Joe Forte Movies
A sour-looking bit player from England, Joe Forte usually portrayed professional men, faculty members, doctors, lawyers, coroners, and the like. Rarely billed, Forte is probably best remembered today as the pontificating high school principal in Tell Your Children (aka Reefer Madness) (1938) and as the vengeful banker in Fury at Gunsight Pass (1956). He continued to appear in bit roles onscreen and in television (The Jack Benny Show, Perry Mason) until retiring in the mid-'60s due to health problems. The veteran actor died of a heart attack. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Charlie Rogers (Elvis Presley) is a coffeehouse singer who joins a financially troubled carnival in Roustabout. He is hired by owner Maggie Morgan (Barbara Stanwyck) and soon catches the eye of his pretty female co-worker Cathy Lean (Joan Freeman). Cathy's irate father Joe (Leif Erickson) clashes with Charlie when he tries to romance his daughter, but Charlie's singing helps bring in the much-needed money for the failing carnival and keeps the wolves from the big tent show. A disagreement has Charlie joining another carnival before things are smoothed out. Watch for Raquel Welch and Terry Garr in bit parts. Presley delivers 11 songs, the highlight being the Mike Leiber/Jerry Stoller tune"Little Egypt". ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elvis Presley, Barbara Stanwyck, (more)
Professor Julius F. Kelp (Jerry Lewis) is an addle-brained, absent-minded chemistry instructor always incurring the wrath of the university administration by continually blowing up the classroom laboratory. The shy guy has his eyes on the student body of Stella (Stella Stevens). When a football-playing bully humiliates him, Kelp tries to concoct a chemical to help him gain physical strength and stature. The potion turns him into the handsome, hard-edged nightclub singer named Buddy Love. The mild-mannered professor's alter ego becomes a self-absorbed campus favorite at the Purple Pit, a hangout for hip cats and kittens. Stella falls for the enigmatic entertainer who wows the crowd with his jazzy, breezy delivery and cool demeanor. Buddy mixes it up with the bartender (Buddy Lester), who is instructed on how to mix the latest drinks by the professor-turned-party animal. The drawback of the potion is that it wears off at the most embarrassing an inopportune times for Buddy, turning him back into the helpless Kelp. Buddy performs at the annual student dance, and while on the dais, the elixir starts to wear off. The students and staff watch in amazement as he changes back into the professor. He gives an impassioned plea that people must learn to like themselves before others can like them in return. Stella still wants to be the teacher's pet, and the two make future plans together. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Lewis, Stella Stevens, (more)
Homicidal represents producer/director William Castle's slant on Hitchcock's Psycho. The film concerns a young woman named Miriam Webster (Patricia Breslin) who seemingly has everything a girl could want - including a successful flower shop business, and a handsome beau, Karl (Glenn Corbett), who works as a pharmacist. Events take a turn for the worse, however, when Miriam's half-brother, Warren, returns from Europe - with a rather unpleasant friend in-tow: a blonde named Emily (Jean Arless). Emily promptly sets about destroying Miriam's life: the newcomer attempts to wheedle Karl away from Miriam, then rips the flower shop to pieces, then ultimately reveals a little taste for knife-wielding that directly threatens Miriam's safety. Like The Tingler and other Castle outings, this one originally featured a gimmick, preserved in the video release: a "fright-break" just prior to the climax, which allowed terrified audience members approximately 45 seconds to get out of their seats and leave the theater - to avoid the prospect of being "frightened to death." One look at Jean Arless's credit in the cast listing betrays the final twist in this one, directly (and unapologetically) lifted by Castle from Psycho. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, (more)
- 1958
In this western, a convict escapes from prison to search for the considerable loot he and his gang had stolen off a stage coach 11 years before. Before heading for the pokey, the outlaw left the loot with his boozy brother. Originally, the plan had been to split the cash with his two cohorts. Unbeknownst to him, the two are plotting to kill him once they get the dough. Unfortunately for all of them, the drunken brother has gambled their money away. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philip Carey, Catherine McLeod, (more)
