Betty Hill Movies
- 1993
This documentary allows pro and anti-UFO advocates, cultists and theorists to speak for themselves, and does not advocate any particular point of view about the phenomena. In addition to interviewing such figures as the Pentagon employee and self-appointed head of the "Citizens Against UFO Secrecy" Larry W. Bryant, the filmmakers also interview the heads of several UFO cults. Among these are Ruth E. Norman of the Unarius cult and Alan Mosely of the Aetherius Society. Some classic old movie clips are included, as well as clips from a Unarius-made movie. The filmmakers also interview men-on-the-street in L.A., including quite accidentally one former UFO B-movie actress (Sherrie Rose). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Hill
- 1949
A Kiss in the Dark opens with a shot of Jane Wyman in a two-piece bathing suit. Alas, the dictates of cinematic construction demand that some sort of plot must follow this promising beginning. Wyman plays model Polly Haines, one of several mildly eccentric tenants in an apartment building owned by neurotic concert pianist Eric Phillips (David Niven). Requiring absolute peace and quiet, Eric intends to evict his tenants and thereby have the building all to himself. Soon, however, he is won over by the apartment dwellers, who in their own various ways are as high-strung as the musician. He also falls in love with Polly, just as expected. The supporting cast of Kiss in the Dark is peopled by such expert farceurs as Victor Moore, Broderick Crawford, Wayne Morris, Joseph Buloff, and Curt Bois. Making her final screen appearance is Maria Ouspenskaya as the building's resident "earth mother." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Niven, Jane Wyman, (more)
This Technicolor follow-up to Columbia's 1946 blockbuster The Jolson Story again stars Larry Parks as legendary entertainer Al Jolson--and Jolson himself, as Parks' singing voice. The story concentrates on Jolson's tireless activities entertaining the troops during WW II. After VJ day, Jolson finds that his services are no longer required. Fortunately, he stages a spectacular comeback, thanks in great part to the release of The Jolson Story! The film's Pirandellian overtones come to a head when Larry Parks as Jolson meets Larry Parks as Larry Parks. Also returning from The Jolson Story are William Demarest as the title character's manager Steve Martin, Bill Goodwyn as Broadway-producer Tom Baron, and Ludwig Donath and Tamara Shayne as Jolson's old-world parents. Barbara Hale appears as Jolson's wife (his third, though this fact is not dwelled upon), renamed Ellen Clark for the moment, while Myron McCormick plays a composite character based on several Hollywood executives (including, one supposes, Columbia mogul Harry Cohn). Song highlights include "After You've Gone", "You Made Me Love You", "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy", "Sonny Boy", "About a Quarter to Nine", "April Showers", "Back in Your Own Backyard", and, of course, "Mammy". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Parks, Barbara Hale, (more)
- 1947
No relation to the 1935 Jean Harlow-Spencer Tracy vehicle of the same name, RKO Radio's Riff-Raff is an action-packed vehicle for aging but still virile Pat O'Brien. At large in Panama, American private eye Dan (O'Brien) hopes to get his hands on a valuable map showing priceless oil concessions. He finds himself up against a formidable cartel of villains headed by Molinar (Walter Slezak), who likewise want to get their mitts on the map and are willing to commit murder to do so. Mixed up in the proceedings is worldly nightclub singer Maxine (Anne Jeffreys), whose reputation is such that O'Brien immediately distrusts her--an opinion he has good reason to reverse as the film rolls along. Percy Kilbride provides a few chuckles as a dry-witted Panamanian taxi driver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat O'Brien, Walter Slezak, (more)
- 1947
Quick-draw legend Bat Masterson is summoned to Kansas to end a small-town feud between local farmers and criminal ranch owners in this western starring Randolph Scott. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, (more)
- 1947
Though not readily apparent at first, The Unfaithful is a remake of the 1940 Bette Davis vehicle The Letter, which in turn was adapted from the play by W. Somerset Maugham. The locale of the Maugham original has been shifted from the jungles of Malaya to the cozy confines of a middle-sized American town. Ann Sheridan stars as Chris Hunter, who late one night shoots and kills a man who tries to attack her in her own home. At least that's her story: it turns out that the dead man had once had an affair with Chris while her serviceman husband Bob (Zachary Scott) was overseas. When it appears as though Chris might have internationally murdered her assailant, faithful family friend and attorney Larry Hammaford (Lew Ayres) puts his career and reputation on the line by suppressing a valuable piece of evidence. Shorn of the class and race consciousness -- not to mention the eroticism and bitter irony -- of the Maugham original, The Unfaithful is able to move more logically to a happy (or at least satisfying) denouement. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, (more)
- 1946
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In The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, relationships formed in childhood lead to murder and obsessive love. The wealthy Martha Ivers (Barbara Stanwyck) is the prime mover of the small Pennsylvania town of Iverston. Martha lives in a huge mansion with her DA husband, Walter O'Neil (Kirk Douglas), an alcoholic weakling. No one knows just why Martha and Walter tolerate one another....but Sam Masterson (Van Heflin), an Iverstown boy who returns to town, may just have a clue. At least that's what Martha thinks when Sam asks Walter to intervene in the case of Toni Marachek (Lizabeth Scott), who has been unjustly imprisoned. It seems that, as a young boy, Sam was in the vicinity when Martha's rich aunt (Judith Anderson) met with her untimely demise. What does Sam know? And what dark, horrible secret binds Martha and Walter together? Directed by Lewis Milestone, and based on John Patrick's Oscar-nominated original story, Love Lies Bleeding, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers creates in Martha a unique and interesting, driven, obsessed, and spoiled character, but one not without sympathy. Barbara Stanwyck is outstanding as Martha, with her predatory smile and sharp, manicured nails. Kirk Douglas is surprisingly convincing as a lost, sad, weak man, who loves his wife, but is unable to gain her respect. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers eventually lapsed into public domain and became a ubiquitous presence on cable television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Roman Bohnen, (more)
- 1946
The moody mystery melodrama Nocturne was produced by longtime Alfred Hitchcock associate Joan Harrison. The film wastes no time getting started, with a caddish Hollywood composer (Edward Ashley) dropping dead right after the opening credits. The police think it's a suicide, but maverick lieutenent Joe Warne (George Raft) suspects foul play. Checking around, Warne discovers that the dead man had broken at least ten female hearts in the past few years, providing a motive for murder for all ten. The principal suspect is Frances Ransom (Lynn Bari), who may or may not have been avenging her sister, nightclub thrush Carol Page (Virginia Huston). Pursuing the case with such dogged diligence that he's eventually tossed off the police force, Warne nonetheless refuses to give up, and by film's end he has collared the murderer. It wouldn't be fair to reveal the killer's identity, except to note that the actor in question went on to quite a different career at Universal Pictures. Like the previous RKO George Raft vehicle Johnny Angel, Nocturne was a box-office bonanza, posting a then-impressive profit of $568,000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Lynn Bari, (more)
- 1946
Inspired by the radio program of the same name, Night Editor features Charles D. Brown as the editor of the New York Star. In flashback, the editor tells the tale of police lieutenant William Gargan, who forsakes his happy home life for the love of no-good society dame Janis Carter. Both Gargan and Carter begin cheating on their respective spouses, and while on a romantic rendezvous the couple witnesses a murder. They can't report the crime without revealing their own infidelities, a dilemma which leads to blackmail, double-crossing and a second murder attempt. A twist ending caps this snappy little 65-minute morality play. The script of Night Editor was based on the story "Inside Story" by Scott Littleton, previously dramatized on the Night Editor radio series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Gargan, Janis Carter, (more)
- 1945
Eve Knew Her Apples is an pinchpenny musical reworking of Frank Capra's Oscar-winning It Happened One Night. Musical star Ann Miller takes over the Claudette Colbert role; this time she's not a runaway heiress but a runaway radio star, escaping her stuffy fiance rather than her autocratic father. William Wright assumes the Clark Gable part as the man who helps the girl on her flight for his own mercenary interests, but who eventually falls in love with her. Clocking in at 64 minutes rather than It Happened One Night's 105, Eve Knew Her Apples is more successful as a showcase for the terpsichorean talents of Ann Miller than as a romantic comedy. Columbia Pictures would attempt to musicalize It Happened One Night again with 1956's You Can't Run Away From It, filmed with ten times the budget but only half the entertainment value of Eve Knew Her Apples. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Miller, William Wright, (more)
- 1941
The unlikely combination of John Wayne and Joan Blondell adds a bit of vinegar and spice to the so-so costume drama Lady for a Night. Blondell is cast as Jenny Blake, owner of the Memphis Belle-not a WW2 bomber, but a gambling ship moored just outside New Orleans. Jenny's partner and erstwhile suitor is local political boss Jack Morgan (Wayne). She loves Morgan, but decides to marry for money and prestige, and to that end weds "black sheep" socialite Alan Alderson (Ray Middleton). Her new in-laws are infuriated by this marriage of convenience, and do everything they can to ruin Jenny in the eyes of society. When Alderson dies suddenly, his vengeful mother Julia (Blanche Yurka) accuses Jenny of poisoning her husband. Throughout the subsequent trial and scandal, Morgan stands loyally by Jenny's side, convincing her at long last that he's been the "right man" for her all along. Hattie Noel, who two years earlier lost the role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind to Hattie McDaniel, essays a neat Mammy-like characterization as Jenny's all-knowing maidservant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, John Wayne, (more)
