Ann Sheridan movies on TCM: Warner Bros.’ ‘Oomph Girl’ could be a capable actress
Ann Sheridan, the determined, humorous, sensual 1940s Warner Bros. star, is one of my favorite movie toughies. Sheridan was also a first-rate comedienne (I Was a Male War Bride) and in the right role was a capable dramatic actress (Angels with Dirty Faces – except for the hysterical scene). As a plus, she was great to look at and listen to.
Those unfamiliar with Ann Sheridan’s work will be able to check her out on Wednesday, as Turner Classic Movies will be presenting thirteen of her films as part of its “Summer Under the Stars” series.
Unfortunately, there are no rarities. No Woman and the Hunter, Just Across the Street, or Fighting Youth. But Ann Sheridan is always worth another look.
Sheridan looks great in her most famous movie, Sam Wood’s melodrama Kings Row (1942), but that classic has always left me cold. I find both Ronald Reagan and Robert Cummings badly miscast, while Betty Field, who could be an excellent actress, was in dire need of some major toning down.
Also, the Production Code censors kept themselves busy ensuring that Warners and screenwriter Casey Robinson cleaned up all the filthy, disgusting, vile, evil, satanic dirt found Henry Bellamann’s novel set in Small Town U.S.A., to the point that the only thing “scandalous” about the movie version is that it’s so chicken-shit tame. (In that department, Warners fared much better with another 1942 “family movie,” John Huston’s In This Our Life, which left precious little to the imagination.)
The Unfaithful (1947) is The Letter all over again (minus the prestige and with a Southern California setting); Torrid Zone (1940) is basically, to paraphrase costar James Cagney, The Front Page set among bananas; while The Opposite Sex (1956) is a, however undeservedly, much panned remake of The Women (1939).
So much for those who assert that Hollywood has recently lost its imagination, going for remakes and reboots all the time – as if that wasn’t done in the 1940s and 1950s (or as early as the 1910s, for that matter).
None of the three aforementioned films is considered a classic, but since Ann Sheridan is in them they’re all definitely worth a look.
Now, Sheridan is at her best in the comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), stealing the show (along with Reginald Gardiner, Mary Wickes, and a penguin) from nominal leads Monty Woolley (as a version of Alexander Woollcott) and Bette Davis (as the “straight woman”). Don’t miss it.
Ann Sheridan movies on TCM: ‘Summer Under the Stars’ schedule (PDT)
3:00 AM Naughty But Nice (1939)
Director: Ray Enright.
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Dick Powell, Gale Page.
89m4:30 AM Nora Prentiss (1947)
Director: Vincent Sherman.
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Kent Smith, Bruce Bennett, Rosemary DeCamp.
112m6:30 AM It All Came True (1940)
Director: Lewis Seiler.
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Humphrey Bogart, Jeffrey Lynn, ZaSu Pitts, Una O’Connor.
97m8:30 AM Wings for the Eagle (1942)
Director: Lloyd Bacon.
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson.
84m10:00 AM One More Tomorrow (1946)
Director: Peter Godfrey.
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson.
88m11:45 AM Juke Girl (1942)
Director: Curtis Bernhardt.
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Ronald Reagan, Richard Whorf.
90m1:30 PM City for Conquest (1940)
Director: Anatole Litvak.
Cast: James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Arthur Kennedy, Frank Craven, Anthony Quinn, Elia Kazan, Donald Crisp, Frank McHugh, George Tobias, Jerome Cowan, Lee Patrick.
104m3:15 PM George Washington Slept Here (1942)
Director: William Keighley.
Cast: Jack Benny, Ann Sheridan, Charles Coburn, Percy Kilbride, Hattie McDaniel, William Tracy, Joyce Reynolds, Lee Patrick, Charles Dingle, John Emery, Franklin Pangborn, Leon Ames, Marie Windsor.
91m5:00 PM Torrid Zone (1940)
Director: William Keighley
Cast: James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, Ann Sheridan.
88m6:45 PM Kings Row (1942)
Director: Sam Wood.
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan, Betty Field.
127m9:00 PM The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941)
Director: William Keighley.
Cast: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley, Reginald Gardiner, Billie Burke, Mary Wickes.
113m11:00 PM The Unfaithful (1947)
Director: Vincent Sherman.
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Zachary Scott, Lew Ayres, Eve Arden.
109m1:00 AM The Opposite Sex (1956)
Director: David Miller.
Cast: June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Ann Sheridan, Joan Blondell, Ann Miller, Leslie Nielsen, Jeff Richards, Agnes Moorehead, Charlotte Greenwood, Sam Levene, Bill Goodwin, Carolyn Jones, Alan Marshal, Harry James, Dick Shawn.
117m
“Ann Sheridan Movies: Warners’ ‘Oomph Girl'” notes
Ann Sheridan movie schedule via the TCM website.
Box office information related to MGM’s 1939 The Women and The Opposite Sex via online sources referencing the studio’s Eddie Mannix Ledger, found at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ library.