The Uninvited (1944), starring Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Gail Russell
Synopsis of The Uninvited
The Uninvited is a ghost story about a brother and sister. They buy a seaside house, and soon become involved in ghost hunting. And become involved in the life of a young woman who’s involved with the ghost.
Broadway Rhythm (1944), starring George Murphy, Ginny Simms, Charles Winninger, Gloria DeHaven,
Review of Broadway Rhythm
In short, Broadway Rhythm is a very enjoyable musical. It’s not the equal of Top Hat or some of the other great musicals — but it’s not trying to be. It’s a musical about a family of performers. The son has made it big — possibly too big for his britches. He’s chasing a girl who would be perfect for his play. A play that she’s not interested in. His father’s retired, although the father doesn’t think that he’s ready to be put out to pasture. And the younger sister is attending college, when she wants to be performing.
Meet the People(1944) starring Lucille Ball, Dick Powell
At its’ heart, Meet the People is a musical romantic comedy, where shipyard worker William ‘Swanee’ Swanson (played by Dick Powell) has written a patriotic play about the American worker during World War II. Actress Julie Hampton (played by Lucille Ball) is hired to act in the play, but when Swanson has “creative differences” with the producer, he wants the actual shipyard workers to star in the play.
House of Dracula (1944), starring John Carradine, Onslow Stevens, Lon Chaney Jr., Glenn Strange
Synopsis of House of Dracula
In House of Dracula, Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.) & Dracula (John Carradine) beg Dr. Edelman (Onslow Stevens) to cure them of their killing instincts. But Dracula schemes to seduce the doctor’s nurse.
The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944), starring Fredric March, Alexis Smith
Review of The Adventures of Mark Twain
I’ve often said that Hollywood takes enormous liberties with biographies. That’s true in The Adventures of Mark Twain as well. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not a very enjoyable movie. It is, for a variety of reasons. It has a good pacing, interesting cinematography, and a compelling rags-to-riches story.
Weird Woman – When a college professor whose life work is the battle against superstition marries a beautiful woman with a voodoo background, the return to the university leads to bitterness, fighting, and murder. Is it due to voodoo — or something more mundane?
House of Frankenstein (1944), starring Boris Karloff, John Carradine, Lon Chaney Jr., J. Carrol Naish, Glenn Strange, Lionel Atwill, Anne Gwynne, Peter Coe
Synopsis of House of Frankenstein
House of Frankenstein is the first of the Universal Studios monster mashes. In short, mad scientist Niemann and “friend Daniel” his hunchback assistant escape prison and enact a series of revenges on the people who had him imprisoned. They murder a proprietor of a travelling show of horrors, impersonate him and revive his corpse of Dracula. Dracula succeeds in the first part of the revenge scheme, but Niemann abandons him to be destroyed in the sunlight. Niemann then travels to the ruins of Frankenstein’s castle. He hopes to recover the dead doctor’s secrets, but instead recovers both the Wolf Man and Frankenstein’s monster. He revives them both, but a romantic triangle unravels the plot.
The Fighting Sullivans (1944) starring Anne Baxter, Thomas Mitchell, Selena Royle
There are a great many positive things to say about The Fighting Sullivans. It’s set against the backdrop of World War II. But at it’s heart it’s the story of a loving Irish Catholic family. As they raise five young boys and a daughter. Five very energetic, healthy, American boys, whose childhood the audience gets to share. As well as when they become young men, and volunteer for service in the Navy shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Mr. Skeffington (1944), starring Bette Davis, Claude Rains
Product Description of Mr. Skeffington
Bette Davis stars as a beautiful but vain society woman who, to pay her brother’s gambling debts, marries a financier she does not love — Mr. Skeffington. The marriage does not last, and the former Mrs. Skeffington flits from beau to beau casually leaving a trail of broken hearts. But when she contracts a near-fatal case of diphtheria, her beauty is destroyed by the terrible scars left by the disease. Now middle-aged, scarred and unable to win men’s hearts with her beauty, she finally finds love with the now-blind man she had wed years before–Mr. Skeffington