Richard Day Movies

"Over the hill" at the tender age of 12, Shirley Temple closed out her 20th Century-Fox contract with the musical seriocomedy Young People. After years of trodding the boards in vaudeville, Wendy Ballantine (Temple) and her adoptive parents Joe (Jack Oakie) and Kit (Charlotte Greenwood retire) to a small town so that the youngster can receive a proper upbringing. Alas, the town is full of Babbitt-like bigots who disapprove of "show people", and who make no secret of their desire that Wendy and her family leave town immediately. But when a dangerous storm arises, the courage of Wendy, Joe and Kit-coupled with their rescue of several stranded children-forces the townsfolk to realign their thinking and welcome the family into their fold. The best moments in Young People occur at the very beginning, wherein Shirley Temple literally grows up before the audience's eyes via filmclips from her earlier starring vehicles (watch how Jack Oakie suddenly turns into James Dunn-from the waist down-in a musical number lifted from 1934's Stand Up and Cheer). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Singing cowboy Gene Autry makes a rare appearance outside his usual Republic Pictures stamping grounds in 20th Century-Fox's Shooting High. Instead of playing "himself" as he usually does, Autry is cast as Will Carson, whose family is engaged in a decades-long feud with the Pritchard clan. The story shifts into gear when a movie company arrives in town, intending to film the life story of Will's frontier-hero grandfather. Alas, the leading role is to be played by obnoxious Hollywood star Bob Merritt (Robert Lowery), while poor Will is relegated to the lowly position of Merritt's stand-in. Coming to the rescue is little Jane Pritchard (top-billed Jane Withers), kid sister of Will's girl friend Marjorie Pritchard (Marjorie Weaver), who contrives to scare Merritt out of town so that Will can star in the picture himself. In the course of events, Will proves himself to be a real hero by foiling a bank robbery. This has the salutary effect of ending the Carson-Pritchard feud and reuniting estranged sweethearts Will and Marjorie. It is to the everlasting credit of both Jane Withers and Gene Autry that they never encroach upon one another's territory in Shooting High; both stars are allowed plenty of opportunity to shine without lowering themselves to scene-stealing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though it takes a few liberties with the Arthur Conan Doyle original -- not the least of which is turning Sherlock Holmes into the second lead -- The Hound of the Baskervilles ranks as one of the best screen versions of this oft-told tale. After learning the history of the Baskerville curse from the hirsute Dr. Mortimer (Lionel Atwill), Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) takes upon himself the responsibility of protecting sole heir Henry Baskerville (top-billed Richard Greene) from suffering the same fate as his ancestors: a horrible death at the fangs of the huge hound of Grimpen Moor. Unable to head to Baskerville mansion immediately, Holmes sends his colleague Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) to act as his surrogate. What Watson doesn't know is that Holmes, donning several clever disguises, is closely monitoring the activities of everyone in and around the estate. Meanwhile, young Henry falls in love with Beryl Stapleton (Wendy Barrie), sister of the effusively friendly John Stapleton (Morton Lowry). Holmes and Watson compare notes, a red herring character (John Carradine) is eliminated, Henry Baskerville is nearly torn to shreds by a huge hound, and the man behind the plot to kill Henry and claim the Baskerville riches for himself is revealed at the very last moment. The Hound of the Baskervilles "improves" upon the original with such embellishments as turning the villain's wife into his sister, and by interpolating a spooky séance sequence involving mystic Beryl Mercer. In other respects, it is doggedly (sorry!) faithful to Doyle, even allowing Holmes to bait the censor by asking Dr. Watson for "the needle" at fadeout time. A big hit in a year of big hits, The Hound of the Baskervilles firmly established Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as moviedom's definitive Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sonja Henie, the Norwegian skating star, reportedly played second fiddle to no one at Fox in the late '30s, and this backstage musical extravaganza is all Henie. Taking a leaf from producer David O. Selznick, Consolidated Pictures send public relation expert Tyrone Power in search of an unknown to star in the studio's upcoming production of Girl of the North. Power returns to Hollywood with Minnesota schoolmarm (and figure skating expert) Trudy Hovland in tow, and then manufactures a romance between the girl and stolid leading man Roger Maxwell (Rudy Vallee). The ensuing complications are quickly solved and the new star is able to perform a flashy finale to Irving Berlin's "The Song of the Metronome." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The extramarital shenanigans of a young married couple provide the basis of this surprisingly racy (for 1939 Hollywood) comedy. The trouble begins on the couple's second anniversary when he calls to say that he will be held up at the office. Later the wife finds lipstick on his collar and becomes very suspicious so she goes to her more worldly best friend who advises the distraught wife to go out and get a job so she can turn the tables on her husband. She ends up working for a lusty architect and sure enough he makes it very clear that he likes the way she is built. The two go out for dinner one night and who should they run into but her husband and his secretary out for a little tete-a-tete. The foursome end up in the architect's penthouse and everyone has a wonderful time until the architect's wife shows up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

20th Century-Fox evidently adored "triangle" comedies like Wife, Husband and Friend; apparently so did Loretta Young, who appeared in most of these films. Young plays the wife of businessman Warner Baxter, while "friend" Cesar Romero is an amorous singing teacher who convinces Young that she has a future in opera. To show up his wife, Baxter takes lessons from diva Binnie Barnes--and as it turns out, he's the one with the ideal operatic voice. The romantic quadrangle is resolved when Baxter makes a disastrous stage debut, whereupon Romero and Barnes exit and Baxter and Young realize the error of their ways. Wife, Husband and Friend was remade in 1949 as Everybody Does It, with Paul Douglas (of all people) as the would-be Caruso. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce make their second screen appearances as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Ostensibly based on the stage play by William Gillette, the film owes nothing to the play beyond the characters of Holmes, Watson, Billy the page boy and Professor Moriarty. Played with relish (and a bit of pickle) by George Zucco, Moriarty plots to steal the Crown Jewels, and also to confound Holmes by obliging the Great Detective to be in two places at once. Ida Lupino costars as an imperiled young woman who is seemingly plagued by an ancient family curse--a plot development that has been carefully stage-managed by the malevolent Moriarty. Basil Rathbone is excellent not only as Holmes but also in the guise of a cockney music-hall entertainer (if indeed that is Rathbone performing a buck-and-wing in longshot). The second of Twentieth Century-Fox's Holmes films (Hound of the Baskervilles was the first), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was the last in which Rathbone and Bruce were seen in a 19th century setting. In the subsquent Sherlock Holmes series at Universal, the exploits of Holmes and Watson were updated to the World War II years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This musical presents a romantic and sanitized biography of distinguished American songwriter Stephen Foster. The story begins with the romance between Foster (Don Ameche) and a pretty southern belle and sets up a home in Kentucky--actually the real Foster married a girl from Pittsburgh. His songwriting career takes off when he sells a song to the famous minstrel E.P. Christy (Al Jolson). His career takes off until the Civil War erupts. Accused of siding with the Confederates, Foster and his family flee to the North. There, he begins to literally drink himself to death. The Oscar-nominated soundtrack feature some of Foster's most loved standards including the title song, "Camptown Races," "Oh, Susanna" and "My Old Kentucky Home." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Movie buffs are nearly unanimous in agreement: Charlie Chan at Treasure Island is the best of the Sidney Toler "Charlie Chan" entries. The film wastes no time getting started, with Chan (Toler) and his son Jimmy (Sen Yung) on hand when Charlie's writer friend Paul Essex (Louis Jean Heydt) dies on the Honolulu Clipper while en route to San Francisco. The police rule Essex' death a suicide, but Chan believes differently. He follows the trail of clues to the mysterious Zodiac, a crooked spiritualist. The oriental detective is aided in his investigation by Rhadini (Cesar Romero), a charming stage magician who hopes to expose Zodiac as a phony and blackmailer. After several plot twists and a couple of additional murders, all the likely suspects are gathered together during one of Rhadini's performances at Treasure Island, the San Francisco branch of the 1939 World's Fair. In a truly eerie climax, mystic Eve (Pauline Moore) who really does have psychic powers, prepares to name the killer. The revelation of the culprit is a genuine surprise, staged with topnotch showmanship by director Norman Foster, whose wife Sally Blane (Loretta Young's sister) appears in a small role as Essex's widow. Many of the magicians' props utilized in Charlie Chan at Treasure Island would do service again in 1942 in the Laurel & Hardy vehicle A-Haunting We Will Go. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy set during WW I, two crazy vaudevillians try their new act out on their agent. He thinks it is a real dud and the boys end up working as mule skinners in France. While there, they meet a French officer's American daughter. Mayhem ensues when they are mistaken German spies necessitating their escape in a hot-air balloon. Unfortunately, the balloon ends up in Germany, and now the duo must get back to France. Along the way, they capture a German genera. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A longtime admirer of Broadway impresario Flo Ziegfeld, Hollywood producer Sam Goldwyn hoped to emulate the success of The Ziegfeld Follies by producing an annual movie-musical revue. Goldwyn's dream began and ended with 1938's Goldwyn Follies, a film centering on Goldwyn-like movie producer Oliver Martin (Adolphe Menjou). It seems that Martin's films haven't been turning a profit lately, and he wants to find out why by eliciting the advice of the average filmgoer. He makes the acquaintance of pretty Hazel Dawes (Andrea Leeds), who tells Martin that the movies suffer from unbelievable storylines, cliched dialogue and wooden acting. Impressed, Martin hires Hazel as "Miss Humanity," allowing her to judge the merits of his latest production and even to select the cast members. Among Hazel's discoveries are singing hash-slinger Danny Beecher (Kenny Baker), opera diva Leona Jerome (Helen Jepson), and prima ballerina Olga Samara (Vera Zorina). Also hoping to appear in Martin's upcoming epic are ventriloquist Edgar Bergan and his wisecracking dummy Charlie McCarthy, and a trio of zany animal trainers who look, sound and act like the Ritz Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gary Cooper stars in this lavish and often comic retelling of the life of the famed Italian explorer. Marco Polo (Cooper) crosses the sea in search of treasure and adventure, with the help of his loyal if cowardly sidekick Binguccio (Ernest Truex), and finds both in China, where as the nation's first European visitor he is introduced to several practical innovations, such as pasta and explosives. He is also introduced to Kublai Khan (George Barbier), China's wise and benevolent Emperor, and the Emperor's lovely daughter, Princess Kukuchin (Sigrid Gurie). Romance begins to bloom between Marco and the Princess, but Ahmed (Basil Rathbone), the Emperor's ill-tempered assistant, also has his eyes on the Princess, and he is determined to win her hand and usurp Kublai Khan as China's leader. The Adventures of Marco Polo was part of a major star build-up that producer Samuel Goldwyn had engineered for actress Sigrid Gurie, but much of Goldwyn's publicity eventually backfired when it was learned that his Norwegian discovery, "The Siren of the Fjords," was born in the less exotic locale of Brooklyn, New York. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide