Olive Deering Movies
Olive Deering was a very busy actress in theater, radio, and television from the early '30s until the 1970s. The sister of actor/director Alfred Ryder, she was born in New York and educated at the Professional Children's School, and made her stage debut in 1933, at the age of 15, with a mute walk-on role in a production of Girls in Uniform. She played a key role in Moss Hart's wartime stage piece Winged Victory (though not in the film version in which, ironically, her brother had a part). Her notable stage performances included working opposite Paul Muni in a revival of Elmer Rice's play Counselor-at-Law, with Maurice Evans in Richard II, and in Marc Blitzstein's No for an Answer. She also received excellent notices for her work in a Los Angeles production of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly, Last Summer. Deering's movie work was sporadic, starting with an uncredited role in Elia Kazan's Gentleman's Agreement; she appeared in John Cromwell's Caged, but her most visible work was in a pair of Cecil B. DeMille epics, Samson and Delilah and The Ten Commandments, and was in movies as late as 1972. Much of Deering's career off the stage, however, was focused on radio -- she played hundreds of roles in that medium -- and on television, on which she was playing dramatic roles as early as 1948, on anthology series such as Philco Television Playhouse, Goodyear Television Playhouse, and Alcoa Presents. She also did episodes of Perry Mason, Sam Benedict, and Ben Casey, though her most memorable and visible work (thanks to home video) was as the hysterical runaway wife in The Outer Limits episode "The Zanti Misfits." Deering died of cancer in 1986. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi- 1972
In this rites-of-passage drama, two suburban children, one 12-years old, and the other 14, run away and head for L.A. En route they meet a hunter and his retarded son. They later meet and become friends with a pair of dope smoking hippies who operate a tavern. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1965
Dexter and Joyce Dailey (Jeremy Slate, Kathryn Hays) are thoroughly satisfied with Frieda (Lilia Skala), the kindly German nursemaid they have hired for their new baby. But while Dexter remains satisfied, Joyce does not: reading an account of a child murder in San Francisco, she is startled that the description of the killer fits the beloved Frieda to a tee. With Dexter steadfastly refusing to fire the old woman, it falls to Joyce to find out the truth -- and to prevent a tragedy under her own roof. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kathryn Hays, Jeremy Slate, (more)
- 1964
In this offbeat melodrama, a crazed gardener is relegated to a mental hospital after he goes berserk and beheads his wealthy boss. The scuttlebutt in the courtroom is that the killer has stolen over a million dollars from his former employer and has hidden it on the estate. A professional actor is hired to feign insanity to get into the home, befriend the maniac, and find out where he hid the cash. Once he is admitted, the hapless actor encounters bedlam as he meets the patients, undergoes electroshock therapy, and suffers through several injections. Eventually he finds himself falling for a manic-depressive woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stuart Whitman, Carol Lynley, (more)
- 1963
The inhabitants of the planet Zanti establish contact with Earth, and prevail upon its inhabitants to accept custody of their criminals, whom they are incapable of executing. The Zantis demand total seclusion for the prison ship, which the humans grant out of fear that they will use their superior weaponry to destroy them. General Hart (Robert F. Simon) is put in charge of securing the Zanti ship a peaceful, unmolested landing in a desolate section of the California desert; he has also granted permission for one civilian observer, a historian (Michael Tolan), to witness this first contact with an alien race. The security of the Zanti ship is violated, however, when a wanted criminal (Bruce Dern) and his girlfriend (Olive Deering) break into the sealed area. This leads to the death of the man and an attack on the woman, and a breakout by the alien criminals. The insect-shaped occupants of the hive-like spaceship attack the military outpost monitoring their landing, leading to an all-out bloodbath between the aliens and the human defenders. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- 1959
Hotel waitress Thelma Tompkins (Olive Deering) is surprised to learn that wealthy Mrs. Mannerheim (Celia Lovsky) has named Thelma in her will. Relating this news to her lazy musician boyfriend, Arthur (Rick Jason), in hopes that he will propose to her, Thelma is disappointed when Arthur replies that marriage is out of the question until Mrs. Mannerheim dies. Giving this set of circumstances, Thelma and Arthur have no alternative than to "help" Mrs. Mannerheim shuffle off her mortal coil -- a scheme ultimately foiled by the usual ironic twist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1959
Every time the family of teenager Alice Denning (Luana Anders) moves to a new town, mysterious fires begin breaking out. Circumstantial evidence would suggest that Alice is responsible for these fires, even though she is never anywhere near the flames. Can it be that the girl is demonically possessed. . .or have the fires been caused by that curious phenomenon known as spontaneous combustion? Featured as Alice's long-suffering father is Edward C. Platt, better known as "The Chief" in the 1960s sitcom Get Smart. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1958
Doris Hocksley (Toni Gerry, long-lost daughter of the late Adam Hocksley and sole heir to Hocksley's estate, arrives in Los Angeles and contacts Alan Neil (Warren Stevens), nephew of the estate's executor Elston Carr (Anthony Joachim). Later, Carr is found murdered in his home--and Doris is hiding in on the premises. With her fingerprints all over the murder weapon, Doris would seem to be caught red-handed, but Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) believes in her innocence. Problem is, the only other likely suspect is Alan Neil--and he turns up murdered as well. This episode is based on a 1941 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1957
One of the better entries in the short-lived CBS Sunday-afternoon anthology The Seven Lively Arts, "The World of Nick Adams" was adapted by A.E. Hotchner from five different Ernest Hemingway short stories: "The End of Something," " "Three Day Blow," "The Light of the World," "The Battler," "Now I Lay Me." A young Steven Hill (Mission: Impossible, Law & Order) stars as Hemingway's youthful alter ego Nick Adams, who while recuperating from wounds received in WWI recalls the past events of his life: Running away from home, making valuable friends and dangerous enemies, learning how to discern phoniness in the self-righteous and nobility in the downtrodden, etc. In his first assignment for TV, composer Aaron Copland provides the special's incidental music. Newspaper columnist John Crosby serves as host. Much of The World of Nick Adams was later incorporated in the 1962 theatrical feature Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Crosby, Steven Hill, (more)
Based on the Holy Scriptures, with additional dialogue by several other hands, The Ten Commandments was the last film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The story relates the life of Moses, from the time he was discovered in the bullrushes as an infant by the pharoah's daughter, to his long, hard struggle to free the Hebrews from their slavery at the hands of the Egyptians. Moses (Charlton Heston) starts out "in solid" as Pharoah's adopted son (and a whiz at designing pyramids, dispensing such construction-site advice as "Blood makes poor mortar"), but when he discovers his true Hebrew heritage, he attempts to make life easier for his people. Banished by his jealous half-brother Rameses (Yul Brynner), Moses returns fully bearded to Pharoah's court, warning that he's had a message from God and that the Egyptians had better free the Hebrews post-haste if they know what's good for them. Only after the Deadly Plagues have decimated Egypt does Rameses give in. As the Hebrews reach the Red Sea, they discover that Rameses has gone back on his word and plans to have them all killed. But Moses rescues his people with a little Divine legerdemain by parting the Seas. Later, Moses is again confronted by God on Mt. Sinai, who delivers unto him the Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, the Hebrews, led by the duplicitous Dathan (Edward G. Robinson), are forgetting their religion and behaving like libertines. "Where's your Moses now?" brays Dathan in the manner of a Lower East Side gangster. He soon finds out. DeMille's The Ten Commandments may not be the most subtle and sophisticated entertainment ever concocted, but it tells its story with a clarity and vitality that few Biblical scholars have ever been able to duplicate. It is very likely the most eventful 219 minutes ever recorded to film--and who's to say that Nefertiri (Anne Baxter) didn't make speeches like, "Oh, Moses, Moses, you splendid, stubborn, adorable fool"? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, (more)
Caged, considered the best woman's prison film ever made, represents a union between realistic socially conscious drama and the more stylized world of film noir. Marie, (Eleanor Parker), is sentenced to prison for helping her husband in a small robbery. The prison is run by the sadistic matron Evelyn (Hope Emerson) who is secure in her position due to corrupt political influence. The film shows Marie's slow disillusionment with society and her eventual decision to become a prostitute in order to gain parole after observing her friend and fellow inmate Kitty (Betty Garde) lose her sanity and murder their oppressor Evelyn. With this uncompromisingly pessimistic statement on human nature, John Cromwell reaches his peak as a director. Under his expert direction, Eleanor Parker gives the best performance of her career and creates a convincing metamorphosis from a innocent young girl to a hardened criminal. Her performance is nuanced, low-keyed and emotionally charged. Equally impressive is Cromwell's visual realization of the claustrophobia of prison life, aided by the high-contrast photography of Carl Guthrie. This excellent, grim drama is uncompromising in its refusal to sentimentalize the plight of Marie as a victim or to absolve her of her role in her fate, nor does it absolve society as it shows the results of desperation and brutalization on human dignity. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, (more)
Samson and Delilah is Cecil B. DeMille's characteristically expansive retelling of the events found in the Old Testament passages of Judges 13-16. Victor Mature plays Samson, the superstrong young Danite. Samson aspires to marry Philistine noblewoman Semadar (Angela Lansbury), but she is killed when her people attack Samson as a blood enemy. Seeking revenge, Semadar's younger sister Delilah (Hedy Lamarr) woos Samson in hopes of discovering the secret of his strength, thus enabling her to destroy him. When she learns that his source of his virility is his long hair, Delilah plies Samson with drink, then does gives him the Old Testament equivalent of a buzzcut while he snores away. She delivers the helpless Samson to the Philistines, ordering that he be put to work as a slave. Blinded and humiliated by his enemies, Samson is a sorry shell of his former self. Ultimately, Samson's hair grows back, thus setting the stage for the rousing climax wherein Samson literally brings down the house upon the wayward Philistines. Hedy Lamarr is pretty hopeless as Delilah, but Victor Mature is surprisingly good as Samson, even when mouthing such idiotic lines as "That's all right. It's only a young lion". Even better is George Sanders as The Saran of Gaza, who wisely opts to underplay his florid villainy. The spectacular climax to Samson and Delilah allows us to forget such dubious highlights as Samson's struggle with a distressing phony lion and the tedious cat-and-mouse romantic scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hedy Lamarr, Victor Mature, (more)
- 1949
The upsurge in commercial air travel in the postwar years resulted in several films dealing with the trials and tribulations of airline stewardesses. Gloria Henry, who'd later star as Alice Mitchell in TV's Dennis the Menace, is teamed with Danny Thomas' future TV wife Marjorie Lord and Audrey Long in Air Hostess. The three leading ladies are cast as stewardesses-in-training, and of course each of the girls is pursuing her own agenda. Henry wants to follow in the footsteps of her sister; Lord wants to honor the memory of her late husband, an airline pilot; and Long is on the lookout for a wealthy husband. Way down on the cast list is another TV star-to-be, Barbara "June Cleaver" Billingsley. In addition, Air Hostess represents one of the few talking pictures made by former silent-screen favorite Leatrice Joy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gloria Henry, Ross Ford, (more)
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