Hello!

Wartime motivational inspiration is the subject of a link sent by advisor Gary Teetzel. World War II saw lots of morale-building entertainment; this short subject reminds the hundreds of thousands of defense plant workers that they’re soldiers too, with a duty is to stay fit to keep those assembly lines moving. The 8-minute film is called Keeping Fit. It’s in the form of a lecture to 4,000 aircraft workers … gee, the company president is talking about workers wasting time, but his tirade has shut down the entire plant.

The Universal picture has an all-name cast: Robert Stack, Broderick Crawford, Lon Chaney Jr., Andy Devine, Anne Gwynne, Dick Foran, Louise Albritton, Don Porter, Ralph Morgan, Mary Wickes. Handsome Stack is the star of the day, and shirtless for part of his 90-second appearance. Universal’s stock company Adonis faints on the assembly line, and is scolded by the factory doctor to get in shape. Nobody’s about to suggest that the men at the plant might be being overworked. As Gary noted, the movie blames wives for not serving nutritious meals. That can’t have been easy when everything desirable is rationed.

Gary sent the link because it’s yet another rare and unusual appearance by a horror star. ‘Fat ‘n’ Lazy’ Andy Devine licks a giant lollypop at work; neighbor Lon Chaney Jr. talks him into taking up bowling or playing horseshoes. Chaney appeared to age 15 years between 1945 and 1950, so maybe Andy should have been coaching Lon … in real life, Devine outlived Chaney by a few years.

Too bad Broderick Crawford and Lon Chaney Jr. had no scenes together — they could have kicked each other in the shins!

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson