Coming up next is 1935's "Doubting Thomas" starring Will Rogers. A traveling businessman comes home to find his wife wants to go on the stage. What's more, she's planning to make abandon the family and make her debut on Broadway. Her husband desperately tries to keep her in the family home. The film's excellent supporting cast includes Billie Burke, Alison Skipworth, Sterling Holloway, Andrew Tombes, Gail Patrick, Frances Grant, Frank Albertson, and Helen Flint.
The film opens with the Brown family having breakfast. Thomas Brown (Rogers) is president of Brown's Breakfast Sausages. His son's fiancee calls up and asks to borrow seventy-five dollars so she can pay for a screen test. After they deny her the money, Thomas tells his son not to let her go on the stage once they marry. He says that Mrs. Brown had the acting bug, but he married her before she could pursue it. Matters aren't helped by the fact that Mrs. Pampinelli, the town's amateur theatrical director, is putting on a play and many of the citizens are involved.
Thomas has to go on a week-long trip to a sausage makers convention. He may even have to make a speech. "I'll make a speech alright, government tellin' us out how to run our business. They know baloney, but we know sausage."
While Thomas is gone, Mrs. Pampinelli loses two members of the cast of her play. She's got to find a replacement. Quickly she recruits the Browns' future daughter-in-law, Peggy, and they come and ask Mrs. Brown if she'll also join the cast. She readily accepts, saying she wished she hadn't given up acting when she was younger.
Thomas arrives home on the night his wife Paula is scheduled to hold a rehearsal for the play at their house. He isn't at all thrilled about his wife going on the stage. He is a bit happier that the rehearsal will be at their house. "Well, I guess acting is like gettin' drunk. If you got it to do, why, it's better to do it in your own home."
Thomas stays for the rehearsal, watching from a couch. He keeps the ladies beside him laughing as he makes wisecracks about the performance.
After leaving the room to take a telephone call, Thomas comes back just as Paula receives her cue to go on. He watches from the stairs and falls down them after he can't believe what kind of a part she's got.
The next day while watching some of the screen tests that are being made, Thomas gets an idea that might just stop his wife's acting aspirations. He tells Jimmy that he's going to see the director of the screen tests the next day.
On the night of the town theatrical, Thomas lets it slip that he heard a big Hollywood movie director is going to be in the audience. He asks the one he tells not to tell anybody. She tells him she won't breathe it to a soul, before running over to spread the news to the cast. "She won't breathe it to a soul," Thomas quips to Jimmy. "She'll just exhale it to the world."
Of course, the play is a complete disaster. Lots of noises backstage, missed cues, scenery that doesn't work right, a curtain that goes up and comes down to soon, actors tripping and fainting, mustaches falling off, etc.
Backstage, the imperious Mrs. Pampinelli is running her crew ragged and causing quite a lot of loud arguments. "There's more going on backstage than there is out in front," says Thomas.
Though the play is supposed to be a drama, it performs like a comedy and that audience cracks up at every little thing. (It's an absolutely hysterical show!) "They could play this play again," says Thomas. "People would pay more to see it from the back than they would from the front." It's hilarious how the cast compliments themselves on how well they think the performance went. Thomas doesn't see it that way at all.
Later, Paula tells Thomas that she wants to pursue a stage career. He tells her it'd mean giving up her home, her husband, and her son. She says she's made her decision and she's going ahead with her career.
Thomas tells his son he's still got one idea up his sleeve. Later, while viewing the screen tests with the "famous Hollywood director", everybody is all excited to think this is their big chance. However, the "director" disparages everyone's performances, except one.
It happens to be Thomas's own screen test. It's awful. He screeches at the top of his lungs as a "mature crooner". The director says it's wonderful, a real personality. He wants him to leave for Hollywood with him in one hour. In reality, it's a vaudeville actor that Thomas hired to convince his wife to give up her actress ambitions.
Thomas starts packing right away. Paula later finds out the everything was just a frame-up. She isn't mad. She thinks Thomas must love her a great deal to go to all the trouble of trying to keep her at home. She won't give up being an actress, though. "You have to be a very good actress to be a successful wife," Paula confides to someone.
Everything turns out all right in the end. Thomas and Paula are happy to be together, and that's all that matters. Cast rundown:
Will Rogers...........................................Thomas Brown
Billie Burke...........................................Paula Brown
Frank Albertson.....................................Jimmy Brown
Helen Flint............................................Nelly Fell And that's all for Doubting Thomas. This was the last Will Rogers film released during his lifetime. Two others were released posthumously. It's marvelously funny, especially the scene of the play, pure joy to watch. As always, if you wish to leave a comment, please remember our posting rules.
Our next post comes in the form of our first Shirley Temple film, 1936's "Captain January", a film about an orphan who lives with the lighthouse keeper who found her when she was a baby. A mean truant officer tries to force her to go to school and tear her away from the home she loves. The supporting cast includes Guy Kibbee, Slim Summerville, Buddy Ebsen, Sara Haden, Jane Darwell, June Lang, Nella Walker, George Irving, and Bill Robinson.
Right away we meet Star. Lighthouse keeper Captain January (Kibbee) puts on some music as she awakens, and Star starts to sing "Early Bird".
We find out that Star is an orphan Captain January rescued. The only link she has with her family is an album of pictures that washed ashore in a trunk. After breakfast, Captain January sends Star on an errand in town.
Finishing her errand, Star and her friend Paul delight the locals with a song and dance, "At The Codfish Ball".
It's a cute little song. The opening lyrics go: "Next Friday night you're all invited to dance from eight to five. All the fish that's still alive are having a ball. It's some affair. They'll all be there from the herring to the whale. They'll turn out to shake a scale in Neptune's hall. Come along and follow me to the bottom of the sea. We'll join in the jamboree at the Codfish Ball."
Watching Star are exceedingly stern truant officer Agatha Morgan and kind-hearted schoolteacher Mary Marshall. Agatha tells Star that she needs to get home so she can tell Captain January the truant officer wants a word. Before racing home, Star asks the locals, "What's a truant officer?" "Stormy weather for kids!" comes the reply.
On Star's birthday, Captain Nazro, a friend of Captain January, comes calling. He's brought a present for Star: a crane.
Captain Nazro says the crane's name is Ichabod. "Look at 'em! Look at 'em!" sighs an exasperated Captain January. "If it wasn't for the ribbon, you couldn't tell 'em apart."
The truant officer barges in on her birthday and demands that Star report to school for an examination of a child of eight, two years ahead of Star's rightful age. The truant officer ultimately wants to remove Star from Captain January's care.
So, Star has to cram for her exam in a hurry. Captain January teaches her some geography, multiplication tables, and spelling. Captain Nazro even comes over to help. Captain January wants to know why he came. "Why, I bet you can't count over ten without taking your shoes off," he says as Star laughs.
The day comes for Star to take her examination. She does alright, but then the teacher asks Star to make up a story about being left alone with a little brother. Star excels in the story with a wonderful imagination. Star eventually passes the examination, even after answering a surprise question about history. The truant officer is angry that Star passed, and vows to continue pressing on with her case.
An adorable moment comes in the form of an operatic song (Chi mi freno in tal momento? from Lucia di Lammermoor). Star and Captains January and Nazro "la la la" their way through it from beginning to end. At one point, Star tries her hardest to sing the notes, but exclaims "too high!" right in the middle of the performance.
It's definitely worth a couple of minutes to watch this highly amusing piece of music.
It's a cute interpretation of a classic song. And Shirley Temple sings to the top of her range (literally!).
Captain Nazro gets some bad news. They're installing some equipment in Captain January's lighthouse that will put him out of a job. With no job, it's a cinch that he won't be able to keep Star. He finds the address of some people who may be related to her and secretly writes to them.
Eventually, Captain January finds out the truth about the lighthouse and gets depressed about not being able to find another job. Captain Nazro tells him he sent for Star's family, which further depresses January.
On the day they are scheduled to leave the lighthouse, the truant officer comes with a warrant to appear in court with Star. They hurry to Captain Nazro's boat before the truant officer arrives at the lighthouse. They almost forget Captain January's pet parrot as they leave quickly.
On Captain Nazro's boat, Star's friend Paul is waiting. The plan is for them to take it out a mile or so and wait until the truant officer backs down. Later that night, the truant officer catches up with them, and has Star forcibly removed from January's custody. Captain January gets injured in the process.
Just as Star is being taken away by the truant officer, her family comes to claim her. It turns out that her uncle is the American Consul in Morocco and has just returned after having been away for many years. On Captain Nazro's advice, they leave without first seeing Captain January.
Star moves with her uncle and aunt to their home in Boston, and they shower her with gifts. However, she can't get Captain January out of her mind, and misses him terribly.
Star's aunt and uncle tell her they're going to take a trip and they have a surprise for her. They think they've found a toy she'll really like. It's a new yacht, and they're fixing up a playroom for her. But that's not the surprise.
They've hired Captain January as the captain. And that's not all, they've also made Captain Nazro first mate. Her friend Paul is made a member of the crew. Also joining the crew is Mrs. Croft (who's been sweet on Captain January for the whole movie). She's been made the ship's cook.
The film ends with a reprise of "At The Codfish Ball", and Star is happy that she has both her newfound family and her old one in her life. Cast rundown:
Buddy Ebsen..............................................Paul Roberts
Sara Haden................................................Agatha Morgan
Jane Darwell..............................................Eliza Croft
June Lang..................................................Mary Marshall
Nella Walker...............................................Mary Mason
George Irving.............................................John Mason And that's all for Captain January. An interesting fact: one scene where Shirley Temple was supposed to dance the hula was cut. Test audiences considered the hula immoral so it was removed from the final product. As always, if you wish to leave a comment, please remember our posting rules.
