Charles G. Clarke Movies

An offbeat blend of World War II drama and "Arabian Nights" escapism, Destination Gobi is all the more odd in that it is allegedly based on fact. Richard Widmark heads a group of US Navy men, sent to Mongolia for weather observation. Widmark must lead his men across the treacherous Gobi desert to the freedom of the seacoast. Rescued from the Japanese by a Mongolian chief (Murvyn Vye), the men are compelled to repay their rescuer by securing enough saddles for his sixty horses. A flummoxed Pentagon okays the requisition, and the chieftain leads Widmark's band to Okinawa. Destination Gobi makes good use of the Arizona desert, which "stands in" for Gobi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Besotted by alcohol, Australian cattle-station owner Michael McGuire (Finlay Currie) is led to believe that crooked gambler Richard Connor (Peter Lawford) is his long-lost son. Connor and his partner-in-crime Gamble (Richard Boone) go along with the gag, convincing McGuire's daughter Dell (Maureen O'Hara) that they've arrived to help the old man save his livestock, when in fact they're planning a major swindle. The scheme goes awry when Connor falls genuinely in love with Dell. The arrival of mounted policeman Leonard (Chips Rafferty) sets the ball rolling for an onslaught of violence, renunciation and redemption. Vividly filmed on location in Australia, Kangaroo was remade in Africa as The Jackals in 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Golden Girl is the life story (sort of) of legendary 19th-century American entertainer Lotta Crabtree. The daughter of a luckless gambler (James Barton), young Lotta (Mitzi Gaynor) supports herself and her dad by singing and dancing in mining camps during the California Gold Rush of 1849. She carries on her activities into Indian territory, where she saves her scalp by winning over her Native American audiences. During the Civil War, Lotta falls in love with a dashing Confederate spy (Dale Robertson), with whom she is briefly reunited in San Francisco before his inevitable demise. The finale is one of those "smiling through the tears" contrivances that always worked so well in musical films. Golden Girl was produced for 20th Century-Fox by entertainer George Jessel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

I'll Get By is an updated remake of the 1940 20th Century-Fox musical Tin Pan Alley. William Lundigan and Dennis Day play William Spencer and Freddie Lee respectively, successful song publishers who make hits out of such numbers as "I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo", "Deep in the Heart of Texas", "You Make Me Feel So Young", "There Will Never Be Another You", and other favorites (the rights to all of these songs were conveniently held by 20th Century-Fox). The partnership has some hard times, especially during the feud between ASCAP and the radio networks, when only public-domain songs like "I Dream of Jeannie" were permitted to be broadcast. Still, Spencer and Lee remain pals throughout, while the boys' romances likewise weather the years. Steve Allen makes a rare film appearance as a wisecracking disc jockey (what a stretch!) while Harry James, Jeanne Crain, Reginald Gardiner, Victor Mature and Dan Dailey show up in uncredited cameos. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ex-navy pilot Slattery (Richard Widmark) works for a dope-smuggling ring. When he's not in the air, Slattery is making time with Dolores (Veronica Lake), the somewhat put-upon secretary of the ring's leader. Only upon meeting Aggie (Linda Darnell), the wife of his old navy buddy Hobson (John Russell), does Slattery entertain thoughts of changing his ways. As the film's title indicates, Slattery redeems himself during an outsized hurricane. Based on a story by Herman Wouk, Slattery's Hurricane was largely shot on location in Florida. The film represented a comeback attempt by Veronica Lake, who was then married to director Andre de Toth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, based on a novel by Mary O'Hara, the relationship between humans and animals is paralleled as they struggle to live and find love on a wild ranch in Wyoming. The human story centers around a rancher's niece who falls in love with a neighboring rancher's son. The equine story follows the romantic exploits of a wild-eyed black mare and a wild white stallion, Thunderhead. One night, the sly stud sneaks upon the other's land and steals the mare. The rancher's boy brings them back. The rival ranchers get involved in a horse race and the niece's uncle wins over the other's pregnant mare. The two youngsters find love and as Thunderhead's baby is foaled, happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this big-budget historical adventure, Tyrone Power stars as Pedro De Vargas, a young and impetuous nobleman in 16th Century Spain. Pedro helps to free a slave who belongs to Diego De Silva (John Sutton), but this proves to be a mistake, as Diego is one of the leaders of the Inquisition. Diego soon brands Pedro a heretic, puts his family behind bars, and subjects his 12-year-old sister to torture so horrible it kills her. An outraged Pedro plots his escape, with the help of his friend Juan Garcia (Lee J. Cobb) and hot-blooded peasant girl, Catana Perez (Jean Peters). Pedro and his friends help his parents make their way out of Spain, and he soon joins forces with Hernando Cortez (Cesar Romero), who has an ambitious plan to sail to the new world in search of gold. However, a vengeful Diego uses his powers to foil Cortez, and when Diego is murdered, Pedro becomes the key suspect in the crime. Captain From Castile was shot on location in Morelos, Mexico, where the active volcano Paricutin slowed production, causing delays that expanded the film's budget to a then-extravagant $4.5 million. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Edmund Gwenn plays Kris Kringle, a bearded old gent who is the living image of Santa Claus. Serving as a last-minute replacement for the drunken Santa who was to have led Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Kringle is offered a job as a Macy's toy-department Santa. Supervisor Maureen O'Hara soon begins having second thoughts about hiring Kris: it's bad enough that he is laboring under the delusion that he's the genuine Saint Nick; but when he begins advising customers to shop elsewhere for toys that they can't find at Macy's, he's gone too far! Amazingly, Mr. Macy (Harry Antrim) considers Kris' shopping tips to be an excellent customer-service "gimmick," and insists that the old fellow keep his job. A resident of a Long Island retirement home, Kris agrees to take a room with lawyer John Payne during the Christmas season. It happens that Payne is sweet on O'Hara, and Kris subliminally hopes he can bring the two together. Kris is also desirous of winning over the divorced O'Hara's little daughter Natalie Wood, who in her few years on earth has lost a lot of the Christmas spirit. Complications ensue when Porter Hall, Macy's nasty in-house psychologist, arranges to have Kris locked up in Bellevue as a lunatic. Payne represents Kris at his sanity hearing, rocking the New York judicial system to its foundations by endeavoring to prove in court that Kris is, indeed, the real Santa Claus! We won't tell you how he does it: suffice to say that there's a joyous ending for Payne and O'Hara, as well as a wonderful faith-affirming denouement for little Natalie Wood. 72-year-old Edmund Gwenn won an Oscar for his portrayal of the "jolly old elf" Kringle; the rest of the cast is populated by such never-fail pros as Gene Lockhart (as the beleaguered sanity-hearing judge), William Frawley (as a crafty political boss), and an unbilled Thelma Ritter and Jack Albertson. Based on the novel by Valentine Davies, Miracle on 34th Street was remade twice: once for TV in 1973, and a second time for a 1994 theatrical release, with Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nostalgic and sweet, this tuneful comedy centers on a mother's reminiscence of her wild time as a 1920s teenage flapper. Margie is first seen fully grown telling her stories to her own teenage daughter. Back then, Margie was a typical adolescent, crazy about boys (especially those in raccoon coats) and an expert on the day's fashions. Margie was quite the cat's meow back then and found herself pursued by a handsome young man. Unfortuantely for him, Margie and the other girls only have eyes for the dashing new French teacher. Though busy vying for the teacher's affections, the teens still have time to perform many of the 1920's most popular songs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This sequel to 1943's My Friend Flicka stars Roddy McDowell, recreating his role in the earlier film. The son of a horse rancher (Preston S. Foster), McDowell takes it upon himself to train Thunderhead, a white colt with the same rebellious streak that distinguished its mother (Flicka). Thunderhead helps McDowell round up several horses that had been stolen from his father, and also attracts the attention of a racing aficionado (Ralph Sanford). Once fully grown, Thunderhead indicates that he'd be happier running wild, so McDowell tearfully but proudly gives the horse his freedom. Like My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead, Son of Flicka was based on a novel by Mary o'Hara. The original film would engender one more sequel, Green Grass of Wyoming (48), and later would inspire a brief TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Not to be confused with the 1971 film of the same name, this World War II espionage drama was the second to last film from German director Lothar Mendes and stars Edward G. Robinson as oil tanker captain Bart Manson. When Manson rescues the survivors of a torpedoed ship in the Gulf of Mexico, he meets the beautiful Kathy Hall (Lynn Bari) and the two fall in love. But when Manson's ship sinks under suspicious circumstances, Hall becomes the prime suspect due to her mysterious past and identity. Believing his beloved to be innocent of the crime, Manson sets out to uncover who the real culprit is. Tampico also stars Victor McLaglen and Robert Bailey. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Though a lesser 20th Century-Fox musical, Hello, Frisco, Hello was one of the studio's most successful wartime efforts. John Payne plays Johnny Cornell, a sharp wheeler-dealer operating on the Barbary Coast at the turn of the century. With the help of his songstress girlfriend Trudy Evans (Alice Faye), Johnny gains a reputation as a first-class showman. Soon, however, success goes to Johnny's head, and he deserts Trudy in favor of Nob Hill socialite Bernice Croft (Lynn Bari). The disheartened Trudy heads to England, where she becomes the toast of London's theatrical set. Meanwhile, Johnny marries Bernice, who talks him into a series of money-losing "artistic" theatrical ventures. Learning of the reversal in Johnny's fortunes, Trudy secretly finances his comeback, leading to a happy ending for everyone except the pretentious Bernice. A loose reworking of 1936's King of Burlesque, Hello, Frisco Hello benefits from the comedy relief of Jack Oakie and from a string of enjoyable tunes, including the Oscar-winning "You'll Never Know." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Like most of 20th Century-Fox's "Michael Shayne"detective series, Time to Kill was based on a source other than Brett Halliday's Shayne stories. In this case, the inspiration was The High Window, a "Philip Marlowe" mystery novel by Raymond Chandler. Substituting for Marlowe, of course, is flippant private eye Mike Shayne, again played by Lloyd Nolan. Hired by wealthy Mrs. Murdock (Ethel Gryffies) to retrieve a stolen rare coin, Shayne runs up against a clever gang of counterfeiters. The film's highlight (and ultimate plot resolution) is a murder in a high-rise building, covertly captured on movie film with a telephoto lens. The final entry in Fox's "Shayne" series, Time to Kill was remade in 1947 as The Brasher Doubloon, with George Montgomery as Philip Marlowe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide