It's the end of the road for Hildegarde Withers

Forty Naughty Girls (1937)
Starring: James Gleason, ZaSu Pitts, Frank M. Thomas, Joan Woodbury, Alan Edwards, Tom Kennedy, Marjorie Lord,  and Stephen Chase
Director: Edward F. Cline
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Oscar and Hildegarde (Gleason and Pitts) are enjoying a night at the theatre when not one but two murders happen during the show... the second one taking place on stage, in full view of the entire audience and cast and crew backstage.

This was the last of the Hildegarde Withers films, and it is also the weakest. While it's not terrible, it is far down the quality scale from where the series began with "The Penguin Pool Murders." Where there is plenty to like here, the good does not quite outweigh the bad.

First, the good: Someone working on the film during pre-production finally remembered that Oscar and Hildegarde are involved in a relationship, and they used it as a central motivator to get the story started. Also, the film has a strong supporting cast, with Tom Kennedy (basically playing the same dumb cop he portrays in the "Torchy Blane" series), Joan Woodbury (at the height of her B-movie stardom, playing an actress who was in a love triangle between the first murder victim and the show'd producer, a friend of Oscar's), and Marjorie Lord (at the very beginning of her career in a small but crucial part) shining particularly brightly. In fact, Kennedy is so amusing in this picture that I found myself wishing that he was star rather than James Gleason.

And that takes us to the bad. While the writers may  have remembered that Oscar and Hildegarde are a couple, but they forgot they were intelligent people, and that they worked as a team (mostly) when solving crimes. That has been completely lost in the script for "Forty Naughty Girls". What has also been lost is any unique flavor that was present in previous installments of this series. While the Hildegarde Withers films were always B-movies, this is the first one that felt like it was just another cheap mystery/comedy, with a dumb cop bumbling his way through his "investigation" while a clever trickster actually solves the crime. (Except in this case, the trickster--Hildegarde--is just as big a bumbler as Ocsar is portrayed as.) Oscar spends the movie making wild accusations with almost no evidence--and is proven wrong either by himself or other characters, while Hildegarde pratfalls her way to uncovering clues. While amusing--especially since the comedy does play to ZaSu Pitts' strengths as a performer--it doesn't serve the characters nor the Hildegarde Withers series well. It doesn't even serve the film itself well but just drags it down.

"Forty Naughty Girls" could have been a very clever mystery where the main characters have to solve a double murder in real time, as the musical the film is named after unfolds on stage. It also had all the pieces to return the characters of Oscar Piper and Hildegarde Withers to the height of dorky coolness they were at when the series started. Heck, given the strong supporting cast, this film had all the elements to make it the best in the series. Instead, all those quality ingredients were slapped together lazily and sloppily and the end result was just another generic 1930s comedy-mystery... and instead of going out on a high note, the "Hildegarde Withers Mysteries" series ended almost as bad as it got. (It's better than "Murder on the Bridle Path", but only because it's funnier.)

Paradoxically, the parts of this movie that haven't aged well are among its best parts

The Smiling Ghost (1941)
Starring: Wayne Morris, Willie Best, Brenda Marshall, Alexis Smith, and Alan Hale
Director: Lewis Seller
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Lucky Downing (Morris), a down-on-his-luck business-owner receives financial salvation when he is offered $1,000 to become and stay engaged to heiress Elinor Fairchilde (Smith) for one month.. When he arrives for his strange assignment, he finds himself the target of a supposed ghost that has eliminated Elinor's previous two fiances, as well as one point in a love triangle between the chilly-demeanored heiress and the sassy newspaper reporter Lili Barstow (Marshall).

"The Smiling Ghost" is an example of the "dark old house" genre where an assembly of strange characters surrounding an innocent young woman are stalked and killed by a mysterious killer. This being, first and foremost, a comedy, it picks apart and mocks the conventions of the genre, but it does so with a mischievous smile rather than a malicious one.

The story is bit uneven, with some sections being so predictable they're not interesting (let alone funny), and others being clever enough to have been included in a straight-laced thriller. The one thing that's consistent throughout, however, is the witty and finely tuned dialogue throughout the film. The jokes are funny, and each character has their own unique way of talking. Unfortunately, some of the actors and actresses delivering the lines are in some cases not up to the task.

The film's hero, for example, is a dead spot throughout. Wayne Morris is good looking and has a charming air about him, but he is absolutely, totally bland. He's present and delivers his lines, and he's obviously trying, but he just doesn't have the presence to carry the lead in the film. The same is true of Alexis Smith, who probably never should have  been cast in the role of a character who is either the victim of a haunting or some sort of lunatic who's bumping off her would-be husbands. I think she was trying ti give her character a wounded, aristocratic air, but she mostly comes off as detached and bored with being in the film. Morris and Smith drag the film down, I think, because they were cast in parts beyond their ability to manage.

On the other hand, Morris is outshined in every scene by his sidekick, Willie Best. Best is energetic, funny, in in perfect pitch with the mostly zany tone of the picture. What's more, the film makes it clear that Best isn't Morris's servant or employee, but instead a loyal friend and partner. Best masquerades as a servant, because, by the standards of the time it would be unseemly for a white "man of business" to be best friends with a black man--something which itself becomes a source of humor in the film--and the warm relationship between the two makes Morris's character more interesting. Unfortunately, as the film progresses, Best's character slips further and further into the "superstitious panicky darkie" that was a mainstay of films back then. Even while portraying this obnoxious stereotype, Best is lots of fun to watch, and, given the way the character was established, I can't help but wonder if the shift wasn't born from what audiences expected from their comedies back then. (As I observed in my review of "Lucky Ghost", even films made expressly for black audiences contained these stereotypes which cause so much indignation in modern viewers.)

"The Smiling Ghost" is one of eight obscure B-movies found in the eclectic "Warner Bros. Horror/Mystery Double Features" collection. Some of the films in the set are better than this, others are worse. I'll get around to covering all over them in this space, eventually.

Christmas is coming...

... and Grace Bradley is practicing the age-old tradition of decorating the Christmas tree in your underwear.

Princesses of Mars, Part 27

With Mars back in the news, it seems like a good time for another visit to the Red Planet and an audience with the beautiful and deadly princesses that dwell there.

By David Finch

By Walter Geovani

By Jae Lee

By Joe Jusko

By Bryan Baugh

Lions and Bulls and Woman Drivers, oh my!

The Old Bull (1932)
Starring: Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts, and Otto Fries
Director: George Marshall
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Thelma (Todd) is helping her friend ZaSu (Pitts) learn how to drive on a country back road. After ZaSu crashes into a barn, the ladies are stranded in farm country when the angry farmer (Fries) refuses to let them have their car back until they pay for the damage. When the news reports that a lion has escaped from a nearby circus, Thelma cooks up a plan to retrieve the car.

From 1931 through 1933, Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts co-starred in 17 short films from the same production company that brought us the team of Laurel & Hardy. In fact, Todd & Pitts are very much like a female version of Laurel & Hardy, with Todd being the "brains" and Pitts being the " simple, clumsy one"... although there is none of the abuse and venom between the two ladies that so often creeps into the interactions between the two gentlemen.

"The Old Bull" was the ninth film in the series, and it goes straight into the comedy with the barest of introductions of the two main characters, because I assume the filmmakers felt that viewers were familiar with Todd and Pitts's respective characters at this point. Even for viewers who weren't, once Pitts' foot gets twisted and stuck on the gas pedal, sending the car accelerating out of control, it's crystal clear who's who in the comedic line-up.

And for the whole 19-minute run-time of the film, Todd excels as a "straight man" to Pitts' goofiness and pratfalls (although Todd also gets the opportunity to do some gags of her own). The bits revolving around animals--primarily the duck that torments ZaSu on and off, and the lion that you know would eventually show up to make Thelma's stage hoax a reality--are top-notch, and they will have you laughing out loud more than once. Pitts and Todd both have perfect comedic timing, and they play well off each other.

Unfortunately, they are let down by the director and the script. The car crash sequence--where the ladies are zooming around a barnyard in the out-of-control car thanks to ZaSu's stuck foot--goes on too long. Individual moments in the sequence are hilarious, but the spans between them are each many seconds too long, making something that only lasts about a minute and half feel much longer. The sequence would have been stronger if we'd been spared some of the rear projection scenes of the ladies flailing in the car (although maybe 1932 audiences had a different reaction than a viewer in 2018 who is used to car chases and crashes enhanced with digital effects). As for the script, the film just sort of stops. While I can see the ending is a resolution of sorts, it still felt lacking, and I was left wanting more.

"The Old Bull" is one of the 17 film contained in the two DVD set Thelma Todd & ZaSu Pitts: The Hal Roach Collection 1931-1932. I will eventually review each film in the set here at Shades of Gray. (I started in the middle, because I accidentally put Disc Two in the DVD player and was too lazy to get up and change it.)

Musical Monday with the Dropkick Murphys

Here's hoping you remember how you spent the holiday weekend... and that goes double if you find yourself with a new tattoo!

The song to kick off the last week of November is from the American Celtic/Punk band Dropkick Murphys.

Happy Thanksgiving, Americans!

As we do every year on this Thanksgiving Thursday here at Shades of Gray, we're celebrating with breasts and legs... and Indians and Pilgrims and Turkey Dinners!

And what are we thankful for? We're thankful for everyone who's visited this blog over the past ten years... and we're extra thankful for those of you who keep coming back!

That time Junji Ito traded horror for cats!

Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon & Mu (Kodansha Comics, 2015)
Story and Art: Junji Ito
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

When Junji's fiancee and her two cats move into his house, he slowly learns to love the two strange creatures that she loves... and then tries to get them to love him back.

Japan's Junji Ito is quite possibly the best creator of horror comics to ever put pen to paper, and I've lavished praise on his work in other posts, such as this one. "Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon and Mu" is a bit of a departure from what he's known for as it's a series of autobiographical humorous stories about him adjusting to life with cats.

The end result is mixed. The stories are all cute, very true-to-life--both long-time cat owners and newbies will nod and smile about some of the situations that Junji finds himself in--and both his moments of disappointment and joy will strike chords with any reader who has spent time around house cats. Unfortunately, his perchant for the grotesque that serves him so well in his horror comics is mostly distracting here. It's too strange and too ugly for the light-hearted and harmless material in the book; the more absurd moments where Ito is poking fun at himself tend to be the most excessively surreal and twisted drawings. (Interestingly, he shies away from such excesses in the one truly surreal tale included, which makes it more effective.)

If you like Junji Ito's horror work, I think you'll enjoy "Yon & Mu". This goes double for cat lovers, or those who became cat lovers because they were "forced" on you. (Also, be aware that the book is printed "backwards", in the sense that it reads from right to left.)

A hit that cemented several Hollywood careers

Buck Privates (1941)
Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Nat Pendleton, Jane Frazee, Lee Bowman, Alan Curtis, and the Andrew Sisters
Director: Arthur Lubin
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

A pair of conmen (Abbott and Costello) accidentially join the Army while trying to avoid the police. As if that wasn't bad enough, the cop they were trying to avoid (Pendleton) turns out to be their drill sergeant.

"Buck Privates" is one of those movies that became far more important than anyone could ever have imagined when they were making it. It was a low-budget production that was just another musical comedy that, at best, would continue to grow the comedy team of Abbott & Costello as box office draws. Instead, it became the most profitable film that Universal Pictures had made up to that point, further solidified the Andrews Sisters as pop-music shaping superstars, and launched Abbott & Costello onto their path to comedic cinematic legends.

The film itself follows a fairly standard storyline of tracking army recruits as their training helps them overcome their character flaws and learn to work with people they might dispise outside of military life. The presence of members of a WAC-precusor unit at the training camp allows for a romantic subplot, with a trio of attractive and talented actors (Jane Frazee, Lee Bowman, and Alan Curtis) carrying that storyline in between musical numbers featuring the Andrew Sisters (and even one by Lou Costello).

While some of the humor and social attitudes in the film are a bit archaic, and Abbott & Costello went onto be even funnier in future movies, "Buck Privates" is a touchstone of American culture that's still hugely entertaining to watch. While the copious stock footage used to create the illusion that the actors aren't on a movie ranch or Universal Studios sound stage gets a bit tiresome durng the film's third act, everything about this film is well-executed... and it's easy to see why so many careers sky-rocketed afterwards and why some of the songs are even well-known to this day.

The Beauty and the Bomb: Sally McCloskey

During the 1950s, the people of Las Vegas, Nevada, decided to unite the two things the area was famous for: Atom bomb tests and showgirls. Casinos would host parties where people could watch the mushroom clouds rise, at which they'd also crown beauty queens that were usually picked from among their staff, and North Las Vegas even held a beauty competition where they crowned a Miss A-Bomb.

One of the more curious "Beauty and the Bomb" events involve the day photographer Donald English shot pictures of ballet dancer Sally McCloskey performing an interpretative dance with a mushroom cloud in sky above the test grounds.

For some context and information about the photo shoot, click here. Also, here's a copy of a feature some of the pictures were used in (click to enlarge and read the text):