Eilene Janssen Movies

This violent, gore-filled, effective horror tale by director Robert Gordon is about a totally wacko private zoo keeper, Michael Conrad (Michael Gough) whose literal worship of the animals he tends -- especially the cat species -- starkly contrasts with his cold-blooded disregard for human life. Conrad has a mute son Carl (Rod Lauren) with a simmering Oedipal hatred, and a wife who should have left him eons ago. Whenever Conrad gets miffed with anyone coming a little too close to his private affairs he simply feeds the hapless victim to the animals. It seems inevitable that if the animals do not get him, then the human species will. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Way back in 1942, the ex-husband of Angela Fernaldi left her baby at an orphanage. Twenty years have passed, and now Angela is extremely wealthy--and two girls, both named Maureen, are claiming to be her daughter in order to collect a $200,000 trust fund. One of the two, Maureen Thomas (Melinda Plowman), ends up being chaged with the murder of Bert Renshaw (Jesse White), who supposedly had evidence proving that the "other" Maureen (Eileen Janssen) was the real daughter. In his efforts to defend Ms. Thomas, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) discovers that at least one of the principal players has provided the authorities with a false identity--but why? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Search for Bridey Murphy was inspired by the purportedly true story of a Colorado housewife named Virginia Tighe, who while under hypnosis insisted that she'd lived a previous life as an 18th century Irish housemaid named Bridey Murphy. The hypnosis sessions were conducted under the supervision of Dr. Morey Bernstein, who later wrote a book on the subject. This hastily assembled filmization of Dr. Bernstein's book stars Teresa Wright as Ruth Simmons (Ms. Tighe's pseudonym) and Louis Hayward as Bernstein. Except for the "astral world" sequences, Search for Bridey Murphy adopts a semi-documentary approach, often to the point of tedium. Bridey Murphy herself is portrayed at various ages by Teresa Wright, Ruth Robinson, Denise Freeborn and Hallene Hill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wild Horse Ambush was the last of four Republic westerns starring juvenile actors Michael Chapin and Eilene Janssen. Once again, Chapin plays Red, the grandson of venerable sheriff Tom White (James Bell), while Judy (Eilene Janssen) is Red's friend and confidante. And once again, the two kids join forces in bringing an adult criminal to justice. This time, the miscreant is a counterfeiter (Roy Barcroft), who is employing a fiendish complex and clever method to smuggle "funny money" across the Mexican border. The intention of this western series was to offer the kiddie fans a pair of protagonists with which they could identify; the experiment didn't work, and Republic went back to grown-up cowboy stars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Dakota Kid was the first of four Republic westerns built around the talents of preteen performers Michael Chapin and Eilene Jansen. In each of these films, Chapin played Red, the grandson of sheriff Tom White (James Bell), while Jansen co-starred as Judy, the boy's best friend and severest critic. Inevitably, the two kids would become involved in Big Trouble involving outlaws and such. In this film, Red and Judy reform the titular Dakota Kid (Dann Morton), who joins forces with them to rout the real villain, crooked saloonkeeper Ace Crandall (Robert Shayne). Featured in the cast as a schoolteacher is Margaret Field, the mother of Oscar-winning actress Sally Field. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Finding a curiously silent young runaway boy (Dean Stockwell) whose head has been completely shaved, small town police call in a psychologist (Robert Ryan) and discover that he is a war orphan named Peter Frye. Moving in with an understanding retired actor named Gramps (Pat O'Brien), Peter starts going to school and generally begins living the life of a normal boy until his class gets involved with trying to help war orphans in Europe and Asia. Peter soon realizes that -- like the children on the posters, whose images haunt him -- he, too, is a war orphan. The realization about his parents and the work helping the orphans makes Peter turn very serious, and he is further troubled when he overhears the adults around him talking about the world preparing for another war. Peter awakens the next day and his hair has turned green, prompting him to run away after being taunted by the townspeople and his peers. Suddenly, appearing before him in a lonely part of the woods are the orphaned children whose pictures he saw on the posters. They tell him that he is a war orphan, but that with his green hair he can make a difference and must tell people that war is dangerous for children. He leaves determined to deliver his message to any and all. Upon his return, the townspeople chase Peter, and even Gramps tries to encourage him to consider shaving his hair so that it might grow back normally. He agrees to get his head shaved, and the town barber does the job -- that night, however, Peter runs away. Later reunited with Gramps, Peter learns that there are adults out there who accept what he has to say and want him to go on saying it. He's sure that his hair will grow back in green again, and he will continue to carry his message. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Also known as A Miracle Can Happen, On Our Merry Way is a multipart comedy linked by inquiring reporter Burgess Meredith. It is Meredith's job to interview several people, asking them what effect children have had on their lives. First he checks with two itinerant musicians (James Stewart and Henry Fonda), who earn extra under-the-counter money by fixing a music contest so the mayor's son will win. Next he meets Hollywood extras Dorothy Lamour and Victor Moore, who are hired to work with a precocious child star. Finally, the old "Ransom of Red Chief" twist is given to the tale of hoboes Fred MacMurray and William Demarest, who find themselves at the mercy of a preteen prankster, whose wealthy uncle (Hugh Herbert) won't take the kid back unless the hoboes pay him. Meredith returns to the newspaper office with a black eye, which earns him the sympathy and affection of coworker Paulette Goddard. Though the direction is credited to Leslie Fenton, portions of On Our Merry Way were actually directed (sans credit) by George Stevens and King Vidor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Song of Love is the MGM-ified version of the lives and loves of 19th century musicians Clara Wieck Schumann (Katharine Hepburn), Robert Schumann (Paul Henreid) and Johannes Brahms (Robert Walker, who the previous year had played another composer, Jerome Kern, in Til the Clouds Roll By). Clara gives up her thriving career as a concert pianist to devote herself to her struggling composer husband Robert. Unable to cope with disappointment and failure, Robert dies in an asylum, leaving poor Clara to cope with seven children and mounting debts. At this point, the eminently successful Brahms, who has loved Clara all along, proposes to her, but Clara insists upon going it alone, perpetuating her husband's memory on the concert stage. Also represented in this musical "through the years" pageant is Franz Liszt, played with remarkable understatement by Henry Daniell. Clearly designed to capitalize on the popularity of Columbia's Chopin biopic A Song to Remember, Song of Love is slow and poky at times, though it's fascinating to see Katharine Hepburn at the piano (reportedly, she learned to play enough classical music to get by in the close-up scenes, though her music is dubbed in medium and long shots). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two secret agents must somehow prevent a group of post WW II Nazis hiding in the Hartz mountains from successfully making an atomic bomb as they plan to use the weapon on large Allied cities to help the Germans again rise to power. The two good agents find themselves entangled with beautiful German spies, but this does not keep them from fulfilling their mission just before the evil Germans are to bomb Paris. Interestingly, the Federation of American Scientists did not approve of the movie's use of the bomb. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

David O. Selznick's first production since 1940's Rebecca, Since You Went Away, based on Margaret Buell Wilder's bestselling novel, is a long but rewarding paean to the World War 2 "home front". Claudette Colbert plays the wife of a businessman who, though well past draft age, volunteered to serve his country as an officer (though the husband is never seen, he is "played"-via a photograph-by Neil Hamilton). Fighting back her own fears and anxieties, Colbert does her best to maintain a normal, stable household for the sake of her growing daughters Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple. She is offered moral support by cynical-but-kindly boarder Monty Woolley, by maid Hattie McDaniel (who willing foregoes her salary "for the duration") and by Navy man and friend-of-the-family Joseph Cotten, whose relationship with Claudette remains staunchly platonic. The harsh realities of war hit home several times throughout the film, first when it seems as though Colbert's husband is missing in action, and later when Jennifer's young boyfriend, GI Robert Walker, is killed in combat. From the vantage point of the 1990s, it is easy to see why Since You Went Away scored with its wartime audiences. Though the leading characters are slightly more financially secure than most of the moviegoers of 1944, the various vignettes presented throughout-complaints about rationing and priorities, shoulder-to-shoulder sacrifices, the weekly escape to the local movie house, tender partings, joyous reunions, the returning wounded, the dreaded wire from the war department-all had the ring of truth and topicality. Even today, the film's emotional highlights, particularly the much-imitated farewell scene at the railroad station, are sufficient to bring tears to the eyes of the most jaded viewer. Enhancing the film's heartstring tugging tenfold is Max Steiner's Oscar-winning musical score. If you can remain objective while watching Since You Went Away (it isn't easy), see if you can spot Ruth Roman, Guy Madison and John Derek, making their screen debuts in microscopic roles ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of Hollywood's favorite film titles (next to Never a Dull Moment and The Man Who Dared) is given another go-round with 1944's Till We Meet Again. Ray Milland stars as an American combat pilot forced to crash-land in occupied France. He is sheltered by nun Barbara Britton, who finds herself attracted to the brash flyboy. Britton poses as Milland's wife when the twosome becomes involved with the activities of the French underground. This being a 1944 film, it wouldn't do for Britton to renounce her vows in favor of connubial bliss, so someone (guess who?) has to conveniently die before the climax of Till We Meet Again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide