The Toast of New Orleans (1950)

Academy Awards, USA 1951

Nominated Oscar

Best Music, Original Song Nicholas Brodszky (music) Sammy Cahn (lyrics) For the song "Be My Love"

MGM
Directed by Norman Taurog
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Bayou fisherman Mario Lanza falls in love with opera singer Kathryn Grayson one day while she is visiting the countryside. He impresses her impresario while singing during the big Blessing of the Fleet celebration. He goes to New Orleans and is transformed into an opera star and gentleman. Grayson decides she liked him better as a fisherman. The singing by Lanza and Grayson is impeccable, but the stereotyped characters and cliched plot nearly sink it.

Dream Wife (1953)

Academy Awards, USA 1954

Nominated Oscar

Best Costume Design, Black-and-White Helen Rose Herschel McCoy

MGM
Directed by Sidney Sheldon
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

International businessman Cary Grant falls in love with a Middle Eastern princess but does not act on it because he is engaged back home to liberated modern woman Deborah Kerr. When her career gets in the way of their relationship, he calls up the princess and they are soon engaged instead. The jilted Kerr becomes their translator and an adviser to Grant on the customs of the foreign country, as well as to the princess on ours. The princess is soon transformed into a modern liberated woman and Kerr reverts to the subservient ways of her country to win back Grant. A glimpse into the sexist views of the male American circa 1953, sure to offend everyone today. Writer and director Sidney Sheldon may have reworked this into I Dream of Jeannie for TV just over 10 years later.

My Favorite Wife (1940)

Academy Awards, USA 1941

Nominated Oscar	Best Writing, Original Story Leo McCarey Bella Spewack Sam Spewack
	Best Art Direction, Black-and-White Van Nest Polglase Mark-Lee Kirk
	Best Music, Original Score Roy Webb

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by Garson Kanin
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Cary Grant remarries after assuming his wife died in a shipwreck. She reappears, and they spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out how to get back together. Randolph Scott complicates matters as the man she spent seven years with on a desert island, calling each other Adam and Eve. Far-fetched plot milked for all it's worth is worth seems barely fills the 88 minute running time. Irene Dunne is as pleasant as usual, but Grant comes off as a bit of a heel, and that ending...

Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)

Academy Awards, USA 1943

Nominated Oscar

Best Sound, Recording Stephen Dunn (RKO Radio SSD)

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by Leo McCarey
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Reporter Cary Grant goes undercover in Vienna to expose the husband of former dancer Ginger Rogers as a Nazi. He falls in love with Ginger in the process, and after she realizes that her husband is the personal "adviser" of none other than Hitler himself, they run off together. They end up in France, where Ginger is convinced to become a spy and returns to her husband. Grant goes after her, of course, leading to more drama and/or melodrama. It is that uneasy mixture that keeps the film from becoming a complete success, with harrowing scenes inside a concentration camp along side cutesy romantic flirtation. More of the former and less of the latter would have made for a more compelling story.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Academy Awards, USA 1940

Won Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Robert Donat
Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Actress in a Leading Role Greer Garson
	Best Director Sam Wood
	Best Writing, Screenplay Eric Maschwitz R.C. Sherriff Claudine West
	Best Sound, Recording A.W. Watkins (Denham SSD)
	Best Film Editing Charles Frend

MGM
Directed by Sam Wood
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Shy teacher Robert Donat reflects on his life and career at a typical English boarding school for boys. He meets the love of his life while on summer vacation in Vienna. They get married and live happily at the school, but tragedy strikes. The years pass by more or less uneventful until WWI, which sees more tragedy strike the school as he takes over as headmaster. Sentimental and somewhat melancholy, but it is impossible not to like "Chips" as much as his students.

The Pirate (1948)

Academy Awards, USA 1949

Nominated Oscar

Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Lennie Hayton

MGM
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Womanizing actor Gene Kelly sets his eyes on local beauty Judy Garland in a Caribbean port city. She is unhappily engaged to the wealthy mayor and dreams of falling in love with the famous pirate Macoco. Little does she know the mayor was once the cutthroat pirate of her dreams. Kelly is falsely accused of being the pirate, but takes the opportunity to switch identities and win Judy's heart. The plan backfires and he is sentenced to be hanged on the public square. He talks his way into giving one last performance with his theatrical troupe, and one last chance of saving his life. Kelly's extremely well choreographed dance routines are the highlight, because his acting chops are not up to par and several scenes with Judy are just embarrassingly awful.

Penny Serenade (1941)

 Academy Awards, USA 1942

Nominated Oscar

Best Actor in a Leading Role Cary Grant

Columbia Pictures
Directed by George Stevens
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Newspaper reporter Cary Grant falls in love with music store clerk Irene Dunne. He takes a job in Japan where she soon follows and announces they are pregnant. However, she loses the baby in an earthquake and the ability to have any others. They adopt one from an orphanage, but after a year must face a judge and persuade him to let them keep the baby even though he has no job. Satisfying melodrama that works despite its episodic structure, with a plot designed to elicit maximum sympathy for the naive parents and more than a few tears. Edgar Buchanan shines in a supporting role as "uncle" and expert baby bather.

Bachelor Mother (1939)

Academy Awards, USA 1940

Nominated Oscar

Best Writing, Original Story Felix Jackson

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by Garson Kanin
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Recently fired department store clerk Ginger Rogers finds an old woman placing a baby on the steps of an orphanage, then is mistaken for the baby's mother. Although she vehemently denies it is hers, it turns out to be her ticket to a new job, with a promotion, and eventually a husband in the form of David Niven, her boss. He drops his playboy lifestyle to take care of both Ginger and the baby. Entertaining but overly contrived with a plethora of cute baby scenes.

The Facts of Life (1960)

Academy Awards, USA 1961

Won Oscar	Best Costume Design, Black-and-White Edith Head Edward Stevenson
Nominated Oscar	Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen Norman Panama Melvin Frank
	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Charles Lang
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White J. McMillan Johnson Kenneth A. Reid Ross Dowd
	Best Music, Original Song Johnny Mercer For the song "The Facts of Life"

United Artists
Directed by Melvin Frank
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(MGMHD)

Bored with their spouses, Bob Hope and Lucille Ball consider an affair. They dance and dine in Acapulco then plan a getaway to a cabin in the mountains. They are eventually caught together by friends at the airport and decide to go back to their spouses. The star power of the two leads can't make up for the lack of on-screen chemistry or lack of funny jokes.

Chapter Two (1979)

Academy Awards, USA 1980

Nominated Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role Marsha Mason

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Robert Moore
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Recently widowed writer James Caan meets recently divorced actress Marsha Mason through a mutual friend. They have a whirlwind romance and wedding. However, Caan falls apart on the honeymoon when he realizes she can't replace his dead wife. Mason shows incredible patience in the first few weeks of their marriage as he works through it. Mason is very good and even the stoic Caan better than expected in an oft-criticized performance. Mason is playing a character based on her real life and written by her real husband, Neil Simon, which adds in interesting angle.

Swing Time (1936)

Academy Awards, USA 1937

Won Oscar	Best Music, Original Song Jerome Kern (music) Dorothy Fields (lyrics) For the song "The Way You Look Tonight".
Nominated Oscar	Best Dance Direction Hermes Pan For "Bojangles of Harlem".

Radio Pictures
Directed by George Stevens
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Professional hoofer and amateur gambler Fred Astaire goes to New York City to prove to his father-in-law-to-be that he can hold down a real job. Instead, he meets and falls in love with dance school teacher Ginger Rogers. There are romantic entanglements with a band leader who wants to marry Ginger and comedy relief from Fred's amateur magician sidekick. Fred does his famous "bojangles" dance routine in black face. Fred and Ginger croon love songs to each other. Old fashioned entertainment, perhaps a bit too old fashioned.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)

Academy Awards, USA 1965

Nominated Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Debbie Reynolds
	Best Cinematography, Color Daniel L. Fapp
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color George W. Davis E. Preston Ames Henry Grace Hugh Hunt
	Best Costume Design, Color Morton Haack
	Best Sound Franklin Milton (M-G-M SSD)
	Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment Robert Armbruster Leo Arnaud Jack Elliott Jack Hayes Calvin Jackson Leo Shuken

MGM
Directed by Charles Walters
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Tomboy and mountain girl Debbie Reynolds vows at an early age to become wealthy and live in the elite part of Denver. Luckily she meets miner Harve Presnell who throws an axe and strikes millions in gold. They get married and move to Denver, where they are promptly ignored by the dazed socialites. They spend a year in Europe getting cultured, then return with their new royal friends to impress their Denver neighbors. It works, but almost costs them their marriage. Absolutely ridiculous Hollywood hokum with Reynolds never more unbearable as the feisty title character.

It's Always Fair Weather (1955)

Academy Awards, USA 1956

Nominated Oscar	Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Betty Comden Adolph Green
	Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture André Previn

MGM
Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Three war buddies make a pact to meet 10 years later in a New York City bar. When the day arrives they find they have each changed so much that they don't really like each other. A live radio show on which they are the surprise guests changes their mind. Entertaining singing and dancing undone by contrived plot and sexist attitudes. Dan Dailey gets not one but two inebriated dancing scenes!

