48% (3) Out to Sea 106 min, PG-13, [Comedy, Romance] [Martha Coolidge] [02 Jul 1997]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 61%, Rotten Tomatoes: 36%, Metacritic: 49%, External Reviews
Actors: Dyan Cannon, Gloria DeHaven, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau
Writer: Robert Nelson Jacobs
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, Italian, Japanese, Spanish Country: USA
Plot: Care-free Charlie cons his widower brother-in-law Herb into an expenses-paid luxury cruise in search of rich, lonely ladies. The catch is that they are required to be dance hosts! With a tyrannical cruise director, and the luscious Liz and lovely Vivian, our heroes have lots of mis-adventures before they finally return to port.
Rotten Tomatoes: A pair of grumpy old men hit the high seas in this comedy. Small-time con man Charlie (Walter Matthau) fast-talks his considerably more straight-laced friend Herb (Jack Lemmon) into joining him for a luxury cruise on an ocean liner headed to the Bahamas. Charlie tells Herb that the trip is free and will be a good way to meet rich widows; both parts are true enough, but Herb doesn't know that Charlie has signed them on as dance hosts (hence the free tickets), and Herb isn't sure if he's ready for romance after the recent death of his wife. As the men struggle with the fact that Herb isn't much of a hoofer (and Charlie can't dance at all) under the strict tutelage of cruise director Godwyn (Brent Spiner), Charlie starts sweet-talking beautiful heiress Liz (Dyan Cannon), while Herb finds a soul mate in Vivian (Gloria DeHaven), who lost her husband not long ago. Out to Sea also stars Elaine Stritch, Hal Linden, Rue McClanahan, and Donald O'Connor, who pulled his dancing shoes out of mothballs for his role. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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67% (2) The Thin Man Goes Home 100 min, Approved, [Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Romance] [Richard Thorpe] [01 Jan 1945]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 74%, Rotten Tomatoes: 60%, External Reviews
Actors: Gloria DeHaven, Lucile Watson, Myrna Loy, William Powell
Writer: Robert Riskin (screen play), Dwight Taylor (screen play), Robert Riskin (from an original story by), Harry Kurnitz (from an original story by), Dashiell Hammett (based on the characters created by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Nick and Nora head to Nick's hometown of Sycamore Springs to spend some time with his parents. His father, a prominent local physician, was always a bit disappointed with Nick's choice of profession in particular and his lifestyle in general. With Nick's arrival however the towns folk, including several of the local criminal element, are convinced that he must be there on a case despite his protestations that he's just there for rest and relaxation. When someone is shot dead on his doorstep however, Nick finds himself working on a case whether he wants to or not.
Rotten Tomatoes: This fifth entry in MGM's off-and-on "Thin Man" series maintains the high production and story values of the first four. Per the title, retired private detective Nick Charles (William Powell) pays a visit to his home town of Sycamore Springs, with wife Nora (Myrna Loy) in tow. Poor Nick is amusingly browbeaten by his parents (Harry Davenport and Lucile Watson), who wanted their boy to study medicine, is frustrated by the fact that there isn't a good stiff drink to be had in town, and is hilariously defeated by a recalcitrant hammock. In a more serious vein, Nick and Nora become involved in international intrigue while investigating the murder of a local house painter. If the identity of the murderer seems obvious today, it is only because the actor in question has played so many "surprise killers" in other films of this genre. A refreshing change of pace for the usually urbanized "Thin Man" series, The Thin Man Goes Home features such colorful suspects as Gloria DeHaven, Edward Brophy, Lloyd Corrigan, Leon Ames, and, best of all, Ann Revere as a local eccentric named "Crazy Mary".
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72% (1) Summer Stock 108 min, Approved, [Musical, Romance] [Charles Walters] [05 Jan 1951]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 72%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Eddie Bracken, Gene Kelly, Gloria DeHaven, Judy Garland
Writer: George Wells (screenplay), Sy Gomberg (screenplay), Sy Gomberg (story)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: As a favor to her actress sister Abigail, New England farmer Jane Falbury allows a group of actors use her barn as a theater for their play. In return, the cast and crew have to help her with the farm chores. During rehearsals, Jane finds herself falling for the show's director, Joe Ross, who also happens to be engaged to the show's leading lady-- Abigail.
Rotten Tomatoes: Summer Stock represented Judy Garland's swan song at MGM. Garland plays the owner of a New England farm which entrepreneur Gene Kelly hopes to convert into a summer theatre. Gloria DeHaven, a member of Kelly's troupe, also happens to be Garland's sister. Aware that the farm is having financial difficulties, DeHaven talks the recalcitrant Garland into allowing the troupe to set up shop in the barn. All sorts of romances wind their way through the summer air as Kelly mounts his production. In the long-anticipated finale, Garland herself steps into the leading-lady slot vacated by her petulant sister DeHaven, and of course the show is a smasheroo. To watch Garland joyfully perform such numbers as "Friendly Star," "If You Feel Like Singing, Sing," and her legendary "drag" specialty "Get Happy," you'd never suspect that she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown (the film opened while Garland was recovering from a suicide attempt). Adding to the overall exuberance of Summer Stock are such dependable supporting players as Eddie Bracken, Phil Silvers, Marjorie Main and Hans Conried (cast as the troupe's resident romantic baritone!)
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66% (1) I'll Get By 83 min, APPROVED, [Comedy, Musical, Romance] [Richard Sale] [02 Oct 1950]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 66%, External Reviews
Actors: Dennis Day, Gloria DeHaven, June Haver, William Lundigan
Writer: Robert Ellis (story), Pamela Harris (story), Helen Logan (story), Mary Loos, Richard Sale
External Links: Wikipedia IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Updated version of "Tin Pan Alley" concerns two songwriters and their romantic entanglements with the pretty pair of sisters helping them plug their songs.
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65% (1) The Yellow Cab Man 85 min, APPROVED, [Comedy, Drama, Romance] [Jack Donohue] [07 Apr 1950]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 65%, External Reviews
Actors: Edward Arnold, Gloria DeHaven, Red Skelton, Walter Slezak
Writer: Devery Freeman (screenplay), Albert Beich (screenplay), Devery Freeman (story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Pirdy is accident prone. He has been denied insurance from every company in town because he is always getting hit or hurt in some way. On the day that he meets the lovely Ellen of the Yellow Cab Co., he also meets the crooked lawyer named Creavy. Pirdy is an inventor and when Creavy learns about elastic-glass, his new invention, he makes plans to steal the process. With the help of another con man named Doksteader, and the boys, he will steal this million dollar invention no matter who gets hurt.
Rotten Tomatoes: Obviously inspired by the success of Red Skelton's The Fuller Brush Man, The Yellow Cab Man stars Skelton as a Rube Goldberg-type inventor who can't seem to stay out of trouble. He also can't hold down a job, either, much to the consternation of girl friend Gloria De Haven. Through the auspices of cab driver James Gleason, Red is hired by the Yellow Cab company, nearly losing his job on the very first day when he gets mixed up in a chaotic wedding reception (in her last feature film appearance, Polly Moran is screamingly funny as the bride's mother). It's all over for Red when he attempts to demonstrate his latest invention, break-proof glass-resulting in a bad bop on the noggin for boss Paul Harvey. Our hero redeems himself by capturing a gang of crooks (among them Walter Slezak and Ray Collins) in an elaborate slapstick finale involving a revolving model home, a hypodermic-shooting toaster, a helium-filled balloon, and a Tarzan-like swing from the rafters of an empty warehouse. Halfway through The Yellow Cab Man, there's an amusing precursor to the "LSD Trip" films of the 1960s, as a drug-benumbed Red Skelton experiences a series of surrealistic dreams.
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56% (1) Two Tickets to Broadway 106 min, APPROVED, [Musical, Romance] [James V. Kern] [20 Nov 1951]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 56%, External Reviews
Actors: Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Janet Leigh, Tony Martin
Writer: Sid Silvers (screenplay), Hal Kanter (screenplay), Sammy Cahn (story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, French Country: USA
Plot: Young and inexperienced Nancy Peterson leaves her hometown of Pelican Falls, Vermont, to try to make it big on Broadway. Along the way, she meets Hannah Holbrook, Joyce Campbell and S.F. "Foxy" Rogers, three struggling and starving chorines who are heading back to New York after a disastrous run on a showboat in Vermont. In New York, Nancy also meets baritone Dan Carter, who is thinking about heading back to his hometown of Denver after two years of getting nowhere on Broadway. Beyond meeting Nancy, what Hannah, Joyce, Foxy and Dan also have in common is that they are each represented by Lou Conway, a somewhat shyster of an agent who relies on the good-natured if somewhat reluctant funding of local deli owners Leo and Harry to advance Hannah, Joyce, Foxy and Dan's careers. Regardless, Hannah loves Lou, the two who are engaged. To appease most specifically Dan, Lou comes up with his latest scheme to make his name known to the public: move to a new medium - television - by getting him a spot on Bob Crosby's variety show, which requires not just Dan singing, but a complete act with four pretty and talented chorines backing him up. Dan and the four girls agree, especially after Dan runs into Dennis McGiven, Bob Crosby's producer, who as much as guarantees Dan such a spot if the act is good. As Dan and the girls prepare a routine, what they are unaware of is that Dennis McGiven was not who he appeared, but was a plant by Lou to further the scheme. All Lou has to do is get Dan and the girls really onto the show. In the process of rehearsals, Dan and Nancy fall in love. But it may all fall apart if their professional aspirations cannot be met by Lou, or if some misunderstandings come to pass because of Lou's swindle.
Rotten Tomatoes: Personally supervised by Howard R. Hughes, the RKO Technicolor musical Two Tickets to Broadway stars Janet Leigh as a small-town girl who hopes to make it big in the Big Apple. Moving into a Manhattan boarding house populated by such showbiz hopefuls as Ann Miller, Tony Martin, Gloria De Haven and Barbara Lawrence, Leigh aspires to appear on the popular TV variety program hosted by bandleader Bob Crosby. Two-bit agent Eddie Bracken promises to make her dreams come true, even though he doesn't know Crosby from Adam. Along the way, Leigh falls for Martin, though the course of true love seldom runs smooth--in fact, at one point it threatens to run all the way back to Leigh's home town. Injecting their time-honored routines into the proceedings are veteran vaudevillians Joe Smith and Charlie Dale, playing a couple of stagestruck deli owners (their roles were originally slated for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, but Laurel's illness precluded any film work). Despite the creative input of choreographer Busby Berkeley, the film's best number is the simplest: Let's Make Comparisons, wherein Bob Crosby explains why he's not his brother Bing. Seemingly a surefire box-office hit, Two Tickets to Broadway inexplicably posted a loss of $1,150,000.
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52% (1) The Girl Rush 85 min, APPROVED, [Comedy, Musical] [Robert Pirosh] [01 Sep 1955]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 52%, External Reviews
Actors: Eddie Albert, Fernando Lamas, Gloria DeHaven, Rosalind Russell
Writer: Robert Pirosh (screenplay), Jerry Davis (screenplay), Phoebe Ephron (story), Henry Ephron (story)
External Links: Wikipedia IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: "The Girl Rush" doesn't have anything to do with "Wonderful Town" other than the fact that Rosalind Russell starred in both. She did "Wonderful Town" on Broadway, which was a musical version of "My Sister Eileen". "The Girl Rush" was a totally different vehicle, but was her first movie musical.
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