Douglas Dick Movies

A deft blend of comedy and suspense, "Alias Joe Cartwright" affords series regular Michael Landon the opportunity to play a dual role: His usual characterization of Joe Cartwright, and murderous Army deserter Angus Borden. Mistaken for Borden, Joe is sentenced to a firing squad by martinet Captain Merced (Douglas Dick). But Sgt. O'Rourke (Keenan Wynn) suspects something is amiss, especially when Merced makes it clear that he knows Joe is innocent but is determined to go through with the execution anyway. Throughout the episode O'Rourke's favorite patsy, the hapless Private Peters (Joseph Turkel), runs himself ragged trying to find out if Joe is indeed who he claims to be. Also in the cast is familiar character actor Dave Willock, here seen as an overly unctuous hotel clerk. Originally telecast on January 26, 1964, "Alias Joe Cartwright" was written by Robert Vincent Wright. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tensely directed by Don Siegel, Flaming Star is the grittiest of Elvis Presley's post-Army films. Elvis plays Pacer Burton, a half-breed youth in the old West, torn between loyalty to the whites, as represented by his father (John McIntyre), and the Indians, represented by his mother (Dolores Del Rio). A series of brutal Kiowa raids, and the subsequent reprisals by the white settlers, sorely test Pacer's fortitude. Though offered moral support from his loved ones, Pacer is forced to work things out himself. The film was based on a novel by Clair Huffaker. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"Wild Bill" Elliot once again plays diligent police lieutenant Boyle in Footsteps in the Night. This time, Doyle investigates the murder of a friend, who was killed shortly after a high-stakes card game. The principal suspect is Henry Johnson (Douglas Dick), who was heavily in debt to the dead man. But Doyle finally deduces not only the identity of the actual killer (it's a real surprise!) but the misguided motivations that led to the crime. Much of the film was lensed just outside the studios of Allied Artists, fomerly Monogram and currently the home of Los Angeles' PBS outlet. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Joel McCrea stars in this leisurely paced Western from Allied Artists (formerly Monogram) originally released in Cinemascope. Having lost his wife in childbirth en route to California, Dr. John Brighton (McCrea) builds a new home for himself and his baby daughter in an Oklahoma backwater town, lodging with kindhearted Mrs. Fitzgerald (Esther Dale). As the town grows up around him, Brighton becomes a well-respected local medico, championing the rights of the area's Indian population when nasty rancher Cass Dobie attempts to buy them out cheap. Unbeknownst to the townspeople, Dobie has discovered oil on the land belonging to Charlie Smith (Michael Pate), whose beautiful daughter, Maria (Gloria Talbott), is working as little Louise Brighton's (Laurie Mitchell) nursemaid. When Charlie is forced to kill Cass' brother, Mel (Douglas Dick), in self-defense, Cass vows revenge. Aided by female rancher Anne Barnes (Barbara Hale), Brighton learns about the discovery of oil and there is a final confrontation on main street. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

This tuneful biography of operatic soprano Grace Moore begins as she prepares to perform on opening night. While awaiting her entrance cue, she reflects upon her life and the sequence of events that led her from a humble childhood in Tennessee to becoming one of the brightest stars in the opera world. Songs include "The Kiss Waltz," "Remember," "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" and "La Boheme." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were still referred to as Indo-China when this Sam Katzman-produced adventure quickie was filmed. John Archer (the father of actress Anne Archer) stars as the titular "yank," a devil-may-care pilot named Mulvaney. Together with his partner Clint Marshall (Douglas Dick), Mulvaney runs a profitable air-freight line in Indo-China. After antagonizing a band of Red Chinese, Mulvaney and Clint attempt to rescue two American women (Jean Willes and Ellen Murphy) who'd foolishly allied themselves with the bad guys. Shamelessly jingoistic, A Yank in Indo-China is a fascinating artifact from an era in which America thought of Southeast Asia in terms of Black and White. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The backstory of The Red Badge of Courage involves the toppling of MGM's old Louis B. Mayer regime in favor of Dore Schary and his young Turks. It is also the tale of how an intended epic was ruthlessly whittled down to a lower-berth programmer. Since this story has already been related in detail in Lillian Ross' Picture (not to mention several John Huston biographies), the focus here will be what shows up on screen in Red Badge of Courage. Based on the novel by Stephen Crane, the film stars real-life war hero Audie Murphy as a Civil War soldier who must redeem himself in his own eyes after an act of cowardice. When he finally gets his opportunity, he realizes that he is no less frightened than before; it is simply that he has learned to push on in spite of that fear. A comparative newcomer to films, Murphy acquits himself magnificently in the difficult title role; equally impressive are political cartoonist Bill Mauldin as "The Loud Soldier," John Dierkes as "The Tall Soldier" and Royal Dano as "The Tattered Man." When Red Badge of Courage tested poorly in preview, the studio sliced it down to 69 minutes and added a narrator (James Whitmore) to clarify the more obscure plot passages. Further hurting the film was Bronislaus Kaper's overbaked musical score, which seemed more suited to a gung-ho John Wayne flick than a comparatively intimate tale of personal fortitude. Though the finished product plays like a Reader's Digest adaptation, a few brilliant passages remain, notably the sequence in which a commanding officer ingratiatingly lies to his troops for the sake of morale. Like Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons, Red Badge of Courage is a truncated classic -- but a classic, all the same. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Casbah is a musical remake of the 1938 film Algiers, which was itself a remake of the French film Pepe Le Moko. Tony Martin stars in the old Jean Gabin/Charles Boyer role as Pepe Le Moko, a master thief who lives in the Casbah section of Algiers. A French police inspector (Peter Lorre) would love to capture Pepe, but realizes that as long as the thief remains in the Casbah he is protected by his vast network of criminals. When Pepe falls in love with a beautiful tourist (Marta Toren), he schemes for the first time to leave his little "empire". Betrayed by a former lover (Yvonne De Carlo), Pepe is shot down by the police as he emerges from his sanctuary. Casbah lacks the atmosphere of the earlier non-musical versions of the story, but Tony Martin is reasonably convincing as Pepe Le Moko, even when bursting into song. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Accused is a mystery melodrama with a predictable plot involving blackmail, attempted rape and murder. Loretta Young stars as Wilma Tuttle, a prim and proper college professor who unwittingly arouses the libido of student Bill Perry (Douglas Dick). When Perry tries to rape Wilma under cover of darkness, she beats him to death with a tire iron. Appalled by her own rash behavior, she tries to cover up her crime by making it seem as though Perry was killed while diving into the sea from a precipitous cliff. But as she follows the police investigation of Perry's death, Wilma realizes that she'll never be able to escape the prison of her own conscience -- especially when she falls in love with Warren Ford (Robert Cummings), the dead boy's guardian. Wendell Corey delivers the film's best performance as a quietly efficient homicide lieutenant who suspects that Wilma knows more than she's letting on. The Accused was adapted by Ketti Frings from the novel by June Truesdell. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The troublesome years "between the wars" provide the backdrop for the romantic drama The Searching Wind. Adapted by Lillian Hellman from her own stage play, the film stars Robert Young as Alex Hazen, an idealistic but incredibly naïve US ambassador who fails to heed the warning signals when Mussolini and then Hitler ascend to power in Europe. Feeding into Hazen's ingenuousness is his beautiful but shallow wife Emily (Ann Richards), who is far more preoccupied with tuxedos and dinner gowns than with brown shirts and Nazi armbands. Only journalist Cassie Bowman (Sylvia Sidney), a character obviously based on playwright Hellman, can foresee the impending horror-even when her judgment is occasionally clouded by her undying love for Hazen. Benefiting from the mistakes of his elders is the Hazens' son Sam (Douglas Dick), who represents the "Never Again" viewpoint of the post-WW2 years. The Searching Wind was the sort of politically supercharged fare that earned Hellman condemnation as a "premature anti-fascist" during the infamous Hollywood Blacklist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi