Kathy Frye Movies

This detective-themed action-adventure film spoofs The Big Sleep, which was based on the novel by Raymond Chandler. Burt Reynolds plays McCoy, a hard-nosed private detective. The story has more tangles than a bowl of spaghetti, but it begins when McCoy is called to the house of Hume (Ron Weyand), an eccentric diamond dealer, and is given the task of recovering some stolen gems. McCoy is beaten by a gang of thugs to warn him off the job, and this lets him know that he's onto something really big. By the end of the film, McCoy will have hooked up with a gorgeous blonde (Dyan Cannon), driven a tank through a warehouse wall, and delivered numerous crooks to the police. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The scene is Shanghai: the time, WW II. An international group of women left stranded during the Japanese invasion are rounded up by the local authorities to act as "comfort girls" for high-ranking Nazi and Japanese officials. Bridling at this degrading treatment, the ladies secretly work on behalf of the Chinese Underground, relaying vital information to the Allies and, at one point, committing murder in the name of Democracy. The plot thickens with the introduction of a Nazi "cosmic ray" device, which OSS operative Van Arnheim (William Henry) hopes to destroy before it can be used in battle. Van Arnheim's courageous wife is played by Virginia Christine, light-years removed from her stint as "Mrs. Olsen" in the Folger's Coffee TV commercials. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Gene Autry goes up against a crooked oil company in this delightful music Western restored in 2001 by Gene Autry Entertainment. Carruthers (William Royle) of the so-called Alta Vista Oil Company is selling worthless stock from a non-existent well located on a Spanish land grant occupied by Padre Dominic (William Farnum) and his orphanage. At first, the padre's niece, Anita Loredo (Luana Walters), accuses radio entertainer Gene Autry of being in cahoots with Carruthers, but the crooner instead unmasks the oil company for the phony outfit it is. A defecting engineer, Blythe (LeRoy Mason), suspects that there really is oil in them thar hills and with the help of Mexican outlaw turned Robin Hood Valdez (Noah Beery), Gene tricks Carruthers and his equally crooked salesman McElroy (Roy Barcroft) into abandoning the well. A heroic Valdez is killed during the rescue of a couple of wayward orphans (Wally Albright and Kathy Frye) but the discovery of oil saves the orphanage from bankruptcy. In addition to the hit title song, Gene Autry performs "You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven," "El Rancho Grande," and "Robin Hood" while comic sidekick Smiley Burnette takes care of "My Orchestra's Driving Me Crazy." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi