My Gal Sal

This is another one of those composer movies.  They were popular at that time.  This time it's focused on Paul Dresser.  Carole Landis is early on in this movie when he's trying to make it and she's a treat.  Victor Mature becomes infatuated with Rita Hayworth, a singer, and dancer. Rita has a lot of charisma in this movie as usual. Rita Hayworth was dubbed by Nan Wynn, a 40's singer who did a bit of dubbing for movies around that time.  It would be nice if someone organized a collection of her songs.  She was featured on the Art Deco Sophisticated Ladies collection which featured ignored and popular female singers from the 20's through 40's.

I wonder who's kissing her now

I like June Haver.  She was a good fun musical actress of the 40's and 50's.  She quit to marry Fred Macmurray.  I've asked companies who reissue old music to release a cd of songs from her movies.  They've never replied.  She is not as remembered as Betty Grable or Alice Faye so that's probably why there isn't interest.  This movie is one of those composer movies.  It's about Joe H. Howard, the songwriter of Hello, my baby.  June Haver plays his stepsister.  He keeps going to other women while she's been there the whole time.  I liked how I was able to recognize some of the tunes.  

That Lady in Ermine

This is definitely not one of Betty's best pictures.  She plays a woman just married to Cesar Romero.  The leader of the Hungarians Douglas Fairbanks Jr. falls for an ancestor of Betty who looks just like her,  That woman steps out of a painting.  This movie got confusing at times.  

Tugboat Annie

I really like Marie Dressler in this.  She was definitely a different movie star of the time. She wasn't glamorous.  Dressler looked like someone you might see at your church but she had a strong personality.  Wallace Beery stars as her drunk husband who is always messing up.  Meanwhile, their son has made something of himself.  Marie tries to pull things together throughout the movie.

Wonder Bar

I'm not an Al Jolson fan so that affects my opinion of this movie. Busby Berkeley did the numbers and that's the real treat of the movie.  There's not much plot.  Dolores Del Rio and Kay Francis star and they're awesome like always.

Little Old New York

This is about the invention of the steam engine by Robert Fulton.  Alice Faye works in a pub and has a crush on him.  There's only one song that she sings and it's with people.  I was disappointed in that.  I haven't seen an old movie yet about an inventor that I really like.

Frisco Jenny

Ruth Chatterton plays a madam who has to give up her son because child protection keeps snooping around.  She has a plan that she'll give him to a nice family and pick him up later.  Only the plan falls through.  Her son grows up and becomes a district attorney.  She's in trouble with the law.  So the two paths cross.  Chatterton is pretty good in this.  The ending wasn't as I expected.  Overall a good precode.

The Big House

Warner Archive released two other versions of this movie the Spanish and French language versions.  I thought this was great since I'm frustrated with the lack of Spanish/Mexican movies of the past that aren't subtitled.  I feel that subtitles should be provided for every movie so that other cultures can watch the movies as well.  Anyway this is a pretty good prison movie.  Robert Montgomery plays a man in for manslaughter.  Wallace Beery steals the show as Machine Gun Butch Schmidt.  The ending with the big break is amazing as the police and the prisoners fight against each other.  

Their Own Desire

Norma Shearer was nominated twice in 1929-30 for this and The Divorcee, which she won the Oscar for.  She's pretty good in this.  Her father has an affair and goes away with the woman.  Only Norma falls in love with the son of the woman her father had the affair with.  Robert Montgomery plays the son and he looks really young in this, very handsome.  There's better Norma Shearer movies but this was all right.

Give me your Heart

Kay Francis plays a woman having an affair, who bares a child.  She gives the child to the father.  Yet the kid still haunts her.  She eventually runs into them again years later.  In the meantime she has married George Brent.  I love Kay Francis.  She was an interesting actress from the 30's that you don't hear much about nowadays.  This was all right.  My favorite of hers is I found Stella Parish which had a similar plot.

The Great American Pastime

The star of "The Seven Year Itch"Tom Ewell stars as a boy's baseball coach.  Ann Miller plays the mother of one of the boys.  She wants her son to be the pitcher.  I've been watching Honey West lately and Anne Francis is amazing in that.  She has so much spunk and energy.  Yet in this movie she just plays a critical wife.  She does it well but it's a boring role.  I'm not really a fan of sports movies.  It takes an exceptional movie for me to say otherwise.  Unfortunately this wasn't one of them.  

Abandoned

This is a movie about a baby racket.  Gale Storm tries to find her sister but discovers that she is dead and the baby is missing.  The reporter Dennis O'Keefe helps her. This movie is mediocre.  There is forced chemistry between Dennis O'Keefe and Gale Storm.  It doesn't work.  It's nice to see Gale Storm in a role that's not perky.  (I'm a fan of hers and the reason why I watched this.)  However The Underworld Story is a better picture for that.  

Any Number Can Play

Clark Gable plays a casino owner.  Alexis Smith plays his wife.  It is stressful for the son and Alexis to have Clark be a casino owner.  All the townspeople blame them for their problems.  The best scene in the movie for me was when Frank Morgan is on a winning streak.  Clark has to control the situation before it gets out of hand, affects him.  This was a good movie.  

The Miracle of our Lady of Fatima

Three children from Portugal witness a miracle of the virgin Mary.  However people tell the children to keep quiet because the government could get them in trouble.  It isn't time before there are crowds of people to see the virgin Mary.  The children's friend played by Gilbert Roland provides comic relief.  He's pretty good in this.  I like watching religious movies sometimes.  If you like this you should give The Reluctant Saint a try.

Midnight Mary

Loretta Young gets involved with a gangster Ricardo Cortez.  When Loretta sees a break from that life she grabs it.  Franchot Tone, a wealthy lawyer, provides her with a secretarial job.  However her past comes back to haunt her.  She kills Cortez and has to face a trial.  This is a pretty good precode.  Some of the talk is quite scandalous for an old movie.  I enjoyed it.  Loretta Young's precodes are usually good.  She's gorgeous here.  Una Merkel costars.

The Group

This movie focuses on the 30's where a group of women graduate from college.  The main reason why I liked this movie was Joanna Pettet.  She was a regular on Night Gallery. This beauty definitely had a presence. In this she plays a woman torn apart by a bad marriage.  Larry Hagman, in a different role than I Dream of Jeannie, plays a jerk.  I'm only familiar with Jessica Walter from her funny outstanding work in "Arrested Development".  It was nice to see her in such an early role.

Whistling in the Dark

I love Una Merkel.  She was a captivating cute charismatic actress.  She usually did supporting roles.  In this one she plays a lead.  Truex and her are held hostage by gangsters,  The gangsters ask Ernest Truex for the perfect crime.  However he won't let them get away with it.   It was entertaining to see the couple get out of the situation they were in.  The movie was remade with Red Skelton but I like the original more.

So Evil my Love

Ann Todd falls for bad boy Ray Milland in this Victorian movie.  He is playing with her but she falls for him.  She commits blackmail and other things for him.  The ending was disappointing to me. I wanted her to get away with it.  I guess that's bad to admit.  This movie was ok.