Tim Hovey Movies
As a youth, American actor Tim Hovey appeared in a few films during the 1950s. Of these his most famous is The Private War of Major Benson (1955), a gentle comedy in which the then six-year-old Hovey was said to have stolen every scene he was in with his sad puppy eyes and wide goofy grin. Following that success, Hovey appeared in a similar follow-up Toy Tiger and soon afterwards he made a few more films, before turning to television. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1958
In this curious blend of Western and detective melodrama, Jock Mahoney plays a frontier gumshoe named Hogan. When an old prospector is murdered, Hogan takes on the assignment of finding the four heirs to the prospector's fortune. Briefly sidetracked by a romance with Mary Kingman (played by Kim Hunter in a rare Western appearance), Hogan not only finds the heirs but also the killers -- and in at least one case, heir and killer are one and the same. Money, Women and Guns was produced by Howie Horwitz, who, like screenwriter Montgomery Pittman, would go on to even bigger things in the TV industry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jock Mahoney, Kim Hunter, (more)
- 1957
This parody of Hollywood westerns centers on a boorish hellion of a cowboy star who makes life for the studio people around him a waking nightmare. His press agent is particularly beleaguered as she has been assigned to try to keep the errant star in line. She really has her work cut out for her when a little boy wins a national contest and gets to spend a month in the cowboy's home. Now the agent must conceal her difficult charge's true nature from the innocent boy. Fortunately, the lad has a good effect on the star and helps him settle down and become a decent fellow. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jock Mahoney, Julie Adams, (more)
- 1957
Man Afraid stars George Nader as a clergyman serving a big-city slum district. He is forced to kill a young hoodlum in self-defense; the police are willing to forgive him of the killing, but the victim's psychotic father (Harold J. Stone) is not so pliable. The father threatens not only to wreak vengeance on Nader, but on Nader's family as well. The minister is torn apart by the practical necessity of protecting his family and the pacifistic edicts of his religious calling. Man Afraid is a tight, claustrophobic melodrama that was inappropriately filmed in CinemaScope; consequently, it tends to play better on TV than it did in theatres. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Nader, Phyllis Thaxter, (more)
- 1956
Adapted from the autobiography of Helen Doss, this 90-minute TV version of The Family Nobody Wanted stars Nanette Fabray as Helen and Lew Ayres as her clergyman husband, Carl Doss. Unable to have children of their own, Helen and Carl contact virtually every adoption agency in the country, only to be told that they haven't enough money to support a "proper" family. But a local social worker comes up with solution: why not adopt the children of various races and creeds who have already been rejected by other potential adoptive families. Beginning with the "misfit" Donny (Tim Hovey), that is just what Helen and Carl do, ultimately providing a warm and loving home for twelve children that would otherwise have been permanent wards of the state. Originally aired live as a presentation of Playhouse 90, The Family Nobody Wanted was remade as a TV movie in 1975, with Shirley Jones and James Olson as Helen and Carl Doss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
This very lightweight comedy focuses on young orphan Willie Taylor (Tim Hovey). Upset with the prevarications of the adult world, Willie launches a truth-telling campaign at school, with the blessings of his pretty teacher Joan Madison (Maureen O'Hara). Things begin to get dicey when Willie publicly reveals a slightly dishonest real-estate deal mastermined by his Uncle Arthur (Barry Atwater). Crusading reporter Ernie Miller (John Forsythe) transforms little Willie into a big celebrity, and in so doing wins the love of Joan. A good supporting cast helps smooth over the lumpier passages of Everything but the Truth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, John Forsythe, (more)
- 1956
Toy Tiger was a remake of the 1938 Deanna Durbin film Mad About Music. The adolescent girl of the original becomes a preteen boy in the remake, played with an excess of the cutes by Tim Hovey. A student in a private school, Hovey brags to his classmates about the accomplishments of his father. Actually the boy's dad has been dead for years, thus he's up against it when challenged to produce his fictional papa. Jeff Chandler, businessman friend of Hovey's widowed mother (Laraine Day), is coerced into posing as the boy's father. The "see it coming" ending was at least compensated for in Mad About Music by Deanna Durbin's singing. The banality of Toy Tiger is made bearable only by the gritty performance of Jeff Chandler, who lets us know that he knows he's better than his material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Chandler, Laraine Day, (more)
- 1955
A too-tough Army major gets himself sent to run an ROTC program at a Santa Barbara military school after he calls unwanted attention to the military by mouthing off to a prominent news magazine. When he arrives to his new post, the major is shocked to find it run by nuns and that his new troops are school children. His assignment is to make "men" out of the rambunctious recruits so that the school can keep from losing its ROTC certification. At first the hard-as-nails major treats his young charges with all the tenderness of a old army boot and the boys, tired of his constant barrage of insults and demands, come to hate him. Further complicating matters is the major's disconcerting romantic feelings for the school's lovely doctor. Unfortunately, she isn't about to put up with his ultra-macho guff anymore than the children are and before this romantic comedy is through, the major learns important lessons about the value of humanity in dealing with others. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Julie Adams, (more)
Queen Bee offers a stinging portrait of a mad, manipulative woman and chronicles her downfall and that of those around her in this dark drama. On first meeting, Eva Phillips (portrayed with delicious viciousness by Joan Crawford) is the epitome of Southern graciousness and charm. She and her husband, a textile magnate live together in a splendiferous Georgian plantation. Unfortunately, while others are easily beguiled by Mrs. Phillips, her husband knows what a ruthless she-devil she really is and loathes her. To cope with the pain of living with her, he has taken to drinking heavily. Trouble follows when the horrible Eva learns that her husband's sister is engaged to marry the manager of the estate, a man she once loved. Like the proverbial dog in the manger, Eva does all she can to destroy the relationship so she can have the manager back for herself. Unfortunately, she goes too far. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Barry Sullivan, (more)
