June Carlson Movies

The most controversial "road show" film of the 1940s, this was actually a rather innocent little morality play about a teenage girl (June Carlson) who gets in the "family way" during her very first date. The reason, of course, is that Mom (ois Austin) and Dad (George Eldredge) failed to tell their little darling about the birds and the bees. The father of the expected child (Hardie Albright) is killed before he can make the girl an honest woman, but there is the obligatory happy conclusion with the parents appearing suitably repentant. Nothing to get too excited about -- even in the mid 1940s -- Mom and Dad became a cause celebre courtesy of its producer, crafty promoter Kroger Babb, whose common-law wife Mildred Horn had provided the script. Babb added a live hygienic lecturer, the estimable Elliott Forbes, and inaugurated segregated screenings, not between black and whites, but a separation of the sexes. Women and teenage girls were admitted to the two early showings, while their menfolk had to wait until the late show, naturally getting more and more excited as time went slowly by. The Legion of Decency, a Roman Catholic organization, helped Babb no end by banning the film, and Mom and Dad went on to make money for the promoter well into the '50s. Another legendary "sleaze merchant," David Friedman, took over the film in the '60s, when it was finally allowed to be shown in the puritan city of Chicago. At one point, as Friedman recalled, the film played at 10 Chicago theatres simultaneously, still advertized as featuring a live lecture by the redoubtable "Elliott Forbes." No one apparently questioned how this man could be in 10 places at the same time! The actual filming of Mom and Dad had taken place at the Monogram studios in Hollywood on a one week shooting schedule courtesy of co-producer J.S. Jossey, a Mid-Western exchange man. Incredibly, the film proved to be the fourth highest grosser of the '40s behind three Disney cartoons. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The title tells all in the PRC quickie Delinquent Daughters. June Carlson and Teala Loring play a couple of mature-looking teenagers named June and Sally, whose parents never have any time for them. As a result, June and Sally fall in with a bad crowd and get mixed up in illicit drinking, wild parties and petty crimes. Vivacious French-Canadian comedienne Fifi D'Orsay is cast against type as a hard-boiled roadhouse hostess, while Joe Devlin, who spent most of the 1940s playing Mussolini lookalikes, represents The Law. As was the case in most films of this ilk, Delinquent Daughters ends up in a courtroom, with a stern-voiced judge (Frank McGlynn) admonishing both the girls and their neglectful parents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This "Jones Family" entry does without the services of Pa Jones, inasmuch as actor Jed Prouty was having contract problems with 20th Century-Fox. When Mr. Jones is hospitalized by a heart attack, the rest of the Jones clan must figure out a way to pay the ever-mounting medical bills. They head to California, where they open up a bungalow court. Hoping to improve their business (which is virtually nonexistent), the Joneses open their doors to families with children and pets. As a result, a rival landlord sues the family for "noise pollution", leading to a raucous courtroom finale. On Their Own was the last screen appearance for Florence Roberts (Grandma Jones), who passed away two days after the film's release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This adventure is based on Jack London's tale of a Northwestern woman who owns a riverboat who sends her daughter to boarding school and then discovers that she cannot afford to be reunited with her. In desperation, she sells the boat to a wealthy mine owner. This results in the independent miners getting cheated until the woman's burly ex-partner intervenes and saves the day. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Too Busy to Work is not a remake of the 1932 Will Rogers film of the same name-but it is a partial remake of Rogers' 1935 vehicle Doubting Thomas. This standard entry in the "Jones Family" series finds the Jones women trying to convince Pa Jones (Jed Prouty) that he's spending too much time at work and too little time at home. When Pa decides to run for mayor, the girls have had enough and vow to teach him a lesson. They involve themselves in a little-theater group, neglecting their household duties and forcing Pa and the other Jones menfolk to fend for themselves. "Guest star" Joan Davis provides a welcome jolt of fresh comic energy to the usual Jones Family shenanigans. Too Busy to Work was based on two stage plays, George Kelly's The Torch Bearers and Howard Lindsay and Bertrand Robinson's Your Uncle Dudley (previously filmed in 1935 with Edward Everett Horton). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Jones Family heads to Gay Paree in celebration of the 25th wedding anniversary of Pa (Jed Prouty) and Ma (Spring Byington). It doesn't take long for the Joneses to be victimized by clever Parisian con artists. Nor do Jones kids Jack (Ken Howell) and Lucy (June Carlson) have time to unpack before they're both pursued by amorous predators. Somehow or other, everyone gets involved in an espionage plot, much to the dismay of apoplectic hotel detective Emile (Leonid Kinskey). All things considered, the Joneses' married daughter Bonnie (Shirley Deane) is probably grateful that she elected to stay home with her husband Herb (Russell Gleason). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this entry in the Jones Family series of domestic comedies, the trouble begins when con artists attempt to convince Mayor Jones that the local swamp is chock full of valuable minerals. Mayhem ensues, and just as the crooks think they will be able to pull off their scam, some of Jones' children fall into the muck and the truth is revealed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The saga of the Jones Family continues in 1937's Borrowing Trouble. When Pa Jones's drugstore is robbed, the evidence points to orphan kid Tommy Stevens (Marvin Stephens). This comes as quite a disappointment for Pa (Jed Prouty) and Ma (Spring Byington), who'd welcomed poor Tommy into their home, treating him as one of their own children. As it happens, however, Tommy is merely shielding the actual culprit -- his older brother Lester (Gregory Walcott). Thank heaven for Granny Jones (Florence Roberts), who never fails to cut through all the pathos and bathos with her cynical put-downs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The owner of a racehorse, the owner's lovely niece and a jockey must deal with a number of travails before the big race in this comedy. The uncle must win so he can afford to keep the bank from foreclosing on his horse farm. Unfortunately, his horse breaks his leg and all seems to be lost. Fortunately the girl finds a clever veterinarian who uses a new technique to repair the leg and therefore save the farm. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Jones Family is Off to the Races in this peppy series entry. Though Jed Prouty and Spring Byington are ostensibly the stars as Mr. and Mrs. Jones, top billing is bestowed upon Slim Summerville as the family's horse-happy Uncle George. Hoping to enter his prize nag in an important trotting race, Uncle George prevails upon the Joneses to help him raise the necessary entry fee. The family's coffers are further diminished when George's mercenary ex-wife shows up, demanding exorbitant alimony payments. It looks like everyone will be left holding the bag when the jockey fails to show up, but Pa Jones saves the day by taking the reins himself in the climactic Big Race. Some of the long shots in Off to the Races appear to have been "borrowed" from the 1934 Will Rogers vehicle David Harum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The cinematic saga of The Jones Family began modestly in 1936 with Every Saturday Night. Jed Prouty and Spring Byington star as Ma and Pa Jones, with June Lang, Kenneth Howell, George Ernest, June Carlson and William Mahan as the five Jones kids and Florence Roberts as feisty Granny Jones. In this entry, the scattershot storyline concerns Bonnie Jones' (June Lang) efforts to become a movie star, Jack Jones' (Kenneth Howell) attempts to buy a car, and Bobby Jones (William Mahan) sets up his own junior "loan office." When the film was first previewed, the family's name was Evers, but this was changed at the very last minute. Based on a story by Katherine Kavanaugh, Every Saturday Night was successful enough to spawn 16 additional "Jones Family" epics between 1936 and 1940, few of which have ever been shown on television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide