George Fields Movies
- 1955
The Naked Sea was one of the best of the many feature-length documentaries distributed by RKO Radio in the mid-1950s. Narrated by William Conrad, the films follows the four-month, 15,000 mile journey of the tuna clipper Star Kist. As the fishermen go about their appointed tasks, the camera soaks in a lot of local color, including a raging South American hurricane and the eruption of a Galapagos Islands volcano. Naked Sea was photographed and directed by Allen H. Miner, later a prolific TV helmsman. The film was originally shot in 16 millimeter, then blown up to 35 millimeter (with no loss of quality) for theatrical distribution. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1951
When I Grow Up is an uncharacteristically modest film from producer Sam Spiegel (during his "S. P. Eagle" years). Bobby Driscoll plays a young boy who feels neglected and misunderstood at home. Preparing to run away, Bobby chances across an old diary once kept by his grandfather (Charley Grapewin). Leafing through the yellowed pages, Bobby discovers that grandpa went through many of the same childhood travails that Bobby is enduring today--and look how well gramps turned out! Armed with a renewed understanding of (and appreciation for) his elders, Bobby decides to stick around for a while and see how things develop. Sadly, such a pat happy ending was not the real-life lot of Bobby Driscoll, who died an alcoholic pauper seventeen years after When I Grow Up was filmed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Driscoll, Robert Preston, (more)
- 1951
I Was an American Spy is a true story, based on a series of autobiographical Reader's Digest articles written by Claire Phillips. Ann Dvorak stars as Ms. Phillips, an American nightclub singer trapped in Singapore when the Japanese march in. Having lost her husband to the Bataan death march, Phillips agrees to join an American secret agent (Gene Evans) in undermining the Japanese occupation troops. She is captured by the enemy, tortured, and sentenced to be shot, but is rescued at the last minute by her American contact. I Was an American Spy handles its more brutal scenes with a marked degree of tastefulness, thanks to the careful direction of Lesley Selander. Just as in their wartime movie appearances, Chinese actor Richard Loo and Korean actor Philip Ahn are eminently hissable as the Japanese villains. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Dvorak, Gene Evans, (more)
- 1948
It was perhaps inevitable that Monogram's "Teen Agers" series would get around to a murder mystery: after all, wasn't Monogram the home of Charlie Chan, Mr. Wong and The Shadow? Campus Sleuth finds perennial co-stars Freddy Stewart and June Preisser cast as coeds Freddie Trimball and Dodie Rogers. When a magazine photographer is murdered, Freddy and June set about to solve the murder, with the dubious assistance of their college chums Lee Watson (Warren Mills) and Dodie's sister Betty (played by Noel Neill, who later gained TV fame as Lois Lane on Superman). While Inspector Watson (Donald MacBride) fumes, fusses, and jumps to all the wrong conclusions, our young heroes and heroines track down the killer -- who happens to be one of the film's musical guest stars! The film's biggest "mystery" is how the producers managed to pack a murder story, a plethora of comedy relief and four musical numbers into 57 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freddie Stewart, June Preisser, (more)
- 1948
In this musical comedy, a group of clean-cut teens desire to turn an abandoned warehouse into a youth center. Unfortunately they and their two leaders are opposed by the mayor who wants to use the building for his own gain. The kids then put on a show and soon the mayor is convinced to give them the building. Musical numbers include: "Young Man with a Beat" (performed by the Gene Krupa Orchestra), "Sincerely Yours" (sung by Stewart), "Isn't This a Night for Love?" (sung by Stewart), "Household Blues" (sung by Davis), and "Young Man" (sung by Davis, Stewart). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freddie Stewart, June Preisser, (more)
