Tonight's Movie: Taxi, Mister (1943) - A ClassicFlix DVD Review

Tonight I watched TAXI, MISTER (1943), the final film in the enjoyable ClassicFlix set The Complete Hal Roach Streamliners Collection, Volume 3: The Taxi Comedies.

I previously reviewed the other two films in the collection, BROOKLYN ORCHID (1942) and THE MCGUERINS FROM BROOKLYN (1942).  All three films are about Tim McGuerin (William Bendix) and Eddie Corbett (Joe Sawyer), two guys from tough backgrounds who make their fortune in the taxi business.

In this short 46-minute film, Eddie recounts to Lucy Gibbs (Marjorie Woodworth) how Tim first met Sadie in the 1920s and fell head over heels in love.  Gangster Louis Glorio (Sheldon Leonard) also had his eye on Sadie, and Tim helping capture Glorio led to a reward which began the growth of their taxi business.

I don't want to oversell TAXI, MISTER and the other films in the set as great movies, but I've definitely developed a soft spot for them and wish there were more.  Like the other Streamliners, they're fast-paced entertainment with some funny gags and the movies are all over and done almost before they've begun.  My fellow "B" fans will probably enjoy taking a look at these movies.

For me the delight of this trio of films has been Grace Bradley's sassy comic performance as Sadie, but this was to be her last film.  Bradley loved her offscreen role as "Mrs. Hoppy," the wife of William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd, and from this point forward focused on supporting him in his busy career.

Woodworth, who was my most watched actress in 2020, has just a small part in this one, listening to Eddie's story.  Very strangely, she receives no billing whatsoever; she doesn't even show up in the extended unbilled credits at IMDb, but after seeing her in a number of films over the past year I have no doubt it was her, reprising her character from the first two taxi movies. 

There isn't a great deal of information about Woodworth, but I've learned that she went to USC; she married a fellow alum in 1947 and retired.  Her father was a prominent attorney in Inglewood, California, where the Clyde Woodworth Elementary School and Woodworth Avenue are named for him.  Woodworth and her parents are all buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery.  I found a little more background at a page on Woodworth family history.

TAXI, MISTER was directed by Kurt Neumann and filmed in black and white by Robert Pittack.

The picture and sound on this ClassicFlix DVD were both very good.  I'll have more Streamliners reviews here in the future as I continue to watch my way through these collections.

Thanks to ClassicFlix for providing a review copy of this DVD.

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