SENIOR PROM

Carter (Tom Laughlin) and his chipmunk (Jill Corey)

SENIOR PROM (1958). Director: David Lowell Rich. 

College student Gay Sheridan (Jill Corey) is practically engaged to childhood buddy and equally wealthy Carter Breed III (Tom Laughlin) but her heart starts going pitter patter when she meets aspiring singer Tom Harper (Paul Hampton). It makes some sense that she would go for Tom, but little sense that Carter -- who is handsome, suave and rich -- would go for Gay, who looks like a chipmunk. Gay's friends include Dog (James Komack), who drags his bass everywhere, and his gal pal, Flip (Barbara Bostock), who is not even as attractive as Gay. Trying to impress Gay, Carter promises the senior prom entertainment committee that he can get "the hottest act in show biz" -- Louis Prima and his wife (one of several) Keely Smith -- to perform. But does Gay really prefer Tom to dreamy Carter? 

Paul Hampton and James Komack

Senior Prom eschews rock music in favor of pastiche show tunes that are pleasant enough but wouldn't make Rodgers and Hammerstein lose any sleep. One of the numbers, "Big Daddy," is a rather snappy and memorable tune and it is very well performed by Jill Corey, who is not untalented. She was primarily a singer and had only a few film and TV credits. Paul Hampton, who is primarily a composer as well as an actor, amassed quite a few credits after this, his first film. James Komack had many credits as actor, writer and producer. Barbara Bostock was the beatnik dancer in Jerry Lewis' Visit to a Small Planet. Tom Laughlin later became "Billy Jack" in several hit movies.

Chipmunk in love!

An actor who somewhat classes up this cheap Columbia production is Freida Inescort (of The She Creature), who plays Gay's mother, and who doesn't think Tom can take care of her in the style to which she is accustomed. But Tom winds up with a hit record and even appears on the Ed Sullivan Show. The climax is the performances of various entertainers at the senior prom, most of which you can easily miss. Louis Prima is not much to speak of, but Keely Smith had a terrific voice and a lot of energy. When he sings in this Paul Hampton comes off like a California beach boy who is trying to be a Latin Lover boy! David Lowell Rich also directed The Horror at 37,000 Feet. 

Verdict: Smooth if forgettable. **. 

THE YOUNG SWINGERS

Molly Bee and Rod Lauren

THE YOUNG SWINGERS (1963). Director: Maury Dexter.

Mel Hudson (Rod Lauren) manages a Hootenanny club called the Vanguard. The owner of the building, a witch named Roberta Crawford (Jo Helton), wants the club out of there and employs dirty tricks to get them gone, using her lawyer Bruce Webster (Justin Smith) to do most of the work for her. Her granddaughter, Vicki (Molly Bee), takes over while Roberta is out of town, and strikes up an acquaintanceship -- and more -- with Mel. Can they get her aunt to change her mind? Meanwhile everyone, including Mel, Vicki, Fred (Gene McDaniels), Pete (Larrs Jackson, who also does impressions), and the Sherwood Singers perform some perfectly pleasant numbers. 

Gene McDaniels

The Young Swingers is not a good movie, but at least everyone in it has a more than decent voice, and most sound much better than the pop singers of today, most of whom sound alike (and are auto-tuned on top of it). Rod Lauren sings better than he acts in this -- he seems tranquilized most of the time -- but he was to become more expressive in such films as Black Zoo (in which he played a mute character). Years later he was accused of hiring someone to murder his Filipino wife. Molly Bee first came to fame at 13 warbling "I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus" and had a respectable vocal career with only a few film credits. Larrs Jackson (aka Jack Larson), who does a lousy impression of Groucho but isn't bad at Ed Sullivan and Walter Brennan, had quite a number of credits after this. Of all the singers in this perhaps the most impressive is Gene McDaniels, who sings two snappy numbers and sings them really well. He should have become as famous as Johnny Mathis and others. 

Verdict: Good songs, good singing, but no real story. **1/4. 

COUNTRY MUSIC HOLIDAY

June Carter Cash and Ferlin Husky

COUNTRY MUSIC HOLIDAY (1958). Director: Alvin Ganzer. 

Returning from Japan after a stint in the army, Vern Brand (Ferlin Husky) finds that his pal Clyde Woods (Faron Young) has become a big country music star. Vern's Pappy (Rod Brasfield) is convinced that Vern is more talented and could do even better. Former bookie turned music producer Sonny Moon (Jesse White) wants a singer who can rival Clyde and sends him a bus ticket to Manhattan. There Vern tours the nightclubs for publicity and becomes acquainted with Zsa Zsa Gabor (playing herself), who takes a shine to him. Back in Tennessee, Vern's girlfriend Marietta (June Carter Cash) reads of all this and decides to take off for New York ... 

Zsa Zsa Gabor and Jesse White

Although released by a major studio, Country Music Holiday comes off more like something from Monogram. Although Husky, a genuine country music star, is not Olivier, he can act and has a degree of charm (although I could have done without his putdown of a true genius like Tchaikovsky). Jesse White is as obnoxious as ever. Zsa Zsa Gabor manages to give a decent and amusing performance playing herself. Faron Young was also a country star and is appealing. June Carter (Cash) manages to get across her fear that Vern will forget her once he goes to New York without having to even say it. Another cast member is Rocky Graziano, also playing himself as an assistant to Sonny Moon. Two characters named Al Fisher and Lou Marks also play themselves, former Army buddies of Vern's who become his manager -- they are pretty awful. There are numerous -- far too many -- people playing assorted agents, TV producers, variety show hosts and so on. Patty Duke, in her first movie, plays Vern's sister, but you won't recognize her. 

June Carter Cash and Ferlin Husky

The movie's only justification are the generally memorable musical numbers. Faron Young sings "The Face of Love" and does a swingin' version of "When It Rains It Pours" with Elvis-like gyrations. Ferlin Husky's numbers include the title tune (by David and Bacharach), "My Home Town," "Terrific Together" and "Wide, Wide World," all of which are quite catchy. When Zsa Zsa first meets Vern she refers to country music as "peasant" music! Love that Zsa Zsa! The screenplay for this is pretty bad, which is probably why Husky wound up in even worse crap like Hillbillies in a Haunted House!

Verdict: Husky deserved better. **. 

HILLBILLIES IN A HAUNTED HOUSE

Joi Lansing and Ferlin Husky

HILLBILLIES IN A HAUNTED HOUSE (1967). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

Singer Woody Wetherby (country star Ferlin Husky), his girl singer, Boots Malone (Joi Lansing), and his manager, Jeepers (Don Bowman), are traveling to Nashville for a concert when bad weather and automobile trouble forces them to seek shelter in a creepy old mansion. They don't realize that the new owner, Madame Wong (Linda Ho), is running an espionage outfit that employs Max (Lon Chaney Jr.), Gregor (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Himmil (John Carradine of Female Jungle), not to mention a bad-tempered gorilla named Anatole (George Barrows). Will Jim Meadows (Richard Webb of The Invisible Monster), secret agent for MOTHER, be able to save Boots from the Iron Maiden and make the world safe for democracy? 

Slumming: Rathbone and Carradine

Hillbillies is actually the second of two films starring Husky as Wetherby, following Las Vegas Hillbillies, in which Boots Malone was played by Mamie Van Doren and Jayne Mansfield also had a part. The first one couldn't possibly have been worse than this awful concoction, which wastes the talents of virtually everyone, especially Carradine and poor Basil Rathbone. The last ten minutes are a concert with songs being performed by Molly Bee, Merle Haggard  and Marcella Wright ("Strangers"). Husky himself does a nice job with "One Bridge I Have Never Crossed." In his heyday and for many years Husky was a very, very popular entertainer. As for Joi Lansing, who always seemed to play the perennial dumb blonde, it's ironic that in this picture she plays it straight! Jean Yarbrough also directed Inside Job and a great many other movies. 

Verdict: Aside from some of the songs there's little point in sitting through this. *1/2. 

ROCKABILLY BABY

Virginia Field and Gary Vinson

ROCKABILLY BABY (1957). Director: William F. Claxton. 

Eleanor Carter (Virginia Field) arrives in the small town of Springdale with her two teenagers in tow: Cathy (Judy Busch) and Jimmy (Gary Vinson). It isn't long before the two youths are making friends in high school, including Linda (Marlene Willis), flirtatious Jackie (Sandy Wirth), and her boyfriend, Chuck (Charles Willcox), who lets Jimmy take his spot on the water polo team. Meanwhile Eleanor has managed to charm the new principal, Tom Griffth (Douglas Kennedy) and the wealthy town matriarch, Mrs. Wellington (Ellen Corby), who turns out not to be so dour after she has a martini or two with Eleanor. But the nasty Eunice Johnson (Irene Ryan, who played Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies) discovers that Eleanor has a secret -- she used to be known as stripper "Dixie West" -- what will the town say to that? 

Ellen Corby and Irene Ryan

Rockabilly Baby is an amiable picture with effective players and some pleasant if unmemorable tunes. An obese cellist scratches the life out of her cello; Marlene Willis sings a bouncy number and manages not to go flat too often; bitchy Jackie deliberately spills her drink on Linda then makes a play for Jimmy, who rejects her; and her boyfriend Chuck tells her off. Not exactly the stuff of great drama. Douglas Kennedy, who normally played villainous roles, is fine as the principal who is attracted to Eleanor. The real Les Brown and his Band of Renown shows up at the end to deliver some Dixieland-type jazz. William F. Claxton later directed the giant bunny monster movie Night of the Lepus.   

Verdict: Go, Granny, go! **1/2. 

NEARLY EIGHTEEN

NEARLY EIGHTEEN (1943). Director: Arthur Dreifuss. 

Gale Storm, who later went on to fame as the star of My Little Margie, was 21 when she made this Monogram cheapie musical. 17-year-old Jane Stanton (Storm) comes to New York to find work as a singer. She's almost hired by one saloon, until the owner discovers she's still a minor. Then a handsome manager (who's really a bookie), Tony (Rick Vallin), sends her over to a talent school run by Jack Leonard (William Henry). Unfortunately, the school doesn't take anyone over the age of 14, so Jane is forced to masquerade as a child. There were certainly exploitable and amusing elements in this picture, but none of them are developed in such a fashion as to provide meaty laughs. Storm, however, is poised, very attractive, and already shows signs of the talent for comedy that she'd display years later in two successful sitcoms. The scenes when Jack comes close to nearly kissing a girl he thinks is only 14 are kind of creepy. The best thing about the picture are the snappy musical numbers, such as "The Little Bell Rang," which are more-than-competently delivered by Storm, who sold a few successful records later in her career. 

Verdict: A passing storm on the way to better things. Nice songs, though, and Storm and her leading men are easy on the eyes. **.

SWING IT PROFESSOR

Pinky Tomlin

SWING IT PROFESSOR (1937). Director: Marshall Neilan. 

Professor Artemis J. Roberts (Pinky Tomlin) doesn't much care for swing music, but the members of the board of the music college where he is employed -- all of whom are significantly older than him -- think he's not very hip and fire him. Through circumstances not that interesting to tell, Artemis winds up being front man for a nightclub owned by Lou Morgan (Milburn Stone of Inside Job). There he catches the eye of singer Teddy Ross (Paula Stone), while Artemis' former pupil, Joan (Mary Kornman), finds herself the object of Lou's personal interest. 

Milburn Stone and Paula Stone

None of this leads into anything terribly exciting, even when a gangster named Randall (Bill Elliott) shows up with his thugs in tow. There are, however, some pleasant song numbers, including "Old-Fashioned Melody;" and "Richer Than a Millionaire." An admittedly charming bit occurs when some hobos start singing opera -- rather well, in fact -- and then join in for the latter tune. There is a trio of Three Stooges imitators who are called "The Gentle Maniacs;" they are terrible, and, mercifully, only appeared in one other movie. A climactic bit of business with a dozen cabs taking off in pursuit of Artemis does not engender any laughs. Milburn Stone and Paula Stone were cousins in real life. Paula was not especially pretty and she only had a few credits.

Musician/actor Pinky Tomlin has an unassuming, pleasant if highly un-dynamic personality and a singing voice that can best be described as okay and nothing more. Despite her terrible moniker, the undistinguished Mary Kornman amassed quite a few credits while Bill Elliott appeared in over 260 vehicles. 

Verdict: Gotta love that Pinky! **. 

HIGH SCHOOL HERO

Freddie Stewart

HIGH SCHOOL HERO (1946). Director: Arthur Dreifuss. 

The third "Teen  Agers" film from Monogram features the old -- and I mean old -- high school gang up to assorted shenanigans at Whitney High amidst singing and dancing. Freddie's (Freddie Stewart) rival Jimmy (Jackie Moran) is now at Fairview High along with his buddy, Roy (Frankie Darro), and Jimmy is still trying to court Dodie (June Preisser). The only thing that will keep the Whitney football team from being trounced by Fairview is by secretly substituting Dodie for Lee (Warren Mills) during the games. When this subterfuge is discovered, the football team resorts to using dance moves to confound their opponents. In another development Freddie has been told that his show for the governor's appearance has been canceled in favor of professional entertainers. Dodie stupidly blames Freddie for this, but he has a plan. He nearly gets in hot water with sexy singer Chi Chi (Lita Baron), and Dodie's sister, Betty (Noel Neill) is on hand to report it all for the school paper. 

Lita Baron as Chi Chi

High School Hero is good-natured nonsense that features a good cast and some nice musical numbers. Freddie Stewart has quite a nice voice as well, and does a fine job crooning the ballad "You're Just What I Crave." Lita Baron scintillates during her nightclub act and has fun trying to vamp the innocent Freddie. Milton Kibbee and Belle Mitchell are back as Professor Townley and Miss Hinklefink, who has a crush on the professor, and Leonard Penn is cast as a psychology professor who ignites the romantic interest of Dodie's other sister, Addie (Anne Rooney). Just when you think the man couldn't possibly appear in yet another movie, Pierre Watkin shows up as the governor!

Verdict: Another amiable Monogram musical. **1/2. 

FREDDIE STEPS OUT

Freddie Stewart and li'l cutie

FREDDIE STEPS OUT (1946). Director: Arthur Dreifuss. 

In the second "Teen Agers" film from Monogram studios, Whitney High School student Freddie Trimball (Freddie Stewart) winds up in hot water when he is mistaken for his double, a crooner named Frankie Troy. Troy has run away from everyone because he wants some peace and quiet, but a rumor is started that Freddie is actually Frankie -- which infuriates his gal Dodie (June Presisser) when "his" wife and baby -- actually Frankie's -- show up. Things are further complicated when the principal, Professor Townley (Milton Kibbee), comes to the mistaken conclusion that the baby belongs to Dodie. 

High School kids? Frankie Darro and Noel Neill

Freddie Steps Out is a cute if minor musical comedy with at least one fairly memorable production number, "Patience and Fortitude." Also on hand are Jackie Moran as Freddie's rival, Jimmy; Frankie Darro as Jimmy's pal, Roy; Noel Neill as Roy's on-again/off-again girlfriend and Dodie's sister, Betty; Belle Mitchell as teacher Miss Hinklefink; Warren Mills as the jittery Lee; and Anne Rooney, now playing Dodie's other sister, Addie. Douglas Fowley [Lady in the Death House] plays Troy's anxious manager, Mr. Adams. There's also an un-credited but very adorable baby. Whitney is probably the only high school in history that has its own dormitory! 

Verdict: Actually has a few good chuckles. **1/2.