Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven

Bill Frawley(Fred Mertz!) , Irene Ryan(Granny!), Margaret Hamilton(the Wicked Witch!), and Florence Bates, and Roscoe Karns. Gadz! who ISN'T in this film from United Artists ?? Boy meets girl on the road, and they are both running away from their jobs. Eddie (Guy Madison) quits when he finds out he has inherited some money from his dead uncle. Diana Lynn is "Perry", who left town when her brother gets married. They get in a car accident, and the whole plot-line is pretty silly, but you just have to go along with the ride. Liberal use of back drops. Lots of talking. and Lionel Stander is the hotel bell-hop.. he was "Max" in Hart to Hart. Flo Bates (the thief on the subway) was in SO many early films, and worked with just everyone..(LOVED her in Rebecca!) Margaret Hamilton is the prim and proper landord, who rents a room (the stable) to Perry. Picture is pretty good, but sound goes way up and way down, so be ready for CRAZY loud commercials. Bill Frawley (Fred Mertz, three years BEFORE I Love Lucy!) is the big shot agent, who doesn't like Eddie's work. a couple funny scenes, at Coney Island, and again when the ladies play cards. These folks were all masters at vaudeville. SO fun to see all these pros in comedy. the film is so understated... too bad the script is so slow. they all would have been even more amazing with a better script. it does go all over the place. but if you stick around, it's a lot of low key fun. This one was important, just for all the big names in here...

Fits and starts is no way to engage a film spectator. Undivided attention is volunteered and not guaranteed. Clearly with Texas-Brooklyn Castle and the producers forgot these tenets of spectatorship. The long talks in the car had me paying attention to the rear projection in hopes of a bit of action. Although, dry at first these talks later became more interesting through developing the characters aptly. That being said, characterization was ambiguous. I feel that many reviewers of this film will be more forgiving than myself because of how "gosh-darn" cute the couple was. Diana Lynn did play her character very well. If the film story has relevance it is mostly anachronistic in nature. There are plot digressions and long drawn out scenes that do little for forwarding the story. Some mobile framing creeps in, but for the most part Castle is doing nothing special to foster spectator interest. Coney Island makes an appearance again, but unlike in When Strangers Marry there is no creatively edited montage sequence to accompany the fun fair. Margaret Hamilton also makes an appearance but is effectively side-lined rendering her casting value nil. Castle would not make the same mistake when directing her in 13 Ghosts many years later. If you have other things to do, you can either not watch this film, or simply keep it running in the background.

Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Eddie Tayloe (Guy Madison) is working at a Texas newspaper when he inherits some money and decides to head off to New York City to try and become a playwright. On the ride there he meets Perry Dunklin (Diane Lynn) and agrees to give her a lift to the city. Once there they split up but soon they are going to be reunited.

William Castle, yes, that William Castle, directed this romantic comedy that borrows a few moments from IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, which is pretty remarkable when you think about it. That Capra film was released more than a decade earlier yet it was still being ripped off in 1948. With that being said, TEXAS, BROOKLYN & HEAVEN isn't a masterpiece or even a good movie but it is a pleasant entertainment that is worth watching.

The film is basically a romantic comedy that works in large part because of its two stars. I wouldn't say that Madison or Lynn gave great performances but both of them are just so cute and charming in the film that you can't help but enjoy watching them and their adventures as their characters slowly get back together. I thought the film did a good job with at least keeping you entertained by the story and Castle managed to keep the film moving at a nice pace and delivering some charm along the way.

The film is pretty basic in regards to its story as there's certainly nothing here that we haven't seen countless times before. As I said, the two leads are just so charming together that you don't mind going along for the ride. The supporting players include James Dunn, Florence Bates, Margaret Hamilton in a small role and Roscoe Karns in a brief bit. James Dean is said to be in the picture but I wasn't able to spot him.

Guy Madison inherits $6,000. He quits his job on the paper and heads from Texas to New York to finish his play and get it produced. Meanwhile, Diana Lynn also leaves Texas, and the two of them travel together. She goes to Brooklyn, where she charms everyone in the Borough of Churches, which is populated exclusively by eccentrics. Meanwhile, Madison makes the rounds.

Their inevitable love story is the glue that is supposed to hold together this collection of oddities, like obnoxious spinster sisters, a superannuated pickpocket, a place where you can ride camels across the desert, elephants across the jungle, or horses across the prairies, as well as an assortment of bartenders, Santa Clauses and cops. It doesn't work on those terms, but there's such an assortment of fine comic character actors offering eccentric performances that I was charmed nonetheless. Where else can you can find James Dunn and Michael CHekhov, Florence Bates and Lionel Stander, William Frawley and Roscoe Karns, Margaret Hamilton and Irene Ryan, and Audie Murphy in his film debut?

Diana Lynn is great as usual a year or so before her role as Irma's best friend in My Friend Irma. She carries the story quite well and it is worth seeing. I agree with another poster that the music is terrible but there isn't much of it and really it's only the music at the beginning that is that bad. It's a cute story and could have been better but still an enjoyable way to spend 76 minutes. It does have some good moments and lots of familiar faces, some you may not be able to put a name to but will recognize from other old movies. I won't go into the whole plot since that has already been covered very nicely but it is well worth your time to watch this. Since it has fallen into Public Domain you can see it at internetarchives.