Earl Hodgins Movies

Like Pontius Pilate, director John Ford asks "What is truth?" in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance--but unlike Pilate, Ford waits for an answer. The film opens in 1910, with distinguished and influential U.S. senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) and his wife Hallie (Vera Miles) returning to the dusty little frontier town where they met and married twenty-five years earlier. They have come back to attend the funeral of impoverished "nobody" Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). When a reporter asks why, Stoddard relates a film-long flashback. He recalls how, as a greenhorn lawyer, he had run afoul of notorious gunman Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), who worked for a powerful cartel which had the territory in its clutches. Time and again, "pilgrim" Stoddard had his hide saved by the much-feared but essentially decent Doniphon. It wasn't that Doniphon was particularly fond of Stoddard; it was simply that Hallie was in love with Stoddard, and Doniphon was in love with Hallie and would do anything to assure her happiness, even if it meant giving her up to a greenhorn. When Liberty Valance challenged Stoddard to a showdown, everyone in town was certain that the greenhorn didn't stand a chance. Still, when the smoke cleared, Stoddard was still standing, and Liberty Valance lay dead. On the strength of his reputation as the man who shot Valance, Stoddard was railroaded into a political career, in the hope that he'd rid the territory of corruption. Stoddard balked at the notion of winning an election simply because he killed a man-until Doniphon, in strictest confidence, told Stoddard the truth: It was Doniphon, not Stoddard, who shot down Valance. Stoddard was about to reveal this to the world, but Doniphon told him not to. It was far more important in Doniphon's eyes that a decent, honest man like Stoddard become a major political figure; Stoddard represented the "new" civilized west, while Doniphon knew that he and the West he represented were already anachronisms. Thus Stoddard went on to a spectacular political career, bringing extensive reforms to the state, while Doniphon faded into the woodwork. His story finished, the aged Stoddard asks the reporter if he plans to print the truth. The reporter responds by tearing up his notes. "This is the West, sir, " the reporter explains quietly. "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Dismissed as just another cowboy opus at the time of its release, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance has since taken its proper place as one of the great Western classics. It questions the role of myth in forging the legends of the West, while setting this theme in the elegiac atmosphere of the West itself, set off by the aging Stewart and Wayne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Written by George Clayton Johnson, this elegiac Twilight Zone episode stars 72-year-old Ernest Truex as Charles Whitley, a reluctant resident of the Sunnyvale Rest Home. Becoming convinced that he'll never truly grow old so long as he "thinks young," Charlie begins indulging in such children's games as kick the can. Before long, Charlie has been joined in his youth-quest by the rest of Sunnydale's residents -- all except for his roommate Ben Conroy (Russell Collins), who pays dearly for his unwillingness to shed his inhibitions. Ernest Truex's real-life son Barry Truex appears in the opening scene as Charlie's insensitive son David, while the rest of the cast includes such familiar Hollywood "oldsters" as Burt Mustin, Hank Patterson, Marjorie Bennett, Anne O'Neal, and Earle Hodgins. Originally telecast February 9, 1962, "Kick the Can" was one of three Twilight Zone episodes that would be remade and included in the 1983 theatrical film Twilight Zone: The Movie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this episode of The Rifleman, Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) finds himself in the odd position of having to defend an old nemesis, Oat Jackford (Bert Freed), when a hired killer (John Dehner) come gunning for him. Paul Fix co-stars in his recurrent role of Marshal Micah Torrance in this episode directed by series creator Sam Peckinpah. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Just before dropping dead, grizzled old prospector Leadhead Kane (Lita Milan) wills half the ownership of his valuable silver mine to the beauteous music-hall headliner Mlle. Annette (Lita Milan). Enter Leadhead's former partner, who will stop at nothing to claim the entire mine for himself. In order to keep what is justly hers, and to stay alive in the process, Annette asks Paladin (Richard Boone) to watch over her until Leadhead's estate is settled in court--but this proves well-nigh impossible thanks to a mysterious and elusive would-be assassin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The only reason for the existence of the colorful musical 3DMardi Gras3D is the star power of Pat Boone. The plot is set in motion when a group of Virginia Military Institute cadets organize a raffle: the "prize" is French movie star Michelle Marton (Christine Carere), queen of the New Orleans Mardi Gras. On his own, cadet Pat Newell (Pat Boone) meets and falls in love with Michelle, not knowing her true identity. The cause of True Romance is nearly compromised by the raffle and by Hollywood publicity hacks, but by film's end everything works out fine. The film is deftly stolen by supporting actress Sheree North, who also performs the film's best musical number, "That Man." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is the very last entry in the long-running Bowery Boys saga. This time the gang gets involved with English diamond smugglers after they are hired to safely escort a valuable poodle on a Transatlantic voyage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Missouri Traveler was one of a handful of independent films distributed by Disney's Buena Vista corporation. Brandon De Wilde heads the cast as 15-year-old orphan boy Biarn Turner. Doing his best to survive in the rural South of the pre-WW1 years, Biarn is unofficially adopted by crusty small-town newspaper editor Doyle Magee (Gary Merrill). Also taking an interest in Biarn's future is wealthy self-made farmer Tobias Brown (Lee Marvin), whose apparently cruel treatment of the boy masks his genuine affection and concern. Highlights include an annual trotting race and a climactic set-to between Magee and Brown. The Missouri Traveller is based on the novel by John Burress. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After winning a poker game, Bret (James Garner) looks forward to claiming his prize, an "Arabian mount." But he is less than pleased when this prize turns out to be a broken-down Army camel--and an obnoxiously affectionate one at that. But soon Bret comes to appreciate his new travelling companion when the camel helps extricate our hero from a deadly dilemma involving his old friend Donna Selly (Maxine Cooper) and her crooked-gambler fiance Honest Carl Jimson (Fredd Wayne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Marine drill instructor (d.i. for short), Sgt. Jim Moore (Jack Webb) is responsible for the rigorous training of his recruits. His already testy patience is tested that much more when a coddled private (Don Dubbins) joins his regiment. Jack Webb produced, directed and starred in the film. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Grizzled sodbuster Oliver Stang (Earle Hodgins) arrives in Dodge City with his dimwitted nephew Viney (Paul Wexler), who expresses a desire to become a lawman. When Uncle Oliver offers Viney's services as a deputy to Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness), Matt tells him that he's satisfied with his current deputy Chester (Dennis Weaver). A few days later, Viney approaches Matt and insists that he doesn't want to be a lawman after all--but when Chester is ambushed and shot down in an alley, Matt suspects that Viney pulled the trigger. This episode is adapted from the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of July 9, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the best-selling novel by Jessamyn West, Friendly Persuasion is set in Southern Indiana in the early days of the Civil War. Gary Cooper plays Jess Birdwell, patriarch of a Quaker family which does not believe in warfare. Birdwell's son Josh (Anthony Perkins) wishes to adhere to his family's pacifism, but is afraid that if he doesn't sign up for military service, he'll prove to be a coward. Josh joins the Home Guard, which disturbs his mother Eliza (Dorothy McGuire). But Jess Birdwell realizes that his son must follow the dictates of his own conscience. Josh proves his courage to himself when he is wounded during a Rebel raid, while the elder Birdwell is able to stay faithful to his religious calling by not killing a Southern soldier when given both a chance and a good reason to do so. Allegedly, writer Jessamyn West nearly scotched her deal with producer/director William Wyler and distributor Allied Artists when Gary Cooper, taking his fans into consideration, insisted upon including a scene in which he forsakes his pacifism and takes arms against the Rebels. If true, then wiser heads prevailed, since no such scene exists in the final release print. Though uncredited due to his status as a blacklistee, Michael Wilson wrote the screenplay for Friendly Persuasion--and even won an Oscar nomination. Also nominated was the film's chart-busting theme song, "Thee I Love" (by Dmitri Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster). The story was remade as a 2-hour TV pilot film in 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joel McCrea stars in this leisurely paced Western from Allied Artists (formerly Monogram) originally released in Cinemascope. Having lost his wife in childbirth en route to California, Dr. John Brighton (McCrea) builds a new home for himself and his baby daughter in an Oklahoma backwater town, lodging with kindhearted Mrs. Fitzgerald (Esther Dale). As the town grows up around him, Brighton becomes a well-respected local medico, championing the rights of the area's Indian population when nasty rancher Cass Dobie attempts to buy them out cheap. Unbeknownst to the townspeople, Dobie has discovered oil on the land belonging to Charlie Smith (Michael Pate), whose beautiful daughter, Maria (Gloria Talbott), is working as little Louise Brighton's (Laurie Mitchell) nursemaid. When Charlie is forced to kill Cass' brother, Mel (Douglas Dick), in self-defense, Cass vows revenge. Aided by female rancher Anne Barnes (Barbara Hale), Brighton learns about the discovery of oil and there is a final confrontation on main street. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The Fortyniners stars Wild Bill Elliot as California-based federal agent Sam Nelson. While others pan for gold, Sam searches high and low for the murderers of a fellow "fed". The trail leads to smooth-talking gambler Alf Billings (played by Henry Morgan, who went on to TV fame as Harry Morgan), but Nelson doesn't immediately make an arrest, choosing instead to play his cards close to the vest and to allow Billings to tip his hand. After six reels of cat-and-mouse, the film explodes in a veritable orgy of gunplay. Virginia Grey costars in a poignant cameo as the wife of one of the fugitive killers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide