GingerMarch, Week Three: Essentials!

...In this week's offerings, TCM's GingerMarch will air some pretty heavy hitters... would really classify most, if not all, of these as essential viewing for Gingerologists! Let's jump right into the synopsi... (BTW...still waiting for someone to reveal the plural for 'synopsis'...guess I could crack open the Webster's, eh?) - I found some interesting posters for a few, some of which are languages other than English - interesting...

Vivacious Lady (3/24/10 - 8:00 PM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Francey Morgan a nightclub singer who is being courted by Keith Morgan (James Ellison); Keith, however, does not give Francey her married name, but rather, his brother, Peter Morgan (James Stewart). Peter was sent to retrieve Keith from his ‘lost weekend’ in NYC and take him back to Old Sharon, where they work at the college that is led by their father, Mr. Morgan (Charles Coburn). However, when Keith sneaks out to evade Peter, Francey has her performance, and Peter is basically ‘hit by a truck’… Peter and Francey go out for dinner, and eventually spend all night roaming NYC. Not into long courtships, Peter asks for Franceys hand in marriage the next morning, and she becomes Mrs. Morgan. They meet up with Keith, who is a good sport about it, and they all catch the next train to Old Sharon. The remainder of the movie generally involves Peter’s attempts to inform his folks that he has married Francey, but results in a deeper hole being dug. The infamous(?) fight between Francey and Peter’s (unwanted) fiancée, Helen (Francis Mercer), is one of the funniest moments of Ginger’s career.

Bachelor Mother (3/24/10 - 9:45 PM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Polly Parrish, a struggling single girl who has just been axed from her job at Merlin’s Department Store, just in time for Christmas. On the way to the employment agency, she watches a lady leave a newborn at the stoop of an orphanage; being worried the child gets hurt, she picks it up and takes it in, saying someone left this baby outside for you all…of course, she is pegged as the actual mother by the folks, and she gave them just enough info for them to track her down after she leaves. She gains her job back after the orphanage boss talks with David Merlin (David Niven), the playboy son of the Big Boss, J.B. Merlin (Charles Coburn); the catch is she must keep the baby in order to keep her job. David begins to take an interest in the single mom, at first ‘platonically’, but then romantically as well. Rumors soon circulate that David is the father, and J.B., who has all but given up on David ever settling down and raising a family, seeks to basically ‘abduct’ the baby from Polly, as he thinks it is his grandson. Everything works out in the end as one would suspect… this movie is honestly one of my top 5 Ginger movies ever…just very entertaining from top to bottom…why it isn’t on DVD is a great mystery! Funniest scene is when Polly pretends to be Swedish… and when she walks into David’s office to be reinstated, she is just so beautiful in that scene…

Stage Door (3/24/10 - 11:15 PM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Jean Maitland, who, along with a WHOLE bunch of other young ladies, lives in a ‘boarding house’ for actresses aspiring to make it to Broadway. Many ‘subplots’ occur in this movie, but ultimately Jean and her new roommate, Terry Randall (Katharine Hepburn) are the main focus, as they try to ‘one-up’ each other in various fronts; the primary one involves a Broadway producer, Anthony “Tony” Powell (Adolphe Menjou), who picks Jean out of a dance revue one night and invites her to ‘interview’ for a role in his new production. Jean becomes Tony’s ‘flavor of the month’, but eventually, a ‘serious’ production is lined up, and there are several girls who pursue the female lead. Among those are Kay Hamilton (Andrea Leeds), who has performed the exact role previously to good reviews, thus she feels she is a shoo-in. However, she doesn’t get a shot at it, but Jean and Terry each have ‘private auditions’ in Tony’s penthouse; Neither ends up being what Tony was looking for, but eventually, Terry is chosen, since a major financial backer for the production required her to have the role. As a result, Kay is driven to the point of madness upon hearing the role is taken. I will leave the rest for you to watch. This movie has many young actresses who ended up being big, including Lucille Ball, Ann Miller, Eve Arden, and Gail Patrick, among others.

Having Wonderful Time (3/25/10 - 1:00 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Teddy Shaw, a frustrated typist who is burned out from her job and is recuperating from a breakup with her ex-boyfriend, Emil Beatty (Jack Carson); time for a vacation to Camp Karefree, basically a summer camp for ‘grown-ups’. Teddy is a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, and has some trouble warming up to the fellow campers in general. A major setback for relations occurs when Chick Kirkland (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) drops her luggage and she snaps at him. However, Teddy later defends Chick when he is reprimanded by the boss while waiting on tables in the Mess Hall. As a result, the two eventually become friendly and, wouldn’t you know it, they fall in love. But Chick tries to ‘put the cart before the horse’, as it were, and they have a falling out. Teddy finds refuge with Maxwell ‘Buzzy’ Pangwell (Lee Bowman), who just happens to be involved with Teddy’s bunkmate, Miriam (Lucille Ball). When Teddy and Buzzy retire to his cabin, both Chick and Miriam catch wind of it, and case the place out to see what transpires between the two – nothing, except for a hot session of backgammon. Meanwhile, Emil shows up from NYC and tries to patch things up with Teddy, who decides to make up with him, just to make Chick jealous…and it does the trick. Look for funny stuff from the camp social director, Itchy (Richard “Red” Skelton).

Fifth Avenue Girl (3/25/10 - 2:15 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Mary Grey, a struggling lady who is currently ‘in-between jobs’; Mary is befriended by Mr. Timothy Borden (Walter Connolly), who just happens to be a self-made millionaire. However, he is quite depressed, since he has basically lost any connection with his family; his wife Martha (Verree Teasdale) gallivants around nightclubs with young ‘escorts’, and his son Tim (Tim Holt) and daughter Katherine (Kathryn Adams) are hellions as well. So, for his birthday, which his family has forgotten, Timothy seeks the companionship of someone, if anything to celebrate his birthday; who better than Mary to fit the bill? Well, after Martha (with an escort, of course) spies Timothy with Mary in a nightclub, Timothy gets an idea; he will actually ‘hire’ Mary as his ‘personal assistant’, among other things – or at least that is what the family is led to believe. In the process, Timothy hopes to win back his family through sheer jealousy, if nothing else. Mary is quite hesitant in this role, but it beats any other job prospects she currently has… of course, many issues and misunderstandings arise, but eventually things turn out for the best… A neat film directed by Gregory DeCava, of “Stage Door” and “Primrose Path”…much witty banter, at a rapid pace in some segments, not unlike scenes in “Stage Door.”

In Person (3/25/10 - 3:45 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Carol Corliss (a.k.a. Clara Colfax), a famous movie star who suffers from agoraphobia, that is, fear of being in public places. Therefore, she treks outside incognito, as the rather homely Clara Colfax. She is helped by Emory Muir (George Brent) after she faints while out one day; he escorts her back to her hotel, which happens to be where he is staying. Emory and his uncle, judge Thaddeus Parks (Grant Mitchell) are later at the hotel lounge speaking of retreating to their mountain cabin; Clara overhears this, and asks Emory if she could join him in the trip, so she can ‘get away’ for a bit. He agrees, and they are off. They stay in separate cabins, of course, but Clara is told to clean up and cook. This does not sit well with Clara, who, after out swimming one day is spotted by Emory, who figures out she is in reality Carol Corless by seeing pictures of her on movie magazines. After she reveals her true identity, Emory decides to act unconvinced she is Carol Corliss, but just a lady who has problems; ultimately in the hopes of prolonging their stay together. After a series of events, Emory finally relents and admits she is Carol. He gives up any hope of winning her love, and plans to take her back ASAP… but not before they get married (at gunpoint) by the local justice of the peace, who was told they were in the same cabin, but not man and wife. They fall away from each other, but get back together in the end. Ginger has a few dance routines in this one – “Got a New Lease on Life” and “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”, along with a ‘non-dance’ tune, ‘Don’t Mention Love to Me’ (one of my faves).

Twenty Million Sweethearts (3/25/10 - 5:15 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Peggy Cornell, a radio singer who falls for Buddy Clayton (Dick Powell). Buddy is also a singer who was convinced by talent scout Rush Blake (Pat O’Brien) to quit his ‘singing waiter’ gig and go with him to New York as a new radio singing sensation. After a few ‘misfires’, Buddy finally catches on and becomes famous. Peggy and Buddy get engaged, but Buddy has second thoughts, due to his popularity with his lady fan base. Will they end up together in the end? Hmmm… a cute movie, with the big tune 'I'll String Along With You', and one of my fave Ginger tunes, "Out For No Good."

Upper World (3/25/10 - 7:00 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Lilly Linder, a burlesque performer who gets plucked out of the river by railroad tycoon Alex Stream (Warren William), who just happened to be passing by on his yacht. Alex and Lilly hit it off, to the point of striking up a ‘deep friendship’…trouble is, Alex is married to Hettie (Mary Astor), although their relationship has grown cold. He continues seeing Lilly, until one day, Lilly’s boyfriend Lou Colima (J. Carroll Naish), gets wind of her relations with Alex, and, knowing he is a millionaire, Lou schemes a way to blackmail Alex with the extramarital affair. Things go quite south from there…but no spoilers here.

Romance in Manhattan (3/25/10 - 8:15 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Sylvia Dennis, a young chorus girl who befriends Karel Novak (Francis Lederer), who is a Czechoslovakian immigrant who made it to Ellis Island, but not through it…legally, that is. He jumps off the boat taking him back to Czechoslovakia when he does not have the money to obtain citizenship - and when he is fished out of the bay, he is spending the rest of the movie evading the ‘immigrant board’. With money tight, Karel moves in with Sylvia and her young brother Frank (Jimmy Butler); they all hold down jobs, and scrounge up enough money to make it…for awhile. Karel tries to assimilate into the American society and work force, but after some missteps, the immigration board finally catches up with him…in a way. Pretty good movie – Ginger role is pretty ‘normal’ in this one, but she plays it very well.

Star of Midnight (3/25/10 - 9:45 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Donna Mantin, who is the sidekick for detective Clay Dalzell (William Powell). Their case involves a kidnapped actress, who is the star of a theatrical play, Midnight. The plot gets quite involved, a murder occurs, and it becomes a tale of ‘whodunnit’…not unlike many of the “Thin Man” series. Ginger is very cute in this one, although her character is at times a bit clueless… but in a very cute way.

Perfect Strangers (3/25/10 - 11:30 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Terry Scott, who has been recently separated from her husband. She is called in for jury duty, which is for a murder trial; a man is accused of throwing his wife off of a cliff after she refused a divorce so that the man could marry his secretary. Among the twelve jurors chosen is David Campbell (Dennis Morgan), who is married with two kids. Of course, after a few days of being sequestered, David and Terry hit it off, although they try to avoid it, knowing it would be an ill-fated affair; of course, the case they are involved with seems to parallel the probable path they could be on together. There are other interesting and funny characters in the jury, and the typical bantering back and forth about whether the defendant is guilty or not occurs, but in an entertaining manner. Terry has a different conclusion about the case than everyone else, and gets to prove a point about how the crime scene may have happened. After the trial, David and Terry must decide their fate together.

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Well, hope these run-throughs help you out with your recording / viewing strategy - again, ALL of these are worth a look, and most are needed for the typical Gingerologists' collection (well...of course, ALL of them are REQUIRED, but..let's say the 'casual' G-oloist...if there IS such a thing...). If I had to narrow it down to a few, then "Bachelor Mother" and "Vivacious Lady" would be mandatory, "In Person" and "Fifth Avenue Girl" at the next level of necessity, then all of the others really falling just under that... of course, "Stage Door" is a bit out of place here - it really should have been shown last week, it seems, since Ginger was one of a ginormous cast...although it is obviously required viewing and taping/burning (or whatever it is you kids call it these days...), if just for the barbs traded between Ginger and Kate...how classic can you get?

Until next time,

Keep It Gingery!!!

VKMfan

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