michael-248

This wonderful film is one of a handful that has the power to call me back to my childhood days and wrap me in warm memories of my Mom, Dad and little brother sitting around the television on Saturday night, watching the late show.

From the opening scenes of this beautifully photographed movie I found myself caught-up in the intriguing post Civil War story of a boy and his pet faun and their fantastic adventures on a scruffy Florida Everglades farm. The film stars Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman and Claude Jarman in the lead roles, with some of Hollywood's best character actors in the supporting roles.

Peck gives an Oscar caliber performance as the warmhearted father who does his best to make a better life for his family, with absolutely no help from the elements, which surround them. Jane Wyman brilliantly plays Orry, the hardened mother and wife who is so embittered by past tragedies in her life that she is unable to show any love for her one surviving child for fear of losing him as well. And Claude Jarman plays Jodie, the wistful young boy who is just one summer away from adolescence and all the emotional growing pains that come with it.

This story is laced with excitement and adventure sure to please the kids, but each of the adventures is also a great lesson in life that will stay with them for years to come. The cinematography is spectacular and received a well-deserved Academy Award and the wildlife scenes are incredible as well. Just watching Jodie romp through the woods with his faun is a joyous site to behold. The way Orry finally begins letting herself love her son will bring tears to your eyes. This movie was one of the most emotional experiences of my young life and I believe I am a better person from the lessons learned here.

I highly recommend this film, it is one to be experienced with your entire family.

This was one of Lucille Ball's last theatrical films prior to the debut of "I Love Lucy", and from the looks of things it was the final primer for her role as Lucy Ricardo. "The Fuller Brush Girl" was filmed in 1950 as a sequel to the very popular "The Fuller Brush Man", which starred Lucille's male counterpart, Red Skelton.

It's the story of a young couple, Sally and Humphrey, who want to get married, buy a house and live happily ever after. But just as they are able to place a down payment on their dream house, Sally causes an electrical fire at the shipping company where she and Humphrey work and loses her job. Undaunted Sally decides to try her hand at door-to-door sales as a Fuller Brush Girl (she actually sells cosmetics, not brushes). Meanwhile back at the shipping company Humphrey is promoted to shipping manager, only he doesn't realize that he is being set-up as the fall guy by a smuggling ring. Through a hilarious set of circumstances the bumbling Fuller Brush Girl and the smuggling ring get mixed-up with each other and all hell breaks loose. In the ensuing tangle, there is murder, talking parrots, police chases, a very funny striptease and some of the funniest sight-gags ever put on film.

The cast includes a very young Eddie Albert as Humphrey, Jeff Donnell as Sally's best friend and a who's Who cast of character actors.

If you are looking for a movie with Lucille Ball at her comical best, this is the one.

As a trivia note, the musical number in the film "Put The Blame On Mame" is the same recording used to dub Rita Hayworth's voice in the film "Gilda".

What if once upon a time in Hollywood a young adventurous movie director decided to buck the studio system and pull together a creative independent Þlm? And suppose he hired the queen of B movies to star as the heroine, and he dressed her up in beautiful gowns and made her look very alluring. What if he then places her in a dark and brooding London setting where a murderous, madman is on the loose, killing pretty young women by advertising for them in the personal columns? Then just to spice up the cast he adds the king of horror movies as one of the villains, the quintessential movie playboy/cad as the love interest, and one of England's top stage actors to make things interesting. What if all these things did in fact come together and were Þlmed in glorious black & white, and the subsequent Þlm was rushed into theaters and after a very short run it quietly faded away without anyone ever really knowing much about it? Well now, after 52 years, this hidden jewel has now been rediscovered! The movie is entitled `Lured,' and it stars, Lucille Ball, Boris Karloff, Charles Colburn, George Sanders, Cedric Hardwicke and George Zucco. It was directed in 1947, by Douglas Sirk, written by Leo Rostin and produced by Hunt Stromberg. After viewing this movie I was struck by the outstanding performance of Lucille Ball in a very rare dramatic portrayal. Her Sandra Carpenter is a saucy dish with an penchant for adventure, and she gets her chance to experience all the adventure she can stand when Scotland Yard employs her to go undercover to help trap a lunatic, serial killer. The plot is intricate, with plenty of red herrings thrown in to mislead you to the wrong suspect. The gorgeous sets are all top notch and add to the over-all dark, moody atmosphere which permeates this Þlm. My hat is off to KINO for Þnding and bringing this nearly lost classic back to the public. They have just made it available on DVD and I can't wait to see it that format too. I highly recommend this Þlm for anyone who has never seen Lucille Ball in a dramatic performance and also for anyone who loves a good murder mystery, this is a great Þnd!