Vera Francis Movies
- 1956
This 62-minute quickie takes place during a single 12-hour shift at Los Angeles' Emergency Hospital. In anticipation of such contemporary TV dramas as Chicago Hope and ER, several subplots are developed at once. Dr. Janet Carey (Margaret Lindsay) is romanced by wealthy Ben Caldwell (Byron Palmer), who may or may not be a dangerously reckless motorist. Visiting detective Arnold (Walter Reed) must come to grips with the fact that his teenaged son (Jim Stapleton) is a budding delinquent. And other major and minor crises are experienced by nurse Norma Mullen (Rita Johnson) and staff doctor Ellis (John Archer). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lindsay, Walter Reed, (more)
- 1955
Devil Goddess was the sixteenth and last of Columbia's "Jungle Jim" series. Johnny Weissmuller, playing "himself" (as he had in the last few films in this series), agrees to help a professor (Selmer Jackson) find a colleague who has disappeared into the jungle. Before you can say "Heart of Darkness", we learn that the missing man (William Griffith) has set himself up as a white god, ruling over a tribe of fire worshippers. The "god's" headquarters is a volcano, long dormant but ripe for eruption. The "goddess" of the title is the daughter (Angela Stevens) of the investigating professor, whom the white despot hopes to marry after bumping off the rest of the search party. Weissmuller and his friends narrowly escape the inflammatory volcano with an unburied treasure in tow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Weissmuller, Angela Stevens, (more)
- 1953
The President's Lady is an historical drama starring Charlton Heston as Andrew Jackson and Susan Hayward as his wife Rachel, Jackson marries Rachel after she divorces her unfaithful first husband (Whitfield Connor), with scandal resulting when the ex-husband refuses to finalize the divorce. Jackson climbs up the military and political ladder, but Rachel is never socially acceptable due to her "tainted" past. Nonetheless, Jackson stands staunchly beside his wife, even fighting a duel for her honor. On the eve of Jackson's presidential election, Rachel dies, but "Ol' Hickory" takes comfort in recalling a marriage that remained happy against all odds. The best sequence in The President's Lady is a comic vignette which explodes the legend of the "pipe-smoking" Rachel Jackson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Hayward, Charlton Heston, (more)
- 1948
Good Time Girl, directed by David MacDonald and based on a story by Arthur La Bern (It Always Rains On Sunday) starts off unpromisingly, as juvenile justice official Flora Robson tries to keep a would-be female felon on the straight-and-narrow, telling the cautionary tale of Gwen Rawlings (Jean Kent). A victim of an unhappy home and her own stupidity, Rawlings leaves home and, with help from her sleazy new neighbor Jimmy Rosso (Peter Glenville, the future director), gets a job as a hat-check girl at a club run by Max Vine (erbert Lom). But Jimmy's jealousy soon gets him fired, and leaves him aiming for revenge on Max and Gwen. Despite the best efforts of Michael Farrell (Dennis Price), the one truly decent man she's ever met, Jimmy achieves his goal and Gwen is sent to a reformatory. It is there that she's truly corrupted by being locked up with more seasoned juvenile (and not so juvenile) felons, who know how to game the system -- whem she escapes, she's a professional criminal, and, taking on a new alias, falls in with a pair of loose-living gents. She manages to commit a vehicular homicide, and then falls in with a pair of American military deserters (Bonar Colleano, Hugh McDermott) who aren't above committing pre-meditated murder. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Kent, Dennis Price, (more)
- 1945
This 1949 British film told a very plausible story about a triangle between a woman, her soldier husband, and her new lover. Jim Colter (John Mills) has joined the services, leaving his wife Tillie (Joy Shelton) with his mother (Beatrice Varley) and sister. Tillie is lonely, meets Ted Purvis (Stewart Granger), and falls for him. It turns
out that Purvis is a small-time crook and swindler and falsified his medical records in order to avoid serving in the war. Jim finds out about the affair and deserts the war to return home and settle matters. But he is set upon and beaten by Purvis' hoodlum buddies. Unchastened, Jim goes after Purvis, and they engage in a climactic fist fight as bombs are dropping during a Nazi air raid. The entire story is played out against the noisy backdrop of a country at war. It was based on a story by director Sidney Gilliat. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
out that Purvis is a small-time crook and swindler and falsified his medical records in order to avoid serving in the war. Jim finds out about the affair and deserts the war to return home and settle matters. But he is set upon and beaten by Purvis' hoodlum buddies. Unchastened, Jim goes after Purvis, and they engage in a climactic fist fight as bombs are dropping during a Nazi air raid. The entire story is played out against the noisy backdrop of a country at war. It was based on a story by director Sidney Gilliat. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Stewart Granger, (more)
- 1942
British radio funster Arthur Askey inherits British film comedian Will Hay's longtime stooges Moore Marriot and Graham Moffatt in Back Room Boy. Big-Hearted Askey plays a cuckoo scientist seeking peace and quiet in a Scottish lighthouse. No such luck: the house is being used as a rendezvous for Nazi spies. Beyond the presence of Marriot and Moffatt, one gets the impression that Back Room Boy was originally intended as a Will Hay vehicle, inasmuch as Hay's longtime scripters Val Guest and Marriot Edgar wrote the yarn. Young Googie Withers fares well in an a thankless leading-lady assignment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A British soldier stationed in Africa comes to believe that he is in possession of Arthur's Excalibur in this drama. The expert swordsman comes to believe this after he is named a hero during a duel. He attributes his skill and courage to the famous weapon. Later he is deeply embarrassed to learns that it is not Arthur's sword. This does not keep him from saving his friends from enemy hands. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
