Darryl Hickman Movies

Gene Tierney portrays a beautiful but unstable woman who marries successful novelist Cornel Wilde. Tierney wants to spend all her time with her new husband, but finds it impossible to do so thanks to his work and the frequent visits of family and friends. When Wilde's crippled younger brother (Darryl Hickman) comes to the couple's summer house to stay, Ms. Tierney indirectly causes the boy to drown. Later, upon discovering that she's pregnant, Tierney deliberately falls down the stairs, choosing to miscarry rather than share her husband's affections with an infant. When it becomes clear that family friend Jeanne Crain is attracted to her husband, Ms. Tierney commits suicide, making her death appear to be murder and framing Crain for the "crime." In court, Ms. Crain is mercilessly grilled by prosecuting attorney Vincent Price, who happens to be Tierney's ex-lover! Filmed in lush Technicolor, Leave Her to Heaven is based on the best-selling novel by Ben Ames Williams. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

If there were any doubts that little Shirley Temple was all grown up by 1945, those doubts were disippated by her appearance in Columbia's Kiss and Tell. Based on the mildly risque stage comedy by F. Hugh Herbert, the film casts Temple as impulsive teenager Corliss Archer, who is the only person in on the secret marriage between her GI brother and local girl Mildred Pringle (Virginia Welles). When Mildred becomes pregnant, Corliss can't reveal the marriage, since the Archers and the Pringles aren't overly fond of one another. Thus it is that Corliss herself pretends to be expecting, intending to claim Mildred's baby as her own. She further identifies her next-door boyfriend Dexter Franklin (Jerome Courtland) as the father, opening yet another can of worms. Somehow this mess straightens itself out, but not before several "chancy" scenes and lines of dialogue that must have given the Hollywood censors headaches aplenty. Kiss and Tell (the original play, that is) not only spawned a 1949 movie sequel, A Kiss for Corliss, but also inspired the popular radio and TV sitcom Meet Corliss Archer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There's slightly more fancy than fact in this lavish film biography of legendary American composer George Gershwin, but oh! That music! Director Irving Rapper had wanted Tyrone Power to play Gershwin, but Power was still serving in the Marines, so Rapper had to settle for Robert Alda--who isn't bad at all, just a trifle over-enthusiastic. The film traces Gershwin's rise from a "song plugger" for a Manhattan music publishing company to the heights of international fame and fortune. Gershwin's first big hit is "Swanee," introduced on Broadway by Al Jolson (who plays himself, making his first film appearance in six years). In collaboration with his lyricist brother Ira (well played by Herbert Rudley), George pens hit after hit in show after show. Impresario Charles Coburn is happy with this, but George's kindly old music teacher Albert Basserman wants his prize pupil to aspire to something more artistic. Gershwin responds with "Rhapsody in Blue", which debuts at Aeolian Hall in 1924 under the baton of bandleader Paul Whiteman (also playing himself). As his fame and workload grows, George finds he has no time at all for romance; the two (fictional) ladies in his life, both of whom eventually realize that they'll always have to play second fiddle to Gershwin's muse, are musical comedy star Joan Leslie and socialite Alexis Smith. Gershwin continues to compose such masterpieces as "An American in Paris", "Cuban Overture", "Concerto in F" and the 1935 folk opera Porgy and Bess. He will not allow himself to rest on his laurels, ruthlessly pushing himself to top all his previous accomplishments. Finally, the strain proves too great: George Gershwin dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1937, at the age of 39. Featured in the cast as themselves (in addition to those already mentioned) are Gershwin's lifelong friend Oscar Levant, producer George White, and Broadway performers Tom Patricola and Hazel Scott. Morris Carnovsky and Rosemary DeCamp play George's parents, while Julie Bishop is cast as Ira's wife Lee, who is saddled with the film's silliest line: "Ira, promise me that you'll never become a genius." Alternately hokey and inspired, Rhapsody in Blue has weathered the years as one of Hollywood's most solid biopics. And, as a bonus, we are treated to a virtually complete performance (running a full reel) of the title composition. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This was the seventh entry in Paramount's "Henry Aldrich" series, and there were still two more to come. Per the title, trouble-prone high schooler Henry (Jimmy Lydon) finds himself in charge of a contentious group of scouts. He nobly takes the blame for the pranks perpetrated by young Ramsey Kent (Darryl Hickman), to spare Ramsay's dad, a friend of Henry's father (John Litel) from embarrassment. After numerous zany complications, the film wraps up with the old "hanging from a cliff by a rope" scene, which seems to be obligatory in every Boy Scout movie ever made. Though panned at the time of its release, Henry Aldrich, Boy Scout is one of the series' funnier entries. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Author William Saroyan's corn-shucking brand of sentimentality works wonders in this 1943 filmization of his novel. Narrator Ray Collins is dead before the film begins; thus he is able to provide an all-seeing overview of the tiny community of Ithaca, California. The principal character, played by Mickey Rooney, is Collins' son; as the delivery boy for the local telegraph office, Rooney keeps in close contact with virtually every family in town, which results in several comic and poignant moments. Rooney's older brother Van Johnson is in uniform, off fighting World War II; his sister Marcia Hunt is the erstwhile sweetheart of telegraph-office supervisor James Craig. The "circle of life" concept that unifies the anecdotal plotline is best illustrated by the film's final image: after Johnson dies in battle, his best friend, parentless John Craven, is more or less adopted by Collins' family. Reportedly, The Human Comedy was MGM chief executive Louis B. Mayer's favorite film, an apotheosis of Mayer's devotion to "family values." Among the many small-part players populating Human Comedy are Barry Nelson, Robert Mitchum, Don DeFore, Jay Ward (later the producer of Rocky and His Friends) and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One can only imagine the reaction of arch-conservative MGM head Louis B. Mayer when Song of Russia first tumbled over the spools in the studio projection room. It must be remembered, however, that back in 1944 it was politically expedient for Hollywood to offer hosannas to America's Russian allies, and to gloss over the less-attractive aspects of the Stalin regime. Based on Scorched Earth, a story by Leo Mittler, the film stars Robert Taylor as John Meredith, a famous American symphony conductor who is touring Russia just before the war. Meredith falls in love with Russian lass Nadya Stepanova (Susan Peters), who impresses him with her conviviality and charm: why, she's almost like a typical American girl! In the course of their romance, Meredith and Nadya visit a collective farm, where the peasants sing, dance and smile all day. The lovers marry, only to have their honeymoon abruptly halted when the Nazis invade the Soviet Union. Nadya promptly joins the Resistance, solemnly assembling molotov cocktails and shooting down Germans with her comrades. Just before the Nazis swarm into Nadya's village, the peasants set fire to the place so that Hitlers minions will not be able to plunder its resources. All of this is played out against the music of Tschiakovsky and other Russian composers. During the HUAC investigations in the early 1950s, several of the personnel involved in Song of Russia were required to explain why they'd been involved in so blatantly "pro-communist" a project. Louis B. Mayer blithely explained that he "just wanted to make a picture about Russians, not communists," while star Robert Taylor -- likewise a staunch anti-Red -- insisted that he'd been forced to make the film, and that he'd demanded script deletions throughout productions. In the end, the losers were screenwriters Richard Collins and Paul Jarrico, both of whom ended up on the egregious Hollywood Blacklist, simply for adhering to America's wartime pro-Soviet sentiments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This might be a film about junk mail...but it isn't. Wallace Beery and Marjorie Main are teamed again for this rambunctious western comedy. Beery plays a horse thief who romances saloon owner Main. His goal is to marry the lady and take over her lucrative mail route. He accidentally becomes a hero; she completes the reformation. Jackass Mail made money, but it just wasn't the same as the classic Wallace Beery/Marie Dressler combo of the 1930s. Great title, though. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A surprisingly good MGM Our Gang comedy, the one-reel Going to Press is an on-target spoof of a typical "adult" crime film. Determined to uncover the identity of the mysterious leader of a juvenile extortion racket, the Our Gang kids set up a crusading newspaper called The Greenpoint Press. The kids gratefully accept the help of a pleasant, well-spoken youngster named Dick (Darryl Hickman), little suspecting that he is the duplicitous boss of the dreaded Gas House Gang. Only after Dick's henchmen have taken Billy "Froggy" Laughlin for a "ride" (a harmless but painful one) are the kids able to expose the villain and save the day. Also appearing in this hilarious lampoon is Juanita Quigley, here better served than in the earlier Our Gang entry The New Pupil. Going to Press was originally released on March 7, 1942. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Young America is not so much a Jane Withers vehicle as a 73-minute advertisement for the 4-H clubs of America. Cast against type, Withers plays a spoiled-brat urban girl who is shipped off by her exasperated parents to work on a 4-H farm. At first, she manages to alienate every one of her youthful coworkers, but she has a change of heart as she becomes more deeply involved in the organization's good works. Our heroine finally proves that she's a good kid withal by pitching in enthusiastically during crop-harvesting time, and by winning a county-fair prize for raising the best Hereford bull. And as a bonus, she finds a sweetheart in the form of handsome farm boy Robert Wilde. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this sequel to the 1938 boxoffice hit Boys Town, Spencer Tracy repeats his Oscar-winning role of Father Flanagan, with Mickey Rooney likewise reprising his characterization of reformed hoodlum Whitey Marsh. Still operating on the theory that "No boy is bad, if given a chance", Father Flanagan has created Boys Town, a nondemoninational sanctuary for wayward and homeless youngsters in Omaha, Nebraska. Despite the success of his operation insofar as building the character of his charges, the good Father is confronted with ever-mounting debts, and this time not even his old pawnbroker pal Dave Morris (Lee J. Cobb) can come to the rescue. Meanwhile, Whitey Marsh is adopted by the Maitlands, a wealthy couple--a fact that disillusions a sullen, crippled youngster named Ted Martley (Larry Nunn), who'd hoped that the Maitlands would choose him. Upon leaving Boys Town, Whitey tries to pay a visit to his old pal Miles Fenley, who is an inmate in a crooked reform school, but is denied entrance. Driving away from the reformatory, Whitey discovers that a boy from the school, Flips (Darryl Hickman), has stowed away in his car. Whitey agrees not to turn Flip in--a decision he has reason to regret when he is arrested for a robbery committed by Flip. Sent to the same reform school as Miles Fenley, Whitey learns first-hand of the institution's corruption and brutality. He manages to get word to Father Flanagan, who despite his ongoing financial woes takes on the reformatory's unsavory officials and secures a release for Whitey and Flip. But there is still one problem to overcome: Convincing the resentful Ted Martley that the world isn't as bad as he thinks it is. Boasting enough plots for ten films, Men of Boys Town may not have been as good as its predecessor, but it proved to be another box-office bonanza for Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a young woman shows two dogs at the championship competition at Madison Square Garden and when the two dogs get into a fight, they are both disqualified. The girl decides that she cannot keep them both and decides to sell her least favorite. Unfortunately, her servant loves that dog and secretly smuggles it aboard his mistress' plane on the way back for Canada. When the plane crashes, the dog survives and runs off to bring back help. Some of the racial stereotypes contained in this film may be offensive to contemporary viewers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A courageous doctor braves a fierce blizzard in the Canadian wilderness to save a remote community from a deadly epidemic. He has come North to visit and ends up stealing a wife from her husband. When the epidemic hits, he and the wife begin their arduous journey. At one point, they are stranded. Fortunately, the husband and a dogsled saves them, but the husband later freezes to death. Happiness ensues because after saving the community, the doctor and the wife are free to pursue their love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide