Dennis Ross Movies
At the height of their TV fame, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were contracted by MGM to make two theatrical films. The first of these, The Long, Long Trailer, stars Lucy and Desi as an upwardly mobile couple who decide to buy a trailer so they can live together while his job takes him around the country. Thanks to their naivete in such matters, they end up with a huge, bulky RV that costs five times what they planned. Their "seeing America" trip turns out to be a slapstick disaster, topped by Lucy's foolish decision to hide a heavy rock collection in the trailer; as Desi tries to maneuver a treacherous mountain road, the weighted-down home-on-wheels nearly loses its balance and almost tumbles off a cliff. The story is told in flashback, as Desi 'splains the breakup of his marriage to a motel court manager. Happily, Lucy shows up, goes "Waaaaah" a little, and all is forgiven. Despite the fact that audiences were getting Ball and Arnaz for free each week on television, The Long, Long Trailer was a big hit at the box-office. The film was adapted by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich from a novel by Clinton Twiss, with uncredited assistance from the I Love Lucy writing staff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, (more)
- 1953
In this comedy, a housewife schemes to make her dreams of feeling the soft touch of mink on her hardworking shoulders a reality. Unfortunately her husband does not have enough money for such a luxury. Being a resourceful lass, the wife decides the only viable alternative is to raise her own mink. Unfortunately, her project doesn't set well with the landlord and the family ends up having to move into the country. More trouble follows when the husband loses his job. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis O'Keefe, Ruth Hussey, (more)
Hollywood, 1927: the silent-film romantic team of Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) is the toast of Tinseltown. While Lockwood and Lamont personify smoldering passions onscreen, in real life the down-to-earth Lockwood can't stand the egotistical, brainless Lina. He prefers the company of aspiring actress Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), whom he met while escaping his screaming fans. Watching these intrigues from the sidelines is Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor), Don's best pal and on-set pianist. Cosmo is promoted to musical director of Monumental Pictures by studio head R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) when the talking-picture revolution commences. That's all right for Cosmo, but how will talkies affect the upcoming Lockwood-Lamont vehicle "The Dueling Cavalier"? Don, an accomplished song-and-dance man, should have no trouble adapting to the microphone. Lina, however, is another matter; put as charitably as possible, she has a voice that sounds like fingernails on a blackboard. The disastrous preview of the team's first talkie has the audience howling with derisive laughter. On the strength of the plot alone, concocted by the matchless writing team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Singin' in the Rain is a delight. But with the addition of MGM's catalog of Arthur Freed-Nacio Herb Brown songs -- "You Were Meant for Me," "You Are My Lucky Star," "The Broadway Melody," and of course the title song -- the film becomes one of the greatest Hollywood musicals ever made. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, (more)
- 1952
Dale Robertson stars as Sam Crockett, a widowed rancher trying to make a go of his small spread with his father (Walter Brennan) and his two small sons. Financially strapped, Crockett is forced to go to work for nasty neighboring rancher Rod (Richard Boone). When Rod's sister-in-law Ann (Joanne Dru) falls in love with him, Crockett retreats, believing that no woman could ever measure up to his late wife. As the story progresses, however, it is Ann's love, coupled with the faith of his two supportive sons, which help Crockett persevere despite all roadblocks. Based on a novel by Fred (Old Yeller) Gipson, Return of the Texan is a western only in its setting; the film works better as a mood piece and character study. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dale Robertson, Joanne Dru, (more)
- 1951
The model (Jeanne Crain) is stuck in an unhappy relationship with a married man. The marriage broker (Thelma Ritter) doesn't like this and tries to match the model with a lonely x-ray technician (Scott Brady). The model is so grateful that she tries to find an eligible bachelor for the broker. The broker resists this largesse, but then realizes that the only reason she meddles in other people's lives is to make up for the emptiness of her own. The Model and the Marriage Broker resists the temptation of poking fun at the less attractive clients of the marriage broker; this is especially true in the case of Frank Fontaine, whose performance as a lovesick Swede is quite moving. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanne Crain, Scott Brady, (more)
- 1951
A minor but effective MGM programmer, Shadow in the Sky stars Ralph Meeker as a shell-shocked World War II veteran. He is taken in by sympathetic relatives, who hope that a stable environment will help Meeker overcome his neuroses. But even these people find their compassion strained to the breaking point by Meeker's increasingly erratic (and violent) behavior. Nancy Davis (a year before becoming Nancy Reagan) plays one of the relatives, while Jean Hagen (later the screechy-voiced movie queen in Singin' in the Rain) plays Meeker's long-suffering girlfriend. Ben Maddow based his screenplay for Shadow in the Sky on a story by Edward Newhouse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Meeker, Nancy Davis, (more)
