St. Clair McKelway Movies
- 1950
Based on a true story, Mister 880 is the whimsical tale of an elderly gentleman (Edmund Gwenn) who dabbles in counterfeiting. He makes only enough "funny money" to support himself, but the fact that his work is so amateurish (he can't even spell "Washington") arouses the indignation of the treasury department. Burt Lancaster, the hard-nosed treasury agent put on the case, is determined to prosecute the miscreant to the full extent of the law. In tracking down a lead, Lancaster falls in love with Dorothy McGuire, a recipient of one of the phony bills. Lancaster discovers that McGuire lives in the same building as Gwenn, and after piecing together the clues arrests the old fellow. Softened by Gwenn's naivete, Lancaster and Ms. McGuire arrange for a compassionate lawyer to lessen what would otherwise be a stiff prison sentence. Mister 880 was to have starred Walter Huston as the ingenuous counterfeiter, but Huston died just before filming started. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire, (more)
- 1948
This noir mystery thriller was produced by Mary Pickford and her husband Buddy Rogers, and directed by Douglas Sirk. Claudette Colbert stars as Alison Courtland, a wealthy New York socialite who awakens on a Boston-bound train with no memory of how she got there. A kindly older woman, Mrs. Tomlinson (Queenie Smith) helps Alison call her husband Richard (Don Ameche), who informs her that she disappeared after threatening his life. While traveling back to New York, Alison meets Bruce Elcott (Robert Cummings), who is immediately smitten with her. Upon her return, Richard urges Alison to consult a psychiatrist, Charles Vernay (George Coulouris), but the man's bizarre, abusive manner nearly drives Alison mad. Alison's condition, Vernay, and even the helpful Mrs. Tomlinson are all part of an elaborate scheme on the part of Richard and his mistress, Daphne (Hazel Brooks) to get drive Alison to suicide and collect her fortune. A concerned Bruce visits Vernay, who is really a photographer, and begins piecing the scheme together. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1948
So often wasted in passive roles, Evelyn Keyes is virtually the whole show in The Mating of Millie. Keyes is cast as pretty businesswoman Millie McGonigle, who hopes to fill a gap in her life by adopting orphan boy Tommy Bassett (Jimmy Hunt, future star of 1953's Invaders from Mars). But this is 1948: self-supporting though she may be, Millie must have a husband to qualify as an adoptive parent. With the help of her neighbor Doug Andrews (Glenn Ford), Millie tries to trap an acceptable hubby. Guess who Millie falls in love with in the last reel. Just guess. Columbia mounted an elaborate and expensive promotional campaign for The Mating of Millie, resulting in excellent returns at the box office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Evelyn Keyes, (more)
