Leon Errol Series: BEWARE OF REDHEADS (1945)

BEWARE OF REDHEADS (1945 RKO Radio Pictures) Original Release Date: September 14, 1945.  Starring Leon Errol as Leon Errol, Dorothy Granger as Mrs. Errol, Myrna Dell as Gloria Richards, Marc Cramer as Mr. Richards, Arthur Loft as Dr. Thompson, Cyril Ring as Ed Brooks, Tanis Chandler as the Secretary, Tommy Noonan as the Assistant.  Written and Directed by Hal Yates.

Introduction to our Leon Errol Salute Series is at this link.

Leon Errol managed to make it to his office the morning after a particularly wild party at The Pelican Club, but isn't taking any visitors.  Too bad: titular fire bunny Gloria shows up, requesting the return of a compact she accidentally dropped in his pocket while they were dancing.  If you're guessing that Mrs. Errol is unaware of last night's activities, you're right--and you can probably deduce that she will find the compact and storm into the office while Ms. Richards is still there.  Leon is able to convince the Missus it was intended as a surprise gift for her, but his worries are far from over.  Gloria also has a spouse, and he's even more upset.  Mr. Richards files for divorce--naming Leon as a co-respondent.

He may have a cold pack on his head and the need to replace a few appointments with naps, but Leon sucks it up and makes it to the workplace under trying circumstances in this classic Hal Yates barn burner.  Ms. Richards shows she means business from the get-go, even ripping Chandler's skirt to get into Leon's office!  It must have been some party for both of them, if she was sufficiently distracted to leave a $200 makeup mirror with her venerable suitor.  Gloria certainly can't be all that innocent if she's dancing with Leon at his favorite watering hole--perhaps she's looking to upgrade financially?  If her age-appropriate husband can afford a compact worth $2,822 in today's dollars(!) she isn't doing too badly for herself already.  A bald, short man in his sixties able to pry Myrna Dell from her hubby--need any further proof that Leon Errol is a role model?

Our durable carouser is also commendably careful, able to charm his brother-in-law the physician into helping.  Hard to swallow?  Maybe, but then again Leon could have a little blackmail material ("he's my pal!").  Errol also deftly avoids having Gloria's name on one of his checks and makes assistant Brooks accompany her to the store to The hangover doesn't keep him from thinking on his feet when the Missus arrives, but the addled state of his brain finally shows itself when she leaves and takes the adrenaline rush with her.  A bit of advice: don't put your whiskey next to the ink bottle in your secret desk drawer.

Yates keeps the complications coming swiftly: numerous ill-timed arrivals on and off screen are par for the course, and a most unfortunate sprained ankle at the Errol household is the one thing our boozy buddy just can't see coming.  Still, Leon does a terrific job deflecting exposure under the circumstances, and just might avoid getting that vase broken over his head this time. 

Myrna Dell (Oh, Professor Behave!) was just beginning to receive consistent screen credit; this was the second of her seven Errol shorts.  Despite her titular role here, she was usually a beautiful blonde.  She gets laughs with her subtly assertive nature, which immediately changes once Mr. Richards shows his anger and threat of a divorce seems real.  It doesn't happen by the fadeout, but I still came away thinking the Richards have more marital problems than the Errols.  Dorothy is considerably more understanding than usual, maybe even gullible for the first reel.  Don't worry, that doesn't last.

Soon to join a pre-HOLLYWOOD SQUARES Peter Marshall in an underrated comedy team of the 1950's, Tommy Noonan makes his series debut as Dr. Thompson's unfortunate assistant.  This would be the first credited role for Tanis Chandler, and also the only short subject possibly best known for THE TRAP.  Marc Cramer would also play Dell's angry (to be fair, with good reason) husband in Double Honeymoon.

Drinking, carousing, burning the candle and both ends, and practicing the  "deny, deny, deny" technique decades before GUIDE FOR THE MARRIED MAN, Leon Errol never changed on screen no matter how many decades passed.  Thank God.  He and Hal Yates both realized audiences never wanted him to, and as a result we have dozens of laugh riots just like Beware of Redheads just waiting to be rediscovered.  (***1/2 out of four)

Leon Errol Series: OH, PROFESSOR BEHAVE! (1946)

OH, PROFESSOR BEHAVE! (1946 RKO Short)  Starring Leon Errol as Leon, Dorothy Granger as Mrs. Dorothy Errol, Charles Coleman as the Butler, Amelita Ward as Professor James, Joe Devlin as the Fake Professor.  Also starring Myrna Dell, Betty Gillette, Phil Warren, and "Daisy" as Boots.  Written and Directed by Hal Yates.

The introduction to our Leon Errol Salute series is at this link.


Leon Errol is in hot water yet again.  The Mrs. has caught wind of his activities during her vacation, and she arrives home early to find him happily dancing with Dell--who isn't the only young blonde at what is obviously a lively party.  Not buying Leon's claim that he's entertaining clients before a big sell ("Looks to me like you're on the buying list!"), Dorothy tells him to explain it to her lawyer before her haughty exit.

Meanwhile Leon agrees to provide accommodations in Dorothy's temporarily vacant room for Professor James as a favor to a friend.  Ol' Rubberlegs hasn't met the instructor, and is initially delighted once he learns that the bespectacled James is actually young, beautiful and female--until the Mrs. returns, that is.  With Leon's angry, threatening brother-in-law Warren at her side, she has agreed to give the Mr. just one more chance.  But after the scene witnessed by Dorothy earlier, how's the hubby to explain the presence of a comely brunette in her bedroom?

The mouse is playing while the cat's away once again in Oh, Professor Behave!   Lone gives every indication that he's making plenty of whoopie during his wife's soon-to-be truncated vacation.  Curiously, though, Leon urges the piano player to "speed it up" while he's slow dancing with nubile Dell--you'd think he'd want to do just the opposite, no?  No matter--Dorothy brings the festivities to a halt.  But the freneticism is just beginning.

Hal Yates was on a real roll at this stage of the venerable series, with entries like Beware of Redheads and Double Honeymoon brimming with sight gags stemming from ingenious set-ups.  Unfortunately, there's much that is hard to swallow here--distractingly so.  Professor Ward looks way too young to be more than a graduate student and complete stranger Devlin climbs up a vine-covered ladder to the second story on Leon's command, no questions asked!

If one is willing to accept such loopy contrivances, Oh! Professor Behave certainly offers one of the least labored joke barrages of the series in its second reel.  The stand-in professor turns out to be a total crook, deftly pickpocketing a much higher fee than the $50 Leon hastily offers for masquerade and aiming for all the silverware in the house amidst the chaos.  Meanwhile, the real Professor suffers unthinkable indignities--Leon's come-on, Daisy making off with her nightgown, and being bound and gagged by the butler and eventually wrapped up in linen by Leon.  At least, that is, until the last one: the Fake Professor unknowingly kidnaps her!

Making his only appearance in an Errol short is "Daisy", best known for playing the dog of the same name in 28 BLONDIE feature films for Columbia from 1938 to 1950.  Yes, you read that right---Daisy was really a male whose real name was Spooks.  Further confusing things, butler Coleman calls him "Boots" here.  Daisy was adopted for a mere $3 (some sources said fifty cents!) and ended up earning well into six figures by trainer Rennie Renfro.

This does appear to be the original Daisy I, though I could be mistaken: there were at least two successors as of the 1957 BLONDIE TV series.  Daisy I would have been around eight years old when Oh, Professor Behave! was filmed.   Boots plays hide and seek early on (hiding his face adorably) and later produces the real professor's nightie at an inopportune time for master Leon.  Daisy's high fee was usually worth it, and it is refreshing to see RKO shelling it out for what was often a modestly budgeted series by the late forties.

RKO starlet Myrna Dell started her Hollywood career at RKO, appearing in seven Errol shorts between 1945 and 1948.  Dell was usually the "other woman" making whoopie with Leon behind the wife's back, and while Oh, Professor Behave! is no exception to that rule, she doesn't appear past the opening scene.

Myrna Dell (THE BUSHWHACKERS) wasn't overshadowed often, but it happens here with stunning Amelita Ward in the titular role.  The future bride of BOWERY BOY Leo Gorcey is the brunt of much of the slapstick, enduring it all with almost impossibly good humor.  Ward retired from acting after her 1949 marriage (which lasted only seven years) but did return to the Leon Errol universe one more time in 1948's Secretary Trouble.

But forget the lovely ladies (if you can): the real show-stealer here is beefy character actor Joe Devlin, who understandably had multiple credits as "Mug" and Mussolini during the decade.  Hell, forget the show, the Fake (and decidedly un-scholastic) Professor tries to make off with the entire Errol household in addition to far more than his share of dinner.  He also has some delightfully un-scholarly dialogue for the guise foisted on him--it's a shame this was Devlin's only appearance in the long-running series.

As for the Great Man himself, he's as reliable as the word gets.  Whether he's stammering, leering, dancing or slamming doors, his timing is perfect.  His chief co-conspirator is perennial butler Coleman as they take turns in this game of hide the Professor.

Oh! Professor Behave is mirthsome but ultimately middling for a Yates-Errol short, if you prefer your two-reelers to have just a tad of verisimilitude. Still, the craziness is undeniably fascinating--Leon never realizes he's been ripped off, the police are never called, the only transgression punished is---Leon's.  The Errol World in a nutshell: giving a thief carte blanche in your house is preferable to facing the wrath of the wife.  But why, Leon?  You've had dozens of vases broken over your bald head by now!  The sight gags alone make Oh! Professor Behave worth a second look.  While we're at it, Amelita Ward is worthy of a third, "Daisy" is a welcome surprise and it's nice to see Coleman get more time in the spotlight than usual.  (**1/2 out of four)