Ann Summers Movies
- 1972
Suffering an appendicitis attack, Mike is rushed to the hospital. End of story? Not quite: Mike's surgeon is a woman, a fact which sparks a "chauvinist vs. feminist" argument between Archie and Gloria. Much to Gloria's dismay, Mike agrees with Arch that a woman's place is not in the operating room. Ann Summers appears as Dr. McKenzie, with John Zaremba as the anesthetist. Written by Michael Ross and Bernie West, "Mike's Appendix" originally aired on December 2, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
- 1970
- R
Neighbors in suburban Los Angeles segue a meeting to stop freeway construction into a sexual romp. A housewife (Ann Summers) gives in to the primal urges of her neighbor, (Clark Gordon) an erotic novelist. While her husband (Bernard Barrow) is off with his mistress (Jennifer O'Neill) at a forest retreat, she decides to have some fun on her own. Her husband's business partner (Philip Pine) has his eyes on their nubile 19 year old daughter (Deirdre Lenihan) who heart and the rest of her body belongs to daddy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Barrow, Deirdre Lenihan, (more)
- 1943
In this comedy, Gildersleeve is assigned to be a contentious jury foreman who refuses, despite the opinions of all the other jurors, to believe that the gangster being tried is really guilty. He seems oblivious to the wealth of evidence around him. His redemption comes when the gangsters catch him and make him drive the getaway car. To stop them, he crashes into a tree and they are captured. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harold Peary, Jane Darwell, (more)
- 1943
Flight for Freedom was an "a clef" version of the Amelia Earhart story. Rosalind Russell plays the Earhart-like aviatrix Tonie Carter, who spends the early part of the film fighting against the aviation industry's prejudice against woman pilots. Tonie establishes a reputation as "the Lady Lindbergh", setting flight records on a near-weekly basis. Along the way, she falls in love with an agreeable flying ace (Fred MacMurray), much to the dismay of her conservative flight instructor (Herbert Marshall). The film's ending expands on speculation regarding Amelia Earhart's disappearance during a 1937 flight; Tonie Carter flies off on a secret mission to aid the Pacific war effort, then vanishes before completing her task. Flight for Freedom was produced for RKO by Floyd Odlum, whose wife Jacqueline Cochran was herself a renowned aviatrix. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosalind Russell, Fred MacMurray, (more)
- 1943
Lupe Velez is "The Mexican Spitfire" in everything but name in the frantic baseball farce Ladies Day. Eddie Albert plays Wacky Waters, star pitcher of the Sox, a league-leading contender for the World Series. Alas, whenever Wacky falls in love, his game suffers-and so do the wives of his teammates, who are counting on that Series bonus money. When Wacky marries vivacious movie star Pepita Zorita (Velez), the wives, led by Hazel Jones (Patsy Kelly), take drastic action, kidnapping Pepita and hiding her out in a hotel room. But Pepita manages to wriggle out of the hotel towels that bind and gag, disguise herself as a bellboy, and head to the ballpark during the Big Game. Fortunately, Pepita turns out to be Wacky's prime motivation for winning the Series, and there's a happy ending for one and all. Pretty lame as far as baseball films go, Ladies Day will be best appreciated by fans of Lupe Velez and Patsy Kelly, who never speak when shouting will do. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lupe Velez, Eddie Albert, (more)
- 1943
- NR
Producer Val Lewton once more utilized leftover Magnificent Ambersons sets for his psychological horror piece The Seventh Victim. Kim Hunter arrives in New York's Greenwich Village in search of her errant sister Jean Brooks. Gradually, the naive Hunter is drawn into a strange netherworld of Satan worshippers. The story is a bit too complex for its own good (especially with only a 71-minute running time to play with), but editor-turned-director Mark Robson and screenwriters Dewitt Bodeen and Charles O'Neal keep the thrills and shudders coming at a satisfying pace. Lewton regular Tom Conway offers his usual polished performance, while veteran character actresses Isabel Jewell and Evelyn Brent look appropriately gaunt and possessed in the "cult" sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Hunter, Tom Conway, (more)
- 1943
RKO brought its "Mexican Spitfire" saga to a close with the eighth film in the series, Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event. Lupe Velez is back again in the leading role, as is Leon Errol as disguise-happy Uncle Matt, but Velez's husband is now played by Walter Reed. When Lupe purchases a baby ocelot while on vacation, she sends a fractured-English telegram that leads everyone to believe that she's become a mother. Somehow this is tied in with her husband's big business deal with whisky manufacturer Lord Epping, who for the purposes of the plot twists is a dead ringer for Uncle Matt. 63 minutes later, it's all over. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lupe Velez, Leon Errol, (more)
- 1943
Tim Holt's third RKO Radio western for 1943 was The Avenging Rider. The story finds Holt trying to clear himself and his partner Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards of a robbery-murder rap. The actual villains each carry a portion of a Five of Spades, so that they can identify themselves when they claim their shares of the stolen money. Our Hero tracks down four of the five miscreants before he is able to expose the "brains" behind the operation (the Least Likely Suspect, as usual). Cliff Edwards has so much to do and so many songs to sing in The Avenging Rider that one feels he should have gotten top billing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Ann Summers, (more)
- 1943
The first of Tim Holt's 1943 quota of RKO westerns was Fighting Frontier. This time, Holt appears to be cast as a double-dyed villain. Actually, it's all a ruse, cooked up by the Governor to find out the identity of a clever bandit chieftan. It wouldn't be fair to reveal the name of the bad guy, but it's safe enough to report that Ann Summers is the heroine and Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards provides comedy relief. Amidst the shooting and fisticuffs, music fans are treated to two songs, "On the Outlaw Trail" and "The Edwards and the Drews", the latter performed with relish by Cliff Edwards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Cliff Edwards, (more)
Lucille Ball delivers the finest dramatic performance of her career in this satisfying adaptation of Damon Runyon's The Big Street. Ball is cast as Gloria, aka "Your Highness," the vain and thoroughly selfish star attraction of gangster Case Ables' (Barton MacLaine) New York nightclub. Henry Fonda costars as busboy Little Pinks, who worships Gloria from afar. When Gloria is crippled by a fall downstairs-caused by a blow across the face by the sadistic Ables-Little Pinks selflessly waits upon the invalided and doggedly ungrateful songstress hand and foot. So devoted to Gloria is Pinks that he's willing to pilot her wheelchair from Manhattan to Florida so that she can renew her romance with callow playboy Decatur Reed (William Orr). Touched by Pinks' loyalty, his Runyonesque friends-Professor B (Ray Collins), Horsethief (Sam Levene), Mr. and Mrs. Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Eugene Pallette, Agnes Moorehead) and all the rest-raise enough money to open a Florida nightclub so that Gloria can put up a brave front. The ending is at once the most lachrymose and most effectively moving scene in the film, one that can only be spoiled if detailed here. Produced by Damon Runyon himself, The Big Street is one of the few completely successful filmed Runyon adaptations-as well as Lucille Ball's finest hour (and a half) on-screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, (more)
- 1942
This raucous series entry reunites Lupe Velez as Carmelita (aka "The Mexican Spitfire") and Leon Errol as Uncle Matt, with Walter Reed taking over from Charles "Buddy" Rogers as Carmelita's staid American husband Dennis Lindsay. The titular elephant is a tiny glass figurine, brought back from a trip abroad by Uncle Matt. On board a luxury liner heading to New York, jewel smugglers Ready (Lyle Talbot) and Diana (Marion Martin) hide a valuable gem in the miniature elephant, for the purpose of avoiding the customs inspectors. Upon arriving home, Uncle Matt misplaces the pint-sized pachyderm, causing no end of headaches for Carmelita and Dennis. The ensuing confusion requires Carmelita to march a live, regulation-sized elephant into a nightclub, and obliges Uncle Matt to once again disguise himself as his British lookalike Lord Epping. One could never confuse the "Mexican Spitfire" series with True Art, but the films were admittedly a lot of harmless fun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lupe Velez, Walter Reed, (more)
