Robert Keith Movies

On the eve of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, dying millionaire Jason Foster (Robert Keith) summons his greedy relatives to his mansion. In a faint but firm voice, Foster informs his niece Emily (Virginia Gregg), nephew-in-law Wilfred (Milton Selzer), and Emily and Wilfred's despicable offspring Wilfred, Jr. (Alan Sues) and Paula (Brooke Hayward), that -- despite his hatred of them -- he intends to leave them his entire fortune. But there's a condition -- all four relatives must don grotesque masks which reflect their true natures -- and they are forbidden to remove those masks until the stroke of midnight. This memorable Twilight Zone episode was directed by Ida Lupino, who had starred in the first-season Twilight Zone entry "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine." Written by Rod Serling, "The Masks" originally aired on March 20, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Receiving word that his father Dr. John Kimble (Robert Keith) is seriously ill, Richard Kimble (David Janssen) risks recapture by paying a return visit to his home town of Stafford, Indiana. No sooner has Kimble arrived than he is confronted by his resentful brother Ray (Andrew Prine), who seems to have lost the will to live since Richard was convicted of murder--and may well do something dangerously drastic in the near future. Jacqueline Scott makes her first series appearance as Kimble's supportive sister Donna, while James Sikking shows up as the first of several actors to play Donna's husband Leonard Taft. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in ancient Rome, this film follows the struggle of Roman triplets as they battle their Alban arch-enemies to prevent Rome from being annexed to Alba. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

The Oklahoma land rush of 1889 provides the starting point for this western drama, based on a novel by Edna Ferber. Yancey Cravat (Glenn Ford) is an impulsive, short-fused cowboy who has married an immigrant woman, Sabra (Maria Schell). Together, Yancey and Sabra claim a homestead, and Yancey starts a newspaper. While he doesn't have much of a head for business, Sabra does, and when she takes greater control of the paper, it grows into a profitable and influential journal. Eventually, Yancey becomes a well-recognized figure, and it's suggested that he run for public office. However, Yancey finds himself unable to support legislation that would steal more land and mineral rights away from the Native Americans who first settled the land. Cimarron was previously filmed in 1931; this version reduced the role of stereotyped black characters and has Native American actors playing the "Indians," including Eddie and Dawn Little Sky. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A steamship docks in San Francisco, and as one of the passengers, Philip Dressler (Raymond Bailey), is waiting for a cab after clearing customs, a baggage handler suddenly grabs one of his cases and throws it into a taxi, which takes off. In the ensuing getaway, a police officer is killed, but not before he gets off a shot that takes the fleeing cab driver's life. What Lieutenant Ben Guthrie (Warner Anderson) and Inspector Al Quine (Emile G. Meyer) can't figure out is why two men are suddenly dead within a matter of seconds, all for a seemingly inexplicable baggage snatch. The truth begins to come out when an examination reveals that a small ornamental statue in Dressler's case is loaded with half a million dollars in pure heroin. Then the bodies start turning up -- beginning with a baggage handler at the docks. Guthrie and Quine uncover a plan by a drug syndicate to use innocent, unsuspecting tourists visiting the Far East as unknowing drug couriers -- and now that the original method of retrieval at the docks has unraveled, thanks to the wheelman being an addict who got himself killed, another method is improvised.

Enter a pair of hitmen from out of town, Dancer (Eli Wallach), a soft-spoken psychopath with a perfect memory and not a trace of conscience, and his philosophical mentor and "handler," Julian (Robert Keith). Taken around San Francisco by their mob-employed driver, Sandy McLain (Richard Jaeckel), a juicehead who's not quite as good a wheelman as he thinks he is, the hitmen start collecting the latest shipment of heroin from three new arrivals: a ship's crew member who knows too much for his own good, a wealthy husband and wife, and a woman and her young daughter. They calmly go about their business, Dancer and his silenced pistol taking care of any "problems" while Julian runs interference and discusses issues of grammar and speech with him, and adds to his collection of "last words" from Dancer's victims -- until the last shipment turns up missing. It seems the little girl (Cheryl Callaway) found the bag of white powder hidden on the doll her mother bought her, and used it to powder the doll's face....Now Dancer and Julian have to disrupt the planned drop to "The Man" (Vaughan Taylor) to explain the short count, and to do that they have to keep the little girl and her mother (Mary Laroche) alive, at least long enough to tell their story. Meanwhile, Guthrie and Quine keep getting closer, following the trail of bodies and putting together a description of the two killers. But can they find them before the kidnapped mother and daughter join the other victims? ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The Depression-New Deal subtext of the original 1936 My Man Godfrey was understandably dispensed with in this so-so 1957 remake. David Niven steps into the old William Powell role as hobo-turned-butler Godfrey, while June Allyson does her best in the Carole Lombard part as Irene Bullock, the spoiled, impulsive heiress who brings Godfrey into her zany household. The remake follows the original with reasonable fidelity so far as the basics are concerned, with Godfrey, a wealthy lawyer who dropped out of society after an unhappy romance, rescuing the screwball Bullock family from bankruptcy and self-destruction simply by applying a soupcon of common sense. The supporting cast is able, though not as "perfect" for their roles as their 1936 counterparts: the most interesting bit of casting is Jay Robinson, who rose to fame as Caligula in The Robe, as the parasitic "protégé" originally portrayed by Mischa Auer. In keeping with the custom of the times, My Man Godfrey is fitted out with an opening theme song, written by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke, and performed by Sarah Vaughan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Perhaps the definitive Douglas Sirk production, Written on the Wind is based on the novel by Robert Wilder. The story revolves around the Hadleys, a wealthy but thoroughly debauched family of Texas oil millionaires. Robert Stack is self-destructive alcoholic Kyle Hadley, while Dorothy Malone won an Oscar for her equally vivid potrayal of Kyle's nymphomaniac sister Marylee. Kyle manages to win beautiful, level-headed advertising executive Lucy Moore (Lauren Bacall) away from his best friend, virile Hadley Oil geologist Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson), but Lucy soon comes to regret her decision to marry into the hell-on-earth Hadley family. When Lucy becomes pregnant, Kyle assumes that Mitch is the father, leading to a maelstrom of fever-pitch emotionalism and stark tragedy. Before he quite knows what is happening, Mitch is on trial for murder; the one person who can clear him is the craven Marylee, who demands Mitch's sexual favors as the price for her testimony. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Viewers familiar with the 1996 Mel Gibson blockbuster Ransom may be disappointed that there are no smirking villains, car chases, or bloody fistfights in the original 1956 version of the same story. Even so, the earlier Ransom! has much to offer on a purely dramatic level. Based on the Richard Maibaum-Cyril Hume TV play Fearful Decision, the film stars Glenn Ford as self-made industrialist David Stannard. When his son is kidnapped and held for 500,000 dollars ransom, Stannard at first sets about to cooperate with the abductors and to raise the necessary funds. Somewhere along the line, however, Stannard's outrage erupts and boils over. Buying air time on a local TV station, he pulls out the half-million dollars, then informs the kidnappers that they'll never get their hands on a single penny. He further threatens to use the money as a reward for the kidnappers' capture, dead or alive, should any harm befall his son. Despite the protests of his wife, Edith (Donna Reed), and the admonishments of his friends, family, business associates and even the police, Stannard sticks fast to his decision...but will he live to regret it? The boy's abductors are never seen in Ransom!; instead, the film concentrates on the multitude of ramifications (including a few political ones) stemming from David Stannard's bold stance. As such, the 1956 Ransom! is in its own way as tense and exciting as the more elaborate 1996 remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the gutsiest movie musicals of the 1950s, Love Me or Leave Me is the true story of 1930s torch-singer Ruth Etting, here played by Doris Day. While working in a dime-a-dance joint, Ruth is discovered by Chicago racketeer Martin "The Gimp" Snyder (fascinatingly played with nary a redeeming quality by James Cagney). The smitten Snyder exerts pressure on his show-biz connections, and before long Ruth is a star of nightclubs, stage and films. Ruth continues to string Snyder along to get ahead, but she can't help falling in love with musician Johnny Alderman (Cameron Mitchell). After sinking his fortune into a nightclub for Ruth's benefit, Snyder is rather understandably put out when he finds her in the arms of Alderman. Snyder shoots the musician (but not fatally) and is carted away to prison. Upon his release, Snyder finds that Ruth is still in love with Alderman; he is mollified by her act of largesse in keeping her promise to perform in his nightclub at a fraction of her normal salary. No one comes off particularly nobly in Love Me or Leave Me, even though the still-living Ruth Etting, Martin Snyder and Johnny Alderman were offered full script approval. The fact that we are seeing flesh-and-blood opportunists rather than the usual sugary-sweet MGM musical stick figures naturally makes for a more powerful film. In his autobiography, James Cagney had nothing but praise for his co-star Doris Day, and bemoaned the fact that she would soon turn her back on dramatic roles to star in a series of fluffy domestic comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Young at Heart is a soft-pedaled, musicalized remake of 1938's Four Daughters. Robert Keith takes over the Claude Rains role as paterfamilias to a family of musical prodigies, all girls: Doris Day, Dorothy Malone, Elizabeth Fraser (the fourth daughter was written out of proceedings, no great loss). Keith's new boarder Gig Young, a musical-comedy composer, becomes the three daughters' heart balm, whether he wants to our not. When he gets stuck creatively, Young invites his tempestuous pal Frank Sinatra to help him finish his score. Sinatra essays the old John Garfield role, retaining a generous supply of Garfield's chip-on-shoulder edginess. But whereas Garfield's character dies in Four Daughters, Sinatra survives for a happily-ever-after clinch with Doris Day. Most of the songs heard in Young at Heart were already standards in 1954--with the notable exception of the Johnny Richards-Carolyn Leigh title number, which of course became a part of Frank Sinatra's standard repertoire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"What are you rebelling against?" asks someone. "What've you got?" responds surly, leather-jacketed motorcycle punk Marlon Brando. It comes as a disappointment to discover that The Wild One, the quintessential Brando "rebel" film, is at base a traditional "misunderstood youth vs. the nasty system" effort, with a particularly banal finale. Based on a true incident, the film begins with Brando and his motorcyle gang invading a small town after having been kicked out of a cycle competition (but not before stealing the second-prize trophy). Brando's bikers raise hell all day, but some of the townsfolk are shown to be little better than the invaders. Sheriff Robert Keith, whose daughter (Murphy) has gone fond of Brando, finally responds to the bikers' destructiveness by jailing Lee Marvin, leader of a rival gang. When Marvin's buddies goes on a rampage, Brando exhibits his essential decency by safely escorting the sheriff's daughter out of the melee. The townsfolk misunderstand, assuming that Brando intends to rape the girl. He is attacked by a vigilante mob led by town hothead Ray Teal, who uses this excuse to exercise his own sadistic tendencies. Keith breaks up the mob and suggests that Brando leave; he tries to do so, but another angry response from the mob causes him to inadvertently strike and kill a pedestrian. At the subsequent hearing, the girl rushes to Brando's defense. Though grateful for the unexpected kindness, Brando is constitutionally unable to say "thank you" and rides out of town alone. The image of Marlon Brando astride his Triumph has entered movie folklore, just like King Kong on the Empire State Building or the billow-skirted Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway grating; it's too bad that The Wild One isn't a more worthy vehicle for Brando's talents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A remake of the 1936 Janet Gaynor vehicle of the same name, Small Town Girl stars Jane Powell in the title role. Powell plays Cindy Kimball, daughter of village judge Gordon Kimball (Robert Keith). When wealthy playboy Rick Livingston (Farley Granger) is arrested for speeding, Judge Kimball sentences the arrogant young sprout to 30 days to teach him a lesson. Taking it upon herself to "reform" the prodigal Rick, Cindy tricks him into marriage, and then the fun begins. Ann Miller co-stars as a musical comedy star with whom Rick had planned to elope; her presence in the film is justified by several well-staged Busby Berkeley dance numbers. Also on hand as Jane Powell's hometown sweetheart is Bobby Van, who performs the film's best and most memorable musical setpiece, "Street Dance," in which Van hops around town like a human pogo stick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide