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:
Gangway (1937) – Musical #774

Studio:
Gaumont British

Director:
Sonnie Hale

Starring:
Jessie Matthews, Barry MacKay, Nat Pendleton, Alastair Sim, Olive Blakeney, Noel Madison, Patrick Ludlow, Liane Ordeyne, Graham Moffatt, Danny Green, Edmon Ryan, Lawrence Anderson (uncredited), Peter Gawthorne (uncredited), Warren Jenkins (uncredited), Michael Rennie (uncredited)

Plot:
Pat Wayne (Matthews) works for a newspaper as a film critic. She dreams of being a reporter who uncovers news and gets to go on dangerous adventures, like she sees female reporters do in American films. Pat soon gets her chance when she is put on a story to work undercover to get dirt on a visiting American actress, Nedda Beumont (Blakeney). At the same time, detective Bob Deering (MacKay) is trying to uncover jewel thefts at Nedda’s hotel, and suspects Pat as being a jewel thief. When she gets mixed up in a publicity stunt for Nedda, Pat ends up on a boat sailing for American. On the sea voyage, she gets further entrenched in the jewel theft schemes when an American gangster, Smiles Hogan (Pendleton), mistakes Pat for the real jewel thief.

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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.

1939 film:
My Son is Guilty (1939)

My Son Is Guilty, US lobbycard, from left: Harry Carey, Jacqueline Wells (aka Julie Bishop), Bruce Cabot, 1939. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)

Release date:
Dec. 28, 1939

Cast:
Harry Carey, Bruce Cabot, Julie Bishop (billed as Jacqueline Wells), Glenn Ford, Bruce Bennett, Wynne Gibson, Don Beddoe, John Tyrrell, Dick Curtis, Edgar Buchanan
Themselves: The Nicholas Brothers

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Charles Barton

Plot:
Ritzy Kerry (Cabot) is released from prison, returning home to his policeman father, Tim Kerry (Carey), with a chip on his shoulder believing his dad could have stopped his imprisonment. Ritzy’s girl, Julia (Bishop), also has a new beau (Ford), which Ritzy doesn’t take kindly to. While Tim wants his son to get a good job, Ritzy once again gets involved with another mob, which results in robberies and deaths around the city. Tim unfortunately realizes, he has to stop his son from causing more destruction.

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The holiday season is filled with traditions, and some we see reflected on film.

One tradition I learned about from film is drinking the holiday beverage, Tom and Jerry.

In the film BEYOND TOMORROW (1940), three elderly businessmen live together and celebrate Christmas Eve. George Melton (Harry Carey), Allan Chadwick (C. Aubrey Smith) and Michael O’Brien (Charles Winninger) drink celebratory Tom and Jerry beverages. The three men then decide to toss three wallets out into the street and whoever returns the wallet will join them in Christmas dinner.

Prior to watching this film, I had never heard of a Tom and Jerry — which are not related to the cat and mouse cartoon characters — and I’ve wanted to try them myself.

A Tom and Jerry is a warm brandy Christmas cocktail, which is sort of similar to eggnog. The drink may date back to 1821 and British writer Pierce Egan’s book “Life in London.”

Inspired by BEYOND TOMORROW, I finally tried making this drink myself. After researching several recipes online, I went with the Liquor.com recipe, which yields a smaller batch.

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