Whitford Kane Movies
Whitford Kane spent most of his career on-stage, in Ireland, England, or America, but managed to fit movies and television into his work as well. The son of a physician, he was born in 1881 in Lame, Ireland (now Northern Ireland) and studied acting in Belfast. He made his London debut in 1910 and followed this with his first Broadway performance in 1912. Kane spent most of the rest of his career in America, where he became a highly regarded actor, equally good at comedy and tragedy, and his range of parts covered the territory from gormless Will Mossop in Hobson's Choice to Judas Iscariot in Dust of the Road, both in 1915. He aged gracefully into character roles that were also occasionally leads, in the manner of Edmund Gwenn or Walter Huston, and was particularly acclaimed for his Shakespearean portrayals. Kane's work was of sufficient regard to merit the publishing of an autobiography, entitled Are We All Met?, in 1931. During the 1930s, he became a close friend of Orson Welles, and was one of the mainstays of the latter's Mercury Theatre Company -- and although he wasn't in the film, it was Kane who provided the name selected for the protagonist of Citizen Kane (1941).Primarily a New York-based actor, Kane didn't have much to do with movies until late in his career -- he had a co-starring role in the Robert Montgomery/Maureen O'Sullivan vehicle Hide-Out (1934), and appeared in some early, pre-World War II television broadcasts, but it wasn't until after the war that he began showing up on the big screen. These were usually in small roles in big pictures, such as Sproule, the publisher, in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). To viewers of the baby-boom generation, the older, avuncular Whitford Kane -- who somewhat resembled both Cecil Kellaway and Charles Winninger -- is probably best-remembered as Joshua Michael Tucker, the kindly blind friend of the young protagonist in the family drama My Dog Rusty (1948), which was popular in the late '40s and widely seen on television in the early '60s. He continued acting on television into his seventies, and passed away in New York City in 1956. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- 1949
The never-solved disappearance of Judge Crater in 1930 was the inspiration for RKO's The Judge Steps Out. Alexander Knox (who also co-scripted the film with director Boris Ingster) plays Bailey, a highly respected Boston magistrate who is fed up to the gills with his workload and his troublesome wife (Frieda Inescourt) and daughter (Martha Hyer). Thus, he decides to hit the road, eventually taking a job as a hash-slinger at a roadside diner. Here he is treated with compassion and understanding by his boss Peggy (Ann Sothern), who, unaware of Bailey's true identity, likes him for himself rather than his prestige. This offbeat comedy-drama manages to keep the audience guessing as to how things will turn out for everyone concerned. Filmed in 1947, The Judge Steps Out was withheld from American release for nearly two years; before making the rounds in the U.S., it was shown in Great Britain under the title Indian Summer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alexander Knox, Ann Sothern, (more)
- 1948
The year is 1908 and the setting Jericho, Kansas, a veritable cesspool of sin and vice. Dave Connors is a politically ambitious lawyer married to Belle, the town lush, and is in love with beautiful colleague Julia Norman. Matters are worsened when Algeria Wedge, his best friend's wife, makes a pass at him. When Dave rejects her advances, she retaliates by printing vile things about him in the town paper. This effectively destroys his political career and causes him to leave town. Algeria then successfully helps to launch her husband's career so she can remain in town and cause even more trouble. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Art Baker, Griff Barnett, (more)
- 1948
The fifth entry in Columbia Pictures' "Rusty" series, about a boy and his dog, My Dog Rusty returns to the focus of the first three entries, tensions within the Mitchell family between young Danny (Ted Donaldson) and his father Hugh (John Litel). Danny's constant lies, each told for a good purpose but found out at the worst possible time, have already caused stress between father and son, and Hugh's campaign for mayor of Lawtonville doesn't make their relationship any less strained. In order to prove he can handle responsibility, Danny takes a job assisting the new doctor, Antonia Cordell (Mona Barrie). When several of Danny's friends fall ill, Dr. Cordell takes water samples from around town, trying to determine the source of the apparent contamination; but an accident in the lab, caused by Rusty and covered up by Danny, soon results a panic that intrudes on Danny's father's campaign for mayor. And when the truth comes out -- an event with tragic consequences for Danny's good friend Joshua Michael Tucker (Whitford Kane) -- Danny realizes that he has damaged the reputations of both Dr. Cordell and his own father, as well as doing terrible harm to his friend. He feels he has no choice but to leave home, but Rusty won't let the boy run away that easily, and follows him. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Donaldson, John Litel, (more)
- 1948
Producer Hal Roach's postwar attempt to create a new bunch of "Our Gang" kids resulted in two misfire Cinecolor comedies, the second of which was Who Killed Doc Robbin. Heading this unappealing new crop of youngsters is Jackie Cooper lookalike Larry Olsen as Curley, who enters the story when sinister scientist Doc Robbin (George Zucco) disappears after a lab explosion as is presumed murdered. The most likely suspect is kindly old Dan (Whitford Kane), and Curley and his pals intend to prove Dan's innocence. To do this, they must snoop around Robbin's spooky old house, leading to a series of "fright" gags that were old when Harold Lloyd did them back in 1921. In the tradition of the earlier Our Gang comedies, Who Killed Doc Robbin features a pair of black kids, one of whom is Renee Beard, the brother of 1930s Our Gang favorite Matthew "Stymie" Beard. Originally released in tandem with the Hal Roach streamliner Here Comes Trouble, Who Killed 'Doc' Robbin was later combined with its predecessor Curley (1948) into a single feature titled Curley and His Gang in the Haunted Mansion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Don Castle, George Zucco, (more)
Like its TV-sitcom counterpart of the 1960s, the original film version of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir was based on the novel by R.A. Dick. Gene Tierney plays turn-of-the-century widow Lucy Muir, who escapes her impossible in-laws by moving into an old house on the English seacoast. Despite the warnings of realtor Combe (Robert Coote) that the house might be haunted, the tenacious young widow calmly establishes residence with her young daughter Anna (Natalie Wood) and housekeeper Martha (Edna Best) in tow. Sure enough, the place is haunted by the spirit of its previous owner-a bombastic, profane, yet somehow attractive sea captain named Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison). When Lucy steadfastly refuses to be frightened by Captain Gregg, he takes a liking to her, and the two become close friends (in standard ghost-movie tradition, only Lucy can hear or see the Captain). Realizing that Lucy is in dire financial straits, the Captain offers to dictate his colorful memoirs to her, which she promptly parlays into a best-seller and a lasting literary career. Slowly but surely, Gregg falls in love with Lucy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, (more)
- 1944
Dismissed by critics as corny and obvious in 1944, this overlong but sincere biopic looks pretty good when seen today, cliches notwithstanding. Fredric March, 47 at the time, convincingly plays American author Sam Clemens, aka Mark Twain, from his early 20s to his death at 75. In typical movie-biography fashion, every single incident that happens in Twain's life is an INSPIRATION: he hears the depth-indication call "Mark Twain" while working on a riverboat and his face lights up; he engages in a jumping-frog contest against Bret Harte (John Carradine) and comes up with his first popular published story; and so on. Alexis Smith is better than usual in the role of Twain's wife Olivia Langdon, even keeping a straight face while Twain courts her in Fluent Quotation ("Everybody talks about the weather but nobody ever does anything about it", he says during a Hollywood-romance cloudburst). Though the script barely touches upon the dark side of Twain's nature, we are not spared his financial reverses (brought about by bad investments and his struggle to publish Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs. The closing sequence, with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn beckoning the spirit of Mark Twain to heaven as Halley's Comet fills the skies, may seem laughable on paper, but works quite well on film; even director Irving Rapper expressed amazement at the effectiveness of this scene! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Alexis Smith, (more)
- 1934
Wounded criminal Lucky Wilson (Robert Montgomery) takes refuge in a small Connecticut farm. He falls in love with Maureen O'Sullivan, who at first is unaware of his criminal record. Lucky is fully prepared to shoot his way out when the cops come calling, but he is softened by O'Sullivan's affections and finally agrees to turn himself in. Screenwriters Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett leaven several potentially melodramatic sequences with some first-rate comic dialogue; many of the funniest scenes belong to nightclub owners Henry Armetta and Hermann Bing. Hide-Out was remade in 1941 as I'll Wait for You, a title which rather gave away the ending. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Montgomery, Maureen O'Sullivan, (more)
