Charles O'Neal Movies
Screenwriter Charles "Blackie" O'Neal worked on feature films and television scripts from the early '40s through the early '60s. Born and raised in North Carolina, the University of Iowa graduate came to Southern California in the 1930s to become a stage actor. O'Neal joined the Old Globe Shakespearean Repertory in San Diego and eventually advanced as the troupe's lead actor. He co-wrote his first script, The Seventh Victim, in 1943 with Dewitt Bodeen. O'Neal did not write his first solo script until I Love a Mystery (1945). Later in his career, O'Neal switched to television, penning teleplays for such shows as Lassie, The Untouchables, and The Californians. In addition to his scripting experience, O'Neal authored the Christopher Award-winning novel The Three Wishes of Jamie McRuin (1949). He is the father of actor Ryan O'Neal and screenwriter Kevin O'Neal. O'Neal died on August 29, 1996, at the age of 92. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Lassie's Great Adventure is the feature-film version of a three-episode cliffhanger, originally presented on the Lassie television series. It all begins when the faithful collie accompanies his master Timmy (Jon Provost) to the market. While nosing around the vegetables, Lassie wanders into a van, which is promptly locked up. By the time she makes her escape, Lassie is hundreds of miles from home. Meanwhile, Timmy never gives up hope that his beloved Lassie will eventually return. Written by Sumner Long, Lassie's Great Adventure (original title: Lassie's Odyssey) was first telecast February 18, 24, and March 4, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Jim Backus guest stars as William Norbert, a mob bookkeeper with a photographic memory. Tired of living on the wrong side of the law, Norbert wants to retire, but his boss Luigi Rinaldo (Marc Lawrence) refuses to let him--and is willing to bump off Norbert's entire family to ensure the man's loyalty. Ultimately, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) offers to provide protection for Norbert if he agrees to testify in an out-of-town courtoom trial...while a hired gunman prepares to make certain that this doesn't happen. Among the highlights in this episode is the sight of stalwart "Untouchable" William Youngfellow (Abel Fernandez) in the guise of a flagpole sitter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A confused horror yarn set in the Deep South, Alligator People stars Richard Crane as a husband who becomes accidently separated from his new wife (Beverly Garland) during a train ride. She tracks him down to the swamplands surrounding his family mansion. Her reunion with her husband is tarnished by the fact that he's been partially transformed into an alligator! This is the handiwork of doctor George MacReady, who's been conducting curious experiments with gators and humans. Garland must figure out a way to save her mutated husband from both the scientist and a drunken alligator hunter (Lon Chaney Jr.). The story is told in flashback, as psychiatrists try to figure out what has driven Garland insane. The Alligator People was the last film directed by Roy Del Ruth, light years away from his glory days at Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beverly Garland, George Macready, (more)
- 1957
In this gentle, non-melodramatic drama, an elderly, wealthy widow will not leave her apartment even after her building is slated to be converted into a dormitory by the university that purchased it. She refuses to leave because she is convinced that her son, who disappeared 27 years before after being expelled from the college, will comeback. The university lets her stay and she becomes the house "Nana" for the students that live there. When an ex-Marine moves in, the woman is sure that he is her grandson as he has the same name as her son. She begins helping the young man with his personal and academic life. Just before his father is to arrive for a visit, the woman dies. She never knows that the boy is not her grandson. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ethel Barrymore, Cecil Kellaway, (more)
- 1951
Golden Girl is the life story (sort of) of legendary 19th-century American entertainer Lotta Crabtree. The daughter of a luckless gambler (James Barton), young Lotta (Mitzi Gaynor) supports herself and her dad by singing and dancing in mining camps during the California Gold Rush of 1849. She carries on her activities into Indian territory, where she saves her scalp by winning over her Native American audiences. During the Civil War, Lotta falls in love with a dashing Confederate spy (Dale Robertson), with whom she is briefly reunited in San Francisco before his inevitable demise. The finale is one of those "smiling through the tears" contrivances that always worked so well in musical films. Golden Girl was produced for 20th Century-Fox by entertainer George Jessel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mitzi Gaynor, Dale Robertson, (more)
- 1950
Unlike his earlier Warner Bros. westerns, Errol Flynn's Montana was strictly a programmer, inexpensively produced and modestly promoted. Flynn plays Morgan Lane, an Australian sheepherder who arrives in the middle of Montana's cattle country. He faces opposition from wealthy cattle rancher Maria Singleton (Alexis Smith), not to mention several bigger, tougher galoots. It takes a few fistfights and gun battles to settle the sheepherders vs. cattlemen imbroglio peacefully. While the action highlights are so-so, Montana scores best during the scenes between stars Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith; they were good friends in real life, so much so that Flynn served as best man at Smith's wedding to actor Craig Stevens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, (more)
- 1948
- NR
The success of 1947's Badman's Territory prompted RKO Radio to assemble another "outlaw rally," Return of the Badmen. Randolph Scott plays US marshal Vance, assigned to rid the Oklahoma Territory of outlaws. This proves to be quite a challenge, inasmuch as virtually every frontier bad guy has converged upon the territory. Led by the surly Sundance Kid (Robert Ryan), the rogue's gallery includes the Younger Brothers (Steve Brodie, Richard Powers, Robert Bray), the Daltons (Lex Barker, Walter Reed, Michael Harvey) and Billy the Kid (Dean White). For all the formidable villainy, the film's most fascinating conflict develops between the two heroines: feisty Cheyenne (Anne Jeffreys) and prim 'n' proper Madge Allen (Jacqueline White). Return of the Badmen posted a huge profit, spawning yet another "all-star" western from RKO, 1951's Best of the Badmen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Armstrong, Walter S. Baldwin, (more)
- 1947
Deanna Durbin stars in the musical shaggy dog story Something in the Wind. When the wealthy uncle of the Read family dies, he leaves instructions in his will to bequeath a set amount of money to his mistress, one Mary Collins. The family assumes it to be a pretty young female radio personality called Mary Collins (and played by Deanna Durbin), when it is, in fact, her aunt of the same name (Jean Adair). Thus, when the young scion of the Read family, Donald (John Dall), tries to buy "Mary" off, he picks the wrong Mary -- and Durbin rebuffs him. Donald and brother Charlie (Donald O'Connor) then resort to kidnapping Mary from the radio station, but Mary turns the tables by demanding a million dollars as a settlement. Meanwhile, Charlie pines for Donald's fiancée, Clarissa Prentice (Helena Carter), while young Mary and Donald argue constantly and start to fall in love with one another. Amid these soapy events, Durbin finds time to sing five pop songs, as well as the Miserere aria from Verdi's Il Trovatore, on which she duets with Jan Peerce. Durbin's pop numbers include: "The Turntable Song," "You Wanna Keep Your Baby Lookin' Right," and "Happy Go Lucky and Free." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deanna Durbin, Donald O'Connor, (more)
- 1946
This entry in the short "I Love a Mystery" series has detective Jack Packard and his sidekick Doc Young investigating the identity of a shrunken head that was discovered in a downed cargo plane. The head was one of four others discovered in the wreckage. It was notable as having belonged to a red-haired white man believed to be a missing explorer. The two sleuths are hired by the explorer's daughter who has them follow her mother and her father's associate. The detectives soon reveal that the murderer was a taxidermist on the expedition. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anita Louise, Jim Bannon, (more)
- 1945
Based on Phillips Lord's popular radio serial, I Love a Mystery centers around the exploits of two pugnacious private eyes (marked down from the radio version's three heroes). The adventuresome Jack Packard (Jack Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough) are hired by a nervous socialite (George Macready), who lives in mortal fear of being decapitated. The man has been the recipient of strange, cryptic messages from an Oriental secret society, which predict his impending doom. The brains behind the society is the man's duplicitous wife (Nina Foch), who hopes to goad her husband into suicide and thus fall heir to his millions. A grisly little item, I Love a Mystery was the first of three Columbia "B" pictures inspired by the radio original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nina Foch, Jim Bannon, (more)
- 1944
Nina Foch plays the title role in this rather dull horror melodrama from Columbia Pictures. Investigating his father's murder Bob Morris (Stephen Crane) and his Transylvanian girlfriend Elsa (Osa Massen) come to suspect the mysterious Celeste Latour (Foch), who calls herself a Gypsy princess. And, sure enough, when Elsa gets to close to the truth, Celeste casts a spell on her that turns the girl into a cat. But only briefly and Celeste is eventually cornered in the Latour family crypt. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nina Foch, Stephen Crane, (more)
- 1944
Jim Bannon, fresh from his radio success on I Love a Mystery, stars in this taut suspenser. The jurors of a celebrated murder case are being bumped off one by one. Now only six jurors are left, and one of them has disappeared, whereabouts unknown. Bannon must find the missing juror before the killer does. The cast includes Janis Carter (menaced) and George MacReady (menacing). The Missing Juror was an excellent post-grad course for future "cult" director Bud Boetticher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Bannon, Janis Carter, (more)
- 1943
- NR
Producer Val Lewton once more utilized leftover Magnificent Ambersons sets for his psychological horror piece The Seventh Victim. Kim Hunter arrives in New York's Greenwich Village in search of her errant sister Jean Brooks. Gradually, the naive Hunter is drawn into a strange netherworld of Satan worshippers. The story is a bit too complex for its own good (especially with only a 71-minute running time to play with), but editor-turned-director Mark Robson and screenwriters Dewitt Bodeen and Charles O'Neal keep the thrills and shudders coming at a satisfying pace. Lewton regular Tom Conway offers his usual polished performance, while veteran character actresses Isabel Jewell and Evelyn Brent look appropriately gaunt and possessed in the "cult" sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Hunter, Tom Conway, (more)
