Merry Anders Movies
American actress Merry Anders was a professional model when she signed her first studio contract in 1951. After two years of uncredited bits in such 20th Century-Fox features as Belles on Their Toes (1952) and Titanic (1953), Merry found more rewarding work on TV. From 1953 through 1955, she appeared in The Stu Erwin Show, replacing Ann Todd in the role of Joyce, Erwin's oldest daughter. While most of her film assignments were along the bargain-basement lines of The Dalton Girls (1957) and The Hypnotic Eye (1960), Merry built up a reputation as "queen" of the TV pilot films. If she appeared as guest star in the pilot episode of a potential series, that series would most likely be sold. Merry would be the last person to insist that she was a great actress; her "versatility" in her many TV roles consisted of changing her hair color as often as possible. It was as a redhead that Merry was cast in the lead of the syndicated sitcom How to Marry a Millionaire, which ran from 1958 through 1960. After this assignment, Merry continued to show up as a blonde, brunette and redhead in such deathless movie offerings as Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1966) and Legacy of Blood (1973). In the late 1960s, she had a semi-recurring role on Dragnet as a super-efficient policewoman; the character was meant to develop into a love interest for Joe Friday (Jack Webb), but the series never went in that direction. It can be argued that Merry Anders' most memorable performance (and the one most often seen these days) was as a woman who is drowned in a phone booth (!) on a 1966 episode of Get Smart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1961
This one-hour, police-story melodrama does not focus on the two-legged officers commonly found chasing the bad guys, but a four-legged K-9 corps German Shepherd named "Wolf" (played by Rocco), whose training forms a large part of the story. Wolf is put through his paces so that when the time comes, he can join up with his bosses and head out to capture some nasty arsonists, intent on torching buildings to collect insurance money. Given that Wolf's fans are likely to be the younger set, any ingrained clichés and lines of uninspired dialogue will not be a great problem. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Brown, Merry Anders, (more)
- 1961
In this western, an Eastern gambler buys a mail-order ranch, heads out to claim it and discovers that the deed is unregistered, the rightful owner is dead, and that the land has been taken over by cattle rustlers. Strapping on the title weapon, the fellow rectifies the situation, but only after proving himself innocent of murder charges. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Sheriff Dan Trevor (Peter Breck) of Devil's Flat concocts a plan to steal a chest of gold from the town's new "sky pilot", Deacon Curt Eaker (Frank Ferguson). Bart (Jack Kelly) decides to stop Trevor in his tracks by replacing the gold with stones--failing to take in consideration the old adage "No good deed goes unpunished." Guest star Peter Breck would later appear on Maverick in the recurring role of Doc Holliday...and much later would costar with Barbara Stanwyck on another popular TV western, The Big Valley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Anticipating the real-life political career of Maverick star Jack Kelly, who would serve two terms as mayor of Huntington Beach, California, in the 1980s, this episode finds Bart Maverick (Kelly) running for a State Senate seat on the Reform Party ticket. He has agreed to throw his hat in the ring to help Penelope Greeley (Merry Anders), daughter of the actual candidate Ellsworth Greeley (R.G. Armstrong), who has been shot and wounded by an unknown assailant. Well, maybe "unknown" is a poor choice of words: Bart's opponent Wellington Cosgrove (R.G. Armstrong) has made no secret of his plans to kill Mr. Maverick should he win the election. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
A curious "gimmick" movie in the William Castle tradition (though not itself a Castle project), screenings of this film featured a hokey but creative "Hypno-Magic" process allegedly designed to hypnotize the theater audience. The otherwise mundane psycho-thriller plot features Jacques Bergerac as stage mesmerist "The Great Desmond," whose act includes hypnotizing entire audiences into performing rather dull Simon-says maneuvers and such. The real trick, it turns out, involves Desmond's Svengali-like seduction of his more comely female patrons -- most of which end up horribly disfigured the next morning, the victims of apparent self-mutilation. Thanks to several scenes hinting at the obvious hatred Desmond's wife and assistant, Justine (Allison Hayes), harbors toward her husband's pretty subjects, there's not much of a mystery here. Nevertheless, the police are baffled, leading one victim's best friend to set herself up as bait and trap the guilty party -- whose secret is revealed in the "shocking" climax. The Hypno-Magic gimmick, though certainly ineffective, provides some of the film's more hilarious diversions, and thoroughly disarms any potential for suspense. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Bergerac, Merry Anders, (more)
- 1960
This is a routine, low-budget drama by Bernard Ray, his last film in a career that started in 1933. At the center of attention is a husband with an obvious desire to get away from his nagging wife. His other obvious desires -- for sexual action -- are not exactly fulfilled by his marriage either. And so he lapses into an affair with a prostitute in order to make up for the deficiencies in his marriage. As this story evolves in its complexity, it is simultaneously heading for a surprise ending that is certain to give the protagonist food for thought. The storyline notwithstanding, Bernard Ray dedicated this film to his late wife and half of the proceeds to a cancer charity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lindsay Workman, Merry Anders, (more)
- 1960
In this western, a US marshal escorts five female killers across Texas to prison. Along the way, they are ambushed by Indians and by one of the women's outlaw husbands. They must also endure the rugged terrain, weather, and romantic yearnings. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1960
In this crime drama, a man serves five years in the state pen for armed robbery. Upon his release, the man is anxious to retrieve the $260,000 in loot he hid before he went to jail. Unfortunately, he is still pursued by both the police and his former gang mates. He ends up severely beaten, robbed, and ultimately cheated by his own lover. Despite these set-backs, the fellow remains content because he now has the love of his former partner's widow. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1960
The Cartwrights object to Todd McKaren's (Don Dubbins) plan to sell his family's land to ruthless miner Len Keith (Robert Simon), pointing out that the region's water supply will be polluted. McKaren's father Andy (Rhys Williams) likewise opposes the sale, if only to break up the romance between Todd and Keith's daughter Virginia (Merry Anders). Taking advantage of the situation, Keith tries to force the sale by stirring up bad blood between the the McKarens and the Cartwrights, beginning with planting diseased cattle among the Ponderosa livestock. First telecast April 9, 1960, "Bitter Water" was written by Harold Jack Bloom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1960
Having been cheated by crooked railroad owner Wilbur Shanks (Richard Hale), Beau (Roger Moore) cooks up a scheme to make certain that the townsfolk of Silver Hill get a fair price for their land, which Shanks dearly covets. To do this, Beau arranges for the town to literally vanish by having everyone relocate some twenty miles down the trail. But when a valuable silver lode is discovered in the "real" Silver Hill, it looks like Shanks may have the last laugh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Few outlaws can equal Jesse James for name recognition, or for the number of Hollywood films on their exploits. This standard western biopic by director William F. Claxton stars Ray Stricklyn as Jesse during his formative years, the only years handled here. He and brother Frank (Robert Dix) somehow survive the Civil War and then join Quantrill's Raiders as they begin their career on the wrong side of the law. All the familiar characters are there, with Frank and Jesse, Belle Starr (Merry Anders), Cole Younger (Willard Parker) and the other Youngers (Bob and Jim), as well as a few invented hoodlums. Aside from depicting Jesse as particularly brutal, this imaginary look at the outlaw shows him as a budding mystic, at least for awhile. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Stricklyn, Willard Parker, (more)
- 1958
In this drama, six daring truckers must transport unstable, highly explosive rocket fuel through a dangerously bumpy, rugged country. The film centers on their individual reasons for making the trip. These are presented via flashback. Though most of them need the money, one of the truck drivers is actually the fuel's inventor. During the fuel's development, a freak accident caused the death of his family. All but one of the drivers safely make it to their destination. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Keith, Dick Foran, (more)
- 1957
It's called The Dalton Girls because there aren't any Dalton Boys left. After all the members of the notorious Dalton outlaw gang have been killed or arrested, their sisters decide to pick up where the boys left off. Led by Holly Dalton (Merry Anders), who since killing a man in self-defense has been outside the law, the girls terrorize Colorado territory with their criminal raids. The other members of the gang are Rose, Columbine and Marigold Dalton, played by B-picture perennials Lisa Davis, Penny Edwards, Sue George. In true Hollywood Chauvinist fashion, the Dalton girls are trailed by a bunch of matrimony-minded men; refreshingly, however, the ladies remain true to their heritage to the last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Merry Anders, Lisa Davis, (more)
- 1957
In this dark drama, a schizophrenic is forced out of his hospital due to overcrowding, and his doctors tell him to avoid stressful situations. He goes to a beachside motel and likes both the area and the owner's daughter. Her father discovers that he is a mental patient and threatens to have him recommitted unless he leaves his daughter alone. The schizophrenic snaps momentarily, killing him, and he and the daughter flee down the beach. He tries to kill her by pushing her into the water, but comes to his senses and rescues her. He ends up turning himself in. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Danton, Colleen Miller, (more)
Based on the Broadway play by Robert Fryer and Lawrence Carr, Desk Set represents the eighth screen teaming of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Hepburn plays the head of a TV network research department; Tracy plays an efficiency expert, hired to modernize Hepburn's operation. When Tracy has a huge computer installed, Hepburn and her co-workers (including Joan Blondell and Sue "Miss Landers" Randall) fear that they're going to lose their jobs. Their suspicions are confirmed when the computer merrily begins issuing pink termination slips. But something is obviously amiss: the computer not only fires the ladies, but also the head of the network--and Tracy, who isn't even on the company payroll! At this point, Tracy explains that the computer was designed to help Hepburn and her staff and not replace them; he also confesses that, given the pink-slip incident, this might not have been such a hot idea. But Hepburn, who has fallen in love with Tracy, is in just the right mood to forgive him--and doesn't need to consult her research files to come up with this decision. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, (more)
- 1957
This Runyonesque fable serves as a vehicle for TV quiz-show host Hal March. The star plays con artist Marty Holland, who for his own financial gain plans to fix the outcome of a beauty contest. The winner is supposed to be Rita Hall (Jean Willes), the brassy girlfriend of big-time mobster Irving the Hammer (who, worse luck, never appears in the film). But when Marty falls for virtuous contestant Ruth Collins (Merry Anders), he decides to turn honest, even though he runs the risk of ending up in a cement kimono. Adding to the fun is Joe E. ("Ooh! Ooh!") Ross as Marty's sidekick Max Crane and "J.D." flick regular Richard Bakalyan as a dese-dem-and-dose hoodlum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hal March, Merry Anders, (more)
- 1957
This lively musical was made to capitalize on the popularity of calypso music and features some excellent production numbers. It all begins when a jukebox magnate tries to force his way into a record company. They succeed and this angers the labels biggest star, who doesn't want to change his style. He disappears and so does all of the company's profits. Musical chaos reigns for awhile, but eventually everything is set to rights and happiness ensues. Look for distinguished poet Maya Angelou singing "Run Joe" and actor Alan Arkin's performance with the folk group the Tarriers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Desmond, Merry Anders, (more)
- 1957
In this action melodrama, the troubled lives of three young robbers are presented. One of these is a college dropout and draft dodger who plans to rob a supermarket so he can purchase a boat and escape his problems. He enlists the aid of two others: one is an indebted man who is responsible for the high medical bills of a con woman who hurt herself while on a date with him, the other is a pathological liar who cannot cope with his failed marriage and writing career. During the robbery, the dropout gets too wired and kills the manager. They flee, but his cohorts are captured by the cops while he steals a truck and heads screaming down the road for Mexico. A great chase ensues until the truck's brakes fail and he suffers a fatal, fiery crash. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Vaughn, Roger Smith, (more)
- 1957
If it worked for Frank Sinatra... Singing star Johnny Desmond goes dramatic in the low-budget Escape From San Quentin. Desmond plays escaped convict Mike Gilbert, who goes on the lam with fellow prisoners Gruber (Richard Devon) and Graham (Roy Engel). While hiding from the law, Gilbert comes to realize that he's fallen in love with Robbie (Merry Anders), the sister of his ex-wife (Peggy Maley). Through Robbie's influence, Gilbert decides to go straight, but his cohorts aren't quite so willing to reform. Like most Sam Katzman quickies of the era, Escape from San Quentin was loosely based on a true story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Desmond, Merry Anders, (more)
- 1957
Pill poppin' truckers provide the focus of this anti-drug drama. Much of the story centers upon an investigator for the US Food and Drug Department who has been assigned to stop all truckers from taking amphetamines while they drive. The drivers take the pills to help them stay awake on long-hauls. Unfortunately, the "speed" is also causing major accidents. The investigator goes undercover as a driver to help find the main drug pushers. En route he falls for a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, he finds that she is one of the biggest pushers in the country. Though the film's original intent was very serious, it has become popular with fans of campy or cult films. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Mala Powers, (more)
One of director Douglas Sirk's best and most successful romantic soapers of the 1950s, All That Heaven Allows is predicated on a May-December romance. The difference here is that the woman, attractive widow Cary Scott (Jane Wyman), is considerably older than the man, handsome gardener-landscaper Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson). Sirk builds up sympathy for Cary by showing how empty her life has been since her husband's death, even suggesting that the marriage itself was no picnic. Throwing conventionial behavior to the winds and facing social ostracism, Cary pursues her romance with Ron, who is unjustly perceived as a fortune-hunter by Cary's friends and family--especially her priggish son Ned (William Reynolds). Amusingly, Conrad Nagel was to have had a much larger part as Harvey, an elderly widower who carries a torch for Cary, but his role was trimmed down during previews when audiences disapproved of an implicit romance between a sixtyish man and a fortysomething woman! All That Heaven Allows was remade by unabashed Douglas Sirk admirer Rainer Werner Fassbinder as Ali--Fear Eats the Soul (1974), in which the age gap between hero and heroine was even wider. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, (more)
- 1954
Debra Paget displays as much epidermis as the 1954 censors would allow in the escapist adventure Princess of the Nile. Ms. Paget is cast as Taura, a fearless 13th century princess who does her best to defend Egypt against an invading Bedouin (Michael Rennie). When not wielding her trusty scimitar, Taura poses as a dancing girl to undermine the Bedouin's plans. She is aided by the Prince Haidi (Jeffrey Hunter), son of the Caliph of Baghdad. The plotline is negligible: the audience was more interested in watching Debra Paget and scores of underclad lovelies undulating to the quasi-Eastern musical score by Lionel Newman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Debra Paget, Jeffrey Hunter, (more)
Adapted by playwright John Patrick from a novel by famed globetrotter/filmmaker John H. Secondari, Three Coins in the Fountain offers the splendors of Rome in Technicolor, CinemaScope and Stereophonic Sounds. For all its lovely picture-postcard images, the film is at base a reworking of 20th Century-Fox' favorite plotline: three pretty girls on the prowl for husbands. The three lovelies, who toss their coins in the Trevi fountain and wish for romance, include Dorothy McGuire, Jean Peters and Maggie McNamara. Before the film is over, secretary McGuire has wooed her boss, Clifton Webb, Peters has won the heart of a co-worker Italian translator Rossano Brazzi (despite being fired, in the process, for having an office romance); and McNamara finds happiness with prince Louis Jourdan. Three Coins in the Fountain won two Academy Awards: "Best Color Cinematography" (Milton Krasner), and "Best Song" (written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, and sung in the pre-credits sequence by an uncredited Frank Sinatra). The film was remade in 1965 as The Pleasure Seekers, and also served as the basis for a never-sold TV pilot starring Yvonne Craig, Cynthia Pepper and Joanna Moore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clifton Webb, Dorothy McGuire, (more)
- 1954
After several years of domestic squabbles, the marriage of Nina and Robert Tracy (Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon) goes "phffft"! Upon receiving their divorce papers, Nina and Robert are certain that they'll remain friends, no matter how many new lovers they pick up along the way. Nina dallies briefly with bombastic Charlie Newton (Jack Carson), while Robert has a fling with the luscious Janis (Kim Novak). These romantic episodes only serve to make Nina and Robert realize how much they're still in love with each other. According to costar Jack Lemmon, the original title of this film was Phfffft!, but after an all-night bull session at Columbia Pictures it was decided to take out one of the "F"s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon, (more)
- 1953
The Farmer Takes a Wife is a musicalized remake of the 1935 film of the same name. Betty Grable and Dale Robertson star in the roles originally essayed by Janet Gaynor and Henry Fonda. Set in the early 19th century, the plot details the trials and tribulations of those hardy souls who settled along the Erie Canal. Grable plays Molly Larkin, the girlfriend of rough-and-tumble canal-boat captain Jotham Klore (John Carroll). Much to Klore's dismay, she hires mild-mannered farmer Daniel Harrow (Robertson) to work on the boat. Molly and Daniel fall in love and marry, but there's many a heartbreak and letdown before a happy ending can be reached. Though not in any way a "typical" Betty Grable musical, Farmer Takes a Wife was misleadingly advertised as such: one promotional still showed a grinning Grable anachronistically garbed in tight jeans and a bare-midriff blouse! Both versions of The Farmer Takes a Wife were adapted from the stage play by Frank B. Elser and Marc Connelly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Grable, Dale Robertson, (more)
