Blondie's Lucky Day 1946  N/R, 75 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Abby Berlin
Cast: Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, Marjorie Kent, Frank Jenks, Paul Harvey, Charles Arnt, Jack Rice, Frank Orth
Dagwood loses his job, but Blondie keeps up the family's spirits.
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Blondie's Secret 1948  N/R, 68 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Edward Bernds
Cast: Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, Marjorie Kent, Jerome Cowan, Thurston Hall, Jack Rice, Danny Mummert, Frank Orth, Eddie Acuff
Mr. Dithers makes sure the Bumsteads do not go on vacation when he contracts for Dagwood's luggage to be stolen.
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Coney Island 1943  N/R, 96 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Walter Lang
Cast: Betty Grable, George Montgomery, Cesar Romero, Charles Winninger, Phil Silvers, Frank Orth, Andrew Tombes, Paul Hurst, Phyllis Kennedy, Byron Foulger
Set during the late 1800s, this is an entertaining musical about a nightclub singer (Betty Grable) who is promoted by a hustler (George Montgomery) into a Broadway star.
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Doll Face 1945 N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Musical / Comedy / Romance
aka: Come Back to Me
Director: Lewis Seiler
Cast: Vivian Blaine, Dennis O'Keefe, Perry Como, Carmen Miranda, Martha Stewart, Stephen Dunne, Reed Hadley, Stanley Prager, Charles Tannen, George E. Stone, Frank Orth, Donald MacBride
Burlesque queen Doll Face Carroll (Vivian Blaine) and her manager, Mike Hannegan (Dennis O'Keefe), have their share of problems in the romance department when Mike tries to refine Doll Face's image to make her more acceptable on the Broadway scene.
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Double Dynamite 1951 N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Irving Cummings
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, Don McGuire, Howard Freeman, Harry Hayden, Nestor Paiva, Lou Nova, Joe Devlin, Frank Orth, William Edmunds, Russell Thorson, Charles Coleman, Ida Moore, Hal K. Dawson
Bank tellers Johnny Dalton (Frank Sinatra) and "Mibs" Goodhug (Jane Russell) want to get married but just don't have enough money. Their friend Emil J. Keck (Groucho Marx) jokingly suggests that they rob the bank to get the needed funds, but Johnny remains on the side of honesty. Then, Johnny wins $60,000 at the race track, but before he and Mibs can spend the money on their marriage, word leaks out that Johnny is the chief suspect in a $70,000 embezzlement at their bank. By story's end, it is learned that Mib's adding machine has a mechanical problem, no money is missing from the bank, and, maybe just maybe, Johnny and Mibs can live happily ever after.
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Father of the Bride 1950  N/R, 94 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Bennett, Don Taylor, Billie Burke, Leo G. Carroll, Moroni Olsen, Melville Cooper, Paul Harvey, Russ Tamblyn, Taylor Holmes, Frank Orth, Tom Irish, Marietta Canty, Fay Baker
This excellent film depicts a father Stanley T. Banks' (Spencer Tracy) emotions surrounding the approaching wedding of his only daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor). Mother Ellie (Joan Bennett) and daughter prepare wedding plans, but Father becomes concerned with financing the wedding. Underlying all this is Father's problem of coming to grips with losing his place of importance in his daughter's life. Academy Award nominations were received for Best Picture, Actor (Tracy), and Writing.
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The Great Rupert 1950  N/R, 86 min.
Genre: Comedy
aka: A Christmas Wish
Director: Irving Pichel
Cast: Jimmy Durante, Terry Moore, Tom Drake, Frank Orth, Queenie Smith, Chick Chandler, Don Beddoe, Sara Haden, Jimmy Conlin, Hugh Sanders
A pet squirrel uncovers lost money, which–at first–appears to solve all the problems for a troupe of struggling acrobats.
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Hello Frisco, Hello 1943 N/R, 98 min.
Genre: Musical / Comedy
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone
Cast: Alice Faye, John Payne, Jack Oakie, Lynn Bari, June Havoc, Ward Bond, Laird Cregar, Aubrey Mather, John Archer, Frank Orth, George Lloyd, Eddie Dunn, Frank Darien, Harry Hayden, Charles Cane
This film is about the romance of a honky-tonk saloon singer Trudy Evans (Alice Faye) on the Barbary Coast and her ambitious lover Johnny Cornell (John Payne). As Trudy rises to stardom, Johnny leaves Trudy for Nob Hill socialite Bernice Croft (Lynn Bari). Trudy then heads for Europe where she gains more success and then returns to the Bay area hoping to reunite with Johnny. The film's song "You'll Never Know" won the Oscar for Best Song.
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Here Come the Girls 1953 N/R, 77 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Claude Binyon
Cast: Bob Hope, Tony Martin, Arlene Dahl, Rosemary Clooney, William Demarest, Fred Clark, Robert Strauss, Millard Mitchell, Frank Orth, Johnny Downs
Stanley Snodgrass (Bob Hope) becomes the star of a Broadway musical–although he is unaware that he is being set up as bait to trap a murderer.
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 His Girl Friday 1940   N/R, 92 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Helen Mack, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Clarence Kolb, Roscoe Karns, Regis Toomey, Ernest Truex, Frank Jenks, Abner Biberman, Frank Orth, John Qualen
Newspaper editor Walter Burns (Cary Grant) pulls out all stops to prevent the marriage of his star reporter–and ex-wife–Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) to insurance agent Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). Walter convinces Hildy to cover one last story about the execution of anarchist Earl Williams (John Qualen). When Williams escapes, with help from Walter and Hildy he hides in the prison press room. Hildy is set to write her big story, while Walter uses their time together to woo her back. A Grant classic, along with great cast and script. 1 User Review
| User Review |
| | Verbal Comedy Doesn't Get Better Than This | 1fatts 07/23/2007 | Menjou and O'Brian did it in '31. Mathau and Lemmon in '74. Robert Ryan and George Grizzard did it on TV in 1970. And somebody even did it once somewhere as a musical. But this is the one. This one: 1940 with Cary Grant and Roz Russell.
A fast-paced play by McArthur and Hecht called "The Front Page" got kicked up several notches when someone decided to turn Hildy Johnson, the bitter, frustrated reporter looking for an escape from the newspaper game into a normal life, into a woman, ex-wife of fast-talking, vicious-but-lovable editor Walter Burns. Cary Grant as burns was never faster or funnier, but his pairing with Roz Russell as Hildy is nothing short of magic. The dialogue zings along, and every second line is a zinger.
But there is more to this than the very real verbal jousting. There is a glimpse into the world of newspapers which is illuminating and more than a little frightening. Anything for the story; it is never about fact, but about the lead, the scoop. Russell's scene with John Qualen's Earl Williams is sharp and tough and cold. The scenes with the veterans in the jailhouse newsroom captures an earlier time and speech pattern, but, one suspects, it has more to say about what media news is really about than All the President's Men could every have hoped to show.
There is an edge to the script that raises it about great comedy into something more important than that.
One of the best things Howard Hawks ever did. Not to be missed. |
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Houdini 1953 N/R, 105 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: George Marshall
Cast: Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Torin Thatcher, Angela Clarke, Ian Wolfe, Sig Ruman, Connie Gilchrist, Stefan Schnabel, Michael Pate, Frank Orth
This fictionalized biography about the great escape artist Houdini (Tony Curtis) is entertaining as it recreates many of Houdini's famous illusions and escapes.
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I Wake Up Screaming 1942 N/R, 82 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
aka: Hot Spot
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone
Cast: Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar, William Gargan, Alan Mowbray, Allyn Joslyn, Elisha Cook Jr., Chick Chandler, Morris Ankrum, Cyril Ring, Charles(2) Lane, Frank Orth, Gregory Gaye
During intense questioning in the murder investigation of model Vicky Lynn (Carole Landis), promoter Frankie Christopher (Victor Mature) recalls through flashbacks events prior to her murder. At the same time, police are questioning Vicky's sister Jill (Betty Grable) and, through flashbacks, tie in what Frankie has described. Evidence mounts pointing to Frankie as the murderer–until Frankie reveals one last clue that leads to the real killer who has been there throughout the investigation.
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The Lost Weekend 1945 N/R, 101 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva, Doris Dowling, Frank Faylen, Mary Young, Anita Sharp-Bolster, Frank Orth, Byron Foulger, Lillian Fontaine, Lewis L. Russell, James Millican, Emmett Vogan, David Clyde
Ray Milland won the Oscar for his portrayal of Don Birnam, writer and alcoholic. Birnam's problem reaches a crisis during one long weekend of drinking, after which he suffers the D.T.s as his girlfriend Helen St. James (Jane Wyman) begs him to stop drinking. Ray Milland: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation. I can't take quiet desperation." This film also won the Best Picture Academy Award, as did Billy Wilder for his directing and writing.
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The Magnificent Dope 1942 N/R, 83 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Walter Lang
Cast: Henry Fonda, Lynn Bari, Don Ameche, Edward Everett Horton, George Barbier, Frank Orth, Roseanne Murray, Arthur Loft, Hobart Cavanaugh, Pierre Watkin
Country versus city is the theme for this film in which two men (Henry Fonda and Don Ameche) vie for a school secretary's (Lynn Bari) attention.
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Nancy Drew - Detective 1938 N/R, 66 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: William Clemens
Cast: Bonita Granville, John Litel, Frankie Thomas, James Stephenson, Frank Orth, Helena Phillips Evans, Edward Keane, Charles Trowbridge, Mae Busch, Dick Purcell
This is the first of a short series of Nancy Drew stories based on Carolyn Keene's teen sleuth books that were popular in the 1930s. This entry is taken from "The Password to Larkspur Lane" with Nancy (Bonita Granville) and her boyfriend Ted (Frankie Thomas) investigating the disappearance of a wealthy woman. The trail leads to a nursing home. Enjoyable fare, especially for the young set.
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Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase 1939 N/R, 60 min.
Genre: Mystery / Comedy
Director: William Clemens
Cast: Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas, John Litel, Frank Orth, Renie Riano, Vera Lewis, Louise Carter, William Gould, John Ridgely, Creighton Hale
Teen sleuth Nancy Drew (Bonita Granville) and boyfriend Ted (Frankie Thomas) are back to help two old sisters who have inherited a house. The problem is that at least one of the sisters must stay in the house all night for 20 years or the property will revert to the city. Others have plans for the property, and one murder has already been committed.
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Rings on Her Fingers 1942 N/R, 85 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Rouben Mamoulian
Cast: Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Laird Cregar, Shepperd Strudwick, Spring Byington, Frank Orth, Henry Stephenson, Marjorie Gateson, George Lessey, Iris Adrian
John Wheeler (Henry Fonda) is conned by a trio of swindlers. However, one of the culprits, Susan Miller (Gene Tierney), falls in love with John and helps him regain his lost money.
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Something to Live For 1952 N/R, 89 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: George Stevens
Cast: Joan Fontaine, Ray Milland, Teresa Wright, Richard Derr, Douglas Dick, Rudy Lee, Herbert Heyes, Harry Bellaver, Frank Orth, Paul Valentine
Alan Miller (Ray Milland) is a member of Alcoholics Anonymous who falls in love with an alcoholic actress, Jenny Carey (Joan Fontaine). He helps her to successfully gain sobriety while remaining faithful to his wife.
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The Strange Love of Martha Ivers 1946 N/R, 117 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Kirk Douglas, Lizabeth Scott, Judith Anderson, Roman Bohnen, Darryl Hickman, Ann Doran, Frank Orth, James Flavin
Martha Ivers (Barbara Stanwyck) is a domineering wife living with her weak husband, Walter (Kirk Douglas). Both share a dark secret relating to the murder of Martha's aunt. When Sam (Van Heflin) returns to town, the secret threatens to be exposed.
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Summer Storm 1944 N/R, 105 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Douglas Sirk
Cast: Linda Darnell, George Sanders, Anna Lee, Hugo Haas, Edward Everett Horton, Lori Lahner, John Philliber, Sig Ruman, John Abbott, Byron Foulger, Andre Charlot, Frank Orth, Sarah Padden, Paul Hurst, Charles Trowbridge
Based on Anton Chekhov's "The Shooting Party," Linda Darnell stars as the peasant, Olga Kuzminichna Urbenin, who is determined to raise her standard of living. After marrying middle-aged public servant Anton Urbenin (Hugo Haas), Olga becomes involved in affairs with Count "Piggy" Volsky (Edward Everett Horton) and with judge Fedor Petroff (George Sanders). Olga's actions lead to tragedy when Fedor kills her–letting Anton take the blame until ten years later when his guilt forces him to confess.
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| 1. Blondie's Lucky Day (1946)
2. Blondie's Secret (1948)
3. Coney Island (1943)
4. Doll Face (1945)
aka: Come Back to Me
5. Double Dynamite (1951)
6. Father of the Bride (1950)
7. The Great Rupert (1950)
aka: A Christmas Wish
8. Hello Frisco, Hello (1943)
9. Here Come the Girls (1953)
10. His Girl Friday (1940)
11. Houdini (1953)
12. I Wake Up Screaming (1942)
aka: Hot Spot
13. The Lost Weekend (1945)
14. The Magnificent Dope (1942)
15. Nancy Drew - Detective (1938)
16. Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939)
17. Rings on Her Fingers (1942)
18. Something to Live For (1952)
19. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
20. Summer Storm (1944)
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