Don Burnett Movies

While working at the Ponderosa, wrangler Johnny Lightly (Ben Cooper) suffers an accident that costs him the use of both legs. Though Dr. Kay (Addison Richards theorizes that the injuries may not last, Johnny has given up the will to live. The only hope for Johnny's recovery rests in his growing affection for Dr. Kay's assistant Ann Davis (played by Sue Randall), formerly Miss Landers on Leave It to Beaver). R.G. Armstrong co-stars as Nathan Clay. First shown on November 26, 1961, "The Horse Breaker" was written by Frank Chase. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frontier Rangers doesn't usually show up in the feature-film credits of director Jacques Tourneur for a very good reason: It really isn't a feature film at all. Rather, it is a pastiche of three episodes from the 1958 TV series Northwest Passage, stitched together as a feature and released theatrically in Europe. Produced by Adrian Samish and largely written by Gerald Drayson Adams, the series was based on the 1940 film of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the best-selling book by Kenneth Roberts. Keith Larsen stars as Major Robert Rogers, whose "Rangers" search tirelessly for an inland route that will permit boat travel through 18th century North America. Foremost among the troops is Rogers' old pal, Indian fighter Hunk Marriner, played by Buddy Ebsen. Guest stars in Frontier Rangers include Lisa Gaye and Angie Dickinson. The patchwork plotline is secondary to the unusually high (for a TV series) violence content. MGM released two additional ersatz Northwest Passage features for European consumption in 1959: Fury River and Mission of Danger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Untamed Youth is a camp classic, so stupefyingly awful that it's actually festive. The villains are cotton grower Tropp (John Russell) and corrupt female judge Mrs. Steele (Lurene Tuttle), who conspire between them to ship female convicts to work on Tropp's farm for starvation wages. Two of the new arrivals are professional entertainers Penny (Mamie Van Doren) and Janey (Lori Nelson), arrested on trumped-up charges and forced to work off their sentence on the Tropp spread. Salvation arrives in the form of Bob (Don Burnett), Mrs. Steele's son, who intends to expose his mom's eeeevil scheme. Featured in the cast is rock-and-roller Eddie Cochran, who gets to sing one song -- while Mamie Van Doren is permitted four numbers. To repeat examples of the film's howlingly bad dialogue would be to rob the viewer of the perverse pleasure of experiencing Untamed Youth in all its trashy glory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the best of Elvis Presley's pre-Army films, Jailhouse Rock offers us the sensual, "dangerous" Elvis that had won the hearts of the kids and earned the animosity of their elders. Presley plays a young buck who accidentally kills a man while protecting the honor of a woman. Thrown into prison, Elvis strikes up a friendship with visionary fellow-con Mickey Shaughnessy. Shaughnessy suggests that Elvis perform in the upcoming prison show. Ol' swivel-hips scores a hit, and decides to stay in showbiz after his release. Together with pretty Judy Tyler (the former Princess Summerfall Winterspring on Howdy Doody, who would die in a horrible traffic accident shortly after completing this film), Elvis sets up his own record company. Alas, success goes to his head, and soon Elvis plans to ditch Tyler in favor of signing with a big-time label. Shaughnessy shows up long enough to punch out Elvis for his disloyalty; as a result, Elvis' vocal chords are damaged and he is unable to sing. Deserted by his flunkeys and hangers-on, Elvis learns the value of friendship and fidelity when Tyler and Shaughnessy stay by his side in his darkest hours. His voice restored, Elvis climbs back up the charts--but this time, he's a much nicer fellow, and a lot more committed to Tyler. Usually the musical numbers in a Presley picture (this one has a doozy, complete with chorus boys dressed as convicts!) are more compelling than the plot. Jailhouse Rock is a perfect balance of song and story from beginning to end; seldom would Elvis be so well showcased in the future. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The MGM melodrama These Wilder Years marked the first onscreen pairing of Hollywood stars James Cagney and Barbara Stanwyck. Lonely middle-aged businessman Steve Bradford (Cagney) returns to his old town in hopes of finding the son he fathered 20 years earlier. Choosing his career over marriage and family, he got a girl pregnant and she gave the baby up for adoption. He goes to an orphanage ran by Ann Dempster (Barbara Stanwyck) to find out information about his son. They are attracted to each other, but she refuses to release the confidential files that could help him. He hires a lawyer, James Rayburn (Walter Pigeon), and proceeds to sue the adoption agency. Though he loses the case in the climactic courtroom scene, Steve ends up finding his son on his own, but he decides it's too late to forge a relationship. Instead, Ann introduces him to pregnant teenager Suzie (Betty Lou Keim), who needs his help. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Set in 1952, at a point when the United States was bogged down in the "police action," Hell's Horizon focuses on one crew of a B-29, given the unenviable assignment of knocking out a bridge vital to the enemy over the Yalu River. To do this, and avoid violating Chinese airspace, they must make their run from a predetermined direction and, if forced down or unable to drop their bomb-load, must see to it that they don't do it over China. John Ireland is excellent as Merrill, the pilot of the plane and a born cynic, who must lead a crew that -- if truth were to be told to his C.O. -- is coming apart at the seams. First there's Trask (Hugh Beaumont), the sergeant and the non-com veteran of the group, who can't get his mind off of troubles at home; then there's Lewis (Larry Pennell), who's young enough to let his emotions get the better of him, especially where Sami (Marla English), a local Korean girl who does the unit's laundry and has been a regular companion for Merrill, is concerned; and Jockey (Chet Baker), who relaxes by playing a trumpet that drives half the other members of the crew to distraction. Add to that one new crewman, Morgan (William Schallert), an instructor who's never been in combat, and a plane that was state-of-the-art in the last war but barely able to deal with the MIGs that the North Koreans are flying now, and you've got a recipe for disaster, which nearly comes to fruition when two members of the crew fold up in different ways at two critical moments along the mission, jeopardizing the lives of the entire crew. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide