Billy Gray Movies

Having struck gold with the previous season's Dillinger, the King Brothers returned to Monogram as producers of The Gangster. Adapted by Daniel Fuchs from his own novel Low Company, the film stars Barry Sullivan as flint-faced racketeer Shubunka. Shown to be a product of the slums, Shubunka spends his adulthood in pursuit of power and riches, with no time for friendship or romance. Wounded in a gangland shootout, Shubunka ruminates on his past, present and (unlikely) future, wondering if it's all been worth it. Promoted as a "psychological" drama, The Gangster has plenty of gunplay and bloodshed to satiate action fans, and a surfeit of sex appeal in the form of gangster's moll Nancy (played by Monogram's resident skating star Belita). Prominent in the supporting cast is the ineluctable Sheldon Leonard as Shubunka's chief rival, delivering a subtler variation on his patented tough-guy screen persona. The Gangster was directed by Oscar-winning art director Gordon Wiles, later a mainstay of such TV series as Land of the Lost and Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Writer/director Ben Hecht brings "art" to the artless environs of Republic Pictures in the one-of-a-kind melodrama Spectre of the Rose. The film is set in the rarefied world of the Ballet, featuring a curious blend of ballet artists and veteran Hollywood character actors. Ivan Kirov plays Andre Sanine, a dancer who goes insane every time he hears the music for "Spectre de la Rose". Ballerina Haidi (Violet Kessen), convinced that she can cure Andre of his mental aberration, marries him, despite rumors that he has murdered his first wife. All goes well until Andre is once more compelled to perform "Spectre de la Rose"?and then??Ivan Kirov and Violet Kessen are far more accomplished as dancers than as actors, though Kirov is slightly better than his costar. More at home in the histrionics deparment are Judith Anderson as a patroness of the arts, Michael Chekhov as an apoplectic dance impresario, and Lionel Stander as a Greenwich village poet--all quite adept at mouthing Ben Hecht's eloquent witticisms, of which there are dozens. Spectre of the Rose clearly wasn't designed to please everyone; lovers of the ballet and Hecht aficionados will probably best appreciate the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ben Hecht wrote and directed this bizarre comedy/suspense/dance film, featuring a discordant musical score by George Antheil. The film concerns a love affair between young, innocent ballerina Haidi (Viola Essen) and her psychotic genius dance partner Andre Sanine (Ivan Kirov). The crux of the tale concerns whether the newly married dance team will last through a performance of the Spectre of the Rose ballet -- since the ballet sets Andre's brain into a murderous rage that compels Andre to plunge a knife into his new wife. Also on hand for the festivities is Judith Anderson as La Sylph (an aging ballerina who runs a ballet academy), Lionel Stander as Lionel Gans (a frustrated poet), and Michael Chekhov as Max Polikoff (a pre-politically correct gay ballet impresario). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Olivia De Havilland won the first of her two Academy Awards for To Each His Own. During World War I, De Havilland falls in love with a young soldier (John Lund). He is killed in battle before they can marry, leaving De Havilland to raise their child alone. She gives the baby up for adoption, then goes to work in the cosmetic business, working her way up to an executive post. While in London on business during World War II, Olivia comes face to face with her grown son (John Lund again), now a military officer himself. Though she resists revealing her true identity, mother and son are brought together by a wise old British peer (Roland Culver). Olivia De Havilland's Oscar win was doubly sweet in that To Each His Own was her first film after an enforced two-year absence, brought about when she sued Warner Bros. to get out of her restrictive contract. Long available only in washed-out TV prints, To Each His Own was eventually restored to its pristine 35-millimeter glory by the American Film Institute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Barton MacLane dominates the proceedings in the PRC quickie Man of Courage. Taking a break from his usual gangster and convict roles, MacLane plays a crusading district attorney. His number one target is mob boss Lyle Talbot, who enjoys the protection of several crooked politicos. With perserverance, MacLane collars his quarry and brings him to trial. MacLane also cowrote the script, so he has only himself to blame for lines like "I remember when I used to plow on the farm...BOY! Did I love ta PLOW!" Newpaper columnist Erskine Johnson appears as "himself" in Man of Courage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide