Ruth Attaway Movies

In this modern parable of middle-American values, a nine-year-old boy leaves behind the family farm for a few very instructive days in New York. A disagreement with his father sends Brill (Richard Bray) hitching to New York City to seek his fortune. After arriving in Manhattan, he falls in with a young gang of shoe-shine boys and paper carriers who are "managed" by Rick (Jaime Charlamagne), a teenage punk who "protects" them in exchange for half their earnings. With the help of his new friend Paco (Roberto Marsach), a Puerto Rican boy about his own age, Brill gets a job selling papers. The next day Brill wins most of Rick's money in a crap game and he takes Paco out for a night on the town. When Rick's gang beats up Brill for winning the money, Suzy (Lee Grant), a prostitute, takes him home to care for him. The next morning, Suzy buys Brill new clothes and takes him on a tour of the city. He sees Suzy picked up by the police and decides to return home, purchasing a bicycle for the trip. Rick's gang spots him and gives chase, but Paco intercepts them, allowing Brill to escape. On the highway home, a truck wrecks the bike, and Brill stays the night at an elderly African-American couple's house. Upon returning home the next day, he presents his father with the remainder of his "fortune."

Pie in the Sky was Allen Baron's second attempt at directing and screenwriting. His 1961 Blast of Silence received good reviews, but never gained popularity in the United States. Pie in the Sky is a better film, painting a realistic yet heartwarming picture of a young boy's adventures. Richard Bray gives a commendable performance as the wayward youth, despite his non-professional status as an actor. The film was criticized for choppy narration in 1964, giving a "too European" feel, although modern audiences would likely be more accepting. Donald Malkame's cinematography is one of the film's strongest points. It is clear, crisp, and shot entirely on location -- including 42nd Avenue through hidden camera, and the exciting bicycle chase through upper Manhattan. ~ Lucinda Ramsey, Rovi

Conceived as a Gone With the Wind for the CinemaScope generation, Raintree County wasn't quite as successful as its role model, but it still proved a moneyspinner for MGM. Elizabeth Taylor stars as a spoiled Southern belle who falls in love with pacifistic Indiana youth Montgomery Clift. Though Clift is engaged to Eva Marie Saint, what Taylor wants, Taylor gets, and she isn't above using the dirtiest of deceptions to win Clift's affections. When the Civil War break out, Clift, a staunch abolitionist, joins the Union, much to the dismay of true-to-Dixie Taylor. While Clift is off fighting the war, Taylor descends into a depression that deepens into insanity. At war's end, Clift tries to come to terms with Taylor's lunacy for the sake of their child. But the strain proves too much for both of them, leading to an operatic climax which curiously segues into a happy ending (happy for some of the characters, anyway). If Montgomery Clift's performance--and appearance--seems to fluctuate wildly throughout the film, it is because he was involved in a serious auto accident during shooting, one that left both physical and emotional scars from which he never completely recovered. The 187-minute Raintree Country (reduced to 168 minutes after its initial roadshow engagements) was adapted by Millard Kaufman from the best-selling novel by Ross Lockridge, Jr. (whose own life story was infinitely more tragic than anything in his book). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The President's Lady is an historical drama starring Charlton Heston as Andrew Jackson and Susan Hayward as his wife Rachel, Jackson marries Rachel after she divorces her unfaithful first husband (Whitfield Connor), with scandal resulting when the ex-husband refuses to finalize the divorce. Jackson climbs up the military and political ladder, but Rachel is never socially acceptable due to her "tainted" past. Nonetheless, Jackson stands staunchly beside his wife, even fighting a duel for her honor. On the eve of Jackson's presidential election, Rachel dies, but "Ol' Hickory" takes comfort in recalling a marriage that remained happy against all odds. The best sequence in The President's Lady is a comic vignette which explodes the legend of the "pipe-smoking" Rachel Jackson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Having lived his life as the gardener on a millionaire's estate, Chance (Peter Sellers) knows of the real world only what he has seen on TV. When his benefactor dies, Chance walks aimlessly into the streets of Washington D.C., where he is struck by a car owned by wealthy Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine). Identifying himself, the confused man mutters "Chance...gardener," which Eve takes to be "Chauncey Gardiner." Eve takes him to her home to convalesce, and because Chance is so well-dressed and well-groomed, and because he speaks in such a cultured tone, everyone in her orbit assumes that "Chauncey Gardiner" must be a man of profound intelligence. No matter what he says, it is interpreted as a pearl of wisdom and insight. He rises to the top of Washington society, where his simplistic responses to the most difficult questions (responses usually related to his gardening experience) are highly prized by the town's movers and shakers. In fact, there is serious consideration given to running Chance as a presidential candidate. Both a modern fable and a political satire, Being There was based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinski and costars Melvyn Douglas, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as Eve's aging power-broker husband. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi