John Alvin Movies

Why would James Fader (Than Wyenn) walk up to a pawnbroker and offer to sell a ring worth thousands of dollars for only twenty bucks? That's the question that Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) would like to answer--immediately. But that answer won't come until the two detectives unearth considerable evidence of a recent jewel robbery, with a bus-depot rental locker providing a vital clue. Based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of November 2, 1954, this episode was later adapted by Richard Deming as a short story in a 1957 paperback anthology inspired by the Dragnet TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced and directed by the prestigious Frank Lloyd, The Shanghai Story was promoted as a "class" production by the bread-and-butter firm of Republic Pictures. The film takes place in the eponymous far-eastern metropolis (courtesy of the Republic backlot), where Communist police chief Colonel Zorek (Marvin Miller) hopes to trap an American spy. Zorek rounds up the usual suspects and sequesters them in a seedy hotel. Could the spy be Dan Maynard (Edmond O'Brien), a cynical doctor? Is it munitions profiteer Ricki Dolmine (Barry Kelley)? Perhaps it's two-fisted mercenary seaman Knuckles Greer (Richard Jaeckel). Orrrrrrr, maybe it's the mysterious Rita King (Ruth Roman), who is inexplicably given permission to come and go as she pleases by the otherwise intractable Zorek. True to form, this Republic A-picture resolves its problems with a final reel of good old B-flick action and violence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mark Stevens stars as a Navy pilot named Bingham in this paean to the modern-day submarine service. Covering the years 1941 to 1952, Torpedo Alley details Bingham's training as a sub commander. Feeling guilty for the deaths of several of his fellow pilots, he signs up for submarine service at the end of WW II. He proves equal to his task, though it takes a great deal of soul searching, coupled with the tender ministrations of his lady friend Susan (Dorothy Malone), before Bingham is able to overcome his guilt complex and assume a command position again. Torpedo Alley was co-written by Sam Roeca (who later supervised such above-average children's programs as Valley of the Dinosaurs and Land of the Lost) and actor Warren Douglas. The film was intended as the vanguard of "quality filmmaking" from Allied Artists, which in 1952 finally shed itself of its earlier existence as low-budget Monogram Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thanks to a bureaucratic blunder, the US State Department invites brassy showgirl Doris Day to attend a chi-chi arts festival in Paris. En route to the City of Light, Day falls in love with diplomat corps flunkey Ray Bolger (who's responsible for the error), even though he's married to witchy Eve Miller. The marriage turns out to be invalid, clearing the path for a happy ending. None of the songs in April in Paris are worth remembering, though the dancing by Bolger and Day is well up to the standards of both performers. The romantic scenes, however, fail to hold up: after all, we're talking The Scarecrow and the World's Oldest Virgin here! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a play by Fay Kanin, this comedy drama follows a successful congresswoman's emotional journey back to her alma mater. When Agatha Reed (Joan Crawford) is offered an honorary degree at her former college, she is forced to remember the reason she was expelled to begin with. Nearly twenty years prior, Agatha (Crawford) had an affair with Dr. James Merrill (Robert Young), one of her professors. After her departure, Dr. Merrill (Young) slowly rose through the ranks, eventually becoming the president of the school. Despite having left under less than desirable circumstances, Agatha is excited to see him and hopes to rekindle their relationship. Meanwhile, newspaper reporter Matt Cole (Frank Lovejoy), not only follow's Agatha to her former university, but unsucessfully proposes marriage. Unfortunately for him, the alumna's eyes are set firmly towards her old flame. However, once Matt (Lovejoy) and Agatha team up in a passionate attempt to update the school's outdated curriculum, she realizes who she truly loves. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

James Cagney plays a once great newspaper reporter ruined by liquor. Thanks to the help of reformed alcoholic James Gleason, Cagney pulls himself out of the gutter and restores his journalistic reputation. Because of his own redemption, Cagney is asked by his editor to straighten out the editor's nephew (Gig Young), a drunken wastrel. The task is made dicey by the fact that the nephew's wife (Phyllis Thaxter) is Cagney's former girlfriend. The nephew's involvement in gangsters results in the death of Cagney's old friend Gleason, but Cagney swallows his rage, vanquishes the crooks, and puts the nephew on the right track. Come Fill the Cup was a little too melodramatic to succeed as an anti-alcohol tract, but it was well acted throughout, especially by Gig Young, who received an Oscar nomination for his efforts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Side of the Law stars Kent Smith as David Cummins, a man caught up in an epic subterfuge. At the behest of attorney Philip Cagle (Robert Douglas), Cummins poses as a man who has been missing for seven years and is presumed dead. Cagle insists that this deception is necessary to protect a huge estate from avaricious relatives. Cummins finds himself heir to a far-from-loving wife, a resentful brother and a seductive sister-in-law. That's right: there's much more to this than meets the eye. Top-billed Viveca Lindfors brings a bit of texture to the otherwise two-dimensional character of Cummins' "wife." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The hero of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead is Howard Roark (Gary Cooper), a fiercely independent architect obviously patterned after Frank Lloyd Wright. Rather than compromise his ideals, Roark takes menial work as a quarryman to finance his projects. He falls in love with heiress Dominique (Patricia Neal), but ends the relationship when he has the opportunity to construct buildings according to his own wishes. Dominique marries a newspaper tycoon (Raymond Massey) who at first conducts a vitriolic campaign against the "radical" Roark, but eventually becomes his strongest supporter. Upon being given a public-housing contract on the proviso that his plans not be changed in any way, Roark is aghast to learn that his designs will be radically altered. Roark sneaks into the unfinished structure at night, makes certain no one else is around, and dynamites the project into oblivion. At his trial, Roark acts as his own defense, delivering an eloquent paean to individuality. He is acquitted, while the newspaper tycoon, upset that he could offer Roark no help during the trial, kills himself. This clears the way for a final clinch between Roark and Dominique on the skeleton of his latest building project. Ayn Rand's celebration of Objectivism didn't translate very well to film, with Gary Cooper coming off more selfish and petulant than anything else. The Fountainhead's saving graces are the solid direction by King Vidor, the rhapsodic musical score by Max Steiner, and the symbolism inherent in Cooper's manipulation of his power drill when he first lays eyes on Patricia Neal! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This cute film is Doris Day's film debut and in it she plays Georgia Garrett, a substitute traveller on an ocean cruise. Her friend Elvira Kent (Janis Paige) had scheduled the cruise but at the last minute cancels when she suspects that her husband is cheating on her and she decides to stay at home to check up on him. So she gets her friend Georgia to go on the cruise in her stead. Meanwhile the husband hires a detective to watch Elvira while on the cruise, because, he too, suspects cheating. Of course, the detective falls for the substitute Elvira (Doris Day), making a somewhat complicated scenario with many possibilities. This is a fun-filled spoof with lots of good tunes by Doris Day. ~ All Movie Guide

Even after three appearances as oriental sleuth Charlie Chan, Roland Winters showed no interest in taking the role seriously. Shanghai Chest finds Charlie in the employ of the U.S. government, assigned to solve a series of puzzling murders. The victims all appear to have died by snakebite, which would have been impossible under the circumstances. Further confusing the issue is the fact that all fingerprints at the scenes of the crime have been left by a man who's supposed to be dead. Even with the dubious assistance of son Tommy (Victor Sen Yung) and chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland), the clever Mr. Chan cracks the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide