Joseph Kearns Movies

Based on the best-selling novel by Robert Traver (the pseudonym for Michigan Supreme Court justice John D. Voelker), Anatomy of a Murder stars James Stewart as seat-of-the-pants Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler. Through the intervention of his alcoholic mentor, Parnell McCarthy (Arthur O'Connell), Biegler accepts the case of one Lt. Manion (Ben Gazzara), an unlovable lout who has murdered a local bar owner. Manion admits that he committed the crime, citing as his motive the victim's rape of the alluring Mrs. Manion (Lee Remick). Faced with the formidable opposition of big-city prosecutor Claude Dancer (George C. Scott), Biegler hopes to win freedom for his client by using as his defense the argument of "irresistible impulse." Also featured in the cast is Eve Arden as Biegler's sardonic secretary, Katherine Grant as the woman who inherits the dead man's business, and Joseph N. Welch -- who in real life was the defense attorney in the Army-McCarthy hearings -- as the ever-patient judge. The progressive-jazz musical score is provided by Duke Ellington, who also appears in a brief scene. Producer/director Otto Preminger once more pushed the envelope in Anatomy of a Murder by utilizing technical terminology referring to sexual penetration, which up until 1959 was a cinematic no-no. Contrary to popular belief, Preminger was not merely being faithful to the novel; most of the banter about "panties" and "semen," not to mention the 11-hour courtroom revelation, was invented for the film. Anatomy of a Murder was filmed on location in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Gift of Love is a remake of 1946's Sentimental Journey, with Lauren Bacall in the role originated by Maureen O'Hara. Upon learning that she hasn't long to live, Bacall, the devoted wife of Robert Stack, adopts young Evelyn Rudie so that her husband will never be lonely. After his wife's death, however, the pragmatic Stack grows weary of little Evelyn, who prefers a "fantasy world" to real life. Stack returns the girl to the orphanage, whereupon Bacall's spirit intervenes to set things right. The material was maudlin back in 1946, and even more so in 1958; still, it's nice to see that Lauren Bacall could play a sweet, benign role when given the opportunity. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lucy (Lucille Ball) wants to return to New York for a fancy dinner and a Broadway show. As luck would have it, the Ricardos and the Mertzes have managed to get four tickets for the sold-out Frank Loesser musical The Most Happy Fella. Unfortunately, those tickets are only for a matinee performance, and only two balcony tickets are available for the evening show. Not wishing to be deprived of their "big evening," Lucy and Ethel (Vivian Vance) hit upon a brilliant idea: the girls will use the tickets to watch the first act of The Most Happy Fella, then exchange their ticket stubs with Ricky (Desi Arnaz) and Fred (William Frawley) so that the boys can enjoy Act Two. Well...it seemed like a brilliant idea at the time.... ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Trouble brews when a widowed, small town librarian takes a stand against censorship. The trouble begins when the town fathers ask that she remove a book from the shelf because they deem it a pro-communist tract and fear it will taint susceptible young minds. She sees the idiocy of their request and defies them. They in turn fire her and replace her with her old friend and assistant. The town judge considers the whole mess a gross miscarriage of justice and demands a trial. This gives an ambitious young lawyer, the boyfriend of the new librarian the opportunity to do a little grandstanding by publicly proclaiming the highly-principled widow a communist. The poor woman suddenly finds herself the town pariah; her only remaining friend is a small boy she used to talk to in the library. He plays a key role in restoring her good name. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Ricky (Desi Arnaz) finds an unusually large amount of money in Lucy's purse, and also stumbles upon a closetful of silverware and other unfamiliar-looking valuables. Not knowing that Lucy (Lucille Ball) is merely collecting items for a charity bazaar, Ricky jumps to the conclusion that his wife is a kleptomaniac. A psychiatrist, Dr. Tom Robinson (Joseph Kearns) is brought in by Ricky to hypnotize Lucy in order to "cure" her of her ailment -- but Lucy, aware of what Ricky is up to, decides to teach her husband a lesson...and what a lesson. ~ Rovi

Ida Lupino, one of the few major Hollywood actresses to move from the sound stage to the director's chair in the 1940s and 1950s, helmed this story about a mother's obsessive drive to see her daughter succeed. Florence Farley (Sally Forrest) is a young woman with a tremendous gift as a tennis player, and her mother Milly (Claire Trevor) is determined to see Florence make the most of her talents. However, Milly's greatest concern isn't with her daughter's happiness or well-being, but with her own financial success, and when Milly begins interfering with Florence's romance with Gordon McKay (Robert Clarke), the daughter begins to rebel against her mother. Director Lupino and actor Robert Ryan both make cameo appearances as spectators at a tennis match. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi