Mary Healy Movies
American variety entertainer Mary Healy was still in her teens when she sang with various dance bands at New Orleans' Roosevelt Hotel. Signed to a 20th Century Fox film contract in 1939, she was sent on a nationwide vaudeville tour of studio contractees in 1940. During this junket she met and married night club comedian Peter Lynd Hayes, joining her husband's cabaret act shortly afterward. Except for a handful of film appearances and a co-starring assignment in Orson Welles' Broadway production of Around the World in 80 Days, Healy worked exclusively with her husband from the mid-'40s onward. The team of Peter Lynd Hayes and Mary Healy starred in several TV shows, including the 1960 sitcom Peter Loves Mary; they were also teamed in the "cult" movie musical fantasy The 5000 Fingers of Dr.T (1953) and in the original 1958 Broadway production of Harry Kurnitz' Who Was That Lady?. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1939
A transport pilot is ordered to fly a risky mission. The pilot, Scott, refuses the dangerous mission and is fired from his job. Scott starts up a pilot school which struggles to stay in business. As an inspector for the government, Foster gives Scott trouble about his school, Scott hopes a new government pilot program will help him out. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Preston S. Foster, (more)
- 1942
A nightclub singer becomes actively involved in the education of the son she has never seen. She uses almost everything she makes to pay his tuition and expenses. One day she goes to the college to see how well he is doing. She is horrified to see that he is squandering his opportunity by spending his time going to parties and carousing with women. Later she learns that the college is nearly bankrupt. To save it she opens a club near campus and uses the profits to help out. Meanwhile her son grows up a bit, understands why education is important and buckles down to become a serious student. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grace Hayes, Peter Lind Hayes, (more)
- 1956
For its first broadcast of the 1956-57 season, the monthly CBS variety anthology Ford-Star Jubilee offered a full-color salute to composer Cole Porter. Opening with (what else?) "Another Opening, Another Show (from Porter's Kiss Me Kate), the 90-minute special featured an all-star cast performing a veritable cornucopia of the songwriter's hits. Highlights included Dorothy Dandridge's renditions of "You Do Something to Me" and "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"; Oklahoma costars Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, dueting on a medley of Porter love songs; dancers Sally Forrest and George Chakiris (still five years away from his Oscar win for West Side Story performing to the tune of "Night and Day"; trumpeter Louis Armstrong, belting out "Blow Gabriel Blow"; and a few Porter comedy numbers, sung by Peter Lynd Hayes and Mary Healy. Also appearing in this live telecast were singer Dolores Gray, actor George Sanders and Cole Porter himself, with a filmed segment featuring Bing Crosby, who was then starring in a movie version of Porter's 1934 Broadway musical Anything Goes. David Rose conducted the orchestra for You're the Top, which currently exists in black-and-white kinescope form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Hard Guy (British title: Professional Bride) stars singer Mary Healy (later of "Peter Lind Hayes and?" fame) as Julie, a nightclub cigarette girl with a mission. Julie is determined to ascertain the identity of the man who murdered her sister, hence her current employment at the tawdry nightery owned by mobster Vic (Jack LaRue). Since the aforementioned Vic has a habit of knocking around his female employees whenever they get out of line, the unmasking of the murderer isn't much of a surprise. Before this happens, however, Julie falls in love with gangly Oklahoma-born detective Steve (Kane Richmond), whose inbred skill with a six-gun comes in handy during the inevitable shootout finale. Hard Guy was directed by Elmer Clifton, who'd been helming six-day quickies for so long that one wonders how he would have handled a seven-day shooting schedule. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack LaRue, Mary Healy, (more)
- 1940
This slick marital farce features Joel McCrea as T. H. Randall, a race horse owner whose devotion to his work causes a strain in his relationship with wife Valerie (Nancy Kelly). Unable to stand any more neglect, Valerie divorces Randall, even though the audience is well aware that she's still in love with him. Reduced to poverty by his huge alimony payments, Randall cooks up a scheme with lawyer Bill Carter (Roland Young) to marry off Valerie to staid Paul Hunter (Lyle Talbot). But during a weekend party at the home of dowager Ethel (Mary Boland), Randall resents the attentions lavished upon Valerie by rakish young Freddie (Cesar Romero). It doesn't take a Rhodes Scholar to figure out who winds up with whom in the last scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel McCrea, Nancy Kelly, (more)
- 1938
In this musical comedy of errors, David Brassard, Sr. (William Collier, Sr.) has his heart stolen from him by a conniving, gold-digging nightclub singer named Josette (Tala Birell). Brassard's two sons, Pierre (Robert Young) and David Junior (Don Ameche) are both horrified and vow to lure the temptress away from their dad. However, they somehow become convinced that the woman in question is Renee LaBlanc (Simone Simon), who is merely posing as a chanteuse in order to help out her friend Barney Barnaby (Bert Lahr), whose nightspot is in trouble. In time, Pierre and David Junior both realize that they've been chasing the wrong woman -- but they also realize that they've both fallen in love with her. The supporting cast includes William Demarest and Lon Chaney, Jr., the latter only a year before One Million B.C. would reshape his career and make him a star of horror and science fiction films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Simone Simon, (more)
Jon Voight starred and co-wrote the script for this comedy (directed by Hal Ashby) concerning two gamblers on the run from their debts who try to score big in Las Vegas. When Alex Kovas (Jon Voight) loses $10,000 to local New York City hoods Joey (Allen Keller) and Harry (Jude Farese) in a poker game, he hightails it to Vegas with his pal Jerry Feldman (Burt Young). In Vegas they make friends with Patti Warner (Ann-Margret), a former call girl, and move into the MGM Grand Hotel after winning big in the casino. But word gets out and Joey and Harry take a trip out West to pay the boys a surprise visit. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Voight, Ann-Margret, (more)
- 1941
Corn Cob Kelly (Marvin Stephens) is a young jockey whose ambition is dwarfed only by his ego. All set to ride in his first big race, Kelly is replaced at the last minute by a more experienced jockey. After eating several slices of humble pie, our hero manages to requalify for the contest, squashing the plans of a gang of race-fixing gamblers in the process. Throughout the story, Kelly is encouraged to persevere by crusty stable trainer Duke (Eugene Pallette) and by Ellen Martin (Rita Quigley), daughter of a wealthy horse owner (Dorothy Peterson). Future TV star Mary Healy makes a brief appearance as a nightclub entertainer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eugene Pallette, Marvin Stephens, (more)
- 1939
Sonja Henie, the Norwegian skating star, reportedly played second fiddle to no one at Fox in the late '30s, and this backstage musical extravaganza is all Henie. Taking a leaf from producer David O. Selznick, Consolidated Pictures send public relation expert Tyrone Power in search of an unknown to star in the studio's upcoming production of Girl of the North. Power returns to Hollywood with Minnesota schoolmarm (and figure skating expert) Trudy Hovland in tow, and then manufactures a romance between the girl and stolid leading man Roger Maxwell (Rudy Vallee). The ensuing complications are quickly solved and the new star is able to perform a flashy finale to Irving Berlin's "The Song of the Metronome." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Rudy Vallee, (more)
- 1922
Lily Becker (Hope Hampton) is the musically talented daughter whose mother forces her into a marriage to the son of a wealthy man. Mistreated by the callous husband, she flees to New York to make it in the music business. She gives birth to a child and attempts suicide when she nearly starves to death for lack of work. A sympathetic young songwriter who has been down the same road takes her in and offers her the benefit of his musical experience. Lily becomes a successful opera singer the very night her husband perishes in a train wreck. She also must overcome the tragic death of her beloved baby. Lily overcomes her misfortunes to become a successful singer. After her husband dies, she is free to pursue romance with the young maestro in this routine melodrama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1940
17-year-old Linda Darnell received her first big break in the appropriately titled 20th Century-Fox production Star Dust. Discovered by talent scout Thomas Brooke (Roland Young), teenager Carolyn Sayre (Darnell) is brought to Hollywood, where she is turned down for a contract because she is considered too young. Down but not out, Carolyn falls in love with studio contractee Bud Borden (John Payne), who promises to help her achieve her career goals. Teaming up with Brooke, Borden succeeds in winning a screen test for Carolyn, and the rest is gravy. As can be seen, Star Dust draws most of its inspiration from Linda Darnell's real-life rise to fame, which gives the cliched screenplay a bit of added depth and humanity. It's also amusing to watch William Gargan, cast as studio executive Dane Wharton, perform a devastating (albeit affectionate) take-off of 20th Century-Fox head man Darryl F. Zanuck, right down to DFZ's habit of swinging a polo mallet during story conferences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Darnell, John Payne, (more)
- 1942
A college student's passion for swinging music leads him to found his own band. When he starts spending more time playing music than studying, his father, a prominent hotelier, steps in and sends the lad to a dude ranch in Arizona. Undeterred, the boy brings the band with him. Once there, he encounters a pretty girl. Unfortunately, her father owns a rival hotel chain. Fortunately, after much singing, dancing and misunderstanding, the two young people finally manage to fall in love. Though only an hour long, the film is packed with 16 popular songs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Healy, Richard Davies, (more)
Ted Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, wrote and helped design this eccentric fantasy about a young boy named Bart (Tommy Rettig) who, like most young boys, doesn't enjoy his piano lessons with the mean-spirited Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conried). He figures his time would be better spent playing baseball with his friends or helping his grown-up buddy Arthur Zabladowski (Peter Lind Hayes), a plumber. One night, while fast asleep, Bart has a long and remarkable dream in which he's trapped in the kingdom of the fearsome Dr. T, who has enslaved hundreds of little boys, forcing them to practice on the world's largest piano until they drop. With the help of a friendly plumber, Bart plans a revolt that will topple Dr. T's evil empire once and for all. The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T also features several songs for which Geisel contributed lyrics. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy, (more)
- 1942
In this upbeat WW II musical, a popular band joins the army with the idea of putting on shows for troops overseas. During rehearsals, a battle erupts and the musicians must exchange their musical instruments for guns and fight. Songs include: "Zip Your Lip," "I Must Have Priorities on Your Love," "Don't Fool Around with My Heart," "The Yanks are Coming," and "There Will Be No Blackout of Democracy." (Lew Pollack, Tony Stern, Herman Ruby, Sidney Clare). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry King, Mary Healy, (more)
- 1942
In this musical comedy, a musical comedy star is finally reunited with her estranged son whom she hasn't seen in 20 years. She is so happy she buys him a little restaurant which he and his friends turn into a dinner theater. Soon they make the place a great success. Songs include: include "Annabella," "It Makes No Difference When You're in the Army" (Johnny Lange, Lew Porter), "Put Your Trust in the Moon" (June Baldwin, Charles Callender), "Zis Boom Bah" (Elaine Cannon), "Good News Tomorrow," "I've Learned to Smile Again" (Neville Fleeson). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
