Joan of Ozark (1942)

Director:

Joseph Santley

Writers:

Robert Harari (original screenplay) and
Eve Greene (original screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 July 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Musical | War

Tagline:

THEY'LL FLOOR YOU! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

During World War II, a yodeling hillbilly singer goes undercover to expose a ring of Nazi spies operating in the United States.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Singer | Gestapo | Dancer | Hillbilly

Cast

Judy Canova	...	Judy Hull
Joe E. Brown	...	Cliff Little
Eddie Foy Jr.	...	Eddie McCabe
Jerome Cowan	...	Phillip Munson
Alexander Granach	...	Guido
Anne Jeffreys	...	Marie Lamont
Otto Reichow	...	Otto
Donald Curtis	...	Leonard Jones
Wolfgang Zilzer	...	Kurt (as Wolfgang Zilser)
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski	...	Hans (as H. H. Von Twardowski)
Harry Hayden	...	Mayor Fadden
Wilhelm von Brincken	...	German Radio Operator (as William Vaughn)

Also Known As:

The Queen of Spies (UK)

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Sweden:Btl (1949) | Finland:K-12 (1949) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Republic Pictures

Judy and Joe E. take on the Nasty Nazis.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Ozark thrush Judy Hull (Judy Canova) inadvertently shoots a pigeon carrying a message from a secret Nazi spy nest in the United States, and becomes a national heroine. Philip Munson (Jerome Cowan),head of the spy ring with headquarters in a secret room at the "Club 76", which he operates, receives orders from the Gestapo to immediately liquidate her as an object lesson to all Americans who might try to emulate her.

When theatrical agents Cliff Little (Joe E. Brown) and Eddie McCabe (Eddie Foy, Jr.)come to Munson's office with Marie Lamont (Anne Jeffreys), a dancer they are trying to promote, Munson conceives a scheme whereby Judy will be brought to him, rather than him going to the Ozarks to liquidate her. He tells Little and McCabe that if they will produce the now-famous Judy Hull as an entertainer at his club, he might be interested in making a deal to employ their client.

Judy balks at capitalizing on the service she has done for her country, and Little tells her he is really a G-Man and wants to sign her as a G-Woman to ferret out spies which he claims lurk in the "Club 76" (not knowing, of course, that the club actually is the headquarters of a Nazi spy ring.) Under these circumstances, Judy agrees to go to the city as "Agent H2-0" and masquerade as a singer at the club as a front for her spying activities.

An attempt by Yamatako (Paul Fung) to kill Judy fails, as she is better at jiu-jitsu than the Japanese henchman is , and Munson orders Henchman Otto (Otto Reichow)to kill her. But, the publicity about Judy's appearance at the club, serves to see the Mayor, the Daughters of the American Revolution and various other patriotic groups flood the club with reservations, and Munson decides she will be of more use alive than dead, as her presence will be a cloak for the Club's real activities. But, Otto got his orders before Munson make his executive decision, and Munson has to stop Otto...so he tips the G-Men off about his employee Otto being a Nazi spy.

Joe E. Brown gets to do his Adolph Hitler, the Schicklegruber act along the way.