Classic Films in Focus: THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1939)

Among adaptations of Alexandre Dumas' classic novel, this 1939 version is certainly a lightweight, and not nearly as elaborate an affair as the 1948 MGM production starring Gene Kelly. The Fox incarnation, directed by Allan Dwan, revises the original tale as a musical comedy vehicle for The Ritz Brothers, who had a brief film career in the late 1930s and early 40s. They never really took off, and here they prove more of a distraction than a feature. If you like Don Ameche, however, The Three Musketeers has its charms, since the movie provides the amiable star with the kind of swashbuckling role usually reserved for his Fox peer Tyrone Power. It also features worthwhile performances from Gloria Stuart, Binnie Barnes, and Lionel Atwill, as well as brief appearances by John Carradine and Douglass Dumbrille.

Ameche plays D'Artagnan, who arrives in Paris to become a Musketeer, only to pick quarrels with Athos, Aramis, and Porthos on his very first day. The heroic trio, however, succumb to a drinking contest with The Ritz Brothers, who assume their outfits and identities before D'Artagnan arrives to fight his duels with them. Along with D'Artagnan, the fake Musketeers are then swept along into a dangerous political plot involving Queen Anne (Gloria Stuart) and her lady-in-waiting, Constance (Pauline Moore). Their adventures bring them into direct conflict with the devious Milady De Winter (Binnie Barnes) and the scheming Cardinal Richelieu (Miles Mander) as they try to retrieve the queen's brooch before its absence sparks an international scandal and war.

The Ritz Brothers get some modest laughs, but the movie shows why they never really took off as screen stars. They are neither as violent as the Stooges nor as cerebral as The Marx Brothers. The "Chicken Soup" song that introduces them sums up their comedy style; there's a lot of winking and silliness but not much thought to the act. Kids might find them sufficiently entertaining, but most adults will wonder how they manage to merit top billing with Ameche. The movie also falters by wasting Douglass Dumbrille and John Carradine, both terrific character actors, in very small roles; Dumbrille barely has a single scene, and Carradine disappears after just a few minutes. Instead we get lots of shenanigans with The Ritz Brothers as they stumble through one mishap after another, never really varying their gags or developing their characters as anything more than props.

Ameche is the real attraction; he looks quite dashing in his period hair and costumes, and his infectious charm goes a long way to make up for the movie's failings. His D'Artagnan is a gleeful combatant and an energetic romancer, and he really seems to be having a good time waving his sword and playing the swashbuckling hero. Even if the songs are not that memorable, Ameche sings them with zest, especially the "Voila" number. His leading ladies also help to move the picture along. Pauline Moore makes a lovely Constance, and Gloria Stuart is beautifully regal as the imperiled Anne. Binnie Barnes doesn't vamp as much as some Milady actresses, and she has to endure a really awful search scene with the Ritz Brothers, but she sells the character's smiling menace to great effect. Sadly, Milady's worst crimes - and best scenes - are cut to keep the picture firmly in comedy territory. Lionel Atwill, another great character actor and a reliable heavy, gets a heftier part than Carradine and Dumbrille as De Rochefort, one of the schemers working against the queen.

The 1939 adaptation is by no means the place to start with Musketeer films, but it's worth visiting for fans of Ameche's charismatic persona. Try the 1948 version for a more developed, but still imperfect, classic adaptation. Allan Dwan, a prolific director and silent film veteran, also made The Iron Mask (1929) and Heidi (1937). See more of Don Ameche in Midnight (1939), That Night in Rio (1941), and Heaven Can Wait (1943). Gloria Stuart is probably best remembered today as old Rose in Titanic (1997), but her early career included The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938). If you really get into The Ritz Brothers, you'll find them in One in a Million (1936), The Gorilla (1939), and Argentine Nights (1940).

Classic Films in Focus: IT'S A JOKE, SON! (1947)

Southerners are known for their regional devotion, but the hero of It's a Joke, Son! (1947) takes that loyalty to absurd levels in this quirky comedy inspired by skits from Allens' Alley, a popular radio show hosted by comedian Fred Allen. Directed by Benjamin Stoloff, It's a Joke, Son! is a delightfully silly film, full of comic mischief and good humor, with truly funny performances from its leads. The comedy of the picture depends upon a gentle ribbing of Southern institutions and a more complex engagement of the gender struggles found in so many classic films, and fans of O Brother, Where art Thou? (2000) will find many similarities in tone and content between the two movies.

Kenny Delmar, who created the character for Allen's Alley, stars as the Southern fried hero, Beauregard Claghorn, whose devotion to Dixie is matched only by his subservience to his wife, Magnolia (Una Merkel). The Claghorns are at odds with one another over the romance of daughter Mary Lou (June Lockhart) with suitor Jeff Davis (Kenneth Farrell), whom Beauregard likes but Magnolia finds unimpressive. Their disagreements become more pitched when Magnolia and Beauregard end up running against one another in a political campaign, but the corrupted incumbent tries to disrupt the election by kidnapping Beauregard.

Jokes about Southern traditions abound. The Claghorns live off the income derived from a family mint farm, which supplies the necessary ingredient in mint juleps. Magnolia is first induced to run for State Senator at the prompting of The Daughters of Dixie, a clucking flock of old biddies who sit around lamenting the fall of the Old South and calling for the return of Prohibition. In one particularly entertaining scene, Beauregard accidentally serves the chattering scolds a potent mixed punch that soon loosens them up beyond all decorum. Beauregard's devotion to the South is so great that the only sure fire way to summon him is to play "Dixie," a tactic that his nagging wife frequently employs to roust him out of hiding.

The War between the States has given way, however, to the war between the sexes, and most of the plot of the movie revolves around Beauregard's attempt to stave off his domineering wife's efforts to get him completely under her thumb. Beauregard only runs for State Senator because, as he says, "My life wouldn't be worth living" if Magnolia were to achieve that kind of public, political power. Una Merkel's Magnolia is certainly one of the steel variety of that flower; even her daughter implores her to be kinder to her husband, although it takes a drastic turn of events for Magnolia to relinquish arms. Beauregard begins the movie thoroughly hen-pecked, but the end offers a sense of greater balance between the spouses, although we (thankfully) get no hint of punitive masculine revolt like that seen in Kiss Me, Kate (1953) or McLintock! (1963).

Classic movie fans will find a whole host of great character actors in this film. Look for Douglass Dumbrille and Jimmy Conlin as the crooked politicians. June Lockhart, of course, went on to television immortality as Timmy's mother on Lassie, and Daisy the Dog appeared in the popular series of Blondie films. Kenny Delmar, who had been the announcer on Allen's Alley, went on to do a fair bit of voice work on cartoons like Underdog, which is ironic because his own Senator Claghorn also turned out to be a cartoon character in the making. Beauregard Claghorn helped to inspire the creation of that memorable Looney Tunes rooster, Foghorn Leghorn, who borrowed not only the Senator's Southern pride but many of his catch phrases, as well.

It's a Joke, Son! is now in the public domain, so you can watch it online at the Internet Archive or other sites that stream legally available films. You'll find a very young Kenny Delmar in the 1921 D.W. Griffith film, Orphans of the Storm, but he mostly turns up on television programs and in cartoons. Catch Kentucky native Una Merkel in classics like 42nd Street (1933), Destry Rides Again (1939), and Summer and Smoke (1961), the last of which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. See more of June Lockhart's early career in Sergeant York (1940), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), and Son of Lassie (1945). Douglass Dumbrille also stars in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and A Day at the Races (1937), while Jimmy Conlin turns up in small roles in all sorts of places, but especially in Preston Sturges comedies like Sullivan's Travels (1941) and Hail the Conquering Hero (1944).

An earlier version of this review originally appeared on Examiner.com. The author retains all rights to this content.