Tag Archives: 1940s

On an Island with You (1948) Richard Thorpe, Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montalban, Comedy, Musical, Romance

On an Island with You (1948)
A young navy lieutenant is brought in as techninical adviser on a song-dance-and-swim film being made by screen star Rosalind Reynolds. Having once done a number with her – and been kissed at the end – at a Forces show, the young lad somehow believes she should be his girl. Her boyfriend – and fellow co-star – is just one of those disagreeing.
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Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942) John Cromwell, Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, George Sanders, Adventure, Drama, Romance

Son of Fury The Story of Benjamin Blake (John Cromwell, 1942)
Sir Arthur Blake has inherited title and lands from his brother. He also has his orphaned nephew Benjamin working for him as a bonded servant. While he believes the lad was born out of wedlock and so cannot claim the inheritance, he is taking no chances. Benjamin eventually rebels against his uncle and sets sail to try and make his fortune. This may enable him to return to prove his claim to being the rightful heir to the estate.
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Man Alive (1945) Ray Enright, Pat O’Brien, Adolphe Menjou, Ellen Drew, Comedy

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Man Alive is an inventive and consistently amusing farce dominated by stars Pat O’Brien and Adolphe Menjou. The former plays Speed, a moderately successful garage owner. Suspecting that his wife Connie (Ellen Drew) has fallen in love with old college buddy Gordon (Rudy Vallee), Speed goes off on a bender. During a long and drunken night, he gives his clothes and his car to an old tramp named Willie the Wino (Jack Norton). With Speed as his passenger, Willie piles the car into a river. Willie drowns, but Speed is rescued by showboat entrepreneur Kismet (Menjou). When the car is recovered, it is assumed that the body inside is Speed’s. Speed wakes up thinking he’s dead because Kismet is wearing a devil’s costume (for a stage show) while stoking coal into the ship’s furnace! When he tries to get back to his wife, O’Brien is urged by kibitzer Menjou to act as a ghost to find out if her love for him is real or if she’s actually in love with Gordy, leading to a series of increasingly zany consequences.
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Strange Cargo (1940) Frank Borzage, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Ian Hunter, Drama, Romance

Strange Cargo (Frank Borzage, 1940)
Verne wants nothing more than to escape from a penal colony located off the northern coast of South America. He tries to involve Julie, a saloon girl, in his plans but she turns him in to the authorities. On Verne’s next try, he piggybacks on the escape of six other convicts and runs into Julie again in the process. One of the convicts is a spiritual figure who seems to know what will happen before anyone else. The group attempts to travel through the jungle, board a boat, and make it to the mainland.
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Don Juan Quilligan (1945) Frank Tuttle, William Bendix, Joan Blondell, Phil Silvers, Comedy

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In this comedy, a barge captain with an Electra complex marries two women. He married the first because she laughed like his late mother. He married the other because she cooks like his mom. He soon finds himself in over his head. A good friend helps extricate him by devising an ingenious plot. The captain is to be blamed for a murder. He can then escape his wives by pretending to be sent to prison.
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