Tag Archives: Joe E. Brown

Watching 1939: Beware Spooks (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.

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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Musical Monday: On with the Show! (1929)

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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:
On With The Show! (1929) – Musical No. 605

Studio: Warner Bros.

Director: Alan Crosland

Starring:
Arthur Lake, Betty Compson, Joe E. Brown, Sally O’Neil, William Bakewell, Louise Fazenda, Sam Hardy, Ethel Waters, John W. Bubbles, Henry Fink, Otto Hoffman, Purnell Pratt, Josephine Huston, The Fairbanks Twins (Marion Fairbanks, Madeline Fairbanks)

Plot:
A performance stage troupe hopes to hit it big with their show “The Phantom Sweetheart.” They haven’t made it to Broadway and their actors haven’t been paid so their livelihood stands on the success of this performance. Offstage, the actors (Lake, Compson, Brown, Fazenda) and producer (Hardy) deal with a collector who wants to take the box office earnings or the scenery to pay for their debts. Midway through the show, the box office money is stolen and a ticket taker (Bakewell) is accused of stealing it.

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