Author Archive: Retro

Street sweepers Stan & Ollie inadvertently foil a bank robbery during their lunch break, and are rewarded with an Oxford education. This classic film contains several of L & H’s funniest routines, and received some of the team’s best reviews. Note: Contrary to popular belief, the featurette “A Chump At Oxford” is not just a shorter version of the 63 minute European cut. Upon release of the 42 minute version, Roach decided to expand the film to 63 minutes. A 21 minute segment (a talkie remake of “From Soup To Nuts”) was shot and all the footage turned over to editor Bert Jordan, who ignored the 4 reels already assembled and started from scratch, drawing upon unused takes, alternate set-ups, and scenes of different length. Dir. Alfred J. Goulding

A gangster is shot in his hotel room and manages to make his way to a nearby wax museum, where he dies. A female reporter discovers the body and determines to break the case, but she must maneuver around a rival reporter, who happens to be her boyfriend.

Despite its fervently flag-waving title, the British Salute John Citizen is a simple, low-pressure study of the wartime “home front.” Edward Rigby plays Mr. Bunting, an out-of-work clerk who is rehired during the manpower shortage of World War II. Bunting’s son Ernest (Jimmy Hanley) is determined to stay out of the line of fire, but changes his mind after witnessing the horrors of the London Blitz. In its own quiet, unassuming war, Salute John Citizen paints a truer portrait of a proud populace besieged by war than the more celebrated Mrs. Miniver. The film was based on a brace of novels by Robert Greenwood.

Witty comedy about a shy, successful businessman who is driven to distraction by a beautiful girl. Dir. Bernard B. Ray.

Tarzan and Jane are to sail for England. They are attacked by natives and Tarzan is believed to have been killed. The Greystoke relatives return to England, the Porters (Jane’s family) goes to their ranch near San Francisco. Tarzan shows up in a tuxedo and rescues Jane from outlaws. Later she suspects him ot being in love with another woman. Disgusted with civilization Tarzan returns to the jungle, followed by Jane who learns she was wrong.

Tommy Trinder, Constance Cummings. An engineer undertakes a personal crusade to save important equipment from Nazis.

A Star Is Born is a 1937 American Technicolor romantic drama film produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William A. Wellman from a script by Wellman, Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell, and starring Janet Gaynor as an aspiring Hollywood actress, and Fredric March as a fading movie star who helps launch her career. The supporting cast features Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, Lionel Stander and Owen Moore.

Teen idol Paul Anka plays Craig Fowler, the troubled son of dysfunctional parents Jackie and Jay Fowler (Ruth Roman and Alex Nicol). When Jay loses his job as a aircraft mechanic, he goes on a drinking binge to end all, passing out on the floor in front of his bored and disappointed wife. Meanwhile, across the back fence, Betty Lowell (Carole Mathews) confronts her philandering playboy husband Gareth (Jack Cassidy) about his extracurricular activities at work – activities which she has conveniently rationalized, as his success has made them the envy of their neighbors. While the parents fight, Craig and Betty’s daughter Eileen (Gigi Perreau) indulge in a growing interest in each other – but what role models do they have for “normal” behavior? And how long can Craig hide his dark secret: a compulsion which drives him to prowl the neighborhood’s quiet streets at night and peep in windows? Cast members Jack Cassidy and [...]