Change Your Image
Silents
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Childhood Days (1943)
Over-the-top Patriotic propaganda, but still very enjoyable
Its hokey, its schmaltzy, its over-the-top patriotic propaganda, and its all done with children. And, along the way, there's some excellent music. This short film features the California Junior Symphony and also some other children who sing and dance. The patriotic finale, "Its the Good Old American Way," will never take the place of George M. Cohan's "Yankee Doodle Dandy," or Irving Berlin's "God Bless America," but it is saved by the enthusiasm, sincerity and obvious talents of the children, and the excellent production values of the Warner Bros. studio.
My only complaint about the film is Diana Hale who acts as the "hostess." She doesn't sing well at all, and she seems quite pleased with herself in a most obnoxious way. I doubt that she is the same Dinah Hale who has appeared as an adult in various television programs in later decades, although that is how she is credited here at the IMDb. But if she is the same person she became a much better performer in later years.
Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean (1931)
A piece of Vaudeville history
This delightful film from the Fleischer studio features Al Shean of the famed Vaudeville team of Gallagher and Shean singing their signature song, "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean." Gallagher died in 1929 so Shean goes solo in this film, despite the current incorrect listing here on the IMDb that had Gallagher portraying himself. Shean and Shean alone appears in the live action section and he sings both parts of the song.
In the animated section two voices are singing but they are uncredited. Does anyone know who belongs to those voices?
I own a 16mm print of this film in my collection and Al Shean is absolutely the only live action character in it. I have tried to correct the Gallagher credit as he simply does not appear in this film, but the IMDb ignores my correction.
Musical Shipmates (1946)
Filmed record of war-time radio program
This is a post-war (1946) filmed version of "Meet Your Navy," a 15 minute WWII radio program which originated on Chicago radio station WLS during the war and was carried nation wide on the NBC Blue (later ABC) Network. Featured in the film are the Navy Orchestra conducted by Joseph Johnson, the 100 man Navy Chorus with Robert Extrum as soloist performing "The Lord's Prayer," a double quartet of African-American sailors performing the spiritual "In That Great Getting' Up Mornin'," a comedy group of five sailors known as The Buccaneers perform "Terrible Terry the Termite," a novelty song, and Irving Berlin's "All of My Life" is sung by Jack Kilty and Gloria Brochman. Durward Kirby, better known in the 50s and 60s as the television side kick of Gary Moore, is the host/announcer. An uncredited John Forsythe is featured in one scene.
A Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic (1929)
A Broadway legend in his prime
Florence Ziegfeld's famed Midnight Frolics in New York's rooftop theaters are part of Broadway legend. They offered theater goers who could afford the cover charge the chance to be entertained by some of Broadway's biggest stars and prettiest chorus girls in an intimate setting. After the big stage show earlier in the evening, Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor and many other theater legends kept the makeup on, went upstairs and continued telling jokes and singing songs into the wee hours of the morning.
Although the Frolics had gone out of fashion some ten years earlier, in 1929 Ziegfeld recreated a Frolic in New York's Astoria studio for the sound movie camera with Eddie Cantor as the star. It may have been staged just for the camera, but the film has the feel of a live performance with Cantor telling topical jokes and singing three novelty songs in his trade marked high energy style. I got the sense that he wanted to start bouncing around the stage the way he did in his live appearances but that the bulky camera and early sound equipment forced him to stay in one place.
Even so the Cantor personality leaps off the screen and it seems that if Cantor was alive today he would have no trouble as a stand-up comic. This is the 1929 version of what is now the opening monologue on late night TV talk shows. Cantor has a great rapport with the audience that I'm sure would work today. All he would have to do is update the jokes to current issues.
Even so, it is interesting to hear him joke about issues that were in the news in 1929. His jokes about Henry Ford's antisemitism are particularly interesting.
Curiously, Cantor is in black face through the entire performance even though there is no minstrel material in this show. Considered offensive by many even then, black face entertainers were a staple of that era and Cantor frequently "blacked up" on Broadway and in the movies. In addition to any offense that might be caused by the black face makeup, it also keeps us from seeing Cantor's wonderfully expressive face as well as we might, and that's a pity.
This film was considered lost for several decades and apparently survives in one 35mm print from which some new prints have been made. Although that surviving original print has some splices that interfere with some of Cantor's comments, it is in relatively good condition with excellent picture and sound quality allowing us to reach back and see a Broadway legend in his prime.
St. Martin's Lane (1938)
A neglected treasure
This is a wonderful story of love, ambition and sacrifice among the buskers (street performers) of London. Everybody's good, but Laughton and Leigh will stay in your mind and your heart long after you've seen this great film.
Laughton's performance should be studied by every acting student. He gives us a Charlie Staggers who is funny, resourceful, honest and pathetic and with a great capacity to love and do right by others. He is a simple and good man with a deep soul, and his audition in the theatre at the climax of the picture is both sad and uplifting.
Viven Leigh demonstrates a great talent and the characteristics that made her so successful the following year as Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind." In this film she begins as a self righteous and petty thief and by the end she has grown to become a highly successful but humbled actress. Leigh carries this change superbly and makes it completely believable. By any measure it is a great performance.
"Sidewalks of London" is also very well written, directed and edited. I rank this as one of the best English language films of the 1930s.
The Secret Tunnel (1948)
Forgotten children's film that is so much fun!
What a treat it is to discover a forgotten film that is so much fun! "The Secret Tunnel" is an unpretentious but well made British children's film. According to the credits it was "Made for Cinema Clubs for Boys and Girls." These cinema clubs were popular in the UK and Australia in the 1940s and 1950s. For a membership fee and a small admission fee for each show, kids would see a morning of films and live entertainment.
Anthony Wager, so very memorable as the young Pip in David Lean's "Great Expectations" made the previous year, plays Roger Henderson, the son of a very wealthy British gentleman. Roger's companion is John Wilson, son of the butler, and played wonderfully by Ivor Bowyer.
This great little movie takes us on an exciting adventure. When a painting is stolen from a basement vault at Roger's estate, the boys head off to find the missing painting and bring the crooks to justice. The action takes us into town where the boys investigate a suspicious antique dealer before they are nearly discovered and have to make a very quick get-away. Then we get to explore the estate from the basement, through the tunnel, even up a chimney and across the roof. Telephone lines are cut, the boys are captured by the smugglers and escape, and then manage to follow the crooks to their hide out. The film may be aimed at children, but adults will have fun, too.
As with most children's films its the kids who save the day and bring the crooks to justice. But unlike more recent children's films and television shows, this is not because the adults are stupid, its because the adults are away when the boys become involved in the mystery. So the boys use their brains to outwit the crooks until they can summon help.
Perhaps because it was made for the Cinema Clubs instead of for general release this film has apparently not been seen much since its initial release. It deserves at least a video release. Catch it if you can.
Where are these boys today? Anthony Wager was a fine actor but seems to have vanished with little information about him since the 1980s. Ivor Bowyer is credited with only a handful of films scattered over five decades. Although he never made a big splash he is certainly excellent in "Secret Tunnel" and it would be interesting to know where he is today.
The Rear Gunner (1943)
Great example of how Hollywood helped to win the war
Following Pearl Harbor, Hollywood rushed to turn out films that would help to win the war. They produced more than features. There were countless cartoons and short subjects that were intended to inform the public, boost morale, encourage support of the Red Cross and other organizations that were helping at home and over seas or recruit men into the service. There were also films that were shown only to members of the armed forces. These films either trained them or entertained them.
"Rear Gunner" is one of the best examples of how Hollywood pitched in and worked to boost morale and also recruit men into the service. It has a mission and it does it with pride and a very solid conviction. This film is a real time machine of its era showing the American attitude towards the war. It is also interesting to get a glimpse of just what a rear gunner did and how he learned to do it.
Burgess Meredith was one of the finest and most versatile film actors of the 20th century. Unfortunately most people today know him only for his appearance in the "Grumpy Old Men" films. In "Rear Gunner" he takes a part that is about as standard as they come. There's very little in the words to indicate anything about Pee-Wee's personality. But Meredith takes this shallow part and makes Pee-Wee a real guy. He's quiet and smart without a hint of arrogance, exactly the kind of guy Americans at least claimed to admire then. And Pee-Wee's gentle stutter works well because Meredith soft pedals it thus making it seem real.
"Rear Gunner" allows us to reach through the screen and touch the American mind from WWII. It also happens to be entertaining.
Heavenly Days (1944)
Great document of America on the WWII home front
What a great document of America on the WWII home front! One of the longest running and most fondly remembered old time radio programs was "Fibber McGee and Molly." Fibber's bluster and famously over stuffed closet, Molly's cry of "heavenly days," and many other aspects of the show became part of our culture in the 1940s. And many of those comfortably familiar running gags are included in this film - we even get to see Molly do her "Teeny" voice when she sings a song to the children. But this film is also a great document of the attitude of Americans on the home front in WWII. It was a time of great respect for members of the service, a time when most people proudly and eagerly accepted their duty to help win the war, and a time when Americans willingly believed that we were "our brother's keepers" and had to help refugees from other parts of the world, particularly if they were children. The idea that there is nothing average about the average American is the theme of this film. It teeters dangerously on the edge of being too corny, but its made palatable by the quick but gentle wit of Fibber and Molly. They are impossible to dislike. Gosh, but it's a nice little movie. I only wish the Kingsmen sang more songs.
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp the Boys Are Marching (1926)
Synchronized sound cartoon the predates "Steamboat Willie" by two years!
Always the innovators, the Fleisher brothers were making synchronized sound cartoons two years before Disney. The first portion of this cartoon is a primitive (and somewhat naughty) bit of animation. A soldier dog is visiting his girl friend. After playing some bed springs like a harp and dancing for her, he climbs in her window. When the bugle calls him back to camp he jumps out the window, his girl friend leans out to say good-bye and then his pants jump out the window to join him. The sergeant catches him and marches him to jail - apparently he is guilty of desertion. While working on the rock pile he discovers that he can play tunes by banging on different rocks. He then fashions a ball out of one of the rocks and it becomes our bouncing ball for the sing-along portion of the film where we are invited to sing the American Civil War song, "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the boys are marching." The animation in the sing-along portion is typical Fleisher - drawn well and very clever.
Saints and Sinners (1949)
Long setup but pay-off is worth the wait
The first half of Leslie Arliss' comedy/drama shows the sins of various folks in a small Irish village: greed, theft, seduction, and other temptations and pleasures of the flesh. Then, when the locals are convinced that fiery angels are coming to destroy the world at noon on Tuesday their sudden confessions to the Canon, and his reactions to the entire affair are very funny and may also get us to think just a wee bit about our own situation. There's just enough humor and Irish charm to keep it from descending too far into standard melodrama.
But the real saving graces of the film are the superb performances by all, particularly by Michael Dolan as the Canon, and Philip Green's lovely score. It is a treat to find a neglected film like this one that is so well made and so memorable.
Penrod and Sam (1937)
Fun, warmth, whimsy, and high spirits, and the kids beat the bad guys!
Aimed at the pre-teen set, this is the first of three "Penrod" films made at Warners in the late 30s. The series was based on the Booth Tarkington Penrod books that were written in the WWI era. For this series the settings were updated to the late 1930s.
This is a kid's film, set in a world where rules are actually respected, and while parents and kids come into conflict with each other, both sides actually trust and respect each other. Its a world where you know that the good guys will win, and you know who the good guys are too. This might be hard to take seriously today, but there is enough fun, warmth, whimsy and high spirits to make this a good time at the movies.
The kids are in charge in this film, but only to a point. They have their secret "Jr. G Men" club, a club so secret that Penrod is reluctant to tell his father about it. But when pressed to do so he not only tells his father about the club but swears him in as a member. And his dad not only takes the secret oath, he actually wears the official badge everywhere he goes! This example of parental affection is part of the film's charm. And while the adults take the G Men more seriously than would happen in the real world, its the way kid's would want it to be and this is, after all, a kid's film.
Billy Mauch is delightful as Penrod. Or is it sometimes his twin brother, Bobby? Bobby was a stand-in on his brother's films, but later the boys confessed that they played the twin game of switching identities on the set and nobody, including the director, was the wiser. Which ever Mauch twin is on screen, he had a wonderful way with a line and a look that could make even sometimes stilted dialog ring true.
The always excellent Harry Watson is Sam. Unfortunately for Watson, Mauch was the star, so he doesn't get the attention he deserves. Nor did he ever, really. Harry was one of many Watson siblings who worked in films. He was a boy who knew how to play a bit or an entire scene and always make it right. He stood out in most everything he did, but for some reason he was never a big star.
A boy by the name of Jackie Morrow is Rodney Bits, the enemy of the G Men until the bank robbers come into the picture, and then Rodney reforms and becomes one of the good guys. There is scant information available about Morrow and that's too bad. He had good screen presence and turns in an excellent performance in this film.
And little Philip Hurlic is also in top form. He's bright, he's funny, and he's believable when he cries at the death of his mother, something that is often difficult for even adult actors to do convincingly. The wonderful "Our Gang" series often is credited as being the only place in movies of the 20s and 30s where African-American children had a chance to be treated as equals with the white children. But in this film Hurlic's character is treated with the same respect given to the rest of the children. He's younger than the other boys so he hasn't earned full membership in the G Men at the beginning of the film. But he becomes a full member before the film is ended. I noticed only two aspects of questionable taste about how his character is presented. First, the character's name is Verman. Although not spelled the same, its pronounced that same as Vermin. And second, at the end of the film Penrod's dad tells him that he can be a banker, a doctor or a lawyer when he grows up. I was delighted to hear something like this in a film from 1937. But then Verman says he doesn't want to be any of the those things so Penrod's dad asks him what he does want to be. "A Pullman Porter" he says with strong conviction. Oh well. We can't have everything.
"Penrod and Sam" is quick and tightly edited. At 64 minutes its just right and undeserving of the negative write up it gets in "The Warner Bros. Story" book. And I confess to thinking that any film with Spring Byington has to be worth watching.
Pass the Gravy (1928)
Wildly funny and inventive comedy of desperation.
Wildly funny and inventive comedy of desperation from the studio that gave us Our Gang, Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chase, Harold Lloyd and many other classic comedy film series. The hilarious attempts to retrieve the chicken leg from Schultz plate before he discovers the "1st Place" leg band degenerate into chaos and a game of football with the leg. One of the funniest movies you've never seen, this film survives only in one original print that is in less than mint condition. All other copies were made from that print, but its such a terrifically funny movie you forget the scratches and the few moments of less than perfect contrast. This film is what funny is all about!