James V. Kern

Directing

James V. Kern

Born 1909-09-22 · New York City, New York, USA

James V. Kern (September 22, 1909, New York City, New York – November 9, 1966, Encino, California) was an American singer, songwriter, screenwriter, actor, and director. Educated at the Fordham Law School, Kern worked for a while as an attorney. He sang with the George Olsen Trio, and appeared with the Olsen orchestra in the musical Good News. From 1927 to 1939, he sang with and wrote for the Yacht Club Boys quartet, with whom he appeared in several motion pictures. He became a screenwriter and later a director. In film, he directed mainly "B" pictures, but after he moved to television, he directed hundreds of series episodes. He was one of the house directors on I Love Lucy in the 1950s. He directed My Three Sons for most of two seasons in the 1960s. When he died suddenly of a heart attack at age 57, several episodes of the show remained only partially completed for the 1966/67 season, so director James Sheldon was brought in by series producers to round out the season. He joined ASCAP in 1955. His popular-song compositions include "Easy Street," "Lover, Lover," "Little Red Fox," and "Shut the Door." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Never Say Goodbye poster
6.3

Phil and Ellen Gayley have been divorced for a year, and their 7-year old daughter, Flip, is very unhappy that her parents are not together. Flip starts a correspondence with a Marine, sending a picture of her beautiful mother as the author of Flip's flirtatious letters. When the Marine shows up to meet his pen pal, Ellen takes the opportunity to make her ex-husband jealous.

Never Say Goodbye

1946

Never Say Goodbye poster
6.3

Phil and Ellen Gayley have been divorced for a year, and their 7-year old daughter, Flip, is very unhappy that her parents are not together. Flip starts a correspondence with a Marine, sending a picture of her beautiful mother as the author of Flip's flirtatious letters. When the Marine shows up to meet his pen pal, Ellen takes the opportunity to make her ex-husband jealous.

Never Say Goodbye

1946

East Side of Heaven poster
7.4

A man finds himself the father, by proxy, of a ten-month-old baby and becomes involved in the turbulent lives of the child's family.

East Side of Heaven

1939

Thank Your Lucky Stars poster
6.2

An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.

Thank Your Lucky Stars

1943

Shine on Harvest Moon poster
6.8

Biographical movie about the early 20th century broadway stars Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth.

Shine on Harvest Moon

1944

Two Tickets to Broadway poster
4.6

A young woman (Janet Leigh) leaves her small hometown in Vermont and travels to New York City with hopes of becoming a Broadway star.

Two Tickets to Broadway

1951

The Second Woman poster
5.6

In flashback from a 'Rebecca'-style beginning: Ellen Foster, visiting her aunt on the California coast, meets neighbor Jeff Cohalan and his ultramodern clifftop house. Ellen is strongly attracted to Jeff, who's being plagued by unexplainable accidents, major and minor. Bad luck, persecution...or paranoia? Warned that Jeff could be dangerous, Ellen fears that he's in danger, as the menacing atmosphere darkens.

The Second Woman

1950

The Doughgirls poster
7.6

Newlyweds Arthur and Vivian arrive to their honeymoon suite in Washington D.C., only to find it occupied. Arthur goes to meet Slade, his new boss, and when he returns, he finds three girls in his suite. He orders Vivian to get rid of them, but they are friends of Vivian's and as time goes by, it looks more like Grand Central Station than the quiet suite Arthur expected. As long as there's anyone else in the suite, Arthur will not stay and there will be no honeymoon.

The Doughgirls

1944

The Doughgirls poster
7.6

Newlyweds Arthur and Vivian arrive to their honeymoon suite in Washington D.C., only to find it occupied. Arthur goes to meet Slade, his new boss, and when he returns, he finds three girls in his suite. He orders Vivian to get rid of them, but they are friends of Vivian's and as time goes by, it looks more like Grand Central Station than the quiet suite Arthur expected. As long as there's anyone else in the suite, Arthur will not stay and there will be no honeymoon.

The Doughgirls

1944

The Horn Blows at Midnight poster
5.9

A trumpet player in a radio orchestra falls asleep during a commercial and dreams he's Athanael, an angel deputized to blow the Last Trumpet at exactly midnight on Earth, thus marking the end of the world.

The Horn Blows at Midnight

1945

You'll Find Out poster
5.6

The manager of Kay Kyser’s band books them for a birthday party bash for an heiress at a spooky mansion, where sinister forces try to kill her.

You'll Find Out

1940

Stallion Road poster
7.5

A veterinarian and a novelist compete for the heart of a lady rancher.

Stallion Road

1947

No artwork available
NR

It's the week before Christmas and Jack drops by Edgar Bergen's house to go over the upcoming show's script with his guest star. When Edgar is detained rehearsing his radio show, his wife Frances entertains Jack. Jack is amazed when Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd walk into the room and are introduced. Jack always assumed they were merely ventriloquist's dummies. Edgar finally returns and is ready to present his ideas for a sketch to Jack, but insists on Jack sitting on his knee to hear them.

Jack Benny Christmas Show

1960

That's Right – You're Wrong poster
6.3

J. D. Forbes, head of the almost-bankrupt Four Star Studios in Hollywood contacts band leader Kay Kyser, who puts on a radio and-live theatre program called "The Kollege of Musical Knowledge," to appear in films. When manager Chuck Deems gets the studio offer, he and band members Ginny Simms, Sully Mason, Ish Kabiddle, Harry Babbitt and the others are all fired up at the prospect of going to Hollywood and working in the movies, but band-leader Kay is all against it and says his old grandmother has told him to stay in his own back yard, but he relents. Once there, Stacey Delmore, a Four Star associate producer left in charge of the studio while Forbes is out of town, discovers that the screenplay writers have prepared a script that has Kay Kyser playing a glamorous lover in an exotic European setting.

That's Right – You're Wrong

1939

April Showers poster
6.5

A married couple who have a song-and-dance act in vaudeville are in trouble. Their struggling act is going nowhere, they're almost broke and they have to do something to get them back on top or they'll really be in trouble. They decide to put their young son in the act in hopes of attracting some new attention. The boy turns out to be a major talent, audiences love him and the act is on its way to the top. That's when an organization whose purpose is to stop children from performing on stage shows up, and they're dead set on breaking up the act.

April Showers

1948

Look Who's Laughing poster
6.7

Fibber McGee enlists the help of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy in enticing an aircraft manufacturer to build a factory in the small town of Wistful Vista. Based on the "Fibber McGee and Molly" radio series

Look Who's Laughing

1941

Playmates poster
5.7

Lulu Monahan, the press agent for John Barrymore, is attempting to get a sponsor for a radio program. To that end, she and the agent for bandleader Kay Kyser, plant a story that the great Shakespearean actor, over his heartfelt objections, will teach Kyser how to play Shakespeare, which isn't the same as playing Paducah, which soon becomes evident.

Playmates

1941

Movieland Magic poster
6.5

Released as part of a series of WB shorts under the collective title of "Technicolor Specials" (WB production number 2003) this short most likely holds the WB house record for a 20-minute film containing footage from the most different titles in their inventory. It's theme of a singing guided tour of the lot (and some of the footage) is from 1944's "Musical Movieland", the former title holder, and it contains clips from 1939's "Quiet, Please" and "Royal Rodeo"; "Sunday Roundup" from 1936 and 1940's "The Singing Dude." Pieces from "Out Where the Stars Begin" and "Swingtime in the Movies" may also be used, but it's hard to tell since they all tend to run together and show up in a lot of places during the 1940's Warner shorts. Its title of "Movieland Magic" is most apt considering the sleight-of-hand performed by the WB Shorts and Sales departments in once again selling the same film clips for the 3rd, 4th or more times.

Movieland Magic

1946

Jack Benny Christmas Shopping Show poster
NR

Jack is determined to finish his Christmas shopping in one visit and tortures a wallet salesman with constant changes to his order. Meanwhile, Dennis is having difficulty finding the right present for his mother.

Jack Benny Christmas Shopping Show

1957

Lum and Abner Abroad poster
NR

The "boys" from Pine Ridge visit Europe and try to help a Yugoslavian ballerina find her American lover, become involved with French jewel thieves, and take on posh society in Monte Carlo.

Lum and Abner Abroad

1956

Lum and Abner Abroad poster
NR

The "boys" from Pine Ridge visit Europe and try to help a Yugoslavian ballerina find her American lover, become involved with French jewel thieves, and take on posh society in Monte Carlo.

Lum and Abner Abroad

1956