Harry Harvey Movies
Actor Harry Harvey Sr. started out in minstrel shows and burlesque. His prolific work in Midwestern stock companies led to film assignments, beginning at RKO in 1934. Harvey's avuncular appearance (he looked like every stage doorman named Pop who ever existed) won him featured roles in mainstream films and comic-relief and sheriff parts in B-westerns. His best known "prestige" film assignment was the role of New York Yankees manager Joe McCarthy in the 1942 Lou Gehrig biopic Pride of the Yankees. Remaining active into the TV era, Harry Harvey Sr. had continuing roles on two series, The Roy Rogers Show and It's a Man's World, and showed up with regularity on such video sagebrushers as Cheyenne and Bonanza. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1950
Raymond Burr stars as Roger Lewis, the ruthless publisher of a Confidential-style scandal magazine. For a fee, Lewis will keep certain names out of his rag. From blackmail it is one short step to murder: after killing his mistress, Lewis uses his magazine to frame the woman's husband for the crime. The husband commits suicide, thereby bringing his daughter Linda (Barbara Jackson) into the picture. Linda enlists the aid of sympathetic policeman James Webster (Robert Rockwell) to stop Lewis once and for all. For reasons unknown, the producers of Unmasked felt compelled to add a gratuitous gangster subplot to their already labyrinthine storyline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Rockwell, Barbara Fuller, (more)
- 1950
In Storm Warning, Ginger Rogers stars as a model visiting relatives in an unnamed small town. She happens to witness the beating death of a man at the hands of the KKK. Rogers soon discovers that the whole town is controlled by this vigilante group, and that her loutish brother-in-law Steve Cochran is one of the group's members. D.A. Ronald W. Reagan is the man who breaks the stranglehold of the hooded terrorists--through the simple expedient of walking into one of their meetings and calmly identifying each of them by name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, (more)
- 1950
Obviously designed as an exploitationer, It's a Small World isn't bad within its own limits. Paul Dale, a real-life radio disc jockey, stars as midget Harry Musk, who is met with cruelty and insensitivity wherever he goes because of his small stature. Unable to adjust to the "big" world, Harry falls in with bad company and becomes a criminal. Redemption comes in the form of midget Dolly Burke (Anne Sholter), who convinces Harry to go straight and pursue an honest living as a performer with the Cole Bros. circus. The "normal-sized" cast is populated with such familiar faces as Will Geer, Steve Brodie, Todd Karns and Margaret Field. Director William Castle also shows up in a cameo role as a police officer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Dale, Lorraine Miller, (more)
- 1950
George Sidney directs this pleasant romantic comedy concerning mayoral love. During a convention of mayors in San Francisco, Clarissa Standish (Loretta Young), the mayor of a small town in Maine, meets Steve Fisk (Clark Gable), the down-to-earth leader of a tiny northern California community. During the rowdy proceedings of the convention, the two find themselves pushed together frequently, with the typical result -- they fall in love. After the convention, the two head back to Steve's town, where crooked local politician Les Taggart (Raymond Burr) is squaring off against Fisk in a mayoral election. With the help of Clarissa, Steve gears up for his reelection bid. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Loretta Young, (more)
Gene Autry and his horse Champion play "themselves" in Columbia's Beyond the Purple Hills. This one finds Autry serving as a cattle-town sheriff. When his best friend is accused of murder, Gene does his duty and arrests the man--then conducts his own investigation to prove that his pal is innocent. Pat Buttram goes through his usual sidekick paces, while young Autry protégé Don Reynolds does some impressive horse-riding stunts. Of interest to TV-western fans is the actor playing Autry's wrongly accused buddy: it's none other than Hugh O'Brian, later to gain fame as television's Wyatt Earp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
- 1949
This independently produced crime caper was picked up for distribution by 20th Century-Fox. Tom Conway stars as criminal attorney John Campbell. After saving Frank Bricolle (Steve Brodie) from a murder charge, Campbell is taunted with revelation that Bricolle is actually guilty. Even more galling is the fact that Campbell was hoodwinked into being his client's alibi. Knowing that Bricolle can't be tried twice for same crime, Campbell tries to frame him on another murder rap. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Conway, Steve Brodie, (more)
- 1949
While searching for a stolen gold shipment, partners in a stagecoach line attempt to keep crooked ranch hands from stealing their employer's land. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Holt, Richard Martin, (more)
- 1949
Republic's well-produced Allan "Rocky" Lane western series was a favorite of fans and critics alike. The series maintained its high batting average with its first 1949 entry, Death Valley Gunfighter. The storyline gets under way when thieves conspire to appropriate a silver mine owned by comedy relief Nugget Clark Eddy Waller. Though he could benefit from some legal help, Nugget doesn't trust lawmen. Thus, do-gooder Lane is forced to protect Nugget without the old man's knowledge. Death Valley Gunfighter culminates in the sort of outsized slugfest for which Republic was justly famous. TV's future "Annie Oakley" Gail Davis co-stars as the love interest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allan Lane, Eddy Waller, (more)
- 1949
Lucille Ball is Miss Grant, an efficient but naïve secretary hired by William Holden. Ostensibly a legit real estate salesman, Holden is actually the brains of a bookie ring. It takes forever for Ball to tumble to what's going on, but when she does she settles matters in the same fashion as her later I Love Lucy character would--by adopting a disguise and a line of snappy patter. The chastened Holden marries Ball and agrees to devote his life to running an honest real-estate firm on behalf of the deserving homeless. Among the contributors to the success of Miss Grant Takes Richmond are producer S. Sylvan Simon, director Lloyd Bacon and scenarist Frank Tashlin, all of whom would later team up again for the zany Lucille Ball vehicle The Fuller Brush Girl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucille Ball, William Holden, (more)
- 1949
The second entry in Monogram's "Father" series was 1949's Leave It to Henry. Raymond Walburn returns as small-town blowhard Henry Latham, while Walter Catlett reprises his portrayal of bombastic Mayor Colton. Preparing for their town's Centennial celebration, Henry and the Mayor stage a reenactment of a famous steamboat fire. Things get out of hand, and the upshot of this is a stiff jail term for poor Henry. The supporting cast includes such never-fail character players as Ida Moore, Olin Howlin and Harry Harvey. But the principal attraction of Leave it to Henry is the comic rapport between Raymond Walburn and Walter Catlett (who, offscreen, had been close friends since boyhood). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Walburn, Walter Catlett, (more)
- 1949
A sequel to 1947's Dear Ruth, this movie has William Holden and Joan Caulfield portraying a young married couple with some definite in-law problems. When Caulfield's younger sister gets Holden to run for the State senate, a whole new kettle of worms is opened--his opponent is his Father-in-law. In spite of former suitors trying to break up their relationship and the obvious stress caused by the campaign, everything works out Hollywood-style. This was followed by a sequel for the younger sister, entitled Dear Brat. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, Joan Caulfield, (more)
- 1949
- NR
"This boy...and this girl...were never properly introduced to the world we live in." With this superimposed opening title, director Nicholas Ray inaugurates his first feature, They Live by Night. Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell play a "Bonnie and Clyde"-type fugitive couple, who in trying to escape their past are hell-bent down the road to Doom. Despite their criminal activities, Bowie (Granger) and Keechie (O'Donnell) are hopelessly naïve, fabricating their own idyllic dream world as the authorities close in. The entrapment -- both actual and symbolic -- of the young misfit couple can now be seen as a precursor to the dilemma facing James Dean in Ray's 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause. A box-office disappointment upon its first release, They Live by Night has since gained stature as one of the most sensitive and least-predictable entries in the film noir genre. The film was based on a novel by Edward Anderson, and in 1974 was filmed by Robert Altman under its original title, Thieves Like Us. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cathy O'Donnell, Farley Granger, (more)
- 1949
Actor/writer Mikel Conrad appeared in several films with an Alaskan setting in the late 1940s--early 1950s, the most famous of which was the 1951 sci-fier The Flying Saucer. In Arctic Manhunt, Conrad portrays an ex-con who heads to Alaska to get his hands on the money from an armored car heist. He is trailed northward by insurance investigators who've been on to him since his prison days. Carol Thurston is the woman with whom Conrad rubs noses while en route to the loot. Arctic Manhunt was written and directed by Ewing Scott, who like Mikel Conrad was an habituee of Alaska-based B pictures (Red Snow). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mikel Conrad, Carol Thurston, (more)
- 1949
Columbia's "Rusty" series was entering the homestretch with 1949's Rusty Saves a Life. The eponymous doggie hero, portrayed by a very busy canine thespian named Flame, does exactly what the film's title says he does. But before this prophecy can be fulfilled, the story spends a great deal of time with young Danny Mitchell (Ted Donaldson), who briefly turns to juvenile delinquency when he's denied an expected inheritance. Gloria Henry, best known to TV fans as Alice Mitchell on Dennis the Menace, is the fresh-faced heroine. Also on hand in a featured role is future "Dobie Gillis" Dwayne Hickman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Donaldson, Gloria Henry, (more)
- 1949
One wonders if Donald O'Connor would have consented to star in Francis if he knew that a series was to follow. Adapted by David Stern from his own novel, the film stars O'Connor as GI Peter Sterling, who appears to be bucking for a Section Eight. Seems that Sterling keeps insisting that Francis, a cantankerous Army mule, has the power of speech. It turns out that Francis not only can talk, but is also a superb military strategist. With Francis' help, Sterling breaks up a Nazi spy ring and becomes a hero -- but this is only the beginning, as the future entries in Universal's Francis series would prove over and over. Providing able support to the hapless O'Connor are Patricia Medina, Ray Collins, and especially ZaSu Pitts as a bewildered Army nurse. The voice of Francis is provided by Chill Wills, who likewise showed up in most of the Francis sequels, and who, like O'Connor, bailed out before the final entry, Francis in a Haunted House (1956). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald O'Connor, Patricia Medina, (more)
- 1949
A blend of melodrama and film noir, The Reckless Moment stars Joan Bennett as Lucia Harper, a suburban housewife whose husband is away on business. Her daughter, Bea (Geraldine Brooks), an aspiring artist, has fallen for Ted Darby (Shepperd Strudwick), a shady older man from Los Angeles who claims to be an ex-art dealer. One night, after a secret rendezvous in the Harpers' boathouse that turns into an argument, Bea accidentally kills Darby. When Lucia discovers his body in the morning, she panics and dumps it in the lagoon instead of contacting the police, who would surely charge her daughter with murder. Her problems only increase when a suave Irish gangster named Donnelly (James Mason) shows up with a package of love letters from Bea to Darby, and blackmail on his mind. With her husband out of town, Lucia has no choice but to give in to his demands, and brings him along on a desperate quest to raise the money that takes them from bank to loan office to pawn shop. Along the way, Donnelly seems to develop sympathy -- even affection -- for her. When his boss shows up to pressure him into finishing the job, Donnelly's surprising decision sets up the film's startling climax. The Reckless Moment was remade in 2001 by Scott McGehee and David Seigel as The Deep End. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Mason, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1948
Based on the play by Arthur Miller, All My Sons is a drama of man's duty to man that retains a potent impact. Edward G. Robinson plays a manufacturer of parts for World War II airplanes who lives a full, satisfied life in a small town. But his idyll is shattered by the arrival of the fiancée of the manufacturer's oldest son, who is missing in action. The younger son begins to fall in love with the girl, but her own brother is against the relationship because, he claims, the manufacturer and his partner delivered defective parts to the war effort. The younger son (Burt Lancaster) investigates, even going as far as visit his father's former partner in jail, and discovers the awful truth -- that his father's corrupt actions were responsible for both the partner's incarceration and the deaths of 21 U.S. pilots. The tale ends with a bitter and tragic confrontation that drives home the message that we are all our brother's keepers, and we cannot push aside that responsibility for personal gain. Thoughtful and intense performances by Robinson and Lancaster bring humanity and life to this powerful theme. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Burt Lancaster, (more)
- 1948
Hoping for a success commensurate with his previous Show Business (1945), comedian Eddie Cantor poured a lot of his own money into the RKO Radio musical If You Knew Susie. Cantor and his Show Business co-star Joan Davis are reteamed herein as ex-vaudevillians Sam and Susie Parker, who retire to a small and rather cloistered New England town. Faced with the snobbery of the local "aristocracy," Sam and Susie come to believe that they aren't worthy of their new neighbors, nor of their own children. All this changes when the Parkers find a document signed by George Washington bestowing $50,000 on one of Sam's forebears! According to the government, Sam and Susie are now owed several billion dollars interest. Sam patriotically refuses to accept the money, thereby becoming a national hero -- but not before a plenitude of comic plot twists involving gangsters Sheldon Leonard and Joe Sawyer. Cast as the Parkers' daughter Marjorie is "newcomer" Margaret Kerry, who'd actually been in films since 1936 as child actress Peggy Lynch. One of the musical highlights in If You Knew Susie is a clip from Show Business, featuring Cantor, Davis, George Murphy and Constance Moore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Cantor, Joan Davis, (more)
The "He" of the title is Richard Basehart, a clever but psychopathic burglar (based on real-life criminal Erwin Walker) Basehart stays one step ahead of the law by listening in to the police band on his radio. To avoid detection, he changes his M.O. on each crime, making it seem that the string of burglaries is the work of several thieves. But Basehart trips himself up when he kills a cop. His own personal Waterloo occurs in the Los Angeles sewer system--a stylish predecessor to the similar (and more widely praised) climax in Sir Carol Reed's The Third Man. Though the direction is credited to Hollywood old-timer Alfred Werker, most of He Walked By Night is the handiwork of an uncredited Anthony Mann. Featured in the film's cast is Jack Webb in the small role of a police lab technician. Impressed by first-hand experience with police procedure and by the semi-documentary quality of He Walked By Night Webb expanded on these elements for his own radio and TV project, Dragnet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, (more)
Bob Hope's Technicolor western spoof The Paleface was one of the comedian's biggest box-office hits. Hope plays Painless Potter, a hopelessly inept dentist who heads west to seek his fortune. Meanwhile, buxom female outlaw Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) is engaged in undercover work on behalf of the government, in the hopes of earning a pardon for her past crimes. Jane is on the lookout for notorious gun-runner Robert Armstrong. To put up an innocent front, Jane marries the befuddled Potter, then keeps the criminals at bay by convincing everyone that Potter is a rootin'-tootin' gunslinger (actually, it's Jane who's been doing all the shooting). Armstrong, who has been selling guns to the Indians, arranges for Jane to be captured by the scalp-hungry tribesmen, but Potter comes to the rescue. Somewhere along the way, Bob Hope and Jane Russell get to sing the Oscar-winning Jay Livingston/Ray Evans tune "Buttons and Bows". There are many hilarious moments in The Paleface, but screenwriter Frank Tashlin felt that director Norman Z. McLeod failed to get the full comic value out of his material. To prove his point, Tashlin directed the side-splitting sequel, Son of Paleface (1952), which once more teamed Hope and Russell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Jane Russell, (more)
- 1948
Another entry in Columbia's bucolic "Rusty" series, My Dog Rusty again pairs apple-cheeked Ted Donaldson with Flame the Dog. This time around, Hugh Mitchell (John Litel), father of mischievous Danny Mitchell (Donaldson) is running for mayor. Thanks to Danny's propensity for lying, the elder Mitchell is disgraced in the eyes of the community. Somehow, Danny's faithful hound Rusty (Flame) not only cinches the election for Mitchell, but also helps him to understand the underlying psychological reasons for his son's prevarications. Columbia contact actress Ann Doran does her usual fine job as Mrs. Mitchell, while Whitford Kane, former member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater, delivers an effective performance as a philosophical blind man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Donaldson, John Litel, (more)
- 1948
In this western, a troubled, battle-weary youth must somehow put his life together after he is discharged from Roosevelt's Rough Riders. His father wants him to take over the family ranch, but the son is still too haunted by war's horrors to care. Instead he begins wandering aimlessly until he gets involved with a battered wife. He takes care of her abuser and eventually falls in love with her. It is her love that finally helps him heal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1948
This prison drama is told via flashback and follows a group of prisoners bound for Alcatraz. En route, the group plans their escape. One of the convicts is innocent and ends up falling in love with a pretty passenger. Later romance really blooms after his name is cleared, but the other would-be escapees all die trying to break out. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Janet Martin, (more)
Ralph Byrd returns to the character he had originated ten years earlier in the serial Dick Tracy. This time, Chester Gould's immortal comic strip hero is called in to handle a fur theft. The owner of Flawless Furs, Humphreys (Charles Marsh), has just signed on with the Honesty Insurance Company whose investigator, Cudd (Al Bridge), made him change the combination to the vault. The insurance policy --as the head of Honesty, Peter Premium (William B. Davidson), explains -- holds the company liable if the stolen furs haven't been recovered within 24 hours of the theft. The trail leads to Longshot Lily (Bernadene Hayes), a would-be fence who is promptly arrested. But when Tracy's snitch, Sightless (Jimmy Conlin), is found brutally murdered, the detective realizes that he has more than a simple fur theft on his hands. With the help of master thespian Vitamin Flintheart (Ian Keith) and ever-present sidekick Pat Patton (Lyle Latell), Tracy follows a series of clues that leads him to a deserted junkyard and a fateful confrontation with fiendish killer "the Claw" (Jack Lambert). Dick Tracy's Dilemma was followed by Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947), after which RKO retired the series. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Byrd, Lyle Latell, (more)
- 1947
The Broadway musical Beat the Band was boiled down to B-picture terms in this RKO Radio programmer. The plot concerns Damon (Philip Terry), a bandleader who finds himself financially embarrassed when he returns from WW2. In order to earn enough money to reassemble his orchestra, Damon poses as a famed Italian voice teacher. His first pupil is would-be songstress Ann (Frances Langford), whose family fortune figures prominently in Damon's comeback scheme. Ralph Edwards, emcee of the then-popular radio series "Truth or Consquences," provides comic relief as Damon's crooked business manager. The musical highlights include a "hot" arrangement performed in a boiler room by the Gene Krupa Orchestra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances Langford, Ralph Edwards, (more)
