Do you ever have that reoccurring dream where it is test day and you've forgotten to study? Now that it is September and the kids are settling into school, we look back at those halcyon days in the classroom before computers depicted in the movies of yesterday, a world that doesn't exist anymore.
RODNEY BOWCOCK: If you don’t already know who Henry Aldrich is, he’s an “average” American teenager in Centerville, USA. This time out, he’s smitten with his music teacher and desperate to impress her with his prowess around a musical instrument (he’s hoping to take up the violin, much to the chagrin of his father) both to impress her with his talents and to hopefully raise money to replace the piano in the classroom. When a noted concert violinist, Josef Altman performs at the Centerville High School, Henry unknowingly foils a plot to steal his Stradivarius violin by stealing it himself. Henry’s swing band is performing at a seedy nightclub when he loses the $10,000 instrument in a raid.
SAMANTHA GLASSER: The concept that one generation’s music is offensive to the previous is timeless and still gets reiterated today. Ragtime was spurned by the parents of its adopters, as was jazz, and later rock and roll, and later rap. If you like music, this movie is easy to relate to.
RB: The culture wars have been alive and well for over a century. The uproar over the school principal over the students listening to swing music seems as quaint to us today as future generations will feel over whatever pop music has people in a dither today.
SG: The Stradivarius violin was repeatedly used in films as a symbol of wealth and a device for comedy. I can’t think of examples from modern films where one features prominently.
RB: I can’t think of anything sort of, say, the constitution or something along those lines. Remarkably, the Stradivarius, like fine paintings is one of those things that when stolen cannot really be resold on the black market due to the remarkable rarity. Every several years someone tries to abscond with one, but generally speaking they are recovered in short time (although sometimes it takes decades, and still other times there are some that have been missing for many decades). Jack Benny owned and played one (made in 1729), which was donated to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
SG: That's one of the examples I was thinking of.
The notion that a kid would borrow his own father’s tie to make him look more appealing to his crush is hilariously old-fashioned. I can’t say I relate to his experience pining for his teacher, but then I didn’t have very many male teachers.
Henry’s girlfriend Mimi is played by Mildred “Mimi” Chandler, daughter of Kentucky senator A.B. “Happy” Chandler. She is among several of the high school students played by actors of an appropriate age. The premiere of the film was held in Versailles, KY at the Lyric Theatre in her honor and the senator attended.
RB: The Lyric still exists as a performing arts center in the tiny town, located not too terribly far from where I write this. Unfortunately for Chandler, this was one of only two film roles that she had. The other is And the Angels Sing, a 1944 Dorothy Lamour/Betty Hutton Paramount musical.
SG: That's a fun movie! I'd like to find a print to run at the Picture Show someday.
John Litel is one of those actors who seems to pop up everywhere, often in series, like this one and Nancy Drew, or playing doctors, members of the military, or police officers.
RB: Fan favorite Byron Foulger appears as a drug store owner in an uncredited role. This film was released in between uncredited roles in Coney Island and Appointment in Berlin. I always whoop with glee whenever he appears in a movie that I watch (and if his daughter Rachel Ames is reading this PLEASE reach out. We’d love to learn more about him). Fred Kelsey also appears (as a cop, of course). He actually clocked in a few more appearances than our beloved Byron. This uncredited appearance came in between uncredited appearances in Action in the North Atlantic and a Harry Langdon short Here Comes Mr. Zek.
SG: Henry Aldrich first appeared in a Broadway play by George Abbott called What a Life and was brought to life by Ezra Stone. The character was brought to radio in 1938 on The Kate Smith Hour, which was popular enough to adapt into a summer replacement show for Jack Benny as The Aldrich Family.
RB: The Aldrich play was written by Clifford Goldsmith, who also penned the first several seasons of the radio iteration (which earned him a handsome $3,000 per episode). Goldsmith’s work was successful enough that Henry Aldrich as portrayed by Stone would make guest appearances on countless shows, particularly shows for the war effort before he was drafted. After leaving the Aldrich radio series (and being too old to participate in the TV series), he primarily directed TV programs and instructional films for IBM. He was also a fixture on the old-time radio circuit until his death from a motorcycle accident in 1994.
As for Goldsmith, his creation directly or indirectly spawned an entire genre of radio programs, including some that lasted a decade or more, like The Adventures of Archie Andrews and A Date With Judy and others that weren’t as successful like That Brewster Boy. I also hear elements of Henry in Leroy Forrester on The Great Gildersleeve and Junior on The Life of Riley.
SG: I’ve heard the radio version of these characters, and they’re pleasant, but I saw the films first and those are my preference. In fact, this was the first one I ever saw, at Cinevent in 2009, and it made a big impression. I bought a bootleg collection that included the films where Jackie Cooper played Henry, but there is no comparison to Jimmy Lydon. Lydon is perfect in the role, awkward, boyish and good-intentioned. He won me over from the start and I gushed to him about how great he was in a fan letter in 2015. To my surprise, he signed my photo and he responded with a nice letter, in which he lamented that he was able-bodied and willing to work but no one would insure him because he was too old, which only endeared him to me further. His is among my most prized autographs.
RB: That’s a fantastic remembrance! I came to these characters via the radio program first, so, for me, Ezra Stone is Henry Aldrich and I see elements of his performance in Lydon’s portrayal, which I find endearing. Jackie Cooper is a fine actor, but he holds little in common with the Henry Aldrich that I know.
SG: Lydon mouthing along to the swing in his checkered blazer reminded me somewhat of George McFly in Back to the Future. He's trying to be hip, but he's a square at his core.
Showmen’s Trade Review said, “On the air, the situations appear natural, while for motion picture consumption they seem a trifle exaggerated…Vaughn Glaser's old-fogey schoolmaster nearly steals the show.”
Film Bulletin’s reviewer called this a weak entry in the series and suggested it would work in small towns but not for “sophisticated audiences.” He praised the performances but called the plot complications “perfectly obvious.”
Photoplay wrote, “…a famed violinist comes to town and Henry picks up his Stradivarius by mistake and Henry gets caught in a raided night club and, heavens to Betsy, it's awful. So, if you ask us, is the picture.”
RB: In the neighborhood theaters, this was an extremely successful series. Radio (to an lesser extend than television would later) had caused a hit on theaters, and teenager based films were en vogue as the adults were focused on winning the war, either on the homefront or overseas. Every single review that I found heralded this as a funny entry that got radio fans into the theaters. Something that would’ve been very appreciated.
SG: Well maybe I have lowbrow tastes, but I enjoyed many things about this movie. Lydon’s performance, the fun character actors, the sophomoric “simpler time” atmosphere of a small town, and the upbeat music nourished me for an hour. Three stars.
RB: I had a great time with this movie, as I usually do with 1940’s series films. This was bolstered by the fact that I am a great fan of the characters having listened to the circulating shows and acquired many scripts that have provided fun reading. Three and a half stars.
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