Fred Clark Movies
American actor Fred Clark embarked upon his lifelong career immediately upon graduation from Stanford University. With his lantern jaw, bald pate and ulcerated disposition, Clark knew he'd never be a leading man and wisely opted for character work. After several years on stage, during which time he was briefly married to musical comedy actress Benay Venuta, Clark made his movie debut in Ride the Pink Horse (1947), playing one of his few out-and-out villains. The actor's knowing portrayal of a callous movie producer in Sunset Boulevard (1949) led to his being typecast as blunt, sometimes shady executives. Clark's widest public recognition occurred in 1951 when he was cast as next-door neighbor Harry Morton on TV's Burns and Allen Show; when Clark insisted upon a larger salary, producer-star George Burns literally replaced him on the air with actor Larry Keating. Dividing his time between films and television for the rest of his career, Clark earned latter-day fame in the 1960s as star of a series of regionally distributed potato chip commercials. Though most of his fans prefer to remember the disappointing Otto Preminger farce Skiddoo (1968) as Fred Clark's screen farewell, the truth is that Clark's last performance was in I Sailed to Tahiti with an All-Girl Crew (1969). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1967
It must be spring again, else why would Granny be standing in front of the Commerce Bank and giving away free samples of her special spring tonic? Granny's benevolence irritates her old nemesis, Beverly Hills physician Dr. Clyburn (Fred Clark). Hoping to drum Granny out of the medical profession once and for all, Clyburn comes up with a foolproof plan -- and he's just the fool to prove it. "The Doctors" first aired on March 22, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
This comedy is a remake of 1941's The Lady Eve, and tells the story of the vegetarian son of a prominent meat packer who is sailing back from an African safari when he meets and falls in love with a con-artist's lovely daughter. Posing as a military officer, the card-sharp and his boys have come to fleece a few wealthy passengers at poker. The daughter finds the milque-toast son irresistible and much to her father's dismay, they fall in love. Unfortunately their happiness is nearly destroyed when someone tells him the truth about her father. Fortunately, that is not the end of their affair. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Gobel, Mitzi Gaynor, (more)
- 1953
Martin and Lewis tee each other off on a PGA tour in The Caddy. Harvey Miller (Jerry Lewis) is an expert with his golf club, except when he tries to play in front of a crowd -- then he completely loses control. With his mind set on getting into the PGA one way or another, he latches onto Joe Anthony (Dean Martin), a stylish gadabout. Harvey teaches Joe everything he knows about the game, and when Joe enters a tournament, Harvey does too -- as his caddy. But while the golf fans still make Harvey go wild, laid-back Joe feeds upon their applause. As Joe's game improves, his ego grows, and he begins to think Harvey is useless and wants to take the tour alone. The Caddy introduced the Dean Martin classic That's Amore to the world of kitsch and features a bevy of real life professional golfers in cameo roles -- including Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, and Julius Boros. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, (more)
- 1955
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In this 1955 Otto Preminger film, Gary Cooper stars as World War I hero Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. The film recounts Mitchell's efforts to prove the viability of a strong air force. The hidebound military higher-ups refuse to finance aviation any further, figuring that the strength of the United States lies in its navy. When a friend is killed by flying a faulty plane, Mitchell charges the War and Navy department with incompetence and criminal negligence. When the brass tries to quietly court-martial Mitchell, they are forced into the open by the strength of public opinion, largely in Mitchell's favor. Subjected to the grilling of prosecutor Alan Guillon (Rod Steiger) during his trial, Mitchell sticks to his guns, even outlining a potential Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor unless the military wises up and strengthens its air power. Elizabeth Montgomery makes her film debut in the role of Margaret Landsdowne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Charles Bickford, (more)
- 1965
This cheap, but colorful British period horror piece follows an ill-fated archaeological expedition to the cursed tomb of the pharaoh, Ra-Antef, whose sarcophagus the team's leader opts to sell to a smooth-talking American promoter who intends to set it up as part of an exploitive side-show attraction. No sooner has the tomb reached the States than the foul-tempered pharaoh is released; he then begins stalking and strangling all those who have desecrated his resting place. The bandaged one's vendetta doesn't stop there; he also has a score to settle with the reincarnation of a man who betrayed him eons ago. This rather dull mummy muddle was originally double-billed with Hammer Studio's superior chiller The Gorgon. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Morgan, Fred Clark, (more)
- 1965
During a magazine interview, Rob (Dick Van Dyke) recalls his first job interview with Alan Brady (Carl Reiner) -- which, quite frankly, he can barely remember at all. It seems that, just before the all-important interview, Rob, then a radio DJ, had participated in a stunt wherein he was obliged to broadcast nonstop for 100 hours. Naturally, this required him to go without sleep -- and by the time he presented himself to Alan Brady, Rob was, to put it mildly, a gibbering shell of his former self! This episode was originally slated to air on April 7, 1965. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carl Reiner, Fred Clark, (more)
- 1950
Paramount producing team William H. Pine and William Thomas weren't known as the "Two Dollar Bills" for nothing. Like their medium-budget adventure yarns of the 1940s, their "A" western The Eagle and the Hawk proved a moneyspinner for Paramount's distribution channels. In his first western, John Payne stars as Texas Ranger Todd Crayden who is assigned a suicide mission South of the Border. Crayden is to smuggle government agent Whitney Randolph (Dennis O'Keefe) into Mexico, so that Crayden can defeat the European-backed foes of Mexican patriot Juarez. The tension level is raised by the fact that Crayden and Randolph are on opposite sides of the still-raging Civil War. Cast as a woman of questionable loyalties, Rhonda Fleming is shown to excellent advantage in Technicolor, courtesy of veteran cinematographer James Wong Howe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Payne, Rhonda Fleming, (more)
- 1957
Coproduced by actress Jane Russell and her husband Robert Waterfield, The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown represented Russell's final starring film of the 1950s--and her last movie appearance until 1964. Decked out in an unbecoming blonde wig, Jane is cast as Hollywood starlet Laurel Stevens. On the eve of her latest picture,"The Kidnapped Bride", Laurel is kidnapped for real by Runyonesque crooks Mike (Ralph Meeker) and Dandy (Keenan Wynn"). She assumes it's a publicity stunt staged by her studio, but soon figures out what's what. When the kidnappers fall for Laurel and decide to set her free, she insists that they go through with their ransom demands, lest she be accused of faking the abduction for publicity purposes. Based on a much funnier novel by Sylvia Tate, The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown was an enormous flop which not even the combined comic expertise of supporting players Fred Clark, Una Merkel and Benay Venuta could salvage. Thanks to constant TV showings in the 1960s, however, the film finally posted a profit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Russell, Keenan Wynn, (more)
- 1968
- G
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Advertising executive Fred Bolton (Dean Jones) is under pressure from his boss Tom Dugan (Fred Clark) to come up with a new ad campaign for a wealthy client. Fred's daughter Helen (Ellen Janov) loves to ride horses, so her father buys her one to tie the equine into the profitable advertisement. Nearly a third of the film's length is devoted to a Washington D. C. horse show in which Helen participates. Morey Amsterdam, Kurt Russell, Lloyd Bochner, and Diane Baker also appear in this Disney production. Shown with the animated Winnie The Pooh, the cartoon was far more popular and memorable than The Horse In The Gray Flannel Suit, which is one of the studio's less-inspiring efforts. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Jones, Diane Baker, (more)
- 1950
The Jackpot is a generally pleasing satire of quiz programs. James Stewart stars as Bill Lawrence, an average Joe who picks up the phone one day, answers a simple question, and suddenly finds himself the recipient of a radio quiz-show jackpot. Tons of prizes are shipped to Lawrence's house, to the delight of his wife Amy (Barbara Hale) and his kids. Unfortunately, the Lawrences must now contend with the income tax folks, who levy huge tariffs on their "free" prizes. Complications begin piling up with dizzying rapidity, resulting in a night in the hoosegow for the befuddled Mr. Lawrence. Featured in The Jackpot as the Lawrence children are a couple of stars-in-the-making: Natalie Wood and Tommy Rettig. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Barbara Hale, (more)
- 1949
Though she may have won an Oscar in 1948, Jane Wyman still had a Warner Bros. contract to fulfill, even if it meant appearing in frivolities like The Lady Takes a Sailor. It all begins when Jennifer (Wyman), the head of an oceanographic research institute, claims to have made a fascinating underwater discovery. It is suspected that she's made this claim so that her funding will be continued, so the money-men send Bill Craig (Dennis Morgan) to investigate. Disguised as a sailor, Bill accompanies Jennifer on her next expedition, just to see if her story was true. Jennifer falls in love with Bill, neglecting her work in the process. When Bill is revealed to be a fake, things look bleak--but not for long. Eve Arden has all the best lines as Jane Wyman's sarcastic best friend (the sort of role Wyman used to play in her blonde-ingenue days). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Wyman, Dennis Morgan, (more)
Damon Runyon's Broadway fable The Lemon Drop Kid was filmed twice by Paramount Pictures, but only the 1934 version with Lee Tracy paid more than lip service to the original Runyon story. The second version, filmed in 1951, was completely retooled to accommodate the talents of Bob Hope. Known far and wide as the Lemon Drop Kid because of his fondness for that particular round, yellow confection, Hope is a bookie who finds himself deeply in debt to Florida gangster Fred Clark. Magnanimously, Clark permits Hope to head to New York to raise the money--but he'd better have the dough ready by Christmas, or else. Ever on the lookout for Number One, Hope decides to exploit the Christmas spirit in order to get the money together. With the help of unsuspecting nightclub-singer Marilyn Maxwell, Hope sets up a charity fund to raise money for an "Old Doll's Home"--that is, a home for down-and-out little old ladies. He claims to be doing this on behalf of big-hearted Jane Darwell, but he has every intention of double-crossing Darwell and all the other elderly women by skipping town with the charity funds and leaving them at the mercy of the authorities. By the time Hope has seen the error of his ways and tries to do right by the old dolls, Maxwell's boss Lloyd Nolan has decided to muscle into the racket by using the ladies' home as a front for a gambling casino. To set things right, Hope finds it necessary to disguise himself as a fussy old spinster at one point. The best line in the film goes to William Frawley, playing one of many Broadway toughs who are being pressed into service as street-corner Santas. "Will you bring me a doll for Christmas?" asks a little girl. "Naw, my doll's workin' Christmas Eve" is Frawley's salty reply. The Lemon Drop Kid is the film in which Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell introduced the enduring Yuletide ballad "Silver Bells", written (reportedly in a real hurry) by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, (more)
- 1959
George Marshall directed this breezy romantic comedy starring Tony Randall and Debbie Reynolds. Randall plays Lorenzo Charlton, a stuffy tax investigator sent to the farm of Pop Larkin (Paul Douglas) and Ma Larkin (Una Merkel) to find out why they haven't been paying taxes. He discovers that the Larkins, instead of money, use a homegrown barter system. Their complex economic network causes Lorenzo to drink one home brew too many. Awakening from a hangover, he sees a vision of loveliness before him -- the Larkin's spunky daughter Mariette (Debbie Reynolds). Enraptured by Mariette, he decides to stick around and help the family out of their onerous tax burden. Further research reveals an ancestral claim dating to the Civil War -- in reality, the government owes the Larkins $14 million. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Debbie Reynolds, Tony Randall, (more)
The Solid Gold Cadillac was adapted from the George S. Kaufman-Howard Teichmann Broadway hit of the same. Both the play and film were predicated upon the notion of a humble ten-share stockholder triumphing over a corrupt big-business board of directors, but there was one significant difference. In the stage version, septuagenarian Josephine Hull starred as Laura Partridge, a sweet little old lady who asks several embarrassing questions at a stockholder's meeting. In the film version, Laura's age is lowered by at least four decades to accommodate star Judy Holliday. In both versions, a romance develops between Laura Partridge and Edward L. McKeever, the owner of the corporation she takes on. McKeever (played in the film by Paul Douglas, Holliday's co-star in the Broadway version of Born Yesterday) is an honest man, which is more than can be said for his self-serving board of directors (Fred Clark, John Williams, Ray Collins et. al.) With McKeever's covert help, Laura, who has been given a dummy executive position in the corporation in hopes that she'll shut up, forms a stockholder's association intent upon throwing the rascals out. Though the dialogue in Solid Gold Cadillac is consistently entertaining, the film's best line goes to Judy Holliday: Describing her brief career as an actress in a Shakespearean troupe, she recalls ruefully that "No one's allowed to sit down unless you're a king." George Burns, taking over from the stage version's Fred Allen, provides the wry scene-setting narration. Currently available TV prints of The Solid Gold Cadillac have restored the original Technicolor final shot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Holliday, Paul Douglas, (more)
- 1953
Not only are stars Anna Maria Alberghetti and Rosemary Clooney singing, but also a medium-sized roster of "special guest stars." Alberghetti plays an illegal Polish alien, while Clooney is a dewey-eyed showbiz aspirant who protects the refugee girl. The two ladies pin their hopes on a TV talent contest. Alberghetti becomes an opera star, while Clooney becomes a pop singer, solely (or so it seems) on the basis of the top-10 hit "Come On'a My House." The guest performers in The Stars are Singing include Metropolitan Opera luminary Lauritz Melchior, dancer Tom Morton, and the comedy dog act team of Bob Williams and Red Dust. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosemary Clooney, Anna Maria Alberghetti, (more)
- 1960
Having just robbed a pawnshop, two-bit crooks Chester and Paula Diedrich (Fred Clark, Jean Carson) have only one "prize" to show for their troubles -- a cheap-looking camera. By accident, Chester and Paula discover that the camera has the ability to take pictures of things that haven't happened yet, and together with Paula's cloddish brother Woodward (Adam Williams) they intend to take advantage of this phenomenon. Inevitably, the camera's fortune-telling prowess backfires on everyone concerned. Originally telecast December 16, 1960, "A Most Unusual Camera" was written by Rod Serling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Clark, Jean Carson, (more)
- 1947
Director Michael Curtiz masterfully tells the fictional story of radio host Alexander Grandison (Claude Rains) as derived from a novel by Charlotte Armstrong. Grandison spookily recites murder mysteries on his radio show, with intimate and excruciating details. The reason he's so good and popular is that some of the murders he presents really are his own. He kills one of his female workers, but her fiancée, Steven Francis Howard (Michael North), threatens to take revenge for her death. Howard tries to convince Grandison's niece, Matilda Frazier (Joan Caulfield), that he is her long-lost husband. Much mystery and intrigue follows. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Caulfield, Claude Rains, (more)
- 1960
"Little Egypt" is what they call the town of Morraine, Illinois, which is ruled with an iron hand by Major Charlie Byron, a former military officer turned mob boss. Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) sends his fellow "Untouchable" Cam Allison (Anthony George) undercover to get the goods on Byron, and to send messages back to Chicago via carrier pigeon. Meanwhile, exotic dancer Hazel Stanley (Susan Cummings) is ordered by Byron's flunkeys to play up to Allison to see if he can be trusted--and in the process, she finds herself falling for the big lug. Majel Barrett of Star Trek fame appears unbilled as a waitress in this episode, which was loosely based on the life of Charlie Birger, the last gangster to be hanged in the state of Illinois. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1949
The story of the outlaw Younger Brothers is duly Hollywoodized in this Technicolor western. Wayne Morris, Bruce Bennett, Robert Hutton and James Brown star as Cole, Jim, Johnny and Bob Younger, who as the film begins have just been released from jail. They try hard to follow the straight and narrow path, but when ex-Pinkerton man Ryckman (Fred Clark) launches a campaign of vengeance against the boys, out come the six-guns. One of Ryckman's schemes is to use female bandit Kate (Janis Paige) to lure the Youngers back into a life of crime. The villain very nearly succeeds, but the boys are saved by the beneficence of the screenwriters. Prominent in the cast of The Younger Brothers is Alan Hale, who showed up in practically every Warner Bros. western made between 1939 and 1950. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wayne Morris, Janis Paige, (more)
- 1952
An aging movie star and her precocious daughter hide out in the train berth of a scientist during a cross-country journey from New York to LA in this romantic comedy. The whole mess begins when the actress receives an urgent wire demanding that she immediately return to Hollywood to star in a new film. She cares little about the project, but still obeys. Unfortunately, the train is full so she has no choice but to stow away in a sleeping compartment. The berth belongs to an introverted, scholarly biochemistry professor from Harvard who boards in Chicago. Creating more havoc upon the speeding train is the actress's eternally patient agent. As the train chugs westward, romance and comedy ensues. The leading lady, Gloria Swanson, made this farce right after making her classic Sunset Blvd. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Swanson, James Warren, (more)
The Walt Disney production of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic novel Treasure Island is one of the company's best live-action films of the '50s, and one of the best family-oriented adventures ever filmed. Bobby Driscoll plays Jim Hawkins, a young cabin boy who battles the pirate Long John Silver (Robert Newton) for a treasure. Disney changes the ending of the book, yet the film is so entertaining--particularly Newton's scene-stealing performance--that the difference is forgivable. In the '70s, Treasure Island was re-issued with "objectionable" violence cut out of the print; the original version was restored in the 1992 home video re-release. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Driscoll, Robert Newton, (more)
- 1948
In this western-musical comedy, a remake of Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938), two vaudevillians find themselves stranded on a Texas dude ranch. Comic mayhem ensues as they cope with time in jail, a rodeo, and eventually love. They also help save the ranch from two greedy thugs trying to force the owners to sell. The story includes a Friz Freleng animated dream sequence featuring Bugs Bunny and caricatures of the two actors. Songs include: "Every Day I Love You Just a Little Bit More," "Hankerin'," "I Don't Care If It Rains All Night," "There's Music In the Land," and "I Wanna Be a Cowboy In the Movies" (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, (more)
