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VALIANT IS THE WORD FOR CARRIE (Paramount, 1936) directed by Wesley Ruggles is a sadly neglected screen adaptation based on the novel by Barry Benefield that stars Gladys George in her only Academy Award nominated performance. Though the theatrical trailer lists this as Gladys George's movie debut, she did appear in earlier movies, some during the silent screen era (1919-1921) and talking debut in STRAIGHT IS THE WAY (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1934) starring Franchot Tone before her initial starring performance came along. As much as there were other "tough dames" who might have played Carrie such as non-top marquee names as Marjorie Rambeau, Betty Compson or Pert Kelton, Gladys George, who might have been difficult to cast for a leading role, certainly shows her fine presence alone makes this production worth viewing.

Set outside in a small Louisiana town, Carrie Snyder (Gladys George) lives a lonely life in her white cottage surrounded by a wooden fence. Coming inside her property is a 12-year-old boy named Paul Darnley (Jackie Moran) on his way home from fishing to ask her for a drink of water while in reality wants to find out why this lady is such an outcast to the community. Spending some time with her finds Paul liking Carrie enough to address her as a fine woman. When one of Carrie's few friends, Paul Yonne (Harry Carey), stops by for a visit, he tells Paul to leave and never return. Upon his exit, Paul is spotted by a bearded man (George Hayes) on his horse and buggy. He heads over to town to tell the boy's father, George (John Wray), a hardware store owner whose bedridden wife (Janet Young) lives upstairs. Even though he feels he didn't do anything wrong, Paul is confronted by his father and given a severe whipping. Learning about the punishment from Ellen Belle (Hattie McDaniel), to prevent any more trouble, Carrie discourages Paul by telling him never to come back. Because the city council feels Carrie a bad influence to the community, Ed Moresby (William Collier Sr.), a newspaper publisher, advises Carrie to sell her home and leave town. Before she does, Carrie has Lon (Lew Playton), the town taxi driver, to keep her informed about Paul. After the death of his parents, Paul is sent to live with his uncle. With five kids of his own, he doesn't get the love and attention he deserves. Paul runs away, seeking refuge with Nick (Don Alfonso-Zelda), the fisherman before resorting on his own stealing to survive. A train wreck by which a little girl called Lady (Charlene Wyatt) survives has Paul looking after the child the best way he knows. Carrie learns the whereabouts of Paul with intentions of taking him home with her. Instead, she finds herself the unwed mother with two children. Following their move to New York City, Carrie forms a successful business. Life becomes more complex for Carrie after Paul (John Howard) and Lady (Arline Judge) become adults. Other members of the cast include Dudley Digges. Isabel Jewell, Maude Eburne, Grady Sutton and Helen Lowell.

For a story divided into two parts, naturally the first half proves more interesting than its second half. On the whole, it's both moving and involving in character study. Had VALIANT IS THE WORD FOR CARRIE been an MGM production, chances are Mickey Rooney and Virginia Weidler would have played the children. Jackie Moran, a forgotten name among child actors, does a splendid job as the young Paul while Weidler would have made a better Lady than Wyatt. With the past of Carrie is never mentioned, her scarlet reputation is very much left to the imagination of its viewers.

Of the many classic movies distributed on video cassette since the 1980s and cable television such as American Movie Classics, CARRIE was largely ignored, which is a shame. It did, however, show on commercial television in the 1960s and 70s but that's where it ends. There's a DVD edition that can be purchased from a private collector but in spite of limited availability, remains an overlooked item in need of rediscovery.

Regardless of its 110-minute length, mostly everything about the story works. Thanks to her very fine performance, valiant is the word for Gladys George. (***)

ALL IN THE FAMILY (CBS, 1971-1979) is an American situation comedy that became the brainchild for producer Norman Lear. With the title suggesting another family show in the manner of "Family Affair" ALL IN THE FAMILY was entirely different in premise that took a while for audiences to accept. Although its leading players (Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers) did have previous acting assignments ranging from stage, screen and television guest spots, it was this program that made them household names. What's entirely different about ALL IN THE FAMILY that stood out upon the others during its mid-season premiere January 12, 1971, is that not only was it produced on videotape instead of the normal film process based on the British program, "Till Death Do Us Part" from the 1960s, it dealt with subject matters never discussed before on any other television program thus far, namely for a comedy show. Aside from current topics that were the reflection of the times, there were moments of seriousness before reverting back to comedy setting the tone described in television terms as a "dramedy."

Each week the program begins with Archie and Edith on their piano singing "Those Were the Days" before opening with its new topic of the day. The introduction to the characters living in a private house located on 707 Hauser Street in Queens, New York, starts off with Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), a working man in a loading dock who earns extra money driving cabs on weekends. Though he loves his family very much, Archie happens to be prejudice. His wife, Edith (Jean Stapleton), called "dingbat" by Archie, gets along with everybody. She's quite talkative, never knowing when to "stifle." Regardless, she's good natured. The one gift Edith has over Archie is common sense. Their daughter, Gloria (Sally Struthers) known as Archie's "little goil," is married to a college student, Mike Stivak (Rob Reiner) who not only lives under Archie's roof, but happens to be Polish. Mike's liberal views and mindset is one reason he and Archie could never agree on anything. Though Archie is not fond of minorities, he's fond of Lionel (Mike Evans), a young black man who, unlike Mike, accepts Archie for the way he is.

For the series lasting seven seasons, no doubt the first three or four are the best. Top episodes include Lionel and his parents moving across the street from the Bunkers; two episodes featuring Edith's cousin Maude (Beatrice Arthur); the guest appearance given by Sammy Davis Jr. Coming to the Bunker home to claim a briefcase left in his cab; latter episodes featuring Teresa (Liz Torres), a Puerto Rican tenant renting a room in the Bunker home; among others. The character of Maude Findlay proved popular enough for Beatrice Arthur to star in her very own series MAUDE (1972-1978). For the Jeffersons, Edith and Louise (Isabel Sanford) were the best of friends while Archie would have bigotry run-ins with first Henry (Mel Stewart) and later Louise's husband, George (Sherman Hemsley). A pity the Jefferson's didn't remain since they were the heart and soul of the show. Yet four years after this series premiered, THE JEFFERSONS (1975-1986) became another spin-off, having Louise, George and Lionel moving on up to the East Side of Manhattan.

Though Archie and Edith remained physically the same through much of the series, Gloria lost her Shirley Temple curls to long blonde hair while Mike lost his hippie appeal by shaving off his mustache, cutting his hair and looking presentable. By 1975, the Stiviks welcome the birth of their son, Joey. Before moving out and living in the Jefferson home, Archie and Edith acquired new neighbors, namely the Lorenzos, Irene (Betty Garrett), a handywoman, and Frank (Vincent Gardenia), a cook and house husband, whose characters were a fine contrast to the Bunkers. Sadly, they disappeared after only one season. With Archie a member of a lodge, Barney Heffler (Allan Melvin) becomes one of his closest friends. As the series progressed, Archie's bigotry has toned down in favor of other subject matters, dramatically, comically or both. When an episode is straight comedy with full quota of laughs, it's instant classic. When it shifts to seriousness or some controversial issues that make the show uneasy viewing, it doesn't work as well.

ALL IN THE FAMILY slowly developed into one of the funniest verbal comedies of all time. Like many long-running TV shows, not all of its 203 episodes is 100 percent greatness. Though the show could have ended with Mike, Gloria and Little Joey leaving for California, another season resumed, introducing a new live-in character, Stephanie Mills (Danielle Brisebose), a little girl who happens to be Jewish.

Though ALL IN THE FAMILY formed similar programs and spin-offs, including ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE (1979-1983) continuing the life and times of Archie Bunker and his bar business, it's ALL IN THE FAMILY that has changed the course of television programming. Watching Archie drinking beer from his favorite sofa, Edith's high pitch speaking, Gloria's cry-baby outbursts and Mike's viewpoints show how these now classic characters are all in the family. Shown on various cable channels over the years, ALL IN THE FAMILY is also available on DVD.

TOO HOT TO HANDLE (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1938) directed by Jack Conway, capitalizes on the recent success to TEST PILOT (1938) reuniting Clark Gable and Myrna Loy. Rather than having Spencer Tracy from TEST PILOT once again playing part of the trio, Walter Pidgeon steps in as the third party, a role he often played during his starting years for MGM before shifting to major star status by the 1940s. This time the plot revolves around newsreel cameramen risking their lives to get dangerous footage captured on film for theater distribution. Myrna Loy assumes the role of aviatrix to Gable's carefree pilot from TEST PILOT. Being a grand mix of drama, comedy, adventure, and enough ingredients playing like a "to be continued next week" chapter serial in feature length form, in some ways TOO HOT TO HANDLE plays better than TEST PILOT. However, it's TEST PILOT that earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Picture while TOO HOT TO HANDLE is not as well-known these days except for it being the final screen teaming given by Gable and Loy.

Plot: Christopher Hunter (Clark Gable) works under Arthur "Gabby" MacArthur (Walter Connolly) for Union Newsreel Syndicate. He's a friendly rival to William D. "Bill" Dennis working under Pearly Todd (Henry Kolker) for Atlas Newsreel, both companies stationed in New York City. With loyal assistance of sound man Joselito Estancia (Leo Carrillo) and labeled as "the best cameraman in the business," Chris and Bill compete against one another with Bill doing his best to out scoop Bill every chance he gets. While trying to get a good photo shoot, Chris films a crash landing from aviatrix Alma Harding (Myrna Loy), thus rescuing her from a burning airplane. In due time, Chris makes every attempt to impress Alma against the wishes of Bill whom he has known since childhood. It is later revealed that Alma's only interest at this point is to locate her missing brother, Harry, lost in the Amazon jungle during an expedition in South America. Though sources claim Harding to be dead, Alma believes he's very much alive. Following a series of misunderstandings during a press show to make Alma the laughingstock of the attendees, Alma chooses to prove them wrong by taking flight alone to the Amazon jungles searching for Harry while Chris and Dennis individually scheme of being one step ahead of the other getting newsreel footage to their distributors. With amusing results. Other members of the cast include Marjorie Main, Virginia Weidler, Johnny Hines, Gregory Gaye and Willie Fung.

Though more Gable than Loy story wise, TOO HOT TO HANDLE does present some priceless moments of solid comedy, namely the opening sequence set in Shanghai involving on how to make a phony raid look real enough sending bogus footage to the main offices; Walter Connolly's performance as the harassed publisher; and Gable's smooth talking impression making his lies appear true to form along with his moment of glory disguised as a giant chicken. Interesting segments include how newsreel footage is put together during offscreen narration. With settings in China, New York and South America, the latter jungle sequence (resembling a Tarzan movie) goes on a bit long but because it's crucial to the story it was best not to edit down in shorter length. Through much of its 105 minutes, TOO HOT TO HANDLE is certainly too hot to handle.

Available on both video cassette and DVD format, and formerly shown in colorization in the 1980s, TOO HOT TO HANDLE is currently presented in original black-and-white theatrical edition whenever broadcast on Turner Classic Movies. Sit back and have fun with this one. (***1/2)