Cay Forrester Movies
The first of Allen Drury "all names changed to protect the guilty" political novels, Advise and Consent was brought to the screen by producer/director Otto Preminger. The film hinges upon the appointment of Robert Leffingwell (Henry Fonda) to Secretary of State. Leffingwell has been hand-picked by the President (Franchot Tone), meaning that there'll be a battle on the Senate floor between adherents of and opponents to the current administration. Among the participants are veteran Dixiecrat Charles Laughton, freshman Senator Don Murray and powerseeker George Grizzard. Burgess Meredith also shows up as a man who is brought into the Senate to "prove" that Leffingwell is a communist. To neutralize Murray, Grizzard threatens to dredge up a homosexual incident in Murray's past, which results in the latter's suicide. Advise and Consent is a slow and old-fashioned film, coming to life only when Laughton and Grizzard are on screen--and in the climax, in which the fate of Leffingwell's appointment is left in the hands of acting President Lew Ayres. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, (more)
"I want to report a murder...mine." So begins D.O.A. Told in flashback, the story tells of how vacationing CPA Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) becomes the recipient of a deadly poison known as iridium. Told by a doctor that he hasn't long to live, Bigelow desperately retraces his movements of the previous 24 hours, trying to locate his murderer. Through the aid of his secretary Paula Gibson (Pamela Britton) (who doesn't know of her employer's imminent demise), Bigelow traces a shipment of iridium to a gang of criminals who've used the poison in the commission of a crime. But for much of the film, it remains unclear why Bigelow himself was targeted. Though we know from the outset that Bigelow isn't long for this world, the film builds up an incredible amount of suspense towards the end, when Bigelow is taken "for a ride" by a psychopath (Neville Brand). with a penchant for pummeling his victims in the belly. DOA was remade in 1988 with Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, (more)
John Muller (Paul Henreid), an intelligent, arrogant criminal who has been a medical student and a phony psychoanalyst, believes that people are only interested in themselves and do not notice what is happening around them. Paroled from prison to a boring job, Muller is more interested in a big score, and along with his old cronies robs a crooked gambling joint owned by Rocky Stansyck (Thomas Brown Henry). Although he gets away with the money, some of his men are caught by Stansyck and identify John as the ringleader. On the run from Stansyck's gang, he is mistaken for Dr. Bartok, a psychiatrist also played by Henreid. Curious, Muller goes to the doctor's office, and meets Bartok's secretary and lover, Evelyn Nash (Joan Bennett). Needing to avoid capture, he assumes Bartok's identity, but first must scar his face like the doctor's. Working from a photograph printed from a reversed negative, he applies the scar to the wrong side. Though fooled at first, when Evelyn discovers the truth, she decides to leave, although she is in love with Muller/Bartok. Steve Sekely's Hollow Triumph (aka The Scar) is a film that requires an exceptionally hefty suspension of disbelief in its reliance on coincidence and the literal acceptance of Muller's cynical view of human blindness. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Henreid, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1948
This suspenseful crime drama reenacts the famed 1947 prison break out of the Canon City, Colorado corrections facility and features the actual warden, Roy Best playing himself. The trouble begins when one prisoner manages to fashion a crude pistol. Enlisting the aid of eleven others, they successfully escape and terrorize the town until the warden and his men manage to round up the survivors and bring them back. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Bennett, Warden Roy Best, (more)
Blonde Savage was directed by one "S. K. Seeley"-who at closer examination turns out to be Steve Sekely hiding behind an alias. The story is the old saw about a blonde white woman who is raised from infancy by a savage jungle tribe. This time, it's a girl named Meelah (Gale Sherwood) who resides as a goddess amongst an entourage of African natives. While working for diamond mine owner Mark Harper (Douglass Dumbrille), transport pilots Steve (Leif Erickson) and Hoppy (Frank Jenks) crash-land near Meelah's domain. Upon discovering that the "blonde savage" is actually the daughter of Harper's murdered partner, they set about to bring their employer to justice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leif Erickson, Gale Sherwood, (more)
According to Hollywood lore, both John Wayne and director Frank Borzage refused to work with Vera Hruba Ralston, the Czech-born inamorata (and future wife) of Republic Pictures owner Herbert I. Yates. Yates somehow managed to convince Wayne to change his mind, but Borzage was replaced by contract director Joseph Kane. The result was Dakota, the company's major release of 1945, a potentially sprawling empire-building Western. Wayne and Ralston play newlyweds heading for Fargo, North Dakota, where they plan to buy land in anticipation of the coming of the railroad. They are opposed by saloon owner Jim Bender (Ward Bond), who also knows about the expansion and is coercing the homesteaders into selling their land to him and his chief lieutenant, Collins (Mike Mazurki). The latter has been elected president of the Wheat Growers Association, and soon the farmers find themselves indebted to Bender. But Wayne, with his wife's help, beats Bender and his henchman at their own game, making certain that the farmers are well compensated for selling their land to the railroad company owned by Ralston's father (Hugo Haas). Contrary to popular belief, Vera Hruba Ralston was not Dakota's chief liability. For some reason, Republic Pictures, normally a leader in action-oriented melodrama, chose to employ an inordinate amount of rear projection footage this time around, making for rather dull viewing. The Western only leaves the confines of the studio back lot for the climactic prairie fire scenes, filmed by a second unit under the direction of stunt expert Yakima Canutt. Apparently a better figure skater than an actress, Ralston actually shows a bit of spirit in some of her scenes but is rather obviously upstaged by the veteran Ona Munson as a kind-hearted saloon entertainer. Munson was borrowed from Warner Bros. and her singing of "Coax Me" by Andrew B. Sterling and Harry Von Tilzer remains one of Dakota's main pleasures despite editor Fred Allen's endless cross-cutting to Ralston's reactions. The latter was reportedly a very pleasant person devoid of a prima donna ego and would be cast opposite John Wayne again in The Fighting Kentuckian (1949). Republic serial heroines Linda Stirling and Adrian Booth can be spotted among Munson's dancing girls. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Vera Ralston, (more)
- 1945
Based on the popular comic strip by Dale Messick, this Sam Katzman-produced Columbia serial starred the beautiful and talented Joan Woodbury, an actress who never really lived up to her early potential. Brenda Starr, Reporter didn't exactly change that sad fact; a rather straightforward tale of a girl reporter who is mistakenly believed to possess the key to the whereabouts of a hidden fortune, the serial was a typically shoddy Katzman effort. A gang of crooks headed by the always watchable Wheeler Oakman spend 13 chapters attempting to force the secret out of poor Brenda, who is always saved in the nick of time by handsome Kane Richmond. In the end, Brenda Starr, Reporter had a couple of attractive leads, and a wonderfully hammy master criminal, but very little else. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1943
Having functioned as Alvin J. Neitz's assistant director in the first two "Trail Blazers" Westerns, Monogram producer/jack-of-all-trades Robert Emmett Tansey took full charge of the third, Blazing Guns. Aging lawmen Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson are lured out of retirement once again, this time to help rancher Jim Wade (Roy Brent) fight off his own brother, Duke (LeRoy Mason), the self-declared boss of Willow Springs.When Duke retaliates, Ken and Hoot recruits some of the country's most notorious gunslingers, including Lefty (Frank Ellis), Cactus Joe (Eddie Gribbon), Weasel (George Kamel) and Eagle-Eye (Emmett Lynn), to act as backup. Although the aptly named Weasel betrays his friends to Duke, Ken, Hoot and the remaining recruits manage to rid Willow Springs of its less desirable elements. Considering the expanding waistlines of both Maynard and Gibson, the film's obligatory romantic elements were left up to supporting players Roy Brent and Cay Forester. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, (more)
