Mildred Gordon Movies
The original Disney feature film, That Darn Cat, was a feel-good hit in 1965, thanks largely to stars such as Hayley Mills, Roddy McDowall, and William Demarest. This 1996 remake also closely follows the novel Undercover Cat by Mildred Gordon and Gordon Gordon and features Christina Ricci in the Hayley Mills role. In a small Massachusetts town, two bumbling criminals mistakenly kidnap a maid, thinking her to be the wife of a prominent businessman. D.C., short for Darn Cat, is an alley cat who, while looking for his nightly snack, stumbles upon the kidnap victim, bound and gagged in a shed. The kidnap victim scratches a plea for help on the back of her wristwatch and puts it around the cat's neck. Patti (Ricci) finds the watch and links it to the missing maid. Playing amateur detective, she enlists the aid of an FBI agent, Zeke (Doug E. Doug), who has been assigned to the case. Patti and Zeke follow D.C. through tight openings to track down the captive. The cat also leads them to the woman's abductors (Peter Boyle and Rebecca Schull) and to a climactic car chase. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Ricci, Doug E. Doug, (more)
Though overlong even for a Hayley Mills vehicle, That Darn Cat is an expert blend of laughs and suspense. The eponymous feline is D.C., a Siamese belonging to sisters Hayley Mills and Dorothy Provine. One evening, D.C. comes flouncing home with a lady's wristwatch attached to her neck. The watch contains an unfinished plea for help scribbled on its back, written by Grayson Hall, a bank teller held captive in a neighboring house by robbers Neville Brand and Frank Gorshin. Mills and Provine contact the FBI, who send agent Dean Jones (who's allergic to cats) to investigate. In their efforts to locate and rescue Hall and capture the crooks, Jones and the two sisters embark upon a series of slapstick misadventures involving an unending stream of top character actors. The highlight is a lengthy sequence at the drive-in movie theatre managed by ulcerated Richard Deacon. That Darn Cat is based on Undercover Cat, a somewhat more serious suspense novel by The Gordons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hayley Mills, Dean Jones, (more)
Bank teller Lee Remick is accosted in her garage one dark night by asthmatic psycho Ross Martin. He forces her to go through with an elaborate robbery scheme, threatening to kill Lee's teen-aged sister Stefanie Powers if the police are summoned. FBI agent Glenn Ford suspects that something is amiss and advises Lee to play along with Martin, hoping in this way to capture this dangerous criminal with a minimum of bloodshed. Unfortunately, Martin is as clever as he is deadly, always managing to stay one step ahead of Ford. The now-famous climax of Experiment in Terror finds the feds closing in on Martin during a crowded night baseball game at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. Experiment in Terror is based on the Gordons' novel Operation Terror. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, (more)
- 1954
A gangster is sentenced to prison for killing his wife, but the woman isn't really dead: she's alive and well, raising her daughter in New Mexico. After 18 years, though, the husband comes back looking for revenge. Dorothy McGuire and Stephen McNally star in the 1954 film. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy McGuire, Stephen McNally, (more)
- 1954
Coadapted by The Gordons from their novel Case File FBI, Down Three Dark Streets stars Broderick Crawford as a no-nonsense FBI agent. Hoping to avenge the death of his partner Kenneth Tobey, Crawford almost single-handedly takes on the three investigations which Tobey had been pursuing. One involves a gang of car thieves; the second concerns a fugitive gangster; and the third deals with an extortion racket. Of the three leading ladies--Martha Hyer, Ruth Roman, Marisa Pavan--Ms. Pavan turns the most fascinating performance as the blind witness to a murder. The climax is staged around the fabled "Hollywood" sign that dominates the hills bordering the film capital. Most of the production personnel involved with Down Three Dark Streets would later set up shop at Dick Powell's Four Star Productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Broderick Crawford, Ruth Roman, (more)
