Bachelor Mother (1939)

Lovely Polly (Ginger Rogers) is laid off after Christmas from a department store, when she is mistaken for the mother of an abandoned baby. After the store owner’s son (David Niven) becomes involved for some reason, she is coerced into accepting a stranger’s baby as her own. Will love bloom?

A rom-com requires conflict, some kind of predicament to motivate the story. This predicament is pretty irritating. Polly is literally blackmailed into accepting the baby despite her protests. This element simply doesn’t play well today.

Luckily things improve from there. The trope of the sassy out-upon young woman and the rich, irresponsible playboy is a successful one, if a bit well-worn. And who better than Rogers and Niven in the roles? Bachelor Mother features snappy dialog and some fairly amusing moments. AMRU 3.

This makes three for three this season for non-Christmas Christmas movies.

The Major and the Minor (1942)

Susan (Ginger Rogers), disillusioned with life in New York City, decides to move back home. Unfortunately, fares have increased and she can no longer afford her ticket. So naturally she dresses as a minor to get a half fare. The train ushers don’t buy it so she hides in the cabin of an Army Major (Ray Milland). He doesn’t doubt her for a second and they strike up a friendship.

Ginger Rogers has a youthful appearance and pulls off the child look to a degree, but it is a big ask of the audience to think that anyone taking a close look would actually believe she is a child. Major Kirby’s fiance sees Sue-Sue without pigtails and get’s the “wrong” idea, only to become convinced once the pigtails return.

Let’s get the big issue out of the way, which is the budding relationship between a 35 year old, engaged Army Major and someone he believes to be under twelve years old. That the viewer knows full well from the beginning that Susan is an adult helps keep the creep factor at bay, aided by the fact that Rogers is simply not believable as a preteen. Also, Billy Wilder’s comedic script keeps the tone light and deftly side-steps problematic notions.

Susan stays with the Major’s fiancee (Rita Johnson, two years younger than Ginger), bunking with her little sister (Diana Hill). Hill’s Lucy not only sees through the ruse but explains in detail why. They live at the cadet training institute that fiance's dad runs and Susan attracts the sometimes toxic attention of the none-the-wiser teenaged cadets.

Longtime screenwriter Wilder was given a chance to direct a Hollywood feature, and the result isn’t bad. It’s not one of his best, but certainly not a misfire. Not as funny or moving as his best work, and I didn’t care for the conclusion, but that’s setting a high bar. AMRU 3.

Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)

It’s 1938 and an American with a past (Ginger Rogers) is engaged to an Austrian Barron, who may or may not be a Nazi (he may). Newsman Patrick (Cary Grant) is dying to get an interview to find out who she is and more about this Barron guy. Gosh, she sure is pretty.

Ostensibly this is just a Cary Grant/Ginger Rogers rom-com with war as a backdrop, but the stakes are raised as they try to avoid the Nazi’s and do … whatever it is they are trying to do. Unfortunately, the screenplay was, as Grant famously said, rubbish. Bad dialog, bad jokes, scenes that either undermine the tone or simply don’t work. It could have been so much closer to mediocre.

Interestingly this is one of the few war films of the time that make a direct reference to Jews. There is a Jewish maid whose life is in danger and our heroes even visit a concentration camp. They deserve credit for that even if the tonal balance was way off. It wanted to be a serious war film but with a love interest and star power, but it failed in the execution.

Our Jewish maid is played by Natasha Lytess who was Marilyn Monroe’s acting coach. They were close friends and outlived her by less than a year. Cancer is a bitch. A young Nazi is played by a slim John Banner, Sargent Shultz himself. I rewatched the scene to see if I could spot any Shultz in his face. I could not. What a difference twenty years makes. And sixty pounds.

Director Leo McCarey has a better than fair reputation, but I can’t help but lay the blame at his feet. The writer provides the script and the studio provides the resources, but the director has to make it all work. And it didn’t. He could have evened the tone and made sure the scenes had weight. I think he just went with what he was handed. AMRU 2.5.

Star of Midnight (1935)

A lawyer (William Powell) helps a buddy find a lost love, gets a pretty woman (pretty Ginger Rogers) out of trouble with a gangster, deals with a disappearing stage star (of the Midnight variety), and solves a murder that happens in his living room. Personal complications complicate things. Don’t worry. It’s not as simple as I’m making it out to be.

If a witty and urbane Powell solving mysteries with a beautiful sidekick sounds familiar, it’s because RKO wanted to clone The Thin Man using the same star. Nobody will mistake this for the genuine article but it works and did make money. Despite this no sequels were made.

Reliable Gene Lockhart played in a ton of films. Here he played Powell’s put out butler. Our paths have crossed four other times and I’m sure they will again. J. Farrell MacDonald was amusing as the police inspector. Our paths crossed only seven or eight times which is surprising because the dude appeared in almost three hundred feature films. Many of them the classic Hollywood bulk B films, and frequently uncredited, but better stuff as well.

Ginger Rogers is delightful as the Myrna Loy stand in and they had genuine chemistry together. She is twenty years Powell’s junior and has been badgering him to marry her since she was eleven. The less we speak of that the better.

Star of Midnight succeeds as a fun, clever mystery, but it’s central problem is that the story is unfocused. There are too many characters, some of which are never seen, and I sometimes found myself confused who Bill was talking about. A second viewing would definitely clear things up but I’m not certain it deserves the time. AMRU 3.

“Now, listen Tim, you're free, white, and twenty-one. You can do as you choose.”

Monkey Business (1952)

Absent minded professor Barnaby (Cary Grant) is working on an elixir of youth. He thinks he solves the problem but in reality a chimp (or “monkey”) had escaped its cage, mixed up the concoction, and put it into the water cooler. Hilarity ensues.

I have to give him credit. The 48 year old Grant was more believable as the college aged wildling than as the stodgy old scientist. But screen wife Edwina (Ginger Rogers) was downright convincing (and charming) in both roles. Hugh Marlowe of All About Eve and Day the Earth Stood Still fame gets another paycheck. Marilyn Monroe played the Marilyn Monroe character.

Don’t confuse this with 1931 Marx Brothers vehicle. I liked this one slightly better probably because it's a more conventional screwball comedy but fans of the Bros will disagree. It was pointlessly zany and holds your interest, but don’t look for any classic bits. It is what it is and that’s fine. AMRU 3.5.

42nd Street (1933)

Tried and overworked stage director Julian (Warner Baxter) decides, against his doctor’s recommendation, to produce one final show. It is financed by a creepy old rich Guy (Kibbee) on condition that the lead is given to the girl (Bebe Daniels), who has also agreed to touch his wiener for the honor. This is pre-code, mind you. Comedic mayhem ensues.

When sound movies became a thing, studios crammed as many musicals into theaters as possible, regardless of quality. By 1933, the genre was declared dead. Never-the-less, financially struggling Warner Brothers decided to produce 42nd Street, and it turned out to be a critical and financial success. Lucky thing for the Bro’s.

42nd Street resolves around the drama of getting the show on and the complication of our lead, her sugar daddy, and her actual boyfriend. It also featured ingenue Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell in their first pairing. They would go on to star together in a string of light-hearted musical romantic comedies, like Gold Diggers of 1933. Dick would have a fairly long (57 feature films) Hollywood career and fairly short life (58 years). Ruby the opposite (14ish films, 83 years). 

Charming, amusing, and risque for its day, 42nd street is well worth watching. Ginger Rogers is charmingly amusing in a fairly small role. This is just prior to her pairing with Fred Astaire. AMRU 3.5.

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

Showgirls are in a musical that is shut down before it even opens. Behind in the rent, they have to steal their neighbor's milk for breakfast. The depression is hard. When they learn that an old employer is putting on a new show, they fall over themselves trying to get the role. And they are hired! With one problem: no money. Details.

When the songwriter boyfriend of one of the girls provides the funds, they are all suspicious how he came up with the bread (spoiler alert: he's a secret millionaire!)

Anyhow, the executor of dreamy's fortune disapproves of this budding romance, they try to nip it in the ... well, bud. The ladies don't take too kindly to the implication, so the game is afoot!

Somewhat witty musical romantic comedy with a little bite, replete with ridiculous Busby Berkeley signature numbers. Ginger Rogers had a fairly small role, but does get to sing "We're In the Money" including a verse sung in pig latin. The almost eerie closeup gives evidence that depression toothpaste was not as effective as the modern counterpart.

Much of the movie revolves around Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, and Aline MacMahon's characters as they try to pull a fast one on the men. Having initially seen Blondell only in later films (Desk Set and The Cincinnati Kid), it's surprising to see her as a young hottie. Nine year old Billy Barty was absolutely creepy dressed as a baby. Gold Diggers is an excellent example of pre-code Hollywood. It wasn't afraid to discuss real issues with women wearing over sized lingerie. And one of the musical numbers gives us a little more.

Not a fan of musicals, I haven't made a secret of that. And the over-the-top production numbers aren't exactly my cup of tea either. However, the fast pace, interesting story, and other elements, made it definitely worth watching. AMRU 3.5.

So, what exactly did they mean by "Pettin' in the Park" anyhow?