Betty Carter Movies
This made-for-TV drama, based on the book by Earl Hamner Jr., was the basis for the popular long-running television series The Waltons. In this opening installment, the Waltons, led by matriarch Olivia Walton (Patricia Neal), spend an anxious 1933 Christmas Eve together as they await the arrival of their father during a snowstorm. The film won the Golden Globe Award for "Best TV-Movie" that year, and Neal won the "Best Actress" award for her performance. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Marlene Dietrich and Vittorio De Sica grace this comical yet dramatic Italian tale of a tumultuous love affair between two compulsive gamblers who meet in Monte Carlo. Though both are down on their luck, they dress affluently and that is what attracts them to each other. Romantic sparks fly until they learn the truth about each other. This leads Dietrich to begin an affair with a rich American widower. His teenage daughter falls for De Sica but he feels himself too old for her and rejects her. Eventually Dietrich and the American decide to marry, but before the wedding takes place, De Sica has a major winning streak. But being an addict, he does not know when to stop and begins losing again. Fortunately, his valet intervenes by knocking him unconscious. Later, when he awakens, De Sica vows that he will never gamble again and prepares to go home to his native Naples. When Dietrich learns this she is distraught and realizing she cannot marry the Yankee, tells him the truth about her feelings for De Sica thereby freeing herself to follow him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlene Dietrich, Vittorio De Sica, (more)
Earl Derr Biggers, the creator of Charlie Chan, was responsible for the international-espionage yarn Inside the Lines. The time is WWI, and the place is Gibraltar, where English girl Jane (Betty Compson) is accidentally reunited with her pre-war sweetheart, German-born Wodehouse (Ralph Forbes). Each suspects the other of being an agent for the Kaiser and the mastermind behind a plan to destroy the British fleet. Imagine their relief when they discover that they're both British intelligence agents (this is the sort of dramatic device that would later be played for laughs in such TV spoofs as Get Smart). The only true villain of the piece is a steely-eyed Hindu fanatic Amahdi, played by future character comedian Mischa Auer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Compson, Ralph Forbes, (more)
- 1929
In one of his few surviving Westerns, silent screen cowboy Art Acord plays Dick Weatherby, a young rancher whose unscrupulous father "Bulldog" is making a fortune buying up the neighboring ranches and selling them to road builders. When Pete (Tom Bay), Dick's cousin, robs the Weatherby safe, Bulldog blames Tom Wayne (Jack Ponder), an especially recalcitrant neighbor, and orders Dick to get rid of the rest of the Wayne family. Instead of ousting her, Dick falls in love with Tom's pretty sister Nesta (Peggy Montgomery) and promises to help her keep the ranch. An angered Pete kidnaps Nesta, but she is saved by Dick. Out of jail on bail, Tom confronts Bulldog, who suddenly sees the error of his ways and has a reconciliation with Dick. Pete makes himself scarce and Dick proposes to Nesta. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Art Acord, Peggy Montgomery, (more)
- 1929
In this British tale of supense, a young woman attempts to seduce a famous tennis star. When she turns up dead, the athlete's real lover is blamed and must fight to prove her innocence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1928
The Ware Case was adapted from the stage play by George Pleydell Bancroft, first filmed in 1917. When a voracious reader of murder mysteries is himself murdered, suspicion immediately falls upon the victim's brother-in-law. The ensuing trial is complicated by the fact that the defense attorney is in love with the wife of the accused. Despite his personal feelings, the attorney mounts a brilliant defense, thoroughly exonerating his client. But the "innocent" man has a little surprise in store for his lawyer -- and the audience. A third (and presumably final) movie version of The Ware Case was released in 1939. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stewart Rome, Betty Carter, (more)
