Mary Beth Hughes Movies
Like her contemporaries Lynn Bari and Veda Ann Borg, blonde actress Mary Beth Hughes seldom rose above "starlet" or "second-echelon star" status, even though she worked steadily and enjoyed a loyal fan following. Encouraged to pursue a theatrical career by her grandmother, a onetime actress, Hughes went from stage to films in 1938. From 1940 through 1943, Hughes was part of the "B" stable at 20th Century-Fox, playing both good and bad girls in the popular Michael Shayne series with Lloyd Nolan, and going through the usual "other woman" paces in films like Orchestra Wives (1942). She is billed second in the moody western The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), but her role is utterly expendable; in fact, she has fewer lines than George Meeker, the unbilled actor playing her husband. While her film career never really went anywhere, Hughes remained in the public eye through her many cheesecake photos in movie-oriented magazines of the era. In the mid-1950s, Hughes gave up films in favor of work as a nightclub singer/musician and television actress; she was often cast as nagging wife Clara Appleby on TV's The Red Skelton Show, possibly because she was one of the few actresses whom Skelton couldn't break up. Mary Beth Hughes briefly returned to filmmaking in the mid-1970s, playing character roles in such drive-in fare as The Working Girls (1974) and How's Your Love Life? (1977). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1975
In this sexy comedy, three luscious women try to make an honest living in male-dominated LA. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Every so often, the prestigious 1950s CBS anthology Playhouse 90 would digress from its "live" format and offer a sumptuously produced film presentation. One of these was the suspenseful 1958 offering No Time at All, a fascinating precursor to the Airport films of the 1970s. On a routine night flight from Miami to New York, an airliner loaded with passengers is suddenly plunged into darkness due to an electrical failure. Losing contact with the plane, the ground crew in New York worries that all on board may be lost--especially since the weather has turned ugly. In a brilliant dramatic device, the viewer never sees the plane in flight nor its passengers and crew: Instead, the play stays on solid land, concentrating on the reactions of the friends and families of those on board. This Playhouse 90 entry boasts perhaps the most impressive cast ever assembled for the series, among them dramatic actors Bill Lundigan, Jane Greer, Betsy Palmer, Sylvia Sidney and Keenan Wynn; comedians Buster Keaton, Chico Marx (with a Jewish accent), and Harry Einstein (aka "Parkyakarkus", and the father of contemporary comic actors Bob Einstein and Albert Brooks); and musical-comedy favorites Jack Haley (in a rare unsympathetic role) and Cliff Edwards (the voice of Jiminy Cricket in the 1940 cartoon feature Pinocchio). Also seen in the supporting cast is an up-and-coming young player named Charles Bronson, here cast as a sentimental boxer; and "Floyd the Barber" himself, Howard McNear--who, indirectly, is the hero of the piece. Long considered a "lost" film, No Time at All was made available on the home-video market in the early years of the 21st century, complete with the original commercials and a preview of the next week's Playhouse 90. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Lundigan, Jane Greer, (more)
- 1957
Gun Battle at Monterey begins where most other westerns would end: with outlaw Turner (Sterling Hayden) double-crossed and shot in the back by his partner Beno (Ted de Corsia). Recovering from his wound, Turner spends the rest of the picture trying to catch up with the duplicitious Reno, so as to exact revenge and claim his share from a bank holdup. Romantic complications spring up from time to time thanks to Maria (Pamela Duncan), the Mexican gal who nursed Turner back to health, and Cleo (Mary Beth Hughes), a sexy dealer in the Monterey casino. Sterling Hayden is at his most taciturn and Ted DeCorsia at his most scurrilous in Gun Battle at Monterey. Their respective fans expected no less. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sterling Hayden, Pamela Duncan, (more)
- 1956
A juvenile delinquent in the "holding tank" lets slip that his older brother is planning to rob a loan office. Though Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) do their best to head off the holdup man, the robbery goes off exactly as scheduled. All the detectives can hope for is that the outlaw's limp will slow him down long enough to be arrested. Iconic 1940s "pin-up girl" Mary Beth Hughes has a flashy role as the perpetrator's fed-up wife. This episode was adapted from the Dragnet radio broadcast of June 7, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
The Bowery Boys--Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) et. al.--are suckered into buying a uranium mine near the western town of Panther Pass. Though the boys find none of the precious mineral, a gang of bad guys, led by Ron Haskell (Harry Lauter), are led to believe that mine is valuable. The crooks try to chase our heroes off their property, but before long the tables are turned, and the film wraps up with a zany jeep pursuit. Director Edward Bernds and screenwriter Elwood Ullman reuse several old Three Stooges gags in Dig That Uranium, including the poker game routine from the Stooges' Out West (1947). The film's best bit is an extended parody of High Noon, replete with really slow bullets. Incidentally, the doofus who sells the boys the uranium mine in the opening scene is none other than Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. Filmed at Iverson's Ranch in the San Fernando Valley, Dig That Uranium was the final "Bowery Boys" outing for Bernard "Louie Dumbrowski" Gorcey, who died in a traffic accident shortly after filming was completed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1955
Another "torn from today's headlines" crime drama, Las Vegas Shakedown stars Dennis O'Keefe as honest casino operator Joe Barnes. When not fending off gangster boss Sirago (Thomas Gomez), who wants a big piece of the action, Barnes endeavors to dodge pretty schoolteacher Julia Rae (Colleen Gray), who is writing a thesis on the futility of gambling. The episodic storyline occasionally cuts away to small-town banker Raff (Charles Winninger), who tries to have a little fun at the gaming tables despite the interference of his wife (Elizabeth Patterson), and a bevy of attractive divorcees who've set their cap for Barnes. Filmed on location, Las Vegas Shakedown comes to a head when the disgruntled Sirago resorts to all-out violence to take over Barnes' operation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis O'Keefe, Coleen Gray, (more)
- 1954
Bank teller Mike Donovan (Barry Sullivan) takes the first step on the road to Perdition when he fails to report a $49,000 shortage. Accused of theft, Donovan is fired from his job. He is then prevented from finding other employment by Javert-like insurance investigator Gus Slavin (Charles McGraw). Despite many setbacks, Donovan holds out the hope that he'll be able to clear his name, but even his loyal wife Ruthie (Dorothy Malone) doesn't believe this will ever happen. Filmed on location in Los Angeles and Malibu, Loophole nevers loosens its grip on the viewer for a single second. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Sullivan, Charles McGraw, (more)
- 1954
Highway Dragnet is best known to modern movie buffs as the first film to carry Roger Corman's name in the credits. Corman was one of six screenwriters contributing to this location-filmed suspense melodrama, which stars Richard Conte as an ex-Marine on the lam from a murder charge. Conte hitches a ride from glamour-magazine photographer Joan Bennett, who is travelling cross-country with her principal model, Wanda Hendrix. True to audience expectations, the murderer will at one time or another be an occupant of Bennett's car, though it won't be the person whom the police are looking for. The tense climax takes place in a flooded tract house, with the killer stalking the next potential victim. Criticized for its low production values at the time of its release, Highway Dragnet actually stands up pretty well when seen today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Conte, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1951
Somewhat similar to John Ford's Wagon Master (1950), Passage West deals with a band of religious pioneers, led by a peace-loving minister (Dennis O'Keefe), heading across the desert. Along the trail, the travellers are forced to accompany with six escaped convicts who join the wagon train. The criminals range from basically decent to homicidal, resulting in fluctuating tensions throughout the westward trek. John Payne, one of the more compassionate convicts, is further humanized by his affection for leading lady Arleen Whelan. Passage West was a B-plus production from Paramount's prolific Pine-Thomas unit. The screenplay was cowritten by Nedrick Young, just before his career was retarded by the Hollywood Blacklist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Payne, Dennis O'Keefe, (more)
- 1951
Paramount's Ray Milland and 20th Century-Fox's Gene Tierney star in Warner Bros.' Close to My Heart. The stars play, respectively, journalist Brad Sheridan and his wife Midge. Unable to have children of her own, Midge opts for adoption, thereby subjecting her husband and herself to the very exacting requirements of adoption agencies. Upon learning of an abandoned child left at a police station, Midge determines to claim the baby for her own, but Brad refuses to go along with his wife's plans until he can find out something more about the child's parents. Brad's feverish above-and-beyond search for the facts make him a highly unreliable adoption risk--but there's still hope for a happy ending. Ironically, star Gene Tierney was still trying to cope with the personal tragedy of giving birth to a severely retarded daughter while filming Close to My Heart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Gene Tierney, (more)
- 1950
Little Lippert Studios wasn't really equipped to produce large-scale musicals, but the company can't be faulted for trying. Holiday Rhythm stars David Street as Larry, a TV producer who plans a big musical spectacular. Knocked unconscious, Larry dreams of all the wonderful acts he intends to corral for his project. Guest stars include Tex Ritter, the Chuy Reyes and Ike Carpenter orchestras, George Arnold and his "Rhythm on Ice" show, The Cass Country Boys, The Four Moroccans, and (drum roll please) Bill Burns and His Birds. Distributed to most markets in a 60-minute version. Holiday Rhythm was made available in a 70-minute format to selected cities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Beth Hughes, David Street, (more)
The life of tragic jazz great Bix Beiderbecke is given the "a clef" treatment in Warner Bros. Young Man With a Horn. Kirk Douglas plays the Beiderbecke character, here named Rick Martin. An ace trumpter player, Martin is one of the few white musicians to flourish in the black-dominated jazz scene of the 1920s. Chafing against the dullness of the "respectable" orchestras for whom he works, Martin finds at least two kindred spirits in the forms of torch singer Jo Jordan (Doris Day) and piano player Smoke Willoughby (Hoagy Carmichael). He rises to popularity with his own group, and along the way falls under the spell of wealthy jazz patroness Lauren Bacall. After marrying Bacall, Martin begins neglecting his music and turns more and more to alcohol. When he skips one of her fancy parties to attend the funeral of his mentor Juano Hernandez, Bacall angrily smashes all his jazz records, effectively ending what was never a very solid relationship. Crawling into a bottle, Martin loses his touch with the trumpet-a heartbreaking sequence, in which he goes to pieces in the middle of the pop standard "With a Song in My Heart". Unlike the real Beiderbecke, who died of alcoholism at the age of 28, Rick Martin is rescued by his faithful friends Day and Carmichael. Kirk Douglas' trumpeteering in Young Man with a Horn was effectively dubbed by Harry James, while jazz pianists Buddy Cole and Jimmy Zito make uncredited soundtrack contributions. The film was adapted by Carl Foreman and Edmund H. North from a novel by Dorothy Baker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, (more)
- 1949
When bucolic character comic Grady Sutton shows up as a pistol packin' Westerner in Grand Canyon, your suspicions are confirmed; this oater is supposed to be a spoof. A movie company comes to the Grand Canyon area to shoot a B-western. Pompous leading man James Millican breaks his leg and is replaced by local mule jockey Richard Arlen. The novice actor has to be literally led by the hand by leading lady Mary Beth Hughes (no Oscar prospect himself), but everything is roses by fadeout time. Reed Hadley, steadfast narrator/star of such TV crime series as Racket Squad and Public Defender, is given a rare opportunity to make funny as the western's director. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Mary Beth Hughes, (more)
- 1949
Lippert's Square Dance Jubilee was aimed squarely at the rural movie market. Don Barry and Wally Vernon play a pair of talent scouts, searching for authentic country-western performers to appear on Spade Cooley's TV show. Somehow, the duo finds time to rescue a lovely young rancher (Mary Beth Hughes) from cattle rustlers. The plot is serviceable but hardly necessary: the sole "raison d'etre" for Square Dance Jubilee was its parade of C&W talent. In addition to Spade Cooley, the musical roster includes Cowboy Copas, Ray Vaughan, Claude Casey, Johnny Downs, The Broome Brothers, Smiley and Kitty, the Elder Lovelies and the Tumbleweed Tumblers. Yee-hah! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Beth Hughes, Wally Vernon, (more)
- 1949
Produced in garish Cinecolor, this aspiring "A" Western features John Payne as Clay Fletcher, an Eastern lawyer assigned to track down a judge whose signature is needed for some estate papers. Clay traces the judge, Henry Jeffers (Henry Hull), to El Paso, a lawless town ruthlessly run by saloon owner Bert Donner (Sterling Hayden) and a corrupt sheriff, La Farge (Dick Foran). The judge has become a hopeless drunk and is used as a pawn by Donner, who terrorizes the local farmers off their land. When one settler, John Elkins (Arthur Space), shoots and kills a deputy in self-defense, Clay is at first inclined to trust that justice will prevail and arranges for traveling salesman "Pesky" (George "Gabby" Hayes) to keep Judge Jeffers sober long enough to render a just verdict. But a threatened Donner has both Jeffers and Elkins brutally killed and against the wishes of the judge's daughter Susan (Gail Russell), Clay takes matters into his won hands by organizing a vigilante group. Grandfather Fletcher (H.B. Warner) arrives to remind Clay of his judicial pledges but he, too, is killed by the increasingly insane La Farge. In the end, only the prospect of a mass lynching brings Clay around and the guilty all face a jury of their peers. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Payne, Gail Russell, (more)
Gene Autry enjoyed considerable success with his recording of Stan Jones' haunting "Riders in the Sky". He then parlayed this success into a film, which proved to be one of Autry's best postwar efforts. The basic plot concerns Autry's efforts to clear rancher Ralph Lawson (Steve Darrell) of a trumped-up murder charge. The trumper-upper, Rock McCleary, is played by Robert Livingston, a former cowboy star who turned to character roles late in his career. The heroine is played by Gloria Henry, ten years removed from her TV fame as Alice Mitchell in Dennis the Menace. The title song is imaginatively staged by director John English, with a ghostly Tom London riding hard and fast as a montage of moody images play across the screen. So effective was this vignette that Columbia included it in the coming-attractions trailer for Riders in the Sky. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Gloria Henry, (more)
- 1949
Though Columbia's Crime Doctor series officially ended with Crime Doctor's Secret, the studio trotted out the property one last time with the misleadingly titled Devil's Henchman. Instead of his usual "Crime Doctor" character Dr. Robert Ordway, (Warner Baxter) travels under the name of Jess Arno. It's all a ruse, of course; Ordway is working incognito, the better to track down a gang of smugglers. Forever hanging around the waterfront, gumming up the works for Ordway, is the pea-brained Captain (Harry Shannon), who's a lot smarter than he lets on. "B"-picture favorite Mary Beth Hughes is a delight as always as a stylish gangster's moll. Equally well-cast in surprising characterizations are Regis Toomey and Mike Mazurki. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1949
By the none-too-exacting standards of Screen Guild Productions, Last of the Wild Horses is practically an "A" picture. James Ellison plays Duke Barnum, an innocent soul who is set up as the fall guy for duplicitious horse-ranch foreman Riley (Reed Hadley). When ranch owner Charlie Cooper (Douglass Dumbrille) discovers that Riley has been raiding the neighboring ranchers' stock, he confronts the foreman with the evidence. Riley responds by killing Cooper and placing the blame on Barnum, leading to a deadly climactic confrontation between the two. Filmed on location in Southern Oregon, Last of the Wild Horses was directed by Robert L. Lippert, who'd later assume control of Screen Guild and rename the studio after himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Ellison, Mary Beth Hughes, (more)
- 1949
Bargain-budget Screen Guild Productions was in the process of metamorphosing into Lippert Studios when Rimfire was filmed in 1949. This "government vs. gold thieves" affair has all of the virtues of the eager-to-please Lippert production team and none of the shortcomings of the pinchpenny Screen Guild operation. James Millican heads the cast as a special agent tracking down a lost shipment of Army gold. This leads him to a superstition-laden village where the townsfolk are convinced that the ghost of a hanged gambler is wreaking all sorts of havoc. It doesn't take Millican long to get to the bottom of the occult activity-and to locate the gold robbers in the process. With bigger star names, Rimfire might have secured better bookings; still, it did respectable business under the circumstances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Millican, Mary Beth Hughes, (more)
- 1948
In this above-average western, a villainous land grabber attempts to force horse ranchers to sell their ranches so he can become king of the horse market. One stubborn rancher refuses to relent and his killed. His two surviving sisters then continue the fight. They are soon assisted by a passing drifter who ends up falling for one of them. In the end a gunfight between the good and bad guys ensues. Also included in the story are scenes from an exciting fight between two wild stallions. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Patricia Morison, (more)
Based on the radio show of the same title, a young woman meets a gypsy who reads her fortune and predicts a terrible fate for the young woman. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1948
The Pine-Thomas action/adventure assembly line put together another winner with Waterfront at Midnight. Hoping to put the cuffs on criminal mastermind Socks Barstow (Richard Travis), detective Mike Hanrohan (William Gargan) is stymied by the fact that his younger brother Denny (Richard Crane) has joined Barstow's gang. Things get worse after a bloody shootout, in which Mike apparently guns down his own brother. It takes several reels for Mike to realize he's being played for a chump by the cagey Barstow-and when he does realize this, it's every man for himself! Starting off with a brutal point-blank murder, Waterfront at Midnight remains in high gear right up to the "End" title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Gargan, Mary Beth Hughes, (more)
- 1948
Ham Fisher's comic-strip pugilist Joe Palooka is once more visualized on-screen in Monogram's Winner Take All. In this one, soft-hearted boxer Joe (Joe Kirkwood) is approached by a trio of gamblers, who want him to throw an upcoming bout. Naturally he refuses, but has cause to regret this decision when the crooks claim to have kidnapped Joe's young ward Tommy (Stanley Clements). When he discovers that the abduction is a hoax, Joe wins the fight and settles accounts with the bad guys. William Frawley costars as Joe's trainer Knobby Walsh (a role played in subsequent "Joe Palooka" entries by Leon Errol), while Elyse Knox, real-life wife of athlete Tom Harmon, plays Palooka's ever-loving fiancee Ann Howe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Kirkwood, Jr., Elyse Knox, (more)
- 1948
Caged Fury was the last of three Pine-Thomas productions tradeshown in Los Angeles within the same February week in 1948. The story takes place in a seedy circus, where malevolent clown Smiley (Buster Crabbe, in a truly despicable characterization) plots to further the career of aspiring lion tamer Kit Warren (Sheila Ryan). Knocking off Kit's main competition Lola Tremain (Mary Beth Hughes), Smiley pulls strings to have Kit teamed with Lola's former partner Blaney Lewis (Richard Denning). When Blaney himself falls in love with Kit, the outraged Smiley retaliates by setting fire to the circus (via stock footage from 1933's King of the Jungle, which also starred Buster Crabbe). A fascinating study in unvarnished evil, Caged Fury suffers only from its tacky production values. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Denning, Sheila Ryan, (more)
- 1945
In this musical western, the Three Stooges' Moe plays the straight man while Curly and Larry play a pair of aspiring Broadway performers who work as bumbling ranch hands. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
