We're currently hooked on Streamliners, and we found another Doubleday movie called "Here Comes Trouble"(1948), in which Dodo is out of the Army, back in civilian life and working as a copy boy for a newspaper. He's engaged to the publisher's daughter but the publisher can't stand him and thinks he's a nitwit, in spite of - or maybe because of - his encyclopedic memory. He wants Dodo out of the picture but doesn't want to hurt his daughter. What can he do? Well, the timing is perfect because the paper's crime reporter is quitting, he says the job's too rough anymore and he's got two black eyes from the local mobsters to prove it. The police chief is running an anti-racketeering campaign, the Mob isn't happy, and the publisher gets a brainstorm idea (with the help of his bimbo secretary) that he'll use Dodo to replace the crime scribe. Dodo is so obnoxious that the mobsters will likely kill him, thereby removing him as a potential son-in-law. Problem solved!
Dodo is grateful for the promotion. He takes to his new job with determination, and, lo and behold, who should he meet on his first trip to the police station but good old "Sgt. Ames" (Joe Sawyer), who's just left the Army himself and is now a cop. Ames is happy to see Dodo (it seems like they really are pals now) and he brags about single-handedly rounding up a dozen mobsters for the police chief's campaign. They're all being booked in the station as Ames relates his tale, but shortly afterward they're all set free. How in the world does this happen?
Well it seems that the publisher of the paper is hiding an affair with a burlesque stripper named "Bubbles LaRue" (Joan Woodbury). She has a diary detailing all their lurid meetings and wants ten grand for it, with the promise that she'll keep her mouth shut. Of course, because she's connected to the Mob, they want all their boys out of jail, too, so the police chief has to let them go, despite his anti-crime pledge, because the newspaper publisher is wealthy and has a lot of clout. But, he assigns Dodo to the case as the lead reporter, figuring he'll either get the diary from Bubbles or screw things up so bad that the truth will get lost in the shuffle. This entry is slower to develop than the Doubleday Army films, especially the truly insane "About Face", but it does have a grand finale to match that film in craziness: ten minutes of mayhem on stage at the burlesque theater, which happens after Bubbles is murdered and the diary is stolen by an mysterious man in a clown suit. To the audience in the theater, the craziness seems to be part of the stage act. They think it's a laugh riot (we do too), and the situation melts down from there. It's gotta be noted that Joe Sawyer is a comic genius. He and William Tracy could've made a career out of these films and I recommend you watch them all. "Here Comes Trouble" gets Two Big Thumbs Up and the picture is very good. ////
The previous night's film was also a Streamliner, called "All-American Co-Ed"(1941), about a rivalry between two colleges that begins when "Matilda Collinge" (Esther Dale), the headmistress at the all-girl Mar Brynn University, decides that her school needs more publicity. She gets the idea to offer scholarships to 12 different rural gals from across the country, in the hope of broadening Mar Brynn's appeal. Currently it only accepts snobby debutantes, "petunia pickers" in the words of Matilda's male assistant. In addition, he suggests they should mock Quinceton University, whose frat boys have just staged a Drag Show, all dressed as women. The idea is to cull Quinceton's female students and bring them to Mar Brynn, as well as any new girls who are undecided. "Quinceton gets all the publicity around here and it isn't fair. Let's take 'em down a notch. We'll run an ad, calling them dumbells, with a picture from that show they did. I can see the tag line now: 'Quinceton, the University for the Least Likely to Succeed.' " Matilda has her assistant run this ad, and it's brutal. Soon, girls across the country are applying to Mar Brynn, but the frat boys at Quinceton don't appreciate the mockery and vow revenge. They hatch a plan to sneak one of their guys into Mar Brynn, posing as a girl. If he gets accepted, they'll expose him as a man and their payback will be complete. The have the perfect frat boy in mind for the job, "Bob 'Bobbie' Sheppard" (Johnny Downs), because he's got the gender-bending thing down pat. He sends his picture (or should I say 'her' picture) to Matilda the headmistress and is chosen as one of the scholarship winners. The next day he's riding a train to Mar Brynn with the other selectees. Hijinks begin on the train when the girls notice his Adam's Apple, which he then hides with a scarf, pretending he has a sore throat (which also accounts for his husky voice). But the situation really escalates when he gets to Mar Brynn and loses his laundry bag, which contains men's clothing. There's a laundry room debacle involving a black washerwoman and 'Bobbie' running around in a dress, trying to retrieve his pants, that has to be seen to be appreciated. It's the kind of off-the-wall stuff that sets these Streamliners apart from other short comedies of the era.
Bobbie's drag act starts to come undone when he/she finds out that he could've roomed with the beautiful "Virginia Collinge" (Francis Langford), had he not arrived with a 'sore throat'. He doesn't really have one, it's just an excuse not to have to talk and reveal his male voice, but Matilda wants him (her) quarantined, and he has to pine for Virginia from afar. Now he's torn between exacting the planned revenge for his Quinceton fraternity and revealing himself as a man to Virginia. You can guess which alternative wins out, and he's caught at a dance by Matilda. Rushing to escape, he magages to change back into 'Bobbie' the coed, but Matilda sends out two henchmen to catch him/her, because no men have ever been allowed on campus (except for henchmen and publicity agents), and if word gets out that the Quinceton men are behind the prank, it'll spoil all the good PR for Mar Brynn. "All-American Co-Ed" is a blast that clocks in at 48 minutes and is part musical, featuring two numbers by Frances Langford, who was also a popular singer in the '40s. In addition, there's a fantastic girl group called The Tanner Sisters, who are no doubt a knockoff of The Andrews Sisters, but are very good in their own right. But the real star of all of these Streamliner comedies is producer Hal Roach. All this nuttiness is his vision, much like Lorne Michaels and Saturday Night Live. Two Big Thumbs Up for "All-American Co-Ed." It gets my highest recommendation, as do all these movies, and that's high praise because I'm generally not a comedy guy. It takes a lot to make me laugh, not because I don't like to, but because so much of what passes for comedy is either "meh" or, nowdays, just plain stoopid. So when I tell you the Streamliners are winners, you can take it to the bank. The picture on "Co-Ed" is very good. ////
That's all for tonight. I'm almost done with "Get Back", just have the rooftop concert to go. Overall, what impressed me the most was that even when they're goofing off, The Beatles are still the best band in the world. They're so doggone musical (Duh! Really, Ad? Who knew?) And, as I've always maintained, John was a very good guitarist. Not in the technical sense, compared to modern players, but just in knowing the neck and a lot of chords, and just being able to use the guitar to create and play songs, whether his part called for rhythm or leads or the in-between stuff. He really was an excellent all-around musician (he even plays that Hawaiian slide guitar in one song, with no apparent prior experience), and I wish this was emphasized more about John, rather than all the political stuff he gets tagged with. And, George of course was a great player, top ten for me, with an awesome guitar collection, some of which can be seen in the movie. I still think "Get Back" was a bit long, at 8 hours, but man what a treasure trove for Beatles fans. Interesting too, that Michael Lindsey-Hogg is Orson Welles' son.
My blogging music is more Steve Hillage, "Fish Rising" this time. I hope your week is off to a good start and I send you Tons of Love as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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