Ward Ellis Movies
Choreographer Ward Ellis started his career as a dancer in a few films during the 1950s. He then became an assistant dance director on such films as The King and I before going on to choreograph television variety shows. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
One year after his financially successful Promises Promises with Jayne Mansfield, director Tommy Noonan released another nudie comedy with Three Nuts in Search of a Bolt. This time, it is Mamie Van Doren who gets to show various parts of her anatomy as she plays a stripper who collaborates with two other "nuts" seeking psychiatric help. Her partners in the fiasco are a used car salesman Paul Gilbert who gets a thrill from cheating customers and a male model John Cronin who dislikes women. Unable to afford the doctor's fees, the three set out to find a proper patient to represent each of them for the price of one. After they convince the perfect sucker, (Noonan), to play out each of their personalities, Doctor Myra Von (Ziva Rodann) inadvertently televises the sessions to several other doctors--worldwide. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mamie van Doren, Tommy Noonan, (more)
The Pied Piper of Hamelin was originally filmed as a television special, then released theatrically outside the United States. The story is the familiar one: the town of Hamelin, plagued by rats, hires a mysterious piper (Van Johnson) to rid the town of rodents. The piper does so, on the promise that he'll be paid a handsome fee. But the duplicitous burgomeister (Claude Rains), on the advice of his Laurel-and-Hardy council (Doodles Weaver and Stanley Adams), reneges on his promise. In revenge, the piper lures all of Hamelin's children off to parts unknown. In a departure from the original, there's a happy ending this time. Most of the dialogue is spoken in rhyme (quite amusingly by Rains), while the songs are adaptations of Edvard Grieg tunes. In the musical department, Kay Starr comes off best as the grieving mother of one of the missing kids. Because it was filmed in color, The Pied Piper of Hamelin has remained in TV syndication into the 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
War Drums manages to be pro-Indian, pro-Mexican, pro-tolerance and pro-feminist without ever resorting to speechmaking or sacrificing its entertainment value. Former Tarzan Lex Barker stars as an Apache chief who is almost ostracized by his tribe when he marries Mexican girl Joan Taylor. Eventually, Barker is welcomed back, but Joan refuses to behave like a typical dutiful squaw. In deference to his wife's wishes, Barker trains Joan to become an Apache warrior! It is curious that the Political Correctness crowd has never paid homage to War Drums; perhaps it's because of the film's surfeit of decidedly non-PC violence and bloodshed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lex Barker, Joan Taylor, (more)
- 1955
This musical is a contemporary version of Aristophanes' ancient play Lysistrata. Instead of Greece, this play is centered in the town of Osawkie, Kansas and centers on the feuds between the men there and those of nearby towns. They are fighting over the possession of a safe filled with important county records. The women, sick of all the fighting, band together, lock themselves in a fortress and refuse to make any form of love with the brutes until they stop. They do, and prairie love blossoms. Songs include: "Lysistrata," "Send Us a Miracle," "My Love Is Yours," "Travellin' Man," "What Good Is a Woman Without a Man?" "There's Gonna Be a Wedding," "The Second Greatest Sex," "How Lonely Can I Get?" ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanne Crain, George Nader, (more)
- 1951
Mickey Rooney returned to his "home" studio MGM, after a three-year absence, in the location-filmed melodrama The Strip. Rooney is cast as Stanley Maxton, an aspiring drummer who has the misfortune to fall within the orbit of bookie Sunny Johnson (James Craig). Out of the goodness of his heart, Stanley introduces aspiring actress June Tafford (Sally Forrest) to Johnson, hoping that the latter's Hollywood connections will help the girl find success. Stanley also quits the rackets to play drums at a nightclub owned by his pal Fluff (William Demarest). Things take a sorry turn when Johnson decides to make a play for June; Stanley interferes and gets beaten up by the bookie's goons. June's response to this outrage results in tragedy for everyone. The Strip is a surprisingly downbeat effort for producer Joe Pasternak, a man usually associated with happy, wholesome Technicolor musicals. The film is highlighted by jazz performances from Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, Earl "Fatha" Hines and Barney Bigard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Sally Forrest, (more)
