Ivan Browning Movies
- 1960
One of only two theatrical features by television director Vincent J. Donahue, Sunrise at Campobello is a biography of President Franklin D. Roosevelt that attempts to illustrate the statesman's courageous battle against infantile paralysis and his political foes. While in the prime of his life, Roosevelt (Ralph Bellamy) is stricken with a debilitating illness that threatens to end his career. Fortunately, his wife, Eleanor (Greer Garson), faithfully helps him regain his strength and become one of America's most influential and beloved Commanders in Chief. Hume Cronyn also stars as F.D.R.'s political strategist Louis Howe, who forms a successful triumvirate with the Roosevelts. For her performance, Greer Garson received a Best Actress nomination at the 1961 Academy Awards. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Bellamy, Greer Garson, (more)
- 1959
Bart (Jack Kelly) is hired to impersonate millionaire Cornelius Van Rensselaer Jr. (Wynn Pearce) at an important business conference in St. Louis. It seems that there are several powerful men who will stop at nothing to prevent Van Renssalaer from attending the meeting, so it's up to Bart to stop these men first...and keep himself alive in the bargain. This episode represents a reunion of sorts for the former stars of the TV western series Judge Roy Bean: Edgar Buchanan (aka "Uncle Joe" on Petticoat Junction) and Jack Beutel (previously "Billy the Kid" in the notorious Jane Russell western The Outlaw). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Young at Heart is a soft-pedaled, musicalized remake of 1938's Four Daughters. Robert Keith takes over the Claude Rains role as paterfamilias to a family of musical prodigies, all girls: Doris Day, Dorothy Malone, Elizabeth Fraser (the fourth daughter was written out of proceedings, no great loss). Keith's new boarder Gig Young, a musical-comedy composer, becomes the three daughters' heart balm, whether he wants to our not. When he gets stuck creatively, Young invites his tempestuous pal Frank Sinatra to help him finish his score. Sinatra essays the old John Garfield role, retaining a generous supply of Garfield's chip-on-shoulder edginess. But whereas Garfield's character dies in Four Daughters, Sinatra survives for a happily-ever-after clinch with Doris Day. Most of the songs heard in Young at Heart were already standards in 1954--with the notable exception of the Johnny Richards-Carolyn Leigh title number, which of course became a part of Frank Sinatra's standard repertoire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, (more)
- 1952
You for Me stars Peter Lawford as a profligate playboy who's a nice guy underneath. After suffering a hunting accident which leaves him with a butt full of buckshot, Lawford is interred in the hospital that his donations have kept afloat. Nurse Jane Greer refuses to treat Lawford any better than any other patient, which of course makes him adore her all the more. Gig Young is once more the poor schlemiel who loses the girl--but this time Young deserves it, since he encourages Jane to make goo-goo eyes at Lawford so the donations will keep on coming (there's a word for that sort of thing where we come from, stranger). You for Me was directed by Don Weis, whose MGM films are often so lightweight that they're in danger of floating away. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Lawford, Jane Greer, (more)
In this romantic spy thriller, a nightclub performer plys her trade in her husband's Trinidad bar. He is murdered by a notorious spy. Soon afterward, the police ask the widow to try to get close to the killer and gather information. Her work is nearly thwarted when her bumbling brother-in-law appears, looking to bring the killer to justice himself. This film marked the return of bombshell Rita Hayworth who had retired from movies during her marriage to Prince Aly Khan. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Rita Hayworth, (more)
- 1950
A woman is torn between a comfortable lie and the painful truth in this drama. After she is abandoned by her unfaithful boyfriend Stephen Morely (Lyle Bettger), Helen Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) discovers that she's pregnant, and she has no choice but to go home to her family. Shortly after boarding the train, Helen meets Hugh and Patrice Harkness (Richard Denning and Phyllis Thaxter), a recently married couple who are travelling to visit Hugh's parents, who have yet to met his bride. Patrice, who is also with child, strikes up a conversation with Helen, and allows her to try on her beautiful wedding ring. Moments later, the train becomes involved in a terrible accident in which Hugh and Patrice are killed; because she was still wearing Patrice's ring, Helen is mistaken for the late Mrs. Harkness by Hugh's parents (Jane Cowl and Henry O'Neill), and is taken home with them as she recovers and has her baby. Helen begins to feel a part of the family until Stephen arrives, demanding money to keep her true identity a secret. No Man of Her Own was remade in 1996 as the comedy Mrs. Winterbourne. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, John Lund, (more)
- 1950
In 1949, Paramount put together a film version of the radio series My Friend Irma. It was assumed that the main attraction would be scatter-brained Irma, delightfully played by Marie Wilson. Instead, the picture was stolen by a couple of young upstarts named Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Accordingly, My Friend Irma Goes West concentrates almost exclusively on Martin and Lewis, with poor Marie Wilson virtually consigned to a supporting role in her own picture. The story begins when Irma and her friends head westward on the incorrect assumption that Steve Laird (Dean Martin) has landed a movie contract. During the train trip to California, Steve's goonish pal Seymour (Jerry Lewis) is entrusted with a pet monkey, owned by movie star Yvonne Yvonne (Corinne Calvet). There's a contretemps with gangsters and a kidnapping before a happy ending can be realized. Some critics found Jerry Lewis' moronic mugging to be tasteless; others were too busy laughing to be upset. Having proven their mettle with the two My Friend Irma flicks, Martin and Lewis were awarded with their own vehicle, At War With the Army. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lund, Marie Wilson, (more)
- 1950
Peggy Brookfield (Diana Lynn) is one of many aspirants for the position of Queen of the annual Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calfornia. Also competing is Peggy's sister Susan (Barbara Lawrence). Both girls make the trek from Ohio to Pasadena in the company of their father (Charles Coburn), a retired professor. Peggy would seem to have the advantage in the contest, save for one small drawback: she is secretly married to Johnny Higgins (Rock Hudson), and the rules clearly stipulate that the Rose Queen must be single. And that's just one of the many comic complications packed into Peggy's chucklesome 77 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diana Lynn, Charles Coburn, (more)
- 1948
- NR
Something seems fishy when a married man finds new adventure and romance in this comic fantasy. Arthur Peabody (William Powell) is a slightly stuffy businessman from Boston who after turning fifty finds himself suffering from a full-fledged midlife crisis. On the advice of his doctor, Peabody and his wife Polly (Irene Hervey) head to the Caribbean for a restful vacation. One evening, Peabody decides to do some fishing, and he pulls in a highly unexpected catch -- a beautiful mermaid named Lenore (Ann Blythe). Peabody takes the mysterious creature home with him (keeping her in a backyard pond for safekeeping), but while he soon becomes infatuated with Lenore, she's quite shy around others, refusing to let people see her except for the tip of her tail, so few believe his story about the big one he's reeled in. Makeup whiz Bud Westmore designed the special mermaid costuime for Ann Blythe; keep an ear open for the song "The Caribbees", co-written for the movie by Johnny Mercer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Ann Blyth, (more)
- 1947
- NR
Irving Pichel's They Won't Believe Me is the flashback unfolding of Larry Ballentine's (Robert Young) witness-stand testimony in his trial for the murder of girlfriend Verna Carlson (Susan Hayward). Larry is the first to admit he's a parasitic heel, cheating on his rich wife Gretta (Rita Johnson) first with magazine writer Janice Bell (Jane Greer) and then with Verna. Though aware of Larry's affairs, Gretta cannot manage to leave him; rather, she uses her money to keep him in tow. She foils his attempt to run off with Janice by buying him a partnership in a brokerage firm. When she discovers his plan to flee with Verna, she sells her interest, leaving Larry unemployed and penniless. The lovers run off nonetheless, but Verna is killed when a truck crashes into their car. When the authorities assume the charred victim is his wife, Larry gets a sinister idea. He returns home to kill Gretta, but she is already dead, so all he has to do is hide the body. Unfortunately for him, the police come looking for the missing Verna, who they suspect was blackmailing him. They find Gretta's unrecognizable corpse, think it's Verna's, and arrest Larry. The flashback structure of this suspenseful film noir effectively creates a foreboding tension that mounts to a powerful final scene. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Young, Susan Hayward, (more)
Adapted by Barre Lyndon from his own Saturday Evening Post short story, Sundown takes place in Africa during WW2. British army major Coombes (George Sanders) cannot abide the local Arab population, and he has even less time for district commissioner Crawford (Bruce Cabot), who has befriended the natives. Crawford is particularly fond of the beautiful Zia (Gene Tierney), whom Coombes suspects of being a Nazi sympathizer. But when the British troops must make their way through treacherous uncharted territory, they are forced to rely upon the guidance of the enigmatic Zia. Cedric Hardwycke spouts reams and reams of symbolic dialogue as the local British bishop, while among the native extras is a very young Dorothy Dandridge. Impressively photographed (by Charles Lang) and directed (by Henry Hathaway), Sundown just misses being as profound as it obviously wants to be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Cabot, Gene Tierney, (more)