Thornton Wilder's 1938 stage play The Merchant of Yonkers was based on an old British stage farce by John Oxenford (which in turn served as the basis of an Austrian farce by Johann Nestroy). Merchant of Yonkers was a bomb, but Wilder was quite fond of the piece, so he revised it as the considerably more successful The Matchmaker in 1955. The 1958 film version stars Shirley Booth as 19th-century matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi (a character not found in the Oxenford or Nestroy versions; Wilder "borrowed" Dolly from Moliere's The Miser). Dolly is currently trying to arrange a marriage between Yonkers dry-goods merchant Horace Vandergelder (Paul Ford) and hatmaker Irene Molloy (Shirley MacLaine)-though she secretly harbors a desire to march Horace to the altar herself. Meanwhile, Vandergelder's chief clerk Cornelius (Anthony Perkins), celebrating a recent promotion, decides to head to New York for a "good time". Though he's supposed to be minding the store, Cornelius abandons the shop, with fellow-clerk Barnaby (Robert Morse, repeating his stage role) in tow. Inevitably, Cornelius and Barnaby wind up escorting Irene Molloy and her co-worker Minnie Fay (Perry Wilson) to a fancy restaurant, where Horace and Dolly are also dining. As the many plot twists wend their way through the proceedings, the camera occasionally pauses to allow the character to speak directly to the audience, expressing their innermost desires and philosophies; this purely theatrical device works quite well on screen, especially the monologue about honesty delivered by handyman Malachi Stack (played with alcoholic whimsy by Wallace Ford). While the name "Malachi Stack"may not be familiar to you, the other characters-and the basic plot-will be instantly recognizable to fans of Hello Dolly, the 1964 musical comedy version of The Matchmaker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins, (more)
- 1958
Once again, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) must stop a violent teenage gang war before hostilities have a chance to begin. The two detectives really have their work cut out for them this time: the agitator behind the turf war is a young Hitler worshipper who wears a Nazi uniform in public and heads a gang called the Storm Troopers! This episode would seem to be the precursor to "The Big Explosion", one of the more memorable offerings from the 1967 Dragnet TV revival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Jockey Billy Pearson, who skyrocketed to fame by winning big-time on the 1950s TV game show The $64,000 Question, is appropriately cast in this episode--not as a game-show winner, but as a jockey named Tic Barton. Banned from the track after losing a fixed race, Tic confronts the man who arranged the fix, racketeer Johnny Starr (Don Durant), knocking him down in the process. Naturally, when Johnny turns up dead, Tic is charged with the crime. Representing Tic in court, Perry (Raymond Burr) finds that the case against his client may be insurmountable--especially when it is revealed that the jockey's avaricious wife Gloria (Barbara Lawrence) was having an affair with the dead man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are on the lookout for a hit-and-run driver. Their detective work includes a thorough inspection of the fenders of the suspects' cars. In the end, however, the case is solved with a small print--not a fingerprint, but a lip print! Like most Dragnet episodes of this era, "The Big Lip" proves to be a good workout for several members of the Jack Webb Stock Company, including Vic Perrin and Olan Soule. Also on hand is former "Dead End Kid"Bobby Jordan, here billed more formally as "Robert." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
A 15-year old boy dies as the result of a cruel prank during a high school club initiation. It is up to Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) to determine whether the boy's death was accidental, or a deliberate act of murder--and if the latter is true, to figure out who exactly is to blame. Featured in the cast is character actor Joe Forte, best rememembered as the stern anti-marijuana lecturer in the 1936 camp classic Reefer Madness. This is one of a handful of sixth-season Dragnet episodes written directly for television, with no prior radio adaptation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
As a favor to an old friend, producer Alex Gordon, James Cagney turned director for the first and only time in his career with Short Cut to Hell. The film is a remake of the 1942 Veronica Lake-Alan Ladd starrer This Gun For Hire. Robert Ivers plays Kyle, a hired killer who is double-crossed by his employer Bahrwell (Jacques Aubuchon). Seeking revenge, Kyle is reluctantly teamed with Glory Hamilton (Georgann Johnson), who has been targeted for elimination by Bahrwell and his henchman Nichols (Murvyn Vye). Unfortunately, Glory is the girlfriend of detective Stan (William Bishop), forcing Kyle to go on the lam before he can settle accounts with the film's principal villain. Kyle is finally able to get even with Bahrwell, and in the process reveals his long-dormant "good" side. Though the film itself is nothing special, Cagney's direction is sharp and efficient; it's too bad that Short Cut to Hell was his only effort behind the cameras. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ivers, Georgann Johnson, (more)
- 1957
The title of this episode refers to a curious chemical process created by college student Marv Adams (Gary Vinson). Alas, Marv may not only be a drowning duck but a dead duck when he is charged with the murder of unscrupulous private detective Donald Briggs (Harry Landers). Acting as Marv's defense counsel, Perry (Raymond Burr) learns that Briggs was hired by Clyde Waters (Victor Sutherland), the father of Marv's fiancee Helen (Carolyn Craig)--and that Marv's father was Ben Devereaux, who was executed for murder 18 years ago, a fact that Briggs was trying to use to his advantage in extorting money from several other people connected with the case. This episode is based on a 1942 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Loving You was the most autobiographical of all Elvis Presley's movies, and, not coincidentally, features the most naturalistic, easygoing performance of his early career. He plays Deke Rivers, a truck driver with a penchant for singing and a raw animal magnetism where women are concerned. He attracts the business interest of publicity agent Glenda Markle (Lizabeth Scott), who sees a potential gold mine in Deke. She hires him to appear with a band that she handles, fronted by aging country & western singer Tex Warner (Wendell Corey), who used to be romantically involved with Glenda and is now a client. Pretty soon he's pulling in bigger crowds and generating more excitement than Tex did during his best days (which drives the older singer to start drinking again), but also a lot more controversy, too. Deke is so provocatively sexual a presence on-stage that some citizens in the southern and border states where the band is working think that what he does is immoral. Girls can't keep away from him, their boyfriends despise what he symbolizes, and their parents are aghast, even as concert promoter Carl Meade (James Gleason) smells a fortune to be made from this boy. Glenda parlays these disputes and a ban on one of Deke's performances into a national television event. Amid all of this, Deke reveals the private, vulnerable side that no one ever knew -- that he's not even Deke Rivers (it was a name he took off a gravestone), but an orphan named Jimmy Tompkins, and that he's never had a home. He also reveals that he's attracted to Glenda, mistaking (with her encouragement) her interest in his talent with a personal involvement, but he's also drawn the the band's female singer, Susan Jessup (Dolores Hart), who could genuinely love him, and offers him a caring family of her own that would accept him. Deke and Glenda's conflicts are eventually straightened out, and Deke gets to say his piece and sing his music on network television. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elvis Presley, Lizabeth Scott, (more)
- 1957
The Buster Keaton Story is the sublimely inaccurate life story of immortal film comedian Buster Keaton, played by Donald O'Connor. The film begins with young Buster appearing in his parents' circus acrobatic act (the real Keatons never appeared in a circus, but were vaudevillians instead). After Buster's dad dies (an event that actually occurred when Keaton was in his 30s and already a star), the boy strikes out on his own. He makes it into silent films as a top slapstick comic (this much is accurate), but his private life is complicated by two loves, a "sweet" girl (Ann Blyth) and a wealthy temptress (Rhonda Fleming) (Buster was married three times, but not to either one of the ladies depicted in this film). When talkies come in, Buster is browbeaten by autocratic director Peter Lorre (all of Keaton's talkies were directed by Eddie Sedgwick, one of his best friends) and finds himself unable to handle dialogue (no comment). He turns to drink (true) and destroys himself in Hollywood (partly true). But through the love of good girl Ann Blyth, Buster makes a comeback in vaudeville, and finally decides to get married and settle down for the first time in his life (Buster did tour in vaudeville with wife Eleanor Norris, who was wife number three and whom he met nine years after the advent of talkies). The nicest thing about The Buster Keaton Story was that the amount Paramount paid Keaton for permission to film his "life story" ($50,000) was large enough for Buster to remain financially solvent for the rest of his life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald O'Connor, Ann Blyth, (more)
- 1956
In this amiable imitation Guys and Dolls, Alan Reed plays a big-time 1920s gangster who is rubbed out by his enemies. In his will, Reed bequeaths his nightclub to chorus girl Lucy Marlow--which doesn't sit too well with Lucy's policeman boyfriend (Richard Long). Frankie Laine plays the tough-but-lovable nightclub manager who first squabbles with Marlow, then falls in love with her. To let us know that the story is all in fun and we shouldn't worry about the ultimate fate of hero and heroine, the film is related in flashback, narrated by Laine. He Laughed Last is directed by Blake Edwards in the buoyant spirit of Edwards' earlier musical-comedy collaborations with director Richard Quine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Laine, Lucy Marlow, (more)
- 1956
Our Miss Brooks had been a radio and TV sitcom hit thanks to the considerable input of star Eve Arden. The film version of Our Miss Brooks was not quite as successful (why pay for something that you can get at home every week for free?), but it admirably captures the spirit of the original audio and video versions. As ever, high school teacher Connie Brooks (Arden) carries a torch for handsome but clueless biology professor Phillip Boynton (Robert Rockwell, taking over a role created for radio by Jeff Chandler). Connie is finally able to arouse Boynton's attention when she is courted by the father (Don Porter) of a student (Nick Adams) she is tutoring. A subplot involving petty crime can easily be ignored, but there's no avoiding the hilarious fingernails-on-the-blackboard rendition of It's Magic sung by the adenoidal Walter Denton (Richard Crenna). And of course, there's principal Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon), blowing his top at the slightest provocation. Our Miss Brooks was directed by Al Lewis, who was the chief writer for the radio and TV editions of the property. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eve Arden, Gale Gordon, (more)
- 1956
Fury at Gunsight Pass is a brief, to-the-point "budget" western, well cast and excitingly staged. David Brian stars as bank robber Whitey Turner, whose outlaw gang takes over a small town. Beating gang leader Dirk Hogan (Neville Brand) to the punch by robbing the town bank ahead of schedule, Turner winds up empty-handed when crooked undertaker Boggs (Percy Helton) swipes the loot. Boggs is killed, whereupon his widow (Katherine Warren) gathers together the money and makes plans to skip town while the Law pursues Turner and Hogan. This is one of those stories in which no one emerges smelling like a rose; the suspense lies not in who will "get it", but how long will it be before someone halfway honest appears on screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Brian, Neville Brand, (more)
- 1956
In their search for a diamond thief, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) visit a bar frequented by the suspect. Their search is temporarily sidelined when bar employee Alice Kolbar is beaten to death by her jealous husband. It turns out that Alice may have been romantically involved with the alleged jewel thief...but the only real evidence the detectives have to go on is a custom-made hat with the initials "T.R." This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of February 15, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Cell 2455 Death Row is based on the autobiography of condemned prisoner and "jailhouse lawyer" Caryl Chessman. William Campbell plays the Chessman counterpart, here renamed Whit. A seriously disturbed misfit, Whit begins a life of crime, culminating in sexual assault as the "Lover's Lane Bandit." Condemned to the gas chamber at San Quentin, Whit spends six years fighting his sentence, gradually winning the support and sometimes the respect of various legal experts. The film ends in 1955 (the year of its production), some five years before Caryl Chessman's ultimate execution; accordingly, the film's "open-ended" finale has been removed from many TV prints. A more thorough and incisive study of the Chessman case was offered in the made-for-TV movie Kill Me If You Can, which starred Alan Alda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Campbell, Marian Carr, (more)
Young at Heart is a soft-pedaled, musicalized remake of 1938's Four Daughters. Robert Keith takes over the Claude Rains role as paterfamilias to a family of musical prodigies, all girls: Doris Day, Dorothy Malone, Elizabeth Fraser (the fourth daughter was written out of proceedings, no great loss). Keith's new boarder Gig Young, a musical-comedy composer, becomes the three daughters' heart balm, whether he wants to our not. When he gets stuck creatively, Young invites his tempestuous pal Frank Sinatra to help him finish his score. Sinatra essays the old John Garfield role, retaining a generous supply of Garfield's chip-on-shoulder edginess. But whereas Garfield's character dies in Four Daughters, Sinatra survives for a happily-ever-after clinch with Doris Day. Most of the songs heard in Young at Heart were already standards in 1954--with the notable exception of the Johnny Richards-Carolyn Leigh title number, which of course became a part of Frank Sinatra's standard repertoire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, (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)
- 1953
Project X, an experimental nuclear reactor located just outside of Metropolis, runs out of control and threatens the city and the surrounding area for 100 miles around with a devastating radioactive explosion. Superman (George Reeves) arrives barely in time and shuts the reactor down, but in the process absorbs a deadly level of radiation -- he's invulnerable to its effects, but he is now a deadly danger to every living thing around him. The Man of Steel is forced into exile in a remote mountain cabin, while the world's scientists try to find a way to neutralize the radiation permeating his body. Reporters Lois Lane (Noel Neill) and Jimmy Olsen (Jack Larson) are as upset as everyone else about this tragic loss to the world, but are also puzzled and alarmed by the absence of Clark Kent who has informed the Daily Planet that he may be away for a while -- and possibly longer -- ostensibly following up a lead. Meanwhile, the criminal element in Metropolis is newly emboldened, not least of all Mr. Regan (Phil Van Zandt), a hood who had been put on to a priceless shipment of jewels being brought in from overseas. But to ensure that Superman won't interfere with the robbery, he takes Lois Lane hostage on the getaway plane. Can the Man of Steel find a way to save her life, before it's too late? ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Nineteenth-century saloon gal Roxy McClanahan (Yvonne DeCarlo) manages to inveigle herself into the uppermost rungs of polite New Orleans society. But Roxy has not reckoned with her old friendly nemesis, merchant seaman Frank Truscott (Rock Hudson), whose bankroll Roxy had lifted back in her wilder and woollier days. For a price, Frank agrees not to blow the whistle on Roxy's checkered past. He further agrees to allow her to pass off an orphaned child as her own daughter, the better to maintain her pose as a fabulously wealthy widow. Several rambunctious scenes later, Frank and Roxy finally realize that they're made for each other, and to heck with Society. More fun than most costume melodramas of its kind, Scarlet Angel benefits from attractive production values and a top-flight supporting cast, included future Gunsmoke co-star Amanda Blake as a viper-tongued society belle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvonne De Carlo, Rock Hudson, (more)
- 1952
Assignment - Paris is based on a serialized Saturday Evening Post yarn by Paul and Pauline Gallico. The film stars Dana Andrews as reporter Jimmy Race, assigned to the Paris bureau of the New York Herald Tribune. Race makes the acquaintance of French journalist Jeanne Moray (Marta Toren), who is forced to suppress a white-hot news story about an impending Iron Curtain political conspiracy because she lacks proof. At great risk to himself, Race heads to Budapest to ferret out the facts, sometimes right under the noses of the communist "damage control" experts. George Sanders co-stars as editor Rick Strang, who dispatches Race on his fact-finding mission--partly because of his dedication to truth, and partly because he has designs on the gorgeous Jeanne himself. One of the more palatable anti-Red tracts of its era, Assignment - Paris makes excellent use of authentic Parisian and Hungarian locations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Andrews, Märta Torén, (more)
- 1951
An insurance investigator, a dame with a yen for the finer things in life and a mail robbery gone horribly wrong are the ingredients in this low-budget but highly engrossing film noir. Charles McGraw and Louis Jean Heydt are tough insurance agents but their partnership comes in for some rough sailing when he former falls head over heels for Joan Dixon, a lady apparently not averse to letting herself be wined and dined by an obvious gang leader (Lowell Gilmore). In an attempt to win the lady's favors, McGraw concocts a plan to rob a mail train insured by his own company. Too late does he discover that the girl is perfectly willing to accept him as he is. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles McGraw, Joan Dixon, (more)
- 1951
The Rodeo King and the Senorita stars Rex Allen (playing himself); it shouldn't be necessary to indicate which of the title roles he plays. In this Republic sagebrusher, Allen tries to determine whether or not a fatal accident was truly accidental. The victim's preteen daughter is Juanita Morales (Bonnie De Simone), the titular Senorita who now legally owns the Wild West show which employs singing cowboy Allen. With the help of heroine Janet Wells (Mary Ellen Kay) and sidekick Muscles Benton (Buddy Ebsen), Allen discovers who was behind the death of Juanita's father, and why. With such powerhouse villains as Roy Barcroft and Tris Coffin in the cast, the mystery is over almost before it begins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Allen, Mary Ellen Kay, (more)
