Watching 1939: The House of Fear (1939)

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.

1939 film:
The House of Fear (1939)

House-of-Fear-The-main

Release date:
June 30, 1939

Cast:
William Gargan, Irene Hervey, Dorothy Arnold, Alan Dinehart, Harvey Stephens, Harvey Stephens, Walter Woolf King, Robert Coote, Tom Dugan, Jan Duggan, Donald Douglas, Hobart Cavanaugh (uncredited), Milton Kibbee (uncredited), Emory Parnell (uncredited)

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Joe May

Plot:
After an actor drops dead on stage, his body disappears and police can’t uncover any clues. The once successful theater where he died is now a ghost town and people say the theater is haunted. After the theater is closed for some time, detective Arthur McHugh (Gargan) goes undercover posing as a producer buys the theater to solve the case.

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Watching 1939: Beware Spooks (1939)

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.

beware spooks31939 film:
Beware Spooks (1939)

Release date:
Oct. 24, 1939

Cast:
Joe E. Brown, Mary Carlisle, Clarence Kolb, Marc Lawrence, Don Beddoe, George J. Lewis, Robert Sterling (uncredited), Tommy Bupp (uncredited)

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Edward Sedgwick

Plot:
Policeman Roy Gifford (Brown) is newly married to Betty Lou (Carlisle). He is fired and rehired by Commissioner Lewis (Kolb), who thinks Roy isn’t very bright, but also fondly remembers Roy’s deceased father. With gangster Slick Eastman (Lawrence) on the loose, Roy has to postpone his honeymoon with Betty Lou to help crack the case.

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Watching 1939: Jamaica Inn (1939)

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.

jam inn1939 film:
Jamaica Inn (1939)

Release date:
May 12, 1939

Cast:
Charles Laughton, Robert Newton, Maureen O’Hara, Leslie Banks, Marie Ney, Emlyn Williams

Studio:
Production company: Mayflower Pictures Corp.
Distribution company: Paramount Pictures

Director:
Alfred Hitchcock

Plot:
With both of her parents dead, Mary Yellan (O’Hara) travels to a coastal Cornish village to live with her aunt (Ney) who lives at Jamaica Inn. When Mary arrives, she realizes that her uncle (Banks) is involved in a group of criminals who cause ships to wreck so they can can rob them. Mary rescues Jem Trehearne (Newton) and she turns to the town squire Sir Humphrey Pengallan (Laughton) for help. This may or may not be a good idea.

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Watching 1939: Mystery of the White Room (1939)

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.

Mystery-of-the-White-Room-19391939 film:
Mystery of the White Room (1939)

Release date:
March 17, 1939

Cast:
Bruce Cabot, Helen Mack, Joan Woodburry, Constance Worth, Tom Dugan, Mabel Todd, Thomas E. Jackson, Addison Richards, Roland Drew, Frank Reicher, Frank Puglia, Don Porter

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Otis Garrett

Plot:
During a surgery in a hospital, the lights shot off and when they are turned back on, a high profile physician is dead. Dr. Bob Clayton (Cabot) helps Sgt. Spencer (Jackson) unravel the case.

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Watching 1939: Daughters Courageous (1939)

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.

1939 film:
Daughters Courageous (1939)

Release date:
June 23, 1939

Cast:
Fay Bainter, Claude Rains, John Garfield, Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, Gale Page, Jeffrey Lynn, May Robson, Dick Foran, Frank McHugh, George Humbert

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Michael Curtiz

Plot:
After her husband left 20 years ago, Nan Masters (Bainter) has been raising her four daughters on her own ever since: Tinka (Rosemary Lane), Linda (Lola Lane), Cora (Page) and Buff (Priscilla Lane). The sisters are high spirited, adore their mother and have fun with their boyfriends (Lynn, Foran, McHugh). Nan decides to remarry and gets engaged to her Sam Sloane (Crisp), who has been a fixture in the family for 12 years. Shortly after their engagement, Nan’s ex-husband Jim Masters (Rains) turns up in the home; turning the household upside down.

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Watching 1939: Boys’ Reformatory (1939)

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.

1939 film:
Boys’ Reformatory (1939)

Release date:
May 1, 1939

Cast:
Frankie Darro, Grant Withers, Lillian Elliott, Frank Coghlan Jr., David Durand, Warren McCollum, Ben Welden, Pat Flaherty, George Offerman Jr.

Studio:
Monogram Pictures

Director:
Howard Bretherton

Plot:
Tommy Ryan (Darro) has lived with the O’Mearas most of his life since becoming an orphan. He views Mrs. O’Meara (Elliott) as his mother and thinks of Eddie O’Meara (Coghlan Jr.) as his brother. When Eddie gets mixed up with a group of rough teenagers and goes in on a fur theft job, Tommy takes the blame, not wanting to break the heart of Mrs. O’Meara. Tommy is sentenced with serving time in reform school until he’s 21 years old, and he makes Eddie promise that he has to stay out of trouble as a trade. However, Eddie also ends up in the reformatory.

boys reformatory2

Frank Coghlan Jr., Frankie Darro and David Durand

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Watching 1939: Here I Am a Stranger (1939)

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.

here i am stranger41939 film:
Here I Am a Stranger (1939)

Release date:
Sept. 29, 1939

Cast:
Richard Greene, Richard Dix, Brenda Joyce, Roland Young, Gladys George, George Zucco, Kay Aldridge (billed as Katherine Aldridge), Russell Gleason, Edward Norris, Henry Kolker

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Roy Del Ruth

Plot:
When David (Greene) was a baby, his mother Clara (George) took David and left her husband Duke (Dix), because he couldn’t keep a job and was an alcoholic. Clara later marries a wealthy man and David grows up in society; eventually starting college at Stafford University. While at Stafford, David meets Professor Daniels (Young) and his daughter Simpson (Joyce). Professor Daniels knew David’s real father and speaks highly of him as an athlete and writer. David seeks out his father and their relationship changes some of his views.

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Watching 1939: Back Door to Heaven (1939)

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.

back door to heaven1939 film:
Back Door to Heaven (1939)

Release date:
April 19, 1939

Cast:
Wallace Ford, Aline MacMahon, Jimmy Lydon, Stuart Erwin, Van Heflin, Patricia Ellis, Iris Adrian, Kent Smith, Anita Magee, Bert Frohman, William Redfield, Raymond Roe, Georgette Harvey, Bruce Evans, William Harrigan, Jane Seymour

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
William K. Howard

Plot:
Frankie Rogers (Lydon as child, Ford as adult) had a tough upbringing and his grade school teacher Miss Williams (MacMahon) is the only one who believed in him. After his grade school graduation, Frankie is sent to reform school and then continues to move in and out of prison. When he’s released with two of his prison mates (Stuart, Frohman), Frankie returns back home to find things changed and that his criminal past is never far behind him.

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Watching 1939: Convict’s Code (1939)

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.

Convict's-Code-1939-Poster1939 film:
Convict’s Code (1939)

Release date:
Jan. 18, 1939

Cast:
Robert Kent, Anne Nagel, Sidney Blackmer, Victor Kilian, Norman Willis, Maude Eburne, Ben Alexander, Pat Flaherty, Harry Strang

Studio:
Monogram Pictures Corp.

Director:
Lambert Hillyer

Plot:
Former football hero Dave Tyler (Kent) was just released after serving a stretch in jail for a crime he was framed for. When he’s released on parole, he is determined to find who framed him and prove his innocence. All the while he’s working for Gregory Warren (Blackmer) at an investment firm who may know something about Tyler’s arrest.

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Review: Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection (1972)

One piece of the Gidget franchise has eluded me for a few years: the Hanna-Barbera produced cartoon “Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection.”

That’s right. Not only did the Gidget character find herself on the silver screen, TV shows and movies, and in books, Gidget was also featured in cartoon-form.

gidget makes the wrong connection

Airing on the ABC Saturday Super Star Movie on Nov. 18, 1972, “Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection” was one of “galaxy of famous personalities and characters from the realms of literature, sports, television, and motion pictures,” according to a Sept. 9, 1972 article.

Some of these included anything from baseball star Willie Mays, the Blondie comic strips, Tabitha from “Bewitched,” the Banana Splits, Lassie, Marlo Thomas as “That Girl,” and of course, Gidget.

The show aired on Saturday mornings and was geared towards children.

In Gidget’s animated story, after causing trouble in a marina, Gidget and her friends Rink and Jud sign up as a ship crew for a boat race to Mexico … or so they think. Really, the race is a ruse as the three adults onboard are smuggling gold.

Produced by Hanna-Barbera, is similar to other 1970s era Hanna-Barbera cartoon, as far as animation, voice talent, humor and storytelling go.

Gidget looks like she could be related to Daphne from Scooby Doo, and the sleuthing and antics may remind you a bit of Scooby Doo mysteries.

That said, it’s a silly, breezy and not unpleasant way to spend 45 minutes.

gidget makes4

The characters of Barbara and Ralph Hightower, voiced by Virginia Gregg and Mike Road.

The voice talent is fun. The snooty smugglers, Barbara and Ralph Hightower will remind you a bit of Mr. and Mrs. Howell from “Gilligan’s Island.” The two are voiced by Virginia Gregg and Mike Road. I swear Road is doing a Ronald Colman impression.

gidget makes2

The cartoon version of Gidget.

Kathy Gori voices Frances “Gidget” Lawrence in her first acting or voice acting gig. While in the movies and TV show, Gidget can be meddling, in the cartoon she’s meddling and also clumsy. The crew gets in all sorts of trouble, because of her “seventh sense” ideas. If I had to compare this Gidget characterization to any of the other franchises, I would compare it to Cindy Carroll in “Gidget Goes to Rome.” Also of note: Gidget doesn’t do any surfing in “Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection.” But she’s still in the water, snorkeling and boating.

Gidget has new friends for the adventure, Jud and Rink, who were not previously characters in the movies. Sorry, no Moondoggie this time. Rink is voiced by Denny Evans and and Jud is voiced by David Lander of “Laverne and Shirley” fame.

gidget makes3

Rink, Gidget and Jud, voiced by Kathy Gori, Denny Evans, David L. Lander.

Bob Hastings and Don Messick also provided voice work on this cartoon.

The creation and air date is interesting for this Gidget installment. It aired 10 months after the Gidget TV movie, “Gidget Gets Married” (1972), where Gidget and Moondoggie get hitched. After Gidget made waves in the 1960s, this was the last hoorah of the franchise until the 1980s TV movie and television series reboot aired in 1985.

In 2017, I completed the Gidget series reviews with the exception of this one. I wasn’t able to find it anywhere, not online or being sold. Searching high and low, it wasn’t until a reader brought it to my attention that someone uploaded it online! (Thank you, Mike!) I will refrain from linking to it (I don’t want it to be taken down!), but a quick online search will help you find it.

Overall, “Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection” isn’t the best installment of the franchise, but would be a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

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