Wendell Corey Movies

Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, this 1953 television production centers on the love triangle between two men who each pine for the same woman. Just as the men come to terms with the complexities of the relationships, one of them is compelled to make an extraordinary sacrifice. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This first episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents' fourth season is adapted from a short story by Roald Dahl, with a new climactic twist added by veteran screenwriter Casey Robinson (Kings Row, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, etc.). James Donald plays Harry Pope, a hard-drinking, racially bigoted plantation owner living in the jungles of India. Late one night, Pope feels something moving in his bed. Terrified, he summons his overseer, Timber Woods (Wendell Corey), telling him that a huge, poisonous snake is sleeping right on his chest. With delicious irony, Woods engages the services of a native doctor (Arnold Moss) to save Pope's life. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this light drama, Clark Gable once again played his stock-in-trade role of a rogue with a heart of gold. Charlie King (Gable) runs a casino, but, in a business that thrives among the unscrupulous, Charlie takes pride in running an honest game and treating his customers with fairness and respect. However, Charlie's wife Lon (Alexis Smith) doesn't care if he runs a fair game -- she regards gambling as a dirty and corrupt business, and no matter how honest Charlie may be, he's still involved in a wicked activity. Charlie's son Paul (Darryl Hickman) is also against him; when Paul gets in trouble and Charlie bails him out of jail, he refuses to leave with him, instead going home with mother. Charlie invites Paul to see what his casino is like, and Lon agrees that Paul should know just what his father does. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the conclusion of a three-part story, Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) manages to lure a gang of Mexican bandits into a trap at a US Army post, as part of his undercover mission on behalf of President Grant. Unfortunately, Jason is unable to convince the post's commanding officer Major Whitcomb (Wendell Corey), that he himself is not a bandit. Savoring the opportunity of executing "the coward of Bitter Creek", Whitcomb turns down McCord's demand to contact the President's office in Washington--and as time runs short, Jason must place his life is in the hands of the condemned Mexicans, the only ones in the fort who know the whole story. Unlike the rest of Branded's first-season episodes, "The Mission" was filmed in color (though whether or not it was originally broadcast in color is still a matter of dispute). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The tougher postwar screen image of James Stewart is given a good workout in the fact-based Carbine Williams. In 1952, the world at large knew Marsh Williams as the developer of the US Army's M-1 carbine rifle. The film builds up to this event by detailing Williams' previous existence as a bootlegger and embittered prison inmate, sentenced to 30 years at hard labor for killing a revenue agent. After enduring the rigors of chain-gang life and solitary confinement, Williams (Stewart) gets his mind off his troubles by dreaming up a new type of automatic-gun piston. He is encouraged in this endeavor by prison warden H. T. Peoples (Wendell Corey), previously Williams' bitterest enemy. As Williams continues to develop his innovative weaponry notions, his wife Maggie (Jean Hagen) and Warden Peoples try to overcome penal bureaucracy to win a pardon for Williams. Some TV prints of Carbine Williams have been colorized by computer; despite this artistically offensive practice, the strong dramatic and human values of the story still shine. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This futuristic sci-fi film contains a strong message against communism. It begins in the year 2087 and presents a totalitarian world ruled by Cyborgs. They are half-machine and their are incapable of free thought. Cyborg Garth has a glitch and is a rebel who swipes a time machine and travels back to 1965. There he encounters Marx, the scientist who started it all. Garth tries to prevent him from continuing his experiments. He succeeds and future humans are spared. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Harriet Craig is the third film version of George Kelly's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Craig's Wife. Joan Crawford stars as the title character, a thoroughly selfish woman who prizes her house and her possessions above all else. Harriet Craig is even willing to spoil the business opportunities of her husband Walter (Wendell Corey) to avoid losing her precious home. When her self-involvement causes turbulence in the romantic life of her cousin (K.T. Stevens), and when her husband's eyes are finally opened to his wife's true nature, Harriet Craig is at long last hoist on her own petard. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A disarming little trifle, Holiday Affair has in the years since its original release become a Yuletide perennial on television. War widow Janet Leigh hasn't the money to buy the model train that her son Gordon Gebert wants for Christmas. Robert Mitchum overhears the boy's plight, and offers to purchase the train for him, even though it will deplete his own money supply. This little gesture of kindness from Mitchum snowballs into a series of comic complications, thanks in part to the unwelcome intervention of Leigh's stuffed-shirt attorney boyfriend Wendell Corey. Harry Morgan shows up towards the end as a flustered night-court judge who helps tie some of the loose plot ends together. Based on a short story by John D. Weaver, A Holiday Affair didn't do too well at the box office, but its afterlife has been most satisfactory. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Paramount's William Pine- William Thomas production unit came up with another moneyspinner in Jamaica Run. Ray Milland plays Patrick Fairlie, a schooner master who is inveigled into salvaging a wrecked ship. Somewhere in the wreckage is a century-old bill of sale, which will prove that a huge estate is indeed the property of landowner Ena Dacey (Arlene Dahl) and her tosspot mother (Carroll McComas) and brother (Wendell Corey). Certain parties want to get their meathooks into the property, thus Fairlie is in danger of losing his life should he begin exploring the scuttled ship. Filmed on location, Jamaica Run makes excellent use of the Technicolor process. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Loving You was the most autobiographical of all Elvis Presley's movies, and, not coincidentally, features the most naturalistic, easygoing performance of his early career. He plays Deke Rivers, a truck driver with a penchant for singing and a raw animal magnetism where women are concerned. He attracts the business interest of publicity agent Glenda Markle (Lizabeth Scott), who sees a potential gold mine in Deke. She hires him to appear with a band that she handles, fronted by aging country & western singer Tex Warner (Wendell Corey), who used to be romantically involved with Glenda and is now a client. Pretty soon he's pulling in bigger crowds and generating more excitement than Tex did during his best days (which drives the older singer to start drinking again), but also a lot more controversy, too. Deke is so provocatively sexual a presence on-stage that some citizens in the southern and border states where the band is working think that what he does is immoral. Girls can't keep away from him, their boyfriends despise what he symbolizes, and their parents are aghast, even as concert promoter Carl Meade (James Gleason) smells a fortune to be made from this boy. Glenda parlays these disputes and a ban on one of Deke's performances into a national television event. Amid all of this, Deke reveals the private, vulnerable side that no one ever knew -- that he's not even Deke Rivers (it was a name he took off a gravestone), but an orphan named Jimmy Tompkins, and that he's never had a home. He also reveals that he's attracted to Glenda, mistaking (with her encouragement) her interest in his talent with a personal involvement, but he's also drawn the the band's female singer, Susan Jessup (Dolores Hart), who could genuinely love him, and offers him a caring family of her own that would accept him. Deke and Glenda's conflicts are eventually straightened out, and Deke gets to say his piece and sing his music on network television. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

East Indian actor Sabu heads the cast of the location-filmed Man-Eater of Kumaon. While the film's romantic plotline is carried by native couple Naraian (Sabu) and Lali (Joanne Page), the main story concentrates on the regeneration of American society doctor John Collins (Wendell Corey). Despite his distaste for all things Indian, Collins agrees to participate in a tiger hunt. Upon meeting the residents of a Himalayan village which is being decimated by the titular man-eating tiger, the doctor gains a new perspective on his fellow man, dropping many of his inbuilt prejudices along the way. Based on the best-selling novel by Jim Corbett, Man-Eater of Kumaon is at once a rousing adventure tale and an easy-to-take sociological tract. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rudolph Mate directs this sentimental melodrama about a ridiculously self-sacrificing wife based on the book by Ruth Southard and starring a 12-year-old Natalie Wood. Mary Scott (Margaret Sullavan) is pregnant when she finds out that she has terminal cancer with only a few months left to live. She keeps this information a secret from her husband, Brad Scott (Wendell Corey), who is carrying on an affair with his assistant, Chris Radna (Viveca Lindfors). Mary encourages her husband to pursue Chris as a replacement wife and mother after she dies. While on a final vacation with Brad, Mary dies and leaves Chris at home babysitting their daughter, Polly (Natalie Wood). No Sad Songs for Me features an Oscar-nominated score by George Duning. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

A young girl is deeply traumatized after she sees her mother burned to death in a house fire and spends the rest of her youth locked in a mental hospital. By the time she is released, her father has married a nasty woman who only wants his money. Knowing that the recently returned daughter is mentally unstable, the stepmom does all she can to drive the fragile girl over the edge. Unfortunately for the conniving bride, things don't quite turn out as planned. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi