Happy Land (1943)

World War II was quite possibly the only time in American history where the whole nation came together. Patriotism and shouting America and being an American was a prideful thought. America was a young, strong nation compared to war torn tired old Europe. It was when the “American Dream” still meant something and middle America thrived. Men were more than willing to fight for the American Dream. Obviously many did not come back home leaving their loved ones devastated. Happy Land from 1943 screams American ideals, small town values, and the happy, close knit family. Some films from the World War II era I find to be too preachy when it comes to screaming America but there is something about Happy Land that is just right.

            Lew Marsh (Don Ameche) runs the popular drugstore Marsh’s in a small town in Iowa. He has a loving wife Agnes (Frances Dee) and a son named Rusty. Like most young men at the time, Rusty is off fighting in the war. He is fighting in the navy and all the customers at Marsh’s ask Lew how Rusty is doing. One day a telegram comes for Lew and Agnes telling them that their only son and child was killed in action.

            For weeks Lew does not go to the store. He is rightly depressed but depressed to the point where he just sulks around the house and is despondent. The town reverend goes out to the house to speak to Lew again but Lew is having none of what the reverend has to say. While sitting outside in the backyard Lew sees what appears to be his grandfather whom he affectionately called Gramps. Gramps died twenty-years before, just a short time after Rusty was born. Gramps tells his grandson that he has come back to show him what life was like and how happy and fortunate he and Agnes were to have Rusty in their life.

            Gramps first takes Lew back twenty-five years when Lew came home from World War I. Right away Lew got to work in the drugstore without even changing his uniform. That day he meets Agnes who had asked for a special kind of milkshake that Gramps would make for her. Lew thinks she is a bit odd but of course they soon fall in love and get married. They have Rusty and at the time Rusty is born Gramps gets really sick. He tells Lew as they walk around town that he was not going to die before he saw his great-grandson and he did. Gramps takes Lew through so many of his and Rusty’s life moment. Lew and Agnes were good parents to Rusty and he turned out to be a young, kind man.

            Without even realizing it Lew had been out walking for three hours. When he returns home Gramps’s voice tells him to go to the drugstore. Lew goes and one of Rusty’s fellow soldiers Tony comes to the store. Rusty had told Tony that if he ever needed anything he should go to the drugstore and to his family since Tony does not have any. Lew knows Tony will never replace Rusty but they accept him because their son did. Tony tells Lew and Agnes how their son died which was trying to save another soldier’s life.

            Don Ameche and Frances Dee were wonderful. I adore them both so much as actors. You feel so much more the characters and their heartbreak because their acting was so good.

            Happy Land was an excellent film. Usually when a classic film from the 1940s is about the War and is all sentimental and screams America I lose interest very fast because I get annoyed. With Happy Land there was never a moment when the sentimentalism or the patriotism gets on my nerves it was so wonderfully and perfectly done. I feel this film was made for the families who lost loved ones during the war as a reminder that their sons or husbands or brothers had good lives and were loved and their sacrifice was not in vain. Happy Land is a film I highly recommend seeing as soon as you can. It is available to view in full on YouTube.  

Ladies in Love (1936)

“The trouble with us is all we talk about is love.”

            I am not a romantic girl at all. Sometimes I think about what it would be like to be totally in love with someone and have someone be totally in love with me. But those thoughts are usually thought of after I watch a romantic or rom com movie. The next day I am usually so busy thinking of just me with school and work the last thing I want to think about is that someone else in my life. At this moment in my life I cannot handle a boyfriend. Never mind all the drama that usually goes into having one! Two of my best friends have boyfriends. When we are all together they talk about their boyfriends. I do not mind though because I like their boyfriends and they are not the only thing they can talk about. I cannot imagine having friends that all they do is talk about their boyfriends more than I can imagine me having one right now. Thank god! In the 1936 film Ladies in Love all three friends can talk about is love.

            Susie Schmidt (Loretta Young) and Yoli Hayden (Constance Bennett) move into their new apartment. When they walk into the building they find their third roommate and their other friend Martha Kerenye (Janet Gaynor) has already made herself at home by taking a shower. Martha tells the girl an old superstition her gypsy nurse told her: they have to count all the corners in the room then sit down and make a wish. Susie and Yoli count eight and then sit down: Susie wants a hat shop like the one she used to work in and Yoli wants to marry a rich a husband. Martha in the bathroom counts four and wishes for a real home, a husband, and kids.

            One of Martha’s many odd jobs is taking care of experimental rabbits for a Dr. Rudi Imre (Don Ameche). On that particular day Martha was late to take care of the rabbit. Rudi is not too happy with her because the rabbits need to be on a strict schedule for their medicine. She tells him that she moved into a new place a little farther away so it took her extra time to get there. Rudi is upset with her and lets her go.

            At the apartment Yoli boyfriend John comes by with his friend Count Karl Lanyi (Tyrone Power). Susie opens the door and is immediately in love with Karl. Karl asks Yoli to take Susie to a party that night. Susie hears Karl ask Yoli about her going to the party. Yoli tells her that Karl is engaged to another woman already but that does not bother Susie too much. At the party Yoli’s friend Ben tells her he can see that Susie in love it is all over her face. He talks to Yoli about the night she met John. Ben had been talking to her before John walked in. Ben is upset that Yoli is upset about John going away. John and Yoli go to leave the party but happily decide to stay.

