Constance Ford Movies
Blonde American leading lady Constance Ford made her first film appearance in 1956's The Last Hunt. Generally cast in sensible, straightlaced roles, Ford provided welcome relief to the youthful hijinks prevalent in such films as A Summer Place (1959), Claudelle Inglish (1961) and Rome Adventure (1962). Constantly employed on TV, Ford is best remembered for her work in soap operas, which both pre-dated and outlasted her film career. In 1954, Constance Ford starred on the short-lived serial Woman With a Past; and, from 1964 until 1989, Ford portrayed Ada Davis Downs Hobson on NBC's Another World. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1974
- PG
John Frankenheimer's bizarre, satirical gangster film is not for all tastes but has acquired a minor cult following. Elderly mobster Edmond O'Brien hires a hitman (Richard Harris) to eliminate his rival (Bradford Dillman) in a dystopic setting of not-quite reality. There are albino alligators, skillful chase scenes, and Chuck Connors as a one-handed psycho who can fit various deadly weapons on his stumpy arm. None of it makes much sense, and mainstream viewers may end up scratching their heads in bewilderment, but fans of more esoteric films should find it a lot of fun. It would likely have ended up as a big hit on the drive-in circuit if it hadn't been directed by Frankenheimer, from whom most people expect better. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Harris, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1963
Scheming Frances Walden (Constance Ford) hopes to use the "gossip grapevine" in the small farming town of Palmetto to break up the marriage of her brother Martin (Robert Bray) and his wife Andrea (Diane Brewster). Frances goes so far as to pay her own nephew Roy (a pre-Lost in Space Mark Goddard), the town's biggest "stud", to compromise Andrea--who may already be amply compromised, if rumors of her affair with former boyfriend Nelson Tarr (Joe Maross) are true. When Martin is murdered, the police arrest Nelson--who, fortunately, happens to be a client of Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
John Flickenger (Benny Baker) takes no chances in planning the robbery of the trucking company where his sister Sylvia (Constance Ford) works. Unfortunately, he is less careful after the heist, leaving the gun he used to pull off the job within the reach of his nephew Miles (the versatile Billy Mumy)--who promptly hides the weapon where absolutely no one can find it. This proves problematic for Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), who needs the gun to prove that Sylvia is not guilty of the murder of Joe Downing (Ray Teal). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
A "bad movie" with a fervent fan following, The Caretakers is set in a bleak mental institution. Joan Crawford plays the hard-bitten head nurse (we first see her taking a karate lesson!) who is dead set against the progressive theories of new doctor Robert Stack. After a few minutes' exposure to the inmates, half the audience has sided with Crawford. The most disturbed individual in the place is Polly Bergen, who never speaks when screaming will do. But thanks to the compassionate treatment of Dr. Stack, it is Bergen who saves the day by preventing fellow inmate Barbara Barrie from burning the institution to the ground. Virtually every scene in The Caretakers is a gem of glorious excess, including the obligatory shock-treatment vignette. The film strives to avoid subtlety, but its fans wouldn't have it any other way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Stack, Polly Bergen, (more)
- 1963
Resentful over having to wait on her invalid Uncle Simon (Cedric Hardwicke) hand and foot, Barbara Polk (Constance Ford) perserveres only because she expects to inherit the old man's fortune. But Simon, a famed inventor, has a surprise in store for Barbara after he shuffles off his mortal coil. In order to claim Simon's legacy, Barbara must now service a talking robot -- who sounds and acts just like Uncle Simon. Robby the Robot of Forbidden Planet fame makes one of his several Twilight Zone "guest" appearances. Written by Rod Serling, "Uncle Simon" first aired November 15, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Ford, (more)
- 1962
In this prison drama, a remake of Caged, House of Women (1950), a pregnant woman is wrongly convicted of armed robbery. She is sentenced to five years in prison. After her child is born, the inmate is allowed to keep it. She then has three years to earn parole. If she does not, the babe will be put up for adoption. When the prison warden finds himself attracted to the woman, he makes her his personal maid. Time passes and he falls in love with her resulting in better treatment for the other prisoners. Three years pass and the woman's parole seems assured until the sadistic warden, not wanting to lose the woman he loves, decrees that she will not be paroled and that all imprisoned mothers will lose custody of their children. This harsh action spawns a bloody revolt amongst the inmates. It is the brave woman that quells the uprising. Later media coverage of the event results in her release. The warden is fired. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Knight, Andrew Duggan, (more)
