Frank Baker Movies

Helen Gurley Brown's self-help best-seller was the nominal source for this Hollywood sex romp, directed by Richard Quine, co-scripted by Joseph Heller and David R. Schwartz, and starring Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood. Tony Curtis plays Bob Weston, a writer for a scandal magazine who is working on an article on research psychologist Helen Gurley Brown (Natalie Wood) and her best-selling book Sex and the Single Girl. Bob needs to interview Helen, but she refuses to see him. Bob impersonates one of her neighbors, Frank Broderick (Henry Fonda), as a ruse in order to see her on the pretext of marital counseling. After several meetings, Bob attempts to seduce her, but she resists; then he phones her and claims he's about to commit suicide by jumping off a local pier. Horrified, she rushes out to save him, but the two accidentally fall off the pier together and then head back to Helen's apartment to dry out. Bob plies Helen with martinis. Rip-roaring drunk, Helen confesses her love for Bob. He assures her it's fine, since he's not legally married, but Helen doesn't believe him and asks to meet his wife, Sylvia (Lauren Bacall). This leads to an endless series of complications, capped off by a wild chase to the Los Angeles airport. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

One of director John Ford's least characteristic films, it derives from the latter part of his career, when the director's belief in the myth of the West had faded, and he was beset by failing health and personal problems. In the cynicism of its humor, the director seems be to taking a page from the work of his friend Howard Hawks. James Stewart stars as Guthrie McCabe, the marshal of a Texas town who spends most of his time in front of the local saloon, where he gets 10 percent of the action, in addition to favors from its owner, Belle Aragon Anelle Hayes. Based on his knowledge of the Commanche tribe, his friend, cavalry officer Jim Gary (Richard Widmark), asks him to help the army to recover long-missing white captives. Despite his initial reluctance, the ability of the opportunistic McCabe to neogotiate a lucrative per capita deal for his recovery of the captives, in addition to his desire to evade the marital intentions of Belle, seal the deal. Even after interviewing the captives' desperate relatives, the hardened McCabe is unmoved, although he believes their chance of ever seeing their relatives again as they once knew them is remote. However, as events unfold, the all-knowing marshal find he has a few things to learn. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

