Helen Bennett Movies
"Miss Missouri of 1937" and a New York model voted "one of the five women in America with the best-dressed hair" by stylist Monsieur Leon (the other four were Claudette Colbert, Kathryn Grayson, Gertrude Lawrence, and Norma Shearer), blonde Helen Bennett appeared on Broadway in Dream Girl prior to playing "Madame Mysterious" in the 1945 Universal serial The Royal Mounted Rides Again. Bennett did two additional serials, Lost City of the Jungle and The Scarlet Horseman (both 1946), but played the female lead in neither. She later worked mostly on the radio but returned to the screen twice, in On the Threshold of Space (1956) and Return to Peyton Place (1961). Bennett was a founding member of the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
If anything, this star-studded sequel is even sillier than the original, adding to its problems by completely recasting all the roles, combining several of them into existing characters. Carol Lynley is the heroine this time, and she leaves Peyton Place for New York to write a book about the hypocrisy of her hometown. The book causes lots of trouble back home, getting Mike (Robert Sterling) fired as principal, angering Lynley's mother (Eleanor Parker), and stirring such horrible memories in Selena (Tuesday Weld) that she brains her new boyfriend with a fireplace poker, thinking he is her dead rapist stepfather. The film really belongs to Mary Astor, in a hilarious turn as a smotheringly possessive mother. She tries to come between her son and his new bride (Luciana Paluzzi) in some unintentionally hilarious scenes, causing Paluzzi to fling herself down a ski slope in an attempt at a self-induced miscarriage. Overwrought and overblown, the film is still a treat for fans of campy "suburban sin" melodramas. Look for Bob Crane as an unctuous talk show sidekick. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Lynley, Jeff Chandler, (more)
- 1956
The men behind America's first venture into space are honored in this drama that paid special emphasis on historical accuracy and obtained much input and assistance from the US Air Force. The story centers on an Air Force doctor who performs many detailed test to discover how the human body will respond to the rigors of space travel including its reactions to being ejected in a space capsule from 45,000 feet, to traveling 1,000 miles per hour in a rocket sled, and ascending to 100,000 feet in a balloon. His devoted wife supports him all the way even though he sometimes insists on using himself as a guinea pig. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Madison, Virginia Leith, (more)
- 1946
As appealing as ever in 1946, Deanna Durbin was admittedly getting a bit long in tooth for her ingenue-like role in Because of Him. Durbin is cast as Kim Walker, an aspiring actress determined to become the protegee of famed Broadway actor/producer Sheridan (Charles Laughton). The only person not charmed by Kim's herculean efforts to achieve stardom is playwright Paul Taylor (Franchot Tone), who balks when ordered to write a play for her. But even Taylor is won over by fadeout time, leaving Sheridan, who'd also had designs on Kim, in the lurch. Evidently intended as a "straight" comedy, Because of Him was turned into a musical at the last minute, with a handful of pleasant but irrelevant songs wedged into the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone, (more)
- 1946
British character actor Lionel Atwill, in his final performance, appeared as a power-mad Englishman attempting to rule the world in this 13 chapter Universal serial. Sir Eric Hazarias (Atwill) is searching the mountains of Himalaya for Metorium 245, the only known antidote to the Bomb. Sir Eric is opposed by United Peace Foundation investigator Rod Stanton (Russell Hayden of Hopalong Cassidy fame); scientist daughter Marjorie Elmore (Jane Adams, who had been so memorable as the hunchbacked nurse in House of Dracula); and a local guide, Tal Shen (Keye Luke, Charlie Chan's number one son). Midway through the serial, the British megalomaniac steps in the background in favor of the even more nefarious Malborn (John Mylong), "the power in back of Sir Eric." The sad reason for this sudden change of direction was the fact that Atwill was dying of bronchial cancer (he died April 22, 1946). Bits of dialogue filmed earlier were inserted, and actor George Sorel doubled Atwill in several scenes, Sir Eric's trademark Panama hat pulled well down over his face. In an economy move, The Lost City of the Jungle used stock footage from Columbia's earlier Lost Horizon, the 1943 Maria Montez vehicle White Savage, and even Leni Riefenstahl's legendary White Hell of Pitz Palu. Leading lady Adams, who later professed to have had a great time filming this serial, was the only Universal contract actor in the cast. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1946
In this below-average western serial, a Texas ranger goes undercover as "The Scarlet Horseman," a legendary figure for the Commanche tribe whose leadership they respect. The reason for the ranger's sudden interest in Commanche affairs stems from a series of kidnappings of wives and daughters of senators in an attempt to force a partition of Texas. Behind the scheme is Matosca, a mysterious woman who turns out to be the daughter of a discredited senator. The cast of this serial is more interesting than the overly complicated plot or the rather pedestrian action sequences. Peter Cookson, a typically bland 4F leading man of the early '40s, earned star billing, although the title role is played by Paul Guilfoyle, a sneaky-looking character actor who usually played hoodlums. Even more surprising than Guilfoyle's sudden heroics is the presence of Virginia Christine ("Mrs. Olsson" of coffee commercial fame), a blond dialectician rarely found in such slam-bang surroundings. Victoria Horne, the wife of comedian Jack Oakie, played a treacherous Indian squaw and Janet Shaw, an all-purpose Universal starlet, was the little seen heroine. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1946
Martha O'Driscoll fills the title role quite nicely in Blonde Alibi. The plot of this rapid-fire programmer involves a murder. Aviator Tom Neal is accused of the crime, thanks to the idiotic intervention of absent-minded professor Samuel S. Hinds. It is up to O'Driscoll, Neal's secretary, to prove that her boss is innocent (Universal Pictures would later retool this plotline for their above-average "film noir" Phantom Lady). Ironically, the career of Blonde Alibi co-star Tom Neal would come to an end when, in 1965, he killed his real-life wife Gail Evatt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martha O'Driscoll, Tom Neal, (more)
- 1945
In time-honored fashion, a couple of supporting players -- George Dolenz and Bill Kennedy -- found themselves elevated to starring roles in this minor Universal serial. They played Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers investigating the murder of a miner. The story, of course, was less important than speed and action, which directors Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins delivered in typical slap-dash Universal style. Starlet Daun Kennedy did not make much of an impression as the imperiled leading lady, and former star Robert Armstrong (of King Kong fame) was wasted in a subordinate role. Rondo Hatton, a non-actor whose grotesque appearance (caused by acromegaly, the so-called "Elephant Man" disease) was tastelessly exploited by Universal in the '40s, appeared as one of the outlaws. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1939
Few promotional films have received such wide circulation, and for so long a period, as 1939's Middleton Family at the NY World's Fair. Originally designed as a 50-minute, full-color "informercial" for Westinghouse, the film follows a "typical" American family as they take in the wonders of the World's Fair at Flushing Meadows, Long Island. Naturally, the Middleton Family is most impressed by the collection of futuristic time- and labor-saving appliances at the Westinghouse exhibit. The film's most fascinating sequence finds the Middletons in awe at that miracle of modern technology--Television. Instead of the usual collection of unknowns, the cast of The Middleton Family etc. is comprised of quite a few familiar faces, including Harry Shannon (Kane's dad in Citizen Kane) as dad, Ruth Lee (costar of the Robert Benchley one-reelers) as mom, Marjorie Lord (future "Mrs. Danny Williams" on The Danny Thomas Show) as daughter Babs, and Jimmy Lydon (two years away from his "Henry Aldrich" series) as son Bud. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marjorie Lord, Jimmy Lydon, (more)
