Stephen Dunne

A concerned father decides to become closer to his daughter the hard way in this live-action comedy from Walt Disney Pictures. Charlie McCready (Bob Crane) is the father of Wendy (Kathleen Cody), a pretty teenager soon to enter college. Like most parents, Charlie only wants the best for his daughter, but he has little use for her circle of friends, most of whom he regards as half-witted and lazy. Determined to set a better example for his daughter (especially since most of her friends will be joining her at college), Charlie decides to become Wendy's new best friend, imposing himself upon her as often as possible and shoe-horning his way into her social circle, even if it means taking up surfing and water skiing to do it. Charlie's not-always-welcome presence doesn't change Wendy's feelings about her boyfriend Bart (Kurt Russell), but when Charlie decides to break up their romance, he gets even more trouble than he anticipated. Superdad also stars Barbara Rush as Charlie's wife Sue, and Joe Flynn as the memorably named Cyrus Hershberger. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Scientist Alex March (John Agar) is working on developing what he hopes will be a new, non-lethal form of nerve gas -- but following an accident in his lab, he discovers that not only is the gas deadly, but also that it has invaded his entire body, and his touch is instantly fatal to any other living thing. He also realizes that the only thing keeping him alive is the partial immunity that he has developed over the course of months of work, which will soon wear off. He goes into hiding in his employer's home, hoping that a cure can be found, but he's already begun to go mad, tormented by the deaths he's caused and the mounting pain as the gas begins to affect him. Finally, the gas transforms him into a scaly, misshapen creature (vaguely resembling the Lizard from Marvel Comics, who was also, interestingly, a stricken research chemist). He goes on a rampage through suburban Los Angeles while the police hunt for him, and his fiancée (Paula Raymond) desperately hopes that he'll come to his senses long enough to surrender and allow himself to be confined to a hospital. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Wearing a curiously (and perhaps deliberately) unattractive blonde wig, Jean Simmons stars in the tense psychological drama Home Before Dark. Having just recovered from a nervous breakdown, Charlotte Bronn (Simmons) returns from a mental institution to the home she shares with her academician husband Arnold (Dan O'Herlihy). Though he tries his best to help Charlotte re-adapt, his efforts are undermined by the insensitive meddling of her stepmother Inez (Mabel Albertson) and stepsister Joan (Rhonda Fleming) who may or may not have been carrying on a romance with Arnold in Charlotte's absence. The untenable situation at home leads Charlotte into a romance with college professor Jake Diamond (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), who as an ongoing target of anti-semitism has plenty of his own emotional baggage to deal with. What is remarkable about Home Before Dark is that it is a film without a villain: even the most unpleasant characters are drawn as three-dimensional human beings, who behave badly because they really don't know any better. The film was adapted by Robert and Eileen Bassing from Eileen's same-named novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical comedy, a rambunctious small-town girl inadvertently joins the Army and decides to make the best of it. Songs include: "Lovey," "If Only Dreams Came True," "Boy, Oh Boy," "Song of the Women's Army Corps." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Army Capers was the bland British title of the raucous Republic musical The Wac From Walla Walla. Hillbilly songstress Judy Canova is the eponymous heroine, who accidentally enlists in the army at the outset of the film. Canova proves the equal of any man in uniform when she foils the insidious schemes of enemy agents Roy Barcroft and Allen Jenkins. And, of course, she finds true love, in the form of tall, dark and handsome lieutenant Steve Dunne. Judy Canova gets to sing four songs in this sappy but successful military farce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gloria Henry, best known to modern viewers as Alice Mitchell in TV's Dennis the Menace, was the winsome leading lady of Law of the Barbary Coast. As Julie Adams, Henry assists D.A. Michael Lodge (played by Robert Shayne, the future Inspector Henderson of Superman) in his efforts to clean up the Barbary Coast district of San Francisco. Impeding their efforts is Stefan Schnabel as gambling czar Boralof, not to mention the fact that most of the DA's eyewitnesses turn up dead. Stephen Dunne provides a romantic interest for Adams as assistant DA Phil Morton, while Adele Jergens breezes through another of her "hard-boiled dame" characterizations. Law of the Barbary Coast was assembled with Columbia's usual low-budget efficiency. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Columbia's "Rusty" series was entering the homestretch with 1949's Rusty Saves a Life. The eponymous doggie hero, portrayed by a very busy canine thespian named Flame, does exactly what the film's title says he does. But before this prophecy can be fulfilled, the story spends a great deal of time with young Danny Mitchell (Ted Donaldson), who briefly turns to juvenile delinquency when he's denied an expected inheritance. Gloria Henry, best known to TV fans as Alice Mitchell on Dennis the Menace, is the fresh-faced heroine. Also on hand in a featured role is future "Dobie Gillis" Dwayne Hickman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama the trouble begins when a murder occurs aboard a docked ship. Another murder occurs aboard an airplane in flight. An insurance investigator comes to Tangier to look into the theft of 50,000 pounds of sterling from the ship. He is assisted by a cafe entertainer. Together they solve the mysteries and recover the missing silver. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A woman looks back at her childhood in show business in this musical comedy. At the turn of the century, Myrtle McKinley (Betty Grable) is working her way through business school and gets a job dancing at a San Francisco vaudeville house. She meets fellow hoofer Frank Burt (Dan Dailey), and they soon fall in love. Marriage follows, and Myrtle and Frank begin performing a song and dance act on the road. Myrtle leaves the act when she becomes pregnant with the first of two children, but when the kids are old enough to go out on tour, she and Frank work them into the act, and they learn to live out of a suitcase like their parents. Years later, Iris (Mona Freeman) and Mikie (Connie Marshall) are attending college when they learn that Mom and Dad have pulled their act out of mothballs -- and are booked to perform at a theatre near their campus. Mother Wore Tights won an Academy Award for Best Musical Score, and it was nominated for Best Song ("You Do") and Best Color Cinematography; the great Mexican ventriloquist Senor Wences appears as himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Adventures of Rusty was Columbia Pictures' low-budget answer to MGM's Lassie series. This boy-and-his-dog effort starred Ted Donaldson and a German Shepherd. The first Rusty film paid its way, so Columbia hastily fashioned a sequel, Son of Rusty. The basic premise of the first film-a vicious dog tamed by love-could not be logically used twice, so the filmmakers relied on the old "separate boy and dog in the first reel, reunite them in the last" bit. Of the original Adventures of Rusty cast, only Ted Donaldson is back for Son of Rusty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Doll Face is one of two attempts by 20th Century Fox to make a movie star out of crooner Perry Como (the other was If I'm Lucky). Actually, Como is but a cog in the wheel of the main plot, which involves Doll Face (Vivian Blaine), a stripteaser with artistic pretensions. On the advice of her manager/boyfriend, Mike Hannegan (Dennis O'Keefe), Doll Face undergoes a "refinement" process. The next step for the girl is to write an intellectual autobiography, for which ghostwriter Gerard (Michael Dunne) is engaged. Forget the plot, and concentrate on the production numbers performed with gusto by Blaine, Como, and Carmen Miranda. Doll Face is based on The Naked Genius, a play by Louise Hovick -- better known as striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the high school drama-class perennial by Jerome Chodhorov and Joseph Fields, Junior Miss stars Peggy Ann Garner as a troublesome teenager. Garner means well, but can't help meddling in the affairs of her father (Allyn Joslyn) and other unsuspecting grownups. Most of the story revolves around Peggy's matchmaking habits: she pairs up her uncle (Milo O'Shea) with the daughter of her father's employer, which nearly loses dad his job. The mess sorts itself out before the third-act curtain, with Garner promising to mind her own business...until next time. Keep an eye out for a brief appearance by a young Mel Torme. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide