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June Hedin Movies

1952  
 
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Myrna Loy returns as Mrs. Gilbreth -- efficiency expert, industrial engineer, and mother of twelve -- in this sequel to Cheaper By The Dozen. After the death of her husband, Gilbreth is forced to take over as the family's primary breadwinner, but she soon discovers that not every company who hired her and her husband in the past is eager to work with her on her own. Facing prejudice from many of her prospective clients, Gilbreth finally makes good training engineers for Sam Harper (Edward Arnold), putting her family back on solid financial ground. In the meantime, the dozen Gilbreth children are growing up, most notably eldest daughter Ann (Jeanne Crain), who enters into a serious romance with Bob Grayson (Jeffrey Hunter), a young doctor. The supporting cast includes Hoagy Carmichael, Debra Paget, Barbara Bates and Robert Arthur. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Jeanne CrainMyrna Loy, (more)
 
1952  
 
25-year-old Julie Harris convincingly recreates her Broadway role of 12-year-old tomboy Frankie Addams in the 1952 screen version of Carson McCullers' play. Feeling rejected when her older brother goes off on his honeymoon without inviting her along, Frankie runs away from her middle-class southern home. She endures several other adolescent traumas, not least of which is the sudden death of her bespectacled young cousin John Henry (Brandon De Wilde). With the help of warmhearted housekeeper Berenice Sadie Brown (Ethel Waters), Frankie eventually makes an awkward transition to young womanhood. One of several Stanley Kramer productions released by Columbia in the early 1950s, The Member of the Wedding wisely used several of the original Broadway cast members. Co-starring as a drunken soldier who tries to take advantage of the vulnerable Frankie is former child actor Dick Moore, making his last screen appearance. The Member of the Wedding was remade for television in 1983 (and unofficially "reworked" into the 1991 sleeper My Girl). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Julie HarrisEthel Waters, (more)
 
1951  
 
A remake of the French Le Corbeau ("The Raven"), The Thirteenth Letter is a film noir in a curious setting -- a rural village deep in Quebec, seemingly sleepy and typical. Dr. Laurent (Charles Boyer) returns from a medical convention in Montreal, anxious to see his much younger wife, Cora (Constance Smith). Cora is attracted to Dr. Pearson (Michael Rennie), a young doctor who moved into the town soon after his unfaithful wife killed herself. Soon Pearson, Laurent and Cora all receive letters -- signed "the Raven" -- hinting at an affair between Pearson and Cora. Soon more poison pen letters are showing up around town, including one which insinuates that Pearson has not been telling the truth about the medical condition of a wounded war hero. Distraught, the veteran takes his life, unaware that the information in the letter was a lie. Meanwhile, Pearson has become attracted to Denise, (Linda Darnell), a romance-starved young woman born with a clubfoot. As suspicion builds about who is sending the letters -- and about whether Pearson should be trusted -- the Mayor takes charge of the investigation, and Pearson doubles his efforts to prove his innocence. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

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Starring:
Linda DarnellCharles Boyer, (more)
 
1951  
 
The model (Jeanne Crain) is stuck in an unhappy relationship with a married man. The marriage broker (Thelma Ritter) doesn't like this and tries to match the model with a lonely x-ray technician (Scott Brady). The model is so grateful that she tries to find an eligible bachelor for the broker. The broker resists this largesse, but then realizes that the only reason she meddles in other people's lives is to make up for the emptiness of her own. The Model and the Marriage Broker resists the temptation of poking fun at the less attractive clients of the marriage broker; this is especially true in the case of Frank Fontaine, whose performance as a lovesick Swede is quite moving. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Jeanne CrainScott Brady, (more)
 
1950  
 
Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda features some of MGM Studios' best directors, screenwriters and actors; it is narrated by Louis Calhern. Stories are framed by the lecture of a university professor. In one tale a Boston resident becomes angry when the census forgets to record her presence. Another sketch chronicles the achievements of African Americans while still another pays tongue-in-cheek tribute to Texas. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Ethel BarrymoreGary Cooper, (more)
 
1948  
NR  
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George Stevens's charming film version of Kathryn Forbes' collection of short stories entitled Mama's Bank Account features Irene Dunne as Mama in one of her finest and most ingratiating performances. The film is narrated by Mama's daughter Katrin (Barbara Bel Geddes), recalling the trials and tribulations of her family in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. Mama tries to keep her house in order and her family on their toes as a motley assortment of eccentric relatives, boarders, and friends -- including Uncle Chris (Oscar Homolka), Mr. Hyde (Cedric Hardwicke), Dr. Johnson (Rudy Vallee), Mr. Thorkelson (Edgar Bergen) -- weave in and out of their lives. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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Starring:
Irene DunneBarbara Bel Geddes, (more)