Edwin Chandler Movies
- 1956
You Can't Run Away From It is a musical remake of Frank Capra's Oscar-winning classic It Happened One Night, complete with same-named characters and word-for-word scene reconstructions. It all begins when spoiled heiress Ellie Andrews (June Allyson) is literally kidnapped from the altar by her wealthy father (Charles Bickford). Escaping from her daddy's yacht with only a handful of clothes and minimal finances, Ellie hops a bus, intending to travel cross-country to be reunited with her fortune-hunting husband. Reporter Peter Warne (Jack Lemmon), sensing a swell newspaper story, tags along. Though Peter and Ellie aren't terribly fond of one another (that's putting it mildly!), by the end of their journey they've fallen in love -- but there are still several last-minute complications before a happy ending can be reached. Most of the musical numbers in the remake are awkwardly inserted during the more famous scenes from the Capra original: the "Walls of Jericho," the impromptu singalong on the bus, the hitchhiking bit, etc. Benefiting from the breezy performances of Jack Lemmon and June Allyson, You Can't Run Away From It is easy to take, but hardly within shouting distance of the original film's brilliance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Allyson, Jack Lemmon, (more)
- 1955
Once again, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are on the trail of a supermarket bandit. The first big break in the case comes unexpectedly when a watch owned by one of the suspects turns up in a repair shop. Featured in the cast is character actor Henry Corden, best remembered by cartoon fans of the 1970s and 1980s as the voice of Fred Flintstone. This episode is a remake of the Dragnet radio broadcast of May 25, 1954. ~ 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
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Angela Lansbury, (more)
- 1947
Bearing traces of such earlier hits as My Favorite Blonde and The Ghost Breakers, Where There's Life is one of the best of Bob Hope's postwar vehicles. The inimitable Mr. Hope is cast as New York radio personality Michael Valentine, who's poised to marry his long-time fiancee Hazel O'Brien (Vera Marshe). But destiny takes a hand when, in the far-off kingdom of Barovia, King Hubertus II (William Edmunds) is felled by an assassin's bullet. To avoid a revolution, the King's cabinet hurriedly searches for Hubertus' sole heir -- who, according to all reliable sources, is one Michael Valentine. Gorgeous General Katrina Grimovich (Signe Hasso) is dispatched to New York to bring Valentine back to Barovia, while a group of insurrectionists, headed by Krivoc (George Coulouris) and Stertorius (George Zucco), conspire to kill Valentine before he can ever leave American soil. When Valentine is apprised of his royal lineage, he assumes that he's the victim of a practical joke perpetrated by his announcer Joe Snyder (George Zucco). Once he's convinced that it's no joke, Valentine and Katrina scurry about the streets of Manhattan, dodging potential assassins at every turn -- not to mention keeping out of the way of Hazel's muscle-bound policeman brother Victor (William Bendix), who assumes that Valentine is merely trying to weasel out of his wedding. Full of bright dialogue and hilarious gag situations, Where There's Life is vintage Bob Hope. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Signe Hasso, (more)
