Van Heflin Movies
The son of an Oklahoma dentist, Van Heflin moved to California after his parents separated. Drawn to a life on the sea, Heflin shipped out on a tramp steamer upon graduating from high school, returning after a year to attend the University of Oklahoma in pursuit of a law degree. Two years into his studies, Heflin was back on the ocean. Having entertained thoughts of a theatrical career since childhood, Heflin made his Broadway bow in Channing Pollock's Mister Moneypenny; when the play folded after 61 performances, Heflin once more retreated to the sea, sailing up and down the Pacific for nearly three years. He revitalized his acting career in 1931, appearing in one short-lived production after another until landing a long-running assignment in S. N. Behrmann's 1936 Broadway offering End of Summer. This led to his film bow in Katharine Hepburn's A Woman Rebels (1936), as well as a brief contract with RKO Radio. Katharine Hepburn requested Heflin's services once more for her Broadway play The Philadelphia Story, and while the 1940 MGM film version of that play cast James Stewart in Heflin's role, the studio thought enough of Heflin to sign him to a contract. One of his MGM roles, that of the alcoholic, Shakespeare-spouting best friend of Robert Taylor in Johnny Eager (1942), won Heflin a "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar. After serving in various Army film units in World War II, Heflin resumed his film career, and also for a short while was heard on radio as Raymond Chandler's philosophical private eye Philip Marlowe. He worked in both Hollywood and Europe throughout the 1950s. In 1963, he was engaged to narrate the prestigious TV anthology The Great Adventure. He was forced to pull out of this assignment when cast as the Louis Nizer character in the Broadway play A Case of Libel. Heflin's final film appearance was in the made-for-TV speculative drama The Last Child; he died of a heart attack at the age of 61. Van Heflin was married twice, first to silent film star Esther Ralston, then to RKO contract player Frances Neal (who should not be confused with Heflin's actress sister Frances Heflin). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1942
This MGM musical lifts the premise of Pride and Prejudice and plunks it down into the early 1900s. S.Z. Sakall is a restaurateur who has decreed that his seven daughters must marry in order of age -- the oldest one first. Kathryn Grayson isn't the oldest, but she has the sweetest singing voice, and it is she who bags the first husband (Van Heflin). For the record, the remaining six sisters are played by Marsha Hunt, Frances Rafferty, Cecilia Parker, Peggy Moran, Dorothy Morris and Frances Raeburn. Seven Sweethearts was produced by Joe Pasternak, who'd been doing much the same material when in charge of Universal's Deanna Durbin vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathryn Grayson, Van Heflin, (more)
- 1942
Kid Glove Killer is an expanded remake of They're Always Caught (1938), a 2-reel entry in MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series. Van Heflin stars as criminologist Gordon McKay, at present investigating the murder of of reform mayor Daniels (Samuel S. Hinds). What the audience knows, but McKay doesn't, is that the the culprit is district attorney Gerald Ladimer (Lee Bowman), ostensibly a crusader against organized crime. Thickening the plot is the fact that McKay and Ladimer are rivals for the affections of McKay's pretty lab assistant Jane Mitchell (Marsha Hunt). The question: Will McKay be able to piece together the fragmentary clues in his forensic lab before Ladimer is able to strike again? An excellent example of MGM's "B" unit at the height of its powers, Kid Glove Killer served as the feature-film directorial debut of Fred Zinnemann, who obviously was destined for bigger things. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Marsha Hunt, (more)
- 1942
The tumultuous presidency of 17th-president Andrew Johnson is chronicled in this biopic. The story begins with Johnson's boyhood and covers his early life. During the Civil War, Johnson stays a staunch Unionist and upon Lincoln's reelection in 1864, becomes his Vice President. After Lincoln's assassination, Johnson becomes the President. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Ruth Hussey, (more)
- 1942
Grand Central Murder was intended as a followup to the MGM "sleeper" Kid Glove Killer, with the earlier film's star, Van Heflin, appearing in a similar role. When bitchy actress Mida King (Patricia Dane) is bumped off in a private train car at Grand Central Station, police inspector Gunther (Sam Levene) gathers together all likely suspects. One of these is wisecracking private eye Rocky Custer (Heflin), who endeavors to uncover the genuine murderer himself before Gunther slaps the cuffs on him. Custer's seemingly casual, off-the-cuff methods of detection prove infuriating to Gunther, but guess who solves the mystery-and a particularly baffling one at that--by fadeout time? The film received a mixed reviews from the New York critics, who enjoyed the mystery angle but found fault with Hollywood's convoluted concept of Grand Central Station's floor plan and its unbelievably close proximity to a fictional Broadway theatre (even so, these critics also applauded the ongoing illusion of trains arriving and leaving throughout the picture). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Patricia Dane, (more)
- 1941
An expert cast of farceurs goes through its customary paces in MGM's The Feminine Touch. Don Ameche plays college professor-turned-author John Hathaway, who hits upon a potential best-seller with his book on marital jealousy. He heads to New York with his lovely wife Julie (Rosalind Russell), there to commisserate with publisher Elliot Morgan (Van Heflin), whose job it is to "popularize" Hathaway's scholarly tome. Instead, Morgan falls head over heels in love with Julie, forcing John to consult his own book as a balm to his own jealousy. Meanwhile, Morgan's sweetheart Nellie Woods (Kay Francis) tries to take drastic measures to win back her beau, leading Julie to conclude that Nellie is making a play for John! And that's the name of the tune for the remainder of the film's 97 minute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosalind Russell, Don Ameche, (more)
- 1941
Robert Taylor toughened up his image considerably with this gangster movie, which was unusual both in its plot and origins, having come from MGM, which was generally not known for its crime movies. Taylor plays a parolee who is pretending to follow the straight-and-narrow as a hardworking cabbie, but is really the mastermind behind a dog-racing track being built with mob money. Eager works every angle, has a gang that's generally in line, and also has a loyal right-hand man in Jeff Hartnett (Van Heflin, who won an Oscar), his educated assistant, who drinks too much and waxes poetic when he isn't looking after Johnny's interests (and sometimes when he is, too). Eager has only one problem, special prosecutor John Benson Farrell (Edward Arnold) -- who was also the attorney instrumental in sending Eager up -- who has gotten an injunction against the track's opening. But the hood sees an opening when he accidentally crosses paths with a young sociology student, Lisbeth Bard (Lana Turner), who is drawn to him romantically, and then finds out that she's Farrell's step-daughter. After romancing her for a few months, he sets her up in a scam, making her believe that she killed one of Eager's men (Paul Stewart). He "generously" gets her away from the scene and then informs Farrell of what has happened, pointing out that he holds the evidence against Lisbeth. Farrell has no choice but to withdraw the injunction, and the track opens, but problems ensue when rival mobsters decide to try and cut in on Eager and his racket, and he finds out that Lisbeth is so guilt-ridden over her "crime," that she's destroying herself mentally. Eager can't figure out why she feels the way she does or what to do about it, or even if he should do anything to help her, but with Jeff's help, he discovers a nobler side to his nature. Realizing that she really does love him, and knowing it's not possible for the two of them to be together, he goes out in a blaze of glory -- laced with a special irony built into the plot -- solving Lisbeth's problem and also curing her of her love for him, and settling a score or two in the process. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, (more)
- 1941
MGM was doing so well in 1941 that it could afford the occasional "prestige" film with little box-office appeal. Based on the novel by J.P. Marquand, H.M. Pulham, Esq., stars Robert Young as a successful but stuffy Boston businessman. The glimmer of sadness in Young's eyes indicates that his ascension to the top was not without its cost. In flashbacks, we see how Young considered changing the track his life was on in order to marry Hedy Lamarr. After marrying his wife, however, the man never strays. The film utilizes the Strange Interlude approach of interior monologues heard on the soundtrack, and anticipates Citizen Kane (which hadn't yet been released when Pulham was filmed) by building its entire narrative on the flashback structure. H.M. Pulham, Esq. contains what may well be Robert Young's best performance, though few filmgoers in 1941 were interested enough to see it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hedy Lamarr, Robert Young, (more)
Santa Fe Trail, Errol Flynn's third western, has precisely nothing to do with the titular trail. Instead, the film is a simplistic retelling of the John Brown legend, with Raymond Massey playing the famed abolitionist. The events leading up to the bloody confrontation between Brown and the US Army at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, are treated in a painstakingly even-handed fashion: Brown's desire to free the slaves is "right" but his methods are "wrong." Whenever the leading characters are asked about their own feelings towards slavery, the response is along the noncommittal lines of "A lot of people are asking those questions," "I don't have the answer to that," and so forth. Before we get to the meat of the story, we are treated to a great deal of byplay between West Point graduates Jeb Stuart (Flynn) and George Armstrong Custer (Ronald Reagan), who carry on a friendly rivalry over the affections of one Kit Carson Halliday (Olivia DeHavilland). Just so we know that the picture is meant to be a follow-up to Warners' Dodge City and Virginia City, Flynn is saddled with Alan Hale and "Big Boy" Williams, his comic sidekicks from those earlier films. Despite its muddled point of view, Santa Fe Trail is often breathtaking entertainment, excitingly staged by director Michael Curtiz. The film's public domain status has made Santa Fe Trail one of the most easily accessible of Errol Flynn's Warner Bros. vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
William K. Howard, a once-prestigious director fallen on hard times in 1939, proved that he still had the "right stuff" with the modest tearjerker Back Door to Heaven. Wallace Ford stars as Frankie, a pugnacious drifter stigmatized by his reform-school upbringing. Frankie and his former "classmate" Jud (Stu Erwin) try to go straight, but get mixed up in a robbery, during which a man is killed. Though not responsible for the murder, it is Frankie who is railroaded to the death house. Nonetheless, he manages to bust out -- just in time for his grammar school class reunion, presided over by teacher Miss Williams (Aline MacMahon), the only person who ever tried to give Frankie a break. Despite severe storytelling shortcomings and gaping logic holes, director Howard managed to make a silk purse out of the critically acclaimed Back Door to Heaven. However, what may once have been social realism, now seems more like a sentimental, mawkish melodrama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Ford, Aline MacMahon, (more)
- 1937
Outcasts of Poker Flat is an adaptation of Bret Harte's western story of the same name, with elements of Harte's The Luck of Roaring Camp thrown in for good measure. Set during the California gold rush, the story traces the destinies of several divergent individuals. Preston S. Foster is gambler John Oakhurst, a seemingly underhanded gent with an untapped streak of decency. Jean Muir is a schoolteacher who tries to find some good in the gambler. Margaret Irving is the duchess, a woman of (presumed) ill repute. And Virginia Weidler is "Luck," the diminutive mascot of the mining town of Roaring Camp. Van Heflin is also around and about as the minister of the mining community. The film spends its first half establishing the characters and its second half placing them in a life-threatening situation wherein the true natures of all concerned are revealed. The Outcasts of Poker Flat, previously filmed in 1919, was remade (minus the "Luck of Roaring Camp" subplot) in 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Preston S. Foster, Jean Muir, (more)
- 1937
The low-budget football drama Saturday's Heroes is remarkably frank and timely -- at least for the first 4 reels or so. Debunking the squeaky-clean image then enjoyed by college football players, the film shows its amateur athletes betting on games, scalping tickets, and willingly accepting subsidies disguised as scholarships. But they're no worse than the college board of directors, who garner most of the football-victory profits for their own gain, all the while wrapping themselves in the cloak of respectability. When a "washed-up" young footballer who can no longer afford to remain in school commits suicide, gridiron hero Val (Van Heflin) lashes out at the sanctimonious and hypocritical faculty members. To shut Val up, his elders expel him for ticket-scalping, whereupon he teams up with honest sportswriter Red Watson (Richard Lane) to expose their hypocrisy. Enrolling at a small college cursed with a perennially losing football team, Val coaches them to victory against his alma mater. The film's refreshingly honest approach to its material falls apart about 20 minutes toward the end with the inclusion of such stock characters as toothless team trainer Andy Jones (Al St. John) and such ludicrous plot devices as Val's allowing the opposing team to score the first touchdown, just to lull them into a false sense of security. For at least 2/3 of its running time, however, Saturday's Heroes is among the best sports films of the 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Marian Marsh, (more)
- 1937
Annapolis Salute is the 1937 remake of RKO's 1933 film Midshipman Jack. Lensed on location at the Annapolis Naval Academy, the film alternates scenes of cadet training with a sentimental romantic story. Essentially, midshipman James Ellison wants to romance officer's daughter Marsha Hunt. He is discouraged from doing so by his father Harry Carey and his rival Van Heflin. A pre-Blondie Arthur Lake is on hand for klutzy comedy relief. Obvious though the material may be, Annapolis Salute posted a healthy profit for RKO. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Ellison, Marsha Hunt, (more)
- 1937
This laudable RKO programmer casts Chester Morris as a fearless pilot whose misdeeds have exiled him to a remote flying field in the Andes mountains. Morris and his fellow pilots are all exiles of sorts, and as such are willing to take on the near-suicidal task of flying supplies to miners in the most treacherous mountain ranges. The all-male atmosphere is disrupted when young air ace Van Heflin shows up with his wife Whitney Bourne. Morris tries to keep the sex-starved pilots away from Whitney, buts ends up falling in love with her himself. Heflin proves himself a weakling, but redeems himself by eliminating evil flight-commander Onslow Stevens. Heflin also dies in this endeavor, leaving a clear path for Morris and Bourne. One could point to Flight From Glory as the precursor to Howard Hawks' more famous Only Angels Have Wings, except that the earlier film succumbs to corniness and cliche a bit too often. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Whitney Bourne, (more)
- 1936
Based on a novel by Netta Syrett, A Woman Rebels is the story of Pamela Thistlewaite (Katharine Hepburn), whose mission in life is to defy the restrictive and often hypocritical conventions of Victorian England. Refusing to conform to the status quo, Pamela lives alone, reads, and says whatever she wishes, and even -- horrors! -- takes a job. Her romantic dalliance with young Gerald (Van Heflin, in his film debut) results in an illegitimate daughter (Doris Dudley), whom Pamela raises as her niece until she decides it's high time to tell the truth in all matters. Faithful suitor Thomas Lane (Herbert Marshall) offers to make an "honest woman" of her, but Pamela refuses until she can stand on her own two feet financially. Fiercely independent to the last, she becomes the crusading editor of a pioneering pro-feminist magazine and an early champion of Women's Suffrage. It was hoped by RKO Radio that The Woman Rebels would restore the popularity of Katharine Hepburn, which thanks to a series of expensive failures had been flagging for the past two years. Though the film turned out to be a box-office loser (it posted a $220,000 deficit), in retrospect it can be regarded as an artistic triumph -- and a remarkably timely one at that. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Herbert Marshall, (more)
