Bob Hopkins Movies
Iowa-born Bob Hopkins started out in show business in the early '40s with a mimickry act in which his most successful impersonation was that of Bing Crosby. He turned to acting in the mid-'40s and played in every kind of movie, from brutal crime pictures like Underworld U.S.A. to costume programmers such as Son of Sinbad (portraying a slave auctioneer) over the next 15 years. Outgoing, glib-tongued, and with a ready wit, he seemed at his best portraying roles out of his own stage background, especially hosts and masters-of-ceremony, in movies such as I'll Cry Tomorrow and the late-era Bowery Boys feature Crashing Las Vegas. He also did his share of television work, in straight acting roles on The Twilight Zone and Wagon Train, but his most memorable work may have been in one excruciatingly funny episode of The Abbott & Costello Show, as a character named "Bob Hopkins," the sarcastic host of a vicious parody of Beat the Clock called "Hold That Cuckoo." Hopkins was also a songwriter, credited with the compositions "Flight to Hong Kong" and "Angel's Kiss." He died of acute leukemia shortly after completing his work in the movie Papa's Delicate Condition. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide- 1962
Mexican general Ortega (Gerald Price) hires Paladin (Richard Boone) to help him on a most unusual mission. In search of millions of dollars' worth of missing government bonds, Ortega must arrange a meeting with Count Casares (Jay Novello), the exiled aristocrat suspected of absconding with the loot. Paladin is supposed to handle the diplomatic details of this meeting with a minimum of muss and fuss--but inevitably, pistols are drawn and tempers boil over. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
In this comedy, two small-time con men steal an honest ex-convict's car and use it to rob a bank. They then hide the loot in the car's spare tire. Unfortunately for the ex-con, his car ends up repossessed and eventually sold to a parish priest who immediately drives off for a much-needed fishing trip. The priest is then stopped by a cop who recognizes the vehicle from the robbery. The priest is blamed for the crime and jailed; he is then released and the ex-con is arrested in his place. Because the police claim that the priest has been harboring criminals in his parish, his monsignor transfers him. The good parishioners are so distraught that the con men feel remorse and confess to their crime. Peace is restored, and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Bryar, Stanley Clements, (more)
The second of Jerry Lewis' directorial endeavors, The Errand Boy, like its predecessor The Bellboy, is essentially a series of "spot gags," some hilarious, others only moderately amusing. The gossamer-thin plot finds Morty Tashman (Lewis) being hired by the CEO of "Paramutuel Pictures" (Brian Donlevy) to spy on studio employees and report any incidents of wastefulness and sloth. This gives Morty a chance to wander all over the Paramutuel Pictures lot, inadvertently interfering with work in progress, encountering strange characters and inexplicable events, and overall making as much of a nuisance of himself as possible. Some of the better gags include Morty's chaotic behavior at the "wrap party" for a vainglorious movie queen (Iris Adrian); his attempts to eat lunch while a noisy battle scene from a war picture rages all around him; his misguided effort to dub in the singing voice of a tone-deaf actress; the "Mr. Baebrosenthal" bit; and Morty's tete-a-tete in the studio swimming pool with a scuba diver. The weakest scenes involve Morty's sugary encounters with the Ritts Puppets, and a smug curtain speech about the importance of laughmakers in this troubled world. The huge supporting cast includes such reliable chucklemeisters as Howard McNear, Sig Ruman, Milton Frome, Benny Rubin, Fritz Feld, Doodles Weaver, Joey Forman, Dick Wesson and Joe Besser; also making fleeting appearances are actress/writer/director Renee Taylor, veteran movie tough guy Mike Mazurki (in drag!), silent film comic Snub Pollard, and the four stars from TV's Bonanza. Even non-Jerry Lewis fans will come down with a case of loose chuckles while watching The Errand Boy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Lewis, Brian Donlevy, (more)
- 1961
Cliff Robertson plays Tolly Devlin, an embittered ex-convict who has spent a lifetime tracking down the men who murdered his father. Desirous of handling matters on his own, Devlin pretends to be loyal to both the Mob and the Government, playing one against the other in hopes of flushing out the killers. He learns that the three surviving assassins are employed by a supposedly charitable "cover" operation known as National Projects. To get what he wants, Devlin ingratiates himself with mob boss (and outwardly solid citizen) Conners (Robert Emhardt). What Robertson didn't count on was falling in love with "Cuddles" (Dolores Dorn), which leads to his own downfall -- but not before justice is served. Producer/director/writer Fuller based Underworld USA on a series of "exposé" articles in The Saturday Evening Post; the film's release fortuitously occurred shortly after that infamous mob convention in Appalachin, New York. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Robertson, Dolores Dorn, (more)
- 1961
While Ben Cartwright nurses his son Adam through a high fever, his thoughts drift back to Adam's late mother, Ben's first wife Elizabeth (Geraldine Brooks. Ben also recalls his seafaring days under the command of Captain Abel Morgan Stoddard (Torin Thatcher), Elizabeth's father. Also in the cast are Berry Kroeger as Mandible, Richard Collier as Otto, Alex Sharpe as Blackmer, and future Mary Tyler Moore Show regular Ted Knight. First seen on May 27, 1961, this classic Bonanza episode was written by Anthony Lawrence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1961
Tired of being besieged by his legions of fans, movie star Rock Quarry yearns for the days when he was just a humble gas jockey named Gus Schultz. Eluding his handlers, Rock befriends Fred and Barney, who, unaware of his true identity, invite him to dinner. All this has an astonishing effect on Quarry's two biggest fans: Wilma and Betty. John Stephenson supplies the voice of Rock Quarry, utilizing a Gary Cooper imitation that many critics deemed to be in questionable taste because Cooper had recently passed away (although the episode's voicetracks were recorded before the actor died). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
This episode is a tour de force for future Oscar winner Cliff Robertson, here cast as hideously ugly escaped convict Frank Holloway (a character allegedly based on the equally repulsive Alvin "Creepy" Karpis). After breaking out of jail, Holloway is helped along his cross-country escape route by mobster Daniel Oates (Joe De Santis), who hopes that Frank will lead him to a fortune in stolen loot. Also interested in catching up with Holloway is Federal agent Elliot Ness (Robert Stack), who has a personal score to settle. Along the way, Holloway undergoes plastic surgery which transforms him into a handsome heartthrob--a fact that will ultimately prove fatal to his pathetically love-starved travelling companion Mona (Virginia Vincent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Once seen in childhood, the January 1, 1960 Twilight Zone episode "The Four of Us Are Dying" can never be forgotten. Set in a surrealistic New York City (replete with flashing neon signs and forced-perspective streets), the story concerns one Arch Hammer (Harry Townes), a two-bit hood gifted with the ability to change his facial features. In rapid succession, he assumes the personalities of two recently deceased individuals -- jazz musician Johnny Foster (Ross Martin) and murdered gangster Virgil Sterig (Phillip Pine) -- for his own financial and sexual gain. But Arch comes to grief when, pursued by Sterig's killers, he transforms his face into that of punkish prizefighter Andy Marshak (Don Gordon). Enchancing the episode's dramatic clout is a brilliant performance by Beverly Garland as a nightclub singer and a driving musical score by Jerry Goldsmith. "The Four of Us Are Dying" was written by Rod Serling from a story by George Clayton Johnson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Townes, Ross Martin, (more)
- 1960
Wealthy Mrs. Tamsen Sommers (Geraldine Brooks) puts an advertisement in the papers, claiming to be a widow in search of another husband. This proves to be a puzzlement for one man in particular: Mrs. Sommers' husband Haskel (Lawrence Dobkin), still very much alive. Mr. Sommers hires Paladin (Richard Boone) to help figure out his wife's behavior--and to protect him from Mrs. Sommers' homicidal would-be suitors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
A Hollyrock movie company shows up in Bedrock to film their latest horror epic, "The Monster from the Tar Pits." Fred manages to wangle a job on the picture, which requires him to parade around town in a monster costume. Things get literally sticky when Fred ends up as stunt double for the film's star, Gary Granite (Gary's costars are those eminent thespians Rock Pile and Wednesday Thursday--a gag that will have significance to those who can remember the firestorm of publicity surrounding actress Tuesday Weld back in 1960!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Paladin (Richard Boone) accepts a job from wealthy Sid Morgan (Denver Pyle), who claims he needs protection from outlaw Howard Gorman (Steve Gravers). While escorting Morgan and his young fiancee Stacy (Jacqueline Scott) to Silver City, Paladin confronts Gorman, who does indeed seem to have a vendetta against Morgan. Only too late does Paladin discover that he and Gorman have been maneuvered into a bloody showdown merely for Morgan's perverse amusement. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Paladin (Richard Boone) is summoned to the deathbed of an old enemy, a Civil War general named Crommer (David White). Hoping to make amends with several other long-standing enemies, Crommer wants Paladin to deliver his forgiveness to a man named Caterall (Joel Ashley). But Caterall is convinced that the General intends to kill him as a final gesture--and he hires a gunslinger to knock off anyone even remotely associated with the repentant Crommer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Paladin (Richard Boone) is hired by the entrepreneurial J. Brodie (Lane Chandler) to deliver a most unusual cargo to the Oregon mining town of Bend-in-the-River. The "cargo" consists of a bevy of beautiful mail-order brides, ordered directly from Paris for matrimonial purposes by Bend-in-the-River's lonely menfolk. Ordinarily, Paladin's task would be a pleasurable one--but the journey to Oregon proves to be fraught with unexpected danger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
The Narcotics Story began life as a training film for the LA police department. In sledgehammer fashion, producer-director Robert W. Larsen exposes the evils of marijuana, heroin and cocaine by illustrating the results of these drugs on "normal" people. The screaming, thrashing addicts depicted herein were actually played by police personnel, none of whom were exactly Academy Award prospects. There are also several scenes showing the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs. Narcotics Story tends to elicit loud laughter when seen today, much like Reefer Madness and the "Blue Boy" episode from Dragnet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sharon Strand, Darlene Hendricks, (more)
- 1957
Kim Novak is clearly out of her depth as legendary Broadway actress Jeanne Eagels, but one can't fault her for trying very hard. As this filmed biography gets under way, wide-eyed Eagels finds herself stranded in a tank town by a smooth-talking traveling salesman. Carnival operator Sal Satori hires Eagels as a kootch dancer, but her ambition is to become a serious dramatic actress. When she and Sal reach New York, she signs up for acting lessons under the tutelage of a Mme. Neilson (Agnes Moorehead). Before long, Jeanne is understudying on Broadway, and in 1922 she takes audiences and critics by storm with her unforgettable portrayal of Sadie Thompson in Rain, a role she landed by ruthlessly double-crossing the actress originally slated for the part (Virginia Grey). When her rival commits suicide, the chastened Jeanne turns to booze and drugs to assuage her conscience. The real-life Jeanne Eagels died of narcotics addiction in 1929, a fact that the Hollywood version skims over. Eagels' family sued Columbia Pictures over the "distortions" offered in Jeanne Eagels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Novak, Jeff Chandler, (more)
Vincent Sherman replaced an uncredited Robert Aldrich as director of this noirish and atypically pro-union film from the 1950's. Tulio Renata (Robert Loggia), an organizer for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, campaigns to unionize the employees of dress factory owner Walter Mitchell (Lee J. Cobb). Viscerally opposed to the union, Mitchell has hired Artie Ravidge (Richard Boone) to thwart Renata's efforts. In a complex oedipal sub-plot, Walter's son Alan (Kerwin Matthews) returns home and joins the firm following the suspicious death of his father's partner. Alan is more sympathetic to the union and attempts to persuade his father to sign a contract. Only after Ravidge kills Renata, and the elder Mitchell finally admits to himself that Ravidge is a thug who also killed his partner, does he agree to negotiate with the union. Before he can do so, however, he, too, is murdered by Ravidge's goons. It is then left to Alan, increasingly involved with Renata's widow Theresa (Gia Scala), to run the business, bring Ravidge to justice, and settle with the union. Similar to Herbert Biberman's Salt of the Earth (1954) in its overt support of the labor movement, The Garment Jungle is clearly a liberal, not a radical, film. Rather than advocate class warfare, it asserts that honest unions and decent capitalists can work together honorably. The film's real fire is found in the personal conflicts between Tulio and Theresa and Walter and Alan. Cobb, Loggia, and Scala perform with intense and multi-dimensional passion. Particularly noteworthy is Theresa's fury at her husband for taking excessive, and ultimately fatal, risks. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee J. Cobb, Kerwin Mathews, (more)
- 1956
The Opposite Sex is an opulent musical remake of Clare Booth Luce's The Women (1939). June Allyson stars in the old Norma Shearer role, playing the virtuous wife who loses her husband to scheming Joan Collins (as the Joan Crawford character). At first agreeing to a divorce, June decides to win hubby back by utilizing the same crafty feminine wiles that Joan had employed to lead him astray. Doloress Gray plays the counterpart to Rosalind Russell's vitriolic gossip. The original The Women boasted an all-female cast: the remake includes several male characters, played by the likes of MGM contractees Leslie Nielsen and Jeff Richards. Dick Shawn, Jim Backus and Harry James are also on hand, billed as "special guest stars." The satirical bite of The Women has been softened in The Opposite Sex, but musical fans should have a good time. Sammy Cahn, Nicholas Brodszky, Ralph Freed and George Stoll were among the songwriters; Collins, Allyson and Jeff Richards perform musical numbers in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Allyson, Joan Collins, (more)
- 1956
Tony Dumont (Rory Calhoun) is none too trustworthy at the beginning of Flight to Hong Kong. A dealer in contraband goods, Dumont is the bane of his girlfriend Jean Blake's (Dolores Donlon) existence. She wants him to go straight, but the other woman in his life, novelist Pamela Vincent (Barbara Rush), wants him to remain a crook--the better to provide material for a book she's writing. Dumont has a belated change of heart when he steps on the toes of the Mob once too often. Flight to Hong Kong also includes brief stopovers in San Francisco, Honolulu, Tangiers and Macao. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Barbara Rush, (more)
- 1956
Few actresses other than Joan Crawford could have successfully pulled off the melodramatic excesses of Autumn Leaves. Though a very attractive fortysomething, Crawford remains aloof from romance until she meets Cliff Robertson, a young man half her age. An ardent and persistent suitor, Robertson finally breaks down her resistence to marriage. After a few weeks of wedded bliss, Crawford is confronted by Vera Miles, who claims to be Robertson's first wife. Miles further insists that Robertson is mentally unbalanced...and his subsequent behavior seems to bear this out. What Crawford doesn't know-but the audience does-is that the real villains of the piece are Miles and her middle-aged lover, Robertson's own father (Lorne Greene). Autumn Leaves works far better on screen than it does in print, thanks to the virtuoso performances of practically everyone in the cast. And, as anyone who's listened to top-40 radio during the past four decades already knows, the film also yielded a hit title song, written by Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prevert, and Johnny Mercer and performed during the credits by Nat King Cole. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Cliff Robertson, (more)
- 1956
In this entry in the Bowery Boys series, one of the members suddenly finds that he can predict winning numbers after he suffers an electrical shock. He and the boys take this special talent and use it on a TV game show. They win a trip to Las Vegas. Unfortunately, his winning streak attracts the interest of local gangsters who trick the clairvoyant lad into believing he killed a man. They use this to blackmail him into forking over his winnings. The gang comes to his aid. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Tight Spot is based on Leonard Kantor's novel Dead Pigeon, which in turn was obviously inspired by Virginia Hill's appearance before the Kefauver Committee. Ginger Rogers plays hard-boiled model Sherry Conley, who is serving a prison term for a crime she didn't commit. Sherry is offered her freedom -- and immunity -- by U.S. attorney Lloyd Hallett (Edward G. Robinson) if she'll agree to appear as a material witness in the trial of mobster Benjamin Costain (Lorne Greene). Unfortunately, Costain has a long reach, and is able to coerce Vince Striker (Brian Keith), the detective assigned to guard Sherry, to allow Costain's hired guns to invade the hotel room where Sherry is being hidden. The star witness is surly and uncooperative, but she finally decides to testify when her escort, policewoman Willoughby (Katherine Anderson), is murdered by Costain's goons. But Striker is still around and about, still determined to do Costain's bidding. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson, (more)
- 1955
Dale Robertson stars as the Son of Sinbad in this tongue-in-cheek Arabian Nights romp. Hoping to rescue Bagdad from the forces of the dreaded Tamerlaine, Sinbad Jr. enlists the aid of the Khalif (Leon Askin) by promising to deliver the secret of "Greek Fire". To expedite this, he enlists the aid of the lovely Kristina (Mari Blanchard), who has memorized said secret. When the bad guys threaten the safety of hero and heroine, slave girl Ameer (Sally Forrest), who heads the all-female descendants of the original Forty Thieves, come galloping to the rescue. Personally produced by Howard Hughes, Son of Sinbad seems to be a clearing house for all of Hughes' voyeuristic fetishes; at one point, stripteaser Lili St. Cyr performs an exotic (and erotic) dance wearing the equivalent of a postage stamp, earning a Condemned rating from the Catholic Legion of Decency. The overabundance of feminie pulchritude gets a little wearing after a while, and it is up to Vincent Price to steal the show as Omar the Tentmaker, improvising passages of his unpublished "Rubiyat" (with a few anachronistic Shakespearean quotes thrown in) as he tries to keep apace with the hero. Also on hand is an uncredited (and fully clothed) Kim Novak as a handmaiden. More silly than sexy when seen today, Son of Sinbad is acceptable nonthink entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dale Robertson, Sally Forrest, (more)
Susan Hayward pulls out all the stops, and then some, in this cinemadaptation of singer Lillian Roth's autobiography I'll Cry Tomorrow. In as harshly realistic a manner as possible in the still censor-dominated Hollywood of 1955, the film recounts Roth's rise to fame, her precipitous fall and her tearful comeback. The fact that Roth loves not wisely but too well is only part of the problem (only two of her eight husbands are portrayed in the film); contributing factors to her self-destruction also included her witchlike "stage mother" (Jo Van Fleet) and the pressures of fame and fortune. The principal reason for Roth's fall from the height of fame to the depths of squalor and despair is booze -- at least until she begins to pull herself together with the help of Alcoholics-Anonymous representative Burt McGuire (Eddie Albert). The story concludes with a testimonial staged in Roth's honor on the TV series This is Your Life (the original of which still exists in kinescope form). Having been personally coached by the real Lillian Roth, Susan Hayward does an excellent job of copying the singer's unique style. Though Hayward did not win an Oscar for her performance, she did cop the "Best Actress" prize at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, (more)
- 1953
This tuneful remake of 1937's The Awful Truth centers on the rocky marriage of a philandering composer and the wife who has her fill and decides to get even by having an "affair" of her own. Actually, hers is quite innocent. Unfortunately, her husband doesn't known this and the couple get a divorce. But somehow, beneath all their anger, the two are still in love and show it by trying to make the other jealous at every opportunity. The wife allows a handsome Alaskan tycoon to court her while the composer uses a pretty young woman. Of course, it doesn't take the pair too long to realize the awful truth and reunite. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Wyman, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1953
Despite the lighthearted promotional campaign mounted by 20th Century-Fox when the film was first released, The Kid from Left Field is not a comedy. The title character is young Christy Mathewson Cooper (Billy Chapin), the son of former big-league ballplayer Larry Cooper (Dan Dailey), who is now reduced to hawking peanuts at the ballpark. Securing a job as a batboy with a team called the Bisons, Christy amazes the players and management by giving them tips on how to win games. What no one knows is that Christy is passing along information provided by his father. Impressed by Christy's apparent expertise, third baseman Pete Haines (Lloyd Bridges) tells team secretary Marion Foley (Anne Bancroft) about the boy. She, in turn, tells Bisons owner Whacker (Ray Collins), a "Bill Veeck" type ever on the alert for a new publicity gimmick. Whacker promptly appoints the pint-sized Christy as manager of the team, replacing the ill-tempered Billy Lorant (a truly venomous performance by Richard Egan). Larry is about to spill the beans concerning Christy's baseball knowledgeability, but he decides not to, considering himself a burnt-out has-been. And that's all that can be revealed without giving away the ending. Its whimsical premise notwithstanding, Kid from Left Field is treated as a straight drama, with several near-noir long shots of the shadow-drenched ballpark. The film was remade for television in 1978 as a vehicle for Gary Coleman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Dailey, Anne Bancroft, (more)
