Beatrice Kay Movies
American actress/singer Beatrice Kay had a long, fruitful career in the entertainment industry that began at age six when she played "Little Lord Fauntleroy" with a local stock theater. Later, billed as "Honey Kuper" or "Honey Day," she played other theatrical roles. In film she started out at the Fort Lee film studios in New Jersey as a double for Madge Evans. Around that time she also began her Broadway career appearing in plays and musicals. For about four years during the early '40s, Kay hosted her own radio show and began appearing in such prestigious night clubs as the Moulin Rouge, Paris, Ciro's in LA and San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel. Kay was also a popular recording artist whose best known songs include "Mention My Name in Sheboygan" and "The Strawberry Bond." Kay made her film debut in 1945 in Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe (earlier Kay had appeared at the real Diamond Horseshoe and gained much publicity there for singing "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" 1,100 times). She made only a couple films after that. Later Kay ran a dude ranch and then went into semi-retirement. After a terrible fire destroyed her home, she began working on television. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- PG
Veteran art director Gordon Wiles occasionally wielded the directorial megaphone in both films and television with mixed results. Ginger in the Morning is an aggressively "small" picture, its success or failure totally reliant on the rapport between its stars. A young Sissy Spacek plays the title character, a gangly teenaged hitchhiker who thumbs a ride from travelling salesman Joe (Monte Markham). He is drawn to her free-spirited outlook on life. She, in turn, is attracted by his conservative, old-fashioned values. Nothing much happens, but the scenery is lovely and the leading players seem to be having a good time. Also appearing in the all-TV supporting cast are Susan Oliver, Mark Miller and Slim Pickens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
An attempted kidnapping and rape in a bad part of town is one of several tough cases on tonight's log for Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner). The two mobile cops also stumble upon a restaurant robbery in progress, which proves to be bad news for the robbers. They also follow up a report on a brutal child beating. The supporting cast includes popular nightclub entertainer Beatrice Kay, future soap opera diva Susan Seaforth Hayes, and Ronne Troup, the daughter of future Emergency! star Bobby Troup. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
This unique western centers on an innocent farm boy with a talent for handling guns who decides to make it big. He begins as a bounty hunter. Later he encounters a crazed gunslinger and ends up fatally shot. Before the fateful encounter, the young man is visited by a number of mythical western heroes including Judge Roy Bean, seen as a sentimental drunk, and Jesse James who gives the boy some good advice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1969
On the testimony of five different eyewintesses, Sgt. Ed Brown is arrested for the beating death of a bookie. Naturally, Ed is innocent, but is unable to prove that he was vacationing alone at a mountain retreat at the time of the killing. With time running out for the wrongfully accused detective, Ironside (Raymond Burr) launches a no-holds-barred investigation of his own. This episode was cowritten by series regular Don Galloway, who of course plays Ed Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
The ninth season of Alfred Hitchcock's popular TV suspense anthology opens with a chilling little character study by Robert Bloch, who seems to have drawn his inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether. Ray Milland stars as mad doctor Fenwick, an inmate of the Norton Sanitarium. In order to prove his theory that "role-playing" is the perfect therapy for the insane, Fenwick murders the head of the sanitarium, locks up the rest of the staff, and releases the other patients, allowing them to roam about impersonating a variety of "normal" people pursuing normal careers. But Fenwick's theory blows up in his face thanks to two unforeseen events: the arrival of the niece (Claire Griswold) of the murdered sanitarium head and the grim determination of one of the lunatics to play his new "role" to the hilt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Jackie Searl, (more)
- 1961
Cliff Robertson plays Tolly Devlin, an embittered ex-convict who has spent a lifetime tracking down the men who murdered his father. Desirous of handling matters on his own, Devlin pretends to be loyal to both the Mob and the Government, playing one against the other in hopes of flushing out the killers. He learns that the three surviving assassins are employed by a supposedly charitable "cover" operation known as National Projects. To get what he wants, Devlin ingratiates himself with mob boss (and outwardly solid citizen) Conners (Robert Emhardt). What Robertson didn't count on was falling in love with "Cuddles" (Dolores Dorn), which leads to his own downfall -- but not before justice is served. Producer/director/writer Fuller based Underworld USA on a series of "exposé" articles in The Saturday Evening Post; the film's release fortuitously occurred shortly after that infamous mob convention in Appalachin, New York. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Robertson, Dolores Dorn, (more)
- 1961
Con artists Morgan (Wally Brown) and Axe (Dave Willock) flimflam Clementine Hawkins (Beatrice Kay), a former dance-hall girl turned boarding-house keeper, with an elaborate scam involving "The Burma Rarity", a priceless emerald. Inasmuch as Ben Cartwright introduced Clementine to the crooks, he figures it is his responsibility to recover her money. To that end, Ben puts together a "sting" operation-which backfires so spectacularly that Ben may well have to marry Clementine to make amends! Written by N.B. Stone,"The Burma Rarity" originally aired October 22, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1945
The real Diamond Horseshoe was a Las Vegas nightclub created by impresario Billy Rose, which spotlighted old-time stars from the early 20th century recreating the songs and skits that had made them great. Rose allowed 20th Century-Fox to use the name "Diamond Horseshoe" for a Technicolor musical, but only on the proviso that Rose's name be included in the title. Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe does have the occasional old-timer specialty, but for the most part the plot concentrates on Betty Grable, a young entertainer who romances would-be songwriter Dick Haymes. The affair is frowned upon by Haymes' father (William Gaxton), the manager of the Diamond Horseshoe, who is determined that his son pursue a medical career. The predictability of the storyline is redeemed by Haymes' rendition of the song hit "The More I See You", and by the comedy turns of Phil Silvers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Grable, Dick Haymes, (more)
