Connie Van Movies
- 1960
This episode marks an early directorial effort by Robert Altman, who also wrote the script. After befriending prospector Eben Bolt (Tim Graham), Beau (Roger Moore) is accused of being a horse thief and sentenced to hang. It turns out that Beau has been mistaken for Eben's partner Benson January (Owen Bush), who's been "dehorsing the countryside". Handling Beau's courtroom defense is a hick lawyer who acts a lot like another Warner Bros. western hero, Tom "Sugarfoot" Brewster--as well he may, since the character is played by Sugarfoot leading man Will Hutchins. Unfortunately, the lawyer's courtroom tactics prove distressingly clumsy, and Beau stands a good chance of being guest of honor at a "necktie party". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
James Best makes the first of two Andy Griffith Show appearances as itinerant guitarist Jim Lindsey. Tossed in the Mayberry jail, Jim is afforded an opportunity to crack the Big Time when Sheriff Andy Taylor "coincidentally" places the members of the Bobby Fleet Band-including Bobby (Henry Slate) himself-in an adjoining cell on a parking violation. Like many another first-season episode, this one was written by Jack Elinson and Charles Stewart. "The Guitar Player" originally aired on October 17, 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
One of the most entertaining of the Western movies to come out of the 1950s, this is a Stewart vehicle in which he must take on the ruthlessness of the frontier. Set in the Yukon, Stewart and his friends are driving cattle to market from Wyoming to Canada, where the boom towns pay top dollar for beef. When they arrive in Skagway, the corrupt sheriff of the town (John McIntire) steals the cattle and Stewart et al are forced to fight for their herd. Together with the female saloon keeper of another town (Ruth Roman), they find themselves up against an evil they were not prepared for. When Stewart's friend (portrayed by Walter Brennan) is killed, he is forced to go up against the evil sheriff. Good versus evil in incredible Yukon settings makes this an above average Western. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Ruth Roman, (more)
At the height of their TV fame, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were contracted by MGM to make two theatrical films. The first of these, The Long, Long Trailer, stars Lucy and Desi as an upwardly mobile couple who decide to buy a trailer so they can live together while his job takes him around the country. Thanks to their naivete in such matters, they end up with a huge, bulky RV that costs five times what they planned. Their "seeing America" trip turns out to be a slapstick disaster, topped by Lucy's foolish decision to hide a heavy rock collection in the trailer; as Desi tries to maneuver a treacherous mountain road, the weighted-down home-on-wheels nearly loses its balance and almost tumbles off a cliff. The story is told in flashback, as Desi 'splains the breakup of his marriage to a motel court manager. Happily, Lucy shows up, goes "Waaaaah" a little, and all is forgiven. Despite the fact that audiences were getting Ball and Arnaz for free each week on television, The Long, Long Trailer was a big hit at the box-office. The film was adapted by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich from a novel by Clinton Twiss, with uncredited assistance from the I Love Lucy writing staff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, (more)
- 1950
The Secret Fury works best if one is willing to suspend one's disbelief from the outset. Claudette Colbert stars as Ellen, a famed concert pianist who, on the day of her wedding, is accosted by a stranger who insists that she's already married to someone else. Ellen is willing to laugh this off, until the stranger produces witnesses, records and the justice of the piece. Has Ellen lost her mind, or is she merely the victim of an elaborate scam. With the help of fiancé David (Robert Ryan), Our Heroine begins her own investigation -- and ends up accused of murder and shunted off to a mental institution. And the story isn't over yet! Featured in a pivotal role is future I Love Lucy co-star Vivian Vance, who'd previously worked in an L.A. theatre company with Secret Fury-director Mel Ferrer. For reasons best known to himself, Willard Parker, a fairly well-known film actor in 1950, appears unbilled. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Robert Ryan, (more)
- 1950
- NR
In this 1951 comedy Irene Dunne stars as Kay, a Manhattan-based songwriter who marries widowed rodeo cowboy Chris (Fred MacMurray). In the tradition of The Egg and I, Kay suffers a great deal of culture shock when she moves into Chris' western ranch. When she isn't being bedeviled by her new step-children, poor Kay is subjected to bumps and bruises as she tries to become an expert horsewoman. Nothing happens in Never a Dull Moment that isn't thoroughly predictable, though the stars bring a degree of freshness to the proceedings. This film was one of several produced for RKO by Harriet Parsons, daughter of gossip columnist Louella Parsons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Fred MacMurray, (more)