- 1962
- NR
In one of his first roles, Warren Beatty plays a callous, self-involved young man who is idolized by his younger brother Brandon DeWilde. When Beatty and DeWilde's parents Karl Malden and Angela Lansbury take in Eva Marie Saint as a boarder, Beatty makes violent love to the poor (but not entirely unwilling) girl. Saint becomes pregnant, a contingency which brings out the absolute worst in Beatty. When he deserts her, she kills herself. Only at this point does DeWilde (who has worshipped Saint from afar) realize that Beatty has feet of clay. Attempting to kill his older brother, DeWilde relents when he decides that Beatty is more pathetic than evil. Playwright William Inge adapted the screenplay for All Fall Down from a novel by James Leo Herlihy. So dependent is this film on its stark black and white photography that the currently available colorized version is tantamount to sacrilege. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eva Marie Saint, Warren Beatty, (more)
- 1962
In this western, originally designed as the pilot of a television show that never made it to air, a self-designated preacher desires to control the Big Sag territory of Montana. To do this, he must first force two newly arrived Texans off of their land. Meanwhile, the preacher's wife knows that he is too yellow-bellied to actually do the dirty deed. She sends their lovely daughter to town with a note for the owner of the local saloon. During the journey, the girl is caught in a big storm. She weathers it out with the Texan's son. Naturally the two fall in love, but this does not stop the girl from continuing on to deliver the note to the lecherous proprietor who immediately begins making a play for the innocent young girl. His lasciviousness pushes his alcoholic wife over the brink and in a jealous rage she fatally shoots him. It is then revealed that the greedy saloonkeeper has hired a gunslinger. The gunslinger ends up killed by the preacher, who then officiates the wedding ceremony for his daughter and his rival's son. Afterward he solemnly swears to never again use a gun. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This horror film is an updated remake of the 1919 classic tale of horror and domination. This time a deeply troubled woman must go to a spooky, ramshackle old manse after her car breaks down. The owner takes her in and then subjects her to numerous humiliating torments. Just before she is to die, the woman awakens from the nightmare and then remembers that she is in a mental hospital and that the sadistic host in her dream is really her doctor. Noted author Robert Bloch penned the script. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynis Johns, Dan O'Herlihy, (more)
- 1962
Delmer Daves directs this cross between a travelog and a routine romantic drama set in Italy. The story begins when beautiful librarian Prudence (a misnomer, played by Suzanne Pleshette) decides to take off for Italy. She works in a women's college and was brought up short for recommending a racy book to one of the students. In a huff, she opts to go to the land of opera and find out if Italian men are as romantic as legend maintains. Once there, she runs into Roberto (Rossano Brazzi), who is likely to prove the legend true, and meets Don (Troy Donahue), an American running away from the love of his life, Lyda (Angie Dickinson). Between the glamour and the setting, Daves has geared this fluffy tale for the more innocent-minded teen set. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Troy Donahue, Angie Dickinson, (more)
- 1962
One of Hollywood's great directors, Vincente Minnelli, turns a jaundiced eye towards the film industry in this drama about the inner workings of the movie business. Jack Andrus (Kirk Douglas) is an actor whose career has gone into a tailspin along with his personal life; after a severe bout with alcoholism, a messy break-up with his wife, a life-threatening auto accident, and a nervous breakdown, Andrus has spent three years in a private mental hospital in Connecticut. Andrus is approached by Maurice Kruger (Edward G. Robinson), a noted filmmaker who worked many times with Andrus in the past, offering him a small role in his next picture, and with the blessings of his doctors, the actor flies to Rome to return to work. However, once he arrives, Andrus finds the project is in chaos -- his role has been recast, Kruger is constantly battling with producer Tucino (Mino Doro), leading man Davie Drew (George Hamilton) is squabbling with both %Kruger and his girlfriend Veronica (Daliah Lavi), and the female lead (Rosanna Schiaffino) can't recite her dialogue in English. With the shooting in shambles, Kruger asks Andrus to take over the dubbing work in hopes of bringing the film in on schedule, and against his better judgement Andrus agrees. As Andrus tries to rise to this new challenge -- made all the more trying by the arrival of his ex-wife Carlotta (Cyd Charisse) -- the production receives its biggest setback when Kruger suffers a heart attack after a bitter argument with his wife (Claire Trevor). Andrus takes over the direction of the picture, and proves a capable hand for the job, bringing in the project on time and on budget. However, Kruger expresses resentment rather than gratitude, claiming that Andrus is trying to put an end to his career. Two Weeks In Another Town was adapted from a novel by Irwin Shaw. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson, (more)
- 1961
Fully aware that the flower shop owned by Nick Acropolis (Lee Marvin in his first Untouchables appearance) is actually a front for a huge bookmaking operation, Elliot Ness has a tap put on Nick's telephone line. While eavesdropping on Acropolis, Ness' assistant Rossi (Nick Georgiade) overhears the murder of a bookie, a reckless act committed by Nick's deranged brother-in-law Frankie (Johnny Seven). Unable to kill Frankie in retaliation for fear of alienating his wife Stella (Contance Ford), Nick arranges for someone else to make the "hit". . .the first of several tactical blunders resulting in Nick being forced to take on a treacherous new partner, leading to an unpleasantly sticky showdown. This episode was originally titled "The Nick Metropolous Story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
In this sleazy melodrama a defiant Southern farm girl marries a poor dirt farmer instead of the wealthy landowner her mother picked out. After her new husband is drafted and leaves, the girl descends into a life of cheap thrills, moving from man to man. She is beautiful and the men fight over her like dogs. During one of the scuffles one man runs another over with his car. The bereaved father of the dead man comes to the woman's house and shoots her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane McBain, Arthur Kennedy, (more)
William Humphrey's novel Home From the Hill is compressed into 150 minutes for this MGM all-starrer. Robert Mitchum plays Capt. Wade Hunnicutt, a Texas millionaire, married to Hannah (Eleanor Parker). The Hunnicutts have two children of approximately the same age: Wade's biological son, Theron (George Hamilton in one of his earliest film roles), and his illegitimate son, Rafe (George Peppard). As the story opens, Wade conducts an extramarital affair; meanwhile, Theron (George Hamilton), disturbed by his parents' dysfunctional relationship, is not anxious to marry his true love, Libby Halstead (Luana Patten). The vicious cycle threatens to continue when Libby gives birth to Theron's out-of-wedlock son, but it is Rafe who turns Libby into an "honest woman" by acting as father to the child. Vincente Minnelli directs his material operatically, which is as it should be given the larger-than-life character and emotional entanglements he has to deal with. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Eleanor Parker, (more)
- 1960
On a cold and blizzardy night, a man named Lorca (Ricardo Montalban) saunters into the Last Chance Saloon in the Western town of Buffalo Bend. Upon realizing that a wanted poster for Lorca hangs on the saloon's wall, the patrons of the bar hold a raffle to see who will turn the outlaw in and collect the reward money. Surprisingly, Lorca seems amused to be the "prize" in the raffle, and even more so when the winner turns out to be a woman named Shasta Cooney (Constance Ford). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Jorgensons are a wealthy family spending the summer on a resort island. Ken (Richard Egan), Helen (Constance Ford) and daughter Molly (Sandra Dee) settle in to a beach house on the island where Ken was a young lifeguard twenty years ago. He rediscovers Sylvia (Dorothy McGuire), with whom he had an earlier affair before she married Bart Hunter (Arthur Kennedy). The Hunter's son Johnny (Troy Donahue) and Molly fall in love, much to the objection of her mother, a cold and cynical woman. When Ken and Sylvia start another torrid affair, the exposure of the liaison leads to the divorce of both married couples. After Johnny and Molly are stranded overnight on a beach, Molly is forced by her heartless mistrusting mother to undergo a physical examination and a pregnancy test. Tests results are negative, but more negative is the mother-daughter relationship. Ken and Sylvia get married and Molly gets pregnant. The newlyweds then compassionately guide unwed couple to marriage. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Egan, Dorothy McGuire, (more)
- 1958
"The Bostonian" is Henry Prince (Harry Townes), who with his wife Gloria (Constance Ford) has journeyed west to seek his fortune. Almost immediately upon arrival in Nevada, Prince incurs the wrath of greedy cattleman Clint Bryant (Joe Bryant) by purchasing a valuable and much-coveted piece of property. Paladin (Richard Boone), who to no one's surprise also has roots in Boston, comes to Prince's defence when Bryant decides to declare all-out war on the hapless Easterner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
The only person who can clear Perry's client Robert Crane (Denver Pyle) of a murder charge is his sister Helen (Constance Ford), the wife of the murder victim. But Helen suffers from schizophrenia: by day, she is "herself" and by night she is her wild-and-reckless alter ego Joyce Martel. Unfortunately, it was "Joyce" who witnessed the murder, so Perry (Perry Mason) must figure out a way to put "Joyce", rather than Helen, on the witness stand! Though not based on an Erle Stanley Gardner original, this episode would seem to have been inspired by such multiple personality-themed films as Three Faces of Eve and Lizzie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
With a college reunion approaching, a woman decides to use it to find her husband a new job. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1957
Frontier peacekeeper Sheriff Galt (Sterling Hayden) faces a crisis of conscience in The Iron Sheriff. In the aftermath of a robbery-murder, Galt follows the trail of evidence directly to his own son, Benjie (Darryl Hickman). Sworn to uphold the law at all costs, Galt is grimly determined to see that Benjie will receive a fair trial without any coercion on his part. But the townsfolk have already decided that the sheriff will try to spring the boy, and a lynch-mob mentality slows festers its way through the community. As the trial proceeds, it becomes obvious that Benjie is going to hang for his alleged crime, but there's still one or two surprises in store. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sterling Hayden, Constance Ford, (more)
- 1957
Newly re-energized in the late 1950s, the venerable Pine-Thomas production company moved from Paramount to United Artists, there to make such actioners as Bailout at 43,000. John Payne stars as a courageous test pilot, who joins a team busily testing jet-bomber ejector seats. But before he can prove his worth to the team, Payne loses his nerve. Chances are he'll get it back in time to make the titular bailout at 43,000 feet, thereby redeeming himself in the eyes of his wife (Karen Steele) and son (Richard Eyer). The film truly comes to life during its aerial scenes, but crashes to earth during its treacly dramatic passages. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Payne, Karen Steele, (more)
- 1956
Set in the West of the late 19th century, Richard Brooks' film stars Robert Taylor as Charles Gilson, a brutal buffalo hunter who kills purely for sport and enjoyment. Stewart Granger portrays Sandy McKenzie, a former hunter on whom Gilson is seeking revenge. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, (more)
- 1956
Willie Calhoun (Denver Pyle) goes so far as to take a bath and get a haircut in his efforts to win the heart of sexy saloon girl Pearl Bender (Constance Ford). But Pearl's former boyfriend Webb Thorne (Michael Emmett) threatens to shoot Willie on sight if he shows his face. Hoping to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, Matt (James Arness) insists that Pearl choose either Willie or Webb immediately, with the "loser" agreeing to gracefully bow out. But Matt has reckoned without the conniving Pearl, who continues playing one man against the other--and pays a terrible price as a result. This episode is adapted from the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of February 19, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
A stalwart of the radio anthology circuit, the classic suspense tale "The Creeper" is given its first TV treatment on this episode. The title character is a serial strangler who preys upon helpless women. Terrified at the prospect of being the next victim, Ellen Grant (Constance Ford) locks her apartment door and refuses to come out. Before long, however, salvation seems to be at hand, as a locksmith shows up to fix Ellen's door so that no one -- but no one -- will be able to break in. At least, that's what Ellen thinks until the very last, horrifying minute of this macabre little playlet. "The Creeper" was re-filmed for the 1985 revival of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, with Karen Allen as the protagonist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Three witnesses point the finger at a criminal who committed a cruel murder during a robbery. ~ All Movie Guide
