Author Archives: Jnpickens

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About Jnpickens

Classic film lover and reporter in North Carolina.

Watching 1939: Should a Girl Marry? (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult.

should a girl marry21939 film:
Should a Girl Marry? (1939)

Release date:
June 8, 1939

Cast:
Anne Nagel, Warren Hull, Mayo Methot, Weldon Heyburn, Aileen Pringle, Lester Matthews, Helen Brown, Sarah Padden, Gordon Hart, Edmund Elton, Robert Elliott, Claire Rochelle, Arthur Loft, Harry Hayden, Bess Flowers

Studio:
Crescent Pictures Corporation
Distributed by Monogram Pictures

Director:
Lambert Hillyer

Plot:
Margaret Wilson (Nagel) was born with a secret, but doesn’t know it. She was born in prison and adopted by the Wilsons (Padden, Hart), who have kept the secret from Margaret, who has had a happy childhood and is engaged to young Dr. Benson (Hull). But when a friend, Betty Gilbert (Methot) of Margaret’s birth mother is released from jail, the friend’s no good husband sees a get-rich-quick scheme with blackmailing the Wilsons. In tandem, Dr. Benson is in the running of being selected as the head doctor at the hospital, but another doctor will do anything to ruin his career.

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Musical Monday: Boarding House Blues (1948)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

boarding house bluesThis week’s musical:
Boarding House Blues (1948) – Musical #767

Studio:
All-American Pictures

Director:
Josh Binney

Starring:
Mom Mabley (billed as Jackie Mabley), Dusty Fletcher, Marcellus Wilson, Marie Cooke, Augustus Smith, Johnny Lee, Emory Richardson, Harold Cromer, Sidney Easton, Freddie Robinson, John “Spider Bruce” Mason, John Riano
Specialty Acts: Lucky Millinder and His Band, Una Mae Carlisle, Bull Moose Jackson, Berry Brothers, Lewis and White, Anistine Allen, Paul Breckenridge, Stump and Stumpy (James Cross and Eddie Hartman), Lee Norman Trio, Henry “Crip” Heard

Plot:
Mom (Mabley) runs a boarding house of entertainers in Harlem, and shares with her tenants that they are broke and the land lord is going to kick them. To help raise money for rent, the boarders put on a show.

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Musical Monday: Calendar Girl (1947)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

calendar girlThis week’s musical:
Calendar Girl (1947) – Musical #578

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
Allan Dwan

Starring:
Jane Frazee, William Marshall, James Ellison, Gail Patrick, Irene Rich, Kenny Baker, Victor McLaglen, Janet Martin, Gus Schilling, Franklin Pangborn

Plot:
Set in 1900, pals Johnny Bennett (Marshall) and Steve Adams (Ellison) leave their comfortable lives in Boston to try to make it in Greenwich Village as artists. Johnny wants to write songs and Steve is an artist. They land at a performer boarding house run by Lulu Varden (Rich). Both Johnny and Steve fall for dancer and singer Patricia O’Neill (Frazee) lives in the boarding house with her firefighter father (McLaglen), who doesn’t approve of her performing aspirations. Patricia prefers for Steve, who happens to have a girl (Patrick) back in Boston. Patricia also poses for Steve for a sensual painting that is used on the 1901 calendar.

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Musical Monday: Junction 88 (1948)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

junction 88This week’s musical:
Junction 88 (1948) – Musical #766

Studio:
Century Theatrical Productions

Director:
George R. Quigley

Starring:
As themselves: Bob Howard, Pigmeat Markham, Noble Sissel
Also starring: Wyatt Clark, Marie Cooke, Gus Smith, Abbey Mitchell, Artie Belle McGinty, George Wiltshire, Herbert Junior, Alonzo Basan, Maude Simmons, Al Young, Augustus Smith, Augustus Smith Jr.
Billed as the choir: Eugene Thompson, Rumena Matson, Mable Berger, Delphine Roach, Henry Nelson

Plot:
Buster (Clark) is a songwriter, but doesn’t want anyone to know that he wrote this song. Buster loves Lolly (Cooke), but her father prefers hardworking men, and he fears that he wouldn’t look kindly at a songwriting career. Music agents (Howard, Markham) get ahold of Buster’s songs that are published under the pen name of Hewlett Green. The agents travel to the small town of Junction 88 to find Green, but no one in town knows who the mysterious Hewlett Green is.

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Watching 1939: Reform School (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult.

reform school21939 film:
Reform School (1939)

Release date:
April 27, 1939

Cast:
Louise Beavers, Reginald Fenderson, Eugene Jackson, Freddie Jackson, Eddie Lynn, DeForest Covan, Bob Simmons, Monte Hawley, Maceo Bruce Sheffield, Milton Hall

Studio:
Million Dollar Productions, Inc.

Director:
Leo C. Popkin

Plot:
Since he went to reform school, Eddie (Fenderson) has a hard time finding work and turns to crime. Probation officer Mother Barton (Beavers) tries to help Eddie and the other young people in reform school by demanding for better treatment in reform school and education for society that these young people aren’t hardened criminals when they are released from reform school. When Eddie is mistreated by the superintendent at the reform school, Mother Barton takes him to task and is appointed the head of the institution.

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Musical Monday: Let’s Dance (1950)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Let’s Dance (1950) – Musical #456

let's dance

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Norman Z. McLeod

Starring:
Betty Hutton, Fred Astaire, Roland Young, Ruth Warrick, Lucille Watson, Gregory Moffett, Barton MacLane, Shepperd Strudwick, Melville Cooper, Harold Huber, George Zucco, Peggy Badley, Nana Bryant (uncredited), James Burke (uncredited), Bess Flowers (uncredited),

Plot:
During World War II, Kitty McNeil (Hutton) and Donald Elwood (Astaire) were a musical act that performed in USO shows. Donald was in love with Kitty, but she had already married a serviceman, so the two split up the act. The film fast-forwards to 1950 and we learn that Kitty’s husband was killed in the war, and she lives with his stuffy family in Boston. Kitty doesn’t like how his family wants her to raise her son, Richie (Moffett), and would like to leave. But her grandmother-in-law, Serena (Watson), won’t allow her to take her son with her and insists that they raise him. Kitty and her son run away to New York City so she can find work, and she reconnects with Donald. Donald and his nightclub coworkers help Kitty and Richie build a new life.

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Watching 1939: The Great Victor Herbert (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult.

Screenshot 2024-01-30 2136261939 film:
The Great Victor Herbert (1939)

Release date:
Dec. 6, 1939

Cast:
Walter Connolly, Allan Jones, Mary Martin, Lee Bowman, Susanna Foster, Judith Barrett, Jerome Cowan, John Garrick, Pierre Watkin, Richard Tucker, Mary Currier, Sandra Lee Richards

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Andrew L. Stone

Plot:
Louise Hall (Martin) has dreams of becoming a stage star. Her career is shepherded by the pushy tactics of performer John Ramsey (Jones). As Louise and John find success and star in a show by composer Victor Herbert (Connolly), they fall in love and marry. However, billing and Louise’s stardom hurts John’s ego, and even when Louise retires, John’s career falters.

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Musical Monday: Song of Norway (1970)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

song of norway3This week’s musical:
Song of Norway (1970) – Musical #764

Studio:
Produced by ABC Pictures Corp., distributed by Cinerama Releasing Corp.

Director:
Andrew L. Stone

Starring:
Toralv Maurstad, Florence Henderson, Christina Schollin, Frank Porretta, Harry Secombe, Robert Morley, Edward G. Robinson, Oscar Homolka, Frederick Jaeger, Henry Gilbert, Richard Wordsworth, Matt Mattox (uncredited)

Plot:
A biographical film on Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg (Maurstad).

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Musical Monday: Star! (1968)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

StarThis week’s musical:
Star! (1968) – Musical #240

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Robert Wise

Starring:
Julie Andrews, Richard Crenna, Michael Craig, Daniel Massey, Robert Reed, Bruce Forsythe, Beryl Reid, John Collin, Alan Oppenheimer, Richard Karlan, Garrett Lewis, Anna Lee (uncredited), Grady Sutton (uncredited), Jenny Agutter (uncredited)

Plot:
Biographical film on stage actress Gertrude Lawrence (Andrews).

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Musical Monday: Lady Sings the Blues (1972)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

lady sings the bluesThis week’s musical:
Lady Sings the Blues (1972) – Musical #763

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Sidney J. Furie

Starring:
Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James T. Callahan, Paul Hampton, Sid Melton, Virginia Caper, Isabel Sanford, Ned Glass, Scatman Crothers

Plot:
A fictionalized biography on the life and career of jazz singer, Billie Holiday (Ross). The film details her teenage life, rise to fame struggles, and her romance with Louis McKay (Williams).

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