Having previously portrayed England's Queen Elizabeth I in 1939's The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Bette Davis reprises the role in the Technicolor-and-Cinescope costumer The Virgin Queen. Harry Brown and Mindret Lord's screenplay proposes that Elizabeth's relationship with adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh (Richard Todd) was somewhat more than cordial. Raleigh is depicted as a charming opportunist, who deliberate leads the Queen on in order to further his chances of heading an expedition to the New World. Complications ensue when Sir Walter falls in love with lady-in-waiting Beth Throgmorton (Joan Collins). Not to be believed for a single moment, The Virgin Queen works well on a swashbuckler level, with Davis outacting everyone in sight-even such veteran scene-stealers as Herbert Marshall, Dan O'Herlihy, and Jay "Caligula" Robinson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though one might have expected friction between MGM's resident "nice lady" Greer Garson and Warner Bros. notorious "bad boy" Errol Flynn, the two got along splendidly during the filming of That Forsyte Woman. Based loosely on The Man of Property, book one of John Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga, the film casts Garson as Irene Forsyte, the independently-minded wife of tradition-bound Victorian "man of property" Soames Forsyte (Flynn). Rebelling against her husband's repressed nature and preoccupation with material possessions, Irene falls in love with unconventional architect Philip Bossiney (Robert Young). When he proves to be too free-spirited even for her, Irene moves on to the Forsyte clan's black sheep, Young Jolyon (Walter Pidgeon). Soames makes a belated attempt to win his wife back, but once again proves incapable of warmth, compassion or understanding. The casting-against-type of Garson and Flynn was fascinating, even when the film itself dragged (Flynn in fact was slated to play either Bossiney or Young Jolyon, but insisted upon taking the less characteristic role of Soames). That Forstye Woman was lavishly photographed in color on MGM's standing "British" sets. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A woman trying to solve the mystery of a friend's murder finds that she may be the next victim in this suspense story set in turn-of-the-century London. Belle Adair (Peggy Cummins) is a struggling showgirl willing to use her charms to snare an eligible bachelor. When her roommate is murdered, Belle's suspicions turn to Michael Drego (Victor Mature), the wealthy but mysterious gentlemen whom the late woman had been dating. Belle pulls some strings and gets an invitation to dine at the estate that Michael shares with his mother, Lady Sterling (Ethel Barrymore); she learns that Michael has a new fiancée, Audrey (Patricia Medina). When Audrey later dies under suspicious circumstances, Inspector Clinner (Vincent Price) from Scotland Yard is assigned to investigate, and he finds himself protecting Belle when the murderer begins following her trail. Keep an eye peeled for horror movie great George Zucco, who plays Craxton. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A scientist discovers that he can live forever by receiving gland transplants every ten years. Unfortunately, the unwilling donors must be killed for him to survive, something that doesn't bother the scientist until he falls in love. The girl, innocent of his grisly secret, falls for him too. Unfortunately, he is due for a new transplant and the endocrinologist who has been doing the operation gets a guilty conscience and refuses to help him any more. Desperate to remain young, the scientist finds someone else. This time though, Scotland Yard gets wind and begins investigating. The girl finds out, and remains true to the scientist causing him to abandon his mad quest for eternal youth. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A remake of Ceiling Zero (1936), International Squadron stars Ronald W. Reagan (in the old James Cagney role) as a hotshot flying who joins the Royal Air Force in England. Reagan refuses to mend his barnstorming ways, and thanks to his recklessness two pilots are killed. The headstrong young flyer redeems himself by going on a suicide bombing mission, from which he never returns. International Squadron costars James Stephenson, a veteran character actor who'd recently achieved prominence thanks to a strong role in the 1940 Bette Davis vehicle The Letter. Unfortunately, Stephenson died shortly afterward, cutting short what might have been a stellar film career. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Grand Hotel formula that was so overworked in the 1930s made an encore appearance in 1940's Escape to Glory. The story is given timeliness by placing the characters on a British merchant ship on the very day that World War II is declared. The ship is attacked by a Nazi U-Boat, resulting in a variety of reactions from the diverse passengers--one of whom (Erwin Kalser) is a German doctor. Constance Bennett is glamorous, Pat O'Brien is boozy, John Halliday is pensive, and everybody else (except for the German medico) is plain fearful. Twenty years later, director John Brahm would masterfully recreate the shipboard tensions he sustained so well in Escape to Glory for his classic Twilight Zone TV playlet "Judgment Night." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Back at Hal Roach Studios for the first time since 1938's Block-Heads, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy star in the uneven but generally rewarding A Chump at Oxford. The boys are cast as street-sweepers who hope to better their lot in life by attending night school. Fate intervenes when Stan and Ollie are instrumental in the capture of a bank robber, whereupon they are rewarded by the bank's grateful president (Forbes Murray) with an all-expenses-paid education at England's Oxford University. Arriving on the venerable old campus dressed in Eton jackets, our heroes are pounced upon by a group of prankish students and subjected to all manner of practical jokes. After spending most of the night trying to escape from a maze, Stan and Ollie are installed in their "new quarters"-which turns out to be the bedroom of the Dean (Wilfred Lucas). This sort of collegiate nonsense comes to an end when it is discovered that simple-minded Stan is actually Lord Paddington, the brainiest student and finest athlete that ever attended Oxford. According to Meredith the valet (Forrester Harvey), His Lordship wandered away from the university upon being rendered an amnesiac by a blow on the head. An accidental tap on the noggin restores Stan to his aristocratic Lord Paddington status, whereupon he beats up a crowd of bullying students and deposits them one by one in a nearby ditch. Though Ollie is aghast to learn that Stan-er, His Lordship-has no recollection of their previous friendship, he decides to stay on at Oxford as Paddington's manservant. After having been humiliated once too often by his vain and condescending employer, Ollie angrily packs his bags and prepares to head for home, when yet another bop on His Lordship's skull causes him to revert to lovable, bumbling old Stan again. Originally intended as a four-reeler (running approximately 45 minutes), A Chump at Oxford was completed in the spring of 1939, whereupon Laurel and Hardy were loaned out to producer Boris Morros to star in The Flying Deuces. When shooting was finished on the latter film, the team was summoned back to Roach to film a 2-reel "prologue" for Oxford, bringing the film's running time up to 63 minutes. The new footage consisted of a reworking of the boys' 1928 comedy From Soup to Nuts, with temporary servants Stan and Ollie unintentionally wrecking a dinner party held by Mr. and Mrs. Vandevere (played by veteran L&H supporting players James Finlayson and Anita Garvin). The patchwork stucture of A Chump at Oxford works against its overall effectiveness, but the scenes in which Stan Laurel undergoes a complete change of character as the genius-level Lord Paddington more than make up for the film's earlier shortcomings. One of the students (the tall, mustachioed one) is played by Peter Cushing, in his second Hollywood film appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The fourth cinematic version of the novel Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman by E.W. Hornung, this romantic caper is a virtual remake of the 1930 version. David Niven stars as A.J. Raffles, a famed cricket player of English society's upper crust. Secretly, however, Raffles is a skilled cat burglar known as "The Amateur Cracksman" to Scotland Yard, which has been unable to catch him. Known for returning the items he's filched, Raffles is about to give up a life of crime because he's fallen for Gwen (Olivia de Havilland), a rich society girl. But first Gwen's brother, Bunny (Douglas Walton), needs help to extricate himself from a gambling debt that will be satisfied nicely by the valuable necklace owned by royal Lady Melrose (May Whitty). At a party thrown by Melrose, a rival thief and a detective (Dudley Digges) stand in Raffles' way, although the nimble and perturbed master criminal has a master plan that will result in the least possible harm coming to all involved. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

The Baroness, daughter of the Hungarian prime minister, is played by Annabella. The Butler, last of a long line of family retainers, is played by William Powell. The butler works for the baroness' father, and the relationship between baroness and butler is outwardly chilly but subliminally affectionate. The butler, something of a political activist, becomes leader of the party opposing the prime minister. The baroness despises her "hired man" for defying her father, but gradually realizes that she is in love with the butler. Steadfastly avoiding any hint of the German expansionism that would ultimately engulf the real-life Hungary, The Baroness and the Butler is fast if forgettable entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This saga spans the globe as the three young heroes search for the man who killed their much-admired, beloved father, a cashiered officer who was wrongly dishonorably discharged before he was murdered. Their quest takes them from India to South America, London, Egypt, and the U.S. As the progress, they begin to discover the disturbing truth about the murder of the father they idolized. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi