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Reviews
Roseanna McCoy (1949)
Roseanna, Roseanna, the hills call your name...
Call it a guilty pleasure, but I find this movie satisfying on several levels. I was hooked from the opening shot with Lee Garmes' cinematography capturing writer John Collier's evocation of the mysticism of the mountains, enhanced by the choral version of Frank Loesser's theme song. The fact that Joan Evans was a complete unknown discovered in a New York City High School worked for me. She seemed confused and overwhelmed much of the time, which was natural, given Farley Granger's heavy breathing and bodice-ripping efforts in her direction. As previously discussed, the supporting cast is terrific, with Raymond Massey and Charles Bickford as the patriarchs of the opposing families. They clearly enjoyed chewing up the scenery in their respective roles. Aline MacMahon is wonderful as Ma Hatfield, working tirelessly to end the hostility between the families, to little avail. Mention must be made of the youngsters, played by Gigi Perreau, Peter Miles and William Mauch (formerly Billy of the Mauch twins), for whom I felt concern whenever the bullets started to fly. I was most fortunate to view a beautiful 16mm print of the film. Lee Garmes' lighting and compositions are stunning indeed.
Penrod's Double Trouble (1938)
The Mauch Twins & Pals Shine in a Programmer With Heart
I've seen this movie several times and enjoy it more with each viewing. It is what it is: a B movie with heart. How can you not love a film where the family dog kicks the key under the door to the misunderstood son, who has been locked in his room by his father? It's fun to see the Mauch twins in their street clothes, speaking in their mid-western accents and playing cops and robbers. Especially entertaining is Bobby's first scene in drag as the captive of some sleazy Carnival "Professor." As a window into the world of what it was like to be a kid in 1938, the film is a most nostalgic trip back in time.
Billy and Bobby Mauch rightfully dominate the screen with their presence and ability to toss off a line and make it ring true. They personify the ideal of American boyhood of the 30s: forthright, honest and respectful of their parents... no matter how clueless they may be. The antithesis of the Dead End Kids, also employed at Warner Bros. at the time. Other actors who stand out are Jackie Morrow, as the obnoxious Rodney Bitts and Philip Hurlick, as Verman (pronounced vermin).
The film accurately reflects the status of blacks at the time as domestic help and caretakers of the white folks. Still, Verman is an essential member of the Junior G-Man Club. At the film's end, the Mauchs turn over their reward money for capturing the bad guys so Verman can attend college.
The highlight of the proceedings is when the gang attends a party and performs The Big Apple, a dance craze of the time, at which Bobby executes a mean jitterbug. Too bad these boys - who could sing in a clear soprano and tap dance at age 8 - didn't appear in any musicals. The last of the Penrod series, as the variations on the mistaken ID thing seemed to have run their course. Not available on DVD at this time... petition Turner, Boxed Set with all three entries in the series!
Clock Cleaners (1937)
Donald's bad word?
Some viewers mistakenly infer that Donald says a bad word (e.g. "f--- you!") in response to his altercation with the coiled clock spring. If you play the scene over several times and listen carefully, what he is really saying is "Says you!" To which the spring replies, "Says I!"
This gem of a cartoon also depicts Disney's ongoing fascination with machinery and how it operates, in this case the intricate mechanism of the clock's inner workings. The same can be noted in THE OLD MILL, a Silly Symphony, also released in 1937, where the inner machinery is used to build up suspense in the case of the bird's nest situated in the gears.
One element that is sometimes cut from television showings of THE CLOCK CLEANERS in the iris out shot is the music on the soundtrack, "They Don't Wear Pants in the Sunny Side of France," considered to be a naughty song at the time.
Produced in 1937, the same year as Disney's SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, this is one of the most innovative and entertaining of the Mickey "Trio" shorts. Highly recommended