Grey Market Cinema: Crazy House (1943)

In 1941, Universal Pictures hired vaudeville comedians Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson to bring their mega-successful stage revue Hellzapoppin’ to the silver screen.  Hellzapoppin’, for those not familiar with the production, was a wacky “anything goes” hodgepodge featuring comedy props, wacky sight gags, one-liners (often on the ribald side) and audience participation—much of it improvised nightly by the…

Buried Treasures: Carve Her Name with Pride (1958)

It is July 1940 in London, and accompanied by her friend Winnie (Billie Whitelaw), Violette Bushnell (Virginia McKenna) invites a soldier named Etienne Szabo (Alain Saury) to her family’s home for dinner.  Violette was born to a French mother (Denise Grey) and English father (Jack Warner), and what started out as a tribute to a French…

Grey Market Cinema: Buck Benny Rides Again (1940)

In The Jack Benny Program’s 1936-37 season, writers Bill Morrow and Ed Beloin instituted “Buck Benny Rides Again,” a spoof of movie westerns that would go on to become one of Benny’s most popular running segments.  Jack played the titular hero, of course, and on one broadcast character actor Andy Devine was introduced as a sheriff who…

Buried Treasures: Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)

At the Academy Awards ceremony on March 10, 1938, director Leo McCarey graciously accepted the Best Director Oscar for his classic screwball comedy The Awful Truth (1937), thanking the Academy and his peers for bestowing upon him such an honor.  He also added: “But you gave it to me for the wrong picture.”  The film to which…