James Griffith Movies
Sharp-featured character actor James Griffith set out in life to be a professional musician. He eased into acting instead, working the little-theatre route in his hometown of Los Angeles. In 1939, Griffith appeared in his first professional production, They Can't Get You Down. Following World War II service, he made his first film, Black Ice (1946). Steadily employed in westerns, James Griffith was generally cast as an outlaw, save for a few comparative good-guy assignments such as Sheriff Pat Garrett in The Law vs. Billy the Kid (1954). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1936
Anything Goes is a fun-filled but hardly faithful adaptation of the same-named Cole Porter Broadway musical, with additional songs by Hoagy Carmichael, among many many others. Set on a luxury liner, the story gets under way when Moonface Mullins (Charlie Ruggles), Public Enemy No. 13, slips on board disguised as a bishop. As he weaves in and out of the story, Billy Crocker (Bing Crosby) romances Hope Harcourt (Ida Lupino), titled Englishman Evelyn Oakleigh (Arthur Treacher) also pursues Hope, and brassy entertainer Reno Sweeney (Ethel Merman) chases after Sir Evelyn. Critics in 1934 complained that the original Broadway production's Victor Moore was replaced by Charlie Ruggles, but none could fault Ethel Merman's rendition of "I Get a Kick Out of You", nor her duet with Bing Crosby, "You're the Top" (the only two songs retained from the Porter score!) Anything Goes was remade in 1956, again with Bing Crosby, and again with little fidelity to the original (this remake required MCA Television to retitle the 1936 version as Tops is the Limit). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman, (more)
- 1948
- NR
Cary Grant met his future wife Betsy Drake on the set of the appropriately titled Every Girl Should be Married. Grant plays well-known baby specialist Madison Brown, who is Dr. Spock in everything but name. After a chance meeting with headstrong young Anabel Sins (Drake), poor Brown finds his every move and thought monitored by Anabel, who intends to become his wife come heck or high water. Upset that Brown steadfastly resists her charms, Anabel decides to make him jealous by playing up to her boss Roger Sanford (Franchot Tone). When Brown still won't bite, our plucky heroine mounts a campaign enlisting everybody in town to wear down the doctor's resistance. Nowadays, this is called "stalking"; in 1948, it was called "funny." Produced, directed and written by Don Hartman, Every Girl Should be Married was a box-office winner to the tune of $775,000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cary Grant, Franchot Tone, (more)
- 1949
Martha Vickers was given a rare leading-role opportunity in Daughter of the West. Vickers plays Lolita Moreno, a part-Native American girl who falls in love with college-educated Navajo Navo (Philip Reed). The film's Indian characters are depicted in a dignified, respectful manner: not so the white villains, headed by crooked Indian agent Ralph Connors (Donald Wood). When Connors and his flunkies try to cheat the Navajos out of their land, Navo gets wise to their scheme and nips it in the bud. The film's highlight is an authentically staged Indian harvest sequence, lensed in Cinecolor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Martha Vickers, Phillip Reed, (more)
- 1949
Another of 20th Century-Fox's Technicolor musical biopics, Oh You Beautiful Doll is allegedly the life story of popular composer Fred Fisher. As played by S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, Fisher is a serious musician who yearns to write opera rather than tin pan alley hits. Since the aged, portly Sakall couldn't be the romantic lead, he is third-billed in deference to June Haver as Fisher's daughter and Mark Stevens as a slick song plugger. Despite his shame at being popular, Fisher is gratified when his songs are given a classy symphonic arrangement at Aeolian Hall. Among the tunes heard in Oh, You Beautiful Doll are "Chicago," "Dardanella," "Peg o' My Heart" and the title song. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- June Haver, Mark Stevens, (more)
The film career of actress Leslie Brooks lasted long enough for her to contribute several mesmerizingly bitchy performances. In Blonde Ice, Brooks is cast as Claire, a society reporter who'll do literally anything for a story. She manages to keep herself in the headlines by marrying and romancing a series of wealthy men, all of whom die under mysterious circumstances. To deflect suspicion from herself, Claire frames her erstwhile boyfriend, sportswriter Les Burns (Robert Paige). Because the police department is incredibly obtuse throughout the film, it's up to a criminal psychologist (David Leonard) to expose Claire as a homicidal sociopath. Blonde Ice might make a fascinating double feature with Nicole Kidman's 1994 starrer To Die For. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leslie Brooks, Robert Paige, (more)
- 1949
Randolph Scott plays one of the members of Quantrill's Raiders, staging attacks on Kansas on behalf of the fallen Confederacy in the years following the Civil War. During one raid, Scott kills the man he holds responsible for the death of his brother. The dead man was innocent, and Scott becomes a fugitive from justice. Months later, he resurfaces as the marshal of a Kansas town, in which he routs a vicious gang with the help of another social outcast, Jesse James (Dale Robertson). Written by western "regular" Frank Gruber, Fighting Man of the Plains was one of a group of Randolph Scott oaters produced independently by Nat Holt and released through 20th Century-Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Bill Williams, (more)
A disarming little trifle, Holiday Affair has in the years since its original release become a Yuletide perennial on television. War widow Janet Leigh hasn't the money to buy the model train that her son Gordon Gebert wants for Christmas. Robert Mitchum overhears the boy's plight, and offers to purchase the train for him, even though it will deplete his own money supply. This little gesture of kindness from Mitchum snowballs into a series of comic complications, thanks in part to the unwelcome intervention of Leigh's stuffed-shirt attorney boyfriend Wendell Corey. Harry Morgan shows up towards the end as a flustered night-court judge who helps tie some of the loose plot ends together. Based on a short story by John D. Weaver, A Holiday Affair didn't do too well at the box office, but its afterlife has been most satisfactory. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, (more)
- 1949
Search for Danger was the last entry in the "Falcon" film series, which began at RKO in 1941 and was sequestered at low-budget Film Classics by the end of the 1940s. Professional magician John Calvert stars as the debonair amateur sleuth known to friend and foe alike as The Falcon. This time our hero must contend with not one, but two baffling murders. It all begins when the Falcon goes on the prowl for the missing partner of gamblers Kirk (Albert Dekker) and Gregory (Ben Welden), who has skipped town with $100,000. The leading-lady responsibilities are handled by Myrna Dell, decked out in several enticing low-cut gowns. The mystery angle is well-handled, with a reasonably surprising solution. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Calvert, Albert Dekker, (more)
- 1949
Dauntless Navy intelligence officer Richard Travis is dispatched to the Frozen North to smash a spy ring. By a fortuitous circumstance, Travis is the exact lookalike of a recently deceased enemy agent. This plot contrivance is given surface credibility by the film's semi-documentary style. Onetime child actress Helen Westcott is second-billed in a cast busting to the seams with familiar faces, ranging from saturnine James Griffith to dignified Jason Robards Sr. Alaska Patrol was released by Film Classics, a reissue firm of the late 1940s that dabbled in production from time to time. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Travis, Helen Westcott, (more)
- 1950
Petroleum engineer Buzz (Richard Denning) agrees to bring in a gusher for oil driller Reno (Carleton Young). When Reno is murdered, the oil well is inherited by Terry (Marie Windsor). Buzz decides to stick around when Reno's ruthless sister Lilli (Fay Baker) schemes to wrest the well away from Terry. He also hopes to find out the identity of Reno's murderer--and it's a real surprise, except maybe for dyed-in-the-wool "B" picture buffs. Produced independently by Bel-Air Productions, Double Deal was purchased outright by RKO Radio, which then handled distribution. The film was directed by Abby Berlin, on loan from Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marie Windsor, Richard Denning, (more)
- 1950
Bright Leaf, a sprawling saga of the tobacco industry in North Carolina, began as a novel by Foster Fitzsimmons, a native Carolinian who for many years taught at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's theatre department. The film version of Bright Leaf has been simplified and reshaped to serve as a traditional Gary Cooper vehicle. Cooper stars as tenant farmer Brant Royle, who after being driven from his home town by autocratic tobacco tycoon Major Singleton (Donald Crisp) returns in triumph with a revolutionary cigarette-making machine. Royle's streamlined techniques soon drive Singleton out of business. Margaret Singleton (Patricia Neal), Royle's old flame, agrees to marry him to save her father from ruin--whereupon the Major commits suicide. The vengeful Margaret then does everything she can to destroy Royle. The question remaining: can Brant Royle save himself and find ultimate happiness with his true love, Sonia Kovac (Lauren Bacall)? Also appearing in Bright Leaf are Jack Carson as Royle's flamboyant business partner Chris Malley and Jeff Corey as John Barton, the inventor of the "miracle" cigarette-making apparatus. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Lauren Bacall, (more)
Columbia's final release for 1950 was the Gene Autry western Indian Territory. Set during the Reconstruction Era, the story finds Autry working as an undercover agent for the U.S. cavalry. His mission: to neutralize a former Austrian army officer named Curt Raidler (Phil Van Zandt), who is leading a group of renegade Indians on a series of destructive raids. A subplot concerns the friendly rivalry between Autry and Union lieutenant Randolph Mason (played by Kirby Grant, later famous as TV's Sky King). Like most of Gene Autry's films from this era, Indian Territory co-stars Pat Buttram and Gail "Annie Oakley" Davis. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
- 1950
Set in British Columbia but filmed in Colorado, Cariboo Trail stars Randolph Scott as a cattle-drive boss from Montana. Crooked Victor Jory and his minions stampede the cattle, causing Scott's partner Bill Williams to lose an arm. Out of a job, Scott gives gold mining a try, but even here he is tormented by Jory. The villain is hoist on his own petard when he tries to stir up the local Indian tribes. Proving that the good guys don't always win, Scott gives up mining and turns to cattle ranching. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Bill Williams, (more)
- 1950
This second screen version of Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not is closer in spirit to the original than the first version, though it still is far from faithful to its source. John Garfield stars as Harry Morgan, who has metamorphosed from Hemingway's gun-runner to an ex-PT boat captain, now running a charter boat service in Southern California. Deeply in debt, Morgan agrees to smuggle aliens and later tries to sneak a bunch of gangsters out of the country. By the time he's been given a wake-up call by his conscience, Morgan has caused the death of a close friend. Patricia Neal and Phyllis Thaxter make the most of their limited footage as, respectively Harry Morgan's casual mistress and faithful spouse. Many critics feel that The Breaking Point represents Michael Curtiz' finest directing job--no small praise for a man who helmed such classics as Casablanca and Yankee Doodle Dandy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Garfield, Phyllis Thaxter, (more)
The life of tragic jazz great Bix Beiderbecke is given the "a clef" treatment in Warner Bros. Young Man With a Horn. Kirk Douglas plays the Beiderbecke character, here named Rick Martin. An ace trumpter player, Martin is one of the few white musicians to flourish in the black-dominated jazz scene of the 1920s. Chafing against the dullness of the "respectable" orchestras for whom he works, Martin finds at least two kindred spirits in the forms of torch singer Jo Jordan (Doris Day) and piano player Smoke Willoughby (Hoagy Carmichael). He rises to popularity with his own group, and along the way falls under the spell of wealthy jazz patroness Lauren Bacall. After marrying Bacall, Martin begins neglecting his music and turns more and more to alcohol. When he skips one of her fancy parties to attend the funeral of his mentor Juano Hernandez, Bacall angrily smashes all his jazz records, effectively ending what was never a very solid relationship. Crawling into a bottle, Martin loses his touch with the trumpet-a heartbreaking sequence, in which he goes to pieces in the middle of the pop standard "With a Song in My Heart". Unlike the real Beiderbecke, who died of alcoholism at the age of 28, Rick Martin is rescued by his faithful friends Day and Carmichael. Kirk Douglas' trumpeteering in Young Man with a Horn was effectively dubbed by Harry James, while jazz pianists Buddy Cole and Jimmy Zito make uncredited soundtrack contributions. The film was adapted by Carl Foreman and Edmund H. North from a novel by Dorothy Baker. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, (more)
- 1950
The Great Missouri Raid stars Wendell Corey and MacDonald Carey as famed Kansas outlaws Frank and Jesse James. Once more, the James Boys are depicted sympathetically as victims of circumstance forced into a life of crime. Joining Frank and Jesse on their bandit raids are the Younger Brothers, portrayed by Bruce Bennett and Bill Williams. The heavy of the piece is Union major Trowbridge (Ward Bond), who seeks vengeance after Frank and Jesse kill Trowbridge's brother in self defense. Whit Bissell is appropriately furtive and beady-eyed as Bob Ford, the "dirty little coward" who'd eventually shoot Jesse in the back. Interestingly enough, Wendell Corey would play Jesse James along more villainous lines in the 1959 Bob Hope farce Alias Jesse James. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Wendell Corey, MacDonald Carey, (more)
Based on a story by Paddy Chayefsky, this is the tale of a man who is being forced to retire from his job, at the age of 65, and decides to fight back. Impersonating the head of the company, he sets out to convince them to get rid of their outmoded retirement policy and gives a creditable speech on the dignity of man, gaining national attention. This movie features good performances, but it will probably be remembered more for the bit part played by a young Marilyn Monroe as the boss' secretary. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Monty Woolley, Thelma Ritter, (more)
- 1951
Shortly before his death, horror film producer Val Lewton switched creative gears by overseeing the Universal western Apache Drums. The scene is the potentially prosperous western town of Spanish Boot, built from nothing by a group of determined settlers. Before they can enjoy the fruits of their labors, the townsfolk are threatened with an imminent Apache attack. Delivering this sobering news is gambler Sam Leeds (Stephen McNally), previously kicked out of town by the "proper" citizens. At first, no one believes Leeds, but soon the Apaches prove the veracity of the gambler's claims. The rest of the film is light on action but heavy on tension, as the true personalities of all concerned are revealed while they await the final, fatal Apache assault. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephen McNally, Coleen Gray, (more)
- 1951
Richard Grayson and Margaret Field (the mother of actress Sally Field) play a young married couple beset with woe. They lose their baby, have extreme difficulty adopting another, and end up accused of stealing. They are saved from prison at the finale, but no such reprieve is given the couple's best friend, whose own travails drive her to suicide. Chain of Circumstance was based on an article in True Story magazine. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Grayson, Margaret Field, (more)
Rhubarb is an amusing, if not entirely faithful, adaptation of the H. Allen Smith novel of the same name. When Thaddeus J. Banner (Gene Lockhart), multimillionaire owner of the Brooklyn baseball team, passes away, he wills the team -- and his $30 million estate -- to his pugnacious pet cat Rhubarb. Banner's press agent Eric Yeagar (Ray Milland) finds this hilarious, until he discovers that he's been appointed Rhubarb's guardian and business manager. One of the crosses Yeagar has to bear is the fact that his sweetheart Polly Sickles (Jan Sterling), the daughter of Brooklyn team manager Len Sickles (William Frawley), is deathly allergic to cats. Still, Yeagar must keep Rhubarb with him at all times, especially when the cat turns out to be a good-luck charm for the perennially basement-dwelling Brooklyn ballplayers. Thanks to Rhubarb's inspiration, the team makes it to the Pennant Race, whereupon the plot really thickens. The first two-thirds of Rhubarb adheres to the original Smith novel, culminating with a zany sanity hearing brought about by Banner's disgruntled relatives to prove that the cat is mentally unfit to control the old man's money. But the final reels abandon the novel in favor of a Guys and Dolls-inspired plot strand, wherein crooked gamblers kidnap the cat to prevent a Brooklyn pennant win. As a result, H. Allen Smith's satiric barbs are somewhat blunted in the final scenes -- which, however, is not to suggest that the film is any less funny than before. One of the better baseball comedies of the era, Rhubarb maintains its merriment right to the end, which is capped by a cameo appearance by a well-known actor who happened to be married to leading lady Jan Sterling. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Jan Sterling, (more)
- 1951
The Lady Pays Off is a formative example of filmmaker Douglas Sirk's elegant exotica. Linda Darnell plays the title character, a vacationing schoolteacher and one-time gambler named Evelyn Warren. Unfortunately, that "one time" leaves Evelyn indebted to casino owner Matt Braddock (Stephen McNally) to the tune of seven G's. Braddock offers to absolve Evelyn of her debts if she will agree to tutor his troublesome preteen daughter Diana (Gigi Perreau). Chafing at being forced into servitude, Evelyn schemes to make Braddock fall in love with her, then dump him. But Diana takes a liking to Evelyn and cooks up a little scheme on her own to bring the teacher and her father together. It's a simple, unassuming comedy, given a veneer of class and polish by the inimitable Mr. Sirk. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally, (more)
- 1951
The real Al Jennings was a wizened little man who, after a largely unsuccessful career as a western outlaw, reformed to the extent of hitting the lecture circuit and even producing his own films. Jennings was still alive when Columbia's Al Jennings of Oklahoma was produced in 1951, so one can assume that he approved of the radical changes made in his life story and the casting of the better-looking Dan Duryea in the lead. The story begins with Al and his brother Frank (Dick Foran) trying to go straight, even though there's a $25,000 reward on their heads. Al's hopes for connubial bliss with Margo St. Clare (Gale Storm), who loves him despite his reputation, is shattered by the vengeful machinations of a railroad detective. Forced back into a life of crime, Jennings is captured and sentenced to life imprisonment--a sentence that, of course, was eventually modified. Al Jennings of Oklahoma is not one of the classic westerns, but it manages to hold one's attention throughout a plenitude of plot twists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dan Duryea, Gale Storm, (more)
- 1952
Richard Widmark plays a firefighter for the US Forestry Service, a brave man who nevertheless does not believe in taking foolish risks. Widmark is branded a coward by a rookie fireman (Jeffrey Hunter) who holds Widmark responsible for the forest-fire death of the rookie's father. All passions are swept aside when a particularly brutal fire strands Widmark and his men in the middle of unprotected forest. Widmark then realizes that he must attempt to lead the others to well-being. Red Skies of Montana represents the film debut (in an unbilled role) of future TV and film star Richard Crenna. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Constance Smith, (more)
- 1952
Bonar Colleano, who spent the war years playing brash Americans in British films, makes his final screen appearance in the Stanley Kramer production Eight Iron Men. Set during WW II, the film follows the exploits of a small Army squadron, billeted in a bombed-out house on the front lines. Tensions mount as the men attempt to save one of their number, who is trapped behind enemy lines and heavily surrounded. Essentially a single-set film (it was based on A Sound of Hunting, a stage play by Harry Brown), Eight Iron Men works better as a character study than a war flick. Colleano dominates the proceedings as a self-styled Lothario, while Arthur Franz, Lee Marvin, Richard Kiley, Nick Dennis, James Griffith, George Cooper and former child-star Dick Moore likewise register well. For no discernible reason, the screenplay manages to include several extra characters, including Mary Castle as "The Girl" in a dream sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bonar Colleano, Arthur Franz, (more)
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