June Allyson Movies

Three sad sacks learn the connection between crime and auto repair in this independent comedy. Frank (Brent Florence), Neil (Christian Leffler), and Joey (Kenny Luper) are three 20-something buddies living in a one horse town in Northern California. After Frank's girlfriend gives him his walking papers, he decides to move to the big city, and Neil and Joey agree to join him. However, they don't have a bankroll for the trip, so they make plans to steal the take from the neighborhood bingo hall. The robbery barely earns the three adventurers enough money to fill up their gas tank, but they throw caution to the wind and hit the road anyway. Before long, Frank's car bites the dust, and soon the three friends are back to petty crime in order to get back on the highway. Shot on digital video, Solid Ones also features onetime musical comedy star June Allyson as Joey's grandmother; leading man Brent Florence also wrote and directed. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Angela Lansbury's former MGM colleagues Van Johnson and June Allyson are prominently featured in this episode. A double-dealing businessman is killed when he is run over by a remote-controlled station wagon. Suspicion immediately falls upon the victim's disgruntled former partner, an oddball inventor--who happens to be a neighbor of our gal Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). Can it be that the death car's curious license plate number will turn out to be a clue? (Well, maybe not.) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this film, the whereabouts of a runaway teenage girl are sought by a Las Vegas detective (Robert Urich), whose investigation uncovers more than he bargained for. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

A sequel to the 1973 TV movie The Letters, this film is also based on the premise of a bundle of letters, presumed lost in a plane crash, being delivered one year late, resulting in profound changes (happy, sad etc.) in the lives of the recipients. This time around, the three delayed letters were all written by the sweethearts of the deliver-ees. Among those affected by the missives are a young couple cruelly separated by the wheels of justice, a housewife involved in a extramarital relationship, and a pair of "wealthy" jetsetters who aren't all that they seem to be. As before, Henry Jones ties the three stories together as the avuncular postman. Originally telecast October 3, 1973 on ABC, Letters From Three Lovers was like its predecessor a pilot film for an unsold TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Most of the "action" in See the Man Run takes place during tense telephone conversations. Robert Culp stars in this TV movie as a failed actor who accidentally intercepts a phoned-in ransom demand for a kidnapped teenage girl. Deciding to cash in on this happenstance, Culp and his wife (Angie Dickinson) work out an extortion scheme based on the actor's skill with vocal impersonation. He calls the kidnap victim's father, pretending to be the kidnapper and making monetary demands; then he redials the kidnappers and pretends to be the distraught father, awaiting further instructions. In this way he hopes to intercept the ransom money and leave everyone else hanging. Culp's conscience gets the better of him--with fatal results--as See the Man Run winds down. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Depression-New Deal subtext of the original 1936 My Man Godfrey was understandably dispensed with in this so-so 1957 remake. David Niven steps into the old William Powell role as hobo-turned-butler Godfrey, while June Allyson does her best in the Carole Lombard part as Irene Bullock, the spoiled, impulsive heiress who brings Godfrey into her zany household. The remake follows the original with reasonable fidelity so far as the basics are concerned, with Godfrey, a wealthy lawyer who dropped out of society after an unhappy romance, rescuing the screwball Bullock family from bankruptcy and self-destruction simply by applying a soupcon of common sense. The supporting cast is able, though not as "perfect" for their roles as their 1936 counterparts: the most interesting bit of casting is Jay Robinson, who rose to fame as Caligula in The Robe, as the parasitic "protégé" originally portrayed by Mischa Auer. In keeping with the custom of the times, My Man Godfrey is fitted out with an opening theme song, written by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke, and performed by Sarah Vaughan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Opposite Sex is an opulent musical remake of Clare Booth Luce's The Women (1939). June Allyson stars in the old Norma Shearer role, playing the virtuous wife who loses her husband to scheming Joan Collins (as the Joan Crawford character). At first agreeing to a divorce, June decides to win hubby back by utilizing the same crafty feminine wiles that Joan had employed to lead him astray. Doloress Gray plays the counterpart to Rosalind Russell's vitriolic gossip. The original The Women boasted an all-female cast: the remake includes several male characters, played by the likes of MGM contractees Leslie Nielsen and Jeff Richards. Dick Shawn, Jim Backus and Harry James are also on hand, billed as "special guest stars." The satirical bite of The Women has been softened in The Opposite Sex, but musical fans should have a good time. Sammy Cahn, Nicholas Brodszky, Ralph Freed and George Stoll were among the songwriters; Collins, Allyson and Jeff Richards perform musical numbers in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Joseph Kramm's Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play The Shrike was brought to the screen by its original director/star, Jose Ferrer. Most of the film takes place in a state hospital, where theatrical director Jim Downs (Ferrer) is convalescing after a suicide attempt. Downs' wife Ann (June Allyson) visits every day, ostensibly to offer support and comfort to her husband. In truth, Ann is the "shrike" of the title, tearing into Downs and mercilessly berating him for his lack of success. To the rest of the world, however, Ann is a self-sacrificing saint, because that's the side of her personality that she prefers to display. Unless Jim can escape Ann's harangues, he will be driven completely over the edge. The script, by Ketty Frings, adds all sorts of motivations for Ann's abusive behavior, thereby softening the misogynism of the original play. June Allyson does as best as she can in a most atypical role, though one would liked to have seen the original "shrike", Judith Evelyn, whose talents were never sufficiently utilized by Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Inspired in part by the true story of baseball great Ted Williams, who after serving in World War II was drafted to serve in the Korean War just as his baseball career was taking off, Strategic Air Command stars James Stewart as "Dutch" Holland, a star third baseman with the St. Louis Cardinals. "Dutch" served with distinction as a fighter pilot during World War II, and as the Air Force adds new B-36 and B-47 jets to their arsenal, they need experienced men to fly these new weapons in our atomic deterrent force, and Holland is called back to duty. He's not terribly happy about this development: he loves baseball, his team is doing well, and his wife Sally (June Allyson) is expecting a baby. But you can't fight Uncle Sam, and Holland becomes a reluctant but proud member of the S.A.C., where he and his fellow pilots man the jets that will be our first line of defense should the cold war turn hot. While Strategic Air Command's story hasn't dated well (and for a military drama, there's surprisingly little action), James Stewart and June Allyson make the most of their material, and the aerial footage remains impressive. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Cameron Hawley's novel of corporate in-fighting and gamesmanship was brought to the screen by producer John Houseman and director Robert Wise, working successfully in the slickest MGM style. When Avery Bullard, the hard-charging president of Tredway, the third-largest furniture maker in the United States, dies suddenly at the end of a business week, it sets off a scramble among the surviving vice presidents to see which of them will succeed him. Among the latter, the best positioned to take the job is Loren Shaw (Fredric March), an ambitious bean-counter-type who is more concerned with the profits that the company generates than the quality of what it produces. Opposing him are Frederick Alderson (Walter Pidgeon), Bullard's longtime right-hand man, and McDonald Walling (William Holden), a forward-thinking idea man brought in by Bullard but never given a wholly free hand (mostly thanks to Shaw). But Alderson's age works against him, as does his seeming lack of leadership -- and Walling is not ready (or so he thinks) to take the president's job, nor does he really want it. Caught in the same dilemma are Walter Dudley (Paul Douglas), the head of sales, who is being quietly blackmailed by Shaw over an affair with his secretary; Jesse Grimm (Dean Jagger), a production man who has always been distrustful of Walling's new ideas; and George Caswell (Louis Calhern), a duplicitous corporate player who will do anything -- including compromise the future of the company -- to protect his own financial position. And possibly holding the balance of power between them is Julia Tredway (Barbara Stanwyck), the daughter of the company's founder (who committed suicide during the Great Depression) and a major shareholder, whose unrequited love for Bullard clouds all of her thinking about the company. And caught in the middle of their struggle -- which literally has a clock ticking, toward the opening of business on Monday morning -- are the thousands of employees of Tredway, represented by a handful of fine character actors, whose jobs and futures hang in the balance over who wins this fight. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

In his only MGM film, Humphrey Bogart plays the commanding officer of a M*A*S*H unit during the Korean War. Bogart runs his operation by the book, though he can take time out now and again for compassion. When nurse June Allyson shows up, Bogie is irritated by her foolhardiness and misplaced idealism. Need we tell you that the two "opposites" eventually fall in love? Keenan Wynn steals the show as the camp's wheeler-dealer, a sort of ancestor for such future insouciant M*A*S*H characters as Hawkeye, Trapper John and B.J. Hunnicutt. According to Hollywood scuttlebutt, Humphrey Bogart liked writer/director Richard Brooks because he could walk all over him. Brooks doesn't appear too servile in his disciplined handling of the film, though one can detect a slight lack of enthusiasm on his part. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi