H.C. Potter Movies

When an Army general is appointed to the sensitive diplomatic post that the powerful publisher of a prominent news magazine had hoped would go to a particularly qualified civilian, she launches a vitriolic campaign to discredit the general. First the publisher orders one of her cameraman to snap a few incriminating photographs of the general. In order to get them, she invites the general out for a night on the town. No matter how hard she tries to get him drunk, the general remains sober. Unfortunately, she ends up quiet tipsy and falls in a pool where she nearly drowns until the general rescues her. The sodden but grateful publisher kisses him and it is at that point that they realize that animosity is rapidly turning to love, at least for her. When she discovers that her newborn love is fated to remain unrequited because of things from the general's past, the jealous publisher pens a poisonous article about him. This creates all kinds comical obstacles and further misunderstandings. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This sequel to the 1942 Oscar-winner Mrs.Miniver can be considered ill-advised, if only because the producers could never really hope to match the success of the original. Otherwise, The Miniver Story has its charms, not the least of which were the sterling performances of Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Set just after VE Day, the film finds Mrs. Miniver (Garson) reacting to the euphoria of her friends and family with a sense of quiet sadness. This is because she's just learned from her doctor that she hasn't much longer to live. With the same courage with which she met the deprivations of WW II, Mrs. Miniver resolves to put on a happy face and keep the news of her imminent demise a secret from her husband (Pigeon) and children. She even finds time to straighten out the tangled love life of her daughter Judy (Cathy O'Donnell). Henry Wilcoxon repeats his Mrs. Miniver role as the local vicar. Unlike its Hollywood-bound predecessor, The Miniver Story was lensed on location in England. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fed up with crowded big-city living, advertising executive Mr. Blandings (Cary Grant) decides to seek out a big, roomy house in the country. Armed with more enthusiasm than common sense, Blandings causes many a headache for his lawyer/business manager Melvyn Douglas, who tries to keep the costs within a reasonable amount. Alas, Blandings bulls ahead on his own, first purchasing an estate on the verge of collapse, then opting to build his dream house from scratch. An unpleasant legal squabble over the fact that Blandings purchased his new property without checking with the prior owners throws even more good money after bad. The construction of the new Blandings digs is slowed down to a walk by doors and windows that don't fit, plumbing that fails to function, doorknobs that break upon contact with human flesh, temperamental workmen, and various and sundry other homeowners' nightmares (if all this sounds like the much-later Tom Hanks/Shelley Long comedy The Money Pit, it only shows to go how little has changed in forty years--except, of course, for the costs of things). Attempting to keep a level head throughout the proceedings is Mrs. Blandings (Myrna Loy), though even she is guilty of pretensions and excess, especially in the classic "choice of colors" scene. The humor in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House springs so naturally from the central situation that it seems intrusive when the scriptwriters throw in an arbitrary French-farce scene wherein Blandings suspects that his wife and his lawyer are fooling around (a plot point that the original Eric Hodgins novel did just fine without). One of the best bits comes near the end, when Louise Beavers, the Blandings' cook, saves the day for everyone by ad libbing "If you ain't eating Wham, you ain't eating Ham." Why should we spoil your enjoyment by explaining that line? Now you'll have to see the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Loretta Young stepped up to accept her Academy Award for The Farmer's Daughter, the ever-youthful leading lady, who'd been in films since 1928, sighed "At long last!" Young is cast as Katie Holstrum, an independently-minded Swedish girl who leaves her family's Minnesota farm to take a domestic job at the Washington DC home of congressman Glenn Morley Joseph Cotten. Katie's outspokeness and Scandanavian common sense immediately endears her to Morley, his mother Ethel Barrymore, and the family's crusty-but-kindly butler Clancy Charles Bickford. Sensing that the political machine backing Morley isn't thoroughly honest, Katie takes an active hand in Washington politics, leading to her own nomination for a congressional seat. The machine-boss villains (depicted rather provocatively as right-wing reactionaries) try to discredit Katie on the eve of the election, but she is rescued by Morley, who of course has fallen in love with her. Adapted from Juurakon Hulda (Hulda, Daughter of Parliament), a Finnish play written by Hella Wuolijoki (using the pen name Juhani Tervapää), which had originally been optioned as a potential vehicle for Ingrid Bergman, The Farmer's Daughter later matriculated into a weekly TV series, with Inger Stevens as Katie and William Windom as Morley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Walt Disney's animation/live action hybrid feature Victory Through Air Power is unabashed, and undeniably entertaining, wartime propaganda. At the time the film was made, Disney was fascinated with the theories of Major Alexander de Seversky, a proponent of strategic long-range bombing. Since America's military leaders did not altogether subscribe to Seversky's "revolutionary" notions, Disney hoped to win their support with this 65-minute film. Beginning with a semicomic animated history of aviation, the film then segues into a retelling of Seversky's accomplishments, with the Major himself appearing to explain key points of his theories. Switching back to animation, the finale shows Seversky's "dream air force" in action, scientifically bombing enemy war factories and supply lines and thereby incapactitating their power to make war. Released by United Artists rather than Disney's usual conduit RKO, Victory Through Air Power served its purpose both in terms of the War Effort and in terms of enlightening the civilians in the audience. It has not been seen theatrically since, though portions of the animated sequences have popped up on Disney's various TV anthology series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though not the best of the Fred Astaire musicals, Second Chorus is the most easily accessible thanks to its current public-domain status. Astaire and Burgess Meredith play Danny O'Neill and Hank Taylor, friendly-enemy musicians who after spending seven years in a college band aspire to join the Artie Shaw Orchestra. Danny and Hank also spend a lot of time vying over the attentions of their pretty manager Ellen Miller (Paulette Goddard). While Paulette Goddard later became Mrs. Burgess Meredith in real life, guess who wins her hand in this picture? Charles Butterworth steals the show as Mr. Chisholm, a music-loving eccentric who finances Shaw's "swing concerto" concert at Carnegie Hall. Oh, and Fred Astaire dances, too. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The last of RKO's Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers vehicles, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle is also the least typical. At their best playing carefree characters in gossamer-thin musical comedy plotlines, Fred and Ginger seem slightly ill at ease cast as the real-life dancing team of Vernon and Irene Castle. The stripped-to-essentials storyline boils down to novice dancer Irene (Rogers) convincing vaudeville comic Vernon (Astaire) to give up slapstick in favor of "classy" ballroom dancing. With the help of agent Edna May Oliver, the Castles hit their peak of fame and fortune in the immediate pre-World War I years. When Vernon is called to arms, Irene stays behind in the US, making patriotic movie serials to aid the war effort. Vernon is killed in a training accident, leaving a tearful Irene to carry on alone. To soften the shock of Astaire's on-screen death (it still packs a jolt when seen today), RKO inserted a closing "dream" dancing sequence, with a spectral Vernon and Irene waltzing off into the heavens. The film's production was hampered by the on-set presence of the real Irene Castle, whose insistence upon accuracy at all costs drove everyone to distraction--especially Ginger Rogers, who felt as though she was being treated like a marionette rather than an actress. In one respect, Mrs. Castle had good reason to be so autocratic. Walter, the "severest critic servant" character played by Walter Brennan, was in reality a black man. RKO was nervous about depicting a strong, equal-footing friendship between the white Castles and their black retainer, so a Caucasian actor was hired for the role. Mrs. Castle was understandably incensed by this alteration, and for the rest of her days chastised RKO for its cowardice. As it turned out, it probably wouldn't have mattered if Walter had been black, white, Chicano or Siamese; The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle was a financial bust, losing $50,000 at the box office. Perhaps as a result, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers would not team up again for another ten years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carnival promoter Fixer Dugan (Lee Tracy) is so named because of his ability to mollify angry customers and process-serving sheriffs. Fixer also works overtime patching up the personal problems of the various carney performers. Along the way, he helps out lion tamer Peggy Shannon, who is in danger of losing her cats to a crooked rival, and Virginia Weidler, the orphaned daughter of the troupe's recently deceased high-wire artist. Bert Granet and Paul Yawitz adapted their screenplay from a story treatment by director H.C. Potter, who otherwise had nothing to do with this RKO programmer. Fixer Dugan was released in England as Double Daring. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second motion picture version of a Saturday Evening Post story by Dana Burnet, this romantic melodrama was also the second pairing of actors James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. Stewart plays Private Bill Pettigrew, a naïve young Texan in New York for basic training prior to being shipped overseas to fight in WWI. When he is nearly run over by an automobile, he meets its owner, Daisy Heath (Sullavan). A sophisticated entertainer, Daisy is taken with Bill's sweet, uncomplicated nature, and she agrees to a ruse when Bill asks her to pose has his girl in order to impress his Army bunkmates. Daisy's real boyfriend, Sam Bailey (Walter Pidgeon), is at first amused by Daisy's new friendship, but he soon becomes jealous of Bill's growing affection for Daisy. When Bill receives his orders, he begs Daisy to marry him, and although she doesn't really love him, Daisy can't reject a soldier who may be about to meet his maker, so a quickie ceremony is arranged. When word later comes that Bill has been killed on the front lines, a heartbroken Daisy realizes that she and Sam are taking each other for granted. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

In this wartime drama, a young woman nearly comes unhinged when her husband, a Navy pilot, is transferred to Pearl Harbor on their wedding day. She goes with him. Once in Hawaii she is surprised to see her ex-boyfriend sailing about in an expensive yacht. Her husband becomes totally engrossed in his work and begins neglecting her so it seems natural that she would go for a little sail with her ex-flame. When her husband learns about her philandering, he gets jealous and ends up crashing his plane in the harbor. As a result, he is court-martialed. His wife, sorry for her actions, defends him, gets him acquitted and never strays again. Marital bliss ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide