Category: Humor

“Lucky Ghost” aka “Lady Luck” (1942) Starring Mantan Moreland & F.E. Miller / Z-View

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Lucky Ghost aka Lady Luck (1942)

Director:  William Beaudine

Screenplay:  Lex Neal, Vernon Smith

Stars:  Mantan Moreland, F.E. Miller, Maceo Bruce Sheffield and Napoleon Whiting. 

Tagline:  A Thriller-Diller Laff Sensation Feature!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Washington (Moreland) and Jefferson (Miller) are down-on-their-luck friends looking for an opportunity.  When they meet a couple of rich men standing by a limo, they learn that the driver has gone for gas.  Washington entices the men into a dice game.  By the time the driver has returned, Washington has won all of the men’s money, their fancy clothes and the car!

Washington and Jefferson have the driver take them to a nearby country club.  The club is run by a crook named Dr. Brutus Blake (Sheffield).  Blake invites Washington to play in his private gambling room.  There he plans to swindle Washington out of all his cash using crooked dice.  What Blake doesn’t know is that ghosts are watching and don’t like what they’re seeing.

The movie really takes off once Mantan begins playing craps in the club.  He’s hilarious when he’s forced to roll using dice he knows will cause him to lose.  Lady Luck isn’t as funny as Mr. Washington Goes to Town, but this semi-sequel has its moments.

Lucky Ghost aka Lady Luck earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Angel’s Alley” (1948) Starring Leo Gorcey and The Bowery Boys / Z-View

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Angel’s Alley (1948)

Director:  William Beaudine

Screenplay:  Edmond Seward, Tim Ryan, Gerald Schnitzer

Stars:  Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, William ‘Billy’ Benedict, David Gorcey, Nestor Paiva, Benny Bartlett,  John Eldredge and Mary Gordon.

Tagline:  The Bowery Boys Make It Rough On Racketeers!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Slip Mahoney (Gorcey) learns that his cousin is being pressured into stealing cars for Tony Locarno (Paiva), a local crime boss.  Slip decides that the best way to get his cousin out is for Slip to break in… to Locarno’s gang.  Slip will then learn Locarno’s set-up and call the police.  That’s the plan, but since this is a Bowery Boys’ movie, we know how their plans work out…

Angel’s Alley earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Mr. Washington Goes to Town” (1941) Starring Mantan Moreland & F.E. Miller / Z-View

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Mr. Washington Goes to Town (1941)

Director:  Jed Buell, William Beaudine (uncredited)

Screenplay:  Lex Neal from a story by Walter Weems

Stars:  Mantan Moreland, F.E. Miller, Maceo Bruce Sheffield and Marguerite Whitten. 

Tagline: The First All Colored Cast Feature Comedy Ever Made!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Wallingford (Miller) and Schenectady Jones (Moreland) are buddies serving time in the county jail.  Wallingford sees a newspaper article about a rich man who died and left his hotel to any living relative that he may have had. Since the man’s last name was Jones and he was from the same area as Schenectady, Wallingford asks his buddy if he may have been related to the rich old man.  The two discuss the life of luxury that would come from being a rich hotel owner.  As Schenectady falls asleep he dreams…

Miller and Moreland can be favorably compared to Abbott and Costello.  Both duos are funny.  Miller, like Abbott is the brains of the two and takes advantage of his partner.  The difference is that Miller is more of a true friend.  Mantan Moreland is one of the most under-rated comedians in Hollywood.  He has great timing and his line and non-verbal reactions are priceless.

The set-up of owning a hotel presents great opportunities for gags as different guests arrive.  We get a magician, a Lonesome Ranger, a guest with a gorilla, an invisible man, and more.  Each different arrival provides laughs.  The main storyline involves Brutus Blake (Sheffield) looking for money hidden somewhere in the hotel and hoping that midnight arrives before Moreland can pay the balance owed on the hotel’s mortgage.

Mr. Washington Goes to Town earns 4 of 5 stars.

RIP: Leslie Jordan

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Leslie Jordan, the actor, singer, writer and internet sensation, died this morning, the result of a car wreck.  Mr. Jordan’s car hit the side of a building.  Preliminary results indicate that a medical episode may have led to the crash.  Mr. Jordan was 67.

Leslie Jordan moved to Los Angeles in 1982.  Standing just 4’11”, speaking with a strong Southern drawl, and openly gay, Leslie Jordan was a memorable character.  Although he struggled for a few years, in 1986, Leslie Jordan got his first television role on The Fall Guy.   After that ice-breaking role, Mr. Jordan continued to act on television, in feature films, on the stage and he even branched out into writing and singing!

Some of Leslie Jordan television appearances include: The Fall Guy; Night Court; Murphy Brown; Newhart; The People Next Door (10 episodes); Pee-Wee’s Playhouse;  Top of the Heap (6 episodes); Perfect Strangers; Reasonable Doubts (16 episodes); Bodies of Evidence (16 episodes); Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman; Hearts Afire (27 episodes); Coach; Star Trek: Voyager; Wings; The Pretender; Dharma & Greg; Ellen; Maximum Bob; Nash Bridges; Alley McBeal; Boston Public (5 episodes); Monk; Reba; Boston Legal (6 episodes); Hidden Palms (5 episodes); Sordid Lives: The Series (10 episodes); 12 Miles of Bad Road (6 episodes); Desperate Housewives; Supernatural; Con Man (6 episodes); American Horror Story (10 episodes); Will & Grace (17 episodes); Fantasy Island and Call Me Kat (36 episodes).

Some of Leslie Jordan’s feature film appearances include: Moving; Hero; Jason Goes to Hell; Sordid Lives; The Help; Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel; The United States vs Billie Holiday and Until We Meet Again.

In addition to being an accomplished stage actor; Leslie Jordan was also a playwright.  Some of his plays and stage shows include:  Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel; Like a Dog on Linoleum; Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far and My Trip Down the Pink Carpet.

Leslie Jordan was also a singer.  His gospel album Company’s Comin’ was released in 2021.  Mr. Jordan was also a hit on Instagram with 5.9 followers at the time of his death.

Leslie Jordan was probably best known for his recurring role on Will & Grace.  Until his popularity reached the level where he was a well known actor/comedian; Mr. Jordan would appear on the screen and you’d instantly recognize “that funny guy”!  I never saw Leslie Jordan in a role where I didn’t appreciate his performance.  He was especially funny in his many Instagram posts.  He was the kind of Hollywood celebrity that appeared genuine.  I’m going to miss seeing him pop up in new roles, but I am thankful for his many, many performances that will be around forever.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Leslie Jordan’s family, friends and fans.

“Harlem on the Prairie” (1937) Starring Herb Jeffries / Z-View

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Harlem on the Prairie (1937)

Director:  Sam Newfield, Jed Buell

Screenplay:  Fred Myton, F.E. Miller (additional dialogue)

Stars:  Herb Jeffries, F.E. Miller, Mantan Moreland, Consuelo Harris, Maceo Bruce Sheffield and Spencer Williams

Tagline:  KING OF THE JUKE BOX AND RADIO NOW SEEN IN FULL FEATURE!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Jeff Kincaid (Jeffries) is riding to the next town when he comes across Doc Clayburn’s (Williams) medicine show.  Kincaid joins them for dinner and a few songs.  Kincaid and Clayburn’s daughter, Connie (Harris) are obviously attracted to each other.  What no one knows is that outlaws have their eye on Clayburn.  Years ago, Clayburn ran with a group of bank robbers.  Clayburn was the only one who wasn’t killed and the outlaws want the gold he has hidden.  After some more songs and comedy from Crawfish (Miller) and Mistletoe (Moreland) things will come to gunplay when the outlaws attack.

Herb Jeffries was a popular singing radio star who decided to try acting.  Jeffries wanted to play a black singing cowboy leading man along the lines of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.  Harlem on the Prairie is played straight (with some comedic moments) just like a Rogers or Autry film.  Jeffries riding a beautiful white stallion makes a serviceable lead.  Spencer Williams has great facial expressions telling more of his story without a word.  Mantan Moreland and F.E. (Flournoy Eakin) Miller provide comedy relief.  If you’re a fan of singing cowboy films, then give Harlem on the Prairie a shot.

Harlem on the Prairie earns 3 of 5 stars.

“The Ghost Talks” (1949) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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The Ghost Talks (1937)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay:  Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard and Nancy Saunders

Tagline:  It’s Historical!  It’s Hysterical!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Larry, Shemp and Moe are movers hired to empty out a spooky old castle.  A suit of armor contains the ghost of Peeping Tom.  Tom tells the boys that 1,000 years ago he heard a commotion outside.  When he looked out the window he saw Lady Godiva making her famous ride.  Tom was hit in the face with a pie and his ghost trapped in the suit of armor.  Tom warns the Stooges that if they try to move the armor, bad luck with follow.  You guessed it, they try to move the armor and bad follows… they even are visited by Red Skeleton!

The Ghost Talks earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Dizzy Doctors” (1937) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Dizzy Doctors (1937)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay:  Al Ray from a story by Charlie Melson

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard and Bud Jamison

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Larry, Curly and Moe are told by their wives if they don’t get jobs, they will be getting divorces.  The boys find work as salesmen of a new potion called Brighto,  They mistakenly believe that Brighto is a polish.  In attempts to make sales they ruin customers, shoes, jackets and cars. When they learn that Brighto is actually a health aide, the Stooges go to a hospital.  Who needs a health aide more than folks in a hospital?  What could go wrong… other than Brighto is as good a health aide as it is a polish.  Wait, there’s more — the hospital Superintendent is one of the customers who had his car ruined by Brighto!

Dizzy Doctors earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Scotched in Scotland” (1954) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Scotched in Scotland (1954)

Director:  Jules White, Edward Bernds (stock footage)

Screenplay:  Jack White, Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Philip Van Zandt, Christine McIntyre and Theodore Lorch

Tagline:  A MAN CAN GET KILT DOING THIS!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Larry, Shemp and Moe are in Scotland where they are hired by a rich man to guard his valuables while he is away from his spooky castle.  Little does the man know, but it is his hired staff who plan to rip him off!  The would-be thieves decide to scare the Stooges into leaving and hilarity follows.

Scotched in Scotland is a remake of The Three Stooges’ earlier short, The Hot Scots and uses quite a bit of footage from the earlier film.

Scotched in Scotland earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Spook Louder” (1943) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Spook Louder (1943)

Director:  Dell Lord

Screenplay:  Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Lew Kelly, Stanley Blystone  Theodore Lorch, Charles Middleton and Shirley Patterson

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Professor J.O. Dunkfeather (Kelly) tells the story of how spies trying to steal a death ray from an inventor were thwarted and how a mysterious pie thrower was involved.  Larry, Curly and Moe are door-to-door salesmen who get hired to housesit for a scientist who is going to Washington, DC, to test his death ray.  The boys are on edge since the scientist lives in a spooky mansion and they’re jumping at every sound.  However when criminals dressed in Halloween costumes show up to steal the death ray, things are taken to a whole new level.  Will the criminals get what they’re looking for?  Will the Stooges survive?  And WHO is throwing those pies?

Curly gets a lot of mileage out of a balloon with a face painted on it that gets attached to his backside!

Spook Louder earns 4 of 5 stars.

“We Want Our Mummy” (1939) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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We Want Our Mummy (1939)

Director:  Dell Lord

Screenplay:  Searle Kramer, Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Theodore Lorch and Robert B. Williams

Tagline:  Found – in a storm of laughs!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Larry, Curly and Moe are hired to go to Egypt to find the mummy of the famous King Rootin-Tootin.  A quick cab ride to Cario and the boys end up alone in the desert.  While Curly is swimming in a mirage, he accidentally discovers a series of tunnels that may lead to Rootin-Tootin’s mummy.  Although they think they’re alone some criminals are also looking for the mummy and the riches he left behind.  Soon enough it’s the Stooges vs the criminals as mayhem takes center stage.

This was the first Stooges short to use Three Blind Mice as the theme song.  Curly has the best lines:  “I can’t be a mummy, I’m a daddy…” “I got an uncle in Cairo, he’s a chiropractor…” are just two.

We Want Our Mummy earns 4 of 5 stars.

THE BURGLAR WHO MET FREDRIC BROWN by Lawrence Block is Coming!

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Lawrence Block’s new novel, The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown is a Bernie Rhodenbarr tale.  Bernie is a burglar and his adventures are humorous (for the reader, not as funny for Bernie) and a nice change of pace if, like me, you lean into more hardboiled yarns.  Here’s the lowdown on The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown…

Suppose you’re Bernie Rhodenbarr.

You’ve got a dream job, running your own cozy secondhand bookstore, complete with Raffles, your caudally challenged cat. It’s in Greenwich Village, and your best friend’s dog grooming salon is two doors away, and the two of you lunch together and meet for drinks after work.

And you’ve got another way to make a buck. Every once in a while you put your conscience on the shelf and let yourself into someone else’s residence, and you leave with more than you came with. You’re a burglar, and you know it’s wrong, but you love it.

And you’re good at it. You’ve got two ways to make a living, one larcenous, the other literary and legitimate, and you’re good at both of them.

Nice, huh?

Until the 21st Century pulls the rug out from under you. All of a sudden the streets of your city are so overpopulated with security cameras and closed-circuit TV that you have to lock yourself in the bathroom to have an undocumented moment. And locks, which used to provide the recreational pleasure of a moderately challenging crossword puzzle, have become genuinely pickproof.

Meanwhile, internet booksellers have muscled your legit enterprise into obsolescence. The new breed of customers browse your bookshop, find what they’re looking for, then whip out their phones and order their books online.

Wonderful. You had two ways to make a living, and neither of them works anymore.

But suppose you keep on supposing, okay?

Suppose you wake up one morning in a world just like the one in which you fell asleep-but with a couple of differences.

The first one you notice doesn’t amount to much. The Metrocard in your wallet has somehow changed color and morphed into what seems to be called a SubwayCard. That’s puzzling, but you swipe it at the turnstile same as always, and it gets you on the subway, so what difference does it make?

But that’s not the only thing that’s changed. The Internet’s up and running, as robust as ever, but nobody seems to be using it to sell books. Doors are secured not with pickproof electronic gizmos but with good old reliable Rabson locks, the kind you can open with your eyes closed. And what happened to all those security cameras? Where’d they go?

All of a sudden you’ve got your life back, and your bookshop’s packed with eager customers, and how are you gonna find time to steal something?

Well, just suppose one of the world’s worst human beings has recently acquired one of the world’s most glamorous gems. When the legendary Kloppmann Diamond is up for grabs, what can you possibly do but grab it?

And what could possibly go wrong?

THAT is one strange set-up.  I trust Lawrence Block to make it work.  Pre-orders for the October 18th release are available now.

The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown Paperback

The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown Kindle

“King for a Day” (1934) Starring Bill Robinson / Z-View

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King for a Day (1934)

Director:  Roy Mack

Writer:  A. Dorian Otvos, Eddie Moran

Stars:  Bill Robinson, Ernest Whitman and Limehouse Brown

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Bill Green (Robinson) is a talented tap dancer, but Mr. Brown (Whitman) won’t give him an audition.  Green comes up with a plan when he learns that Brown loves to play craps.  It’s a gamble that could make him King for a Day.

King for a Day is a short that has comedy, dancing, and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

King for a Day earns 4 of 5 stars.

“A Gasoline Wedding” (1918) Starring Harold Lloyd / Z-View

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A Gasoline Wedding (1918)

Director:  Alfred J. Goulding

Writer:  H.M. Walker

Stars:  Harold Lloyd, ‘Snub’ Pollard and Bebe Daniels

Tagline:  None

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Harold and a rich man’s daughter are in love and wish to be married, but her father wants her to marry Angus McCheapskate.  A plan is in place and it’s a race to the preacher where there will be two weddings!

A Gasoline Wedding is a Harold Lloyd short.

A Gasoline Wedding earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Spite Marriage” (1929) Starring Buster Keaton / Z-View

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Spite Marriage (1929)

Director:  Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton (uncredited)

Writers:  Robert Hopkins (titles), Story by Lew Lipton, Ernest Pagano

Stars:  Buster Keaton, Dorothy Sebastian and Leila Hyams

Tagline:  Try and Stop Laughing at Buster!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

When the man that actress Tribly Drew (Sebastian) loves becomes engaged to another, she agrees to marry Elmer Edgemont (Keaton) out of spite.  Tribley believes that Elmer is a millionaire because he attends every showing of her play and he’s always well dressed.  What she learns is that Elmer is a drycleaner who borrows the clothes and spends his pay on play tickets.  Will the rebound marriage work out or will Elmer be taken to the cleaners?

Spite Marriage contains excellent examples of Keaton’s physical prowess at stunts, especially those on a moving sailboat.  It also contains Keaton’s famous act of trying to get his drunk wife into bed.  Keaton had hoped that Spite Marriage would be his first talkie, but instead it became his last silent film.

Spite Marriage earns 3 of 5 stars.

Rob Zombie’s “The Munsters” (2022) / Z-View

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The Munsters (2022)

Director:  Rob Zombie

Screenplay:  Rob Zombie based on the television show The Munsters by Allan Burns, Chris Hayward

Stars:  Cassandra Peterson, Sheri Moon Zombie, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Richard Brake, Daniel Roebuck, Dee Wallace, Sylvester McCoy, Pat Priest, Jorge Garcia, Catherine Schell and Butch Patrick

Tagline: None

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

The Munsters was a television comedy that ran for two seasons from September 1964 to May 1966.  The show featured a family of monsters living in the suburbs.  The family consisted of Herman Munster, based on Frankenstein’s monster; his vampire wife, Lilly; their son Eddie (a werewolf); Lilly’s father, Grandpa who was a vampire and their niece, Marilyn who was pretty by conventional standards (but the family thought of her as unattractive).  The comedy came from neighbors’ reactions to the Munsters and the family’s interactions with each other and normal folks.

Rob Zombie’s reboot explores how Herman and Lilly first fell in love.  I wanted to like The Munsters.  While I wasn’t a huge fan of the original series, I did watch it as a child.  My wife who is just a few months younger than me was a huge fan.  She had high hopes for the reboot.  We started watching and she was ready to bail after the first few scenes.  Ultimately we stuck with it for about 30 minutes before tapping out.

Part of the problem is the movie starts with several scenes and no Munster in sight.  Instead we have a mad scientist and his halfwit hunchback, Floop (I kid you not.  His name is Floop.  Is that supposed to get a cheap laugh?) robbing graves.  When Floop is sent to retrieve the brain of one of the world’s smartest men, he instead brings back the man’s brother’s brain.  The world’s smartest man and his brother, who happens to be one of the world’s dumbest men both conveniently (for the joke to work) died within hours of each other.

Meanwhile Grandpa is trying to hook Lilly up with a Nosferatu-looking vampire.  We get to see them on a date.  Lilly’s brother (a werewolf) is trying to get Grandpa to sell the house.  Meanwhile the mad scientist is creating Herman.  Oh, and there’s scenes of Grandpa watching Transylvania tv talk shows.

Does this sound like fun or anything even remotely funny?  If you think so, then give The Munsters a go.  It wasn’t for me… or my wife who is a Munster‘s fan.  Of course your mileage may differ.

The Munsters earns 1 of 5 stars.