Frank Yaconelli Movies

The CinemaScope process gets a rugged workout in Henry Hathaway's The Racers. Kirk Douglas stars as an Italian bus driver who dreams of entering the Grand Prix as a world-famous race car driver. Being Kirk Douglas, he achieves his goal, racing in all the major events around the globe. Dedicated to the philosophy of "winning is the only thing", Douglas alienates his fellow racers and everyone else with whom he comes in contact. Only when he is on the verge of losing his sweetheart Bella Darvi does our hero put his priorities in order. Adapted from a novel by Hans Ruesch, The Racers was remade in a 60-minute version as Men Against Speed, an entry in the weekly TV anthology The 20th Century-Fox Hour. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though out of favor with many Abbott and Costello buffs, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd is actually a lot of fun, so long as the viewer parks logic and dignity at the door. Captain Kidd is played by no less than Charles Laughton, who reportedly agreed to sign up for this film because he wanted to learn how to perform a comedy double-take. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are cast as Rocky and Puddn'head, waiters at a pirate hangout on the island of Tortuga. Entrusted with a love letter written by the beautiful Lady Jane (Fran Warren) to cabaret singer Bruce Martingale (Bill Shirley), Puddn'head manages to get this missive mixed up with a treasure map coveted by both Captain Kidd and his rival, lady pirate Captain Bonney (Hillary Brooke). The upshot of all this finds Rocky, Pudd'nhead, Lady Jane and Bruce being shanghaied by Kidd, setting the stage for a climactic treasure hunt and chase on a faraway island. Laughton takes to broad slapstick comedy like a fish to water; indeed, at times he's a lot funnier than Bud and Lou! Filmed in Cinecolor, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd was the second of the team's independent productions for Warner Bros. release; like the first, Jack and the Beanstalk, it was well received by the public, even while critics tore their hair and gnashed their teeth. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Previously filmed in 1931 under its original title, Theodore Dreiser's bulky but brilliant novel An American Tragedy was remade in 1951 by George Stevens as A Place in the Sun. Montgomery Clift stars as George Eastman, a handsome and charming but basically aimless young man who goes to work in a factory run by a distant, wealthy relative. Feeling lonely one evening, he has a brief rendezvous with assembly-line worker Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters), but he forgets all about her when he falls for dazzling socialite Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor). Alice can't forget about him, though: she is pregnant with his child. Just when George's personal and professional futures seem assured, Alice demands that he marry her or she'll expose him to his society friends. This predicament sets in motion a chain of events that will ultimately include George's arrest and numerous other tragedies, including a vicious cross-examination by a D.A. played by future Perry Mason Raymond Burr. A huge improvement over the 1931 An American Tragedy, directed by Josef von Sternberg, A Place in the Sun softens some of the rough edges of Dreiser's naturalism, most notably in the passages pertaining to George's and Angela's romance. Even those 1951 bobbysoxers who wouldn't have been caught dead poring through the Dreiser original were mesmerized by the loving, near-erotic full facial closeups of Clift and Taylor as they pledge eternal devotion. A Place in the Sun won six Oscars, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography, although it lost Best Picture to An American in Paris. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Robert Rockwell, Republic Pictures' resident all-purpose hero, stars in Alias the Champ. This time, Rockwell plays Lt. Ron Peterson, who doubles as a homicide detective and local administrator of the professional wrestling code. When real-life rassler Gorgeous George (that's how he billed himself) is framed for murder by a gang of crooks, Lt. Peterson tries to prove George's innocence. It isn't just the job that motivates Peterson: he's sweet on the wrestler's pretty manager Lorraine (Audrey Long). Fans of the current WWF and WCW TV wrestling extravaganzas might get a kick out of the scenes wherein Gorgeous George, Bomber Kulkavitch, Billy Varga, Jack "Sockeye" MacDonald, the Super-Swedish Angel (aka Tor Johnson) and their confreres hunker down to business in the ring. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Its poetic title aside, Republic's Madonna of the Desert is a formula murder mystery with an occasional surprise or two. The titular madonna is a priceless statue owned by wealthy rancher Joe Salinas (Don Castle). Crooked Nick Julian (Sheldon Leonard) intends to steal the statue, enlisting the aid of the lovely Monica Dale (Lynne Roberts). Meanwhile, another team of crooks headed by Tony French (Don Barry) plans to beat Julian to the punch. Ah, but it said that the madonna has miraculous powers which will melt even the most larcenous of hearts. Under the influence of the "little lady," Monica and Tony mend their ways and fall in love. Unfortunately, Nick and the other crooks manage to resist the madonna's peculiar charms, leading to a typically violent Republic Pictures climax. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Cisco Kid attempts to break up an arranged marriage in this romantic B-Western from Monogram. Learning that nasty Raoul (Ted Hecht) is marrying lovely Dolores Ramirez (Inez Cooper) out of greed only, the Kid (Gilbert Roland) goes undercover as famous California adventurer Don Luis Salazar. The ruse works, and after a swordfight or two, Dolores is free to marry whomever she chooses. Teala Loring, as Raoul's true girlfriend, sings "Mi Amor Ya Volvia" by Gladys Flores and Edward Kay. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Esther Williams moves from the swimming pool to the bull ring in this musical drama. Antonio Morales (Fortunio Bonanova) was once a champion bullfighter; now in retirement, Antonio and his wife (Mary Astor) have high hopes that their son Mario (Ricardo Montalban) will follow in his father's footsteps as a matador. However, Mario's great passion is music, and he longs to pursue a career as a composer. But there is a budding toreador in the family: Mario's sister Maria (Esther Williams), who has learned the basics of bullfighting from her sibling. Not wanting to be thought a coward, but with no desire to enter the ring, Mario allows Maria to disguise herself as him and take his place in the bullring, allowing her to compete in a traditionally male sport while Mario devotes his time to his music. Fiesta gave Ricardo Montalban his first English-speaking role, with Cyd Charisse appearing as Conchita, his love interest and dancing partner. Classical music buffs might notice that Mario's composition "Fantasia Mexican" is actually Aaron Copland's "El Salon Mexico." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Gilbert Roland dominates the action in a colorful performance as the bandit hero the Cisco Kid, this time up against a surprisingly vicious plot by a local doctor to steal land from the local peasants and small ranchers by poisoning them to drive them off, and then reselling the property to absentee European landlords. He finds an unexpected ally in Jeanne DuBois (Ramsay Ames), who starts out as part of the plot but is turned around by Roland's charm and charisma after a few fireworks. The direction is uneven, with William Nigh not quite able to make the flatter parts of the script as entertaining or smooth as they ought to be. Evidently, the producers knew they were in trouble with this downbeat script and took steps to rescue the picture. Seeing the sparks fly in the scenes in the first third of the picture, in which Ames is disguised as a man (which evokes echoes -- albeit very distant -- of Shakespeare's As You Like It) and verbally jousts with Roland, more material was written on the spot for the two of them, depicting a competition that becomes much more heated when her gender is revealed. By her own account, Nigh and Ames were friends, and she was a good sport on this shoot whatever they had her doing, and it's a pity they didn't go further with the rivalry between Roland's and Ames' characters, who might've been the Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones of their era. Roland also wrote some of his own dialogue and poetry for this effort, which seems very hackneyed today, but played just fine for audiences in 1946. (Note: In early TV prints of Beauty And The Bandit, all references to the Cisco Kid and O. Henry in the credits were blacked out, and mentions of the Cisco Kid and "Cisco" in the dialogue awkwardly dubbed over as "Chico" -- one suspects this was because the exclusive TV rights to the Cisco Kid had been sold to another producer for the TV series starring Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carrillo). ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Barton MacLane dominates the proceedings in the PRC quickie Man of Courage. Taking a break from his usual gangster and convict roles, MacLane plays a crusading district attorney. His number one target is mob boss Lyle Talbot, who enjoys the protection of several crooked politicos. With perserverance, MacLane collars his quarry and brings him to trial. MacLane also cowrote the script, so he has only himself to blame for lines like "I remember when I used to plow on the farm...BOY! Did I love ta PLOW!" Newpaper columnist Erskine Johnson appears as "himself" in Man of Courage. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After several years of mediocre westerns, cowboy star Tom Keene finally managed to find a winning formula in his 1941-42 vehicles for Monogram. Lone Star Law Men stars Keene as a deputy US marshal, sworn to help his boss rout a gang of border outlaws. Our hero elects to go undercover by joining the crooks himself-an old ploy, but one that works beautifully here. For the rest of the film, Keene has quite a time staying on camera with such formidable scene-stealers as comic sidekick Frank Yaconelli and all-around heavy Charles King as competition. Like many Tom Keene oaters of the period, Lone Star Law Men gives over a goodly amount of screen time to moppet Sugar Dawn, whom Monogram was obviously grooming for bigger things (which never materialized). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Prince the wonder horse and his gallant rider gallop off to protect hapless ranchers from the ruthless Nazi bad guys who are trying to steal their land so they can exploit the valuable tungsten deposits in this WW II western. Mayhem ensues, but soon the villains are vanquished and America's tungsten deposits are safe once more. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Before changing his name to Richard Powers, cowboy hero Tom Keene spent the waning days of his stardom at Monogram, churning out westerns like Riding the Sunset Trail. When ingenue Betty Dawson (Betty Miles) and her kid sister Sugar (Sugar Dawn) are cheated out of their cattle ranch, Tom Sterling (Keene) and his sidekick Mendoza (Frank Yaconelli) vow to get the ranch back for the girls. This requires Sterling to cross six-guns with Pecos Dean (Gene Alcase), a former friend who'd turned bad. The climax is a shootout between our heroes and the minions of chief heavy Jay Lynch (Kenne Duncan). Formerly a bit too overenthusiastic in his screen appearances, Tom Keene turns in a restrained, well-modulated peformance in Riding the Sunset Trail. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi