Susan Slept Here (1954)

Hollywood screenwriter Mark (Dick Powell) wants to work on a serious script involving juvenile delinquents, so his cop buddy places him in custody of a teenage girl (Debby Reynolds) for inspiration, as cops do. This arrangement would keep her out of jail for the Christmas holiday. Jealous fiancé hijinks ensue.

This is the second film in a row where Powell plays a Hollywood screenwriter, after his penultimate film (The Bad and the Beautiful). Glenda Farrell (I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang) is Mark’s secretary and Alvy Moore (Green Acres) is his personal assistant. Adorable Anne Francis (Forbidden Planet) is his fiancé. Though we never learn her character’s age, Francis was only two years older than Reynolds. We aren’t to like her so she plays the Ice Queen.

Ignoring the absolute absurdity of the premise, this is a witty and charming story. What cannot be ignored is the creep factor. 35 year old Mark, played by 49 year old Powell, is paired with seventeen year old Susan (22 year old Reynolds). And, no, she doesn’t turn 18 by the end of the film.

Mark, despite his difficulties, is living the white male fantasy that only the 1950’s could give voice to. Cool job, cool apartment, surrounded by helper-friends and beautiful, amorous women, and has a fully stocked bar. Moore's Virgil is his foil. Purposeless job, little respect, and the ladies won't give him a second look. He and Farrell's Maude also serve the purpose of validating Mark's interest in an underage girl. That's very important, isn't that right Woody?

It feels icky to like Susan Slept Here as much as I do. There's not a ton of chemistry between the leads, but it was a very entertaining watch. AMRU 3.

3 Godfathers (1948)

After robbing a small town bank, three bandits (John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, and Harry Carey Jr.) go on the run in the desert with very little water. They happen upon a dying young(ish) woman about to deliver her first baby and the three promise to take care of him.

Westerns can be a little two dimensional, and 3 Godfathers is a perfect example. It doesn’t help that it’s also a Christmas movie. Our three outlaws represent the three wise men from the east. This isn’t interpretation, it is literally in the text. We watch three criminal but essentially good people learn to put the welfare of a baby over themselves. You know, the true meaning of Christmas.

The film is dedicated to director John Ford’s friend Harry Carey who died prior to this film’s production. He appeared in an earlier version of the story and son Carey Jr gets an Introducing credit, even though it’s his fifth film role. A youtube video brought my attention to prolific character actor Ward Bond. He has appeared in 261 feature films including thirteen Best Picture nominees and four winners. Silent film star Mae Marsh makes an appearance. She has a ton of screen credits.

3 Godfathers is a fine movie, I suppose, and definitely holds your interest, but the lack of depth and wooden performances (looking at you, Duke!) make for a sometimes annoying watch. AMRU 2.5.

"Quit talkin' Mex in front of the infant!"

Going My Way (1944)

A young and carefree priest (Bing Crosby) is assigned to be assistant at the troubled St. Dominic’s Church, but his methods run afoul of father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald). I wonder if music will somehow solve the church’s problems.

Recorded a year ago under the impression that it was a Christmas movie (it is not), I watched it early because my cable provider is deleting stuff off my DVR. I will rant on this during my year end wrap up. A friend of Bing’s Father Chuck is Genevieve, star of the New York Metropolitan Opera. She is played by Risë Stevens, star of the New York Metropolitan Opera. Would-be church for-closer is played by Gene Lockhart.

There is an interesting situation where the neighbors, police, clergy, and landlord all become suspicious of a young woman’s life arrangements. At eighteen she essentially ran away from home to become independent, but her moral turpitude comes into question. Won’t some decent man make an honest woman out of here? By which I mean a housewife. This is just one of those prevalent social conventions that disappeared by century’s end.

Going My Way does not appear to have too much going for it, but you become dragged into their world. Father Chuck’s earnestness, Father Fitzgibbon’s quirkiness, and the people who surround them are all very engaging. It’s little surprise that the film won … seven Oscars?!?! Ok, that is a little surprising. In addition to Best Picture, it earned statues for both Bing and Barry, director, original story, screenplay, and song. Fitzgerald was nominated for both lead and supporting actor.

Accolades aside, it's an excellent film and a very pleasant watch. You are caught up in the story and are left satisfied. AMRU 3.5. But it’s no Double Indemnity and certainly no Laura.

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

A washed up producer (Kirk Douglas) tries to get his former friends to make another picture to revive his career. The three, a director (Barry Sullivan), star (Lana Turner), and screenwriter (Dick Powell), recount their story of how they fell out with him.

Nominated for six academy awards and winning five, Hollywood is a sucker for stories about Hollywood, and apparently so am I. The three stories do not overlap much and illustrate the extent Douglas’ Jonathan is willing to go to further his interests. The now successful three must ask themselves if they can put their feelings aside to now help their former mentor. 

Gloria Grahame won an Oscar nine and a half minutes of a fair southern accent. It would be the shortest screen time for an acting Oscar at the time ... I'm happy to say. Leo G. Carroll has a brief role as a difficult director and Barbara Billingsley makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her appearance five years before becoming June Cleaver.

Many of the characters are thinly-veiled versions of real contemporary people. I will out David O. Selznick as a primary inspiration for our main character, but you can read the details for yourself. Selznick even contacted a lawyer to see if there were grounds to sue.

The Bad and the Beautiful is expert storytelling. The performances are excellent (Douglas uses his “angry Kirk” voice only once), the script is tight, and the story compelling. The film came highly recommended and I came to it very late. I should have believed it. AMRU 4.5.

The Big Combo (1955)

A police lieutenant Diamond (Cornel Wilde) is obsessed with taking down a cruel crime boss (Richard Conte), maybe because he is more than a little infatuated with his pretty girlfriend (Jean Wallace aka Mrs. Cornel Wilde).

The role of Conte’s Brown was originally given to Jack Palance, but he clashed with producers and stormed off the set. Conte gave a very Palance-like performance. Perennial heavy Lee Van Cleef, along with Earl Holliman, are Brown’s henchmen, and apparently more than just friends. The characters, not the actors.

Many familiar faces round out the cast. Helene Stanton is memorable as Detective Diamond’s sometimes girlfriend, and Brian Donlevy (The Great McGinty) is great as the henchman on his way down. Helen Walker was a rising star when she had a terrible automobile accident while carrying three hitchhiking war veterans. Everyone sustained serious injuries and one soldier died. Acquitted of charges, she nevertheless carried the stigma and better roles dried up. Her small appearance here marked her last feature film credit, and would only make sporadic television appearances over the next few years. Cancer would take her at age 47.

The Big Combo is an effective, if improbable crime drama. Diamond is relentless and consequently a little dull, but not to worry. Conte’s Brown and others more than makes up for it. Interesting story, good performances, and real consequences. AMRU 3.5.

I just learned that the last living cast member, Earl Holliman, passed away a couple days ago. He was 96.

Decoy (1946)

Pretty Margot (Jean Gillie) is shot in her apartment and retells the whole story to Sergent Portugal (Sheldon Leonard). It involves a boyfriend (Robert Armstrong) on death row, buried loot, and a whole lot of double crossing.

British actress Gillie met and married American GI and film producer Jack Bernhard during the war. He brought her to Hollywood to make her a star. This began by him directing this film, and ended with The Macomber Affair, released the following year. Their marriage broke apart, apparently when filming wrapped, and she returned to England, disillusioned with Hollywood. Two years later she died of pneumonia. She was 33.

Long time readers should remember Armstrong as Carl Denham from two Kong films. He also appeared in Mighty Joe Young, but the majority of his credits appear to be westerns and war flicks. In addition to being a journeyman actor, Sheldon Leonard was an enormously successful and popular TV producer, instrumental in creating shows like The Danny Thomas Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, I Spy, and Gomer Pyle: USMC, among others. The two principal characters on The Big Bang Theory were named in honor of him.

Gillie’s Margot is a remorseless and cold-hearted femme fatale, manipulating everyone in her path in a single-minded quest for the money. She’s in charge and everyone is her pawn. Under different circumstances, Gillie would have become a big star. She was a sight to behold.

Decoy was Gillie’s film and she ran with it. Parts of the story are silly (it involves using an antidote to cyanide poisoning administered postmortem) and some of the performances were a little over the top, but who cares. The twists and turns alone will keep you entertained. AMRU 3.5.

“People who use pretty faces like you use yours don’t live very long anyway”

Where Danger Lives (1950)

Handsome doctor Jeff (Robert Mitchum) treats Margo (Faith Domergue), a mysterious woman who tried to take her own life. Naturally, he jilts his pretty girlfriend (Maureen O’Sullivan) and starts seeing her. Her overbearing father won’t let her run off together so Dr. Jeff pays him a visit, and, well, let’s leave it there.

So, hunky Jeff and pretty Margo are on the run because the meeting with “o’ll dad” (Claude Rains) didn’t go exactly as planned, and things go from bad to worse.

Mitchum has a surprisingly physical performance and a bit of a departure from the tough guy roles he is better known for. Sleepy Domergue is a peculiar leading lady. Discovered by Howard Hughes who was determined to make her a star, possibly because she resembled Jane Russell. O’Sullivan’s brief role as good girl Jane … I mean Julie came courtesy of her marriage to director John Farrow. I still tend to confuse her with Maureen O’Hara.

Where Danger Lives has many interesting twists and turns that keep things interesting. If I have any criticism, it would be the lack of chemistry between the lovebirds. I don’t see Jeff dumping even a de-glamed and aging O’Sullivan for Margo. Still, the film goes off in many unexpected directions and is well worth your time. AMRU 4.