George Wallace Movies

The popular radio detective series The Fat Man was brought to the screen in 1951, with the series' original star J. Scott Smart retained in the title role. Smart plays porcine sleuth Brad Runyon, who tackles the mystery surrounding the murder of a Los Angeles dentist. With the assistance of general factotum Bill Norton (Clinton Sundberg), Runyon follows the trail of clues all the way to a three-ring circus. Famed Barnum & Bailey clown Emmett Kelly makes his screen debut as one of the suspects; others essential to the action are such up-and-comers as Rock Hudson, Julie London and Jayne Meadows. The film's flashback-within-flashback structure helps to enliven its more verbose passages. For the most part, The Fat Man plays more like a radio show than a movie--at least until the exciting climax, inventively staged by director William Castle. ~ 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

Filmmaker King Vidor does wonders with the unpromising material at hand in Japanese War Bride. Don Taylor stars as Jim Sterling, a Korean war officer who is wounded and hospitalized in Japan. Sterling falls in love with his Japanese nurse Tae Shimizu (Shirley Yamaguchi), eventually marrying her. Upon his return to the U.S., Sterling and his new bride face hostility, bigotry and uncertainty from all sides. Particularly venomous is his sister-in-law Fran (Marie Windsor), who conducts a vicious letter-writing campaign aimed at convincing Sterling that his wife is unfaithful. Produced independently by Joseph Bernhard, Japanese War Bride was released by 20th Century-Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

After a number of overproduced, overlong western "specials," Wild Bill Elliot went back to basics with a series of Monogram/Allied Artists "B"s. In the 62-minute The Homesteaders, Mace Corbin (Elliot) is hired to pick up a consignment of dynamite on behalf of a group of Oregon homesteaders. But evil land-baron Kroger (James Seay), coveting the explosives for himself, lays a trap for Corbin. En route, Our Hero must contend not only with Indians and the elements, but also with his disreputable partner Clyde Moss (Robert Lowery), who is in league with Kroger. A strange, "cleansing" ending caps this interesting pocket western. ~ 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

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

Like so many other films that were once considered "lewd" and "scandalous", The French Line seems as harmless as Pollyanna when seen today. Essentially a remake of The Richest Girl in the World, the film stars Jane Russell as Mary Carson, an incredibly wealthy Texas oil heiress. Lucky in investments but unlucky in love, poor Mary can never keep a fiance: either they're fortune-hunters or they don't want to marry anyone so rich and powerful. Thus, while on an ocean voyage to France, Mary poses as the model of dress designer Annie Farrell (Mary McCarthy), hoping to attract a man who is interested in her for herself, and not her millions. That man turns out to be dashing stage star Pierre (Gilbert Roland), but there's many comic complications and misunderstandings before the happy ending. What shocked the censors in 1954 was Jane Russell's sizzling musical number "Lookin' for Trouble", in which she performed an uninhibited bump-and-grind while wearing nothing more than a seven-ounce glorified bikini. While Ms. Russell herself was offended by her skimpy costume, she saw nothing wrong with the dance itself, pointing out that she intended it as a parody of a "burleycue" number. The professional blue-noses disagreed, however: the film was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency and denied a Production Code Seal. Eventually, producer Howard Hughes got the Seal--along with a million dollars' worth of free publicity, which is what he intended all along. Filmed in 3D, The French Line is the film that was ballyhooed with the classically tasteless ad campaign "J.R. in 3D--It'll knock both your eyes out!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first of two Clark Gable films produced by 20th Century-Fox, Soldier of Fortune casts Gable as an American mercenary, running a successful smuggling operation in and out of Hong Kong. Gable is hired by Susan Hayward, who hopes to locate her missing husband, photographer Gene Barry. Upon discovering that Barry is being held by the Communists somewhere on the Chinese mainland, Gable risks his neck to rescue the man. Along the way, he falls in love with Hayward, which may or may not compromise his dedication to saving Barry's neck. Filmed largely on location, Soldier of Fortune deserves to be seen in its original CinemaScope form--or, at the very least, in the "letterboxed" version recently made available to cable television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Greer Garson's first non-MGM starring vehicle was the stylish western Strange Lady in Town. That lady is Julia (Garson), who arrives in 1880 New Mexico to set up practice as a doctor. The townsfolk are not only resistant to the notion of a lady sawbones, but they become downright hostile when Julia turns out to be a tireless advocate of the Women's Suffrage movement. Rival doctor O'Brien (Dana Andrews) doesn't feel that there's any room in the medical profession for ladies; his personal feelings for the lovely Julia are another matter. Faced with such roadblocks as prejudice, ignorance and downright stupidity, Julia nonetheless perseveres with O'Brien eventually seeing things her way. When Julia's hotheaded younger brother David (Cameron Mitchell) turns outlaw, the townspeople are prepared to ride her out of town on a rail, but she is rescued by the intervention of the local Mexicans and Indians, who have accepted her presence and her ministrations without reservation. Hmmmm . . . could Strange Lady in Town be the direct ancestor of TV's Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman? ~ Hal Erickson, 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