            The following day Martha goes to see Susie in the stage show she is in. Martha asks Susie if she knows any men she might be able to sell a tie to. Susie tries to introduce her friend to a magician named Sandor but the magician just brushes Martha off. Martha gets seated in spot very close to the stage. During one of his tricks Sandor calls Martha up on stage. She tries to sell him a tie not realizing she is in the act. Sandor tricks her about buying a tie and giving her money. After the show Sandor needs help getting his shirt off. He fired his help so Martha helps him. He needs a tie too. Martha makes a deal with Sandor to buy a tie for a smaller price and she can become his maid. That day Susie had told Karl she was in love with him. After the show Karl is backstage waiting to take her out to dinner.

            Meanwhile, Yoli and John are at his place. They see legs dangling on the arm of one of his chairs. When they go over a young girl is there. The girl’s name is Marie (Simone Simon) and she is kind of related to John by marriage. Marie tells them that she ran away from. Her mother was trying to make her do something she did not want to do. John is nervous about her staying there and what it might look like to people.

            Martha has been working for Sandor for three weeks. She bosses him around. She tells him to stop drinking and he gives her a bull story that he has a nervous disorder that makes his hand shake just to get her sympathy.

            Susie goes to Karl’s apartment. He is not there but she waits. She sees a note from his fiancé on the table. She reads the letter. The fiancé wrote that they can be married at the end of the week just like he wanted. Beyond crushed Susie leaves the apartment in a hurry.

            Martha goes to see Rudi. She tells him she is working for Sandor and Rudi gets a little jealous thinking she is in love with Sandor. She gets mad at him and leaves in a huff.

            That night Susie goes out with John and Yoli. She sees Karl walk into the club. A man who gossips sees Susie and talks to him about Karl. To avoid speaking to Karl she goes off with the man when Karl comes up to her.

            Rudi waited for Martha outside the theater. He apologizes to her and takes her out to dinner. He gets jealous of Sandor again when Martha mentions the magicians. Martha gets very upset with Rudi for analyzing her when he cannot analyze himself. She storms out of the restaurant.

            Marie has run away from her boarding school. She confesses to him that ever since he had taken her out to lunch when she came sever years ago with her mother for vacation she has been in love with him. That is the reason she ran away from home. Marie manages to get John to marry him and take her to South America. John is truly happy around Marie.

            Sandor admits to Martha that he hired her because he was lonely and he was hoping she would fall in love with him. Martha does not love Sandor in any way. He kisses her and then says he thought he was losing his grip. Martha runs out of the apartment.

            Susie watches from a café Karl walking into a church with his bride to be married. At the apartment Susie drinks too much champagne. Martha shares in a bit of Susie’s misery and drinks some champagne as well. Susie is so depressed she puts sleeping syrup in her drink to kill herself. She put the glass down near Martha’s and Martha winds up picking Susie’s glass.

            Yoli goes to the train station to see John. She sees Marie going with him. Yoli walks off of the platform and Ben is there waiting for her. When Yoli comes home Rudi is there trying to keep Martha awake. Susie feels awful she cannot believe she just almost killed her best friend. Rudi comes to check on Martha and Sandor comes in at the same time. Sandor thinks Martha tried to kill herself because of him. She starts laughing and cannot stop when he says that. Rudi plays some game with Sandor to get him out of the apartment. Rudi tells Martha he got a real job and wants to marry her.

            The ladies move out of their apartment. Susie got her store thanks to some help from Yoli and Ben. Yoli marrying Ben who has really loved her. They all cannot believe all that has happened to them since they had moved into their apartment.

            The cast was fantastic. I loved seeing Janet Gaynor, Loretta Young, and Constance Bennett together. Gaynor was so adorable I could not take it. She looked and sounded like such a little kid she was perfect as Martha because Martha was in so many ways a dreamy little girl. Young was gorgeous and wonderful. I liked how Susie could not stop talking when they first moved in she was so excited. Bennett is a great actress. It seemed like she did not want to be making the film though. Maybe it was the character but it looked like Bennett was not giving the part her all. Don Ameche did not have his mustache and I could not believe how much more handsome he was without it! I loved him and Gaynor together they were so cute. Tyrone Power is actually listed in the credits as Tyrone Power, Jr. His father was an actor so I guess to distinguish the young from the old they put Jr. at the end. Not too long later they dropped the Jr. Power is not really in the film that much. This was mostly likely one of his very early films for Fox.

            Ladies in Love was a cute film. Although I am far from the romantic type I did like the story.  The story was good because Susie did not really get what she wanted. All the ladies had to go through heartbreak and silly things (in Martha's case) to get to where they wanted and what they wanted. Secretly sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be in love. For now I just live vicariously though film characters which is all I have time for right now! Haha. Ladies in Love is definitely worth watching especially if you like any of the cast members.