Franz Planer Movies

Edmond O'Brien plays a telephone repairman whose electronic savvy earns him a job with a bookmaking concern. O'Brien's bookie boss Barry Kelly wants to get instant results from the nation's racetracks, and to this end O'Brien illicitly plugs into several communication centers. The wealthier O'Brien becomes, the more scruples he sheds. Eventually he runs afoul of the Big Boss of an Eastern bookie syndicate (Otto Kruger) and vainly attempts to escape with his life in a slam-bang final at Boulder Dam. 711 Ocean Drive was made to cash in on a then-current national newspaper expose of bookmaking operations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

William Powell stars in Take One False Step as a happily married college professor who foolishly agrees to a reunion supper with old flame Shelley Winters. Winters later disappears, and the evidence points to murder. To allay suspicion--and to avoid losing an important financial grant to his university--Powell starts his own investigation. The trail leads him to San Francisco, where poor Powell becomes mired in a confusing crime plot. Fortunately, Winters is still alive; unfortunately, Powell may not be for long. Adapted from the Irwin Shaw novel Night Call, Take One False Step is saved from tawdriness by the innate dignity of William Powell. Also, the film is leavened by unexpected moments of humor, notably the relaxed banter between Powell and Shelley Winters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While far from the only good film on boxing, Champion is perhaps the best drama ever based on the fight game. It is remarkable for a number of things: the unrelenting, grinding logic that leads to the hero's tragic fate; the beautiful cinematography and editing that make it a masterpiece of light and shadow; near-perfect performances by everyone, from Kirk Douglas as Midge Kelly, down to the actor who plays a sleazy small-time ring manager; and the boost it gave to the budding careers of Douglas and others. The basic story has been told many times, but never so powerfully: a poor, ambitious boy accidentally learns that he is a "natural" boxer, and that he might "go all the way." He wins his early fights with ease and, at last, in the big one, he becomes champion of the world. Then rot sets in. He lives it up, deserts his loved ones and best friends, and loses his physical and moral advantages. Near the end -- out of condition, demoralized -- the champion loses (or almost loses) his boxing crown. Finally, he grits his teeth, returns to rigorous training and to people he really likes, and he regains (or holds onto) the championship.

Part of Champion's dramatic superiority is in its brilliant revealing of the boxer through the eyes of other people in his life. There are good guys: Midge's brother Connie (Arthur Kennedy); his tough but honest trainer (Paul Stewart); his wife, Emma (Ruth Roman); and Johnny Dunne, the up-and-coming contender he eventually beats. There are bad guys: the manager who cheats him in his first, amateurish fight; two successive "owners," of the diner where Midge and Connie try to be entrepreneurs and end up as dishwashers; the blonde siren (Marilyn Maxwell) who abandons Johnny Dunne and helps corrupt Midge; and the mob-connected promoter Harris, who gets Midge his championship bout. There are ambiguous in-betweens, like Palmer (Lola Albright) who is Harris' wife, but who loves Midge and is, perhaps, loved in return. Then there is Midge himself. Unlike Charlie in Body and Soul (John Garfield, 1947) or the hero of the Rocky quintuplets (Sylvester Stallone, 1976-1990), Midge is not a basically nice guy who's been led astray. His ambition, arrogance, and stubbornness make him at once villain and hero. These "fatal flaws" contain, as surely as in Macbeth or Othello, the seeds of the champ's ultimate dissolution. Midge is dealt his share of life's unfairness and bad luck. Yet it is not the events themselves, but his bitter, violent responses to each blow that seal his doom. The final irony comes when he makes his comeback. In the last round of the last fight, his most manly virtues -- bull-like strength and stubborn stamina -- bring about both victory and defeat.

Too bad that this wonderful film -- nominated for six Oscars including Best Actor -- won only an Academy Award for Film Editing (Harry Gerstad) and a Golden Globe Award for Best Cinematography (Franz Planer). All the acting performances are superb: Champion was the breakthrough role for Douglas; his Oscar nomination led to many later starring vehicles. Champion also launched the careers of actresses Roman and Albright, and has what is probably Marilyn Maxwell's finest performance as the unforgettable gold digger Grace Diamond. And all that terrific acting certainly implies some credit for director Mark Robson, who went on to do award winners like Bright Victory and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Regardless of what Oscars it won or didn't win, Champion is a landmark film that should be on everyone's must-see list. ~ Michael P. Rogers, All Movie Guide

The spirit of love is back, and she's working in retail in this bubbly romantic musical comedy. Eddie Hatch (Robert Walker) is a window dresser at a large department store; he's become especially fond of one of his mannequins who looks like the sort of girl he'd like to meet, and one night he impulsively gives the dummy a kiss. To his tremendous surprise, the mannequin comes to life, and it turns out to be inhabited by the spirit of Venus, the Goddess of Love (Ava Gardner). Suddenly, romance is in the air as Eddie's fellow employees throw caution to the wind and finally express their infatuations with their co-workers; however, Eddie is too intimidated to follow through on his feelings for Venus, even though she'll only be in human form for 24 hours. Adapted from a popular Broadway musical, One Touch of Venus features a number of memorable songs by Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash, including "Speak Low" and "The Trouble with Women," though a number of other songs they wrote for the stage production were replaced for the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is the title character, a young king exiled by evil conspirators. Forced to live far from his homeland, Fairbanks is harassed by the wicked Henry Daniell, who has been appointed to keep the young monarch from reclaiming his throne. After falling in love with commoner Paula Croset (later billed as Mara Corday), Fairbanks decides to take on the corrupt elements that have ousted him, and he dispatches Daniell in an exciting sword duel stage in an old windmill. Many of Fairbanks' more dangerous stunts were handled by David Sharpe, who received credit as second-unit director. Filmed in black and white, The Exile was originally released to theatres in "Sepiatone", a process which enhanced the film stock with a light brown tint. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally slated for release through Monogram Pictures, The Chase was ultimately distributed by United Artists. Adapted by Philip Yordan from Cornell Woolrich's The Black Path of Fear (a perennial of the radio series Suspense), the film stars Robert Cummings as Chuck, shell-shocked ex-GI. Tormented by bizarre dreams, Chuck is drawn into the orbit of racketeer Roman (Steve Cochran). Hired as Roman's chauffeur, Chuck deals as best he can with his boss' faithless wife Lorna (Michele Morgan) and sinister henchman Gino (Peter Lorre). Persuaded by Lorna to help her escape the brutish Roman, Chuck agrees, only to end up accused of a murder he didn't commit. Thus begins the chase of the title, with Chuck eluding not only the authorities but also the stiletto-wielding Gino. Just when it seems that Chuck has cleared himself and all's right with the world, the story takes an unexpected turn, thrusting the hero back into a nightmarish maelstrom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There were some theatres in 1946 that refused to display the anagramatic title of this film on their marquees: it was, after all, no secret that the letters S.N.A.F.U. did not precisely stand for "Situation Normal, All Fouled Up" as the studio insisted. Based on a stage play by Louis Solomon and Harold Buchman, Snafu details the misadventures of Ronald Stevens, a teenaged boy who is honorably discharged from the Army when it is revealed that he was too young to enlist. By the time he returns home, Ronald has become so acclimated to the military that he can't readjust to civilian life. In his final film appearance, Robert Benchley does a nice, subtle job as Ronald's flustered father, but Vera Vague (aka Barbara Jo Allen) seems to be having trouble with the role of the the mother. And yes, that is the same Conrad Janis who later played Pam Dawber's dad on TV's Mork and Mindy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, the artist behind a detective cartoon strip solves real police cases on the side. The police are rather irritated by him because he is better at it than they are. He does it again when the chairman of a fund-raiser suddenly dies during a benefit. The police report claims the man died of heart failure, but the cartoonist proves that he was poisoned. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on Norman Corwin's satirical radio play My Client Curley, Once Upon a Time is an engaging bit of whimsy, completely dominated by the personality of star Cary Grant. It all begins when fly-by-night Broadway producer Jerry Flynn (Grant) learns of a trained caterpillar (!) that dances to the tune of "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby." In short order, Jerry has promoted Curly the Caterpillar to international stardom-and in the process he alienates both Pinky Thompson (Ted Donaldson), the impressionable 9-year-old who owns Curley, and Pinky's attractive older sister Jeanne (Janet Blair). Eventually, Flynn comes to his senses and regains his essential decency-though it's too late to continue capitalizing on Curley, who has turned into a non-dancing butterfly! Full of delightful contemporary references and "cameo appearances" by such celebrities as producer Walt Disney and radio commentator Gabriel Heatter (both played by uncredited impressionists), Once Upon a Time proved an agreeable diversion for wartime audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After an absence of three years, Mae West returned to the screen in the musical comedy The Heat's On. La West is cast as Fay Lawrence, a famous Broadway actress who is loved intensely by her producer Tony Ferris (William Gaxton). Rival producer Forrest Stanton (Alan Dinehart) steals Fay away from Ferris by convincing her that she's been blacklisted from Broadway by blue-nosed moralist Hannah Bainbridge (Almira Sessions). Meanwhile, Hannah's puckish brother Hubert (Victor Moore) syphons money from his sister's "clean up show business" committee to produce a musical show for his actress niece Janey (Mary Roche). Somehow, all these characters converge for a spectacular closing production number spotlighting the formidable Fay. Part of the reason for the failure of The Heat's On is the fact that Mae West didn't write her own dialogue, as was usually her custom. The film performed so poorly that it would be 27 years before West would again appear on the Big Screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This wartime melodrama stars George Sanders as Keith Wilson, a disillusioned Britisher who becomes a "Lord Haw Haw"type at a Nazi radio station. All the time he's dispensing anti-British propaganda over the airwaves, however, Wilson is actually a secret agent in the employ of the His Majesty's government. It is Wilson's intention to use his intimate relationship with the Germans to expose a worldwide Nazi spy ring. Romance enter the picture in the form of Ilse Preissing (Marguerite Chapman), the sister of a Nazi agent whose decision to join Wilson's side results in her death. Veteran movie villainess Gale Sondergaard also appears in the film, cast against type as a courageous British intelligence agent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Here's yet another comedy about the wartime servant shortage, with traces of The Man Who Came to Dinner thrown into the mixture. When his cook is forced to stay behind in England, Rudyard Morley (Charles Coburn), a noted author who bears more than a passing resemblance to George Bernard Shaw, searches for a new cook in rural Massachussetts. With rogueish ruthlessness, Morley "steals" the chef of socialite Lucille Scott (Isobel Elsom), who exacts a nastily amusing revenge. All of this complicates the romance between Morley's daughter Pamela (Marguerite Chapman) and Scott's aviator son Mike (Bill Carter). Despite the star power and charisma of Charles Coburn, some of the film's biggest laughs are delivered by lowly supporting players Ed Gargan, Mary Wickes and Almira Sessions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Released in late August of 1942, Sabotage Squad was the last of Columbia's B-budget wartime melodramas of the 1941-42 season. Edward Norris stars as Eddie Miller, a brash Broadway bookie who stumbles upon a nest of Nazi saboteurs. Technically not the hero-Bruce Bennett and Kay Harris are top-billed-Norris domaniates the plotline, going through much the same "good bad guy" paces previously trod by Humphrey Bogart in the strikingly similar All Through the Night. Sidney Blackmer, who managed to show up in a number of low-budget films without ever giving the impression of "slumming," provides smooth and subtle menace as the head Nazi. Also in the cast are Columbia contractees John Tyrrell and Eddie Laughton, taking a break from their accustomed duties in the studio's westerns and "Three Stooges" comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide