Audrey Totter Movies

Gus (George Winslow) is the young son of divorced industrialist Dave Jennings (Richard Widmark). Unable to cope with Gus' mischievous streak, Jennings places the boy in a day-care center. Gus' teacher Lydia Marble (Joanne Dru) manages to curb the boy's prankishness, and along the way falls in love with Jennings. Enter the villainess of the piece: Jennings' ex-wife Joyce (Audrey Totter), who claims that the divorce is invalid and demands a huge sum from Jennings, lest she claim custody of Gus. In the end, it comes down to priorities: does Jennings value his son over his money, or vice versa? My Pal Gus is no Kramer vs. Kramer, but it does pass the time in an agreeable manner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on William Fay's short story The Disappearance of Dolan, Champ for a Day stars Alex Nicol as young pugilist George Wilson. Upon arriving in a small town for a scheduled bout, George discovers that his manager, Dolan, has vanished from sight. Also caught up in the mystery is Dolan's girlfriend Miss Gormley (Audrey Totter). Before long, George finds out that his missing manager was tied up with gangsters--and that George is expected to lose his next fight. How he extricates himself from this dilemma, and also solves his manager's disappearance, consumes the final four reels of this 90-minute Republic "special." The film's topnotch cast includes Harry Morgan as a trainer, Charles Winninger and Hope Emerson as the owners of a roadside hotel, and Joseph Wiseman as a wacko villain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Captain George Slocum (John Hodiak) and First Lieutenant Jerry Barker (Todd Karns) are longtime friends, assigned to the same US Army outfit in Korea during 1950, training South Korean army pilots in flying L5 observation planes. The L5's are slow-moving propeller aircraft, made mostly of wood and fabric and seemingly out-of-place in modern warfare -- but they're absolutely essential to military maneuvers and gunnery, even in the post-World War II era. George is sent to Japan just before Jerry's younger brother Pete (John Derek), also a pilot and a newly-minted second lieutenant, is due to arrive there. Pete is bold and brash, with his plane and his women, far beyond his early twenty-something age -- this gets him nowhere, either with hard-boiled nurse Audrey Totter or the brass, and he quickly reveals himself a to be a hot-headed screw-up who cannot follow orders or obey regulations. Slocum would like to take Pete under his wing, but the younger pilot isn't getting the message, and a day later North Korea invades its neighbor to the south and both men are ordered into combat. Their arrival at Kimpo Air Base -- where Jerry is stationed -- is a true baptism-of-fire, the field littered with bodies and wrecked aircraft and under attack by insurgents with automatic weapons. The wounded Jerry is killed before they can get him to safety, and only Slocum's cool head saves him and Pete, or their planes, which allows them to spirit two VIP passengers to safety -- and Pete nearly manages to turn that into a disaster as well. Slocum recognizes the emergency before them and wants everything done by the book, but Pete can't let go of the idea of revenge, and soon rigs his slow-moving low-altitude L5 plane with a bazooka, with which he plans to hit any targets of opportunity that come up on his observation flights. For his trouble he loses his plane and comes close to getting captured. Pete would be treading dangerously close to a court martial, but for the fact that their CO (Rex Reason) is desperately short of pilots. It takes a North Korean attack on their headquarters and its aftermath to get Pete to literally straighten up and fly right. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Action star Phil Carey once more dons Cavalry Blue in Columbia's Massacre Canyon. This time, Carey plays the unsavory role of an alcoholic Cavalry lieutenent who fancies himself an expert on Indians. In truth, only his sergeant, Douglas Kennedy, possesses enough knowhow for the task at hand: To transport a wagon train full of weapons into Indian territory without arousing suspicion. Thanks to a stupid blunder, Native American chief Steve Ritch discovers that the army is trying to ship guns through his land, and the chase is on. Evidently as a means to enhance the film's box office, Massacre Canyon costars two attractive but totally unnecessary leading ladies, Audrey Totter and Miss Jeff Donnell (as she was often billed). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The oft-filmed Zane Grey yarn The Vanishing American is given respectful treatment in this Republic "A" production. Eliminating Grey's premise that the American Indian's downfall was all part of Nature's scheme of things, the film begins in the late 19th century, with Scott Brady starring as Navajo protagonist Blandy. Embittered not only by deceitful whites but also by renegade Apaches, Blandy hopes to prevent further decimation of his people by stemming the activities of crooked Indian agent Blucher (Gene Lockhart) and duplicitious trader Morgan (Forrest Tucker). Blandy's allies include white landowner Marian Warner (Audrey Totter), whose open rangeland is dearly coveted by the nefarious Blucher and Morgan. Among the genuine Native Americans making cameo appearances are Jay "Tonto" Silverheels and Charles Stevens. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Roger Bristol (James Craig) is the star of a popular TV adventure series. To further boost his ratings, Bristol promises his viewers that he will locate a sunken treasure off the coasts of South America. True to his word, Bristol, his secretary Anne Stevens (Audrey Totter) and his skindiver son Bob (Lowell Brown) embark on his dangerous quest, using the cryptic messages carved on an ancient idol as his guide to the treasure. Their mission is threatened by a covetous local diver (Nico Minardos), who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the treasure. Not everything goes as planned, but Roger does discover that true love is worth all the gold in the sea. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Denied a big budget, Jet Attack scores dramatic points by concentrating on the human side of warfare. Shot down behind enemy lines in North Korea, jet jockeys Tom (John Agar), Bill (Gregory Walcott) and Chick (Nicky Blair) link up with Russian nurse Tanya (Audrey Totter). She insists that she's on their side, and that she wants to help a captured atomic scientist escape the clutches of the Communists. Bill and Chick don't buy her story, but Tom is more flexible. After numerous narrow escapes, the survivors of the ordeal streak back to South Korea in a hijacked MIG jet. Jet Attack was originally released on a double bill with Suicide Battalion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In Jet Attack, a brainwashed scientist is rescued by a paramilitary team; in Paratroop Command, a soldier sets off North African land mines to regain his honor after killing one of his own men. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Although storekeeper Mrs. Gruber (Jesslyn Fax) has purchased a gun for protection, she finds herself incapable of pulling the trigger when she is robbed by a teenager named Jimmy Philips (Bob Paget). Not so timorous is Mrs. Gruber's customer Gerald R. Clarke (George Nader), who grabs the gun, chases Jimmy down, and shoots the boy to death -- managing to avoid arrest himself by claiming "self-defense." This leads to a fateful confrontation between Gerald and the dead boy's mother (Audrey Totter). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Reba Burgess (Audrey Totter) has managed to keep her late husband's mining company alive by securing big bank loans, using a shoebox full of uncut diamonds as collateral. All this may come to an end when Carl Bascom (Jeff Corey) appears out of nowhere, claiming to have a written agreement that gives him half of the mine. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) enters the scene when Bascom is killed with a weapon owned by Reba. This episode is topheavy with familiar character actors in the supporting cast, including Elisha Cook Jr. (The Maltese Falcon), Bruce Bennett (Treasure of the Sierra Madre), Ben Johnson (The Last Picture Show) and Roy Barcroft (who showed up in virtually every Republic serial and western ever made!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ed Begley Sr. makes a return visit to Bonanza in the role of proud old Ponderosa wrangler Dan Tolliver. Sensing that Dan is getting too old for his work, Ben Cartwright arranges for the stubborn ranchhand to take on an easier job. Infuriated, Dan quits the Ponderosa and falls in with two outlaws who have a long-standing hatred for the Cartwrights. Others in the cast include Audrey Totter as Beth Riley, Sherwood Price as Sand, Renny McAvoy as Flint and former B-western star Don "Red" Barry as Temple. Written by Frank Chase and directed by movie leading man Paul Henreid, "A Time to Step Down", was originally seen on September 25, 1966, then rebroadcast on New Years' Eve, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

On the testimony of five different eyewintesses, Sgt. Ed Brown is arrested for the beating death of a bookie. Naturally, Ed is innocent, but is unable to prove that he was vacationing alone at a mountain retreat at the time of the killing. With time running out for the wrongfully accused detective, Ironside (Raymond Burr) launches a no-holds-barred investigation of his own. This episode was cowritten by series regular Don Galloway, who of course plays Ed Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tim Conway and Don Knotts, mere supporting characters in the original Apple Dumpling Gang, are promoted to starring roles in the 1979 sequel The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. Once more cast as clumsy, soft-hearted western outlaws, Conway and Knotts come to the rescue of cavalry private Tim Matheson. The villain, lieutenant Philip Pine, is undermining the authority of Matheson's commander Harry Morgan, and Matheson wants to find out why. Featured performers include Jack Elam as Big Mac and Ruth Buzzi as Tough Kate. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi