Category: Humor

Hog Wild (1930)

Director: James Parrott

Screenplay: H. M. Walker, Stan Laurel

Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy.

Tagline: Amnesia! Mr. Hardy was beginning to forget things but Mr. Laurel had no fear of losing his memory – As a matter of fact, Mr. Laurel never had a memory to lose.

The Plot…

Stan and Ollie plan to spend the afternoon together having fun.  But first, Ollie’s wife insists that Ollie install the radio antenna on their roof.

Oliver and Hardy on a rooftop installing an antenna!  What could go wrong?

But is using the car as the base of a ladder that Ollie has climbed to the top of the best idea?  Let the go times roll!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Hog Wild (1930) clocks in at just 19 laugh filled minutes.

Stan and Ollie on a rooftop — deal me in.

Hog Wild (1930) rates 5 of 5 stars.

Annie Hall (1977)

Director: Woody Allen

Screenplay: Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman

Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Shelley Duvall, Janet Margolin, Colleen Dewhurst, Hy Anzell, Russell Horton, Dick Cavett, Mark Lenard, John Glover, Bernie Styles, Jeff Goldblum, Shelley Hack, Beverly D’Angelo, Sigourney Weaver, Walter Bernstein and Christopher Walken.

Tagline: A nervous romance.

The Plot…

Alvy Singer (Allen) looks back on his romance with Annie Hall (Keaton) trying to figure out where it went wrong.  There are many possibilities.  Alvy is a twice divorced, middle-aged, Jewish stand-up comedian from New York who over-intellectualizes.  Annie is younger, never married, insecure, WASP from the Midwest who dreams of being a singer.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Annie Hall was nominated for five 1978 Academy Awards and won four…

• Nominee for Best Actor in a Leading Role – Woody Allen
• Winner for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen – Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman
• Winner for Best Director – Woody Allen
• Winner for Best Actress in a Leading Role – Diane Keaton
• Winner for Best Picture – Charles H. Joffe

Sigourney Weaver’s feature film debut in a non-speaking role as Alvy’s date near the end of the movie.  Shelley Hack also made her film debut in Annie Hall in as a “street stranger”.

Alvy’s (Woody Allen’s) sneezing into the cocaine was reportedly an unscripted accident.

With Annie Hall Woody Allen became the first person to give an Oscar nominated performance in a film for which he won Best Director.  Interestingly enough, Annie Hall features Woody Allen’s only Oscar nominated performance and the only film directed by him to win a Best Picture Academy Award.

I liked Annie Hall, but it didn’t resonate with me like the majority of folks who love it.  Your mileage, as always, could vary.

Annie Hall (1977) rates 4 of 5 stars.

Hold That Ghost (1941)

Director:  Arthur Lubin

Screenplay:  Robert Lees, Fred Rinaldo, John Grant

Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Richard Carlson, Joan Davis, Evelyn Ankers, Mischa Auer, Marc Lawrence, Russell Hicks, The Andrews Sisters and Shemp Howard.

Tagline:  A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO! Your blues won’t stand a ghost of a chance…as they top “Buck Privates” and “In the Navy.”!

The Plot…

Chuck (Abbott) and Ferdinand (Costello) dream of someday owning their own nightclub.  Recently they were fired from their jobs as waiters in a high class hot spot.  Now the boys are gas station attendants.

While servicing a car, the police recognize the auto’s owner, gangster Moose Mattson.  Moose takes off with Chuck and Ferdinand in the car.  A high speed shootout takes place.  Moose is mortally wounded.

Chuck and Ferdinand are surprised to learn that Moose’s will leaves them all of Moose’s possessions.  The will specified that whoever was with Moose when he dies gets everything.   Chuck and Ferdinand are now the owners of the Forrester’s Club, a big old spooky rundown tavern.  The place was a hotspot during prohibition.  It is full of secret rooms and hidden passages.

Chuck, Ferdinand and three others find themselves alone at the creepy joint on a dark, stormy night.  Things take a turn for the worse when some of Moose’s gangster friends show up looking for Moose’s hidden loot.  These mugs are more than willing to kill to get what they want.

Let the fun times roll!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Hold That Ghost went into production with the working title Oh, Charlie.   Filming was well underway before the release of Abbott and Costello’s Buck Privates.  When Buck Privates became a huge hit, the pressure was on.  The studio decided to rush into production another service comedy, In The Navy featuring Abbott and Costello.  When that film was a hit, the studio decided to rework Oh, Charlie into Hold That Ghost.  A new opening and closing featuring The Andrews Sisters was added since they appeared in both Buck Privates and In The Navy.  Additional scenes were created and some were reshot.  The changes paid off since Hold That Ghost was a hit.

Hold That Ghost (1941) rates 4 of 5 stars.

To Be Or Not To Be (1942)

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Screenplay:  Edwin Justus Mayer, Ernst Lubitsch (uncredited); story by Melchior Lengyel

Stars: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges, Sig Ruman, Charles Halton, George Lynn, Henry Victor, Halliwell Hobbes, Rudolph Anders and Robert Stack.

Tagline:  We announce the presentation of Carole Lombard’s last picture. An exciting romantic comedy keyed to an ever-mounting tempo of suspense. Jack Benny at his best in a surprisingly different comic role.

The Plot…

1942.  World War II rages across Europe.  In Poland, Professor Siletsky, a Nazi spy has a list of fighters in the Polish underground. If Silersky gets the list to Nazis, dozens of fighters will die and the Polish war effort will be crippled.

The only hope is a drama troupe led by Joseph Tura (Benny) and his wife Maria (Lombard).  The troupe plans to impersonate Nazi leadership and take possession of Siletsky’s list.

What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

To Be Or Not To Be was nominated for one 1943 Academy Award…

• Nominee for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture – Werner R. Heymann

Sadly, this was Carole Lombard’s last film.  Lombard, her mother and all on board died in a plane crash on January 16, 1942.  Carole Lombard was 33.  She was on a war bond tour at the time of the crash.

To Be Or Not To Be was released on March 6, 1942.  Jack Benny was so upset that he didn’t attend a preview showing of the film just one week after Lombard’s death.  Benny had also cancelled his weekly radio show the week that Carole Lombard died.

Carole Lombard said making To Be Or Not To Be was the happiest experience she ever had making a film.  Jack Benny said this movie was the only great film.  Ernst Lubitsch felt that To Be Or Not To Be was one of his best films.

Ernst Lubitsch, the film’s co-writer and director wrote the lead with Jack Benny in mind.

To Be Or Not To Be is a classic!

To Be Or Not To Be (1942) rates 5 of 5 stars.

The Life of the Party (1920)

Director:  Joseph Henabery

Screenplay: Walter Woods; based on The Life of the Party by Irvin S. Cobb

Stars:  Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle, Winifred Greenwood, Roscoe Karns, Julia Faye and William Boyd.

Tagline: A fast and festive fun frolic in five acts and forty antics. Filled with gambols, girls and giggles and all fussed up with joy.

The Plot…

Algernon Leary (Arbuckle) is a lawyer approached by Milly Hollister and ladies from the Better Babies League.  Business men from a milk consortium have worked together to drive up the price of milk. Algernon is attracted to Milly and agrees to take on the case.

Judge Voris, who is hearing the case has been secretly paid off by the consortium.  The Judge has his sights on a higher office and discrediting Algernon is first on his list.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The Life of the Party is Arbuckle’s second full length feature.  It lacks to fun and joy of his shorts.

The Life of the Party (1920) rates 2 of 5 stars.