That
Night With You (1945)
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That
Night With You
  84 minutes, black and white, Universal | |
| Release
Date: Fall
1945 Director: William A.Seiter Stars: Franchot Tone, Susanna Foster, David Bruce, Buster Keaton Karolyn's Role : Filmed June 30 and July 2-3, 1945. Unbilled, she plays one of six orphans. She has only two spoken lines, but they are more than throwaways. Review: Hopelessly dated and mired in overacting, That Night with You is fascinating nonetheless. Tone is suave, Foster appealing and Bruce just right as the romantic diner owner whose vision of getting married and having six kids flies in the face of Foster's dreams of stardom. The "father-daughter" relationship between Tone and Foster is curiously risqué for its time. More curious, however, is why Keaton is wasted in a nothing role. Ironically, the film's final sequence, a special-effects laugher that ties the plot up in a neat bow, is quite Keatonesque.  | |
***** | |
| Pardon
My Past
88 minutes, black and white, Columbia | |
| Release
Date: February
8, 1946 Director: Leslie Fenton Stars: Fred MacMurray, Marguerite Chapman, Akim Tamiroff, Rita Johnson, Harry Davenport, William Demarest Karolyn's Role : Filmed May 1945. Eighth in the credits, she plays Stephani, the daughter of one of the MacMurray characters. Review: It's centuries old, but the plot device of mistaken identity works well here, largely because of a clever script and MacMurray's ability to carve two characters who are different from each other, but not so different to be unbelievable as identical twins. It's also easy to see why Karolyn drew favorable press attention. Hers is a performance quite credible for a child not yet 5 years old. | |
***** | |
| Blue
Skies
104 minutes, color, Paramount available on video | |
Release
Date: July
25, 1946 Director: Stuart Heisler Stars: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Joan Caulfield, Billy De Wolfe Karolyn's Role : Filmed Sept. 6-8, 1945. Eighth in the credits, she plays Mary Elizabeth, the daughter of the Crosby character. Review: Few musicals can rise beyond the limitations of formula. In this one, the producers apparently decided not to worry about such aspirations. They were content to pack in as many Irving Berlin songs as possible, stringing them together with the barest of plot. With that understanding, Blue Skies is a lot of fun to watch. The songs and Astaire's dancing are engaging, and Karolyn's segment with Crosby for "Getting Nowhere" is a genuine high spot. The only real problem is a dated, interminably long would-be comedy routine by De Wolfe. Autographed Photo Available | |
***** | |
| Sister
Kenny
118 minutes, black and white, RKO Radio Pictures available on video | |
| Release
Date: September
28 , 1946 Director: Dudley Nichols Stars: Rosalind Russell, Alexander Knox, Dean Jagger, Philip Merivale Karolyn's Role : Filmed between November 1945 and January 1946. Unbilled, she plays a polio victim named Carolyn. Review: As film biographies go, this one's not bad, and it follows the story of an underdog/outcast in the medical profession with grace. The sincerity and skill of the Australian nurse played by Russell are sympathetically presented, but to its credit, the movie stops short of fully endorsing her unconventional approach to treating childhood polio. The ambiguity of Kenny's success nicely prompts a desire to read the autobiography upon which the film was based. | |
***** | |
| It's
a Wonderful Life
129 minutes, black and white, Liberty Films/RKO Radio Pictures available on video | |
| Release
Date: December
19, 1946 Director: Frank Capra Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Gloria Grahame Karolyn's Role : Filmed She is 33rd in the credits and plays Zuzu Bailey. Review: One of the best movies - if not the best - of all time, untouchable in its grasp of the desires and principles that fuel the American spirit. Despite the glum premise of a contemplated suicide, this is a film guaranteed to prompt tears of joy. Considering the movie's power, its 30-year dormancy is remarkable, and its revival an enduring gift. Autographed Photos Available DVD Available |
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***** | |
| The
Private Affairs of Bel Ami
112 minutes, black and white, United Artists available on video | |
| Release
Date: February
25, 1947 Director: Albert Lewin Stars: George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Ann Dvorak, John Carradine Karolyn's Role : Filmed in the fall of 1946. She is 17th in the credits, plays Laurine and has four segments. Review: Literate, talky and pretentious, this film professes to examine the wickedness of selfishness, personified by the Sanders character. He is anything but the "bel ami" (best friend) of the title. By today's standards, Bel Ami moves too slowly and offers no intriguing plot twists, but the acting of Sanders and Lansbury commands interest, as does the Parisian setting. Karolyn does her best to warm the heart of Sanders, but it's questionable whether his character even has one. For a somber or cynical mood only. | |
***** | |
| Sweet
and Low
19 minutes (short subject), color, Paramount | |
| Release
Date: March
28, 1947 Director: Jerry Hopper Stars: Richard Webb, Catherine Craig, Griff Barnett, Willie Mastin Trio featuring Sammy Davis, Jr. Karolyn's Role : Filmed July 31-Aug. 3, 1946. She is third in the credits and plays Tammie. Review: This short subject may be a gem. As the film is apparently unavailable for viewing, it's hard to say. The innocence and honesty of Karolyn's character help her parents achieve what they, with their adult sensibilities, cannot achieve by themselves. It's a well-worn theme, but always worth revisiting if played out well. | |
***** | |
| Philo
Vance's Gamble
62 minutes, black and white, Producers Releasing Corporation | |
| Release
Date: April,
1947 Director: Basil Wrangell Stars: Alan Curtis, Terry Austin, Frank Jenks, Tala Birell Karolyn's Role : Filmed sometime in December 1946 and January 1947. Unbilled, she plays Pam Roberts. Review: Weapons emerging ominously from behind curtains, secrets galore, all on a dark, murderous night - this is the B-movie detective formula fully intact. What brightens and shakes up the proceedings, though, is the important plot presence of a little girl (Karolyn) who likes to surprise strangers by brandishing a toy gun. Made of plastic, the gun is really a shell to hold rock candy, and in this case, a stolen emerald. Fun all around. | |
***** | |
| Mother
Wore Tights
107 minutes, color, 20th Century Fox available on video | |
| Release
Date: August
19 , 1947 Director: Walter Lang Stars: Betty Grable, Dan Dailey, Mona Freeman Karolyn's Role : Filmed sometime from October 1946 through January 1947. She is unbilled and plays young Iris. Review: Producers of this musical let too much plot get in the way of the songs, but this movie nevertheless is colorful, energetic and fun. | |
***** | |
| Unconquered
146 minutes, color, Paramount available on video | |
| Release
Date: October
3, 1947 Director: Cecil B. DeMille Stars: Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Howard Da Silva, Boris Karloff, Cecil Kellaway Karolyn's Role : Filme in the fall of 1946. She is 133rd in the cast list and plays a "little girl" lying dead in her mother's arms. Review: Overacted to the point of melodrama, and overlong even by today's standards, Unconquered is a curiosity, though an intriguing one. Fans of Cooper and Goddard (once Charles Chaplin's paramour and co-star) will enjoy these stars trying to bring some credibility to this depiction of pre-Revolutionary War America. Ultimately, it's as lifeless as the tiny role played by Karolyn. DeMille never did learn that less is more. | |
***** | |
| The
Bishop's Wife
108 minutes, black and white, Samuel Goldwyn Productions/RKO Pictures available on video | |
| Release
Date: December
25, 1947 Director: Henry Koster Stars: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley, James Gleason Karolyn's Role : Filmed in the summer of 1947. She is ninth in the credits and plays Debby Brougham. Review: Not as viscerally emotional and a little distant from mainstream audiences because of its upper-crust setting, The Bishop's Wife nevertheless ranks with It's a Wonderful Life as a classic. The actors' chemistry enhances this angel fable, and the outcome is never quite certain until the end. Delightful sequences fill the film, from the hilarious symbolism of Niven (the bishop) stuck to a donor's chair, to a warming harp interlude and a stunning hymn from the Mitchell Boychoir. And Karolyn is in the thick of it all. Autographed Photos Available DVD Available |
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***** | |
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| Albuquerque
89 minutes, color, Paramount-Clarion | |
| Release
Date: February
20, 1948 Director: Ray Enright Stars: Randolph Scott, Barbara Britton, Gabby Hayes, Lon Chaney Jr. Karolyn's Role : Filmed sometime from March through June of 1947. She is 10th in the credits and plays Myrtle Walton. Review: As Western as they come, Albuquerque packs clichés by the stagecoach load. But it's much more fun than most of its kind, thanks in large part to Karolyn, whose segments never fail to liven up matters. The best instance comes as she earnestly tries, through prison bars, to convince Scott to break out of jail. Beautifully filmed in color. Autographed Photo Available DVD Available |
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***** | |
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| Lust
for Gold 90 minutes, black and white, Columbia available on video | |
Release
Date: May
31, 1949 Director: Sylvan Simon Stars: Ida Lupino, Glenn Ford, Gig Young, Paul Ford Karolyn's Role : Filmed in late 1949. She is unbilled and plays young Martha Bannister. Review: The narration in this self-titled "documentary Western" strains to emphasize the film's real-life story, and at times the legendary hype seems a bit melodramatic. But as Saturday matinee fare for impressionable kids, this fills the bill. In the tussle between greed and the secrets of Superstition Mountain, the outcome is never in question. Ford, Lupino and half a dozen bit players, plus the film's flashback structure, make Lust for Gold interesting nonetheless. Autographed Photo Available | |
***** | |
| Rio
Grande 105 minutes, black and white, Republic Pictures available on video | |
| Release
Date: November
2,1950 Director: John Ford Stars: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Victor McLaglen, Claude Jarman Jr. Karolyn's Role : Filmed in June and July 1950. She is 13th in the credits and plays Margaret Mary. Review: On the surface, this is a lesser Ford Western, but when it is viewed more than once, a delicate interplay of family, duty and destiny emerge. The gorgeous location photography (not harmed in the least by colorization) helps enormously. Wayne, underplaying, and O'Hara are an intriguing match, and the intertwined activity of young, untried calvarymen and their older, crusty counterparts is far more complex than in typical good-guy/bad-guy tales. The Sons of the Pioneers add symbolism and gallantry to the proceedings. Autographed Photo Available | |
***** | |
| Release
Date: November
12, 1951 Director: R.G. Springsteen Stars: Judy Canova, Eddie Foy Jr., Alan Hale Jr., Walter Catlett Karolyn's Role: Filmed in November 1950. She is sixth in the credits and plays Effie. Review: Laced with cleverly written gags, this is pure corn all the way. There's a big crisis as a music publishing company has mistakenly pressed 200,000 records of a love song that the country-livin' Canova had submitted on a lark. The city folks connive to buy her song, "Honeychile," for a pittance, but it's not that easy in this rural romp. Karolyn has more screen time in this than any other film, and she exhibits a naturalness as the niece who takes care of Canova's household. Still, this slick effort is Canova's film all the way, her brash, brassy singing voice on full display. | |
***** | |
| Hans
Christian Andersen 120 minutes, color, RKO Radio Pictures | |
| Release
Date: November
25, 1952 Director: Charles Vidor Stars: Danny Kaye, Farley Granger, Jeanmaire Karolyn's Role: Filmed in May 1952. She is unbilled and plays a match girl. Review: The ebullient Danny Kaye is a delight as Hans, particularly in his singing scenes with youngsters. The music and colorful sets are worth slogging through a leaden plot that feels contrived from the outset. A more true-to-life biography may have provided the substance needed to elevate this oversentimental tale from simplistic children's fare. | |
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