Pat Duggan Movies

The Young Savages is what used to be called a "thinking man's picture" about a potentially lurid subject: urban juvenile delinquency. A blind Puerto Rican boy is knifed to death in Spanish Harlem, and three teenage gang members are accused of the crime. Politically ambitious assistant DA Burt Lancaster initially presses for the conviction of all three boys. But as he gets deeper into the case, he realizes that what appears cut-and-dried on the surface is tortuously complex: for starters, the murder victim was hardly the paragon of virtue that the prosecution claims. Despite pressure from his superiors and from members of the accused boys' gang (who at one point threaten Lancaster's wife Dina Merrill with a switchblade,) Lancaster nonetheless sees to it that justice is properly administered. The defendants are portrayed with varying degrees of Brando/Dean "method" by John Davis Chandler, Neil Nephew and Stanley Kristien; more believable, less affected performances are rendered by Shelley Winters, Pilar Seurat and Telly Savalas. Filmed on location in New York, The Young Savages was based on the Evan Hunter novel A Matter of Conviction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Rudolf Friml operetta The Vagabond King was first filmed in 1930, with Dennis King in the lead. On both sides of this adaptation, audiences were treated to non-singing versions of the story, bearing titles like The Beloved Rogue and If I Were King. In all instances, the plot remained the same: in 15th-century France, irreverent beggar poet Francois Villon, crowned "king for a day" by capricious Louis XVI, patriotically rallies his fellow beggars to pick up their weapons when Paris is invaded by the Burgundians. In the 1956 remake of Vagabond King, new "singing sensation" Oreste (of whom little was heard afterwards) stars as Villon, with Cedric Hardwicke as the droll, doddering King Louis, Kathryn Grayson as the high-born heroine, and Rita Moreno as the lusty low-born wench whose love for Villon eventually costs her the use of her life. Vincent Price narrates the film, which if nothing else is elaborately mounted and colorfully photographed. Sharp-eyed viewers will be able to spot Phyllis Newman, whose meaty supporting role was pared down to a one-line bit in the release prints. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Samuel and Bella Spewack's English adaptation of French playwright Albert Husson's morbidly humorous stage piece My Three Angels was brought to the screen as the heavily laundered but still wickedly funny We're No Angels. The scene is French Guiana, a few days before Christmas. Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray play three Devil's Island "lifers" who escape from the infamous prison and hide out amongst the free colonists. In need of clothing and money, the trio makes plans to rob milliner Leo G. Carroll and his family. "We'll cut their throats for a Christmas present", Bogie, a convicted forger, remarks laconically. "That might spoil one's belief in Santa Claus" replies philosophical wife-murderer Ustinov. The three escapees are deflected from their larcenous intent when they grow fond of Carroll, his wife Joan Bennett and their daughter Gloria Talbott. Discovering that Carroll is on the verge of bankruptcy, the convicts offer their services as household help (the sight of Bogie in an apron is worth the admission price in itself). Complications ensue when Carroll's nasty, wealthy cousin Basil Rathbone comes calling to audit the store's books. Not wishing to see the family evicted, the convicts calmly discuss the possibilities of murdering the troublesome Rathbone. They are saved the trouble when Adolphe, the pet poisonous snake owned by Ray, slithers out of its box and accomplishes what the convicts had only contemplated. Adolphe also helps smooth the path of happiness for Carroll's daughter Gloria, who thinks she's in love with Rathbone's duplicitous nephew John Baer. From all reports, the set of We're No Angels was a happy one, a fact reflected in the warm, engaging performances of its stars. The film represented the final screen collaboration between star Humphrey Bogart and director Michael Curtiz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sir James Barrie's whimsical play Rosalind was updated and urbanized as the 1953 film Forever Female. Ginger Rogers plays a veteran Broadway star who has optioned a play written by William Holden. Though on the less sunny side of 40, Rogers expects to play the leading role, that of a 19 year old girl. Producer Paul Douglas--who also happens to be Rogers' husband--insists that Holden alter the age of the main character. Meanwhile, iron-willed ingenue Patricia Crowley, who is far more suited to the part than Rogers, begins her own campaign to win the role. Far more enjoyable than the plot mechanics of Forever Female are the sly showbiz inside jokes, courtesy of screenwriters Julius and Philip Epstein. It's also fun to tick off the familiar faces in the supporting cast, including George Reeves as a stuffy suitor, future Mrs. Bing Crosby Katherine Grant as an auditioning actress, and Gunsmoke and Dragnet villain Vic Perrin as an effeminate set designer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide