Henry Hull Movies

In this courtroom drama, a Mexican American judge must preside over the case of the town ne'er-do-well, who is accused of killing his wife. The film is set during the 1920s in the Southwest. The murderer is convicted and sentenced to hang, but on execution day, he has a fight and kills the hangman. At the same time, another man confesses. While this gets the first man freed for the first killing, he must now stand trial for the hangman's death. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Master of the World was adapted by Richard Matheson from two Jules Verne novels, Robur le Conquerant (1896) and its sequel, Maitre du Monde (1904)--with more than a little of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea thrown in. Set in 1868, the story is galvanized by an ominous warning of impending doom, delivered in a disembodied but resonent voice from a huge mountain just outside Morgantown, Pennsylvania. Hoping to find the source of the warning, the members of the Weldon Balloon Society, headed by munitions manufacturer Prudence (Henry Hull), send a motorized balloon to investigate. Also aboard Prudence's balloon is his daughter Dorothy (Mary Webster), her fiance Philip (David Frankham), and taciturn pilot Strock (Charles Bronson). Before long, the little party is captured by the brilliant but unbalanced Robur (Vincent Price), captain of the gigantic, state-of-the-art airship "Albatross." Robur explains that he is a man of peace, and that he is using his huge airship to wipe out all warfare by obliterating every weapon of mass destruction on earth--and never mind that a few innocent bystanders may also be killed in the process. Admiring Robur's intentions if not his methods, Strock bypasses every opportunity to stop the madman in his tracks, and for this he is branded a coward by the hotheaded Philip, sparking a battle of words and fists that will persist throughout the film. Meanwhile, Robur attacks such strategic military locations as Paris, Madrid and North Africa (courtesy of stock footage from other films), and as the carnage continues, Prudence renounces his war-profiteering ways. As for Strock, his admiration for Robur does not prevent him from a desperate climactic effort to rescue Prudence, Dorothy and Philip by planting a time bomb in the "Albatross"--a bomb that very well may go off before the "good guys" get off. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Feeling responsible for the massacre of a troop of soldiers, former Army scout Charlie Trent (Henry Hull) has become the town drunk. But when Cavalry Captain Pender (John Dehner) sends word to Virginia City that he is in need of a reliable scout for a dangerous misison, Hoss Cartwright recommends Charlie, determined to rehabilitate the pathetic derelict. The strong supporting cast includeds Peter Whitney as Lewt Custer and Harry Carey Jr. as Corporal Burton. Written by Robert E. Thompson, "The Mission" first aired September 17, 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A gentler but no less resourceful Alan Ladd stars in The Proud Rebel. Ladd is cast as civil war veteran John Chandler, while the star's son David (who grew up to become a powerful Hollywood producer) plays Chandler's emotionally disturbed son David. Since suffering a traumatic shock during the war, David has not spoken a single word. With his son in tow, John wanders the frontier in search of a doctor who might cure David's muteness. Along the way, he runs afoul of sheep baron Harry Burleigh (Dean Jagger), and for a brief period is forced into indentured servitude to pay a debt to farm woman Linnet Moore (Olivia de Havilland). Falling in love with Linnet, John vows to protect her land from the covetous machinations of Burleigh and his brood. It is during the climactic set-to between good guys and bad that David at long last finds his voice again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Cecil B. DeMille was set to direct a re-make of his 1938 swashbuckler The Buccaneer and suddenly became ill, his son-in-law, Anthony Quinn, jumped into DeMille's jodhpurs. In this version, Yul Brynner plays the starring role of debonair pirate Jean Lafitte, who is contacted by General Andrew Jackson (Charlton Heston) to come to the aid of the United States when the British attack New Orleans during the War of 1812. Lafitte immediately falls in love with Annette Claiborne (Inger Stevens), the daughter of William Claiborne (E.G. Marshall), the first governor of Louisiana. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The Man with the Gun in this well-paced western is played by Robert Mitchum. A notorious gunslinger, Mitchum has been hired by a group of concerned citizens to restore law and order to the wide-open town of Sheridan City. Before long, however, Mitchum holds the community in a grip of terror, behaving like a Law Unto Himself. So: Is the star of the film actually the villain of the piece? A last-reel plot twist effectively answers that question. Though Robert Mitchum dominates the proceedings, Man With the Gun also includes some good supporting work by Jan Sterling as Mitchum's saloon-gal wife, Henry Hull as an ageing marshal, John Lupton as an honest young farmer, and Emile Meyer as the town's leading citizen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After his Oscar win for All the King's Men, Broderick Crawford found himself working out his Columbia contract in a string of rapidly deteriorating films. The Last Posse was a middling western, the sort that the studio sent out as bottom-of-bill attractions for their prestige pictures. The posse of the title, headed by sheriff Crawford, is a group of ostensibly honest townsfolk. When they catch up with the desperadoes who robbed a wealthy cattle baron, some of the posse members are overcome by greed and plot to keep the stolen loot for themselves. Once Crawford is wounded in a shootout, avarice prevails. There are no real winners at the end, as the remaining posse members straggle back to town, their heads hung in shame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gentlemanly William Powell is cast spectacularly but effectively against type in Treasure of the Lost Canyon. Powell plays Doc Brown, a somewhat seedy frontier sawbones who takes orphaned David (Tommy Ivo) under his wing. Doc knows that David is being victimized financially by crooked-attorney Lucius (Henry Hull), but he's in no position to do much about it. He'd also like to return to his prosperous practice in San Francisco, but again he's powerless to do so. Things take a surprising turn when David and the Doc go on a search for a chest full of treasure that the boy had discovered earlier in the proceedings, but had tossed into a treacherous waterfall. Alternately spine-chilling and hilarious, Treasure of the Lost Canyon was by far the most uncharacteristic William Powell vehicle since The Senator was Indiscreet (1947). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Return of Jesse James is an excellent example of how to get full value for money from an attenuated budget. John Ireland plays Johnny, a bank robber who closely resembles the late Jesse James. As Johnny's crime spree spreads, so do rumors that Jesse is still alive. This forces Jesse's brother Frank (Reed Hadley) to emerge from hiding to put an end to Johnny's activities once and for all. The faultless supporting cast includes Henry Hull as Ireland's partner in crime, and Ann Dvorak as Hull's enigmatic sister. Hard to believe that Lippert Films, a company generally associated with time-filling quickies, could turn out something as accomplished as Return of Jesse James. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This second film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's definitive jazz-age novel The Great Gatsby stars Alan Ladd in the title role. Jay Gatsby, formerly Jake Gatz, is a successful bootlegger with aspirations of being accepted in the highest social circles of Long Island. Once he's done this, Gatsby devotes his time to winning back the love of his former lady friend Daisy (Betty Field), now married to boorish "old-money" millionaire Tom Buchanan (Barry Sullivan). Gatsby's obsession with rekindling old flames results in disillusionment and, ultimately, tragedy. Sidelines observer Nick Carraway, the narrator of the original Fitzgerald novel, is expertly played by MacDonald Carey, while Shelley Winters makes an excellent impression as Buchanan's slatternly mistress Myrtle Wilson. Cast as Myrtle's dour optometrist husband is Howard Da Silva, who essayed a minor role in the 1974 remake of Great Gatsby. That 1974 version has unfortunately kept the 1949 Gatsby from being released to television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though occasionally hampered by its tiny budget, The Great Dan Patch is a reasonably satisfying horse story. The title character was, of course, one of the greatest harness-race horses that ever drew breath. But since Dan Patch couldn't deliver dialogue or conduct an acceptable on-screen romance, the film concentrates on his owner, chemist David Palmer (Dennis O'Keefe). Saddled with an unsympathetic socialite spouse (Ruth Warrick) who cares nothing for horses, Palmer eventually finds happiness with Cissy Lathrop (Gail Russell), the daughter of Dan Patch's trainer (John Hoyt). Black actor Clarence Muse, a "regular" in horse operas of this type, contributes some good moments, including a couple of nice songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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