Sara Haden Movies
The daughter of stage and film actress Charlotte Walker, Sara Haden's own theatrical work included several seasons with Walter Hampden's Shakespearean Repertory Company. She entered films in 1934 with a character role in the Katharine Hepburn vehicle Spitfire. The majority of her screen characterizations were as stern schoolteachers, town gossips and harried secretaries. Sara Haden is most familiar to filmgoers for her portrayal of spinsterish, ever-disapproving Aunt Millie in MGM's Andy Hardy series of the 1930s and 1940s; indeed, her final screen appearance was in the 1958 "revival" picture Andy Hardy Comes Home. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1965
It is "Martian Mother's Day", and Martin (Ray Walston) is depressed over being so far away from his own mother. His spirits are lifted when he encounters Miss Cora Darling (played by Batman's "Aunt Harriet", Madge Blake), who is an exact lookalike of his mom. Martin vows to perform a good deed for his "surrogate parent" Cora, but his plan backfires, plunging the dear old lady into some serious trouble! Featured as Cora's sister Dora is Sara Haden, best remembered as Aunt Milly in MGM's "Andy Hardy" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Having planned to marry heiress Helen Harvey (played by future Happy Days costar Marion Ross) only for her money, Stacey Chandler (John Bryant) has fallen genuinely in love with her. Thus, Stacey is none too happy when his ex-girlfriend Irene (Jean Willes), a crooked private detective, shows up to demand a cut of Helen's inheritance to keep her mouth shut. Inevitably, Irene is murdered--but it is Helen rather than Stacey her is charged with the crime. Of course, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is convinced that Helen is innocent, and intends to prove it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
With Andy Hardy Comes Home, Mickey Rooney hoped to revive the character -- and the movie series -- that had brought him fame and fortune back in the 1930s and 1940s. Returning to his home town of Carvel after several years absence, lawyer Andy Hardy (Rooney) brings his wife Jane (Patricia Breslin) and two children Andy Jr. (played by Rooney's real-life son Teddy) and Jimmy (Johnny Weissmuller Jr.) along on his sentimental journey. Andy's dad Judge Hardy is long gone (though the late Lewis Stone appears in flashbacks), but his mom (Fay Holden), sister Marian (Cecilia Parker), and Aunt Milly (Sara Haden) welcome him with open arms. After a while, Andy reveals the real reason for his return: now in the employ of an aircraft company, he hopes to convince his bosses to build a plant in Carvel. The fly in the ointment is crooked businessman Chandler (Frank Ferguson), who, when Andy refuses to purchese Chandler's land at a ridiculously exorbitant price, mounts a campaign to discredit the Hardy family. A pleasant enough diversion, Andy Hardy Comes Home failed to spark interest in a new Hardy Family series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Patricia Breslin, (more)
- 1955
Despite its lurid title, Betrayed Women is more subdued than the usual "babes behind bars" melodrama. The scene is a Southern women's prison, where the inmates are subjected to all manner of sadism and brutality. State's attorney Jeff (Tom Drake) arrives to investigate prison conditions, whereupon he is taken hostage during a breakout fomented by gun moll Honey (Beverly Michaels) and lifer Kate (Carole Mathews). As it happens, another of the hostages, inmate Nora (Peggy Knudsen), has fallen in love with Jeff. Esther Dale does her usual as a cruel prison matron, stealing the show from the capable but colorless Tom Drake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Mathews, Beverly Michaels, (more)
- 1954
Newcomer Kelly Ryan plays Kate, The Outlaw's Daughter, in this medium-scale western. Led astray by outlaw leader Jess (Bill Williams), Kate joins Jess' gang and follows in her dad's footsteps. Town marshal Dan (Jim Davis) tries his best to reform the girl, but this proves difficult inasmuch as Kate holds Dan responsible for her father's death. Only after most of the bad guys have been decimated by Dan does Kate discover the true identity of her dad's murderer. Having fallen in love with Kate, marshal Dan offers to let her escape prosecution, but she's made of sterner stuff than that. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Williams, Jim Davis, (more)
- 1953
In 1945, James Cagney, through his independent production company, bought the rights to a lurid novel by Adria Locke Langley, concerning the rise of a Southern demagogue, loosely based on the political career of Huey Long. By the time the film finally went into production and was released in 1953, the film became an also-ran, trailing behind Robert Rossen's Oscar-winning production All the King's Men, which concerned the same subject. The film, directed by Raoul Walsh, never escapes from the towering shadows of the Rossen film, so it becomes, in the end, a matter of preference for the lead character -- whether one prefers the looming intimidation of Broderick Crawford or the brisk pugnacity of James Cagney. Cagney plays swamp peddler Hank Martin, who tries to ride into the governor's mansion in a backroad Southern state by making a crusade out of the plight of the poor and impoverished majority of the state. He begins his political assent by leading a sharecropper's revolt against the rip-offs the sharecroppers are receiving at the local cotton mill. But things become more intense and Hank Martin sows the seeds of his own destruction when he makes a deal with a local, crooked political boss in order to get ahead in his political career. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Barbara Hale, (more)
- 1952
Rod Cameron's western vehicles for Monogram were always worth watching, even when Cameron was better than the scripts. In Wagons West, the star plays wagonmaster Jeff Curtis, who guides a group of Easterners to California in the 1870s. Trouble looms in the form of a Cheyenne tribe who is being supplied with weapons by a treacherous white man. Even more trouble comes Curtis' way when he discovers that the gun-runner is a member of his own wagon train. Well-photographed in two-color Cinecolor, Wagons West boasts an above-average supporting cast, ranging from bucolic Noah Beery Jr. to steely-eyed Henry Brandon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Cameron, Noah Beery, Jr., (more)
- 1952
Hard-working leading lady Jane Nigh attains top billing in 1952's Rodeo. It's all about rough-and-ready gal Nancy Cartwright (Nigh) who takes over a travelling rodeo after the manager skips town with the payroll. Under her guidance, the show becomes a money-making proposition. Unfortunately, in her efforts to prove her value as a businesswoman, Nancy makes a careless remark to aging but proud ex-rodeo star Barbecue Jones (Wallace Ford). A near-tragedy ensues, prompting the rodeo workers to walk out on Nancy when she needs them most. But Slim Martin (John Archer), the rodeo's main attraction, manages to convince his fellow workers that Nancy is a "good egg" after all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Nigh, John Archer, (more)
Jimmy Durante plays the patriarch of a down-on-their-luck family of acrobats, who suddenly finds a great deal of money hidden in his house amid the depths of the Great Depression. The authorities suspect Durante of being a thief, but in fact the culprit is a benevolent little squirrel named Rupert. This clever critter has been pilfering money from the obnoxious, wealthy miser who lives in the adjoining house and who decided to stash most of his funds in the wall separating the two residences. The stop-motion animation is the handiwork of George Pal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Durante, Terry Moore, (more)
- 1950
Lana Turner stars as an ambitious model who seeks her fortune in New York City. She is befriended by over-the-hill cover-girl Ann Dvorak, whose performance carries the story until she commits suicide twenty minutes into the film. Turner promises herself that she won't end up burned out like Dvorak, but as her fame grows, she is inexorably drawn into the hectic social whirl that sealed Dvorak's doom. Enjoying the favors of wealthy Ray Milland, Turner seeks out Milland's wife (Margaret Phillips), hoping to convince the woman to give up her husband. When she meets the crippled Mrs. Milland, Turner is made painfully aware of the length and breadth of the woman's love for her husband. Turner pulls out of the relationship, and we are encouraged to believe that hers will be a much happier and more fulfilling life than that of the unfortunate Ann Dvorak (ironically, in real life Ann Dvorak's final days were relatively contented ones, while Lana Turner spent her twilight years wondering where the looks, the men and the money had gone). Though not so noted in the credits, A Life of Her Own was inspired by The Abiding Vision, a novel by Rebecca West. Bronislau Kaper's musical score was later recycled for the 1951 MGM romantic drama Invitation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lana Turner, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1949
- NR
Hovering somewhere between an "A" and "B" production, RKO's Roughshod is an expert blend of western and film noir. Robert Sterling and Claude Jarman Jr. star as young cattleman Clay Phillips and his kid brother Steve. Stalked across the Sonora Pass by an ex-con who has vowed to kill Clay, the brothers find themselves the reluctant escorts for a quartet of stranded dance-hall girls. While the puritanical Clay adopts a strict "hands off" policy, he finds himself falling in love with one of the girls (Gloria Grahame -- the other ladies are played by Martha Hyer, Myrna Dell and Jeff Donnell). The climax is a nail-biting wilderness showdown between the heroes and villain Lednov (John Ireland). On the strength of Roughshod, director Mark Robson was elevated to more prestigious film assignments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Sterling, Gloria Grahame, (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)
- 1948
- NR
This late-40s western features Robert Mitchum as an Indian scout who happens upon an unlikely family cabined up in the Great Northwest. They're unlikely because the widower settler (William Holden) has "purchased" a wife (Loretta Young as wife Rachel) to help raise his son and do the female chores around the farm. The son resents the surrogate mom and the whole bunch aren't too happy when Mitchum shows up and starts making eyes at the lady. Their mutual attraction makes Holden jealous and he starts finding his wife a lot more attractive. It takes a full-fledged Indian attack to force the action, resolving the issue as to who's the right fella for Rachel. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, William Holden, (more)
When Episcopalian bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven) prays for divine guidance in his efforts to raise the necessary funds for a new cathedral, his prayers are answered in the form of a handsome, personable guardian angel named Dudley (Cary Grant). Establishing himself as a Yuletide guest in the Brougham home, Dudley arouses the ire of Henry, who, unaware that his visitor is from Up Above, assumes that Dudley has designs on the bishop's wife Julia (Loretta Young). Eventually, the lives of both Henry and Julia are agreeably altered by the presence of the affable angel: He regains the "common touch" he'd almost lost, while she realizes anew how much she truly loves her husband. Adapted by Robert E. Sherwood and Robert Bercovicci from a novel by Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife was remade in 1996 as The Preacher's Wife, with Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston and Courtney B. Vance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cary Grant, Loretta Young, (more)
- 1946
Don Ameche stars in this semi-screwball comedy as a handsome, eccentric 19th century inventor. Myrna Loy is his golddigging fiancee, who foolishly believes Ameche will make her financially secure. Love triumphs over greed, and Loy happily marries the inventor, who'll offer little in the way of creature comforts, but whose sincerity and dedication to his work is worth more to her than all the money in the bank. Why don't we ever meet people like this in real life? Released in Great Britain as A Genius in the Family. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Myrna Loy, Don Ameche, (more)
For his first post-WWII starring film, 26-year-old Mickey Rooney returned to familiar territory in Love Laughs at Andy Hardy. In true Art-Imitates-Life fashion, Rooney plays returning GI Andy Hardy, who arrives in his home town of Carvel to the open arms of his family: Father Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone), mother Mrs. Hardy (Fay Holden) and Aunt Milly (Sara Haden). After reels and reels of "Gee, Mom and Dad, it's great to be home", Andy launches into a new romance with college coed Kay Wilson (Bonita Granville). His boundless ebullience is dampened when Kay elects to marry another, setting the stage for a another of those man-to-man talks between Judge Hardy and Son. Fortunately, Andy bounces back to his old self when he meets Latin American exchange student Isobel Gonzales (Lina Romay). Wisely, MGM decided that Mickey Rooney was too old to continue to play Andy Hardy, and the studio dropped the series with this entry (there would be a so-so "reunion" picture, Andy Hardy Comes Home, in 1958). If it seems nowadays as though Love Laughs at Andy Hardy is being telecast at least seven times per week, it may be because the film lapsed into public domain in 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, (more)
- 1946
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
- Starring:
- Gail Russell, Diana Lynn, (more)
- 1946
This thriller is set in early 20th-century London where a series of nasty murders have recently occurred. An aunt then tells an innocent young girl that the blood of the werewolf flows through her veins and that she is responsible for the deaths. The distraught lass immediately breaks off her engagement. Fortunately, her lover is sufficiently devoted to her to begin investigating the strange case on his own. He soon finds the real culprit and is reunited with his lady love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Porter, June Lockhart, (more)
- 1946
Bad Bascomb is an expensive MGM western, tailor-made for the blubbery talents of Wallace Beery. Beery plays the badman of the title, whose heart is softened by a sweet little child (Margaret O'Brien at her most cloying). Just about to make a clean getaway, Beery realizes that the child is in danger of being killed by marauding Indians. He rides back to warn the cavalry, which results in his arrest but saves the girl. Sentenced to be hanged, Beery tearfully sends O'Brien off to her foster parents, never letting the precocious little tot know that he's about to have his neck stretched. Bad Bascomb is at its best whenever Beery shamelessly pulls every trick in the book to steal scenes from the estimable Margaret O'Brien. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Beery, Margaret O'Brien, (more)
His movie career on a roll since the surprise success of 1946's Johnny Angel, George Raft was starred in the Benedict Bogeaus production Mister Ace. Raft plays Eddie Ace, the head man of a crooked political machine who intends to scuttle the gubernatorial campaign of female senator Margaret Wyndham Chase (Sylvia Sidney). He uses every dirty trick in the book to destroy Margaret, but she perserveres on the strength of sheer honesty and integrity. Through her example, Ace mends his own ways, earning Margaret's love as a bonus. Though consummately produced, Mr. Ace failed to match the box-office performance of Raft's earlier films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Sylvia Sidney, (more)
- 1945
Rosalind Russell plays yet another independent career woman in She Wouldn't Say Yes. This time she's a psychiatrist who sees no need for a man in her life. Her resolve weakens a bit when she meets Lee Bowman, a dashing combat sketch artist suffering from wartime emotional problems. Bowman falls in love with the shrink and determines to establish a beachhead, while Russell is equally determined to hold her ground. She doesn't say yes for the first 80 minutes of the film, but does in the last six. Even Rosalind Russell made jokes concerning the inordinate number of look-alike films she made in this vein. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1945
An earnest rural melodrama set among Norwegian immigrants in Wisconsin, Our Vines Have Tender Grapes is a slightly updated version of George Victor Martin's 1940 novel. Edward G. Robinson stars as Martinius Jacobson, a farmer devoted to his wife Bruna (Agnes Moorehead) and precocious seven-year-old daughter Selma (Margaret O'Brien), whom he lovingly calls "Jente Mi." Along with her freckle-faced five-year-old cousin, Arnold (Jackie "Butch" Jenkins), Selma lives a carefree, joyous life, which is only temporarily clouded by the sudden death of Ingeborg Jensen (Dorothy Morris), an emotionally disturbed young women whose stern father (Charles Middleton) had refused to let her attend school despite the pleas of newly arrived schoolmarm Viola Johnson (Frances Gifford). The latter is quietly falling in love with Nels Halvorson (James Craig), the town newspaper editor, but cannot envision herself as a rural wife. She changes her mind when, inspired by young Selma, the entire town of Fuller Junction come to the aid of Bjorn Bjornson (Morris Carnovsky), who has lost his livestock when lightning struck a newly erected barn. When Selma generously donates her pet calf to the impoverished farmer, the townspeople in general, and Martinius in particular, follow suit, prompting Viola to reconsider her harsh views of country life and retract her letter of resignation to the school board. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, James Craig, (more)
- 1944
Margaret O'Brien, MGM's newest child sensation, was given her first starring vehicle with Lost Angel. O'Brien plays Alpha, who has been groomed to be a genius by a trio of well-meaning but misguided professors (Philip Merivale, Henry O'Neill and Donald Meek). Taking pity on the reluctant prodigy, police reporter Mike Regan (James Craig) takes it upon himself to "deprogram" Alpha and transform her into a normal, healthy child. In an effort to inflate this B picture into "A" proportions by increasing the running time, the scriptwriters contrive a silly subplot involving a gang of Runyonesque gangsters (headed by the ineluctable Keenan Wynn). Margaret O'Brien's appeal may be elusive to modern viewers, but she was a proven audience favorite back in 1944. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret O'Brien, James Craig, (more)
- 1944
If you've never seen a '40s singing, swimming musical this may be the one to catch. Featuring a mammoth cast, including such notables as Xavier Cugat, Basil Rathbone, Red Skelton, and Esther Williams, this is a swimming spectacular. The plot's quite thin: Skelton plays a lovesick songwriter who enrolls in a girls' school to stay near his new wife who ditched him shortly after the wedding bells rang and was hired on as the college's swim teacher. Of course Esther Williams is the beautiful swimming instructor who spends most of her time in the pool performing in a score of choreographed pieces. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Red Skelton, Esther Williams, (more)
