Wonderland Burlesque

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies: She's A Lady - Part XI

Wonderland Burlesque's

Let's All Go To The Movies

She's A Lady

Part XI

Sometimes? It takes a lady.

Or so these films would have us believe.

They promise lots of drama, the occasional comedy or musical, and a little bit of dirt!

Let's take a walk down Hollywood Blvd. and shine a light on these magnificent classic films.

This way, if you please. But remember...

Ladies first!

--- ---

The Lady Fights Back

(1937)

An engineer for the Northern Power Company, Owen Merrill, arrives at the Muskalala River to make surveys for a dam site. For fifty years the river has been the exclusive fishing preserve of the Muskalala Salmon Club, now operated by Heather McHale. When his reason for being there is discovered, she detains him at the club while she sends out a distress call to the club's powerful members to meet at the lodge and take action to prevent the dam from being built. Already in love with his hostess/captor, Owen leaves for the dam site only to discover from his assistant, Steve Crowder, that she has gone into action to stop the project. He rushes to the Forest Commissioner's office and discovers she is already there. He tricks her into a telephone booth, and after locking her in gets the commissioner to sign a permit approving the dam. Unknown to Heather, her guides wreck a truck and take shots at the power-company workers. She stops that but, in her capacity as a Game Warden, arrests Owen for cutting trees too close to the river. She has him locked into the lodge storeroom and goes to see the commissioner. Owen, after discovering her guides have cut the supports on a new bridge, escapes and saves her life by stopping her car when she returns to the lodge. Taylor shows her the company intends to build "fish-ladders" that will enable the salmon to keep spawning and stay in the river, and everybody concerned ends up as a salmon swimming upstream.

Based on the 1937 novel Heather of the High Hand by Arthur Stringer. this American action film was directed by Milton Carruth, written by Brown Holmes and Robert T. Shannon, and stars Kent Taylor, Irene Hervey, William Lundigan, Willie Best, Joe Sawyer, and Paul Hurst.

The film was released on October 1, 1937, by Universal Pictures.

--- ---

The Lady Has Plans

(1942)

Dastardly criminals have stolen some top secret plans and tattooed them on the back of a woman so she can sell them to the highest bidder in Lisbon. This woman plans to take the place of a 'Sidney Royce', a legitimate traveler going to Lisbon as a reporter. Crossed signals allows the real Sidney to reach Portugal first, where she is pursued by those trying to obtain the plans and US government agents trying to prevent the sale.

This American comedy/spy thriller was directed by Sidney Lanfield and stars Ray Milland, Paulette Goddard and Roland Young. It was produced ad distributed by Paramount Pictures.

First of four screen pairings of Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland as headliners, followed by Reap the Wild Wind (1942), The Crystal Ball (1943), and Kitty (1945): Goddard and Milland were also both featured in the Paramount specialty film Star Spangled Rhythm (1942). Milland was slated to be Goddard's leading man in Bride of Vengeance (1949), but refused the role.

Bosley Crowther panned the film in his New York Times review, calling it a "silly fable, without rhyme or reason" and a "thoroughly implausible tale".

Can be viewed in its entirety for free on YouTube.

Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland

--- ---

The Lady Pays Off

(1951)

The naive Evelyn Warren, elected shool-teacher of the year by Time magazine, goes to Las Vegas, where she loses a lot of money. In order to pay her debts, casino-manager Matt Braddock asks her to take care of his sad little daughter, Diana.

This American romantic comedy was directed by Douglas Sirk and stars Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally and Gigi Perreau.

Though he directed the film competently, Sirk has been quoted as saying he had "no feeling for this picture at all".

TV Guide panned the film, stating "The unbelievable and obvious plot is further hampered by the miscasting of Darnell."

Can be viewed in its entirety for free on YouTube.

--- ---

The Lady Says No

(1951)

A woman writes a best-selling book for women warning them about the 'dangers' of men. A handsome photographer for a national magazine arrives in her town to do a feature story on her. Complications ensue.

This American comedy was directed by Frank Ross and stars Joan Caulfield, David Niven and James Robertson Justice, and Francis Beaver.

Director Frank Ross was married to Joan Caulfield, the film's leading lady.

The film featured Frances Bavier, who later played 'Aunt Bee' on television's The Andy Griffith Show.

It was photographed by James Wong Howe, and features sequences filmed at Fort Ord, Pebble Beach and Carmel, California.

The New York Times critic agreed with David Niven's "trenchant observation [in the film], 'This went out with silent pictures!' Yes, indeed."

Can be viewed in its entirety for free on YouTube.

--- ---

The Lady Wants Mink

(1953)

For her birthday, Ritchie Connors gives his wife Nora a coat from the store where he works. His workday gloom is made even worse when their friend from next-door shows up that evening in a mink. To try and make things right, Nora goes out and buys four live mink to raise. But the attempt at grow-your-own-coat is none too popular with husband or neighbors.

This American comedy was directed by William A. Seiter, written by Dane Lussier and Richard Alan Simmons, and stars Dennis O'Keefe, Ruth Hussey, Eve Arden, William Demarest, Gene Lockhart and Hope Emerson. It was released on March 30, 1953, by Republic Pictures.

Ruth Carol Hussey was an actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story (1940). In 1941, theater exhibitors voted her the third-most-popular new star in Hollywood.