Joan Dixon Movies
Having successfully launched the career of buxom Jane Russell (and, to a lesser extent, the intriguing Jane Greer), industrialist turned neophyte studio owner Howard Hughes attempted to do the same for sultry Faith Domergue and Norfolk, VA, native Joan Dixon, both of whom resembled Russell somewhat. Unfortunately, Domergue got caught up in the endless filming of what eventually was released as Vendetta (1950) and Dixon was wasted in program pictures, including five Westerns with Tim Holt. The end result of Hughes' obsessions was a series of forgettable potboilers and an RKO facing bankruptcy. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1956
Suffering stoically from the realization that her husband is unfaithful, wealthy Irene Cole (Leora Dana) is ardently courted by two different men during her vacation. One of the suitors is a gentleman named Randall Burnside (Ralph Clanton); the other is a royal prince named Burhan (Jacques Bergerac). The latter claims to be so smitten by Irene that he threatens to kill himself if she doesn't leave her husband for his sake. Shortly thereafter, the prince turns up dead -- and the story goes off on a wholly unexpected new tangent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Director Leslie Selander pulls out all the stops in this the last of RKO's Tim Holt Westerns. A wounded parolee, Carver (Walter Reed), hires stagecoach operators Tim and Chito (Richard Martin) to drive him to Mexico. En route, they encounter Emily (Joan Dixon), the local schoolmarm, who recognizes Carver as the man who embezzled 100,000 dollars from her father, a banker who chose suicide rather than face disgrace. But there are plenty others aware of Carver's secret, including his unscrupulous lawyer, Bronson (John Dehner); his greedy girlfriend, Roxie (Dorothy Patrick); and Roxie's newest beau, Dave Warwick (Clayton Moore). Soon everyone is holed up in a deserted roadhouse -- whose owner, Burley (Michael Mark), has mysteriously disappeared. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Joan Dixon, (more)
- 1951
An insurance investigator, a dame with a yen for the finer things in life and a mail robbery gone horribly wrong are the ingredients in this low-budget but highly engrossing film noir. Charles McGraw and Louis Jean Heydt are tough insurance agents but their partnership comes in for some rough sailing when he former falls head over heels for Joan Dixon, a lady apparently not averse to letting herself be wined and dined by an obvious gang leader (Lowell Gilmore). In an attempt to win the lady's favors, McGraw concocts a plan to rob a mail train insured by his own company. Too late does he discover that the girl is perfectly willing to accept him as he is. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles McGraw, Joan Dixon, (more)
- 1951
Tim Holt rides again in RKO's Gunplay. This time, Holt and saddle pal Chito Rafferty (Richard Martin) try to solve a murder. The victim is the father of 11-year-old Chip Martin ([Harper Carter]) (best known for his portrayal of Clifton Webb's son in Titanic). At stake is a huge inheritance, which young Chip may lose to the head villain (who, of course, masterminded the murder). RKO's Tim Holt series was beginning to show its age, as indicated by the comparatively small box-office take of Gunplay. Nevertheless, the studio continued grinding out low-budget westerns until 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Joan Dixon, (more)
- 1951
Tim Holt comes to the aid of a young telegrapher wrongly accused of murder in this average western from RKO. The telegrapher, Dave Collins Ross Elliott, is released on parole and on his way west when hi-jacked by the same gang that caused his imprisonment in the first place. Gang leader Turk Thorne (John Dehner) needs Dave's help in an upcoming train heist but before he can "persuade" the youngster to go along with the scheme, Dave is rescued by cowpokes Tim Holt and Chito Rafferty (Richard Martin). But Thorne does not give up that easily and soon Dave is accused of killing the local telegrapher (Paul E. Burns), a crime actually committed by Thorne himself. Tim believes in Dave's innocence, however, and agrees to help him by setting a trap for Thorne and his henchmen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Joan Dixon, (more)
- 1951
Pistol Harvest starred RKO's "house cowboys" Tim Holt and Richard Martin. In this one, the two heroes are accused of killing their boss. They are saved from the hangman's noose when two other guys are arrested, but Holt feels as though justice is still not being served. On their own, Holt and Chito set about to track down the genuine killer. Joan Dixon, whose previous RKO endeavor was the tense film noir Roadblock, trods a more virtuous path as Tim Holt's romantic interest. Pistol Harvest was budgeted at $93,000, an indication that even a "B" western was a costly proposition in the postwar years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Joan Dixon, (more)
- 1950
Experiment Alcatraz stars John Howard as a doctor who develops a serum to cure radioactive poisoning. He tests it on several Alcatraz "lifers," who have volunteered for the experiment on the promise of freedom if they survive. A murder within the group casts aspersions on the doctor, but the mystery is solved before the allotted hour's running time is up. While hardly a surefire candidate for box office success, Experiment Alcatraz was purchased for release by RKO for a sum of $100,000. The film had been independently produced a year before its distribution, its lack of production polish betraying its shoestring origins. Coincidentally, leading man John Howard "continued" in the medical profession as the star of the mid-1950s TV series Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Howard, Joan Dixon, (more)
- 1950
Western star Tim Holt and director Lesley Selander continued their collaboration with Law of the Badlands. Holt and his cohort Chico Rafferty (Richard Martin) are lawmen who pose as desperadoes. The plan is to infiltrate a vicious gang of counterfeiters who've been flooding the frontier with funny money. But when Holt's former girl friend Joan Dixon shows up in town, the jig is up. Law of the Badlands was the least expensive Tim Holt western since the mid-1940s, but thanks to postwar inflation the film lost money--as did most of Holt's subsequent RKO B pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Joan Dixon, (more)
- 1950
RKO's Bunco Squad stars Robert Sterling as Sgt. Steve Johnson, a big-city detective dedicated to tracking down con artists. His current target is a gang of slicksters who are running a successful seance racket. Wealthy Jessica Royce (Elizabeth Risdon) is on the verge of bequeathing her fortune to the crooks, in exchange for communications from her deceased son. Posing as a couple of "marks," Johnson and girlfriend Grace Bradshaw (Joan Dixon) turn the tables on con-man Anthony Wells (Ricardo Cortez) and his confreres. On hand to reveal some of the techniques used by bunco artists is Dante the Magician, aka Harry A. Janssen, making the second of his two screen appearances (the first was in Laurel & Hardy's A-Haunting We Will Go). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Sterling, Joan Dixon, (more)
