Gloria Henry Movies

The first client of defense attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr in the very first episode of the TV series bearing his name is red-haired, blue-eyed Evelyn Bagby (played by Whitney Blake, in real life the mother of actress Meredith Baxter). It doesn't look good for Evelyn, who claims that she was being chased by a car driven by a man wearing a hood, and that she fired two shots scare off her pursuer. Alas, the body of Harry Merrill has been found in the wreckage of his car--with a single bullet in his body and a pillowcase over his head. Charged with murder, Evelyn hopes that Perry can clear her name...but it is clear that she isn't telling him the whole story. This episode is based on a 1954 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The original title for Rancho Notorious was Chuck-a-Luck, which is also the title of the soundtrack ballad (written by Ken Darby) which unifies the plotline, à la High Noon. Frontiersman Vern Haskell (Arthur Kennedy) wanders throughout the West in search of the man who robbed and murdered his fiancée. He is told that he'll probably find the culprits at Chuck-a-Luck, a combination horse ranch and criminal hideout overseen by saloon chanteuse Altar Keane (Marlene Dietrich). To gain entrance to Chuck-a-Luck, Haskell poses as an escaped prisoner. Keane warns him that the ranch has only one rule: "Don't ask questions." Still, he has ways of finding things out. Haskell is compelled to keep up his charade when the dirty denizens of Chuck-a-Luck plan a big bank holdup, but this has the result of exposing the killer of his girl. Director Fritz Lang had a rough time with RKO head Howard R. Hughes, who insisted upon making changes in the film that might have hurt it irreparably. The biggest argument centered over the title; Hughes complained that no one overseas would understand the meaning of Chuck-a-Luck, whereupon Lang riposted sarcastically that "I'm sure that everyone will understand Rancho Notorious." One of the principal villains was Lloyd Gough, but you'd never know it from the opening titles; Hughes, incensed that Gough had refused to testify at the HUAC "witch hunt," ordered that the blacklisted Gough's name be removed from the credits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The real Al Jennings was a wizened little man who, after a largely unsuccessful career as a western outlaw, reformed to the extent of hitting the lecture circuit and even producing his own films. Jennings was still alive when Columbia's Al Jennings of Oklahoma was produced in 1951, so one can assume that he approved of the radical changes made in his life story and the casting of the better-looking Dan Duryea in the lead. The story begins with Al and his brother Frank (Dick Foran) trying to go straight, even though there's a $25,000 reward on their heads. Al's hopes for connubial bliss with Margo St. Clare (Gale Storm), who loves him despite his reputation, is shattered by the vengeful machinations of a railroad detective. Forced back into a life of crime, Jennings is captured and sentenced to life imprisonment--a sentence that, of course, was eventually modified. Al Jennings of Oklahoma is not one of the classic westerns, but it manages to hold one's attention throughout a plenitude of plot twists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Durango Kid rides again in Lightning Guns. As ever, the masked Durango (alias Steve Brandon) is played by Charles Starrett, who this time around is on the trail of a gang of cold-blooded killers. Rancher Dan Saunders (Edgar Dearing) is held responsible for the killings because of his opposition to a politically expedient dam project. Durango believes that Saunders is innocent, and he intends to prove it. Appearing in a secondary role is Jock O'Mahoney (later known as Jock Mahoney), who also doubles for Charles Starrett during many of the action scenes. Starrett's leading lady is Gloria Henry, whom couch potatoes of the 1950s will remember as Alice Mitchell on TV's Dennis The Menace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Former sailor Joe Blake (Bill Williams) is the Rookie Fireman in this Columbia quickie. Though fiercely independent, Blake learns how to be a team player as he goes through the firefighters' training process. Occasionally, he has second thoughts about returning to the sea, and his on-the-job performance suffers. But with the love of waitress Margie Williams (Margorie Reynolds) as an incentive, Blake becomes a first-class "smoke eater." Barton MacLaine makes a meal of his scenes as an irascible but golden-hearted fire chief. Most of the action highlights in Rookie Fireman were culled from previous Columbia productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A reformed gangster, accustomed to a life of danger, finds himself dealing with a new and different threat in this adventure thriller. Johnny Allegro (George Raft) is a former mobster who has gone over to the other side and now works for the U.S. Treasury Department as an undercover agent. Allegro is asked to help get the goods on Morgan Vallin (George MacReady), a polished counterfeiter who is involved in a right-wing plot to bring down the American government by flooding the U.S. economy with bogus currency. Allegro makes his way to the island that's Vallin's base of operations, with Glenda Chapman (Nina Foch) in tow, and he convinces Vallin that he's a fugitive from American justice. Vallin takes Allegro and Glenda in, but he soon discovers Johnny's true identity, and Allegro learns that Vallin has a bizarre hobby -- he likes to hunt, but he feels that humans are a more interesting quarry than animals. Vallin gives his guests a head start, then sets out to capture them, hoping to fell Johnny and Glenda with silver-tipped arrows, while the two agents hope that their associate Schultzy (Will Geer) will arrive in time to save them. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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

Years before she played Dennis Mitchell's mom in TV's Dennis the Menace, Gloria Henry was a B-picture ingenue at Columbia. In Racing Luck, Gloria is top-billed as Phyllis Warren, sister of headstrong jockey Boots Warren (Stanley Clements). There's plenty of stock racetrack footage, intermingled with newly-lensed sequences of staged races. The plot is the usual "disgraced jockey redeems himself" folderol, told with speed if not freshness. Of special interest is the presence in the supporting cast of Dooley Wilson, who as we all know portrayed the legendary "Sam" in Casablanca (1942). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stagecoach driver Bishop needs to capture the infamous bandit known as "The Monk" for his hooded attire. If Bishop can't bring the outlaw to justice, a crime will rest on his name. ~ All Movie Guide

Fans of TV's Dennis the Menace should get an extra kick out of Columbia's Port Said, wherein Gloria Henry, aka Dennis' mother Alice Mitchell, essays a dual role. The story concerns the pursuit of neo-Nazis in the exotic titular port city. Henry plays both Gina Lingallo, daughter of itinerant magican The Great Lingallo (Edgar Barrier), and cold-blooded murderess Helena Guistano. The hero of the piece is Leslie Sears (William Bishop), who makes it his mission in life to bring the bad guys to justice when his best friend is murdered. Meanwhile, Gina poses as her treacherous cousin Helena to infiltrate the villains' lair, setting the stage for the slam-bang finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, two brothers from the North inherit a southern plantation and find themselves unwelcome by the locals. They were bequeathed the horse farm by their father who won it on a bet with the original owner, Major Denning. To gain acceptance into the community, the two Yanks decide to bring back the major under the pretext that their father bequeathed him a trust fund. Even the old major believes this, but when he discovers that it is not true, the gentleman decides to take his leave. The brothers stop him by running the major's best horse in a big race. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide