Ralph Hodges Movies

In this old-fashioned screwball comedy, Christy Sloane (Eleanor Parker) is a secretary with a large legal firm who is sent to California to inform Peter Lockwood (Fred MacMurray), an overly sentimental radio host, that he's just inherited $2 million. Christy is looking to raise her standard of living, and she gets an idea -- what if she woos Peter and gets him to marry her before telling him that he's a millionaire? Christy decides that it's worth a try, even though she soon learns that Peter is due to marry his fiancée June Chandler (Kay Buckley) in a matter of days. However, the wedding goes haywire when Dr. Roland Cook (Richard Carlson), Peter's best man, takes a flyer shortly before the ceremony. It seems that he's secretly in love with June, and he can't bear to see her marry anyone else, even his best friend. Peter takes off to find Roland, with Christy eagerly tagging along, but after the two are soaked by massive waves while driving along the coastline, they wind up at a wild party thrown by a large, overly-cheerful Mexican gentleman (Chris-Pin Martin) who has somehow decided that they're honeymooners and begins plying them with large amounts of tequila. After a few drinks, Christy begins to realize that she actually likes Peter for himself, not just his money, but where does this leave his almost-wedding to June? A Millionaire for Christy was directed by George Marshall, who would go on to helm a number of Jerry Lewis vehicles (including several with his sometimes-partner Dean Martin). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This serial is set during the American Civil War and is based on the Jules Verne story. A Union Army captain is captured by the Confederates and imprisoned in Richmond, Virginia. He and four other men escape in a balloon, but a hurricane blows them off course and they land on an uncharted island. There they encounter a tribe known as the Volcano People, are menaced by a wild savage, and run into a female alien from outer space bent on world domination. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide

A pioneering film about racial tensions, No Way Out stars Richard Widmark as a criminal named Ray Biddle, who despises African-Americans. Sidney Poitier (in his screen debut) is the black doctor, Luther Brooks, assigned to take care of the wounded Ray. Dr. Brooks, hired by the police hospital as part of an overall program to integrate the staff, keeps his temper in check as Ray spouts his racist invective. When Ray's brother, also wounded, dies in the hospital, the blustering bigot holds Dr. Brooks responsible and sends word to his gang to wreak vengeance on the city's black community. But the blacks turn the tables on the whites and fight them off. Ray then breaks out of the hospital with Dr. Brooks as hostage. His plans to kill the doctor are thwarted by Ray's girlfriend (Linda Darnell), who finally becomes fed up with his blind hatred. No Way Out was considered potent stuff in 1950; it was still regarded as a hot potato in 1962, when NBC dropped plans to telecast the film on "Saturday Night at the Movies." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a realtor at the end of his rope is grossly misdiagnosed as having three months to live. The already hyper-nervous man is therefore convinced that he will die. Later some of his clothing is recovered from a local creek and his family and friends assume that the poor man took his own life. The bereaved then consult a swami to see if they can contact the dead realtor's spirit. Instead the realtor himself shows up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In the first of his three serials for Columbia Pictures, Larry "Buster" Crabbe starred as Captain Silver who, with his crew, gets involved with rescuing John Whitney (Milton Kibbee), a man with a certain knowledge of sunken treasure. Whitney has been kidnapped by a mysterious pirate known as The Admiral (Robert Barron), who rules over the ubiquitous South Seas Island. The girl in the case is Whitney's lovely daughter (Pamela Blake). Based on both a comic strip and a radio series, The Sea Hound was produced by the corner-cutting Sam Katzman and looked it. A former MGM starlet, brunette leading lady Pamela Blake was earlier known as Adele Pearce, her real name, apparently. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide