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WIFE
WANTED (1946) Kay Francis' final film fling sees Kay going out with a bang - and
how! - in this femme noir sensation. Fading film queen Carole Raymond (Francis)
finds herself behind the eight ball in a classified lonely hearts crime ring.
Set up as the fall gal for a snuffed out Romeo, Carole is up to her white furs
in illegitimate matrimony until a muckraker (Robert Shayne) gets a sniff of the
shenanigans. But will he be Carole's salvation or her damnation? Kay Francis
produces, no-nonsense noir helmer Phil Karlson directs, and Paul Cavanagh, Veda
Ann Borg, Teala Loring and Jonathan Hale co-star.
KILROY
WAS HERE (1947) Two titanic kid stars - the Jackies Cooper and Coogan - team up for this
post-war fable about an ordinary GI Joe who gets confused for the most traveled
footslogger of all, the legendary Kilroy.
Since the familiar roughly
sketched hands, nose, and "Kilroy Was Here"
appeared wherever serviceman were
found (take that, internet "memes") the public clamored to know the
identity of the 'real' Kilroy. Hapless ex-hackney vet John J. Kilroy, hoping
to get a GI Bill boost into the realms of higher ed, steps into a co-ed's
desperate PR scheme to claim Kilroy for her campus. Thankfully, fellow
ex-hackney vet Pappy Collins followed John J. to keep him out of trouble... Oh,
boy! Directed by Phil Karlson.
WHERE
ARE YOUR CHILDREN? (1944) Youth run amuck gets the Monogram treatment
courtesy of on-the-cusp thesps Jackie Cooper and Gale Storm.
They may be from opposite side of
the tracks, but this dinette darling and her gentleman GI might just have had a
shot were it not for the pre-cursor delinquents spiking drinks, going on
cross-country joy rides and beating service station personnel to death. What
else is a kid to do back before Youth Centers? Directed by William Nigh.
LOST
ANGEL (1943) Margaret O'Brien stars as Alpha, the pint-sized pet project of the
Pickering Institute of Child Psychology. Raised according to only the most
advanced scientific principles, the eggheads at the institute (played by
character greats Donald Meek, Alan Napier, Philip Merivale, Henry O'Neill, Sara
Haden, Howard Freeman, Kathleen Lockhart, and Walter Fenner) all but succeed in
the quest to turn a real-live girl into an ersatz Pinocchio. But when she gets
infected with a bad dose of humanity thanks to a brash newshound (James Craig),
it's off to the big city for our pre-teen humandroid's quest to find some
magic. A nearly perfect role for O'Brien's preternaturally adult mannerisms,
she's matched by Keenan Wynn's delightful turn as babysitting gangster, Packy
Roost.
Bing is Back Leading a Pack of Paramounts
RIDING
HIGH
(1950) Frank Capra teams with Bing Crosby to remake his racing fable Broadway
Bill and this time, make it live up to his naturally high standards. Joining
Crooner and Craftsman are a Sturgesian ensemble of crackerjack characters
including William Demarest, Margaret Hamilton, Charles Bickford, and Colleen
Gray. Capra also ups the ante by bringing back much of Broadway Bills cast 16
years later including Clarence Muse, Douglass Dumbrille, Raymond Walburn,
Margaret Hamilton, Frankie Darro and Ward Bond (who gets a bump from henchman
to heavy). Long on heart, Riding High delivers the goods in both sentiment and
song. Also features Oliver Hardy in a rare solo cameo.
MacLaine-a-mania
ALL
IN A NIGHT'S WORK (1961) A dead exec with an ear-to-ear-grin. A towel clad
temptress seen fleeing his hotel room. Sounds like a scandal is brewing for
newly installed magazine magnate Tony Ryder (Dean Martin) unless he can scope
out the lovely lass's purchase price. But young Katie (Shirley MacLaine) may be
too dizzy a dame for swinging Tony to wrap his head around. Also stars Cliff
Robertson, Charles Ruggles, Norma Crane and Jack Weston. Directed by Joseph
Anthony.
MY
GEISHA (1962) Shirley MacLaine goes undercover as a geisha in this romance in which
a wife temps her spouse with her own self (Recognize shades of Madam Satan?).
Gifted comedienne Lucy Dell (MacLaine) is married to noted French director Paul
Robaix (Yves Montand) who works for
Musique Fantastique
RED
GARTERS (1954) This musical Western takes place on the edges of the abstract for its
still-ahead-of-its-time tongue-in-cheek take on western tropes and clichés
delivered up as four-color allegory. Jack Carson and Guy Mitchell are the tuff
guy antagonists, Gene Berry is the bromance buddy, Pat Crowley and Cass Daley
are the eye candy, Frank Faylen and Buddy Ebsen are the yokel locals, Reginald
Owen is the probity probater and Rosemary Clooney is the glue that keeps this
impossible tale whirring along on a surge of merriment. Directed by George
Marshall.
ON
A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER (1970) Maestro Vincente Minnelli takes on this Broadway
oddity, a tale of romance and regret within the burgeoning new age world of the
seventies. That means we're in for ESP, hypnotic regression and reincarnation
aided by the
When Daisy goes into a trance,
however, she can regress into past lives and different personalities -
including "Melinda," a 19th-century English coquette. Also stars Jack
Nicholson and Bob Newhart.
Nuclear Families and Other Disasters
FIRE
IN THE SKY (1993) This film is a sci-fi noir take on the infamous
Walton event, in which logger Travis Walton's UFO abduction was witnessed by a
bevy of his frightened and bewildered co-workers. D.B. Sweeney stars as Walton
in a film that places the familiar ahead of the fantastic in order to deliver a
gripping character study of the devastation and suspicion that arises when the
extra-ordinary collides with the very ordinary. Robert Patrick, Craig Sheffer,
Peter Berg, Bradley Gregg, and Henry Thomas play the boys left telling the tale
while James Garner plays the cop who suspects it's all a cover-up - for murder.
Directed by Robert Lieberman.
STUART
SAVES HIS FAMILY (1995) SNL alum Al Franken (and current US Senator)
eschews broad parody for wistful wisdom as Stuart Smalley leaves the small
screen for this surprisingly grown-up celluloid take on the inspirational
12-stepper. Stuart, fired from his cable TV self-help show, goes home to
resolve a family crisis. Dad (Harris Yulin) is an abusive drunk, Mom (Shirley
Knight) is an enabler, Sis (Laura San Giacomo) is an over-eater, and Brother
(Vincent D'Onofrio) has a problem with his temper. But Stuart may just have the
goods to save them all. Directed by Harold Ramis.
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