James Arness Movies
American actor James Arness had an unremarkable Minneapolis childhood, but his wartime experiences shattered that normality - literally. During the battle of Anzio, Arness' right leg was peppered with machine gun bullets, and when the bones were set they didn't mend properly, leaving him with a slight but permanent limp. The trauma of the experience mellowed into aimlessness after the war. Arness became a "beach bum," lived out of his car, and worked intermittently as a salesman and carpenter. Acting was treated equally lackadaisically, but by 1947 Arness had managed to break into Hollywood on the basis of his rugged good looks and his 6'6" frame. Few of his screen roles were memorable, though one has become an object of cult worship: Arness was cast as the menacingly glowing space alien, described by one character as "an intellectual carrot," in The Thing (1951). For a time it looked as though Arness would continue to flounder in supporting roles, while his younger brother, actor Peter Graves, seemed destined for stardom. John Wayne took a liking to Arness when the latter was cast in Wayne's Big Jim McLain (1953). Wayne took it upon himself to line up work for Arness, becoming one of the withdrawn young actor's few friends. In 1955, Wayne was offered the role of Matt Dillon in the TV version of the popular radio series Gunsmoke. Wayne turned it down but recommended that Arness be cast and even went so far as to introduce him to the nation's viewers in a specially filmed prologue to the first Gunsmoke episode. Truth be told, Arness wasn't any keener than Wayne to be tied down to a weekly series, and as each season ended he'd make noises indicating he planned to leave. This game went on for each of the 20 seasons that Gunsmoke was on the air, the annual result being a bigger salary for Arness, more creative control over the program (it was being produced by his own company within a few years) and a sizeable chunk of the profits and residuals. When Gunsmoke finally left the air in 1975, Arness was the only one of the original four principals (including Amanda Blake, Milburn Stone and Dennis Weaver) still appearing on the series. Arness made plans to take it easy after his two-decade Gunsmoke hitch, but was lured back to the tube for a one-shot TV movie, The Macahans (1976). This evolved into the six-hour miniseries How the West Was Won (1977) which in turn led to a single-season weekly series in 1978. All these incarnations starred Arness, back in the saddle as Zeb Macahan. The actor tried to alter his sagebrush image in a 1981 modern-day cop series, McClain's Law -- which being set in the southwest permitted Arness to ride a horse or two. It appeared, however that James Arness would always be Matt Dillon in the hearts and minds of fans, thus Arness obliged his still-faithful public with three Gunsmoke TV movies, the last one (Gunsmoke: The Last Apache) released in 1992. In between these assignments, James Arness starred in a 1988 TV-movie remake of the 1948 western film classic Red River, in which he filled the role previously played by his friend and mentor John Wayne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1959
Bob Hope plays a 19th-century insurance agent whose miserable sales record prompts his boss to send him out West, where he can (supposedly) do little harm. Hope manages to sell a $100,000 life insurance policy--to outlaw Jesse James (Wendell Corey), one of the worst "risks" in history! In his efforts to get the policy back, Hope finds himself being mistaken for Jesse, which is all part of the outlaw's plan to get Hope killed and thereby collect the policy money himself. But with the help of beauteous Rhonda Fleming (the essentially honest beneficiary to Jesse's policy), Hope gains a reputation as a lightning-fast gunslinger. In the inevitable shoot-out with the James gang, Hope is helped out by several famous Westerners, including Gary Cooper, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, James "Maverick" Garner, and even Tonto (Jay Silverheels). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Rhonda Fleming, (more)
- 1958
Having ended its third season as America's top-rated TV series, Gunsmoke managed to retain that title throughout Season Four, not only because of its own innate excellence but also because of its unusually strong lead-in show on CBS' Saturday-night schedule, Have Gun: Will Travel. Even though the series' "adult western" trappings which had been regarded as daring and innovative back when it first aired in 1955 were now considered commonplace and even cliché-ridden, the show remained a viewer favorite even among non-western fans. Inevitably, however, a bit of friction had developed internally on Gunsmoke. Whereas during the series' first three seasons the leading actors were more than willing to follow the scripts as written, by the fall of 1958 those same actors--James Arness (Matt Dillon), Dennis Weaver (Chester), Milburn Stone (Doc), Amanda Blake)--were now full-fledged stars, and acted accordingly. Without going into further detail, we offer this rueful observation from series coproducer Charles Marquis Warren, as originally published in TV Guide: "It reached the point when I'd arrive on the set in the morning only to have Arness tell me that 'Matt Dillon wouldn't say a thing like that!' Everybody suddenly got to be a self-appointed authority." Small wonder that Warren was no longer associated with the series come Season Four, relinquishing the producing chores to his partners Norman McDonnell and John Meston. Having pretty much exhausted the scripts from the radio version of Gunsmoke (which was still running as of 1958), the series began featuring more and more "originals" during its fourth season, many of them penned by producer John Meston. Among the noteworthy actors making guest appearance this season are Martin Landau, Dan Blocker, Charles Bronson, Ross Martin, Warren Oates, Jack Elam and James Drury. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Arness, Amanda Blake, (more)
After a shaky start opposite NBC's George Gobel Show during its first season, TV's foremost "adult" western Gunsmoke steadily accrued new viewers throughout Season Two, ending the year as America's 8th most popular program. And by the end of Season Three, Gunsmoke was TV's top-rated series--a fact not lost on the other networks, as witness the veritable flood of new westerns series during the next two years. Few if any changes were been made in Gunsmoke's format during its third year on the air. Certainly, nothing was done to dampen the popularity of its stars: Matt Dillon as Dodge City's taciturn marshal Matt Dillon, Dennis Weaver as Matt's bucolic-but-brave deputy Chester Good, Amanda Blake as attractively tarnished saloonkeeper Kitty Russell and Milburn Stone as crotchety Doc Adams. By this time, many of the series' familiar trademarks were not only firmly in place, but were rich sources of satire and parody on the various comedy shows of the period: Kitty's ubiquitous "Be careful, Matt" whenever Dillon went out on a dangerous mission; Chester's pronounced limp and spectacular inability to make a decent cup of coffee; the ongoing battle of wits between Chester and Doc; and of course the famous opening sequence, with Dillon squaring off against an unidentified gunslinger in the middle of Dodge's Main Street. Incredibly, although 78 episodes had already been filmed and 39 more were offered during Season Three, the series was still relying heavily upon scripts adapted from the radio version of Gunsmoke, which ran from 1952 through 1961 (some of these were "visualized" by no less a writer than Sam Peckinpah). And as in the past two seasons, the supporting casts of those 39 episodes were filled to overflowing with familiar names, notably John Dehner, Jeanette Nolan, Robert Vaughn, Pernell Roberts, Jack Lord, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Jack Klugman, Harry Dean Stanton, June Lockhart and Jack Cassidy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Arness, Amanda Blake, (more)
Two years into Gunsmoke, James Arness took time out of his busy schedule to star in the medium-budget western Arizona Mission. Trading in his white hat for a black one, Arness plays a bandit. He and partners Robert J. Wilke and Don Megowan pull off a robbery; the partners then vamoose with the loot, leaving Big Jim empty-handed and seriously wounded. He is also betrayed by his lady friend Angie Dickinson. When Arness finally catches up with his former chums, he decides to "psych" them out rather than fill them full of lead right off the bat. Written by future director Burt Kennedy, who'd penned many a "Mexican standoff" picture for Randolph Scott and Budd Boetticher, Arizona Mission represented the first big-screen directorial effort for Andrew McLaglen. The film was originally released as Gun the Man Down. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Arness, Angie Dickinson, (more)
- 1956
Season Two of Gunsmoke introduces the series' now-legendary opening sequence, as Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) shoots it out on the deserted main street of Dodge City with an anonymous opponent (Matt, of course, outdraws the man. He always does). Over the years, this opener would be periodically refilmed, not only to reflect the expansion of Dodge City but also to accommodate the ever-encroaching age lines on Matt Dillon's face. As was the case in Season One, most of the episodes in Gunsmoke's second season are adapted from scripts originally written for the radio version, which ran from 1952 through 1961. Among the best of these is "Custer", in which a villain gets off scot free, only to meet his fate (off-screen) at the Little Big Horn; "The Mistake", wherein the far-from-infallible Matt Dillon arrests the wrong man, and suffers the consequences; "No Indians", a grim, uncompromising tale of a brutal massacre perpetrated by a gang of psychotic outlaws; and "Bloody Hands", in which Matt, worried that he's beginning to enjoy killing people, turns in his badge--much to the (temporary) relief of the ever-fretting Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake). In other words, Gunsmoke was a far cry from the bravura juvenile heroics of The Lone Ranger and The Gene Autry Show! In addition to such Gunsmoke supporting-cast stalwarts as John Dehner, Vic Perrin and Lawrence Dobkin, the second-season episodes include appearances by such noteworthy actors as Angie Dickinson, Cloris Leachman, Tommy Kirk, Andrew Duggan, Simon Oakland, Denver Pyle, Strother Martin, Stuart Whitman, Russell Johnson, Sebastian Cabot and Jack Kelly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amanda Blake, Milburn Stone, (more)
- 1956
Ginger Rogers ended her 23-year association with RKO Radio with the indifferent musical comedy western The First Travelling Saleslady. Ginger and Broadway favorite Carol Channing (whose only starring film this was) play a pair of corset salespersons who head westward in 1897 to hawk their wares. Finding a limited market for corsets, the ladies switch to selling barbed wire, which rests not at all well with cattle baron James Arness. Rescuing Ginger and Carol from Arness' hired guns are horseless-carriage inventor Barry Nelson and callow young cowpoke Clint Eastwood. Whenever asked about First Travelling Saleslady in later years, Carol Channing would blithely refer to it as "the picture that killed RKO"; she wasn't too far wrong in this assessment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Barry Nelson, (more)
- 1955
Yvonne de Carlo is at her most smokily exotic in the Republic "special" Flame of the Islands. Filmed on location in the Bahamas, the story focuses on Rosalind Dee (Ms. DeCarlo), a cabaret singer who aspires to enter High Society. To this end, she comes into possession of a great deal of money through rather underhanded means. Rosalind forms a partnership with gambling-club owners Wade Evans (Zachary Scott) and Cyril Mace (Kurt Kasner), building the establishment into a gathering place for the Elite. Along the way, she attempts to rekindle a romance with randy playboy Doug Duryea (Howard Duff), but it is true-blue Kelly Rand (James Arness) who rescues Rosalind from gangland intrusion in the final reel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvonne De Carlo, Howard Duff, (more)
John Wayne plays anti-Nazi Prussian sea captain Karl Erlich in Sea Chase, one of the many film commentaries released post WWII. Though staunchly opposed to the Nazi regime, Karl (Wayne) feels it would nevertheless be unpatriotic should he refuse to save his ship from destruction. His ship--an old, rusty 5,000 ton freighter named the Ergenstrasse--is being pursued by a British warship on his journey from Australia back to Germany. Captain Erlich does everything he can to save his ship and his crew, but the process is long and dangerous, particularly without a plentiful supply of fuel and provisions. Erlich must face obstacles ranging from horrendous sea storms and shark attacks to false murder accusations, and it seems his only devotee is Elsa (Lana Turner), a beautiful German spy. Despite nearly falling to the determined English ship and a mutiny attempt by his own crew, Captain Erlich manages to survive what was anything but a routine trip back to his home country. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Lana Turner, (more)
The original radio version of Gunsmoke was in its third year on the air when the TV version made its CBS network bow on September 10, 1955. Replacing radio's William Conrad as Matt Dillon was tall-in-the-saddle James Arness, whose chief claim to fame at that time was his portrayal of the title role in the 1951 sci-fi thriller The Thing. Arness was a protégé of film superstar John Wayne, who in a good-luck gesture appeared on camera at the beginning of the opening episode, "Matt Gets It"--which like virtually all of the episodes seen during Season One was adapted from one of the original radio scripts. No sooner had this first episode gotten under way that Gunsmoke staked out its claim as TV's first "adult" western with a startling sequence in which hero Matt Dillon was shot down and nearly killed by the heavy of the piece! During its earliest episodes, the series boasts a different opening sequence than the familiar one in which Matt Dillon and an unknown assailant square off for a showdown in Dodge City's deserted Main Street. These initial episodes find Matt philosophically wandering around the town's cemetery "Boot Hill", as he introduces the story at hand via offscreen narration. Also, Milburn Stone's Doc Adams is younger and less cantankerous than he'd been in later years, while Amanda Blake's Miss Kitty is flashier and more flirtatious with Matt Dillon (Their relationship would always remain ambiguous, though it was clear from the "body language" of the two characters in the first season that they might have had something going on in the off-hours). Only deputy Chester, played by Dennis Weaver, is fully formed from the outset, though Chester's famous limp is a bit inconsistent--and, in at least one episode, he doesn't limp at all! Evidently in hopes of luring viewers away from NBC's high-rated The George Gobel Show, the producers of Gunsmoke stuffed the series' first season with no fewer than 39 first-run episodes,which were spread out over a nine-month period with but a handful of reruns. Appearing in several of these episodes are a number of actors who'd worked on the radio Gunsmoke, including John Dehner, Harry Bartell, Vic Perrin, Jeanne Bates and Lawrence Dobkin; and in the episode "The Pest Hole", Howard McNear, "Doc Adams" in the radio version, is seen as hotel keeper Mr. Bradley. Also seen on Gunsmoke's maiden season are such stars in the making as Charles Bronson, Claude Akins, William Hopper, Sebastian Cabot and DeForest Kelley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Arness, Milburn Stone, (more)
Packaged and sold as an outdoor actioner, Many Rivers to Cross is as much a comedy as anything else. Robert Taylor stars as 18th century trapper Bushrod Gentry, who is himself entrapped into marriage by the spunky Mary Stuart Cherne (Eleanor Parker). Escaping his marital responsibilities (which were impressed upon him on threat of death), Gentry heads into the North Country, with Mary in hot pursuit. Hero and heroine spend the rest of the picture taking turns rescuing each other from hostile Indians. Some of the humor is predicated upon the wholesale slaughter of the "redskins", and as such is a bit hard to take when seen today. Supporting Taylor and Parker are Victor McLaglen as the heroine's burly father, and TV-stars-to be James Arness (Gunsmoke) and Russell Johnson and Alan Hale Jr. (Gilligan's Island). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, (more)
A little girl is found wandering in the desert, in a state of complete shock. When she finally revives, she can scream out only one word: "Them!" Any aficionado of 1950s horror films can readily tell you that "Them" are giant ants, a byproduct of the radiation attending the atomic bomb tests of the era. Extremely well organized, these deadly eight-to-twenty-foot mutations converge on the storm drains of Los Angeles in the finale. Forming a united front against the oncoming ant battalions are New Mexico police sergeant James Whitmore, FBI representative James Arness, and father-and-daughter entomologists Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon. Since the details of Them are fairly common knowledge today, the mystery-thriller structure of the film's first half tends to drag a bit. Things liven up considerably during the search-and-destroy final reels, as the audience is barraged with convincing special effects and miniature work-not to mention that eerie ant-induced sound effect, so often imitated by subsequent lesser films. Fess Parker appears in a starmaking cameo as a pilot driven to the booby hatch after witnessing the ants in action, while an uncredited Leonard Nimoy is seen pulling info out of IBM machine. Definitely the high point in the careers of director Gordon Douglas and scenarists Ted Sherdeman and George Worthing Yates, Them is also one of the handful of vintage science-fiction thrillers that holds up as well today as it did when first released. (Sidebar: Though filmed in black-and-white, Them is alleged to have been released with a Technicolor opening title, the word THEM! hurtling towards the audience in a vibrant red). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, (more)
- 1954
After a fruitful 15-year association, Greer Garson and MGM parted company with Her Twelve Men. The William Roberts-Laura Z. Hobson screenplay was adapted from Louise Baker's autobiographical novel Miss Baker's Dozen, the title of which pointed out the fact (which the film's title does not) that there are thirteen men in the story. Ms. Garson plays widow Jan Stewart, who after several years of marriage decides to create a new life for herself as a teacher at an exclusive boys' school. It takes her some time to win over her 13 troublesome students, but win them over she does. A more formidable task is to convince stodgy professor Joe Hargrave (Robert Ryan) that her teaching methods are viable; also doubtful of Jan's capability is Richard Y. Oliver (Barry Sullivan), the oil-rich father of her most contentious student (Tim Considine). Featured as another of the parents is Frances Bergen, the real-life wife of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and the mother of Murphy Brown star Candice Bergen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greer Garson, Robert Ryan, (more)
Hondo is so "perfect" a John Ford western that many people assume it was directed by John Ford--or at the very least, Andrew McLaglen. Actually the director was suspense expert John Farrow, who worked with the "Duke" only twice in his career (the second film was an oddball war drama, The Sea Chase [55]). In Hondo, John Wayne plays a hard-bitten cavalry scout who is humanized by frontierswoman Geraldine Page and her young son (Lee Aaker, star of TV's Rin Tin Tin). Try as he might, Wayne can't convince Page to move off her land in anticipation of an Apache attack. He leaves her ranch, only to be ambushed by desperado Leo Gordon--who happens to be Page's long-absent husband. Having killed Gordon, Hondo returns to the ranch to protect Page from the Indians, and to rekindle the woman's hesitant love for him. The climactic attack sequence is enhanced by Hondo's 3-D photography, one of the few truly effective utilizations of this much-maligned process. Long unavailable thanks to the labyrinthine legal tangles of the John Wayne estate, Hondo was finally released to videotape in the early 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Geraldine Page, (more)
- 1953
Lone Hand benefits immensely from the genuine Colorado locations seen throughout. Zachary Hallock (Joel McCrea) and his son Joshua (Jimmy Hunt) set up farming in a frontier community plagued by outlaws. Vigilantes want to form a united front against the villains, but Hallock refuses to join, even after witnessing the murder of a Pinkerton detective. Instead, Hallock covertly joins the outlaws, causing anguish not only for his son but also for his new bride Sarah Jane Skaggs (Barbara Hale). The reason behind Hallock's apparently scurrilous behavior are revealed at very the end. Appearing in support in Lone Hand is future "Gunsmoke" star Jim Arness as a charming desperado. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel McCrea, Barbara Hale, (more)
- 1953
It's a toss-up as to who looks better unclothed in Universal's Veils of Bagdad: Hero Victor Mature or heroine Mari Blanchard. Mature plays a Robin-Hood type named Antar, who travels with a troupe of jugglers and wrestlers, all of whom double as thieves, pickpockets and second-story men. When the evil Pasha of Bagdad (Leon Askin) conspires with the equally evil Vizier (Guy Rolfe) to steal tax money to finance a private war, Antar and his gang swings into action. Blanchard plays Selima, the toothsome daughter of a murdered tribal chieftain who works as a cabaret dancer while searching for her dad's murderer. TV fans are advised to keep an eye out for future Baretta star Robert Blake, who shows up in a bit as a youthful beggar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Mari Blanchard, (more)
During World War II, a Military Air Transport Command DC-3 piloted by a civilian crew is forced down in northern Labrador. The five men, led by Dooley (John Wayne), have barely any food and almost no way to keep warm, and their power supply is fading fast, but they have to find a way of staying alive until search planes find them. At first, even Dooley is overwhelmed by the responsibility for his crew's safety, and he is too lax in handling them -- but after one man dies, frozen to death just steps from help, he takes over and pushes his men and himself to the limits of their endurance; he even seems ready to crack himself at one moment. Meanwhile, the men who fly with Dooley push themselves and their machines past their endurance limits searching the arctic wastes for the downed plane. Island in the Sky -- based on the book by Ernest K. Gann (perhaps the best aviation novel ever written), which was, in turn, based on a true incident that happened during the war -- is one of the most startling movies in Wayne's output. He doesn't even look like the "star" John Wayne, but like a real pilot, and the cast, made up of familiar faces, all look like the real article; indeed, this movie should have been in the running for Academy Awards for costuming and makeup, just for making these familiar performers, such as Lloyd Nolan (in maybe his best performance) and Andy Devine (ditto), look like real pilots and ordinary men, rather than familiar actors. You end up feeling like you're watching a documentary, and the effect is bracing and unsettling, and dramatically unparalleled in Wayne's entire output. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Lloyd Nolan, (more)
- 1952
Set in the years following the Civil War, Horizons West stars Robert Ryan as Dan Hammond, one of three Texans who decide to return home after the cessation of hostilities. While his brother Neal (Rock Hudson) and his friend Tiny (James Arness) decide to become ranchers, Dan opts for a more adventurous life out West. Through means both fair and foul (mostly foul), he builds up a veritable empire, defending his turf with legions of hired gunmen. Eventually, the honest Neal is forced to face down his brother Dan, whose megalomania has reached dictatorial dimensions. Julie Adams, still billed as "Julia," plays a self-reliant widow who sets her cap for Dan, who in an earlier scene had gunned down the woman's husband (Raymond Burr)--a characteristically ironic grace-note from director Budd Boetticher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ryan, Julie Adams, (more)
- 1952
This western stars Sterling Hayden as a man who innocently tends to the needs of a mysterious stranger. When it turns out that the stranger was part of a notorious gang of mercenaries, Hayden is condemned as a conspirator and sent to Hellgate Prison in New Mexico. He earns a pardon thanks to his courage and medical expertise during an epidemic. Hellgate was one of a handful of ambitious 1950s projects from the otherwise cost-conscious Lippert Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sterling Hayden, Joan Leslie, (more)
- 1952
June Allyson portrays real-life doctor Emily Dunning in this respectful biopic. Emily chooses a medical career despite turn-of-the-century prejudice against female physicians. The only job open to her is in a slum hospital in the Bowery, where she performs with courage and perseverance, exposing herself to the many deadly diseases which afflicted the poor in those pre-Penicillin days. Dr. Dunning's work brings her to the attention of the public, ultimately leading to an appointment on the staff at Bellevue Hospital--the first woman to hold such a job. Based on Emily Dunning's autobiography, This drama is slightly weakened by the fluctuating performance of June Allyson, though she wins over the audience in the very first scene by grimly slapping the face of a flirtatious intern. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Allyson, Arthur Kennedy, (more)
Of all the "kill the commies" cold war films of the 1950s, John Wayne's Big Jim McLain may well be the worst. Certainly it's the hardest one to sit through today. The Duke and his partner Jim Arness (Wayne's real-life protege) head to Hawaii to investigate a subversive pro-Red organization. Feigning love for suspect Nancy Olson, Wayne ferrets out the name of the Big Cheese, played by Gayne Whitman. After a long wild-goose chase, peopled by such oddball types as Hans Conried and Alan Napier, Wayne catches up with his quarry, who has--egad!--already murdered Arness. Wayne exacts vengeance, paving the way for a final clinch with Nancy Olson, who turns out to be true-blue and not red after all. To quote Spike Jones: "Peeeeee.....yewwwww." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Nancy Olson, (more)
- 1952
- NR
The tougher postwar screen image of James Stewart is given a good workout in the fact-based Carbine Williams. In 1952, the world at large knew Marsh Williams as the developer of the US Army's M-1 carbine rifle. The film builds up to this event by detailing Williams' previous existence as a bootlegger and embittered prison inmate, sentenced to 30 years at hard labor for killing a revenue agent. After enduring the rigors of chain-gang life and solitary confinement, Williams (Stewart) gets his mind off his troubles by dreaming up a new type of automatic-gun piston. He is encouraged in this endeavor by prison warden H. T. Peoples (Wendell Corey), previously Williams' bitterest enemy. As Williams continues to develop his innovative weaponry notions, his wife Maggie (Jean Hagen) and Warden Peoples try to overcome penal bureaucracy to win a pardon for Williams. Some TV prints of Carbine Williams have been colorized by computer; despite this artistically offensive practice, the strong dramatic and human values of the story still shine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Jean Hagen, (more)
- 1951
Fish-market worker Johnny O'Hara (James Arness) is named as a suspect when his boss -- with whom he had a dispute the previous day -- is shot to death in an apparent robbery. When he's arrested, his family appeals to their old friend James Curtayne (Spencer Tracy), who was once a renowned criminal attorney but is now in civil practice. He resists their entreaties until he realizes that no decent attorney will handle the case properly; his daughter (Diana Lynn) watches with alarm, however, for we soon learn that Curtayne is an alcoholic, and that the major factor in his life that pushed him over the edge was the stress of having someone's life in his hands. He discovers soon enough just how much Johnny's life is in his hands when his client refuses to level with him about his real whereabouts on the night of the murder. He also realizes as the trial starts precisely how rusty he is in the courtroom, and the old stresses return -- and with them, his drinking. Curtayne not only manages to lose the case but destroys his career when he tries to buy off a larcenous prosecution witness. His client facing a death sentence and his own life and career in ruins, he's seemingly hit bottom, but then new evidence surfaces, of a nature that not even the ambitious prosecutor (John Hodiak) can ignore. Recognizing that his client was actually innocent and also acting in his silence -- however stupidly -- from the noblest of motives, Curtayne is willing to redeem himself by putting his own life on the line, confronting a killer who has taken more than one life without any compunction whatsoever, and who has no reason to spill anything.
The People Against O'Hara was a well-made, largely location-shot crime drama set in New York City, but it wouldn't have been nearly so prestigious a movie were it not for the presence of Spencer Tracy in the role of Curtayne. Ironically enough, he only agreed to do the film on the condition that his friend Pat O'Brien, who hadn't been in a major studio release in a couple of years, be given a large role, which he got as the lead detective on the case, and O'Brien and Tracy get a couple of really good scenes together. The film also includes an unbilled appearance by Charles Bronson, who was still working as Charles Buchinski in 1951, and is highlighted by a superb prominent supporting performance by William Campbell, who seems to quietly relish every nuance of his portrayal of a totally slimy character. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
The People Against O'Hara was a well-made, largely location-shot crime drama set in New York City, but it wouldn't have been nearly so prestigious a movie were it not for the presence of Spencer Tracy in the role of Curtayne. Ironically enough, he only agreed to do the film on the condition that his friend Pat O'Brien, who hadn't been in a major studio release in a couple of years, be given a large role, which he got as the lead detective on the case, and O'Brien and Tracy get a couple of really good scenes together. The film also includes an unbilled appearance by Charles Bronson, who was still working as Charles Buchinski in 1951, and is highlighted by a superb prominent supporting performance by William Campbell, who seems to quietly relish every nuance of his portrayal of a totally slimy character. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Pat O'Brien, (more)
The scene is a distant Arctic research station, where a UFO has crashed. The investigating scientists discover that the circular craft has melted its way into the ice, which has frozen up again. While attempting to recover the ship, Captain Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) accidentally explodes the vessel, but the pilot -- at least, what seems to be the pilot -- remains frozen in a block of ice. The body is taken to base headquarters, where it is inadvertently thawed out by an electric blanket. The alien attacks the soldier guarding him and escapes into the snowy wastes. An attack dog rips off the alien's arm, whereupon Dr. Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) discerns that "The Thing" (played by future Gunsmoke star James Arness!) is not animal but a member of the carrot family, subsisting on blood. While the misguided Carrington attempts to spawn baby "Things" with the severed arm, the parent creature wreaks murderous havoc all over the base. Female scientist Nikki (Margaret Sheridan) suggests that the best way to destroy a vegetable is to cook it. Over the protests of Carrington, who wants to reason with the "visitor" (a very foolhardy notion, as it turns out), the soldiers devise a devious method for stopping The Thing once and for all. This oversimplification of The Thing does not do full justice to the overall mood and tension of the piece, nor does it convey the lifelike "business as usual" approach taken by the residents of the military base in dealing with something beyond their understanding. A superior blend of science fiction, horror, naturalistic dialogue, and flesh-and-blood characterizations, The Thing is a model of its kind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, (more)
- 1951
A remake of the 1931 film of the same name, Iron Man stars Jeff Chandler as up-and-coming boxer Cokie Martin. A relatively pleasant fellow outside the ring, Martin turns into a monster whenever he dons boxing gloves and trunks. As a result, he becomes "the man you love to hate" so far as the fans are concerned. Only his fiancee Rose (Evelyn Keyes) is willing to stand by him, but even her devotion is sorely tested when Cokie continues displaying his killer instinct. Only the intervention of "clean" fighter Speed O'Keefe (Rock Hudson) prevents Cokie from destroying himself. Told in flashback, Iron Man is at its best in its expository scenes, showing the hero working his way out of a coal mining town and into the championship. Joyce Holden co-stars as a good-time girl who enjoys a brief fling with the hero; in the original 1931 version, Holden's character was played by Jean Harlow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Chandler, Evelyn Keyes, (more)
- 1951
Rod Cameron heads the cast of the Monogram "B-plus" western Cavalry Scout. Cameron plays army scout Kirby Frye, who has been assigned to track down a stolen cache of weaponry. Frye suspects that local troublemaker Martin Gavin (James Millican) is the criminal mastermind, but he needs proof. The film matriculates into a tense cat-and-mouse game between Frye and Gavin, culminating in a long-overdue action finale. Cavalry Scout was lensed in Cinecolor, a pleasing two-color process which Monogram reserved for its prestige productions. The film was produced by Walter Mirisch, who'd later turn out such "A"-flicks as The Apartment, West Side Story and The Great Escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Cameron, Audrey Long, (more)
