members of society. When wealthy young executive Bill Harrison (Robert Young) falls in love with Joan Thayer (Ruth Hussey), his secretary, she doesn't believe he would be able to accept her boisterous relatives. Determined to marry Joan (Hussey), Bill (Young) moves in with her family in order to prove his love for her. Though Joan's sister Helen (Lana Turner) is thrilled with the idea, Joan still has a host of reservations. During his stay, Bill learns about the struggles of the lower middle class, and eventually decides to sell his property and use the money to help fund a hospital for the poor. Convinced his feelings are genuine and his mind open, Joan agrees to marry Bill. Rich Man, Poor Girl is a remake of the 1929 film The Idle Rich

~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Olsen and Johnson's second starring vehicle for Republic was better than their first (Country Gentlemen), but a Hellzapoppin' it wasn't. Ole and Chic play a couple of itinerant vaudevillians, teamed with Sally the Singing Seal ("the eighth wonder of the world"). Heroine Joan Eldredge (Mary Howard) is about to lose the theater left to her by her father, so O&J offer to stage a gala fund-raising show. Unfortunately, one of the potential backers (Eddie Kane) is murdered -- and for a while, it looks like the killer was Sally the Seal! Our heroes decide to capitalize on this setback by offering to reveal the real killer's identity during a nationwide radio hookup -- but first they need a sponsor, so the boys perform their old vaudeville musical act for "The Mackerel King" (played by perennial Laurel & Hardy stooge Jimmy Finlayson). Kidnapped just before the broadcast, Olsen and Johnson escape in time to finger the murderer, whereupon the culprit leads them on a zany chase throughout the darkened theater. All Over Town never really pulls together, but the irrepressible Olsen and Johnson deliver what may well be their funniest joint screen appearance. Incidentally, nominal leading man Harry Stockwell was the singing voice of the Prince in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs--and the father of present-day actor Dean Stockwell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dancing Feet stars Joan Marsh as Judy, a society deb who lands a job as a dime-a-dance girl to spite her wealthy grandfather (Purnell Pratt). While her fiancé Peyton (Ben Lyon) stews, Judy strikes up a friendship with Jimmy (Eddie Nugent), a bellhop who aspires to become a vaudeville dancer. Judy and Jimmy enjoy success as a dance team, falling in love as an afterthought. As for Peyton, he finds consolation with Judy's brassy friend Mabel (Isabel Jewell). The musical highlights in Dancing Feet include a specialty number by Nick Condos of the Condos Brothers (and future husband of comedienne Martha Raye). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The legs in question in this the second of Warner Bros. Perry Mason whodunits belong to Margy Clune (Patricia Ellis), the first-prize winner in a Lucky Legs contest and the fiancée of Dr. Bob Doray (Lyle Talbot). But when Margy goes to collect her winnings, she finds that the contest's promoter, Frank Patton (Craig Reynolds), has skipped town with the money. When Margy goes after him, her boss, Bradbury (Porter Hall), convinces Perry Mason (Warren William) that she may be heading for trouble. And, sure enough, Patton is found very much murdered with Margy the prime suspect. But as Mason, his secretary Della Street (Genevieve Tobin), and intrepid private eye Spudsy Drake (Allen Jenkins) discover, there are other and more dangerous suspects around. The Case of the Lucky Legs was followed by The Case of the Curious Bride (1935) and The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936), also with Warren Williams as Mason, after which the role would be played in the remaining films by three different actors: Ricardo Cortez, Donald Woods, and William Lundigan. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide