George Wallace Movies

Bob Danvers, an arrogant, irresponsible rodeo star, retaliates for losing his wife by having an affair with a pretty fan in this melodrama. His wife, Ruth, really loves him, but she can no longer handle his selfishness and leaves. Hob has his moment of truth at a major Tucson rodeo when his ex-buddy, now a rodeo clown, sacrifices his life to save Hob from being gored by a berserk Brahma bull. The film features realistic scenes from a rodeo and was originally a 3-D picture. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Border River stars Joel McCrea as idealistic Confederate major Clete Mattson and Yvonne DeCarlo as saloon owner Carmelita Carlas. With the South facing defeat, Mattson desperately tries to save his army by stealing $2,000,000 in Union gold. He then heads to a raucous border town on the Rio Grande, hoping to make a munitions deal with Mexican general Calleja (Pedro Armendariz). But first, Mattson must contend with Calleja's double-crossing German military advisor Baron Von Holden (Ivan Triesault), not to mention Calleja's tempestuous sweetheart Carmelita, who is likewise not to be trusted. Alfonso Bedoya engagingly goes through one of his "We don't got to show you any stinkin' badges" characterizations as Calleja's aide-de-camp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The third and (as of 1998) final film version of Max Brand's Destry Rides Again, this 1954 Audie Murphy vehicle owes more to the 1939 Jimmy Stewart version than it does to the Brand original. Murphy plays Tom Destry, the peace-loving son of a notorious gunslinger. Destry is summoned to a wide-open western town in hopes that he can stem the villainies of saloon owner Decker (Lyle Bettger) and crooked mayor Sellers (Edgar Buchanan). Though he prefers to talk rather than slap leather, Destry manages to keep the bad guys at bay. But when his best friend, town-drunk-turned-sheriff Rags Barnaby (Thomas Mitchell), is killed by Decker's minions, Destry straps on the shootin' irons and goes to work. Mari Blanchard essays the Marlene Dietrich role as vacillating saloon-hall chirp Brandy, while Lori Nelson is the "good"girl with whom Destry ultimately settles down. Though most of the highlights of Destry -- including the all-girl saloon brawl -- are lifted bodily from 1939's Destry Rides Again, the 1954 film lacks the light touch of the earlier picture, despite the fact that comedy craftsman George Marshall directed both pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the concluding episode of Walt Disney's four-part miniseries based on the life of frontiersman Daniel Boone, several members of Boone's wagon train are angered when Daniel (Dewey Martin) orders them to lighten their loads so they can negotiate the mountains and have turned back to North Carolina. Only a tiny band of faithful followers remain with Daniel and his family as they begin the last leg of the arduous journey to Kentucky. Alas, once again the wagoneers are attacked by vengeance-seeking Indian chief Crowfeather (Dean Fredericks), who has a personal score to settle with Daniel. "The Promised Land" originally aired as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the eleventh episode of Walt Disney's 17-part miniseries Tales of Texas John Slaughter, John's children, Willie (Brian Corcoran) and Addy (Patricia Gorman), have at last become accustomed to their new home in Tombstone, AZ. The kids are also anxious for the widowed John (Tom Tryon) to propose to neighboring rancher Viola Howell (Betty Lynn). Finally working up the courage to pop the question, John is unfortunately sidetracked when he is called upon to testify at the trial of outlaw Loco Crispin (Gene Evans) in which John was instrumental in bringing to justice. Meanwhile, Viola's mother (Nora Marlowe) is worried that her prospective son-in-law is still a man of violence. Modern-day viewers will likely be fascinated by the warm friendships forged between John Slaughter and two ethnic characters, Apache brave Natchez (Jay Silverheels) and African-American ranch-hand Batt (James Edwards). "Apache Friendship" originally aired as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Highway patrolman Eugene Brewer disappears without a trace, leaving his car unattended with the motor running. Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) set up a roadblock in hopes of finding the driver of the stolen car reported in the vicinity of Brewer's last know whereabouts. Things take a grim turn when the officer's body is found with two bullets in his skull. A tense shootout caps this episode, which was adapted from the Dragnet) radio broadcast of August 24, 1950. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

MGM's first big-budget science fiction film, Forbidden Planet, combined state-of-the-art special effects with a storyline based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. In the 23rd century, Cmdr. J.J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen) guides United Planets cruiser C-57-D on a rescue mission to faraway planet Altair-4. Twenty years earlier, Earth ship Bellerophon disappeared while en route to Altair-4. Only the ship's philologist, Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), survived; in the intervening decades, Morbius has created an Edenlike world of his own, for the benefit of himself and his nubile young daughter, Altaira (Anne Francis). His private paradise is zealously guarded by Robby the Robot, a piece of technology far in advance of anything on Earth. When Adams and his crew land on Altair-4, Morbius announces that he has no intention of being rescued and returned to Earth. When Adams attempts to contact home base, he finds that his radio equipment has been smashed by some unseen force. Holding Morbius responsible, Adams confronts the scientist, who decides to tell all. At one time, according to Morbius, Altair-4 was populated by the Krel, a wise, intellectually superior race. Using leftover Krel technology, Morbius has doubled his intellect and gained the ability to shape a new world to his own specifications. Forbidden Planet was a big influence on future sci-fi outer-space efforts, especially Star Trek. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kansas City Confidential, Phil Karlson's low (low) budget, B-grade film noir, opens on a Kansas City armored-car robbery perpetrated by cynical, corrupt ex-policeman Timothy Foster (Preston S. Foster). Foster devises an outrageous scheme: he will recruit three of the most vicious and unrelenting criminals he can find (screen heavies Lee Van Cleef, Jack Elam and Neville Brand) to undertake a robbery, blackmailing them into the heist with incriminating evidence from other "jobs." As an eccentric and clever conceit, Foster forces each of the perpetrators to wear masks, thus concealing their identities from one another and preventing the old pitfall of the men squealing and backstabbing. The heist comes off without a scratch, but a complication arises when the ignorant cops pick up an unrelated fellow, Joe Rolfe (John Payne) for his ownership of a van similar to the one used in the caper. In time, Rolfe is cleared, but he grows irate over the accusations and sets off to find Foster and co. and teach them a lesson. He finally happens upon one of the perpetrators in Mexico, beats him nearly to death, and assumes the victim's identity - and that's when things really get complicated. Though produced under the Hays Code censorship regulations, Kansas City Confidential constituted one of the most brutal and violent crime pictures made up through that time; as such, it retains historical significance. It also claims a strong cult following. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Sam Elliot stars as Rick Carlson, a thirty year old lifeguard who thinks life is passing him by. Rick loves the beach life and his job, but after attending his fifteen-year high school reunion and receiving advice from his family and friends that he's wasting his life, Rick begins to question his livelihood and wonders whether he should quit and find a more normal line of work -- such as selling cars for the local Porsche dealership. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Bret (James Garner) feels mighty lucky when he thinks he's won some prize cattle in a poker game. Imagine his dismay when discovers that his "prize" is actually a large flock of sheep--and that he is now smack in the middle of a violent range war. While looking for someone willing to buy the sheep, Bret poses as a Federal inspector in order to avoid being shot full of holes by the angry cattlemen. This episode was directed by Arthur Lubin, who was somewhat of an expert in "animal" stories by virtue of his work on the "Francis the Talking Mule" movie series (to say nothing of his later duties on TV's Mister Ed). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Who else but Esther Williams could star in a romantic drama (with musical numbers) bearing a title like this? In Million Dollar Mermaid, Williams plays Annette Kellerman, a real-life Australian swimming star who took up the sport as a child to strengthen her legs, which were severely weakened by a birth defect. The treatment proves effective, and as she grows to adulthood, Annette shows that she has the talent to be a champion swimmer, though she prefers to follow her dream of becoming a ballet dancer. When Annette's father Frederick (Walter Pidgeon) accepts a position in London teaching music, Annette opts to go with him, and along the way she meets James Sullivan (Victor Mature) and Doc Cronnol (Jesse White), the joint-owners of a boxing kangaroo they intend to exhibit in London. James is already aware of Annette's abilities as a competitive swimmer, and he offers to be her manager and help her earn a living from her aquatic skills. At first Annette isn't interested, but when Frederick's job falls through and she can't find work as a dancer, Annette reluctantly agrees to work with James. He arranges a publicity stunt in which Annette swims 30 miles down the Thames River, which attracts the avid attention of the British press and wins her some work as a dancer. Convinced that the big money is in America, James persuades Annette to travel with him to the U.S., where she creates a scandal in Boston by staging another long swim in a one-piece bathing suit, considered shockingly-revealing at the turn of the Century. The stunt nearly lands Annette in jail, but she escapes the long arm of the law and becomes the star of a water ballet revue. Annette had fallen in love with James, but after an argument, he resigns as her manager and Annette takes up with Alfred Harper (David Brian), the male lead in her show. Annette and Alfred agree to marry while working on a movie together, but James returns on the last day of shooting, determined to win back the heart of the woman he loves. Legendary choreographer Busby Berkeley staged the film's elaborate water-ballet sequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the second of Republic Pictures' three "Rocket Man" serials, the government assigns Commando Cody (George Wallace) to look into a series of strange atomic explosions threatening the United States' defense systems. As Cody discovers, the threat comes from the Moon, whose ruler, Retik (Roy Barcroft), is planning an invasion of Mother Earth due to a severe lack of atmosphere on his own planet. Retik works through Krog (Peter Brocco), an inter-planetary henchman who does all the financing and hiring on Earth. Unfortunately, the hooded lunar visitor fails miserably on both fronts: the preparations for the invasion are severely under funded and the hired guns, such as former prison inmate Graber (Clayton Moore), less than competent. But despite these caveats, Commando Cody and his fellow space travelers, Joan Gilbert (Aline Towne) and Ted Richards (William Bakewell), have to suffer through 12 chapters before finally destroying the threat from the planet Moon. Radar Men From the Moon was filmed between October 17, 1951, and November 6, 1951, on a budget of $172,840. Most location filming, not excluding plenty of stock footage from earlier Republic serials, was done at the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, California. The serial was followed by a brief television series, Commando Cody: Sky Marshal, which retained Aline Towne as Joan Gilbert but replaced George Wallace and William Bakewell with Judd Holdren and William Schallert. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A sometimes astonishingly grim western, Six Black Horses ostensibly stars Audie Murphy, but is effortlessly stolen by Frank Jesse (Dan Duryea). Wrongly accused of horse theft, Ben Lane (Murphy) is rescued by ruthless but sentimental gunslinger Jesse. The two men are hired as trail guides by Kelly (Joan O'Brien), who wants to traverse hostile Indian territory so that she can be reunited with her husband. What she knows -- but the audience doesn't -- is that her husband is dead, murdered by Jesse. Kelly had hired him to exact vengeance, but it is she who is nearly killed. Lane is left stranded when Jesse rides off to claim the money promised him by Kelly. This he does so as to finance his "dream funeral," wherein his casket will be borne to Boot Hill by six black horses. When Lane catches up with Jesse, he sees to it that the outlaw gets his wish -- after first taking the precaution of filling Jesse full of lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide