Back to Golden Days

In honor of Desi Arnaz's 100th birthday, which was yesterday (March 2), this week on «Film Friday» I bring you the film that marked his screen debut. It was also the picture that introduced him to (arguably) the greatest love of his life, Lucille Ball.   Directed by George Abbott, Too Many Girls (1940) is the story of Connie Casey (Lucille Ball), a high-spirited, headline-chasing heiress who keeps her manufacturing-tycoon father (Harry Shannon) busy worrying about her. Deported from Europe for her antics, Connie enrolls in her father's alma mater, Pottawatomie College, in New Mexico, to be near her latest sweetheart, British playwright Beverly Waverly (Douglas Walton). In desperation, Mr. Casey secretly hires four Ivy League football players — Clint Kelly (Richard Carlson), Jojo Jordan (Eddie Bracken), Manuelito Lynch (Desi Arnaz) and Al Terwilliger (Hal LeRoy) — to act as her bodyguards. (from left to right) Hal LeRoy, Lucille Ball, Eddie Bracken and Richard Carlson in Too Ma...

This week on «Film Friday» I have decided to honour both Carole Lombard and Cary Grant, whose 112th birthday was this Wednesday, by telling you a little bit about the most notable and well-known of the three pictures in which they appeared together. Directed by John Cromwell, In Name Only (1939) tells the story of Alec Walker (Cary Grant), the victim of a loveless marriage to heartless social-climber Maida (Kay Francis). One day, he meets Julie Eden (Carole Lombard), a widowed commercial artist with a young daughter named Ellen (Peggy Ann Garner), and immediately falls in love with her. Julie is caring and uncomplicated, everything that Maida is not. Alec subsequently asks his wife for a divorce and she consents — but on the condition that she sail to Paris with his parents, Richard (Charles Coburn) and Grace (Nella Walker), and inform them of the break-up once they reach Europe. Alec foolishly agrees and follows Julie to New York, where they decide to marry.   Cary Grant, Caro...

Since Christmas is almost here, this week on «Film Friday» I thought I would bring you a Christmas movie. Well, it is set during the Christmas season, anyway. Directed by Garson Kanin, Bachelor Mother (1939) tells the story of Polly Parish (Ginger Rogers), an ingenious salesgirl who gets fired from her seasonal Christmas job at Merlin's department store. On her way home, she sees a woman secretly leaving an infant on the steps of an orphanage. Fearing the cold will harm the baby, Polly picks it up and is mistaken as its mother by an attendant who opens the door. After protesting that she is not the mother, Polly leaves the orphanage, but the authorities track her down at her work. Feeling sorry for her, David Merlin (David Niven), the playboy heir to the store, arranges for her to get her job back. When Polly still refuses to keep the baby, David threatens to fire her and she reluctantly accepts motherhood.   Ginger Rogers and David Niven as Polly Parish and David Merlin in Bachelo...

Because of the Kirk Douglas blogathon, I was not able to write my «Film Friday» article on time. So, this week's «Film Friday» comes on a Sunday instead. I am honoring Douglas Fairbanks Jr.'s 107th birthday, which was also on Friday, by telling you about one of the first films I ever saw with him. Directed by George Stevens, Gunga Din (1939) begins in an encampment of Her Majesty's Lancers in Colonial India, where the commanding officer, Colonel Weed (Montagu Love), learns that the telegraph wires to one of their outposts have been cut. To investigate the matter, he dispatches a detachment of 25 troops, led by his three most dependable sergeants: the calculating Archibald Cutter (Cary Grant), ever dreaming of discovering a hidden treasure; the grizzled veteran «Mac» MacChesney (Victor McLaglen); and the gentlemanly Thomas «Tommy» Ballantine (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), whose sole focus is his imminent discharge and marriage to his fiancé, Emaline «Emmy» Stebbins (Joan Fontain...

Original release poster Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Suspicion (1941) begins when dowdy Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine) meets and falls in love with a suave enigmatic stranger named Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant). Despite the strong disapproval of her wealthy father, General McLaidlaw (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), Lina elopes with Johnnie following a whirlwind courtship. Upon returning from their European honeymoon, the newlyweds take up residence in a luxurious country house, where Lina soon discovers that Johnnie is a penniless gambler and had intended to live on her income. She persudes him into getting a job, after which Johnnie accept an offer of work from his cousin, estate agent Captain Melbeck (Leo G. Carroll).   When she learns that Johnnie has been fired for embezzling from Melbeck, Lina contemplates leaving him, but changes her mind after receiving the news of her father's sudden death. Meanwhile, Johnnie convinces his old friend Beaky Twaithe (Nigel Bruce) to finance...