Anne Howard Movies

Proving that you can never guess what you'll find when you clean out the basement, a man of the cloth discovers that ultimate evil has made a hiding place in his cellar in this tale of terror. Father Loomis (Donald Pleasance) is a priest who discovers a strange object in a church basement -- a canister filled with a swirling and volatile green substance. With the help of Professor Birack (Victor Wong), Loomis discovers the startling truth about his find -- it seems that Satan, who is actually an alien life form, had a son, and the essence of the devil's spawn is trapped inside the canister. The evil spirit has been guarded by a group calling themselves "The Brotherhood of Sleep," but the spirit has the ability to free itself whenever it decides the time is right...and it seems that time is just around the corner. Prince of Darkness was directed by horror master John Carpenter; he also wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym Martin Quatermass. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Writer/director Paul Czinner, who in 1936 adapted Shakespeare's As You Like It to the screen, was the guiding force behind the 1966 feature Romeo and Juliet. Unlike Czinner's earlier Shakespeare film, however, not a word of the Bard's text is spoken in the 1966 production. Rather, this is a filmed record of a performance of Prokofiev's ballet version of Romeo and Juliet, as originally presented at the Royal Opera House. The stars are the matchless Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, who brilliantly overcome the disappointingly bland choreography of Kenneth McMillan. For the benefit of non-ballet aficionados, each of the production's three acts is introduced by a spoken synopsis. Others in the corps de ballet include David Blair as Mercutio, Desmond Doyle as Tybalt, Gerd Larsen as Nurse and Ronald Hynd as Friar Lawrence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Elizabeth MacDonald (Claudette Colbert) is a newly married corporate librarian in 1918 Baltimore working for a chemical company owned by the Hamilton family and managed by Larry Hamilton (George Brent). Just as she is celebrating the armistice and anticipating the return of her husband John (Orson Welles), she learns he was killed in action, just days before the cease fire. Pregnant with their child and alone in the world, she is taken in by Larry Hamilton, who has loved her from afar and is driven by sympathy for her plight. She has her baby, a boy named Drew, and she and Larry marry, raising the child as his own and never telling the boy of his real father. Meanwhile, in an Austrian hospital, a horribly wounded and disfigured American officer (Welles) without any identification insists to the doctor treating him (John Wengraf) that he be allowed to die. The doctor saves his life, but the shock of his injuries and the strain of his recovery causes him to lose his memory, and he ends up adopting a new identity. Cut to 1939, and the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe. Drew (Richard Long) is about to graduate from college and wants to join his fraternity brothers, who are planning on going to Canada, signing up with the Royal Canadian Air Force, and heading to England to fly against the Germans. Drew is not yet 21, however, and needs the permission of his parents, but Elizabeth is appalled by the notion of losing Drew to war the same way that she lost John.

Into their family comes a visitor, Erich Kessler (Welles), a crippled, ailing Austrian refugee and chemical expert hired by Hamilton's company, who arrives in Baltimore with his young daughter Margaret (Natalie Wood). Kessler starts to recognize places in the city, including the home where Elizabeth lived, and when they meet, despite her discomfort at having an Austrian army veteran in the house, she does her best to welcome him. Elizabeth also starts to notice little aspects of Kessler that remind her vaguely of John. But much as she is haunted by these strange similarities, she is appalled when Kessler seems to encourage Drew to pursue his goal of fighting the Nazis. Even Kessler's presence in their home, despite his genial and deferential manner, is a vexation to Elizabeth, bringing the horror of the war and what the Nazis represent into their midst and making Drew even more fervent in his desire to join up and fight. When Margaret displays terrible fears and nightmares, it comes out that she isn't really Kessler's child at all, but the daughter of the doctor who saved his life (he and his wife had been executed by the Nazis).

Larry, meanwhile, must watch from the sidelines, not aware of Kessler's real identity and unable to resolve the conflict between his admiration for Drew's intentions and his love for his wife. When Drew decides to ignore his parents' wishes and go to Canada and enlist without their permission, Kessler follows and stops him (despite his own weakened condition), and brings the young man home. A confrontation ensues upon their return, and Kessler explains to her that, whomever she thinks he might have been, the past has passed. Elizabeth finds the strength and courage to face the future, and the coming of the new war and what it may bring. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

The first of three remakes of the 1933 Paul Muni picture Hi, Nellie, Love is on the Air is historically important as the screen debut of Ronald Reagan. In the original Hi, Nellie, a Winchellesque newspaper reporter is demoted to writing the "advice to the lovelorn" column when he steps on too many important toes. In the remake, reckless radio commentator Andy McLeod (Reagan) gets into hot water when he attacks a corrupt city government (a portent for the future, perhaps?), whereupon his boss disciplines McLeod by forcing him to host an innocuous kiddie program. While advising his youthful audience to eat their spinach and drink their milk, our hero manages to dig up enough dirt to expose the crooks once and for all. In his maiden film effort, Ronald Reagan is pretty good, though some distance removed from The Great Communicator. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A Kathleen Norris novel was the source for this romantic drama, which begins when widowed navy doctor Quentin Harden (Ralph Bellamy) falls in love with nurse Vicki Blake (Claire Trevor). Despite her awareness that most naval marriages end in divorce, Vicki says "yes" when Harden proposes. Soon she begins to suspect that he still carries a torch for his late wife, but she remains with Harden for the sake of his crippled daughter (Anne Howard). Vicki's loyalty is rewarded when Harden proves once and for all that he is in love with her, and only her. Warren Hymer provides comic relief as a goofy gob who deliberately gets injured so he can enjoy the attentions of a bevy of beautiful nurses. Navy Wife was largely filmed on location at the U.S. Naval Base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The fifth of eight low-budget Westerns starring Lane Chandler, this Willis Kent production was apparently filmed at Hollywood's International studios in 1932 but not released until 1934. Chandler plays Bob Rand, an investigator for the Cattleman's Association hired to capture El Lobo, a notorious rustler. Bob quickly learns that the wanted outlaw is actually Big Mike Carter (J.P. McGowan, who also directed) and that he is holed up with his gang on a deserted ranch. Left to die in the desert by "Bull" LeMoyne, one of El Lobo's henchmen (Rychard Cramer), Bob is rescued by lovely Rosita (Gertrude Messinger), whose father (Si Jenks) convinces the investigator to go undercover. But in spite of his disguise, Bob and Rosita are captured by El Lobo who, unbeknownst to Bob, is his own father. To save his son from the vicious gang members, El Lobo sacrifices his own life by dynamiting the ranch. Written by the prolific Oliver Drake, Lawless Valley bore a strong resemblance to a previous Chandler Western, Guns for Hire, also written by Drake, in which a young gunfighter discovers that his enemy is his teacher and foster parent. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

The 1934 B western Tombstone Terror could also have been titled All in the Family. Its star is Bob Steele, and its director is Steele's father Robert N. Bradbury. Once more, Our Bob is wrongly accused of being an outlaw. And once more, he clears himself and tracks down the murderer of his father (not Bradbury!) George Hayes also appears as a pre-"Gabby" sidekick. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The relative importance of social class differences is examined in this drama that centers on the daughter of a disinherited British nobleman who has moved his family to the United States. Before his daughter can formally claim her rightful title, her father dies. Now her blue-blooded American suitor finds that his father refuses to allow the two to marry as she is not a high-born lady. Only after the woman and her love are able to prove her royal lineage does the father acquiesce and allow them to marry. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Casey Jones shares his railroad wisdom with a young engineer in this lively train film. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Cowboy star Rex Bell revives a favorite plot device of silent westerner William S. Hart in Crashin' Broadway. Bell temporarily leaves the Wide Open Spaces to conduct business in New York City. He runs afoul of gangsters, who prove no match forBell. Doris Hill is the leading lady whom Bell charms during his visit to the Big Apple. Crashin' Broadway was one of Rex Bell's last starring vehicles; soon afterward, he entered politics, eventually becoming lieutenant governor of Nevada. And as a bonus, he married Hollywood's "It" girl Clara Bow. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this western, a persuasive young oil salesman persuades the residents of a small Texas town to invest in an oil well. Unfortunately, the bankers are sure that the well is dry. Guess what? It isn't and soon oil and money are flowing like water. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi