Friday, August 22, 2014

Under Southern Stars (1937)

Director: Nick Grinde

Writer: Forrest Barnes

Composer: ???

Starring: Fritz Leiber, Fred Lawrence, Jane Bryan, Gordon Hart, John Sheehan, Wayne Morris, Pierre Watkin, Olive Tel, Myrtle Stedman, Harry Davenport, Al Haskell, Stuart Holmes, Dennis Moore, Jack Mower, Paul Panzer, Blackie Whiteford

More info: IMDb

Plot: Set in the springtime of 1863 in Chancellorsville, Virginia during the War Between the States, this colorful short profiles the heroic Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson the night before he would meet his fate in battle.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

This is part of the 'Warner Bros. Night at the Movies' extras that lead up to the DVD's feature film, BLACK LEGION (1937) (starring Humphrey Bogart).  It was used to show off the Technicolor process.  Why this little flick opens with Fred Lawrence crooning the title song is beyond me.  It's pretty cheesy.  Maybe songs sound better in color (hahaha).  There are some battle scenes which are kind of neat but it abruptly cuts from the action to General Jackson lying in bed, dying.  Back to the fight for a couple of minutes and let's end it with Fred bringing it home with one more chorus from "Under Southern Stars".  Hmmmmm.  It's a fun diversion from the other extras on the disc but it's not the kind of thing you'll probably revisit unless you tend to do the 'Warner...Movies' from start to finish on every release of theirs that has it. 

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