June Gale Movies

This episode reunites the stars of the 1956 comedy film Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, Tony Randall and Jayne Mansfield -- but there's nothing funny going on here, not even in the surprisingly somber epilogue delivered by host Alfred Hitchcock. Randall is cast as hard-drinking advertising executive Hadley Purvis, who awakens one morning with a monstrous hangover, and no recollection of what happened the night before. All he knows for sure is that his long-suffering wife, Sandra (Dody Heath), is nowhere in sight...and that a strange blonde (Mansfield) is lounging around in his living room. As Purvis painfully tries to piece together the events leading up to this situation, the viewer bears witness to one of the most terrifying descents into alcoholism ever filmed. "Hangover" was adapted by Lou Rambeau from two separate short stories: Hangover, by John D. MacDonald, and Marian, by Charles Runyon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romance, a young woman journeys from Syracuse to New York to see her sweetheart, a prominent architect. She is bitterly disappointed to discover that he has lost interest in her. The residents of the women's hotel at which she stays offer the heartbroken lass words of encouragement. They tell her to take a stand and to show him what he is missing. She takes their advice and becomes a renowned fashion model. Naturally this piques the designer's interest and he wishes to court her anew. Of course, she by then has many suitors, so he must really work to win her back. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This drama chronicles the life and times of a notorious gangster. The story begins at his funeral. There a reporter, assigned to do a brief biography, interviews a doctor who tells the gangster's sad tale. In flashback, the crook is first seen getting released from prison. His father pleads with him to go straight, but the son doesn't listen. He immediately robs a warehouse. His father rats upon him and the crook's gang abducts the district attorney's daughter to bargain for his release. Later it is discovered that the girl is really his daughter whom he and his lover put up for adoption. A policeman, a good friend of the gangster, helps the criminal escape and save his daughter from the gang. He is killed during the rescue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Movie buffs are nearly unanimous in agreement: Charlie Chan at Treasure Island is the best of the Sidney Toler "Charlie Chan" entries. The film wastes no time getting started, with Chan (Toler) and his son Jimmy (Sen Yung) on hand when Charlie's writer friend Paul Essex (Louis Jean Heydt) dies on the Honolulu Clipper while en route to San Francisco. The police rule Essex' death a suicide, but Chan believes differently. He follows the trail of clues to the mysterious Zodiac, a crooked spiritualist. The oriental detective is aided in his investigation by Rhadini (Cesar Romero), a charming stage magician who hopes to expose Zodiac as a phony and blackmailer. After several plot twists and a couple of additional murders, all the likely suspects are gathered together during one of Rhadini's performances at Treasure Island, the San Francisco branch of the 1939 World's Fair. In a truly eerie climax, mystic Eve (Pauline Moore) who really does have psychic powers, prepares to name the killer. The revelation of the culprit is a genuine surprise, staged with topnotch showmanship by director Norman Foster, whose wife Sally Blane (Loretta Young's sister) appears in a small role as Essex's widow. Many of the magicians' props utilized in Charlie Chan at Treasure Island would do service again in 1942 in the Laurel & Hardy vehicle A-Haunting We Will Go. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, newlyweds soon discover that life in the fast lane is not as fun as it seems. As they both work for the same advertising agency, they can well afford the high life. They joyfully spend all their money on fast cars, country clubs, and booze. They begin to change their lifestyle after they encounter three social freeloaders who proceed to suck the newlyweds dry. Realizing that their life has caused them to fall deeply in debt, the lovers adopt a saner, slower lifestyle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

While New York Sleeps is when fast-talking reporter Barney Callahan (Michael Whalen) prowls the night beat for a great metropolitan newspaper. At present, Callahan is trying to find out who's responsible for a series of baffling murders. The victims were all bond carriers, and the cops have already targeted the most likely suspects. With the help of photographer Snapper Doolan (Chick Chandler), Callahan bypasses the Obvious and goes after the least likely suspect-who, of course, is the guilty party. When not on the job, Callahan relaxes by romancing long-legged showgirl Judy King (Jean Rogers), as good an excuse as any for an extended nightclub musical number. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this witty comedy mystery, a dim-bulbed news photographer and an equally dull-witted reporter try their hand at sleuthing when they begin investigating a murder to prove that the prime suspect is innocent. Things get really sticky when the accused's bill-collector gets involved. The real killer is in plain view, but the sleuths don't figure this out 'til the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Following the capture of jewel thieves, two detectives encounter danger. ~ All Movie Guide

Norwegian skating star Sonja Henie reached an early pinnacle with this romantic comedy co-starring Tyrone Power as a Ruritanian prince impersonating an American reporter. They fall in love, of course, and the whirlwind romance threatens to interrupt an important treaty between three rival principalities. In between Henie's skating extravaganzas -- which reportedly involved more that 100 skaters and a rink 100 by 145 feet in length -- vocalist Leah Ray and the company perform "My Secret Love Affair," "Over Night," and "My Swiss Hilly Billy," all by Lew Pollack and Sidney D. Mitchell, while comedienne Joan Davis takes care of "I'm Olga From the Volga" by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel. Both Thin Ice and Paramount's simultaneous (and better) Easy Living were partially based on a 1922 Hungarian play, Der Komet, leading Fox to briefly entertain the idea of suing the rival company. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Alice Faye stars as aspiring playwright Judith Poe Wells. She falls in love with producer George Macrae (Don Ameche), which makes George's girlfriend Louise Hovick (Gypsy Rose Lee) see red. Judith drops from view while George loses his troublesome girlfriend and prepares to put together a Broadway musical. He chooses Judith's play for his next production, which of course reunites the pair at fadeout time. And how do The Ritz Brothers fit into You Can't Have Everything? Not very well, but the Ritzes do have one funny elongated number set in a Greenwich Village nightclub (where the extras are obviously breaking up at the boys' adlibs). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In his penultimate western for small-scale Diversion Pictures, Hoot Gibson enjoyed the company of no less than two pretty leading ladies: June Gale, his current off-screen girlfriend, and Ruth Mix, the daughter of legendary cowboy hero Tom Mix. Gibson played a U. S. Marshal going undercover as the notorious bandit "The Morning Glory Kid" in order to infiltrate a gang of rustlers headed by nasty Mort Ringer (Stanley Blystone). Both Misses Gale and Mix get in his way on occasion and Gibson's true identity is revealed with nearly calamitous results. But when all seems lost, Miss Mix manages to alert the sheriff's posse, a happy turn of events that allows the aging hero to continue romancing Miss Gale. The latter never became the third Mrs. Gibson as has been reported elsewhere but instead married eccentric pianist Oscar Levant. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Most of Ken Maynard's westerns were highly distinctive, if not always good. Heroes of the Range is okay but virtually indistinguishable from the horse operas being ground out by every other cowboy star. In this one, the hero poses as a notorious gunslinger, the better to infiltrate a gang of stagecoach outlaws. Among Maynard's tasks is to rescue a kidnapped female express clerk named Joan (June Gale), who is being forced by bandit leader Bull (Harry Woods) to reveal the routes and schedules of upcoming gold shipments. Our hero not only rescues the girl but manages to beat up two of the baddies simultaneously! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Radio tenor Lanny Ross made a game but unsuccessful bid for film stardom in Paramount's Melody in Spring. Though Ross, cast as one John Craddock, is given top billing, the picture belongs to the delightful screen team of Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland as Warren and Mary Blodgett, sponsors of a popular network radio program. On vacation in Switzerland, the Blodgetts make the acquaintance of Craddock, who falls in love with the couple's pretty daughter Jane (Ann Sothern). The main plot concerns Blodgett's quest for a rare Swiss antique clock, which results in chaos for all concerned. Everything turns out all right, as Jane throws over her stuffy fiancé in favor of Craddock, who finds success as the star of the Blodgett's weekly radio tunefest. The inimitable Hermann Bing and the three Gale sisters --Joan, Jane and June -- dominate the supporting cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide