Betsy Jones-Moreland Movies
- 1993
The murder of a cosmetics company tycoon leads lawyer Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) into a strange case involving a new anti-aging concoction. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
When the invincible Perry Mason takes on the case of a photographer who is accused of murdering a famous artist, he discovers the case is complicated by forgery. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1991
In this entry in the long-running mystery series, Perry Mason takes the case for a TV reporter falsely accused of killing the station's ego-maniacal anchorman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
In this entry in the long-running mystery series, Perry Mason proves that a famous illusionist is innocent of deliberately killing his assistant during a spectacular stage stunt. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
In this entry in the long-running mystery series, Perry Mason must reevaluate his legal principles when an old buddy asks him to represent the gangster suspected of murdering his wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Burr, Paul Anka, (more)
- 1990
In this entry in the long-running mystery series, Perry Mason represents a former student who is accused of murdering a singing star. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1979
In 1967, Joni Eareckson Tada broke her spinal cord in a diving accident, and at the tender age of 17 she was consigned to a wheelchair for life. This biographical drama (based on her book) is about her courage in adjusting to the results of the accident. At first, Tada suffered through several operations and long rehabilitation sessions, but nothing was able to bring back the use of her arms and legs. After she goes home to her family in Maryland, she starts to draw and paint by holding the brush in her mouth. This creative outlet, combined with her spunk and a growing religious faith, not only brings her through her darkest moments, but points the way toward a future career and mission. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joni Eareckson, Bert Remsen, (more)
Elia Kazan directed this curiously constipated film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished final novel, about Monroe Starr, a brilliant and efficient studio executive (based upon Fitzgerald's experiences with MGM wunderkind Irving Thalberg). Robert De Niro plays Monroe Starr in a cool and detached manner, and as Kazan pans around the Hollywood Dream Factory of the 1930s, Starr juggles several productions, deals with nervous actors and recalcitrant directors, stays afloat in the Hollywood corporate battlefields, and secretly carries on a love affair with an even cooler and more detached English girl, Kathleen Moore (Ingrid Boulting). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, (more)
The love affair between two of Hollywood's greatest stars of the 1930s and '40s is recounted in this biopic. Clark Gable (James Brolin), the tough but quick-witted leading man often called "the King of Hollywood," meets tart-tongued comic actress Carole Lombard (Jill Clayburgh) at a party, and while the attraction between them isn't immediate (in fact they hate each other at first), as fate keeps bringing them together, they fall deeply in love. Gable is married at the time, and studio chief Louis B. Mayer (Allen Garfield) is afraid that his affair with Lombard will lead to a scandal that will destroy the career of his most valuable star, but Gable and Lombard weather the storm of negative publicity, and after Gable's wife grants him a divorce, he marries Lombard. However, their happy marriage is cut short by Lombard's tragic death as she was selling defense bonds during World War II. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Brolin, Jill Clayburgh, (more)
"The German Air Force is not at all what it used to be," says Anne Bancroft's Countess, about 16 minutes into The Hindenburg, pausing and then adding, "But then, nothing is these days." That seems to sum up the ponderous, irony-laden script and plot of Robert Wise's movie, which is posited -- in true post-Watergate fashion -- upon notions of conspiracy and cover-up behind the destruction of the German airship. The movie opens with a handy Universal newsreel that gives a vestpocket history of lighter-than-air flight, and that carries us to 1937 Germany. Colonel Franz Ritter (George C. Scott), a former hero pilot now working for military intelligence, finds himself assigned to the flight of the Hindenburg as chief of security; reports and rumors about the destruction of the zeppelin have circulated both in Germany and America, and the Nazi government takes these very seriously. What Ritter walks in on is a "Grand Hotel" of the air, several dozen passengers and crew whose ranks contain enough red herrings to keep Ritter (and us) jumping through hoops for most of the first half of the film, when we're not watching glorious shots of the zeppelin in flight. The answer to the script's presentation of the plot against the airship,and theidentityof the bomber and his motivations, are actually presented in the first 15 minutes, but there are so many false leads, subplots, and blind alleys put before us that the solution will probably pass by unnoticed. In the meantime, Ritter dances around with his ex-paramour (Bancroft), scheming businessmen (Gig Young), and passengers with skeletons in their closets (Alan Oppenheimer), an entertainer (Robert Clary) with a knack for offending loyal Nazis, several officers and crew with known "political" differences with the Nazi Party, a Gestapo man (Roy Thinnes) who's got an agenda of his own, and two genuine mystery men (Burgess Meredith, Rene Auberjonois) who don't seem to have any reason for traveling on this particular voyage. It's all a little tiring, or would be, if the setting and special effects weren't that interesting, and the cast wasn't so entertaining to watch in these relatively thankless roles. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, (more)
- 1969
Judith Coleman (Victoria Shaw), recently widowed friend of Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr), is being plagued by weird phone calls, strange disembodied voices, and mysterious "accidents". Can it be that Judith has been driven insane by her husband's death? Ironside doesn't think so; he is convinced that someone is trying to drive the woman crazy--but who, and why? This episode boasts a particularly strong supporting cast of reliable "heavies" and eccentric character players. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In Volume 25 of a collection culled from the 1963-1965 science fiction anthology television series, a scientist on a remote world mutates into a vicious killer following a strange rainstorm. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Mrs. Brown's daughter Angela (Ann Marshall), in her final series appearance) is assigned to write a school paper on the theories of Professor Newton Jennings (John Fiedler), who believes that Mars is inhabited only by primitive amoebae and inverterbrates. Hoping to get the facts straight, Martin (Ray Walston) helps Angela finish her paper--and as a result, the girl gets a failing grade! Infuriated, Martin decides to expose Jennings as a fraud, but the results are not quite what anyone expects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Journeying through the mountains, Paladin (Richard Boone) is mauled by a cougar. Seeking the aid of two men named Cull (Wright King) and Boggs (Ben Wright), the injured Paladin is instead robbed of everything he owns--and then left for dead. Painfully making his way to a nearby town, Paladin demands answers for why Cull and Boggs are seemingly free to come and go as they like, and to victimize anyone they choose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This early bit of "B"-movie fluff from Roger Corman and company is a hastily slapped-together melange of crime thriller and monster flick, laced with enough ham-fisted satire to make the entire mess enjoyable. The plot centers on a two-bit crook (Antony Carbone) who offers to transport a band of exiles from a war-torn Caribbean country -- along with a coffer of cash, which he intends to keep for himself. After killing his charges and dumping their bodies in the ocean, he blames their deaths on a sea monster told of in local legends -- a beast which eventually shows up for real. The lush tropical settings of this weekend wonder are the same lush tropical settings seen in Corman's Last Woman on Earth, which employed most of the same players as well. Corman protégé Monte Hellman served here as second unit director before embarking on his own low-budget film career. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
This weak sci-fi, post-disaster drama is about three people left alive after everyone else has been killed on earth. The trio is comprised of Harold (Antony Carbone), Martin (Edward Wain), and Evelyn (Betsy Jones-Moreland) who were underwater scuba diving when a mysterious glitch in the atmosphere depleted all available oxygen for a short period of time -- enough to kill off earth's population. The ambiance is at first eerie and increasingly ominous as the divers surface and slowly discover that no one is alive out there. Then the interaction of the two men with each other and with Evelyn (Eve?), takes over and the story veers into an odd romance drama as the two machos each try to seduce the last woman left on earth. The story was a first effort by scripter Robert Towne, whose muse was dozing at the moment, but was definitely back in form on later efforts (Chinatown, The Last Detail). Towne also co-starred here as Martin, using the pseudonym of Edward Wain. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Carbone, Betsy Jones-Moreland, (more)
Sexual misconduct in white-collar suburbia is the topic of this routine melodrama involving two neighboring couples. Architect Larry Coe (Kirk Douglas), unhappy with his wife Eve's (Barbara Rush) fixation on their bank balance, starts taking an interest in Maggie Gault (Kim Novak), whose husband has been losing interest in her. The two steal several illicit moments together, but this activity has not gone unnoticed. Good ol' neighbor Felix (Walter Matthau) figures that Eve might be feeling a little neglected, so he decides to move into the picture. Richard Quine's direction is an asset to an otherwise clichéd tale. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, (more)
- 1960
Jack Weston guest stars as Mr. Neal, a poker addict who has lost $500,000 in a marathon card game. Using the last of her money, Mrs. Neal (Betsy Jones-Moreland) hires Paladin (Richard Boone) to join the game, cut Mr. Neal's losses and bring her husband home. But the other players aren't about to give up their prize patsy--not without a bit of bloodshed. Featured in the cast in a "heavy" role is a young Peter Falk, while future perennial game-show celebrity Brett Somers also has a sizeable role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Perry (Raymond Burr) is startled late one evening to find a beautiful young woman (Joan Tabor) climbing into his office window. She identifies herself as Virginia Colfax, the secretary of Ed Garvin, and insists that she was escaping from Garvin's jealous wife. Investigating, Perry finds that Mr. Garvin actually has two wives, one of whom (K.T. Stevens) is subsequently murdered--and that Virginia Colfax isn't Virginia Colfax after all. Featured in the cast is Thomas B. Henry, who had been Raymond Burr's acting teacher at the Pasadena Playhouse. This episode is based on a 1949 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Set in an isolated, snow-covered town in the far West, this story has a renegade army officer named Jack Bruhn (Burl Ives) and his henchmen riding into the town threatening their worst to the men and women there. Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan) decides to agree to Bruhn's demands for someone knowledgeable to lead them away from the law and the town, to safety. Mortally wounded himself, Bruhn opts to take Starrett up on his offer in one last act of generosity toward the townspeople, sparing them the mayhem threatened by his men. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, (more)
- 1957
By the time you've read the title, the film is half over. Anyway, the story concerns a group of proud female Nordic warriors (who look more like UCLA cheerleaders), who set out on a perilous sea journey, the better to locate their long-missing men. Halfway across the ocean, their vessel is destroyed by a deadly vortex (this special effect must be seen to be believed). The ladies are washed up on the shores of the Grimaults, a spear-wielding tribe which had previously enslaved the girls' menfolk. One attempted human sacrifice and several minor clashes later, the viking men and women try to make their escape. When the head viking (Brad Jackson) slays a rampaging monster (actually a harmless lizard, "blown up" by trick photography), he and his party are given safe passage by the grateful Grimaults. Abby Dalton is the star of Viking Women and the Sea Serpent, but only by default; when the film's original leading lady fell ill, all the other actresses were promoted to the next largest role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
The Rico brothers are mobsters in the employ of syndicate head Sid Kubick. Richard Conte plays the one Rico brother who has forsaken crime. But the other Ricos (James Darren and Paul Picerni) haven't yet seen the light, causing a deep rift in the brothers' family bonds. Conte gets word that his brothers have been marked for murder, and tries to warn them. What he doesn't know, at least until the last sweat-inducing moments of the film, is that the syndicate boss himself is the man who has ordered the Rico boys wiped out. The Brothers Rico, adapted from a novel by French detective-story specialist George Simenon, is an interesting thriller deeply rooted in the post-noir style of police thrillers like The Line-Up, with its overt emphasis on crude violence and a dull, almost flat visual style. The strong performance by Richard Conte, as a man out of step with the rest of society, is lost in this film which is in essence a simple thriller, lacking any real noir ambience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Conte, Dianne Foster, (more)
Vincent Sherman replaced an uncredited Robert Aldrich as director of this noirish and atypically pro-union film from the 1950's. Tulio Renata (Robert Loggia), an organizer for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, campaigns to unionize the employees of dress factory owner Walter Mitchell (Lee J. Cobb). Viscerally opposed to the union, Mitchell has hired Artie Ravidge (Richard Boone) to thwart Renata's efforts. In a complex oedipal sub-plot, Walter's son Alan (Kerwin Matthews) returns home and joins the firm following the suspicious death of his father's partner. Alan is more sympathetic to the union and attempts to persuade his father to sign a contract. Only after Ravidge kills Renata, and the elder Mitchell finally admits to himself that Ravidge is a thug who also killed his partner, does he agree to negotiate with the union. Before he can do so, however, he, too, is murdered by Ravidge's goons. It is then left to Alan, increasingly involved with Renata's widow Theresa (Gia Scala), to run the business, bring Ravidge to justice, and settle with the union. Similar to Herbert Biberman's Salt of the Earth (1954) in its overt support of the labor movement, The Garment Jungle is clearly a liberal, not a radical, film. Rather than advocate class warfare, it asserts that honest unions and decent capitalists can work together honorably. The film's real fire is found in the personal conflicts between Tulio and Theresa and Walter and Alan. Cobb, Loggia, and Scala perform with intense and multi-dimensional passion. Particularly noteworthy is Theresa's fury at her husband for taking excessive, and ultimately fatal, risks. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee J. Cobb, Kerwin Mathews, (more)
