Mona Freeman Movies

Jean Simmons' fascinating interpretation of an uncharacteristic role is the main drawing card of Otto Preminger's Angel Face. The daughter of Charles Treymayne (Herbert Marshall), who remarried a wealthy woman (Barbara O'Neil), Diane Treymayne's (Simmons) angelic countenance masks an unbridled psychotic who'll let nothing stand in the way of her happiness. Diane arranges for Catherine's death, making it look like an auto accident. Coveting family chauffeur Frank Jessup (Robert Mitchum), Diane steals Frank away from his sweetheart Mary (Mona Freeman) and forces him to become her spiritual accomplice in her stepmother's murder. And when Diane finally realizes that she'll never, ever, be able to hold Frank, she... well, enough said. If Angel Face doesn't look like a typical early-1950s RKO Radio film, it may be because its director was borrowed from 20th Century-Fox, and its cinematographer (Harry Stradling) was a loan-out from Sam Goldwyn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Black Beauty, Anna Sewell's classic tale of a beautiful horse is adapted in a disappointingly flat fashion by independent producer Edward L. Alperson. Unlike the novel, which is told from the horse's point of view, the film concentrates on the animal's first owner, a young English girl (Mona Freeman). Raising the horse into a prize-winner called "Black Beauty," the motherless girl is thrown into a panic when Beauty disappears. She locates the horse in a barn that is about to catch fire; knocked unconscious, the girl is saved by the valiant Beauty. The film's script utilizes only one of the many episodes in Sewell's 1879 novel, and not the most fascinating one at that. Had Black Beauty been produced by 20th Century-Fox instead of merely being released by the studio, the film might have had the saving grace of Technicolor photography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Despite his dishonorable discharge from the Army, Jason (Chuck Connors) is asked to be sheriff in the small town where he has recently killed a gunslinger. It soon develops that Jason doesn't have much in the way of job security. In the past year alone, the town has had three other sheriffs--all of whom have been shot to death. Veteran western player Ben Johnson, some six years away from his Oscar-winning performance in The Last Picture Show, appears as Bill Latigo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an amoral, manipulative womanizer gets his comeuppance. The story begins as the handsome cad is witnessed quickly leaving a hotel room in the East. He has just stolen money, and a wedding band from a dead woman. He is next seen in L.A. living under an alias. There, he begins victimizing two naive sisters and uses them to substantially increase his wealth. Eventually, the two figure out the man's evil game, but there is little they can do to thwart him. Meanwhile, the gigolo is being stalked by the husband of the woman he robbed in the film's beginning. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Dear Brat was the second sequel to the 1947 comedy hit Dear Ruth (the first sequel, in case you're interested, was Dear Wife). Mona Freeman is back as Miriam Watkins, still minding everyone's business but her own. This time around, Miriam "adopts" a criminal (Lyle Bettger) who claims he wants to go straight. The crook's presence does not sit well with Miriam's politician father (Edward Arnold), nor does it appear that the "lost sheep" has any real intention of reforming. Thanks to Miriam's influence, however, the criminal ends up being as good as his word. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A sequel to 1947's Dear Ruth, this movie has William Holden and Joan Caulfield portraying a young married couple with some definite in-law problems. When Caulfield's younger sister gets Holden to run for the State senate, a whole new kettle of worms is opened--his opponent is his Father-in-law. In spite of former suitors trying to break up their relationship and the obvious stress caused by the campaign, everything works out Hollywood-style. This was followed by a sequel for the younger sister, entitled Dear Brat. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

In this boxing drama, a deaf-mute prizefighter whose career is on the rise falls in love with a gold digging singer who only loves him for his potential earnings. He is also loved by a wholesome journalist who loves him for himself. It is she that helps him get the operation that restores his hearing. Unfortunately, upon finally figuring out that it is she who really loves him, the fighter again loses his hearing during a championship bout. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Hold Back the Night is one of Allied Artists' down-and-dirty World War II dramas of the 1950s and 1960s. John Payne stars as a tough commanding officer, guiding the fighting retreat of an Allied platoon in the snowy hills of Korea. Payne always carries with him an unopened bottle of whiskey, which he regards as a good-luck charm. A series of World War II flashbacks explains the riddle of the unconsumed liquor. Director Allan Dwan is careful to slide past the cornier elements of Hold Back the Night, and the result is a solid wartime saga. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title tells all--or at least most--in I Was a Shoplifter. The title character, played by Mona Freeman, is Faye Burton, a well-off socialite suffering from kleptomania. Faye falls into the hands of a professional shoplifting ring headed by Herb Claxton (Charles Drake) and Ina Perdue (Andrea King), who want to exploit her high-society connections. It's up to undercover agent Jeff Andrews (Scott Brady) to save Faye from the villains--and from herself. Cast as a brutish henchman is one Anthony Curtis, who grew up to become you-know-who. Featured in a role so small that it wasn't listed in the studio's official credits is still another star in the making: Rock Hudson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although The Stooge had been filmed right after Martin and Lewis' Sailor Beware, the film was temporarily shelved so that the team could continue their winning streak of military comedies with Jumping Jacks. This time, Dean Martin plays Chick Allen, a paratrooper-in-training whose commanding officer intends to do away with all camp variety shows. In desperation, Chick sends for his old nightclub partner Hap Smith (Jerry Lewis) to change the CO's mind. In order to gain entry to the military base, Hap is forced to pose as a GI, and thus the plot proper gets under way. Most of the "awkward squad" gags are straight out of Abbott and Costello, with Lewis messing up at each and every turn while Martin lags behind for damage control. The film concludes with a routine from Abbot and Costello's Keep 'Em Flying, wherein Martin and Lewis bail out from a plane in flight, with one parachute between them. Robert Strauss repeats his Sailor Beware duties as Lewis' irascible topkick, while nominal leading lady Mona Freeman does practically nothing magnificently. Dean's songs include the deathless "Do the Parachute Jump". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After purchasing a riverboat from Scotsman Gillespie MacKenzie (Jack Livesey, Bret finds out that MacKenzie has already sold the same boat to seven other people--including his old nemesis, the combustible Modesty Blaine (Mona Freeman). Rather than fight over the matter, the eight owners decide to take the boat to Memphis for resale. En route, the members of the party are killed off one by one by a mysterious assailant...who seems to be deliberately saving Bret and Modesty for his final victims. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Men Against Speed is a 60-minute adaptation of the 1955 feature film The Racers. Regis Toomey, Farley Granger and Rick Jason play a family auto-racing team, a father and two sons. Intent upon proving that their American vehicle is the superior to any foreign job, Toomey and his sons enter an important Italian road competition. Press agent Mona Freeman nearly upsets the apple cart by fomenting dissension between brothers Granger and Jason. Relying extensively on stock footage, Men Against Speed debuted December 12, 1956, as an episode of the biweekly anthology The Twentieth Century-Fox Hour. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Our Hearts Were Growing Up is the sequel to Paramount's surprise 1944 hit Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. The first film was based on the memoirs of actress Cornelia Otis Skinner; the sequel was inspired by the fevered imaginations of the screenwriters. Gail Russell plays Ms. Skinner, while Diana Lynn costars as Cornelia's best friend Emily Kimbrough. This time the girls visit the college boyfriends, only to become involve with a pair of benign bootleggers, portrayed by Brian Donlevy and William Demarest. Their misguided association with the criminal results in consternation for Cornelia's father, the eminent stage actor Otis Skinner (Charlie Ruggles). Ironically, Gail Russell, who played Cornelia Otis Skinner in both of the Our Hearts films, was cast opposite the real Ms. Skinner in the 1943 ghost chiller The Uninvited--and was nearly murdered by the older actress in the course of the plotline! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide