Edith Fellows Movies
Expressive, dark-eyed child actress Edith Fellows made her movie debut in the Charley Chase two-reeler Movie Night (1929). She occasionally appeared with Hal Roach's Our Gang troupe in the very early talkie era, but was quickly snapped up by the bigger studios for feature-film work. Never a star, Fellows was allowed more versatility than many "bigger" movie moppets; her roles ranged from spoiled brats to pathetic street urchins. She was well-showcased in Bing Crosby's Pennies from Heaven (1936), which led to a series of leading roles in several Columbia programmers of the late 1930s. Fellows retired from films in 1942, opting for a quiet married life as the wife of agent/producer Freddie Fields. The advent of her divorce, coupled with a nervous breakdown, was followed by near-miraculous emotional recovery, which became the basis of one of Ralph Edwards' This is Your Life TV programs of the 1950s. Fellows began acting again in character roles in the 1960s; one of her best showings was in the role of famed costume designer Edith Head in the 1983 TV-movie biopic of Grace Kelly. In 1985, producer/director Jackie Cooper, himself a former child actor, announced plans to film a TV movie based on the life of Edith Fellows, but thus far the project has not come to fruition. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1995
In this Emmy award-winning episode, Greene (Anthony Edwards) takes a potentially career-destroying risk after he misdiagnoses the condition of a woman (Colleen Flynn) and her unborn child. Although Greene's OR battle to save his patients' lives is the episode's focal point, several other subplots wend their way through the story. Among these is the ever-deteriorating condition of Benton's (Eriq La Salle) mother, and the accidental poisoning of young Joey Page (Theodore Borders). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- PG13
This romantic comedy is based on a true story that happened in California in 1944. Sonny Wisecarver (Patrick Dempsey) is 15 year old who has an affair with his older neighbor Judy (Talia Balsam). The two run off and get married, but a stern judge has the union annulled. Sonny is hauled before the same judge when he gets involved with another older woman (Beverly D'Angelo), and the publicity makes him the object of affection for millions of young women who believe Sonny has something special. Michael Constantine and Betty Jinnett play Sonny's concerned parents. Carl Reiner is the uncredited narrator, and the real-life Elliott "Sonny" Wisecarver has a cameo appearance as a mailman. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Dempsey, Beverly D'Angelo, (more)
This atrocious sequel to the 1977 horror classic is padded with so much of that film's footage that it seems more like a rerun than a new story. The entire cast seems to have lengthy flashbacks of the previous movie's events, including -- in what must be a cinematic first -- the German shepherd dog. The remaining screen time is spent on an uninvolving battle between some bland motocross bikers and the cannibal hillfolk. To be fair, director Wes Craven has stated that the film was extensively tampered with prior to release. That may get Craven off the hook, but doesn't make this muddled mess any easier to watch. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Berryman, Tamara Stafford, (more)
- 1983
Grace Kelly, the high-society beauty who became an Oscar-winning actress and then a European princess, is the subject of this TV biopic. Cheryl Ladd has the looks and poise of the original Grace, though she isn't quite as charismatic. The early portion of the film retraces the stormy relationship between Grace and her gruff Philadelphia millionaire dad, Jack Kelly. The script suggests that Grace went through life looking for a strong father figure, finally finding one in Prince Rainier of Monaco (Ian McShane), whom she weds. Several "celebrity look-alikes" parade through the film, pretending to be the film personalities with whom Ms. Kelly worked during her brief Hollywood career. Grace Kelly tones down the darker aspects of its subject, and the film is infinitely more tasteful than most other TV biographies of the same period, even when dealing with Princess Grace's untimely death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
In this family drama, a famed lawyer is forced to come to grips with the lousy way he has treated his emotionally disturbed brother. Most of the story centers on the attorney's attempts to atone for his actions. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Brandon, Pat Harrington, Jr., (more)
Vincent Bruce (Warren Beatty) is a Korean War veteran who becomes an occupational therapist in a private mental hospital that cares for wealthy, schizophrenic clientele. He slowly begins to fall for Lilith Arthur (Jean Seberg), a patient who is mentally locked in her own little world. Vincent eventually begins his own psychological disintegration over his feelings for the woman and asks for help. Watch for early career performances from Olympia Dukakis and Gene Hackman in this depressing psychodrama. This was the final film from the gifted director Robert Rossen, who died in 1966. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Jean Seberg, (more)
- 1942
In this WW II-era drama, an over-ambitious beauty contestant's single-minded pursuit of movie stardom causes her to step upon the people who love her the most. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, June Storey, (more)
- 1942
A better-than-average crime thriller from Poverty Row company Monogram, the plainly titled Criminal Investigator (aka Crime Reporter) stars Robert Lowery in the title role, an intrepid sleuth who discovers that the two cases he has been investigating have something in common. A deaf-and-dumb inmate (Lawrence Creighton) possesses some of the answers to the mysterious slaying of Joyce Greeley (Vivian Wilcox), a lady with a past, and the hero quickly discovers that murderers Miss Drake (Jan Wiley) and Soapy (Charles Hall) are answering to someone of importance. But who? There is a damsel-in-distress (former child star Edith Fellows) to save and several red herrings to dismiss before young Bob Martin (Robert Lowery) can wrap up this particular investigation. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Not quite as exciting as it should be, Stardust on the Sage is still a serviceable Gene Autry vehicle. This time, Gene is teamed up with young Jeff Drew (Bill Henry), who tries to sell mining stock to the local cattlemen. Meanwhile, villain Pearson (Emmet Vogan) plots to steal the mine from Gene and Jeff, using a veritable battalion of muscular hooligans. The finale is a kaleidescope of fistfights, gunfire and dynamite blasts-and none too soon, given the slow-moving passages which preceded it. The female contingent in Stardust on the Sage is handled by former child star Edith Fellows and serial heroine Louise Currie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
Spoiled little rich girl Edith Fellows does what she can to avoid spending time on Gene Autry's dude ranch in this tuneful Western restored by U.C.L.A. in 2001 for Gene Autry Entertainment. Despite the best efforts of her teacher Alice Bennett (Fay McKenzie), Connie Lane (Fellows) quickly manages to turn everyone against her, except Gene. The foreman/crooner teaches Connie the value of friendship and she reciprocates by sabotaging Hap Callahan's (William Haade) attempts to beat Gene in a bronco-busting contest. That, of course, is no way to win friendship and Hap avenges himself by causing a stampede that almost kills Connie. She is rescued in the nick of time by Gene, who also manages to pacify the stubborn girl's equally stubborn millionaire father (Pierre Watkin). Edith Fellows sings "Rainbow in the Night," while Gene, Smiley Burnette, Fay McKenzie, Jimmy Wakely, and his trio take care of "Deep in the Heart of Texas," "Rocky Canyon," "Dusk on the Painted Desert," "I'll Wait for You," and five other selections. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1941
In this drama, two childhood sweethearts endure the first pains of adult love. The young lady is beginning to feel frustrated because her beau has been spending too much time building gliders. When his uncle is visited by a cute, and flirtatious older friend, the precocious lass begins dating him. She is soon to discover that the sophisticated gent has much more than the innocent pleasures of dating upon his mind. Oh my! ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Cooper, Jane Withers, (more)
- 1940
Edith Fellows and Billy Lee, two of Hollywood's most talented second-echelon child stars, are teamed in the Columbia tearjerker Nobody's Children. The film was inspired by Walter White Jr.'s popular human-interest radio series, which ran from 1939 to 1941. The radio version of Nobody's Children was dedicated to finding loving homes for the orphaned and abandoned kids under the care of the Children's Home Society of Los Angeles. White himself appears in the film in the "framing" scenes, ostensibly taking place during one of his broadcasts. The story proper deals with the plight of orphaned siblings Pat (Fellows) and Tommy (Lee), whose efforts at finding adoptive parents have been thwarted by the fact that Pat is crippled. Many adults have offered to adopt Tommy alone, but he loyally refuses to be separated from his sister?and the plot wends its sentimental way from there. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Billy Lee, (more)
- 1940
In this musical comedy, two rival sisters, one plain-but-good-hearted, and one a gorgeous manipulator, compete for the love of a handsome man. They are assisted by their pretty cousin who is involved in a tempestuous engagement. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1940
Like the other entries Columbia's "Five Little Peppers" series, The Five Little Peppers at Home is based on characters created by Margaret Sidney. Edith Fellows stars as Polly, the oldest child of the Pepper clan, while her four siblings are portrayed by Dorothy Ann Seers (as Phronsie), Ronald Sinclair (Jasper), Charles Peck (Joey) and Davey (Bobby Larson). This time around, Polly and the kids try to figure out a way to save their mother (Dorothy Peterson) from bankruptcy, with the help of crusty-but-lovable Mr. King (Clarence Kolb). After a slow-moving hour or so, the film picks up tremendously in the final reel when the kids are trapped in a copper mine cave-in, sparking a tension-filled rescue effect. A bit too syrupy sweet for modern tastes, Five Little Peppers at Home is redeemed by the cynical performance of Rex Evans as a sneering butler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Dorothy Ann Seese, (more)
- 1940
Having struck pay dirt with its Blondie films, Columbia Pictures launched another "domestic" film series, based on Margaret Sidney's "Five Little Peppers" stories. The third and last entry in the series was The Five Little Peppers in Trouble, neither the best nor worst of this negligible project. Once more, Dorothy Peterson plays the widowed Mrs. Pepper, while her five precocious and resourceful offspring are portrayed by Edith Fellows, Dorothy Ann Seese, Charles Beck, Tommy Bond (best remembered as "Butch" in the Our Gang comedies) and Bobby Larson (replacing Jimmy Leake, who appeared in the first Pepper outing in 1939). Unable to watch over her kids and go to work at the same time, Mrs. Pepper bundles the little Peppers off to boarding school. The Five Little Peppers in Trouble is describable only as "cute"; you take it from there. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Dorothy Ann Seese, (more)
Boasting Tony Martin and Rita Hayworth and bandleader Andre Kostelanitz as its leading players, it's surprising that Music in My Heart isn't better than it is. Martin plays European-born actor Robert Gregory, who while rehearsing for a Broadway musical falls in love with chorine Patricia O'Malley (Rita Hayworth). She likewise falls in love with him, even though she's scheduled to marry millionaire Charles Gardner (Alan Mowbray). The relationship is endangered when Gregory faces deportation to his own country, but baton-wieldig Kostelanitz comes to the rescue by making Gregory a radio singing sensation. Talented child actress Edith Fellows, who in previous films had been given top billing over Rita Hayworth, is somewhat wasted in the role of Rita's kid sister. Of the film's six songs, "It's a Blue World" is the singular highlight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Martin, Rita Hayworth, (more)
- 1940
Pleasing time-fillers at best, Columbia's "Five Little Peppers" films were otherwise undistinguished spinoffs of the best-selling literary series by Margaret Sidney. In the case of Out West With the Peppers, the title and plotline are virtually interchangeable. Once again in dire financial straits, the Pepper family is forced to pull up stakes and head westward. Upon arrival in the Wide Frontiers, the Pepper kids get into mischief in a lumber camp. As usual, the plot is resolved by Edith Fellows as eldest Pepper child Polly, who manages to stumble upon a financial windfall which proves benefical not only to her family but practically everyone else in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Dorothy Ann Seese, (more)
- 1939
In this touching drama, a young woman cons her father the Colonel to put their colt in the Kentucky Derby. They do, but the horse fails miserably and his rider is suspended. It is then discovered that the horse lost because it is blind. This does not dissuade the girl and her father who work hard to train the horse who goes on to win the Grand National. The jockey too is subsequently cleared of wrong-doing and is again allowed to race. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, James McCallion, (more)
- 1939
In this, the first entry in four-part series, children's movie, Polly Pepper takes care of her siblings while her mother toils at a factory. Polly's newest friend is Jasper, a rich kid who likes to play with the Pepper kids. Trouble ensues when the littlest Pepper comes down with the measles and infects Jasper and his grandfather, Mr. King. They all wind up stuck together in a quarantined house. After the devoted Polly collapses from working too hard, Mr. King moves the Pepper clan into his mansion. The plucky family finally garners a fortune when it is discovered that Polly has inherited the controlling shares in a mine that the grandfather wants to purchase. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Clarence Kolb, (more)
- 1938
Sad-eyed, uniquely talented child actress Edith Fellows was Columbia's "answer" to Shirley Temple, Jane Withers and Deanna Durbin. In Little Miss Roughneck, Fellows is cast as Foxine LaRue, a tomboyish sort who is being prodded into a show-biz career by her stage mother Gert (Margaret Irving). Young Mr. Partridge (Scott Colton) becomes Foxine's agent, principally because he's sweet on the girl's older sister Mary (Jacqueline Wells). Blackballed from Hollywood because of her mother's pushiness, Foxine tries to help out Partridge and her own family by cooking up a bizarre publicity stunt, enlisting the aid of easy-going Mexican "papacita" Pascual (Leo Carrillo). Along the way, both Edith Fellows and Leo Carrillo are given ample opportunity to display their singing skills. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1938
This tragedy has pathos to spare as it presents the story of a crippled orphan who finds support in a kindly storekeeper who loves her. To help her the older man must constantly deal with the well-intentioned welfare representative who constantly interfere. To pay for an operation for the stricken girl, the man sells his store. He loses everything when the state takes her back. The man successfully rallies to get her back only to die of a stress-related disease he caught while fighting for her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Leo Carrillo, (more)
- 1938
There were those who considered child star Edith Fellows to be far more talented than her "rival" Shirley Temple; still, while Temple was starring in A pictures at Fox, Fellows had to be content with such Columbia B's as The Little Adventuress. In this one, Fellows plays juvenile equestrian Pinky Horton, whose vaudevillian parents are killed in an on-stage accident. Pinky and her beloved trick horse are bundled off to relatives in California, where she befriends her "black sheep" cousin, chronic gambler Dick Horton (Richard Fiske). With the help of trainer Handy (Cliff Edwards), Pinky transforms her horse into a racing champ, saving the family's honor (and bank account) in the obligatory Big Race. Part of the fun in Little Adventuress is watching perennial Three Stooges foil Richard Fiske play a romantic lead opposite the ubiquitious Jacqueline Wells (aka Julie Bishop). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Richard Fiske, (more)
- 1937
In this drama, a millionaire heir finds himself in trouble deep after during a night of drunkenness he pledges his fortune to charity. To keep from having to honor his pledge--and to avoid the luscious golddigger that pursues him--the young lout disguises himself as janitor and begins working at a nearly bankrupt nursery school. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Parker, Douglass Montgomery, (more)
- 1936
When widower Stephen Blake (Melvyn Douglas) and divorcee Edith Farnham (Mary Astor) are the only guests at a snowed-in mountain resort, sports director Snirley (Romaine Callender) and hostess Alma Peabody (Dorothy Stickney) try to promote a romance between Stephen and Edith. However, Stephen's son Tommy (Jackie Moran) and Edith's daughter Brenda (Edith Fellows) think this is a rotten idea and do what they can to prevent them from getting together. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melvyn Douglas, Mary Astor, (more)
