Ruth Donnelly Movies

Few actresses other than Joan Crawford could have successfully pulled off the melodramatic excesses of Autumn Leaves. Though a very attractive fortysomething, Crawford remains aloof from romance until she meets Cliff Robertson, a young man half her age. An ardent and persistent suitor, Robertson finally breaks down her resistence to marriage. After a few weeks of wedded bliss, Crawford is confronted by Vera Miles, who claims to be Robertson's first wife. Miles further insists that Robertson is mentally unbalanced...and his subsequent behavior seems to bear this out. What Crawford doesn't know-but the audience does-is that the real villains of the piece are Miles and her middle-aged lover, Robertson's own father (Lorne Greene). Autumn Leaves works far better on screen than it does in print, thanks to the virtuoso performances of practically everyone in the cast. And, as anyone who's listened to top-40 radio during the past four decades already knows, the film also yielded a hit title song, written by Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prevert, and Johnny Mercer and performed during the credits by Nat King Cole. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Up until its surisingly mundane finale, A Lawless Street is one of the best of the Randolph Scott westerns of the 1950s. Scott plays famed marshal Calem Ware, whose strenous activities on behalf of law and order have exacted a toll on his personal life. Keeping the peace in the town of Medicine Bend, Ware hopes to someday be reconciled with his ex-wife Tally Dickinson (Angela Lansbury), now a touring musical comedy star. Just as Tally arrives in Medicine Bend, Ware is forced to deal with big-time criminals Thorne (Warner Anderson) and Clark (John Emery), not to mention their hired gun Baskam (Michael Pate). Will he do his duty and rid the town of his outlaw element, or will he hang up his guns as Tally wants him to? One of the highlights of A Lawless Street is a lively saloon-hall number performed by Angela Lansbury, who is quite a dish in her revealing stage wardrobe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wendell Corey and Forrest Tucker, the Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy of Republic, star as a pair of World War II Army Air Corps officers. In between their battles over the affections of beautiful nurse Vera Hruba Ralston, Corey and Tucker prepare to fly a bombing mission in the South Pacific. Before boarding their B29 Superfortress, Tucker appears to be chickening out, but he's steadfastly at his cockpit post at takeoff time. For a big-budget war picture, Wild Blue Yonder contains a surprising amount of chorus boy-style singing. The best musical vignette is supporting player Phil Harris' rendition of his hit song "The Thing" ("Get outta here with that [thump! thump! thump!] /Before I call a cop" etc.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dana Andrews is brutal metropolitan police detective Dixon, who despises all criminals because his father had been one. When the cops pick up two-bit gambler Ken Paine (Craig Stevens) as a murder suspect, Dixon subjects Paine to the third degree -- and accidentally kills him. In disposing of the body, Dixon inadvertently places the blame for the killing on cab driver Jiggs Taylor (Tom Tully). Having fallen in love with Jigg's daughter, Morgan (Gene Tierney), Dixon tries to clear the cabbie without implicating himself, but ultimately he becomes trapped in a web of his own making; luckily Morgan promises to stand by him. Where the Sidewalk Ends was adapted from a novel by William L. Stuart; its director was Otto Preminger, who'd previously put Andrews and Tierney through their paces in Laura (1944). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Boys Town" goes to turn-of-the-century St. Louis in this moving drama that chronicles the love of a determined priest struggling to turn around the lives of a street-wise gang of newsboys living at his homeless shelter. The good father has little money and must use his wits and ability to convince others to help out to supply the little shelter. Much of the story centers on his relationship with a troubled lad who accidentally kills someone. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Ghost Goes Wild is a low-cost but high-rolling farce starring James Ellison and Anne Gwynne. It starts off with Ellison, a young artist, being sued for an unauthorized caricature. To escape arrest, Ellison disguises himself as a mystic, only to conjure up a genuine ghost during a seance. Things come to a head during Ellison's trial, where the invisible ghost takes the witness stand on Our Hero's behalf. The Ghost Goes Wild is a rare venture into wacky comedy by western-oriented Republic Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this earnest, sentimental drama, a mother does all she can to keep her rebellious daughter from making the same tragic mistakes as she did. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Director Joseph Kane adapted his own story Diamond Carlisle for the screenplay of In Old Sacramento--the third film version of Kane's original tale. Bill Elliot stars as masked bandit Spanish Jack, who behaves as badly as he wishes with few of the usual redeeming features plaguing most cinema desperadoes. In fact, in the earlier film versions of Diamond Carlisle, Elliot's character was the villain! After numerous hairbreadth adventures, Elliot dies in the arms of loving saloon singer Constance Moore. Also released as Flame of Sacramento, this was the first of a long line of films in which onetime "B" cowboy star Bill Elliot would portray a new kind of "B" western hero--one who drank at any opportunity, took advantage of unarmed foes, and lived by his own personal code rather than the edicts of society. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Yes, even Ida Lupino occasionally starred in screwball comedies during the 1930s and 1940s. Pillow to Post casts Lupino as free-spirited travelling saleswoman Jane Howard, who has trouble finding suitable lodgings during the wartime housing shortage. In order to secure a room at a motor camp catering exclusively to married servicemen, Jane pretends to be the wife of hapless young lieutenant Don Mallory (William Prince). Misunderstanding piles upon misunderstanding, and before long poor Mallory is facing a general court-martial. While Lupino pushes the envelope a bit in the leading role, the film's comedy content is also in the capable hands of Sidney Greenstreet, Stu Erwin and Willie Best. Pillow to Post is adapted from a stage play by Rose Simon Kohn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A grown-up Jane Withers is joined by a whole slew of former child stars in the lightweight Republic musical Johnny Doughboy. Withers capably essays the part of a teenaged movie star who tires of the spotlight and runs away from Hollywood. Adopting an alias, she joins "The Junior Victory Caravan", a group of youthful USO performers. She also pursues a romance with much-older playwright Henry Wilcoxon, only to be (deliberately) disillusioned by the man. Among the juvenile favorites making cameo appearances in Johnny Doughboy are Bobby Breen, Baby Sandy, Butch & Buddy, Cora Sue Collins, Robert Coogan (Jackie's brother) and ex-"Little Rascals" George "Spanky" McFarland and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Practically everybody on the Warner Bros. lot shows up in the wartime morale-boosting musical extravaganza Thank Your Lucky Stars. Believe it or not, this one has a wisp of a plot. A pair of enterprising producers, played by S.Z. Sakall and Edward Everett Horton, want to hire singer Dinah Shore for their upcoming Cavalcade of Stars. Unfortunately, this means they must deal with Shore's boss, radio comedian Eddie Cantor. The egotistical Cantor insists upon joining the show himself, driving everyone crazy with his take-charge attitude. Meanwhile, singer Dennis Morgan, hoodwinked by a crooked agent into thinking he's signed a contract with Cantor, shows up backstage at Sakall and Horton's rehearsal, only to be given the boot. While all this is going on, aspiring actress Joan Leslie has befriended a bus driver named Joe Simpson--who happens to be a dead ringer for Eddie Cantor (and why not? Ol' "Banjo Eyes" plays both parts). Turns out that Joe is another showbiz wannabe, but he has been denied a break because he looks too much like Cantor. You see what's comin' now, right, folks? Morgan and Leslie will get their big breaks when Joe Simpson impersonates Eddie Cantor, who's been kidnapped by Indians (bet you didn't see that one coming!) All of this expository nonsense is merely an excuse to show off Warners' talent roster in a series of engaging specialty numbers: John Garfield talk-sings Blues in the Night, Jack Carson and Alan Hale do a buck-and-wing, a jitterbug number is performed by Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland and George Tobias, Hattie McDaniel and Willie Best strut their stuff in Ice Cold Katie, and so on. Highlights include Errol Flynn's That's What You Jolly Well Get, an English music hall-style sendup of Flynn's movie heroics, and Bette Davis' peerless (and endearingly off-key) rendition of They're Either too Young or Too Old. As a bonus, Humphrey Bogart shows up long enough to be browbeaten and intimidated by S.Z. Sakall ("Gee, I hope none of my movie fans see this!" moans Bogart as the soundtrack plays a mocking rendition of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?) Subtle and sophisticated it isn't, but Thank Your Lucky Stars is so entertaining that you'll forget all about its multitude of flaws. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A daffy romantic comedy released in Great Britain under the title Good Morning Doctor, this film reunites the two stars of The Lady Eve. Henry Fonda plays Peter Kirk, a wealthy but bored playboy who has a skiing accident while admiring a beautiful woman. The woman turns out to be a doctor, Helen Hunt (Barbara Stanwyck), who treats the injuries to his rear end. The two fall in love and marry. But Peter, who has too much time on his hands, becomes jealous of his wife's time with her male patients. Helen makes him look for a job to keep him from stewing. Because he has no experience, the only position that Peter can get is as a department store clerk. The other workers there discover that he's a millionaire and force him to leave, causing him to rethink how he is going to spend his free time. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide