Maurice Cass Movies

The syndicated TV sci-fi series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1953) was dual-purposed. Though running 39 episodes, the series consisted of thirteen serialized continuities, each running three weeks. These adventures were later assembled into ersatz "feature films" for theatrical release. One such three-part adventure was Manhunt in Space, in which Rocky Jones and his space rangers battled a group of extraterrestrial desperadoes from the planet Prah. Scotty Beckett, Sally Mansfield and Maurice Cass costar in this low-budget but highly imaginative effort. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger was an action/adventure television show of the early '50s that followed the trials and tribulations of Rocky Jones, a pilot who flew the spaceship Orbit Jet for the United Worlds. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates) runs across a pair of mysterious men who are going around Metropolis, purchasing cheap plaster statuettes at various gift shops and then smashing them. Intrigued by their bizarre behavior and positive that there's a story behind it somewhere, she enlists the help of Clark Kent (George Reeves) to see what they're up to and even gets ahead of them, purchasing some of the statues herself and smashing them, whereupon she discovers some small, seemingly meaningless objects inside. But before she can figure out what it all means, she's kidnapped out of her own apartment. Kent and Inspector Henderson (Robert Shayne) are positive that notorious international criminal Paul Martin (Tris Coffin) is behind the kidnapping and the plot, but can't get a lead on his whereabouts, or the meaning of it all. Inspector Henderson is slowly sweating the truth out of one of Martin's henchmen, but it looks as though only Superman can help Miss Lane, if he can find out where she's being held. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Something to Live For is the last of director George Stevens' "small" films, before he concentrated full-time on such blockbusters as Shane and Giant. Joan Fontaine plays a popular actress who descends into alcoholism. Ray Milland, in an unofficial extension of his Lost Weekend role, plays a reformed drunkard who comes to Fontaine's rescue. He encourages her to join Alcoholics Anonymous--one of the first times that this organization was given any kind of screen treatment. Milland's concern strains his relationship with his wife (Teresa Wright), who doubts that Ray's interest in Fontaine is merely humanitarian. But Milland refuses to endanger his marriage no matter how strong his feelings towards Fontaine--nor how much the audience wants him to. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lieutenant Harry Grant (William Lundigan) and Sgt. Art Collins (Jeff Corey) have been handed the unenviable assignment of tracking down "The Judge," a mysterious serial murderer responsible for seven deaths over the past few months. The police have plenty of clues and forensic evidence, but no solid leads to who this highly resourceful strangler is. Complicating Grant's work is the presence of Ann Gorman (Dorothy Patrick), an ambitious reporter for a sensationalistic crime magazine, who keeps sticking her nose into this case and into his work. In exasperation over The Judge's latest victim, a newspaper editor named McGill (Frank Ferguson), Grant decides to take a novel approach to catching the killer -- he prepares a life-size blank-faced dummy using all the clues the police have, as to height, weight, physique, preferred way of dressing etc., in order to give his officers a clearer picture of who and what they're looking for. The result is creepy but effective, and soon Grant is getting closer to the killer -- but The Judge is insane, and agitated by all manner of outside stimuli, and he might prove too much even for a police detective to deal with in a direct confrontation. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Frank Capra's only MGM film, State of the Union was adapted by Anthony Veiller and Myles Connolly from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. Spencer Tracy plays an aircraft tycoon who is coerced into seeking the Republican Presidential nomination by predatory newspaper mogul Angela Lansbury. Campaign manager Van Johnson suggests that, for appearance's sake, Tracy be reunited with his estranged wife Katharine Hepburn (replacing Claudette Colbert, who'd ankled the project after a pre-production donnybrook with director Capra). Realizing that Tracy and Lansbury are having an affair, Hepburn nonetheless agrees to grow through the devoted-wife charade because she believes that Tracy just might make a good President. Her faith is shattered when Tracy, corrupted by the Washington power brokers, publicly compromises his values in order to get votes. Only in the film's last moments does Tracy prove himself worthy of Hepburn's love and his own self-respect by admitting his dishonesty during a nationwide radio-TV broadcast. Much of the biting wit in the original Broadway production of State of the Union is sacrificed in favor of the director's patented "Capracorn," but the film is no less entertaining because of this. As usual, the supporting cast is impeccable, from featured players Adolphe Menjou (whose off-camera political arguments with Hepburn threatened to shut down production at times) and Margaret Hamilton, to bit actors like Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer and Tor (Plan 9 From Outer Space) Johnson. Because the television rights to State of the Union belonged to Capra's Liberty Films, the picture was released to TV by MCA rather than MGM's syndication division. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

High Conquest was a good example of the sort of "prestige" fare that lowly Monogram Pictures hoped to turn out on a regular basis in the postwar years. Adapted from a novel by James Ramsey Ullman, the story centers on Hugo Lannier (Warren Douglas), an American youth who makes it his mission in life to conquer the Matterhorn in Switzerland. Hugo's father had been killed years earlier in a similar attempt, and our hero hopes to honor his father's memory by completing the task. But first, Hugo must overcome his intense dislike of the Alps and his fear of heights-not to mention his fear of fear itself. Top-billed Anna Lee plays Marie, a Swiss girl who believes in Hugo even when he doesn't. Genuine location footage of the Matterhorn is deftly blended with some surprisingly convincing studio mockups. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of the most ambitious productions ever turned out by Monogram studios, Song of My Heart represented the directorial debut of screenwriter Benjamin Glazer. The film unfolds the life story of Peter Ilytich Tschaikovsky, with Swedish actor Frank Sundstrom in the title role. Avoiding the sensualism and sensationalism of Ken Russell's later Tschaikovsky biopic The Music Lovers (wisely, given the censorial limits of 1947), Glazer's film tastefully concentrates on the Russian composer's romantic relationship with his patroness Amalya (Audrey Long). Though he achieves great professional success on the concert stage, Tschaikovsky finds personal happiness and contentment only when he is on the verge of death. The huge cast includes such diverse personalities as Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Mikhail Rasumny, Gale Sherwood, Jimmie Dodd, and even veteran western heavy Lane Chandler. Deemed too good to be released with the Monogram imprimatur, Song of My Heart was handled by the studio's "prestige" division, Allied Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first of the Bowery Boys' "haunted house" comedies, Spook Busters casts the boys as recent graduates of Exterminators' School. Setting up headquarters in Louie's Sweet Shop, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and their pals are hired by Mr. Brown (Chester Clute) to rid a forbidden old mansion of its various bugs and insects. Once they arrive on the premises, the Boys must deal with "pests" of a human variety-namely mad scientist Dr. Coslow (Douglass Dumbrille) and his assistants (Vera Lewis, Charles Middleton and Richard Alexander). The fun really begins when Coslow prepares to use Sach as a guinea pig for his latest diabolical experiment. The film's highlight is the obligatory fight scene, lensed on this occasion in ultra-slow motion! Gabe Dell makes his return to the Bowery Boys fold as returning GI Gabe Moreno, here equipped with a French war bride (Tanis Chandler) who would never be seen again after this film. One strongly suspects that Spook Busters was seen several times in childhood by Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and other members of the Ghostbusters cast. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi