Edward Keane Movies

The wife of elderly Alfred Shroder (Edward Keane) is missing, and Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) have been assigned to find her. Although Shroder insists that his wife merely left town, his daughter Ella (Joyce McCluskey) suspects that the old man is lying, citing his history of domestic violence. A pair of broken glasses, recovered from Shroder's backyard furnace, turns out to be the key to this particular mystery. Based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of February 15, 1953, this is one of several original black-and-whiteDragnet episodes readily available on the public-domain VHS and DVD market. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

An abundance of subplots are expertly woven together by screenwriter/director Richard Brooks in Deadline - USA. Humphrey Bogart stars as crusading editor Ed Hutcheson, whose newspaper is on the verge of closing thanks to the machinations of the mercenary daughter (Audrey Christie) of Mrs. Garrison (Ethel Barrymore), the paper's owner. Though he and his staff will all be out of work within a few days, Hutcheson intends to go out with a bang, exposing the criminal activities of "untouchable" gang boss Rienzi (Martin Gabel). Despite numerous disappointments and setbacks, Hutcheson achieves a pyrrhic victory as the film draws to a close. Throughout the story, the many pressures brought to bear upon a big-city newspaper--political, commercial, etc.--are realistically detailed, as is the relationship between Hutcheson and his ex-wife Nora (Kim Hunter). The cast of Deadline USA is uniformly excellent, from featured players Warren Stevens, Jim Backus, Paul Stewart Fay Baker and Ed Begley to such unbilled performers as Tom Browne Henry, Raymond Greenleaf, Tom Powers, and Kasia Orzazewski (essentially reprising her unforgettable characterization in Call Northside 777). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The sexual dysfunction of a married couple provides the basis of this thought-provoking drama that was originally released in 1950 and was then re-released 11 years later with a prologue tacked on. In the prologue, the couple begin attending a group therapy session helmed by a prominent doctor. Neither the husband and wife are able to enjoy sex. The doctor then tells them a story and this story is the original 1950 film of a sexually repressed and unresponsive bride who ends up trying to kill herself. Fortunately, a psychiatrist helps her to see that her overbearing mother is the cause of her difficulty. This story inspires the first couple to keep working on their problem. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Samuel Fuller wrote and directed this lively drama based on the real-life adventures of James Addison Reavis, one of the most ambitious swindlers of the 19th Century. In 1871, Reavis (played by Vincent Price) began hatching an elaborate scheme to claim the Arizona territory (then three decades away from statehood) as his own. At the time, land grants established during Spanish rule of Arizona were still valid, and one rainy evening Reavis visited Pepito Peralta (Vladimir Sokoloff) and his daughter Sofia (Karen Kester) with some exciting news. While working as a real estate clerk, Reavis found documents which granted ownership of nearly the whole of the Arizona territory to one Miguel Peralta, who was named Baron of the new land by Spain's rulers, and as his heir Sofia will become Baroness when she reaches adulthood, giving her claim to the territory. After giving Pepito and Sofia money and hiring a governess (Beulah Bondi) to educate the girl in a manner befitting the Barony, Reavis sailed for Spain on business; unknown to the Peraltas, Reavis posed first as a monk and then as a gypsy in order to revise old land grant documents to conform with his story. Several years later, Reavis returned to Pepito and Sofia's home, and asked the young woman (now played by Ellen Drew) to marry him. Once wed, Reavis presented his carefully forged paperwork to the Arizona authorities which gave him and his bride royal claim to the land; however, not everyone believed Reavis's elaborate tale, and John Griff (Reed Hadley), an expert in falsified documents, was brought in to examine the evidence. The Baron of Arizona gave Vincent Price a rare leading role in a non-horror vehicle, and he cited it as one of his favorite performances on film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

MGM circumvented the censorship that would otherwise have prevented a film version of Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary by adding a prologue and epilogue that assured any and all bluenoses that the story was strictly a work of fiction. James Mason appears as Flaubert, defending his inflammatory novel before a French jury. Thus, the tragedy of Emma Bovary (Jennifer Jones) is offered as a product of Flaubert's imagination, rather than a real-life story. The body of the film concerns Emma's attempt to escape the boredom of her bourgeois existence by marrying a doctor (Van Heflin). She finds life with the physician even more tiresome than her previous experiences, thus begins taking a series of wealthy lovers-all of whom prove to be two-dimensional cads. Unable to tolerate a lifetime of dead-end affairs, Emma eventually commits suicide. The best sequence-indeed, one of the finest set pieces ever directed by Vincente Minnelli-is the "Emma Bovary Waltz" sequence, a dazzling experience in dizzying camera movements. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lloyd Bacon's baseball comedy stars Ray Milland as Vernon Simpson, a chemist who develops a product which repels wood. Signing on with a major league team as a pitcher, he throws screwballs doctored with his solution, becoming a sensation who strikes out every batter he faces. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

George Seaton's 1948 comedy Chicken Every Sunday was based on the play by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein as well as the original memoirs of Rosemary Taylor. Set during the turn of the century on the American frontier, Emily Heffernan (eleste Holm) is the practical wife of foolish would-be businessman Jim Heffernan (Dan Dailey). While Emily struggles to keep the household together by renting out rooms to boarders, Jim wastes the family's earnings on get-rich-quick schemes. Told in flashback, Emily recalls her 20-year marriage before filing for divorce. Emily has had enough and wants to leave, but their friends try to get them back together. Also starring Colleen Townsend, Alan Young, and a ten-year-old Natalie Wood. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Gene Autry is back near the saddle, trying to help out a crippled jockey. Gene is certain that the jockey can ride in the Big Race if the lad can regain his self-confidence. Meanwhile, Gene and comical sidekick Sterling Holloway have another problem on their hands: A rogue stallion has "kidnapped" Gene's prize mare. Piloting a plane, Autry seeks out and locates the stallion. The jockey and mare enter the race, and win. Director John English keeps Trail to San Antone constantly on the move, resulting in one of the better postwar Gene Autry vehicles for Republic Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Marise Aubert (Greer Garson) has begun seeing a psychiatrist to treat her overwhelming guilt. It seems that Marise was married to Paul (Robert Mitchum), who was sent overseas in World War II. She loved Paul deeply and remained faithful to him. She then receives tragic news that Paul died in action, and months later is visited by Jean Renaud (Richard Hart), one of Paul's friends from the Army. Jean tells Marise that he and Paul were captured by enemy troops, and Paul died in the midst of a heroic attempt to escape. Marise senses that Jean is as lonely and heartbroken as she is, and she allows him to stay at her house. They fall in love, but the situation becomes complicated when a letter arrives from Paul. Jean hides it from Marise, hoping that she will not discover that her husband is still alive. He tries to convince her to sell her home and move away from her troubling memories, but before the sale can go through, Paul appears at the doorstep. While Paul can forgive Marise for betraying him, she is unable to forgive herself. Desire Me was released without a director's credit; the bulk of the principal photography was supervised by George Cukor, but by all accounts it was a troubled shoot, and eventually Mervyn LeRoy and Jack Conway both worked to finish the picture. Garson nearly drowned while filming one scene, and Mitchum claimed that Cukor put Garson through 125 takes of another scene before she could say the word "No" to his satisfaction. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Inspired by the radio program of the same name, Night Editor features Charles D. Brown as the editor of the New York Star. In flashback, the editor tells the tale of police lieutenant William Gargan, who forsakes his happy home life for the love of no-good society dame Janis Carter. Both Gargan and Carter begin cheating on their respective spouses, and while on a romantic rendezvous the couple witnesses a murder. They can't report the crime without revealing their own infidelities, a dilemma which leads to blackmail, double-crossing and a second murder attempt. A twist ending caps this snappy little 65-minute morality play. The script of Night Editor was based on the story "Inside Story" by Scott Littleton, previously dramatized on the Night Editor radio series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Roll on Texas Moon was the first of 26 Roy Rogers vehicles directed by fast-action specialist William Witney. The plot concerns a deadly feud between cattle ranchers and sheepherders, with the villains playing both ends down the middle. Working on behalf of the cattlemen, Rogers tries to avoid an all-out range war, finding time to champion the cause of gorgeous sheep rancher Jill Delaney (Dale Evans). Dennis Hoey, best known for his portrayals of the thick-witted Lestrade in Universal's "Sherlock Holmes" series, is rather surprisingly cast as the main heavy. While the musical content of Roll on Texas Moon is as omniprescent as ever, the "thrill" content is considerably heightened by the expert contributions of William Witney. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though legendary entertainer Al Jolson was a highly visible presence on the U.S.O. circuit during World War II, he was generally regarded as a relic of an earlier time until his movie comeback in 1945's Rhapsody in Blue. Showing up 30 minutes into this biopic of George Gershwin, Jolson literally stopped the show with his robust rendition of "Swanee." Suddenly, every Hollywood studio was negotiating with Jolson to film his life story. Warner Bros., the studio that skyrocketed to the top ranks via the 1927 part-talkie Jolson vehicle The Jazz Singer, seemed to have the inside track, but it was Columbia's Harry Cohn who made the deal that Jolson couldn't refuse. An attractively appointed fabrication, the Technicolor The Jolson Story distorts and glosses over the particulars of Jolson's life, but the results are so darned entertaining that nobody really paid attention to its inaccuracies. The story begins in turn-of-the-century Washington, D.C., where young Asa Yoelson (Scotty Beckett), son of an immigrant cantor (Ludwig Donath), ignores his religious studies in favor of popular music. Asa is hired as an "extra added attraction" boy tenor by a vaudevillian; when his voice breaks, the boy wins over the audience with his whistling ability. Growing into manhood, Asa Yoelson -- now "Al Jolson," and now played by Larry Parks -- becomes fascinated with African-American jazz music. He breaks away from his initial vaudeville assignment by joining Lew Dockstader's (John Alexander) blackface minstrel troupe, then goes on to success as a "single." Ascending to Broadway, Jolson establishes a reputation as an inveterate ad-libber, as well as an indefatigable singing performer, frequently holding an audience in thrall until the wee hours of the morning. Along the way, he falls in love with singer Julie Benson (Evelyn Keyes), a character based on Jolson's third wife Ruby Keeler, who refused permission to have her name used on screen. As Jolson attains superstardom, his ego assumes gargantuan proportions, alienating many of those around him, including his wife Julie. Anxious not to lose Julie, Jolson promises to change his ways. He even goes into retirement so as to spend more time with his wife. But when coerced into performing before a nightclub audience, Jolson is "hooked"once more -- whereupon the understanding Julie walks out of his life, realizing that she can never compete with Jolson's love for his audience. Like its subject, The Jolson Story delivered exactly what the audience wanted to hear. Faithful Columbia contractee Larry Parks was catapulted to stardom as Jolson, though in retrospect he seems a curious casting choice: his miming of Jolson's style is painstakingly accurate, but he seems too boyish and unwordly for the role. Jolson, then well into his sixties, had wanted to play himself on screen, but was talked out of it after a rather embarrassing screen test. He consoled himself by personally coaching Parks in the role (his attitude toward the young performer alternated between avuncular and adversarial through the shooting), and by providing his own voice in the musical sequences. Jolson also appears in long-shot during the "Swanee" number, which like all the film's musical highlights was directed by cult favorite Joseph H. Lewis (whose "dry run" for this assignment was the 1945 PRC production Minstrel Man). A wealth of Jolson standards are heard in The Jolson Story, including "You Made Me Love You," "I'm Sitting on Top of the World," "My Mammy," "There's a Rainbow Round My Shoulder," "Toot Toot Tootsie," "The Anniversary Waltz," "Rock-a-bye Your Baby," and "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy." The film was nominated for several Oscars, winning in the "best sound" and "best score" categories. A fantastic box-office success, The Jolson Story spawned a 1949 sequel, Jolson Sings Again. Ironically, despite Larry Parks' contributions to the film, it did little for that actor and instead reignited Jolson's celebrity during the last several years of his life. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Surprisingly, leading lady Marjorie Weaver isn't the Fashion Model in this tongue-in-cheek Monogram meller. When two employees of a clothing factory are murdered, the shadow of suspicion falls upon lowly stock boy Robert Lowery. One of the victims (Lorna Gray) was the titular model, whom Lowery may or may not have been romancing. The hero's loyal girlfriend (Weaver) sleuths around until she comes face to face with the real killer. Fashion Model was co-written by Tim Ryan, who plays the irascible detective assigned to the case. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi