Wintertime was the last of the nine Sonja Henie skate-musicals made by the Fox studios, and basically the last notable film in her career. It was also the last film the indefatigable Cesar Romero made for Fox before shipping off to the Pacific theater. (He was already enlisted when the film was shot, and shippedContinue reading “Wintertime (1943)”
Category Archives: Cesar Romero
A Gentleman at Heart (1942)
Fox made three Runyonesque comedies in the early 40s starring Cesar Romero — Tall, Dark and Handsome, A Gentleman at Heart, and Dance Hall. All were witty, full of surprising turns, and well crafted. And all were produced as B-movies. While folks have varied judgments about Dance Hall (it was panned at the time, printsContinue reading “A Gentleman at Heart (1942)”
Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941)
I have a special affection for the Fox comedies of the early ’40s. At a time when the other major studios were going for toney production values to make “prestige” comedies or marrying lurid technicolor to tepid stories playing to Midwestern sensibilities, Fox somehow remained loyal to the gritty escapism of the early and midContinue reading “Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941)”
Dance Hall (1941)
I love Dance Hall pretty much unreservedly. It is as pure and perfectly made a B-comedy of the period as one could imagine. Made just at the start of 20th Century Fox’s jazz-comedy heyday, it displays all the elements that made them so interesting and fun. All the more puzzling why it’s nearly impossible toContinue reading “Dance Hall (1941)”
Happy Landing (1938)
Happy Landing was the third film Sonja Henie made for 20th Century Fox. She was a monster star in her day, the first female professional skater to become an international sensation. 20th Century Fox was a maverick studio in the 1930s that tended to make low-budget musical comedies that featured some unusual, and unusually good,Continue reading “Happy Landing (1938)”