Nina Foch Movies
Blonde, ice cool, and sophisticated actress Nina Foch has worked steadily in feature films and television since making her film debut in Return of the Vampire (1943). As a contracted starlet for Columbia Pictures, Foch spent several years appearing in many B-films before she was able to prove herself ready for bigger fare.Born to Dutch conductor/composer Dirk Fock and an American chorine/WWI-era pin-up girl, Foch was born in Holland but raised in Manhattan. Before enrolling in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts to study acting, she had briefly been a concert pianist and an amateur painter. As an actress, Foch gained experience with local theater and touring companies until signing with Columbia in 1943. In 1947, Foch made the first of many forays on Broadway. By the early '50s, she was being cast in secondary but better roles in such films as An American in Paris (1951) and Scaramouche (1952). In 1954, Foch appeared in Executive Suite for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. But for a few television appearances and some stage work, Foch took a respite from acting in 1960 that lasted over ten years. She made a comeback in Such Good Friends (1971) and continued to appear sporadically in films as a character actress. Foch also worked steadily in television, was a respected drama coach in Hollywood, and taught at UCLA's School of Cinematic Arts for 40 years before her death in late 2008. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This romantic comedy is the first film from two television veterans, writer Winnie Holzman and director Scott Winant. Gwen Moss (Jeanne Tripplehorn) is a writer working on the life story of former child actress Francesca Lanfield (Sarah Jessica Parker), who is recovering from drug addiction. Nick Dawkan (Dylan McDermott) is an architect working on a housing development that will require razing Gwen's beloved vintage apartment. Gwen frequently visits a restaurant designed by Nick, but she never meets him. In the meantime, she is romantically rebuffed by a college professor (Ken Olin), who reveals that he is bisexual. Eventually, Gwen's crusade to save the apartment complex, which is owned by Francesca, attracts the attention of Nick. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanne Tripplehorn, Dylan McDermott, (more)
- 1945
One of the most successful filmed biographies of the 1940s, A Song to Remember alleges to be the true story of Polish composer Frederick Chopin. Actually, it has about as much relation to truth as a Heckle and Jeckle cartoon, but with such gorgeous creatures as Cornel Wilde and Merle Oberon in the leads, who cared? Though Wilde, as Chopin, is the nominal lead, top billing goes to Paul Muni, hamming his way through the role of Chopin's mentor Professor Joseph Elsner. Reportedly, Muni developed his characterization long before shooting started, refusing to allow the performances of the other actors to alter his interpretation in the slightest. This may explain why Muni seems to be acting in a vacuum, frequently completely out of rhythm with the film and its characters. Otherwise, Cornel Wilde does a nice job as the tempestuous Chopin, whose patriotic fervency frequently takes priority over his music. Merle Oberon plays novelist George Sand, who despite her preference for male clothing proves to be "all woman" during her torrid, decade-long affair with Chopin. The film's money scene--the one that everyone talked about, keeping the picture "alive" long after its original release--occurs towards the end, when the tubercular Chopin begins hemorrhaging as he performs his Polonaise for the first time (Jose Iturbi is heard on the soundtrack, "doubling" for Wilde's ivory-tickling). Sumptuously photographed in Technicolor by Tony Gaudio and Allen M. Davey, A Song to Remember was the usually penurious Columbia Pictures' top production of 1945. Fifteen years later, the studio hoped to make lightning strike twice with its Franz Liszt biopic Song Without End, but the magic just wasn't there. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Muni, Merle Oberon, (more)
Gene Kelly does his patented Pal Joey bit as Jerry Mulligan, an opportunistic American painter living in Paris' "starving artists" colony. He is discovered by wealthy Milo Roberts (Nina Foch), who becomes Jerry's patroness in more ways than one. Meanwhile, Jerry plays hookey on this setup by romancing waif-like Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron) -- who, unbeknownst to him, is the object of the affections of his close friend Henri (Georges Guetary), a popular nightclub performer. (The film was supposed to make Guetary into "the New Chevalier." It didn't.) The thinnish plot is held together by the superlative production numbers and by the recycling of several vintage George Gershwin tunes, including "I Got Rhythm," "'S Wonderful," and "Our Love Is Here to Stay." Highlights include Guetary's rendition of "Stairway to Paradise"; Oscar Levant's fantasy of conducting and performing Gershwin's "Concerto in F" (Levant also appears as every member of the orchestra); and the closing 17-minute "American in Paris" ballet, in which Kelly and Caron dance before lavish backgrounds based on the works of famed French artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, (more)
- 2004
Adapted from the novel by Anne Tyler, the made-for-TV "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation Back When We Were Grownups stars Blythe Danner as 53-year-old Baltimore widow Rebecca Davitch. Having long since given up her dreams of college to get married and raise a family, and also having abandoned all of her other goals and ambitions in order to manage her family's catering business, Rebecca is attending an engagement party for her stepdaughter when it suddenly strikes her that she has, in the words of the film's press release, "been living the wrong life!" Thus begins Rebecca's quest to reclaim her lost youth -- with her childhood sweetheart Will Allenby (Peter Fonda) figuring prominently in Rebecca's "second wind." Boasting a star-studded supporting cast (Faye Dunaway, Jack Palance, Nina Foch, Peter Reigert, Ione Skye), Back When We Were Grownups was first broadcast November 21, 2004, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Blythe Danner, Faye Dunaway, (more)
- 1967
Nina Foch guest-stars as Clarissa, Ben Cartwright's snooty Eastern cousin. Swooping down upon the Ponderosa, the well-meaning but insufferable Clarissa manages to alienate all of the Cartwrights' friends-and even worse, causes ranch cook Hop Sing to tender his resignation. It has been suggested that Chester Krumholz' teleplay was specifically designed to prove that a regular female character would be disastrous for Bonanza. Whatever the reasons for its gestation, "Clarissa" originally aired on April 30, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1945
Boston Blackie's Rendezvous quite transcended its B-picture origins, and was easily the best of Columbia's "Boston Blackie" series. In this one, crook-turned-sleuth Blackie (Chester Morris) tries to track down homicidal maniac James Cook (Steve Cochran). This time it's personal: Cook has been committing a number of violent murders while posing as Blackie. Stuck in the middle is Sally Brown (Nina Foch), who is kidnapped by the villain so that Blackie will lay off. When asked in later years about Boston Blackie's Rendezvous, Nina Foch couldn't remember too many plot details, but did note with pride that costar Richard Lane (cast as Blackie's perennial nemesis Inspector Farraday) later became a prominent TV sportscaster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Nina Foch, (more)
- 1959
In this routine business-story-cum-romantic-comedy, James Garner is Cash McCall, a wheeling and dealing tycoon, and Natalie Wood is Lory Austen, the daughter of failing businessman Grant (Dean Jagger). McCall's expertise lies in acquiring businesses about to go belly up, attaching them to successful enterprises and then taking a large tax deduction on the resultant equation. Those deals are enhanced when the once-failing business is then sold at a profit. This is a savvy gambit for late '50s movie fare, but its proponent begins to have second thoughts when he comes up against the attractive Lory -- who is not afraid of baring all for a good cause. The well-known co-stars and others like Nina Foch and E.G. Marshall do their best with a limited script. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Natalie Wood, (more)
- 1978
Based upon a novel by Richard Peck, Child of Glass was updated to the present when it was created for Disney's TV series in 1978. Alexander Armsworth and his family move into a spooky old Dixie mansion that was once the home of a notorious river pirate. Before long, Alexander catches sight of a mysterious little girl and her dog, both of whom turn out to be ghosts. The little girl ghost tells Alexander that her name is Inez, and appeals to him for help in finding a child of glass. With the aid of his new friend, Blossom, Alexander finds out that Inez was a victim of the river pirate whose house his family now inhabits. The pirate killed the young girl when she refused to divulge the location of the treasure he sought; for good measure, he placed a curse upon her that has caused her to roam the plantation after death. With only a few days left before the curse becomes permanent, Alexander and Blossom rush to find the child of glass and free Inez's spirit. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Prescription: Murder, a 1967 TV movie, represents the first appearance of Peter Falk as the rumpled but crafty detective Columbo. Gene Barry plays a distinguished doctor whose happiness is thwarted by his drunken wife (Nina Foch). Barry is in love with a pretty actress (Katherine Justice), and to smooth the path of his romance he murders his wife and arranges the evidence to pin the blame elsewhere. Enter Columbo, who seems to be slow on the uptake but who in fact is suspicious of the doctor's story. Snooping, prodding, puttering, and forever stopping at the doorway with the inevitable "just one more question," Columbo gets to the truth by playing a psychological trick on Barry, with the grudging cooperation of Barry's mistress. Written by Richard Levinson and William Link, Prescription Murder began life as a Broadway play in the late 1950s, starring Thomas Mitchell in the Columbo part (with a different character name), Joseph Cotten as the devious doctor, Agnes Moorehead as the victim and Patricia Medina (Mrs. Cotten) as the mistress. It would be adapted into a one-hour special on NBC in 1961 (with Bert Freed as the disheveled detective) before finally hitting weekly-series paydirt with Peter Falk in the lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk
- 1965
In desperate need of transportation to take the wounded Kirby (Jack Hogan) to an aid station, Saunders tries to commandeer the truck driven by a French matron named Mme. Carmaux (Nina Foch). But the woman stubbornly refuses to cooperate: her vehicle is carrying a coffin intended for the body of her son, and she will not be stopped until the boy receives a proper burial. What begins as a stalemate evolves into an uneasy truce, with Saunders and Mme. Carmaux ultimately working together...sort of. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1944
Nina Foch plays the title role in this rather dull horror melodrama from Columbia Pictures. Investigating his father's murder Bob Morris (Stephen Crane) and his Transylvanian girlfriend Elsa (Osa Massen) come to suspect the mysterious Celeste Latour (Foch), who calls herself a Gypsy princess. And, sure enough, when Elsa gets to close to the truth, Celeste casts a spell on her that turns the girl into a cat. But only briefly and Celeste is eventually cornered in the Latour family crypt. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nina Foch, Stephen Crane, (more)
This gentle comedy hearkens back to 1945, just after the war's end where a crazy small-town family awaits the return of one of their own. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hoyt Axton, Karen Black, (more)
- 1979
- PG
A scientist hunted by terrorists receives assistance from an unexpected source: two Las Vegas showgirls and their promoter who pretend to be detectives. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1945
In this thriller, a nurse begins having strange premonitions about an impending murder. So strong is her intuition that she soon begins searching for the intended victim to try and save him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Cameron Hawley's novel Executive Suite appeared around the same time as two other tales of big-business intrigue, the 1954 film A Woman's World and the 1955 Rod Serling teleplay Patterns. Elements of all three properties inevitably overlap. In Executive Suite, a furniture-store executive dies suddenly, resulting in a power play between five of his vice presidents. Julia O. Tredway (Barbara Stanwyck), daughter of the company founder and mistress of the president, must choose between solid family man McDonald Walling (William Holden), blackmail-prone Josiah Walter Dudley (Paul Douglas), ruthless Loren Phineas Shaw (Fredric March), duplicitous George Nyle Caswell (Louis Calhern), and eternal corporate bridesmaid Frederick Y. Alderson (Walter Pidgeon). Only Walling, the most honest of the bunch, refuses to campaign for the presidential chair. Despite the presence of the A-list leads and of supporting actors Shelley Winters, Dean Jagger, and Nina Foch, Executive Suite is a true ensemble effort, with everyone carrying like weight onscreen. The property was later adapted into a TV series, which owed more to Dallas than it did to the Hawley novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, June Allyson, (more)
- 1996
The second of two CBS TV movies based on the novels of Lavyrle Spencer, Family Blessings begins as young police officer Greg Reston (Darren Lucas) dies in an auto accident. Having already lost a husband, Greg's mother Lee (Lynda Carter) is all but consumed by grief. In his efforts to comfort, Lee, Greg's fellow officer Chris Lallek (Steven Eckholdt) falls in love with her, despite the 15-year difference in their ages. The question now is whether or not Lee will reciprocate Chris' love, a task complicated by the disapproval of her friends and family members--especially her daughter Janice (Ari Meyers), who once carried a torch for Chris herself. Codirected by actresses Deborah Raffin and Nina Foch (who also plays Lee's mother Peg), Lavyrle Spencer's Family Blessings originally aired September 6, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lynda Carter, Steven Eckholdt, (more)
- 1953
In this musical comedy, a young woman inherits a race horse. She wants to race it but encounters difficulty with its trainer who wants to be able to buy the horse for himself. To do so, he makes sure the horse keeps losing races. The woman refuses to sell it. Later, race track con artists try to scam her. The trainer comes to her aide, and soon they fall in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Howard Keel, Polly Bergen, (more)
- 1973
The made for TV Female Artillery is a comedy, just in case the title didn't tip you off. Set in the Old West, the film stars Dennis Weaver as Deke Chambers, an outlaw on the lam from his old gang. Joining a wagon train, Deke aligns himself with a group of tough, well-armed pioneer women. When the gang attacks, the gals retaliate in noisy fashion. First telecast January 17, 1973, Female Artillery is elevated by the special effects wizardry of Albert Whitlock. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Actor Richard Carlson learned how to direct while starring in his popular TV series I Led Three Lives, then extended his directorial expertise to such theatrical second features as Four Guns to the Border. Rory Calhoun, George Nader, and Jay "Tonto" Silverheels play three desperate bank robbers who are halted in their escape by the plight of Colleen Miller and Walter Brennan. Miller and Brennan will be at the mercy of marauding Apaches unless the three desperadoes offer their services. Miller shows her gratitude to Calhoun with a steamy love scene that must have given the censors of 1954 conniptions. Four Guns to the Border ends on a sorrowful note, indicating that Richard Carlson wasn't preoccupied by cliches when occupying the director's chair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Colleen Miller, (more)
- 1969
Gidget, the teenybopper surfer created by Frederick Kohner, grows up in the form of Karen Valentine (rather than such previous Gidgets as Sandra Dee and Sally Field). She leaves her friends and family at Malibu to head for New York, there to take a job as a guide at the United Nations building. Before this made-for-TV effort is over, Gidget teaches the U.N. delegates the true meaning of the words "foreign relations" by falling in love with handsome Edward Mulhare. Gidget Grows Up was one of several pilot films produced in hopes of reviving the 1966 Gidget series. This 1969 effort would be a waste of time if not for the presence of the ever-sneering Paul Lynde as Gidget's landlord. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Teen pop star Mandy Moore stars in the romantic comedy How to Deal. Directed by British filmmaker Clare Kilner, the script is based on two of author Sarah Dessen's popular teen novels: Someone Like You and That Summer. Halley (Moore) is a teenager trying to make sense of the faltering romantic relationships within her immediate social sphere. Her mother, Lydia (Allison Janney), can't seem get a date, while her father (Peter Gallagher) is getting remarried to a woman that nobody seems to like. Halley's wedding-obsessed sister, Ashley (Mary Catherine Garrison), is engaged to Lewis (MacKenzie Astin), a guy that is completely wrong for her. Meanwhile, bad boy Macon Forrester (Trent Ford) won't leave Halley alone. Just when she decides to become cynical about love because of all the romantic disappointments around her, a troubled situation involving her best friend Scarlett (Alexandra Holden) changes her outlook. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mandy Moore, Allison Janney, (more)
- 1990
Nina Foch guest stars as Gloria Morrell, an impoverished former film star who yearns to walk on Acapulco beach in the moonlight before she dies. To make this dream come true, Gloria's longtime companion launches a crime spree. Unfortunately, Hunter (Fred Dryer) arrests the wrong man--and as a result the city is slapped with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by a hotshot lawyer who specializes in obscenely enormous settlements. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jonathan Darby made his directorial debut with this thriller, set in Kentucky (but filmed in Orange County, VA). Jackson Baring (Johnathon Schaech) wants his girlfriend, Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow), to meet his mother, Martha (Jessica Lange), so he brings her home for Christmas to Kilronan, their sumptuous Kentucky estate and horse farm. Later, after Helen gets pregnant, they marry and return to Kilronan to have the baby, but Martha aggressively intrudes and manipulates, telling obstetrician Dr. Hill (Hal Holbrook) how to deal with the birth and forbidding Helen from seeing Jackson's invalid granny, Alice (Nina Foch). After learning some of Martha's past history from Alice, Helen soon decides she must make an escape from her demented mother-in-law. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessica Lange, Gwyneth Paltrow, (more)
- 1945
Based on Phillips Lord's popular radio serial, I Love a Mystery centers around the exploits of two pugnacious private eyes (marked down from the radio version's three heroes). The adventuresome Jack Packard (Jack Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough) are hired by a nervous socialite (George Macready), who lives in mortal fear of being decapitated. The man has been the recipient of strange, cryptic messages from an Oriental secret society, which predict his impending doom. The brains behind the society is the man's duplicitous wife (Nina Foch), who hopes to goad her husband into suicide and thus fall heir to his millions. A grisly little item, I Love a Mystery was the first of three Columbia "B" pictures inspired by the radio original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nina Foch, Jim Bannon, (more)
