Molly and Me

What a wonderful and thoroughly entertaining film this is, this is my first experience of Gracie Fields and purchased this due to Monty Woolley being in this, suffice to say not only am I a fan Of Monty's, but Gracie's, too.

There's a good mixture of fun, laughter, slapstick, farce, singing and a terrific, entertaining cast, as well as Monty and Gracie the main cast members to stand out for me are a very young Roddy McDowall (as Monty's son) and Reginald Gardner (as the Butler), the rest of the cast are all excellent and together with me the cast were clearly having a ball too!! My one and only problem with the film is that I wish it were longer, it's only 76 minutes long and just wish it'd been at least another 10-15 minutes more, but it's always a sure sign just how much you've enjoyed a film when you think this way I guess, If you enjoyed Monty Woolley in this then please check out The Man who came to dinner with Bette Davis, it's a terrific comedy, sadly only available on Region 1 at the moment.

Good sound and picture too, I've purchased this film in the Gracie Field's silver screen collection and that version at least has no subtitles whatsoever.

Here is a whimsical tale of an out-of-work actress and her other also-situated actors and actresses. Tired of playing the starving artist, she lands the role of maid in a house over-running with thieving employees. She single-handedly cleans up the household, and begins to work on her unloving boss. She soon begins to melt his icy heart, and teaches him the value of things (not money, which he knows too well already).

Her actor friends soon must take on the role of fellow servants, and the rest is hilarious. They over-act their positions, and confuse and confound their new boss.

This really is a film for those who appreciate a) filmed theatre and b) English humour c) optimism in adverse situations. The show is run by Gracie Fields erstwhile actress and singer from the north of England and who typifies the 'ee by gum accent ! A clan of out-of-work actors take over the running of a rich household but their profession remains unbeknown to the owner of the house. The staff already in place on Fields' arrival are summarily dismissed by her when she discovers that they have been "cooking" the books and indulging in illegal practices In addition to this the owner of the house has a son, played by Roddy McDowell, very young, who has a communication problem with his father -in fact, his mother ran away with another man whilst he was very young but he had always been led to believe that she had died.

The film is very optimistic and Fields is truly unflappable in when trying to deal with the various problematic situations that crop up. In the end the whole of the troop put in a splendid actors' performance in a bid to send packing Mr Graham's wife who suddenly turns up and demands money ! This fine episode brings a conclusion to a film well worth watching if you are lucky enough to see it scheduled !

Probably the United Kingdom's most popular entertainer during the Thirties was Gracie Fields. She came over to the USA in the early Forties partly as a hands across the sea goodwill gesture and partly because of a scandal involving her new husband Monty Banks, real name Bianchini. Italians were not real popular over in the UK then, they were as bad as Germans, they never reached that degree of odiousness in the USA during World War II as Germans or Japanese.

In any event the American movie-going public got a real treat to see what our allies on the other side of the pond had been seeing for years. Molly And Me is very typical of the kind of character Fields did over there, the bright and chirpy working class woman with an every ready smile and song who solves everyone's problems. I only wish her work were more available here.

In any event out of work actress Gracie takes a job as a housekeeper for the rich and stuffy Monty Woolley who is expecting his son Roddy McDowall home. He and McDowall are distant from each other and while he's told Roddy that mother is dead, she in the person of Doris Lloyd is very much alive and living a sleazy life, divorced from Woolley. Monty wants to keep Lloyd away from their son.

When she arrives there after being hired by Reginald Gardiner the butler who is also a former thespian, Fields finds wholesale thievery among the staff and sacks the lot of them. She then hires a bunch of her former mates from the stock company she was with. Let's just say a whole lot of problems are solved before the film ends.

Gracie got to work with a few members of the British colony in America in Molly And Me. Yet the film from 20th Century Fox really did have the look and feel of one of her British films.

Despite good performances from Woolley, McDowall, and Gardiner, Molly And Me is totally a Gracie Fields production. I'm just glad this is available for American audiences. Do not miss this or any other of her work should TCM broadcast it.

You don't like this, I don't like you. Recommended for old TCM fans and new generations exploring classic Hollywood fables. Gracie Fields, Monty Wooley and yes, that's Lovey Howell from Gilligan's Island.