Mon Oncle d'Amérique (1980)

Academy Awards, USA 1981

Nominated Oscar

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Jean Gruault

Gaumont (France)
Directed by Alain Resnais
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

The behavioral theories of a French philosopher are played out in two interrelated stories. Nicole Garcia is a young actress having an affair with an older businessman. She is tricked into breaking up with him by his wife. They meet years later and discover the truth. Gerard Depardieu struggles in his relationship with a new coworker taking over his job. Forced to move to another city, he begins to have problems in his relationship with his wife and family. Fairly standard melodrama, not helped by emotionless performances and some silly scenes where the actors are wearing rat costumes to symbolize that they are nothing more than lab experiments.

The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)

Academy Awards, USA 1950

Nominated Oscar

Best Cinematography, Color Harry Stradling Sr.

MGM
Directed by Charles Walters
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Professional dancing couple Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers spend their downtime bickering and fighting. Fed up playing second fiddle to Fred's ego, Ginger leaves him to star in a dramatic play. Fred thinks she is in love with the play's director. He impersonates his French accent in a series of phone calls, at first to help her, but later to spy on her. The boring melodrama is interspersed with the usual jaw dropping dance routines the couple is famous for, but set to rather routine music. Pianist Oscar Levant, on the other hand, steals every scene in which he appears.

The Return of Ringo (1965)

Cineriz (Italy)
Directed by Duccio Tessari
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Sony Movie Channel)

Blonde-haired "Montgomery Wood", presumed dead in the Civil War, returns home to find his fiance and child living with Mexican bandits. He stays incognito while taking a job helping in their gold mine. He waits until the wedding ceremony between his fiance and one of the bandits to finally announce his arrival, leading to a predictable shootout. After a shaky beginning which makes no sense at all, it settles down into a standard spaghetti western tale of revenge, complete with bad comic relief from a florist named "Morning Glory".

Barricade (1950)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Peter Godfrey
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Escapee Dane Clark takes refuge at a remote mining camp near the Mexican border run by despot Raymond Massey. He falls in love with Ruth Roman, also on the run from the law, who had the misfortune of ending up there after being injured in a stagecoach accident. They want to go straight and escape across the desert, but must first overcome Massey and his hired brutes. Unusual reworking of Jack London's "The Sea Wolf" in a western setting is not always successful, but nonetheless intriguing.

Destination Tokyo (1943)

Academy Awards, USA 1944

Nominated Oscar

Best Writing, Original Story Steve Fisher

Warner Bros.
Directed by Delmer Daves
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Cary Grant is the captain of a submarine sent to gather intelligence for the first bombing of Japan. Along the way, the young crew deals with their first time away from home, the ever-present threat of injury or death, and the occasional bought of appendicitis. Poor back projection and obvious models make it clear they never left the Warner studio. Overlong but entertaining propagandistic hokum from the early days of WWII.

David Copperfield (1935)

Academy Awards, USA 1936

Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Film Editing Robert Kern
	Best Assistant Director Joseph M. Newman

MGM
Directed by George Cukor
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

The story of young Copperfield, his childhood tribulations with no father, a cold stepfather and then no mother, only to find a new home with a friendly aunt in the country. During his college years he falls in love and marries a childlike woman ill suited for him, not realizing his true life has been right next to him all of the time. Luckily fate intervenes and they end up together anyway. It's hard to criticize a story by Charles Dickens, but it is episodic and even a bit predictable. The young David is precocious and often irritating, and the teenage David naive. However, the supporting characters more than make up for any of his shortcomings, with W.C. Fields, Basil Rathbone, Lionel Barrymore and especially Roland Young as Uriah Heep all giving vivid portrayals. 

Flight from Destiny (1941)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Vincent Sherman
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Terminally ill philosophy professor Thomas Mitchell decides that he will spend his final six months by committing a "socially beneficial" murder. The perfect candidate falls into his lap in the form of wealthy art dealer Mona Maris. She is blackmailing a painter friend of the professor into making fake works of art and then selling them as originals. He confirms that her personal life is just as reprehensible, then shoots her dead one night. Initially the artist is charged with murder, but the professor confesses and is sentenced to death. In the production code-mandated ending he realizes the error of his ways. A ludicrous plot and hollow ending ruin this early effort from prolific director Sherman.

My Six Convicts (1952)

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Hugo Fregonese
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Sony Movie Channel)

A young psychiatrist is assigned to a prison where he hopes to study them. He is coldly accepted at first, but after gaining their trust puts together a staff of misfits who help him administer tests to the other prisoners. One of them reveals a plan for a breakout which tests that trust. A mostly straight if uncompelling drama with some uncomfortable comedy relief provided by Millard Mitchell as one of the prisoners. Gilbert Roland is miscast as an Italian who supposedly rules the prison with a firm hand.