Poodles Hanneford Movies
- 1952
Springfield Rifle was Gary Cooper's third western in a row, released not long after the classic High Noon. Cooper plays Union army officer Lex Kearney, who undertakes a covert investigation to find out why the North's supply of horses has suddenly diminished. Because of the top-secret nature of his mission, Kearney is forced to distance himself from everyone he knows, including his wife Erin (Phyllis Thaxter) and son Jamie (Michael Chapin). Heading to a remote cavalry post, he discovers that renegade soldiers have been stealing horses and selling them to the South. Someone at the post has been operating as the thieves' "inside man," and Lex, posing as a dishonorably discharged soldier, aims to ferret out the traitor. Had it not followed directly on the heels of the critical and financial success of High Noon, Springfield Rifle might have fared better with audiences and reviewers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Phyllis Thaxter, (more)
- 1951
When I Grow Up is an uncharacteristically modest film from producer Sam Spiegel (during his "S. P. Eagle" years). Bobby Driscoll plays a young boy who feels neglected and misunderstood at home. Preparing to run away, Bobby chances across an old diary once kept by his grandfather (Charley Grapewin). Leafing through the yellowed pages, Bobby discovers that grandpa went through many of the same childhood travails that Bobby is enduring today--and look how well gramps turned out! Armed with a renewed understanding of (and appreciation for) his elders, Bobby decides to stick around for a while and see how things develop. Sadly, such a pat happy ending was not the real-life lot of Bobby Driscoll, who died an alcoholic pauper seventeen years after When I Grow Up was filmed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Driscoll, Robert Preston, (more)
- 1951
There's stock footage galore in The Golden Horde, a second-feature recreation of the Arabian Nights era. Sir Guy (David Farrar) defends Christianity by lopping off heads in Samarkand. Ann Blyth is the non-distressed princess who uses strategy to save her city from invasion--and to keep Sir Guy at arm's length, at least until the fade-out. Among the Mongols, one can glimpse such veteran villains as Henry Brandon and Marvin Miller, the latter as Genghis Khan Himself. The Golden Horde was run on TV on a near-hourly basis in the 1960s thanks to its garish Technicolor photography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Blyth, David Farrar, (more)
One of themost acclaimed films to emerge from Republic studios, The Red Pony is an adaptation of the John Steinbeck story of the same name. Top billing goes to Myrna Loy and Robert Mitchum, but the film's true star is young Peter Miles as Tom. A lonely farm boy, Tom seeks refuge from his troublesome home life and his eternally squabbling parents (Loy and Shepperd Strudwick) through his devotion to a newborn colt. The red pony is the issue of a prize mare owned by ranchhand Billy Buck (Mitchum), whom Tom idolizes. The film's coming-of-age theme cluminates in a poignant denouement. Louis Calhern plays Tom's lovably prevaricating grandfather, while 10-year-old Beau Bridges essays one of his first featured roles. Aaron Copland's score and the rich Technicolor photography of Tony Gaudio contribute to the film's overall mood. The Red Pony was remade for television in 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, (more)
Produced by Gower Gulch maverick Robert L. Lippert and filmed in not-so-glorious two-strip Cinecolor near Idyllwild, California, this Northwest Mounted melodrama starred the veteran Bob Steele as a rather surly mountie who, against his own better judgment, is persuaded to escort a patronizing Eastern girl (Joan Woodbury through the wilderness to her uncle's logging camp. Constantly bickering with her guide, the girl is carrying $20,000 in her purse, payroll money which is promptly stolen. At the logging camp, Steele runs into trouble with the local sergeant, Means (John Litel), who may not be all he appears to be, a wife-beating saloon-keeper (George Meeker, and sundry other more or less mysterious persons, most of whom were aware of Miss Woodbury's travel plans. Steele, who was nearing the end of his starring career (four Grade-Z Westerns were to come), also headlined Wildfire (1945), another Cinecolor "experiment" for Lippert's Action Pictures. Northwest Trail, however, was all but stolen by Miss Woodbury, whose feisty character made up for Steele's aging inertia. Troubled silent star Madge Bellamy made her final screen appearances as the mistreated wife of the saloon proprietor and real-life circus performer Poodles Hanneford played himself Like so many low-budget mountie melodramas, this one implied a non-existent connection to pulp writer James Oliver Curwood. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1945
In his final epic Western, Errol Flynn plays cattleman Clay Hardin, who, on a trek south of the border, has discovered that San Antonio saloon proprietor Roy Stuart (Paul Kelly) is actually a cattle rustler of major proportions. Determined to bring Stuart to justice, Clay runs into difficulties when he mistakes feted chanteuse Jeanne Starr (Alexis Smith) for being on the saloon owner's payroll. Meanwhile, Stuart's French-accented partner, and enemy, Legare (Victor Francen), uses the taut situation to benefit himself. Then Clay's longtime friend, Charlie Bell (John Litel), is brutally slain and Jeanne's manager, Sacha Bozic (S.Z. Sakall) is forced to skip town, Bozic, unbeknownst to Clay, having witnessed the murder. The real killer is eventually forced to confess and San Antonio erupts in a climactic gun battle that culminates in a shootout at the historic Alamo. With Hungarian actor Sakall providing some much-needed comedy relief, Alexis Smith, Doodles Weaver, and a chorus perform a few songs, including: Ray Heindorf, M.K. Jerome, and Ted Koehler's "Some Sunday Morning"; "Put Your Little Foot Right Out," by Larry Spier; and Jack Scholl and Charles Kisco's "Somewhere in Monterey." According to some reports, both Raoul Walsh and Robert Florey directed a few additional scenes. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, (more)
- 1935
- NR
With Shirley Temple heading the cast of Our Little Girl, it's a moot point as to who plays the title role. Temple is cast as Molly Middleton, daughter of Dr. Donald Middleton (Joel McCrea) and his wife Elsa (Rosemary Ames). Long unhappy in their marriage, Donald and Elsa have stayed together this long only for the sake of cute little Molly. The "big break" finally comes when Elsa falls in love (or thinks she does) with handsome neighbor Rolfe Brent (Lyle Talbot) and Donald has a brief fling with his office assistant Sarah Boyton (Erin O'Brien-Moore). Distressed at the thought of her parent's separation, Molly runs away from home, whereupon her mother and father heap recriminations upon one another, blaming everyone but themselves for the girl's unhappiness. John Farrell MacDonald almost steals the film in the closing scenes as a philosophical hobo who convinces Donald and Elsa to stop thinking about themselves and devote their attention -- and affection -- to Molly. Our Little Girl is based on the Florence Leighton Ptazgraf story Heaven's Gate (the significance of this title is explained at several important plot junctures). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, Rosemary Ames, (more)
- 1934
Joe E. Brown plays a dual role in Circus Clown, as would-be circus entertainer Happy Howard and his rustic old father. When dad, a former circus man himself, disapproves of Happy hitting the sawdust trail, the boy does so anyway, smitten by a beautiful female bareback rider. So naïve is our hero that he doesn't realize that the "girl" is actually female impersonator Jack (Don Dillaway), who strings Happy along just for laughs. Once this plotline is straightened out, Happy becomes the hero of the day by substituting for a drunken aerialist -- and there is no more proud or enthusiast spectator than Happy's happy dad. If Joe E. Brown looks genuinely frightened in his scene in the lion's cage, he should; the lion affectionately pawed Brown during one take, resulting in six stitches in the comedian's arm. More serious than most Brown vehicles, Circus Clown is distinguished by the star's spectacular acrobatics (the real thing -- no doubles), and by some excellent split-screen work during the "father/son" scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe E. Brown, Patricia Ellis, (more)
- 1928
Though conceived and executed as a silent film, The Circus Kid was outfitted with a sound prolog and music and sound-effects track so it could pass muster as a talkie. Pint-sized Frankie Darro, no mean acrobat in real life, stars as a preteen circus performer. Darro becomes an unwilling sidelines observer of a romantic triangle involving equestrienne Helene Costello, lion-tamer Joe E. Brown (in a rare dramatic performance) and circus newcomer Sam Nelson. The climax finds Brown being mauled to death by his own lions (a sequence that sparked Brown's first real-life heart attack-though not because of the lions, who were relatively benign). One critic summed up The Circus Kid with a terse "You can sleep through it." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helene Costello, Joe E. Brown, (more)
