As summer weather continues and the temperatures rise to the level commonly referred to as a scorcher, there are many ways you can beat or enjoy the heat. One way is of course to cool off in the water, be it a lake, the ocean, a swimming pool, or perhaps your neighbors bird bath, if they happen to be away. Where these options are not available, you may choose to stay inside as much as possible, with the shades drawn and the air conditioner blasting. There is of course, the option of sitting in front an open refrigerator, or the methods I often employed as a child, going out beneath the shade of a tree, or running through the sprinkler. While all of these options have their own merits, there is another I would like to propose, which, while not actually cooling your body, has proven to be a very effective way to enjoy the summer weather while it lasts.
Esther Williams, poised, competent and lovely, in , out, or under the water.
I am referring to the colorful, cool, and relaxing experience of watching an Ester Williams water spectacular motion picture. For those of you unfamiliar with this iconic Hollywood motion picture star, there is no better time than a hot, hot summer day or sultry evening to pour yourself, and perhaps a loved one, if you are fortunate enough to have a loved one handy, a refreshing beverage, collapse into a comfortable chair, and enjoy the splashing, synchronized swimming, and technicolor glory of an Esther William film; and there is no better place to start this rewarding pursuit than with her first starring film, Bathing Beauty. This 1944 MGM release features Esther looking lovely and athletic in a bathing suit, with some great water numbers that will transport you to cool poolside. Bathing Beauty also stars Red Skelton, who is both hilarious and full of pathos as Esther’s falsely discredited love interest. Basil Rathbone, familiar to many from his role as the villainous Sir Guy of Gisbourne in 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood, and from a whole series of pictures playing the brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes, gets a break from his heavy and serious roles to play a likeable cad who starts all the trouble for Red .
Jacqueline Dalya fumes as Basil Rathbone schemes in the 1944 MGM motion picture “Bathing Beauty.”
With romance, comedy, music, brilliant costumes and sets and of course Esther Williams swimming and diving, in cool, refreshing water Bathing Beauty is a great way to the make the best of summer heat.
The water ballet from MGM’s “Bathing Beauty>”
Speaking of music, BathingBeauty delivers with a top-notch roster of musical entertainment. Not one, but two big name bands, Harry James and his Music Makers along with arguably the top vocalist of the era, Helen Forrest, and Xavier Cugat and his orchestra, with Lina Romay! Plus, not one, but two top individual musical names: organist Ethel Smith, and singer Carlos Ramirez. Besides her usual wizardry at the organ, we also have the treat of hearing Ethel Smith utter the immortal line, thought by some to be attributed to an unpublished work of William Shakespeare, “Cheese it, here comes Piccolo Pete.” Just one of many minor touches that add to the enormous entertainment value of this film. One of the musical highlights of Bathing Beauty is the rendition of Loch Lomond, adapted to a contemporary swing score, performed by Red Skelton and an ever growing ensemble, and ultimately played by Harry James and His Music Makers.
The water ballet and synchronized swimming extravaganza from Bathing Beauty.
If you can’t get to the water, get to a TV monitor and cool off with Esther Williams and the entire all star cast of MGM’s 1944 technicolor treat Bathing Beauty.
With her beautiful smile and easy comfort in the water, Esther Williams evokes so much that is pleasant about hot summer days. Her films are a genre all to themselves, and are a great way to enjoy summer while it lasts.
Is the best Halloween flick of all time on this list? For those who like their scares punctuated with laughter, and their chills without graphic gore, it just may be. If you haven’t seen any of the films on this short list, you should watch them all soon, and if you have seen them, but not in a while, it is time to ramp up the quality meter on your viewing and enjoy great story telling, outstanding performances, and fun films to enjoy now or any time of the year.
1. Arsenic and Old Lace.
Released in 1944, starring Cary Grant and Priscilla Lane. A hilarious story, based on the play by Joseph Kesselring, with outstanding performances by the full cast, superb direction by Frank Capra, plus the extra atmospheric bonus of taking place on Halloween night. This motion picture ranks as one of the funniest films ever for many movie buffs, and would be worth watching any time of the year. With eccentric aunts, a murderous and deranged brother and his dubious doctor sidekick on the run from the law, a cousin who thinks he is Theodore Roosevelt, and a host of other characters, all richly portrayed with superb comic timing, expert direction, and brilliant screenplay by Julius and Philip Epstein; plus richly detailed and atmospheric sets, Arsenic and Old Lace is a masterful motion picture that is full of laughs from beginning to end, while also providing some genuinely chilling moments and a few surprises along the way. With Peter Lorre, Raymond Massey, Edward Everett Horton, Jack Carson, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, John Alexander, James
Priscilla Lane, Jean Adair, Cary Grant and Josephine Hull in Arsenic and Old Lace, 1944
Gleason.
Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre make an interesting discovery in Arsenic and Old Lace, 1944
2. You’ll Find Out
This is a fun and music -filled film that features a trio of horror movie legends from the 1940’s: Boris Karloff (the original Frankenstein monster), Bela Lugosi (the most iconic Dracula), and Peter Lorre, perhaps most familiar for his role in a decidedly non-horror film, Casablanca. The top billed name in this zany romp is big band leader Kay Kyser. Besides fronting one of the most successful bands of the era, Kyser made several motion pictures, and he and the orchestra had their own radio show. Early in the film we are treated to a glimpse of a simulated live studio broadcast, including songs, gags, and audience participation. This motion picture delivers a host of horror flick staples: a creepy mansion with secret passages, a howling thunderstorm, and objects that seem to glow and float through the air to name but a few. Kyser and the band perform several musical numbers, there is nice singing, especially solos by the lovely Ginny Simms, and a duet with Ginny Simms and Harry Babbitt. Karloff, Lugosi and Lorre are in top form, and the rest of the cast deliver for a scary, musical and funny Halloween movie treat.
You’ll Find Out 1940 Directed by Gordon Douglas. Screenplay by James V. Kern. Story by David Butler and James V. Kern. Special material by Monte Brice, Andrew Bennison, and R.T.M. Scott. With Kay Kyser, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Helen Parrish, Dennis O’Keefe, Alma Kruger, The Kay Kyser Band featuring Ginny Simms, Harry Babbitt. M.A. Bogue (Ish Kabibble), Sully Mason
Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff menace in You’ll Find Out, 1940
3. Hold That Ghost
1941 with Abbott and Costello.
The comedy duo of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello made several comedy-mysteries in their long film career. Along the way they managed to include many iconic Hollywood monsters in their films, such as Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, (in which they met not only the Frankenstein monster, but the Wolfman, and Dracula too!), Abbott and Costello meet the Invisible Man, Abbott and Costello meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Abbott and Costello meet the Mummy.These would all make fine Halloween viewing, but Hold That Ghost arguably shows the boys at their best, and also gets a huge lift from the tremendous comic talent of actress Joan Davis, the music of the Andrews Sisters, and one of the more clever scripts of the duo’s motion pictures. Three Stooges fans will also get a kick out of seeing Shemp Howard in a brief role as a soda jerk. The film includes plenty of comedy-horror ingredients: a deserted, creepy house with the requisite hidden passages, a stormy night, people disappearing (and reappearing and disappearing again!), plus a host of silly and chilly sight gags that not many motion pictures could get away with, but that work just fine on screen with Bud, Lou and Joan. Directed by Arthur Lubin. Screenplay Robert Lees, Fred Rinaldo, and John Grant. Story by Robert Lees and Fred Rinaldo. Also starring Richard Carlson, Evelyn Ankers, Mischa Auer, Marc Lawrence, Russell Hicks, William Davidson, Ted Lewis.
Joan Davis and Lou Costello have any uneasy feeling in Hold That Ghost, 1941
4. Murder He Says
1945 Starring Fred MacMurray, Helen Walker, Marjorie Main. Directed by George Marshall. Screenplay by Lou Breslow. Story by Jack Moffitt.
The last film on this short list of gore-free Halloween movies may not have the same Halloween atmosphere as the others, but like Arsenic and Old Lace it is an exceptional and funny movie, any time of the year, and it does share most of the comedy-mystery ingredients. For starters there is the creepy old house, with secret passages, plus mysterious hounds that “light up and make for the woods.” The villains are in the persons of the treacherous Fleagle family, headed by Marjorie Main, who will stop at nothing to find the hidden bank loot they believe is stashed on the premises. For those who may remember Fred MacMurray mostly for his later Disney films and on television, he was quite a leading man earlier in his career, so be prepared to enjoy a much more deft and dynamic performance than those later roles demanded. Murder He Says is filled with laughs, surprises, and chills, and also in it Marjorie Main may be the first person on screen to speak the line “Do you want to live forever?”
Also starring Jean Heather, Porter Hall, Peter Whitney, Mabel Paige, Barbara Pepper.
Helen Walker, Fred MacMurray and uncredited chickens in Murder He Says, 1945
Porter Hall, Helen Walker, Marjorie Main, Peter Whitney, Jean Heather and Mabel Paige have Fred MacMurray all tied up in Murder He Says, 1945
Full cast lists and crews can be found at: imdb.com.
If you like the zany, faced-paced feel of Abbott and Costello films like Hold That Ghost, you will probably love this quick, easy story that is also perfect to enjoy at Halloween: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L7YSP9V
Mystery at the River’s Edge is available in paperback and e-book formats and is pure fun!
Laughter, Warmth, Character, and (a touch of) Music
If you want a good movie to watch this Christmas season, one of the all time best is Christmas in Connecticut released by Warner Brothers in 1945. With an outstanding cast headed by Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan, this is a motion picture that continues to delight, year after year and viewing after viewing. If you haven’t yet seen this picture, watch it; you are in for a treat.
Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan
What, no Santa?
Christmas in Connecticut is not a Christmas movie in the sense many viewers may have come to expect. There are no flying reindeer, no elves, no Santa, no talking snowmen, nor any other fictional Christmas characters. As such this may not be the kind of motion picture that will hold the interest of young children, but it is a film you can watch comfortably with family members of all ages. Nor does Christmas in Connecticut tell the historical story of Mary and Joseph and their journey through Roman occupied Judea to Bethlehem; of shepherds, or angels, or the birth of Jesus. So if it is neither a whimsical Christmas fairy tale, nor a fact-based telling of the Nativity, what makes Christmas in Connecticut one of the all time best Christmas movies? In the first place it is funny. At the heart of Christmas in Connecticut is a hilarious and charming romantic comedy. Mistaken or concealed identity is an element in some of the funniest motion pictures, and this device is expertly crafted into Christmas in Connecticut by screenwriters Lionel Houser and Adele Comandini , from an original story by Aileen Hamilton.
Dennis Morgan and Barbara Stanwyck enjoy a Christmas sleighride.
More than that…
Besides being a great romantic comedy, Christmas in Connecticut is a depiction of America during a time of great national crisis, the Second World War. For those of you who do not want to watch a war film, fear not, the opening sequence where the ship on which Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) and Seaman Sinkewicz (Frank Jenks) are serving is torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat is the only combat scene in the picture. (Was any pun intending in naming the character Sinkewicz?) From a life raft adrift in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the settings move to more peaceful domestic surroundings: a Naval Hospital, a restaurant, several residences, and a town hall, plus several brief but evocative snowy outdoor scenes. Despite these peaceful surroundings so far from combat zones, reminders of the war and the effects it is having on the lives of the characters in this picture are ever present: many of the men and some of the women seen in public settings are in uniform, the event held at the town hall is a dance and war bond drive, main character Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) pretends to be the mother of first one, then another infant while their real mothers are working at a nearby plant to support the war effort.
A black and white time machine to the greatest generation facing their crisis
This depiction of America is one of the things that makes Christmas in Connecticut such a worthwhile film to watch. Set against the backdrop of Christmas time in New York and Connecticut, with much of the story taking place on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, Christmas in Connecticut is a story of the greatest generation of Americans told by the greatest generation of Americans during the time of our nations greatest crisis. There is a sense of duty portrayed in all the characters of this picture, it is not heavy-handed, nor do I believe it to be an intentional theme of the picture; instead it appears to be the natural portrayal of Americans at the time. Foremost are the men in the military who are risking their lives; and the nurses in the naval hospital who care for the wounded veterans. There is the headstrong and domineering publishing magnate Alexander Yardley(Sidney Greenstreet), who mixes duty with the desire to increase his circulation, to Yardley’s daughter, who is never seen onscreen, but whose war work requires her to stay in Washington and miss Christmas with her father. One of the most important and funny characters is Elizabeth Lane’s persistent suitor John Sloan (Reginald Gardiner), who reluctantly agrees to assist Lane in the deception of Yardley in order to prevent Lane’s supervisor and cohort in deception, Dudley Beecham (Robert Shayne) from loosing his job. Then there are the mothers who leave their children to go work in the war plant, to the housekeeper Norah( Una O’Connor) who cares for the children while the mothers are working, to the citizens of the town who request the honor of the presence of convalescing war hero Jefferson Jones at their war bond drive and dance: Christmas in Connecticut provides a long cast of varied and amusing and imperfect Americans who recognize their duty and who do it.
Sydney Greenstreet (facing camera) and S.Z.Sakall
Americans at work
Another outstanding aspect of Christmas in Connecticut is the way it portrays Americans working in so many scenes in the picture. Characters are portrayed as busy, but not burdened by their work. Just as in the sense of duty mentioned above, this appears to be a genuinely natural portrayal of Americans at the time. Besides the previously mentioned mothers working at the war plant, we also see a woman courier delivering a package to Elizabeth Lane at her New York apartment. A small touch, but this opportunity for added depth could easily have been overlooked . By crafting in this small, brief detail the films makers have allowed the motion picture to accurately portray the shift in the make up of the nations work force as women stepped forward to fill the jobs that had previously been done by men now serving in the military.
Restaurant Felix
A short distance from Elizabeth Lane’s apartment is Restaurant Felix, who’s owner “Uncle” Felix Bassenak (S.Z. Sakall) is a good friend and supplier of recipes to Lane, a magazine columnist who has become a household name as America’s foremost homemaker, wife, and cook. Only one problem, she isn’t married and she can’t cook!
S.Z. Sakall shows Barbara Stanwyck how to flip flop the flop flips. Scene from Sloans kitchen at his Connecticut home.
At Restaurant Felix we see more portrayals of Americans at work. The central figure is Felix himself, presiding with proprietary fussiness over the restaurant that bears his name, demonstrating for a group of waiters how to toss a salad just so, lighting a cigarette for a guest, then a moment later, with a mild scold, removing the cigarette from the mouth of one of his musicians.
Many motion picture laughs have been generated over the years by portrayals of New York City Cabbies, newsboys, waiters, busboys, and holders of various other vocations that are not high on the education required list. These laughs are often achieved by the use of a very distinct and exaggerated New York accent, or some colorful misuse of vocabulary or grammar. Christmas in Connecticut however, presents us with a reminder of the dignity of work, and a respect for all who work, no matter what position they hold. Felix, in his thick eastern European accent, asks his employee Sam (Emmett Smith) , who is busy sorting and stacking glassware, the meaning of the word “catastrophe.” Instead of a comical accent or demonstration of ignorance, Sam defines the word for Felix in perfect American English, even referencing the Greek origin of the term.
Robert Shayne. Reginald Gardiner, S.Z Sakall, and Barbara Stanwyck at Restaurant Felix
The whole scene at Restaurant Felix is one of those wonderful motion picture experiences that make you want to go there and have a beverage at the bar, move over to the buffet table and load up your plate with, among other things, horse radish and pickled walnuts, then sit down for dinner to the mildly exotic sound of Hungarian music being played just a few feet away.
Home in Connecticut
Restaurant Felix is just the first of the superb settings that make you want to be there. The other is the Connecticut home of architect John Sloan. The audience is treated to spending much of the picture in and around this home. Our first view of the house is an exterior shot as a large dog leaps over a garden wall in the foreground while at the top of the frame a horse drawn sleigh comes into view from around the curve on the snow covered drive.
Front view of John Sloan’s Connecticut home.
The interiors are just as inviting, and one wonders if John Sloan would acknowledge with approval the high level of detail shown in the set design. The living room is dominated by a huge, open fireplace, while at the far end of the room is a grand piano sitting next to a towering Christmas tree.
Barbara Stanwyck trims the tree while Dennis Morgan sings and plays the piano.
The rest of the house is just as fascinating and contributes to the successful story telling done by all involved in this motion picture. Most notably, there is the kitchen, where Yardley and Jones sneak down for a late night snack after everyone else has gone to bed, and where Elizabeth Lane flips her one and only flap jack; also the downstairs guest room and bath, where children left for the day by their mothers have naps and are bathed and do not swallow large watches; and the den, with it’s smaller, more intimate fireplace, and enigmatic bar, under which the characters are required to duck in order to enter. Every year we wonder how John Sloan could have overlooked this detail!
Characters and character
There is an outdoor scene, on Christmas Eve, with Elizabeth Lane and Jefferson Jones that again demonstrates the craft with which this story is told, and how when done well, a great deal about a character can be demonstrated with only a few words. To set the scene, Jefferson Jones is attracted to Elizabeth Lane, whom he believes to be married to his host, John Sloan. Lane , who is not really married, but is putting on the deception so her boss Yardley will not know that her magazine persona is a fraud, senses Jones attraction to her, and is also attracted to Jones. After a short walk they stop to sit on a bench. Elizabeth Lane asks Jones if he is the kind of a man that would kiss a married woman? “No,” he answers, “But I wish I was.” Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan create such an on screen chemistry that the audience can feel the yearning these characters have for each other. Knowing she is not married, she wants him to kiss her, also knowing she is not really married, the audience wants him to kiss her. Jones however does not know she is not really married, and no matter how much he wants to, he cannot kiss her. Such a brief exchange, and such an enduring demonstration of character. There is no more discussion, no reiteration to make sure the audience “got it”, just a momentary silence before they agree to resume their walk. There are gems in the history of motion pictures. Moments that may be fleeting, that may be a word, or an unsaid word, or glance, or a turning away, that convey so much of the character of the character and the craft of the filmmaker. This moment is one of those gems.
As you look for movies to watch this Christmas season, I hope you will make it a point to sit down and enjoy the 1945 production of Christmas in Connecticut. It combines laughter, warmth, great performances and story telling, and a wonderful ambiance of snowy landscapes, crackling fires, glittering Christmas trees and just a touch of song to help kindle that sense of magic so many of us love and look forward to at this beautiful time of year.
If you enjoy stories like Christmas in Connecticut, you may also like the short novels of R.K.Morris, including his new Christmas Classic, Friends, Snowmen Countrymen, be of Good Cheer. Browse books by R.K.Morris here: amazon.com/author/morrisrk
