Marian Hall Movies
- 1944
Freely adapted from a successful Broadway musical by Moss Hart, this story stars Ginger Rogers as Liza Elliott, the editor of a popular fashion magazine. Despite her beauty, wealth, and success in business, Liza is unhappy and out of sorts. And while three men are vying for her affections -- advertising director Charley Johnson (Ray Milland), newly single Kendall Nesbitt (Warner Baxter), and youthful and handsome Randy Curtis (Jon Hall) -- Liza has been unlucky in love, and she feels that she's come to the end of her emotional rope. She begins seeing Dr. Brooks (Barry Sullivan) in hopes of resolving her emotional crises and finding happiness, and her self-searching explorations of her past take the form of a handful of musical numbers. While the stage version of Lady in the Dark featured songs written by the estimable team of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, several of them were replaced for this screen adaptation; "The Saga of Jenny", "One Life to Love", and "Girl of the Moment" were the most notable among the Weill/Gershwin tunes that survived the editing process. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1943
For this entry in the popular Henry Aldrich series, bumbling typical high school student Henry (Jimmy Lydon) catches sight of the new band teacher Louise Elliott (Marian Hall) and really likes what he sees. Quickly developing a mad crush on her, Henry goes so far as to join the band just to be near her. Although he's initially upset that she likes "square" music, she surprises him with her diversity -- it turns out she can play a mean boogie woogie when necessary. Hoping to impress the teacher, Henry agrees to take up the violin. Henry, of course, does not have a violin, which means he has to try to convince the rather tightfisted Mr. Aldrich to buy one. His task is made easier when Miss Elliott makes the request herself and Mr. Aldrich sees for himself why Henry is so anxious to impress his teacher. Henry gets the violin, but in typical fashion, it somehow gets switched with the priceless instrument of a visiting concert violinist. Before Henry discovers the mix-up, he somehow misplaces the rare violin -- and must then track it down and recover it before it's too late. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Lydon, Charles Smith, (more)
- 1942
In this espionage drama, a battle-fatigued British commando is diagnosed as clinically insane by doctors who are in reality, Nazi spies. They do this to keep him from divulging the secret info he has gathered about them. To prove their diagnosis, they murder several woman and blame him for the deaths. The RAF pilot comes out of his shell-shock in time to stop the Nazis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Loder, Ruth Ford, (more)
- 1942
Everybody seems to have had a good time making the overripe melodrama The Hidden Hand, especially cadaverous Milton Parsons as insane-asylum escapee John Channing. In her efforts to protect her brother from the authorities, John's sister Lorinda (Cecil Cunningham) opens the door for a series of grisly murders. Hero Peter Thorne (Craig Stevens) and heroine Mary Winfield (Elizabeth Fraser) try to stop John before he overracts-er, kills-again. Absolutely impossible to take seriously, The Hidden Hand is nonetheless worth a glance, if for no other reason than to see perennial bit player Parsons in a juicy leading role. The film was based on Invitation to a Murder, a play by Rufus King. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Craig Stevens, Elisabeth Fraser, (more)
- 1974
- PG
After Billy Jack belatedly became a box-office smash two years after its original release and The Born Losers, the biker film in which Tom Laughlin created the Billy Jack character, had enjoyed a highly successful re-release, Tom Laughlin brought everyone's favorite martial arts hero turned Native American mystic back to the screen for a third go-round in The Trial of Billy Jack. As Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) awaits trial for murder, Jean Roberts (Delores Taylor) continues to operate her "Freedom School" on an Indian reservation, where the student-operated television station comes under fire for airing a series of hard-hitting political exposes (just how an alternative school run by threadbare hippies obtained cameras, broadcasting equipment and an FCC license is not explained here). The attempts to silence the student journalists and run Billy Jack out of town lead to a deadly confrontation between the kids and the National Guard. Tom Laughlin wrote and directed The Trial of Billy Jack, though on-screen credit is given to his son, Frank Laughlin; similarly, Laughlin also directed the first two films under the name T.C. Frank. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, (more)
