Showing posts with label Evelyn Varden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evelyn Varden. Show all posts
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| Willie (Dan Dailey) is questioned by French resistance |
WHEN WILLIE COMES MARCHING HOME (1950). Director: John Ford.
After Pearl Harbor, small-town boy and bandleader Bill Kluggs (Dan Dailey) is anxious to enlist. Although his early training doesn't go so well, he eventually develops "the highest rating of any instructor," which means the Army has more use for him in camp than overseas. Unfortunately, said camp is located right in Bill's home town, where he stays -- and stays -- while other men ship out and his neighbors get more and more resentful. Eventually he goes on a mission and winds up behind enemy lines and working with the French resistance, and is sent back to England with important information -- unfortunately he can't talk about the mission. One annoying thing about this otherwise good and funny movie is that no one -- not even Bill's parents -- acknowledge that he's performing an important service as an instructor (an assignment that is not without its dangers). Dailey is excellent, and he has fine support from William Demarest [Pardon My Past] and Evelyn Varden [The Bad Seed] as his parents; Colleen Townsend as his girl, Marge; Jimmy Lydon [Henry Aldrich Haunts a House] as her brother; and Corinne Calvet as a beautiful lady with the French resistance.
Verdict: Well-done and keeps you chuckling, with a fine lead performance. ***.
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| Clifton Webb takes charge of little Tommy Rettig |
| ELOPEMENT (1951). Director: Henry Koster. "What does she see in that creature?" "I'd sooner be related to a ring-tailed baboon." "Jake" (Anne Francis of Forbidden Planet and Honey West) plans to study abroad after graduating college, but instead she decides to elope with one of her professors, Matt Reagan (William Lundigan) -- this despite the fact that the two have never actually been out on a date! Naturally their parents (Clifton Webb, Margalo Gillmore, Charles Bickford and Evelyn Varden) take off in pursuit to try to stop them before they can get hitched. But considering all the misunderstandings that are cropping up between Jake and Matt, the parents may find that their interference is unnecessary ... Elopement must be taken with a grain of salt. First, the idea of a professor having the hots for one of his students (granted, she's an adult), while hardly without precedent, is still a little creepy. Second, there's no good reason for the couple not to wait and have a "normal" wedding. Third -- they hardly know one another! That being said, Elopement still has its amusing moments and situations, and the performances are all very good, with Webb simply outstanding. Although Webb never married, was deeply attached to his mother, and may or may not have been gay, he can play husbands and fathers with absolute conviction and aplomb, as he does here. Whether Webb is dealing with his friend Roger (Reginald Gardner) or little Daniel (Tommy Rettig), Matt's youngest brother, he is very sharp and funny. Webb and Francis also teamed up for Dreamboat the following year. Verdict: Cute picture despite obvious flaws. ***. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||