Classic Film Review: Higher and Higher (1943)

This madcap film stars Jack Haley as Mike O'Brien, valet to the broke Mr Drake (Leon Errol). To appease Drake's creditors, Mike suggests a plan whereby they dress up the scullery maid Millie (Michele Morgan) as Drake's daughter Pamela and marry her off to a wealthy man who would then save Drake's finances. The man they settle on is Sir Victor (Victor Borge), although he may not be all he seems. Rounding out this rather nice cast are the ever-wonderful Mary Wickes as Sandy, Barbara Hale as Katherine Keating and Mel Torme as Marty. However, the third-billed star shines the brightest - Frank Sinatra playing Frank Sinatra.

Some of the songs in Higher and Higher are forgettable. However, two Sinatra numbers went on to become standards - 'I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night' and 'A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening'. There's something pure about Sinatra's voice in the early 40s, making his performance on these songs nothing short of captivating. He also does an excellent job on 'The Music Stopped', a song new to me and possibly unjustly forgotten. There's an excellent comic duet he has with Marcy McGuire called 'I Saw You First' to look forward to as well. The stand-out 'other' song is probably 'You're On Your Own' but, again, the few lines of the reprise by Sinatra are more memorable than the actual performance by the cast.

That's not to say that the acting performances are drab, just that they're overwhelmed by Sinatra's singing talent. Jack Haley gives a good central performance, although I couldn't really connect with Michele Morgan. Anything with Mary Wickes in it already has the thumbs-up from me and she was as funny in this as I've seen her in other films. Another favourite performance of mine came from Elisabeth Risdon as the stately Mrs Keating - a rather understated performance that offset some of the madness going on elsewhere.

The storyline is, essentially, barmy but that doesn't mean it's a bad film. There are plenty of humorous moments and Sinatra gently lifts the whole piece up to another level. Even with my ambivalence towards the heroine, I enjoyed this one.

Classic Film Review: The Trouble With Angels (1966)

The Trouble With Angels stars Hayley Mills and June Harding as Mary and Rachel, two girls sent to a convent school who aim to drive the nuns round the twist with their pranks. Mother Superior (Rosalind Russell) heads a collection of individual nuns with their own little quirks, two of whom are no strangers to viewers of nun films - Portia Nelson as Sister Elizabeth (recognisable as Sister Berthe in The Sound of Music (1965) and the fabulous Mary Wickes as Sister Clarissa (known to many as Sister Mary Lazarus in the two Sister Act films). It's no exaggeration to say that I knew I was going to enjoy this film as soon as I saw Wickes in the cast but she was more than matched in performance by the rest of the actors.

Mary is full of 'scathingly brilliant' ideas which Rachel goes along with. Through the course of the film they set someone's head in plaster, give tours of the nuns' private rooms, have the fire brigade called out by accident when they're smoking in the cellars and, my personal favourite, replace the nuns' sugar with bubble bath which is one of the funniest scenes of the film. But, as time goes on, Mary's brash nature is assailed by seeing the truth about how the nuns live and, after being given another chance by Mother Superior, she turns things around most unexpectedly. Perhaps the best thing about Mary's evolution is that it isn't sudden. She still performs pranks as she's coming to her realisation but there are a couple of quiet moments that are all the more poignant for being rare.

Rosalind Russell is, of course, outstanding as Mother Superior. She makes a work of art out of twitching as lemon juice is accidentally squirted in her face and the film is peppered with her expressions and comments about the behaviour of the two girls. The rest of the cast is equally as enjoyable and, for film obsessives, there is a brief appearance by Gypsy Rose Lee as Mrs Phipps (Russell played Lee's mother in the retelling of her life four years earlier).

This isn't a film with pretensions to be anything but a family comedy and, as such, is highly entertaining.