A Centennial Tribute to Lana Turner

Today is the centennial of the birth of Lana Turner.

Lana Turner was born in Idaho 100 years ago today, on February 8, 1921.

Turner made her film debut at Warner Bros. in THEY WON'T FORGET (1937) and the following year signed at MGM, where she would be a top star for the next 18 years.

I'm often struck by how much pure enjoyment there is in Turner's filmography. Thanks to her MGM training she was an accomplished dancer who appeared in several musicals early in her career.

Here she is dancing with Lee Bowman in DANCING CO-ED (1939):

And with George Murphy and Joan Blondell in TWO GIRLS ON BROADWAY (1940):

The glamorous Turner defined the word movie star. She could do it all, equally at home in light romances, World War II dramas, comedies, costume films, and melodramas.

A Turner photo gallery from just a handful of her films, starting with Clark Gable in HONKY TONK (1941):

Lana was at her loveliest in MARRIAGE IS A PRIVATE AFFAIR (1944) with John Hodiak:

KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY (1945) with Susan Peters:

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946):

CASS TIMBERLANE (1947):

With Barry Sullivan and Dick Powell in THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1952):

THE MERRY WIDOW (1952) with Fernando Lamas:

PORTRAIT IN BLACK (1960):

Off the screen Turner's life could be tumultuous, with eight failed marriages to seven men -- one of them she married twice -- and of course the infamous 1958 incident when her daughter fatally stabbed her boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato. But Lana also spent decades giving her fans enormous movie joy, for which I'm truly grateful.

Lana Turner passed away at the age of 74 on June 29, 1995.

For more on Lana Turner, I particularly recommend the superb 2008 coffee table book LANA: THE MEMORIES, THE MYTHS, THE MOVIES by her daughter Cheryl Crane and Cindy De La Hoz. It's absolutely gorgeous and presents an evenhanded account of Turner's life story.

I also highly recommend the eminent film historian Jeanine Basinger's 1976 book LANA TURNER, an entry in the Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies series.

Turner fans will also enjoy Aurora's tribute at Once Upon a Screen, which includes links to some of Turner's radio performances.

Lana Turner films reviewed at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings: FOUR'S A CROWD (1938) (uncredited bit), DRAMATIC SCHOOL (1938), RICH MAN, POOR GIRL (1938), DANCING CO-ED (1939) (also here), THESE GLAMOUR GIRLS (1939), CALLING DR. KILDARE (1939), TWO GIRLS ON BROADWAY (1940), SOMEWHERE I'LL FIND YOU (1942), SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS (1943), MARRIAGE IS A PRIVATE AFFAIR (1944), KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY (1945) (also here), THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946), CASS TIMBERLANE (1947), GREEN DOLPHIN STREET (1947), HOMECOMING (1948), A LIFE OF HER OWN (1950), THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1952) (also here), THE MERRY WIDOW (1952), LATIN LOVERS (1953) (also here), THE SEA CHASE (1955), DIANE (1956), PORTRAIT IN BLACK (1960), BACHELOR IN PARADISE (1961) (also here), MADAME X (1966).

Update: Here are reviews of ZIEGFELD GIRL (1941), HONKY TONK (1941), DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1941), and DU BARRY WAS A LADY (1943).

Related post: TCM Star of the Month: Lana Turner (December 2017).

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Tonight's Movie: The Golden Blade (1953) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

The adventure film THE GOLDEN BLADE (1953) is part of a three-film Rock Hudson Blu-ray collection recently released by Kino Lorber.

In the '50s no one was better than Universal Pictures at creating escapist desert fantasies in gorgeous Technicolor.  THE GOLDEN BLADE is one of a number of such delightful films, which also included THE DESERT HAWK (1950), THE GOLDEN HORDE (1951), FLAME OF ARABY (1951), and SON OF ALI BABA (1952).

In THE GOLDEN BLADE Hudson plays Harun, whose quest to avenge his father's murder leads him to Bagdad.  In short order Harun meets Princess Khairuzan (Piper Laurie of SON OF ALI BABA) and acquires a magical golden sword. 

The sword is greatly desired by Jafar (George Macready) and Hadi (Gene Evans), who are plotting against Khairuzan and her father the Caliph (Edgar Barrier).  However, rather like the Sword in the Stone, the golden sword can only be pulled out of a wall and successfully used by the right person, who at this point in time happens to be Harun.

Together Harun and Khairuzan work to save her kingdom, including keeping her from having to marry an evil man -- so that she can marry her true love, Harun.

Like the other films mentioned above, THE GOLDEN BLADE is delightful fun; its 81 minutes fly past. The color is amazing -- the opening credits are truly stunning -- and the film is blessed with a terrific hero and heroine.

Something I love about these films is that the leading ladies, played by actresses like Piper Laurie, Ann Blyth, Yvonne De Carlo, and Maureen O'Hara, never cower in the background but fight for their futures alongside the hero. (In SON OF ALI BABA Laurie even managed to drag Tony Curtis to safety in a fire sequence!)  These heroines are sometimes locked in harems and expected to marry to seal political dynasties, but they don't wait around for rescue.

Add to the above beautiful costumes, well-choreographed action sequences, romance, and a touch of humor, and you have a movie that's a winner.

THE GOLDEN BLADE was directed by Nathan Juran.  It was filmed in Technicolor by Maury Gertsman.  The story and screenplay were by John Rich.

The opening narration is by Richard Carlson.  The supporting cast includes Steven Geray and Alice Kelley.

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray is perfection, with a terrific picture and a strong, clear soundtrack.  Disc extras are a commentary track by Phillipa Berry, the trailer, and two additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

A note regarding the poster on the Blu-ray cover: That's the second female lead, Kathleen Hughes, featured on the cover rather than Piper Laurie.  I've been fortunate to see Hughes in person on a couple of occasions, at the 2014 Loretta Young Centennial Tribute and at the 2015 Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Festival.

I'm looking forward to watching the other films in this set, SEMINOLE (1953) and BENGAL BRIGADE (1954), which I'll be reviewing here at a future date.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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Tonight's Movie: Night Unto Night (1949) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

Ronald Reagan stars in NIGHT UNTO NIGHT (1949), available on DVD from the Warner Archive.  

NIGHT UNTO NIGHT was the second feature film directed by Don Siegel, whose work I've gradually been catching up with over the last handful of years.  Siegel would go on to direct Reagan's last feature film, THE KILLERS (1964), which I enjoyed seeing at the 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival.

While most of the Siegel films I've seen have been entertaining or excellent, NIGHT UNTO NIGHT was, unfortunately, a murky, hard-to-follow mess.  The movie sat on the Warner Bros. shelf for over two years before being released and, having seen it, I can understand why.

Reagan's character, John Galen, is a scientist who arrives in Florida and rents a house from Ann Gracey (Viveca Lindfors, THIS SIDE OF THE LAW).

John and Ann are each dealing with demons of sorts.  Ann is seemingly haunted by the voice of her late husband, who died serving in World War II, while John is coping with epilepsy, a condition which drives him to the brink of suicide.

Ann's flashy sister Lisa (Osa Massen) makes a romantic play for John, but -- when he's not brooding -- he falls for Ann instead.  

John also spends time with Dr. Poole (Art Baker), a specialist, and with an artist (Broderick Crawford) and his wife (Rosemary DeCamp) who are friends of Ann's.  Everyone gathers under the same roof during a hurricane, and decisions are made about the future.

I was enthused to see this film, with the names Siegel and Reagan attached, but I really had some issues following it closely.  The key elements outlined above are painted in broad brush strokes, but it's extremely difficult to connect with the lead characters and the story; the script sort of lurches around abruptly from scene to scene, lacking coherence and depth.  As a viewer I was at a remove from the characters, on the outside looking in, trying to figure out where they and the movie were going, until finally it was simply...over, with an unconvincing optimistic ending.  

I'm not a particular fan of Crawford, but every time he and the wonderful DeCamp came on screen it was a huge jolt of energy waking up a sleeping movie.  A film entirely about that married couple and their back story would have been much more interesting!  But alas, they're not onscreen nearly enough, so it's a pretty long 84 minutes.

A decade ago Lou Lumenick wrote a New York Post column on Reagan's films available on DVD.  He quoted Reagan as saying of this film, "If you are thinking this was a hard story to bring to life on the screen, you are right."  At least I know it's not "just me"!

The film was shot in black and white by Peverell Marley. Kathryn Scola's script was based on a novel by Philip Wylie.  The supporting cast includes Craig Stevens and Lillian Yarbo. 

The Warner Archive DVD includes the trailer.  The film print is for the most part pretty good, although there are some speckles during the opening credits.  However, I felt that the soundtrack was on the soft side, lacking in crisp clarity; that issue, combined with Lindfors' and Massen's accents, didn't add to my ability to follow the story.  

I'm glad to have checked the title off my Reagan and Siegel movie lists but, all in all, this was an unusually odd, detached viewing experience. 

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from Amazon or from any online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.

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Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the internet...

...Last week I led off with the exciting news that Kino Lorber Studio Classics would be bringing the not-on-DVD Universal Pictures film THE WEB (1947) to Blu-ray.  This week there's more great news about another not-on-DVD film scheduled to be released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber, this time from Paramount Pictures: ARISE, MY LOVE (1940), starring Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland.  I reviewed it in 2010 thanks to a showing on Turner Classic Movies.  There's no release date yet, but it's "coming soon."  Also announced just today: A forthcoming Blu-ray of DeMille's UNION PACIFIC (1939).

...But wait, there's even more good news!  THE DELICIOUS LITTLE DEVIL (1919), a delightful silent romantic comedy starring Mae Murray and Rudolph Valentino which I was lucky to see at the 2019 Cinecon Festival, will be released by Kino Lorber on April 6th.  And one week later, Kino Lorber will release two silent films directed by Lois Weber.

...From the Los Angeles Times: A driving tour of '70s L.A. architecture.

...Coming to Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection in March: THE GREAT CARUSO (1951) and CROSSFIRE (1947).  While I reviewed CROSSFIRE here back in 2007, I've never seen THE GREAT CARUSO, despite my love for MGM musicals in general and Ann Blyth in particular.  I anticipate reviewing both Blu-rays here in a few weeks.

...ABC has ordered a TV pilot written by Kevin Costner called NATIONAL PARKS.

...New reviews at CineSavant/Trailers from Hell: Glenn Erickson reviews Budd Boetticher's WINGS OF THE HAWK(1953), a Kino Lorber release I'll be reviewing here, while Glenn's colleague Charlie Largent reviewed Tex Avery Screwball Classics Vol. 2.

...Warren Hull was the leading man in a film I recently enjoyed, HER HUSBAND'S SECRETARY (1937).  I learned a little more about Hull thanks to reader comments here on that film, and thanks to reader Maricatrin for steering me towards this Hull profile at The Files of Jerry Blake.  I learned a lot, and now I'm curious to see the serial THE SPIDER'S WEB (1938).

...In December I shared the good news that Lillian Michelson's Cinema Research Library would be digitally preserved by the Internet Archive.  Here's more on that story thanks to an article which ran a few days ago in the Los Angeles Times.

...My friend Chris Yogerst has recently reviewed Scott Eyman's interesting new Cary Grant bio for the Los Angeles Review of Books.  I'm a little behind my anticipated schedule on completing that review but one should be forthcoming here before too long!

...Caftan Woman's "One for February on TCM" pick is MOONRISE (1948), which airs next week on February 10th. For more info, I reviewed it thanks to a UCLA screening in 2013. Dane Clark and Gail Russell (seen here) star, and there's a wonderful performance by Allyn Joslyn; Frank Borzage directed.

...At Once Upon a Screen Aurora shares a wonderful centennial tribute to Lana Turner, including links of her radio performances.  I plan to have a centennial post here on Turner's February 8th birthday.

...From Nerdist: What it was like when STAR WARS (1977) was first released.  It really is hard to explain to those who weren't there just what a thunderbolt it was.

...Notable Passings: Hal Holbrook has passed away at the age of 95.  He was particularly known for playing Mark Twain on stage for decades.  The performance I remember best from his long career was the Stage Manager in an exceptional TV production of OUR TOWN (1977), seen here with costars Glynnis O'Connor and Robby Benson.  Holbrook's wife, actress Dixie Carter, passed away in 2010...Allan Burns, who cocreated THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (1970-77) and many other programs -- including the infamous MY MOTHER THE CAR (1965-66) -- has died at 85...Pat and Eloise O'Brien's oldest daughter, Margaret Mavourneen O'Brien, has died at the age of 86.  I shared her sister Brigid's obituary here in 2016.  They certainly led interesting lives.

...More Notable Passings: Haya Harareet, the leading lady of BEN-HUR (1959), has passed on at 89...Another big name in TV production, producer Cy Chermak, has died at 91. His shows included IRONSIDE (1968-1974) and CHiPs (1978-83)...Former TV executive Jamie Tarses, who was president of ABC from 1996-99, has passed away at 56...Football player turned Tarzan actor Mike Henry has died at 84.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my January 30th roundup.

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Tonight's Movie: Thunder on the Hill (1951) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Last year Kino Lorber released a trio of excellent film noir sets, starting with The Dark Side of Cinema II.

I've previously reviewed the other movies in this set, THE PRICE OF FEAR (1956) and THE FEMALE ANIMAL (1958). 

I'm now circling back to this collection to review the last film, THUNDER ON THE HILL (1951).

I first reviewed THUNDER ON THE HILL here after watching it on DVD back in 2013. I liked it then and very much enjoyed revisiting it for the first time in several years.  It's an absorbing, well-crafted film.

The movie, based on a short-lived play by Charlotte Hastings, tells the story of Valerie (Ann Blyth), who is on her way to prison when a storm-caused flood strands her and her guards at a hospital convent.

Valerie has been sentenced to die in the immediate future for her brother's murder, which she swears she didn't commit.  Sister Mary (Claudette Colbert) is convinced of Valerie's innocence and finds a way to help her fiance Sidney (Philip Friend) get to the convent to see Valerie despite the flood.

With the help of Sister Josephine (Connie Gilchrist), who has a habit of hoarding old newspapers for various uses, Sister Mary researches the trial and eventually comes to a startling realization which sheds new light on the case.

The story's theatrical roots show at times, but the adaptation by Oscar Saul and Andrew Solt manages to "open up" the story at some points, and even in the scenes where one has a sense of watching a filmed play, it's so well constructed and performed that it doesn't really matter.  The film's 84 minutes fly by.

Colbert, who is in a majority of the scenes, is excellent as the perfectionist nurse who suddenly seems unable to stick to the rigid discipline she expects of her staff.  A tragedy lurking in Sister Mary's background is part of the impetus for her to continue pursuing the truth of Valerie's case.

Blyth is also excellent as a woman who has adopted a hard protective shell to cope with a nightmare, the impending end of her life.  The scene near the end where she finally breaks down and tells her fiance she doesn't want to die is deeply moving.

Gladys Cooper is also strong as the Mother Superior, who alternates between cautioning Sister Mary and encouraging her.  

As was the case the first time around, I love Connie Gilchrist, who has a nice big role as Sister Mary's assistant detective.  Gilchrist was always a welcome name in movie credits, and this is one of her best roles.

The fine cast is rounded out by Michael Pate, Anne Crawford, Robert Douglas, Norma Varden, and John Abbott.

Special note goes to the set designers, who created a fascinating setting.  I especially loved the huge kitchen and wished I could have explored it! 

THUNDER ON THE HILL was directed by Douglas Sirk.  It was filmed in black and white by William Daniels.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is an excellent print with a strong soundtrack.  This Blu-ray is a true pleasure to watch.

Disc extras are the trailer and two additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

The previously reviewed films in this collection are flawed, but I found them entertaining nonetheless and will watch them again, and I consider THUNDER ON THE HILL the gem of the set.  I quite enjoyed this group of relatively lesser-known movies and recommend The Dark Side of Cinema II for fans of '50s crime films.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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Farewell to Captain von Trapp

Sad news today: Christopher Plummer has passed away at the age of 91.

It's hard to express how important THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965) has been over the course of my life; it was the key film of my childhood and continues to be one of a trio of films I consider my all-time favorite.

I have countless happy SOUND OF MUSIC memories spread over a lifetime, and Plummer was an integral part of the film's success.

His career, of course, lasted for decades; he was on screen in multiple films as recently as 2019, including the popular KNIVES OUT (2019).  But for me, he will always be Captain von Trapp.

So long, farewell.

Related Posts: Charmian Carr, 1942-2016; Heather Menzies: 1949-2017.

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Tonight's Movie: Harvest Love (2017)

Time for another movie from Hallmark!

I still have (many!) Hallmark Christmas films in my "watch" stack, but this time around I watched one of the network's "Fall Harvest" films from a few years ago, HARVEST LOVE (2017).

Jen Lilley (USS CHRISTMAS) stars as Dr. Luna Gilson, a young general surgeon at a Seattle hospital.

The widowed Luna realizes that her work load has resulted in her becoming too distanced from her eight-year-old son, Andy (Brenden Sunderland). She impulsively uses vacation time to spend Andy's fall school break at her family's pear farm.

Luna's parents (Lini Evans and Barry Levy) have been working out of the country, so the family farmhouse is sitting empty, while the farm is managed by Will Nash (Ryan Paevey).  

Luna enjoys reconnecting with both her childhood love of the area and with Andy, who quickly takes to the farm and the small-town lifestyle. And although Luna and Will's relationship initially gets off to an awkward start, they seem to be developing a special connection as well...

This was a pleasant 84-minute family drama featuring leads with good chemistry; they have an easy rapport as they get to know one another. Will's family lost their farm in the recession; between his farm loss and her early widowhood, Will and Luna have weathered traumatic incidents, but they have similar attitudes toward life, trying to rebuild positively.

Paevey is charming as the farmer with a secret project, working on growing a new hybrid fruit, and I really like Lilley; she's convincing as a woman comfortable with competition, whether it's putting her surgical skills to work carving a pumpkin or joining in a parent-child baseball game. (Luna's competitive spirit gets the better of her when she first meets Will and they have a disagreement about who should be first to cross a one-lane bridge.) My only criticism is I think Lilley giggled a bit too much in this, but that's something I can live with.

HARVEST LOVE was directed by Christie Will Wolf. It was filmed by William McKnight. As with many of the Hallmark films, Canada, in this case specifically Vancouver, stands in for the U.S.

HARVEST LOVE is available on DVD. (Update: This film will also be out on a two-movie DVD with the 2020 film JUST MY TYPE, starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Brett Dalton, in September 2021.)

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Quick Preview of TCM in April

Thanks to a schedule posted by MovieCollectorOhio, I'm able to share a preview of the April schedule on Turner Classic Movies.

April will feature the network's annual 31 Days of Oscar series. The Oscar festival, which has been held in February for the last few years, was moved to April this year to coincide with the Oscar ceremony which is currently planned for April 25th.

31 Days of Oscar will run from April 1st through May 1st, with the final film airing in the early morning hours of May 2nd.

The films shown during "Oscar Month" don't tend to vary a great deal, as every film shown was nominated for or won the Academy Award, so instead TCM "changes up" the way the films are presented. This year TCM is bringing back its "Oscars A to Z" schedule last used in 2017.

The month begins with ADAM'S RIB (1949) on April 1st and concludes at the beginning of May with Z (1969).

While there typically aren't a great many new discoveries during the 31 Days of Oscar for longtime film fans, it's a month filled quality viewing. It's an especially excellent time for newer film enthusiasts to watch some wonderful classic cinema.

As usual, Noir Alley, Silent Sunday Nights, and other regular TCM franchises go on vacation for Oscars month.

I'll have more on the April schedule posted here on or before April 1st. In the meantime, John Garfield is currently the February Star of the Month, and Doris Day will be featured in March.

Update: For more on TCM in April 2021, please visit TCM in April: 31 Days of Oscar Highlights.

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Tonight's Movie: Call It a Day (1937)

Yesterday was the birthday of Bonita Granville, who was born in Chicago in 1923.

In Bonita's honor I pulled out CALL IT A DAY (1937), a film I've never seen before in which she played a supporting role.

CALL IT A DAY is a somewhat unusual film for the often hard-edged Warner Bros., a London-set family comedy based on a play by Dodie Smith (I CAPTURE THE CASTLE, THE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS). 

Ian Hunter and Frieda Inescort star as Roger and Dorothy Hilton, who have been married for 22 years and have three teenaged children: Catherine (Olivia de Havilland), Martin (Peter Willes), and Ann (Granville).

The episodic film follows the adventures of various family members one fine spring day, as Dorothy is unexpectedly wooed by the brother (Roland Young) of a friend (Alice Brady), while accountant Roger has an awkward, very tame flirtation with an actress (Marcia Ralston), but flees home when he thinks she wants to take things further.

Catherine spends most of the day crying over her unrequited love for a married artist (Walter Woolf King), and Martin finds romance with next-door neighbor Joan (Anita Louise).  By the end of an adventurous day, filled with thoughts of love and romance, everyone is back home and life settles down once more into its pleasant rhythms.

CALL IT A DAY is only a so-so film, as both the direction of Archie Mayo and Casey Robinson's screenplay could have been less frenetic, yet simultaneously the movie needed a little more "oomph" to make it more interesting.  

That said, I found it a pleasant enough 90 minutes thanks to the fine cast. Though Hunter sometimes played leads, notably in melodramas opposite Kay Francis, and Inescort had a particularly good costarring role in BEAUTY FOR THE ASKING (1939), it was a treat to see them front and center, paired as a loving husband and wife.  

Inescort may have been half a dozen names down in the cast, but it was really her movie, and I quite enjoyed her as the mother who is shocked and flattered to have another man propose marriage.  (It's a long story...)  Inescort was only a dozen years older than her movie son and 15 years older than de Havilland, but with a little gray added to her hair she's believable as their mother.

Aside from her performance, it was fun to muse on what it would have been like to have a cook, housekeeper, and maid, leaving the lady of the house with plenty of time to go to the theatre for a matinee!

The film's other scene stealer is Granville as the exuberant youngest daughter.  de Havilland's part, which requires her to spend copious amounts of time acting silly and crying, doesn't amount to much, and while Anita Louise looks absolutely lovely, there's not a great deal to her role either.  

Despite underwritten characters, the overall effect of the film is positive, even if it's not quite what it might have been.  I liked the cast and found them enjoyable company.

The movie is notable for the film debut of a favorite character actress, Mary Field, who racked up scores of film and TV credits over the next couple decades.  Here Field plays Hunter's secretary.  Some of her other notable roles included OUT OF THE PAST (1947), where she's the proprietress of Marny's Diner; MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947), where she's the adoptive mother of the little Dutch girl who visits Kris Kringle; and FOUR GUNS TO THE BORDER (1954), where she's a feisty dressmaker in a frontier town.  Most recently I've seen her in WAKE ISLAND (1942), in a single scene as the governess for the widowed Brian Donlevy's young daughter.

CALL IT A DAY was filmed in black and white by Ernest Haller. The supporting cast includes Una O'Connor, Peggy Wood, Beryl Mercer, and Elsa Buchanan.

The movie is available in a very nice print on a Warner Archive DVD, initially released in 2009, the Archive's first year of operation.

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Tonight's Movie: The Pajama Game (1957) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

One of my all-time favorite musicals, THE PAJAMA GAME (1957), has just been released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive, and it's never looked better.

I most recently saw THE PAJAMA GAME at UCLA's Billy Wilder Theater in 2018.  At that time Warner Bros. was working to clear tangled rights issues; I'm not certain whether they only related to theatrical screenings, as a DVD has long been available -- which was reissued by the Warner Archive in 2019 -- but we were told that UCLA had to write checks to 11 different entities in order to show the movie that night!

When I saw the movie then, for the first time in years, I termed it "pure joy," and it certainly is.  I was more than ready to revisit again now, just two and a half years later.  I especially value films which lift the spirits, as we approach nearly a year of being "locked down," and THE PAJAMA GAME is an absolute jolt of sunshine.

THE PAJAMA GAME has a fairly unique setting and story, as pajama factory superintendent Sid (John Raitt) and union rep Babe (Doris Day) find love, which is threatened by an employee strike for a seven and a half cent an hour pay increase.

That's pretty much the entire story, but oh, what fun!  The score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross is one of my all-time favorites, with song after song bringing a big smile to my face: "I'm Not At All In Love," "Hey There," "Hernando's Hideaway," and "Small Talk." Few musical scenes rival "There Once Was a Man" for pure happy...unless it's this musical's "Once a Year Day"!

I love Day and Raitt together; Raitt and a majority of the cast were imported from the Broadway production, with Doris replacing original cast member Janis Paige, who had costarred in Doris's very first movie, ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS (1948).

It's no surprise that Day absolutely nails the role, and I really like her pairing with Raitt. Some critics complain he wasn't movie material, but I think he's terrific.  His "dictaphone duet" during "Hey There" is another high point.

The supporting cast includes Carol Haney, Reta Shaw, Barbara Nichols, and Eddie Foy Jr.

THE PAJAMA GAME was directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen.  It was filmed by Harry Stradling Sr..  The running time is 101 quick minutes.

A fun note about "Once a Year Day," which was filmed in Hollenbeck Park here in Southern California: Most of the number is carefully shot to avoid the palm trees, which would be out of place in the film's Midwest setting, but if a viewer looks closely they can be spotted here and there.

The colors really pop on the Warner Archive's new Blu-ray; during the opening credits I might have exclaimed "Wow!"  This film has not always been shown in the best-looking prints, and it really looks -- and sounds -- great.

Extras on Warner Archive's Blu-ray are the trailer, a deleted song, and a song selection menu.  

I love this movie so much that I'd also like to suggest readers check out Glenn Erickson's rave review; he begins, "New superlatives are needed to express just how good is this wonderful Americana musical..."  Every paragraph which follows brims with enthusiasm.

THE PAJAMA GAME is most highly recommended.  Smiles guaranteed.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Amazon or from any online retailers where Blu-rays are sold. 

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TCM Star of the Month: John Garfield

The February Star of the Month on Turner Classic Movies is John Garfield.  

This is Garfield's third time to be so honored, but it's been quite a while since he was last celebrated back in February 2003.  

His first time as Star of the Month was in November 1994, just a few months after TCM went on the air in April of that year.

30 Garfield films will be shown spread across Tuesday evenings this month.  Air times for various time zones may be found on TCM's online schedule.

Below is the complete Garfield lineup.  Please click on any hyperlinked title to read my full-length review.

February 2nd

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946)

FORCE OF EVIL (1948)

HE RAN ALL THE WAY (1951)

NOBODY LIVES FOREVER (1946)

EAST OF THE RIVER (1940) (also reviewed separately here)

OUT OF THE FOG (1941)

BLACKWELL'S ISLAND (1939)

February 9th

THE SEA WOLF (1941) (also reviewed here)

BODY AND SOUL (1947)

WE WERE STRANGERS (1949)

THE BREAKING POINT (1950)

JUAREZ (1939)

THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL (1939)

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (1944)

February 16th

HUMORESQUE (1946)

SATURDAY'S CHILDREN (1940)

FOUR DAUGHTERS (1938)

FOUR WIVES (1939)

DAUGHTERS COURAGEOUS (1939)

TORTILLA FLAT (1942)

CASTLE ON THE HUDSON (1940)

DUST BE MY DESTINY (1939)

February 23rd

PRIDE OF THE MARINES (1945)

DESTINATION TOKYO (1943)

AIR FORCE (1943)

THE FALLEN SPARROW (1943)

DANGEROUSLY THEY LIVE (1941)

FLOWING GOLD (1940)

THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS (1943)

HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN (1944)

My favorites from this list are topped by FOUR DAUGHTERS, FOUR WIVES, and DAUGHTERS COURAGEOUS.  I've also especially enjoyed THE FALLEN SPARROW, PRIDE OF THE MARINES, and NOBODY LIVES FOREVER.

For more on TCM in February 2021, please visit my posts TCM in February: Highlights and Quick Preview of TCM in February along with TCM's online schedule.

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