Howard Price Movies
- 1957
F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "Winter Dreams" is brought to life in this 1957 Playhouse 90 presentation. John Cassavetes stars as Dexter Green, who has spent most of his life trying to fulfill the ambitions and hopes of his socially ambitious mother and his conservative father. Thanks to his mom's aggressiveness, Dexter has achieved financial success and prestige in his community--and, as a bonus, he is poised to marry the girl carefully selected by his parents. But things change radically when wealthy but fickle Judy Holt (Dana Wynter) slinks into Dexter's life. Actor Joseph Sweeney was a last minute-replacement for Edmund Gwenn, who was slated to play the role of Mr. Gordon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Wynter, John Cassavetes, (more)
Anthony Perkins stars as troubled baseball great Jimmy Piersall in Fear Strikes Out. Based on Piersall's shattering tell-all autobiography, the film traces Jimmy's ascent from the sandlots of Waterbury, CT, to the Boston Red Sox, with his domineering father (Karl Malden) pushing the boy beyond all reasonable limits. Unable to withstand the pressure, Piersall suffers a nervous breakdown and is confined to a mental institution. Through a long period of therapy, Jimmy realizes that he has excelled in baseball not for his own gratification but to please his father. This film was preceded by a 1956 TV version starring Tab Hunter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Perkins, Karl Malden, (more)
- 1957
Adapting a made-for-TV play that he had directed for the screen, John Frankenheimer made his feature film debut with this sensitive father-son drama. Tom Ditmar (James Daly) is a movie studio executive who has a strained relationship with his teenaged son Hal (James MacArthur). Hal is arrested after an incident in a movie theater in which he was provoked into slugging the manager, Grubbs (Whit Bissell). Hal is rude to the police officer, Sergeant Shipley (James Gregory). Tom Ditmar gets the charges dropped but doesn't believe his son's story. Hal goes back to talk to Grubbs to try to get him to tell his father what really happened. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James MacArthur, Kim Hunter, (more)
Tyrone Power stars in this tear-jerking biography of the beloved but short-lived pianist and bandleader Eddy Duchin. Boston-born Eddy Duchin (Tyrone Power) moves to New York City to pursue a career as a pharmacist. However, Eddy is also a skilled piano player, and when he meets pretty socialite Marjorie Oelrichs (Kim Novak) who hears him play, she encourages him not to short-change his musical abilities. Marjorie helps get Eddy a job playing at the Central Park Casino; his playing goes over well with the crowd, and Eddy goes over well with Marjorie. Able to support himself full-time with his music, Eddy asks Marjorie for her hand in marriage; she accepts, and soon Marjorie is expecting a child. Tragically, she dies while giving birth to their son Peter; Eddy, shattered by the experience, finds himself unconsciously blaming Peter for Marjorie's passing, and leaves the boy behind with his family and their nanny, Chiquita (Victoria Shaw), while Eddy and his manager Lou Sherwood (James Whitmore) head out for the first of many lengthy world tours. Years later, while serving in the Navy during World War II, Eddy realizes the error of his ways, and begins a long and difficult reconciliation with Peter (Rex Thompson), while falling in love with Chiquita. Eddy and Chiquita marry and budding pianist Peter joins Eddy on stage for an emotional duet; however, Eddy's new contentment with life is cut short when he contracts leukemia. Pianist Carmen Cavallaro dubbed in Duchin's piano parts for non-musician Tyrone Power. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Kim Novak, (more)
We don't see much of Omaha Beach in D-Day, the Sixth of June. Instead, the film concentrates on a romantic triangle involving American officer Robert Taylor, British officer Richard Todd and the lovely Dana Wynter. Taylor and Todd spend the last hours before D-Day reminiscing about Wynter. The romantic dilemma is eventually solved shortly after the invasion, when one of the men conveniently steps on a land mine. Lionel Shapiro's novel was geared more for the beach-and-bonbons crowd than war buffs, and the film follows suit. 20th Century-Fox gives a far more thorough account of D-Day itself in 1963's The Longest Day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Richard Todd, (more)
- 1955
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) investigate when the family of wealthy John Jarrett (Herb Butterfield) reports that the man has disappeared. All evidence points to suicide, but the two detectives suspect that there's more to the case than meets the eye--especially after meeting Jarrett's greedy, grasping relatives. Ultimately, the truth is revealed far outside of Friday and Smith's jurisdiction--and in an uncharacteristic move, Joe Friday decides not to reveal Jarrett's fate, but rather to leave well enough alone. This episode was adapted from the Dragnet radio broadcast of December 28, 1950. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The highly variable Audie Murphy delivers his best screen performance as "himself" in Universal's To Hell and Back. Based on the star's autobiography, this is the story of how Murphy became America's most-decorated soldier during WW II. After dwelling a bit on Murphy's hard-scrabble Texas upbringing, the story moves ahead to 1942, when, at 18, Audie joined the army. Within a year, he was a member of the 7th Army, serving in North Africa, Italy, France and ultimately Germany and Austria. One by one, the members of Murphy's Company B are killed in the war, until only three men from the original company are left (the others appear at the finale as ghostly images, a standard visual cliché of 1950s war films). The bulk of the film is given over to Murphy's conspicuous acts of combat bravery, and his killing of 240 enemy soldiers. Highlighted by excellent battle sequences, To Hell and Back is a serviceable tribute to a most complex individual. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audie Murphy, Marshall Thompson, (more)
- 1953
Virginia Mayo stars in this unofficial follow-up to her 1952 musical hit She's Working Her Way Through College. Mayo plays movie star Catherine Terris, who after three box-office flops in a row, returns to the Broadway stage whence she came. Her co-star in this endeavor is Rich Sommers (Steve Cochran), who still harbors a grudge against Catherine because of her walkout during her last Broadway appearance. Predictably, Rich and Catherine bury the hatchet by midfilm, and when fadeout time rolls around they're in each other's arms. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginia Mayo, Gene Nelson, (more)
- 1951
In this romance, an industrial designer is bitterly disappointed when he discovers that upon graduation his daughter decides to elope with her psychology professor rather than pursue a career. The professor's family is also not pleased by the union. Both families, who despise each other, try to get the newlyweds to annul their marriage. This quest unites the families and they become friends. When they finally catch up to the couple, both sides are appalled to discover that marital strife threatens to rip the couple apart. The families rally together and the marriage remains intact. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clifton Webb, Anne Francis, (more)
