Albin Robeling Movies

No relation to the 1937 screwball comedy of the same name, Easy Living is a film about the world of professional sports. Victor Mature plays Pete Wilson, star halfback of the New York Chiefs. Well past his prime, Wilson would like to retire to a coaching job, but his rival Tim McCarr (Sonny Tufts) beats him to it. Financially, Wilson is really in no position to retire; unfortunately, he has learned that he suffers from a potentially deadly heart condition. To make matters worse, he's on the outs with his wife Liza (Lizabeth Scott), who has become disillusioned with the status of "team wife." A brief dalliance with team secretary Anne (an excellent performance from Lucille Ball) results in Anne's selfless efforts to help Wilson put his marriage -- and his life -- back together. Though he was ignored by contemporary reviewers, future talk-show host Jack Paar has an amusing supporting role. Most of the football players seen in Easy Living were drawn from the ranks of the real-life L.A. Rams. The film was based on a story by novelist Irwin Shaw. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nightmare Alley is the sordid tale of a conniving young man who, in the words of one of the film's supporting characters, ends up low because he aimed so high. Drifter Tyrone Power sweet-talks his way into a job as barker for a rundown carnival. He is fascinated by an illegal side-show attraction called "The Geek," a near-lunatic who bites the heads off live chickens and then is "paid off" with a cheap bottle of rotgut and a warm place to sleep it off. Otherwise, Power's attention is focussed on a beautiful if slightly stupid carnival performer (Coleen Gray) who works in an "electricity" act with an equally dense strongman (Mike Mazurki). Power also befriends an alcoholic mentalist (Ian Keith), who demonstrates how easy it is to fool an audience into thinking that his mind reading is genuine. When the mentalist dies after accidentally drinking wood alcohol, Power works his way into the confidence of the performer's widow (Joan Blondell), who teaches Power all the tricks and code words of the mind-reading racket. Power walks out on Blondell in favor of Cathy Downs, who marries him and becomes his partner in a classy nightclub mentalist act. But Power is dissatisfied with show business, and with the help of a beautiful but shifty psychiatrist (Helen Walker) he convinces several wealthy people that he can communicate with their dead loved ones...for a price. One elderly millionaire (Taylor Holmes) offers Power a fortune if he can conjure up the spirit of the millionaire's dead daughter. Power enlists his wife to impersonate the deceased girl, but at the crucial moment she has an attack of conscience and exposes the fraud. His career ruined, Power goes to the crooked psychiatrist for help, but she laughs in his face and calls the cops. He escapes the law by going on the bum, and before long is a drunken derelict. When he approaches a carnival for work, he is told that there is only one job open...as a "geek." When asked if he wants the job, the defeated Power replies "Mister, I was born for it." Based on a lurid bestseller by William Lindsay Gresham, Nightmare Alley was Tyrone Power's attempt to break away from romantic leads in favor of roles with more substance. The picture wasn't a success, but it proved that Power was more than just a pretty face. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy drama, a butler and a crap-shooting chauffeur find themselves having the run of their employer's mansion after he goes on a ten-day vacation. They decide to avail themselves of their master's luxuries. The butler finds his boss's clothing fits him perfectly, and so pretends to be master of the manse. He and his driver end up at a ritzy gambling club where they meet a wealthy but spoiled young woman whose sister owes $100,000 to a racketeer. To impress the girl, the butler writes a check in his employer's name to cover her debt. Now they must all hurry to earn back the money before the master returns. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide