Peggy Ann Garner Movies
The daughter of an ambitious "stage mother," Peggy Ann Garner worked as a model and in summer stock before her sixth birthday. At seven she arrived in Hollywood, appearing briefly in several films; by the early '40s she showed a strong acting talent in larger roles. For her work at age 13 in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn she won a special Oscar as the "Outstanding Child Performer of 1945." Most of her later roles, however, were unrewarding, and her film career all but ended in the early '50s. In 1950 she debuted on Broadway, appearing in many plays in New York and on tour; she also eventually did much work on TV, appearing in TV dramas and series episodes and enjoying a very brief run in a Saturday-afternoon sitcom on ABC called Two Girls Named Smith (1951). By the late '60s she had given up her acting career, though she went on to appear prominently in Robert Altman's film A Wedding (1978). She married and divorced actors Richard Hayes and Albert Salmi, and died of pancreatic cancer at age 52. ~ All Movie Guide- 1938
In this heartwarming tearjerker, an adorable orphan becomes determined to find her father, whom she is convinced is still alive. She then leaves the nuns who have been her guardians and sets out on her quest. She never finds her real father, but she does manage to find a soft-hearted gambler who takes her under his wing and acts as her father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Litel, Ann Sheridan, (more)
- 1939
Columbia's new "Blondie" series continued its winning streak with its fourth entry, Blondie Brings Up Baby. So much happens within the film's 67 minutes that it's best to boil things down to the central storyline. Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms), the six-year-old son of Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead (Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake) disappears from sight during his first day at school. While Dagwood frantically combs the city in search of the boy, Baby Dumpling spents a nice, safe afternoon with poor little rich girl Melinda Mason (Peggy Ann Garner), who with her new playmate's help arises from her sickbed to walk across the room for the first time in months. Other plot threads include Dagwood's disastrous confrontation with an important business client (Robert Middlemass), and Daisy the Dog's ongoing battle of wits with the local dog-catcher. Like many of the "Blondie" films, Blondie Brings Up Baby serves as a showcase for young talent on the way up: Robert Sterling is seen as one of Dagwood's office buddies, while Bruce Bennett plays a uniformed chauffeur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1939
- NR
Based on Memory of Love, a novel by Bessie Breuer, In Name Only is soap opera par excellence, blessed with a peerless cast. Carole Lombard plays widow Julie Eden, who meets and falls in love with unhappily married Alec Walker (Cary Grant). Having married Alec solely for his wealth and family prestige, his manipulative wife, Maida (Kay Francis), has managed to convince everyone -- even Alec's parents -- that she is the victimized one and that Alec is an irresponsible philanderer. Making matters worse, Maida refuses to give Alec a divorce so that he can find happiness in the arms of the sweet, unassuming Julie. Almost miraculously, Maida agrees to let Alec go, only to capriciously renege at the last minute and sue Julie for alienation of affections. Disconsolately, Alec goes on a bender, falling asleep in front of an open window and contracting pneumonia. As Alec lays seriously ill in a hospital bed, Julie tearfully agrees to give him up if only Maida will try to make him happy. But Maida isn't about to give up this moment of triumph, cheerfully bragging about her underhanded methods and her intention to take Alec for every penny that he has. Without giving away the outcome, it can be noted that, figuratively speaking, loose lips sink ships. Though In Name Only could have been a wallow in bathos, the performances by the stars -- and the knowing direction of John Cromwell -- elevate the production to the level of "romance classic." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1940
Raymond Massey plays Abe Lincoln in this moving adaptation of Robert Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Expanded a bit for cinematic purposes, the film traces Lincoln's progress from his days of scrambling for a living as a woodsman, to his courtship of the tragic Ann Rutledge (Mary Howard) and then the mercurial Mary Todd (Ruth Gordon), to the formative years of his law practice, to his debates with Stephen Douglas (Gene Lockhart), and finally to his election as President of the soon-to-be-divided United States in 1860. Latter-day critics have complained about Massey's stolidity in his signature role, but even the most stone-hearted viewer will be moved by such scenes as Lincoln riding through the ruins of what once was the village of Salem; Abe's heated election-eve quarrel with his spiteful wife Mary; and his climactic speech from the observation car of the train that will carry him to Washington...and immortality. Abe Lincoln at Illinois turned out to be a succes d'estime for its producer Max Gordon and its studio (RKO), taking a bath to the tune of $750,000. Its failure moved one Hollywood wise-guy to collar Gordon at a party and say, "I can't understand it, Max. Lincoln was so kind to everybody but you." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Massey, Ruth Gordon, (more)
- 1942
Monty Woolley plays an irascible Englishman who insists that he dislikes children. While on a vacation in France, the Nazis invade the country. Reluctantly, Woolley agrees to transport several French children into England. As the flight to freedom becomes more treacherous, Woolley grows fonder of his young charges and vows that they'll be kept safe. The group is detained by German officer Otto Preminger, who finally allows Woolley and the children safe passage--provided they take Preminger's niece to England as well. Pied Piper was based on a novel by British author Nevil Shute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monty Woolley, Anne Baxter, (more)
- 1942
With America's Air Force not completely mobilized in mid-1942, Universal paid tribute to those foresighted Yankee flyboys who joined England's Royal Air Force before America's entry into WW2 in Eagle Squadron. Robert Stack stars as Chuck Brewer, one of several US flyers participating in RAF bombing raids of Germany. The film stresses the importance of hands-across-the-sea teamwork in this massive undertaking, concluding with Brewer leading his British compatriots on a Commando raid behind enemy lines, the better to capture a revolutionary new Nazi war plane. Every so often, the story slows to a walk as Brewer romances British lass Anne Partridge, played by the unfortunate Diana Barrymore in her last truly important screen role. Producer Walter Wanger made special arrangements with the British government to incorporate several exciting shots of authentic air battles in the film's 108 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Stack, Diana Barrymore, (more)
Based on the novel by A.J. Cronin, The Keys of the Kingdom was the first big-budget effort of movie-newcomer Gregory Peck. This is the 137-minute chronicle of a Scottish priest (Peck), who is assigned a mission in China. Never very focused in his life or work, the priest finds plenty to keep his mind occupied in his new post; when he isn't coping with the starvation and poverty plaguing his flock, he must contend with China's bloody civil war. Nonetheless, he perseveres, and finds it difficult as an elderly man to retire. He returns to Scotland, where he finds a new purpose in life; that of ministering to youngsters who, like him, have trouble determining their place in the world. Keys of the Kingdom was one of the last 20th-Century-Fox films produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz before his career-shift to directing; Rose Stradner, Mankiewicz' then-wife, has an important role in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Thomas Mitchell, (more)
Director Robert Stevenson collaborated with novelist Aldous Huxley and theatrical-producer John Houseman on the screenplay for this 1944 adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's gothic romance Jane Eyre. After several harrowing years in an orphanage, where she was placed by a supercilious relative for exhibiting the forbidden trait of "willfulness," Jane Eyre (Joan Fontaine) secures work as a governess. Her little charge, French-accented Adele (Margaret O'Brien), is pleasant enough. But Jane's employer, the brooding, tormented Edward Rochester (Orson Welles), terrifies the prim young governess. Under Jane's gentle influence, Rochester drops his forbidding veneer, going so far as to propose marriage to Jane. But they are forbidden connubial happiness when it is revealed that Rochester is still married to a gibbering lunatic whom he is forced to keep locked in his attic. Rochester reluctantly sends Jane away, but she returns, only to find that the insane wife has burned down the mansion and rendered Rochester sightless. In the tradition of Victorian romances, this purges Rochester of any previous sins, making him a worthy mate for the loving Jane. The presence of Orson Welles in the cast (he receives top billing), coupled with the dark, Germanic style of the direction and photography, has led some impressionable cineasts to conclude that Welles, and not Stevenson, was the director. To be sure, Welles contributed ideas throughout the filming; also, the script was heavily influenced by the Mercury Theater on the Air radio version of Jane Eyre, on which Welles, John Houseman and musical director Bernard Herrmann all collaborated. But Jane Eyre was made at 20th Century-Fox, a studio disinclined to promote the auteur theory; like most Fox productions, this is a work by committee rather than the product of one man. This in no way detracts from the overall excellence of the film; of all adaptations of Jane Eyre (it had previously been filmed in 1913, 1915 and 1921, and has been remade several times since), this 1943 version is one of the best. Keep an eye out for an uncredited Elizabeth Taylor as the consumptive orphanage friend of young Jane Eyre (played as child by Peggy Ann Gardner). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, (more)
One-time movie song-and-dance man James Dunn won an Academy Award for his "comeback" performance in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Based on the best-selling novel by Betty Smith, the film relates the trials and tribulations of a turn-of-the-century Brooklyn tenement family. The father, Dunn, is a likable but irresponsible alcoholic whose dreams of improving his family's lot are invariably doomed to disappointment. The mother, Dorothy McGuire, is the true head of the household, steadfastly holding the family together no matter what crisis arises. The story is told from the point of view of daughter Peggy Ann Garner, a clear-eyed realist who nonetheless would like to believe in her pie-in-the-sky father, whom she dearly loves. Joan Blondell co-stars as the family's brash, freewheeling aunt, whose means of financial support is a never-ending source of neighborhood gossip. This first film directorial effort of Elia Kazan earned a special Oscar for "Most Promising Juvenile Performer" Peggy Ann Garner. A Tree Grows From Brooklyn was remade for TV in 1974, and also served as the basis of a Broadway musical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, (more)
- 1945
Adapted from the high school drama-class perennial by Jerome Chodhorov and Joseph Fields, Junior Miss stars Peggy Ann Garner as a troublesome teenager. Garner means well, but can't help meddling in the affairs of her father (Allyn Joslyn) and other unsuspecting grownups. Most of the story revolves around Peggy's matchmaking habits: she pairs up her uncle (Milo O'Shea) with the daughter of her father's employer, which nearly loses dad his job. The mess sorts itself out before the third-act curtain, with Garner promising to mind her own business...until next time. Keep an eye out for a brief appearance by a young Mel Torme. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peggy Ann Garner, Allyn Joslyn, (more)
- 1945
The bland performance of star George Raft is the only drawback of this splashy 20th Century-Fox musical. Set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, the film casts Raft as Barbary Coast saloonkeeper Tony Angel, who endears himself to patrons and pedestrians alike by tossing out silver dollars at the slightest provocation. Though Tony is loved by saloon singer Sally Templeton (Vivian Blaine), he only has eyes for Nob Hill socialite Harriet Carruthers (Joan Bennett). Upon marrying Harriet, Tony realizes he is sorely outclassed, and turns to the bottle as the result. It's up to "Little Miss Fixit" Katie Flanagan (Peggy Ann Garner) to bring Tony and Sally back together. Ample comedy relief is provided by Alan Reed and B. S. Pully, while the largely uncredited supporting cast includes such familiar faces as J. Farrell McDonald, Nestor Paiva, Bud Jamieson, and Frank McCown, who rose to fame under the new moniker of Rory Calhoun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1946
Based on a novel by Craig Rice, Home Sweet Homicide is a delightful blend of domestic comedy and murder mystery. Peggy Ann Garner, Dean Stockwell and Connie Marshall play Dinah, Archie and April Carstairs, the precocious offspring of widowed mystery writer Marian Carstairs (Lynn Bari). When a real-life murder occurs, the kids join forces to solve the crime over their mother's objections. It isn't that Dinah, Archie and April are all that interested in serving the cause of justice: it's simply that they want to play matchmaker for Marian and handsome homicide lieutenant Bill Smith (Randolph Scott). The revelation of the killer will come as no surprise to dyed-in-the-wool mystery movie fans, but this shouldn't spoil the fun. Incidentally, the actor billed as "John Shepard" is actually Shepperd Strudwick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peggy Ann Garner, Randolph Scott, (more)
- 1947
Often mistakenly identified as a sequel to My Friend Flicka, Thunder in the Valley actually has more in common with the Lassie saga. Lon McAllister plays the son of truculent Scottish sheepherder Edmund Gwenn. Though he has no time for people, Gwenn is quite fond of his collie dog. Partly as a means of defying his intractible father, McAllister raises his own dog and beats Gwenn at an annual contest. Father and son are brought closer together when Gwenn is forced to do away with his collie, who has gone mad. Breathtakingly photographed in Technicolor (those nocturnal Highlands scenes are terrific!), Thunder in the Valley is based on the popular Alfred Ollivant novel Bob, Son of Battle. Lending excellent support to stars Gwenn and McAllister are Peggy Ann Garner and Reginald Owen; reportedly, perennial Laurel and Hardy foil James Finlayson also appears in the role of a judge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Allen, James Finlayson, (more)
Daisy Kenyon stars Joan Crawford as the eponymous heroine, a Manhattan commercial artist. Daisy is torn between two men: a handsome, married attorney (Dana Andrews) and an unmarried Henry Fonda. Deciding to do the "right thing", Daisy marries Fonda, but carries a torch for the dashing Andrews. When the lawyer divorces his wife, he calls upon Daisy and tries to win her back. She is very nearly won over, but her husband isn't about to give up so easily. Both men argue over Daisy, who is so distraught by the experience that she nearly has a fatal automobile accident. In the end, Daisy realizes that she truly loves Fonda, and gives Andrews his walking papers. Daisy Kenyon is given a contemporary slant with a subplot about child abuse (in a Joan Crawford film!); and, in one scene set at New York's Stork Club, several celebrities (Walter Winchell, Leonard Lyons, John Garfield) make unbilled cameo appearances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Art Baker, (more)
- 1948
Susan Peters, a fine actress of the 1940s whose career was curtailed by an accident which left her wheelchair-bound, utilizes her handicap to her advantage in Sign of the Ram. Peters plays an invalid wife and mother who exercises dictatorial control over all around her. Peters' loved ones are willing to forgive her nastiness due to her condition--a fact that she realizes fully and exploits to the utmost. Eventually her atrocious behavior leaves Peters alone and friendless, but even in her darkest moments she insists upon being a "control freak" and engineers her own spectacular death. Far more tasteful than it sounds, Sign of the Ram was a worthwhile valedictory vehicle for Susan Peters, who died a few years after the film's release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Peters, Alexander Knox, (more)
Inspired by the adventure-book series by Roy Rockwood, Monogram's Bomba the Jungle Boy was the first of a series of twelve "Bomba" pictures. Johnny Sheffield, formerly "Boy" in the Tarzan pictures, stars as Bomba. Another former child performer, Peggy Ann Garner, co-stars as Pat Harland, who with her father George (Onslow Stevens) has arrived in Africa on a photographic expedition. Bomba ends up rescuing Pat from a wide variety of jungle villains. Much of the film is built around stock footage from a 1930 documentary, Africa Speaks. Economically produced, Bomba the Jungle Boy proved a profitable beginning for one of Monogram's most successful series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Sheffield, Peggy Ann Garner, (more)
- 1949
Adapted from a play by Honore de Balzac, Lovable Cheat offers a veritable smorgasbord of Hollywood's top character actors. The title character, one Claude Mercadet, is played by Charlie Ruggles. Posing as a wealthy Parisian, Mercadet fleeces friends and casual acquaintances alike. He is forced into this life of crime to keep up appearances, so that his daughter Julie (Peggy Ann Garner) can land herself a rich husband. Iris Adrian enjoys one of her largest film roles as Ruggles' wife; Alan Mowbray is right in his element as an elegant butler; and future financial advisor Richard Ney is ironically cast as an impoverished bank clerk. Also on hand is Buster Keaton, as a nonplused creditor who spends his screen time waiting in vain for his missing business associate Godot (could playwright Samuel Beckett have seen this film?) Not entirely successful, Lovable Cheat is nonetheless a courageous exercise in the offbeat. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Ruggles, Peggy Ann Garner, (more)
A frequent cable-TV attraction since lapsing into public domain in 1976, The Big Cat is an excellent outdoor drama, beautifully lensed in Technicolor (though most current prints are printed in a washed-out 2-color process). Set in Utah in the darkest days of the Depression, the film stars Lon McCallister as Danny, the citified nephew of rancher Gil Hawks (Forrest Tucker). Danny is pretty useless as a ranch hand, but he proves his mettle when Hawks' life is endangered by a marauding cougar. Preston S. Foster delivers the film's best performance as a hirsute, stingy backwoodsman who spends most of his time tracking down the "Big Cat." Former juvenile performers Peggy Ann Garner, Skip Homeier and Gene Reynolds also register well in comparatively mature roles. The no-nonsense direction is by Phil Karlson, later a favorite of the auteur theorists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lon McCallister, Peggy Ann Garner, (more)
- 1951
Vernon Sewell, a mercurial filmmaker who preferred to lens his pictures on chunks of his own property, was the director of Black Widow. We don't know which of Sewell's real estate holdings served as the locale for this amnesia meller. We can, however, tell you that the film was inspired by the BBC radio serial "Return from Darkness." Returning from you-know-where is Robert Ayres, who learns that his wife (Christine Norden) is planning to bump him off with the help of her boyfriend (Anthony Forwood). Ayres continues feigning a loss of memory until he is able to get the drop on his would-be murderers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1951
This long-forgotten situation comedy ran for around ten months (January through October of 1951) on ABC, though not in prime time - it aired on Saturdays at noon. Starlet Peggy Ann Garner (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) headlined the program as Babs Smith, a young woman who moved from Omaha to New York City, while nurturing aspirations of establishing herself as a successful fashion model. She decided to share an apartment with her cousin Fran Smith (Peggy French), who dreamed of becoming an artist-cum-fashion designer. As episodes rolled on, series creators gave Babs a boyfriend, played by Garner's then-newlywed husband, singer Richard Hayes. Joseph Buloff co-starred as Mr. Basmany, a deeply philosophical poet and the girls' neighbor. Episodes depicted the girls' day-to-day adventures in the big city. Two Girls succeeded at connecting with an audience, but in the fall of 1951, Garner opted to leave the show, and producers replaced her with Marcia Henderson. A month after that casting change, ABC cancelled the series. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peggy Ann Garner, Peggy French, (more)
- 1951
In Teresa, director Fred Zinnemann adopts the same quasi-documentary approach he'd used in The Search (1948). Lensed on location in Italy and New York, the film introduces Pier Angeli in the title role, and co-stars three male newcomers: John Ericson, Ralph Meeker and Rod Steiger. Teresa is the Italian bride of GI Philip (Ericson), who is established from the outset as mentally disturbed. Taking Teresa home with him to New York, Philip begins to crack under the pressure of married life -- not to mention the angst brought to bear by his highly dysfunctional family. A happy ending doesn't seem likely under these circumstances, but there's always hope. The best scene in Teresa occurs during an fateful visit to Coney Island. Featured in the cast is political cartoonist Bill Mauldin, who'd subsequently co-star in John Huston's Red Badge of Courage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Maria Pier Angeli, John Ericson, (more)
- 1952
Her dead gangster husband a bullet-strewn victim of his own criminal lifestyle, a grieving widow finds her recovery process complicated by the appearance of the malevolent new crime boss. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
The eight witnesses of a murder of a scientist can only help so much as they are all blind. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1954
Broadway producer Peter Denver (Van Heflin) takes in young actress Nanny Ordway (Peggy Ann Garner) while his wife (Gene Tierney) is out of town. When Nancy is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, the two prime suspects are Peter and the neglected husband (Reginald Gardiner) of temperamental Broadway star Ginger Rogers, who had also been dallying with the dead girl. Detective Bruce (George Raft) figures out the true identity of the killer, but the audience may be well ahead of him. Despite its resplendant color photography, Black Widow is a "film noir" at heart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Van Heflin, (more)
