Iris Adrian

Fussy Felix Unger moves in with his divorced poker buddy, sloppy Oscar Madison. Felix's (Jack Lemmon) wife has left him and he is contemplating suicide. His friends sense his depression and one of them, Oscar (Walter Matthau), volunteers to take him in until he is fine again. The two of them are like chalk and cheese - Oscar is fun-loving, gregarious and slovenly, Felix is a shy, stay-at-home, obsessive-compulsive neat-freak. Being around Oscar brightens Felix up, but he quickly starts to irritate Oscar. —grantss Felix Ungar has just broken up with his wife. Despondent, he goes to kill himself but is saved by his friend Oscar Madison. With nowhere else to go, Felix is urged by Oscar to move in with him, at least for a while. The only problem is that Felix is neat, tidy, and neurotic, whereas Oscar is slovenly and casual. —Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>

After arriving back in Hawaii from the Army, Chad Gates defies his parents' wishes for him to work at the family business and instead goes to work as a tour guide at his girlfriend's agency. Chad Gates (Elvis Presley) has just gotten out of the Army, and is happy to be back in Hawaii with his surfboard, his beach buddies, and his girlfriend. His father wants him to go to work at the Great Southern Hawaiian Fruit Company, but he is reluctant. So he goes to work as a tour guide at his girlfriend's agency.

A burlesque comic, who resembles an international spy, is recruited by the government and sent to Tangier to retrieve a sensitive microfilm before it's captured by hostile foreign agents. Peanuts White, a burlesque comic, is recruited by U.S. agents to impersonate international spy Eric Augustine (whom White resembles) in a mission to purchase a million-dollar microfilm in mysterious, exotic Tangier. There, he encounters the irresistable Lily Dalbray, an "old friend" of Augustine who is now dealing with his arch-enemy, Brubaker. But where is the real Eric? Comedy thriller with slapstick climax. —Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

In Paris a killer is strangling young women and dumping their dead bodies into the Seine and is nicknamed "Bluebeard "after the classic French story of the man who murdered his wives. As women group together to travel in the evening streets, the outdoor puppet theatre of Gaston (John Carradine) becomes a popular place for people to convene. When Lucille (Jean Parker) sees Gaston's puppets she is enthralled and an emotional bond is formed with the performance artist. When Gaston returns home waiting for him is a former love Renee (Sonia Sorel) who is jealous that Gaston is interested in Lucille. In a calculated cold act Gaston strangles Renee and dumps her body into the river. As Gaston's relationship with Lucille develops police Inspector Lefevre (Nils Asther) who is the fiancé of Lucille's sister Francine (Teala Loring) and when the investigation leads them to a suspicious art dealer Lamarte (Ludwig Stossel) who may be a front for a murderous painter, Francine agrees to model for the artist who turns out to be Gaston. The police believe they have their man and close in but can they catch the killer before he kills again?

Rags-to-riches-to-rags story features Benny Goodman vocalist Martha Tilton as an unemployed big band singer who takes a job as an operator at a jukebox company. After falling in love with a bandleader, she gets a chance to get back in the limelight by singing for his group. —Alessandro Martini <alemartini@geocities.com> Unemployed aspiring swing-band singer Judy Alvin (Tilton) is unable to get a job with another band, and is instead hired as a switchboard operator at a new jukebox company. The company sells unique art deco- style jukeboxes where the pictured operator is phoned at the push of the button by the customer and who then acts as a DJ to play requested records. In a plot similar to 'Singin' in the Rain,' the evil Phoebe Forbes (Brodel), who can't sing, passes off Judy's lovely singing voice as her own and gains fame for it. Later, Judy falls in love with handsome bandleader Benny Jackson (Collins), who hires her on as his featured singer, which ends up exposing Phoebe as a fraud. Great comic relief is provided by Judy's roommate Marge O'Day (Adrian). Judy Alvin is a young singer hoping to get a break in the New York music scene. Her friend Joe Sweeney manages to get a demo record cut as a favor to her. Unfortunately, studio boss Fralick walks in with Phoebe, another female singer who performs the same song on the same recording blank. When he here's the version by Judy he is overjoyed with the quality of the singing. Phoebe does nothing about letting him know that the voice he hears is not hers. He immediately inks her to a contract and arranges for her to appear in a new production of Benny Jackson's band at the Tropics Club. The record is very well received by the public, and Pheobe just lets slide that it isn't her. Joe and Judy's friends all recognize her voice and do their best to get the word to Fralick. Joe's request sent via phone gets lost by the bumbling husband of the boarding house landlady. When Fralick finally figures out what has happened, Phoebe is set to do the opening show. Her singing is terrible, the entire audience cringes. Judy's boarding house friends take matters into their hands. They arrange for the one who is a magician to place Phoebe into a box, saw her in half, and then open it up to reveal Judy in her place. Judy sings and everyone loves her song, especially Benny Jackson who has taken a shine to her even before all the mix-up occurred. —Garon Smith

Friends Bill Morley and Rosey Blake both spy debutante Penelope Craig at an American Red Cross blood drive and are attracted. Bill, a playboy flyer, pretends to be a doctor in order to meet Penny and get her address and phone number for his "little black book." That night, Bill and Rosey crash Penny's parents' anniversary party at the Craigs' home, and to get even, Penny exposes Bill's deception by introducing him to some old family friends: hypochondriac Mrs. Cartwright and physician Dr. Crane. Before he leaves her parents' home, however, Bill kisses Penny, and she immediately falls in love with him. Penny then follows Bill to a Burbank nightclub, which is near the Vega Aircraft factory where Bill and Rosey work on the assembly lines. Later, Penny and Bill go to the beach, and Bill tells her that she should not get involved with him, as he is not the domestic type and is merely waiting for his papers to join the Air Force. Not to be dissuaded, Penny gets a job at the aircraft factory, and when she is unable to find Bill in the giant plant, she performs a song at lunch to attract his attention. That night, while the Craigs are screening home movies, Bill comes over to their house and tells Penny that he has gotten his orders. They try to break up, but quickly discover that they have fallen in love and decide to spend what little time he has left in the United States together. Just before Bill is about to leave for overseas duty, however, Hannah Gordon, one of Penny's friends at the factory, learns that her flyer husband has been shot down over the Pacific. Penny then goes to her father Judson and asks him to use his influence to keep Bill at the aircraft factory. Judson refuses and tells Penny that it is her duty to support Bill's induction into the military. Penny then returns to the factory to learn that Bill has decided to end their relationship. Later, Bill tells Rosey that he ended his romance with Penny to spare her the pain he saw Hannah suffer. Rosey then goes to the Craig home and tries to give Penny a note, telling her that Bill really loves her, but Judson has ordered Binns, the family butler, not to allow either Bill or Rosey in the house. Penny receives the note, however, and races to the airport in time to say goodbye to Bill. When he tells her that he is still worried about her, Penny, paraphrasing Hannah, replies that "if he flies 'em, then she'll build 'em."

Stranded in Africa, Chuck and his pal Fearless have comic versions of jungle adventures, featuring two attractive con women. Chuck and his pal Fearless flee an African carnival after their sideshow causes a fire. Following several similar escapades, they've finally saved enough to return to the USA, when Chuck spends it all on a lost diamond mine. But that's only the beginning; before long, a pair of attractive con women have tricked them into financing a comic safari, featuring numerous burlesque jungle adventures. —Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>