Phil Reeder Reviews

Let's Go Collegiate (1941)

You ain't playin' around with no 8-ball!

[3/10 · 19 April 2011]

Tolerable time-waster notable mainly for featuring at least two cast members who went on to conquer better things. The story: the never-seen star rower Bob Terry has been confiscated by the army, and two of his teammates pull the old switcharoo using a random but burly guy they meet (Frank Sully) who, unknown to them, is wanted by the law (he's a safe-cracker). Not only do Frankie and Tad have to overcome this monkey's seasickness (using mothballs?) they also must make the guy smart so he won't flunk biology and get kicked off the rowing team. Helping them is Martan Moreland, who's responsible for much of the film's laughs - "Take it easy, Mr Frankie, you ain't playin' around with no 8-ball!"

Joining the fun are Gale Storm who went on to TV fame with MY LITTLE MARGIE and Frank Faylen from DOBIE GILLIS and Disney's THE MONKEY'S UNCLE. Watch for a scene where Faylen punches a guy in the chin, causing him to fall backwards. TMU features a scene that parallels this one, only it's Annette punching Faylen, causing him to fall backward - accompanied by a hilarious musical sound effect. Other comic scenes of note are where the absent-minded biology prof can't find his frog and wonders if he accidentally ate it for lunch (and this guy has the nerve to flunk students?) - and Moreland explaining "metatarsus" to girlfriend. Keye Luke from the Charlie Chan series adds a multicultural element.

The Witches Mountain (1973)

Lovely scenery marred by incomprehensible story

[2/10 · 23 March 2009]

As someone else mentioned, it begins with a bizarre prologue about a little blond girl killing a cat. Then the main story: a photographer (Gaffari) and a writer (Shepard) meet by chance and take a trip into the mountains. First they spend the night at an inn where the slightly deaf landlord gets hollered at, with increasing irritation to the audience, by Gaffari. Once in the mountains they seek shelter again and are invited in by a kindly old lady who seems overly hospitable to strangers (Hansel and Gretel, anyone?) What happens next I will leave for the bold viewer to sort out because I most assuredly couldn't. Now, I like Eurohorror, and this woulda been better if only Artigot (writer AND director) had made some attempt at logical story telling. The backdrop (Pyrenees?) makes an excellent and intriguing location for mysterious and occult occurrences. The verdant peaks could easily obscure supernatural forces and those who command them. The photography is nice. Just wish the whole thing made sense. You can view this film at archive.org.

The Outer Gate (1937)

Cheap revenge tale

[3/10 · 23 February 2009]

Insipid story about a young construction engineer (Alexander) falsely accused of embezzlement by his boss. The court sentences him to 15 years, but through a deus ex machina he only serves five. All this time Borden, the employer, has suffered a guilty conscience and wants to make amends, but Bob sees this only as an opportunity to satisfy his thirst for revenge. With the help of his cell-mate Acuff (released at the same time on parole) and a crooked nightclub owner, Bob's scheme works like clockwork. But will he go through with allowing the old man wrongly to get sent up for the same crime the old man accused him of?

I was left wondering, if Bob and Lois grew up friends together and Borden had known Bob forever, why Borden was so quick in accusing Bob of the crime in the first place. Though this is a forgettable picture, it does leave one with questions of how you would act if you were sent to prison for a crime you didn't commit. The message of this story is clear: just forgive everybody and move on.

Love Island (1952)

Oh Oleevah!

[3/10 · 30 May 2008]

If you like your island women with Hungarian accents..or stock footage of Balinese wedding ceremonies, you're in luck here. Otherwise, there's not much reason to bother with this one. Paul Valentine crash-lands on a south Pacific isle called Love Island in English. So far so dumb. Instantly he makes friends with Eva Gabor, long black-haired native babe. She's in a marriage quandary. Who will be the lucky guy - the noble Tamor, her friend since childhood? The odious fat guy who tries to blackmail her? Or the American she's known for a day? If you really wanna find out, watch this. Like me, you'll be wondering why GREEN ACRES never did a spoof of LOVE ISLAND!

Affairs of Cappy Ricks (1937)

George Jetson meets his match

[5/10 · 26 April 2008]

While not having heard of Cappy Ricks before this, I'm guessing after looking on ebay that he was a fairly well-known book character in the early 20th. Brennan goes full steam as the curmudgeonly "old salt shaker" who stubbornly resists the encroachment of technology and is horrified on returning home and finding his daughter's future mother-in-law running his house and business and poised to merge his company with rival Bottomley, a purveyor of all things automated! Cappy launches a counter plot to set things straight, giving the story the bulk of its humorous situations. The highlight is the segment aboard the ELECTRA, Bottomley's almost completely automated yacht, particularly the scene with the push-button spice dispensers. The silly plot is served well by nice performances by Brennan, Georgia Caine, Frank Shields, and perky, attractive Mary Brian as Frankie. And the film itself foreshadows The Jetsons and Gilligan's Island 25 years before those shows made us roar with laughter (?)

5 1/2 Stars, check it out.

Windjammer (1937)

A Yaght of Fun!

[5/10 · 22 April 2008]

Short, entertaining sea yarn with George O'Brien as a state attorney general's right hand man sent to serve a subpoena on a tycoon, only to find himself a prisoner along with the millionaire and his daughter aboard the ship of an arms smuggler, bound for Macao. The action is pretty good, along with the characterizations - particularly Hall as the roguish, mad-eyed Capt. Morgan (there even seems to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to the pirate Henry Morgan!) Blond Constance Worth is cute as Betty, playing the she-hates-him/she-loves-him cliché for all it's Worth. Overall a decently spent hour.

5/10 stars, check it out.

Telephone Operator (1937)

I like any movie with a dam in it...

[5/10 · 8 April 2008]

The version I downloaded from the Internet Archive must be heavily cut, as it's only 53m. Despite this inexcusable decimation, I found this flick to be quite satisfying, for what it is. We've got cocksure telephone linesmen, surly switchboard operators, kids with shortwave radios, a failing dam, and a terrific flood - 30's style, and stuffed into little more than an hour! The cast are all sufficiently capable in their roles, particularly leads Allen and Withers, but it was the colorful details that really sustained my interest. Things like Helen's kid brother setting his alarm for 5 so he can listen to a Boy Scout rally from England on the shortwave. The film is a nifty little time capsule of the 1930's telecommunications industry at work, and its importance to daily life in that decade.

Law of the Timber (1941)

Timber mystery

[5/10 · 25 January 2008]

Engaging little mystery set in a lumber camp. Yeah, the plot is pretty clichéd - cute blonde inherits her pop's business which greedy crooks are after - but the picturesque forest setting gives the story a new dimension of interest. Someone is sabotaging the H&L Lumber Co's operations and will stop at nothing - even murder - to take over and get H&L's new government contract. Red herrings abound, from the multicultural lumberjacks themselves to the squatters living illegally nearby. And how about that new guy who looks and acts nothing like a lumberjack? As the mystery unfolds we are treated to the great scenery of Big Bear Lake,CA, along with stock footage of the lumber industry in action (kind of funny seeing the same log splash into the river multiple times!) The acting is decent, with the best performance hailing from Sven Hugo Borg as the Swede Olaf; the film's most suspenseful moment revolves around a secret message Olaf scrawls on a poker card...but will that ace fall into the hand of the intended recipient?

Paradise Express (1937)

Title is too grandiose, but...

[5/10 · 28 November 2007]

Frankly, the title had me expecting this flick to be a romance-comedy set aboard a luxury diesel passenger liner. Just goes to show titles can be misleading. In reality the story is about corruption in the transportation industry - a popular theme in the 30's, be it railroads, trucks, taxis, you name it. Grant Withers plays the motivated receiver appointed to get the bankrupt Moon Valley RR back on a paying basis. Easier said than done, he's got to match wits against the crooked head of a trucking firm who wants the railroad's business. The real action doesn't come till the showdown - a race between the locomotive and the trucks to see who can get the tomatoes and lettuce to Paradise first. I won't give away Doyle's solution to a sabotaged water tower they find en route, but I can say it was pretty quick thinking. Dr. Meade from Gone With the Wind is here, and Dorothy Appleby plays his cute, perky granddaughter and Withers' romantic interest. Lassie fans may recognize Gramps from "Jeff's Collie". I watched the 52-min version off the Internet Archive. Maybe someone can find the full version.

Paper Bullets (1941)

Not a total waste, just not a film noir masterpiece

[4/10 · 10 October 2005]

What I liked best about this flick was the chance to see Joan Woodbury, who awe-struck me as one of the several beauties in the Charles Boyer classic "Algiers", in a leading role. She does well as Rita, an orphan who rises to make good as a lady crime boss. Her ascent to the top reminds me of Joan Crawford's characters, e.g. Mildred Pierce, who realize their ambitions by fierce determination and willpower. If you're looking for a film noir classic, better look elsewhere. At several points, it's difficult to know where this story is going. I first got the impression that it was going to encompass Rita's plot for revenge against the father and son who tricked her into taking the rap for a drunk driving death perpetrated by the playboy son. But payback time ended up being only a minor point, and a springboard to the somewhat confusing second part of the film, where Rita becomes increasingly involved in city corruption. Anyway, it's only 72 minutes, so a second viewing should clear up any haziness. My copy is from a Platinum box set called "Mobster Movies". The picture quality is good, but the soundtrack sucks, constantly skipping fragments of dialog. There are eight films in the $5.50 box, making each movie a fair 69 cents. Look for Anne Archer's father, John Archer, as Rita's childhood friend Bob. Alan Ladd doesn't get much screen time. It's definitely Joan Woodbury's picture.

Step by Step (1946)

Worth an hour...

[16 January 2003]

A senator, his secretary, a German spy ring, an ex-marine and his feisty little mutt, and an amiable codger converge to give us this peppy spy-comedy. This was before the spy spoof (James Bond, Austin Powers) which feature absurd, cartoonish heroes battling impossible threats. The STEP BY STEP genre, though its plausibility is still suspect, is more realistic in its characters and especially its threats, such as German spies. There actually WERE German spies.

Lawrence Tierney and Anne Jeffreys manage to meet and immediately get mixed up in the murder of a "government operative" who has come to give vital information to the senator Jeffreys works for. It doesn't matter that we're never told the nature of the information the spies are after; the movie is too short and the plot too simple for that. It's strictly a FOR FUN picture, with Lawrence Tierney less of a tough guy and more comical than usual. I mean, here's a guy who locks himself out of his woody, then later, accompanied by a bow-tie wearing cop (it was the Forties, just accept it), enters the senator's presence wearing nothing but swimming trunks!

The dog, Bazooka, has some pretty good moments. He's one of those 40's canine actors who are possessed of irritatingly and at the same time charmingly unrealistic smarts - such as instantly recognizing the hammer the spies throw at him as an instrument by which his master can break into the locked car.

John Hamilton plays the Captain, proprietor of the motel where Tierney and Jeffreys hide out. Funny when the loveable codger asks the couple for his radio amplifier tube back so he can listen to Dick Tracy.

STEP BY STEP succeeds as a FUN picture, but I can't help wondering how these quickies were originally presented. Double features? Because if I'd been part of the moviegoing public in 1946, I'd have wanted at least another short one to go along with SBS.

The Feminine Touch (1941)

Sprightly romantic comedy well worth a look

[8 December 2002]

Very charming early 40's romantic screwball comedy. Don Ameche is a psychology professor at Digby College, which he decides to leave after being asked to pass a dimwitted football player so Digby can win an upcoming game. Prof. Hathaway is now free to publish his book on his theories on marital jealousy. Only he doesn't expect to be smitten with his editor, Kay Francis and likewise his wife, Rosalind Russell with Kay Francis' partner, Van Heflin. It's not heavy on plot; rather, its forte is in its snappy dialog, especially from Russell and Francis.

Here is one thing I especially love about 40's/50's romantic comedies: the bachelor pads, such as Van Heflin's here! They're always large and usually have a sunken living room with lots of cool furniture. You go up three steps and behold! A grand piano! As if this weren't enough, Heflin's also got a log cabin retreat outside the city (NY). Other outstanding 1940's visuals: Kay Francis' outrageous hats. Francis looks even better here than in the 30's. She even reminded me somewhat of Sean Young in BLADE RUNNER. Other highlights include the make-up exam Prof. Hathaway gives to Rubber-Legs, the football player in question at the beginning, at the request of the dean. The questions are deliberately idiotic, but Rubber-Legs bows out with a headache! For more abuse of football players at the hands of professors I recommend Disney's THE MONKEY'S UNCLE (24 years later). Then there's the scene in the publisher's office where Ameche and Russell find claustrophobic Elliott Morgan (Heflin) locked in a closet by Nellie (Francis)! Funny seeing a bearded Heflin through the keyhole. There's also a lot of coffee preparing and drinking in this movie, and some kind of statement about beards. At the beginning the football players are wearing beards until they defeat their opponent. Later, Francis declares that Elliott is hiding behind a beard for security (??) We're also treated to some 1940's feminism spouted by Don Ameche and scoffed at by Francis, who says those are the women (overly independent) who are alone at night.

This is a sprightly comedy with sturdy comedic performances from all. Give it a look - you'll feel good when you do!

The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953)

Wish there'd been more of these

[4 November 2002]

After I warmed up to the taller, goofier-looking Bobby Van (compared to Dwayne Hickman), this movie really took off for me. Like many others, I didn't know there was a movie six years before the TV series debuted. I'm only a casual fan of DG (it doesn't get shown enough these days) but still wanted to see how this early version compared to the show. I wasn't disappointed. I noticed a similarity between this picture and Disney's Merlin Jones movies. But whereas Merlin was this semi-genius, Dobie is an underachiever out for fun and females.

Die-hard fans of Zelda will be crestfallen to learn that she is mercifully absent here. She is replaced by the much more feminine Debbie Reynolds, who ferments a good screen chemistry with Van; that's appropriate, as their most harrowing adventures take place in the chemistry lab (Pansy is fond of mixing assorted substances until they explode).

But where is Herbert T. Gillis, Dobie's workaholic grocer old man seen in the series? He was my favorite character, mainly because of Frank Faylen's inimitable characterization (he was also hilarious as Dearborne in Disney's THE MONKEY'S UNCLE). Instead of Dobie's family we get Pansy's blustery workaholic father, who wants to separate the lovebirds forever. Has anyone else noticed, by the way, how fathers are perpetually portrayed as silly windbags, while the boring cipher wife/mother is forever made out to be the "wise" one? Even in the 50's.

Strangely, it seems as though Dobie and Pansy only took two courses - English and Chemistry. And what about that chemistry prof, who boasts that his class is the hardest they'll ever encounter? Guess he never heard of Cartography at Radford U. After playing hooky (except when it rained) for several months, they return to class to find an essay due in English and a project due in Chemistry. I won't give away how they solve this crisis. But then the sky falls on our amorous pair. Deeming Dobie the worst possible influence, Mr. Hammer sends Pansy to NYC (blah - like that's the greatest place on earth to be sent) to live with her horrid maiden aunt. You really feel depressed for Dobie, now wandering aimlessly around campus. After all the scrapes they'd been through together - the chemistry lab explosions; the capsized canoe; and the most hysterical of all - Pansy's blouse getting caught in the car engine, then her trying to sneak past Ma and Pa and a couple of neighbors watching TV (yes, they had TV in 1953). Then when a gun goes off on TV, the startled viewers suddenly become aware of Pansy in her undergarments. That scene ended perfectly.

All this brings us to some intriguing questions about college life in the 50's. Was it common for professors to write their own textbooks? We have the deliciously snobbish, condescending Hans Conried (Prof. Pomfritt) announcing that he is rewriting his "English Usage For College Freshmen", suddenly accepting Dobie's belief that the rules should be according to the way people really talk. C'mon, a single professor rewriting the rules of grammar? And did academic buildings really have bells to dismiss the students? Sounds like high school all over again. All classes beginning and ending at the same time. Well, I know one thing in the movie that's definitely based in reality: the way school bookstores buy back used books for pennies on the dollar, then resell them at a 90% markup. This textbook racket is still flourishing!

Absent from AODG is Dobie's endless philosophizing in front of a marble statue. But I don't expect you'll really miss that.

All in all, I recommend THE AFFAIRS OF DOBIE GILLIS to even the most casual fan of the TV series, and to anyone who likes college slapstick/romance from the 50's. I only wish this movie had been long enough to include more professors played by character actors on the caliber of Hans Conried. Or a series of 75-minute films, where Dobie and Pansy take Psychology, physics, French...imagine the constant jams they'd've been in and out of. I know Debbie Reynolds went on to bigger things, like voicing Charlotte in CHARLOTTE'S WEB and giving birth to Princess Leia, but she could've been replaced by some other bodacious 50's babe. And no, I don't mean Zelda.