Elizabeth Harrower Movies

Syndicate chieftan Rudy Keppler (John Vernon) leaves the security of his Caribbean hideway and sneaks back into the States. He plans to kill Nick Thomas (Vic Mohica), the young hood who has murdered Keppler's brother in a Mob power play. Striking while the iron is hot, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) hopes to persuade Keppler to get even in a nonviolent fashion by testifying against his former colleagues--but Keppler isn't buying. A young Joan Van Ark appears as a duplicitous Syndicate moll. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this pivotal episode, budding writer John-Boy (Richard Thomas) is encouraged by his teacher Miss Hunter (Mariclare Costello) to send one of his stories to a national magazine. Unfortunately, the publication accepts only typed manuscripts, and John-Boy can't afford a typewriter. With no other options at hand, he secretly "borrows" an antique typewriter belonging to the wealthy Baldwin sisters (Helen Kleeb, Mary Jackson) -- only to find himself in quite a quandary when Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) unwittingly gives the old machine to a travelling junk dealer (George Tobias). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In fine Hollywood tradition, John Wayne had to play a "one-eyed fat man" before the Motion Picture Academy considered him worthy of an Oscar. In True Grit, Wayne plays grumpy, pot-bellied U.S. marshal "Rooster" Cogburn, hired by 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) to find Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey), who killed her father. The headstrong Mattie could have had her pick of lawmen, but selects the aging Cogburn because she believes he has "true grit" (she talks this way all through the picture, so be prepared). Also heading into Indian territory in search of Chaney is Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Glen Campbell), who wants to collect the reward placed on the fugitive's head for his earlier crimes. Complicating matters are Chaney's scurrilous cronies Ned Pepper (Robert Duvall), Quincy (Jeremy Slate), and Moon (Dennis Hopper), who have no qualms about killing a troublesome teenaged girl like Mattie. While the plot of True Grit, adapted (and streamlined) by Marguerite Roberts from the novel by Charles Portis, maintains audience interest throughout, the glue that truly holds this Western together is John Wayne, delivering one of his finest performances (though some believe he was better in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon). Wayne's casual charisma is infinitely more effective than the mannered method acting of Kim Darby and the floundering non-acting of poor Glen Campbell. And who could not love the climatic face-off between Duvall and company and John Wayne, whose "Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!" is not only a classic bit of dialogue, but the apotheosis of the Wayne mystique. In 1975, Wayne repeated his True Grit characterization opposite Katharine Hepburn in Rooster Cogburn, but the film failed to match its predecessor and the overall effect was blunted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dumped by his girlfriend because she thinks he's a crashing bore, Walter Mills (Larry Blyden) decides to completely alter his looks and personality. Thus, he grows a beard and rechristens himself "Philip Marshall," and it is in this guise that he gets mixed up with the attractive Noreen Kimberly (Kathie Browne). Unfortunately, Noreen has a jealous boyfriend named Curly (Berkeley Harris), who threatens to tell Noreen that Walter is a phony -- unless our "hero" joins Curly in a plot to smuggle some stolen jewels out of the country. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hate hangs heavy in the air in the small midwestern town where accused murderer Jagger (Terry Becker) is sentenced to hang at sunrise. But there's a slight hitch in these plans -- though it is already mid-afternoon, the sun has failed to rise. Written by Rod Serling, this heavy-handed Twilight Zone episode may be the first filmed TV drama to make reference to the recent Kennedy assassination. Michael Constantine, Ivan Dixon, and George Lindsey ("Goober" on The Andy Griffith Show) are among the participants in "I Am the Night - Color Me Black," which made its network debut on March 27, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Housewife Marcia Fowler (Felicia Farr) has become the target of an obscene telephone caller, but the authorities are unable to catch the culprit. Marcia suspects that her tormentor is Roy Bullock (Bruce Dern), a shifty-eyed young man new to the neighborhood, who has all the characteristics of a peeping Tom. Trouble is, Roy has managed to ingratiate himself with Marcia's husband, Jack (David White), who begins to wonder if his wife is only imagining those phone calls. At her wit's end, Marcia makes a desperate move to expose Roy once and for all. This episode represents the first collaboration between producer Alfred Hitchcock and actor Bruce Dern, who ultimately starred in Hitch's final theatrical feature Family Plot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this routine western set in 1864 in Montana, U.S. Marshal Jim McDowell (James Philbrook) is trying to safely get a treasure-trove of gold bullion out East, where it will help the Union cause in the Civil War. Standing in his way are first a band of Native Americans and then some crafty outlaws headed by double-dealing sheriff Henry Plummer (Marshal Reed). Since the sheriff has insider information, he and his band of bad guys have a special hot line to what happens next. Meanwhile, Marshal McDowell is aided and abetted by his wife Rose (Nancy Kovack), a woman who married him for her own particular reasons. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Playboy Loring Lamont (Tony Travis) lures his father's secretary Arlene Ferris (Andra Martin) to his beach house, with seduction on his mind. The outraged Arlene smacks Lamont in the face and steals his car to escape his clutches. When Lamont turns up murdered, Arlene is accused of the crime, but attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) thinks that the killing is tied in with a mysterious phone call overheard by his client--and he is willing to risk serious injury at the hands of two hired thugs to prove his point. Based on a 1959 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner, this is one of several fourth-season episodes in which series regular William Talman (DA Hamilton Burger) does not appear; his replacement on this and other occasions is Robert Karnes as Deputy DA Chamberlin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic melodrama, a light-skinned black woman abandons her family to pretend that she is white. She soon marries a white wealthy man, but does not tell him the truth. Eventually the pressures caused by her deception cause her to breakdown. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Marjorie Morgenstern (Natalie Wood) is an 18-year-old, middle-class, Jewish girl from New York who wants nothing more than to be an actress, despite the hopes and wishes of her parents (Everett Sloane and Claire Trevor) that she graduate from college, marry, and settle down to have a family. At the urging of her more worldly friend Marsha Zelenko (Carolyn Jones), she takes a job at an upstate camp, and, one night when sneaking onto the grounds of a neighboring resort, meets and falls wildly in love with the entertainment director, Noel Airman (Gene Kelly). A Lothario with a gift of song as well as dance, Airman romances Marjorie and tries to teach her something of theater, suggesting that she change her name to Marjorie Morningstar, which she does. He intends to enjoy her company for the summer, until her aging uncle Samson (Ed Wynn), who is also working at the resort, tells him of the family's concerns for the girl. Noel and Marjorie end up linked romantically, despite their best efforts to stay away from each other. Marjorie gives up a potential romance with a slightly older, successful doctor (Martin Balsam) and resists the honest entreaties of Airman's assistant, Wally Wronken (Martin Milner), and tries to get Airman to straighten up and fly right; she can't get her own acting career off the ground, but she owns Airman's heart. Instead of biding his time at writing a musical that he's been working at for four years, and spending his summers working in the Catskills, Noel tries to work in the advertising world -- he also finds himself just as troubled by the stable family life and religious life that Marjorie comes from as he is attracted to her personally. He is also bitterly disturbed by the fact that his one-time assistant Wally Wronken is now a successful Broadway playwright, the darling of critics and audiences, with backers eager to sign checks to produce his work. Unable to pursue a life in business, or remain faithful to Marjorie, he reaches a crisis point from which only she can rescue him -- together they try to build a life and he tries to finish his long-gestating masterpiece, which proves a disaster when it gets to Broadway. Noel abandons Marjorie, and when she goes to find him, Wally warns her off, explaining that Noel has to return to a place where he can feel successful, like the Catskills resort where they met, where he can be the big fish in the tiny pond. Her marriage over and her girlish ideals behind her, she sees Noel back in his element, wowing young acting students with his skills, and finally turns to the one man who has loved her for precisely who she is all along, Wally. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Plymouth Adventure earned a footnote in film history as the last directorial effort by the prolific Clarence Brown. Otherwise, this colorful re-creation of the Pilgrims' journey to America is a workmanlike job, never inspired but always interesting. Spencer Tracy stars as bull-stubborn Captain Christopher Jones, who intends to guide the Mayflower to its destination come Hell, high water or any other obstacle. Since Jones is spiritually "wed" to his job, the film's romantic angle is handled by Van Johnson as John Alden and Dawn Addams as Patricia Mullen. Gene Tierney is second-billed as Dorothy Bradford, the ill-fated bride of future Plymouth Colony governor William Bradford. Though the film makes several departures from the facts (there's even a villain!), Plymouth Adventure tells its tale professionally and with satisfactory entertainment value. The film earned MGM artisan A. Arnold Gillespie an Academy Award for best special effects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide