Ruta Lee Movies

Based extremely loosely on the Stephen Vincent Benet story Sobbin' Women," Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is one of the best MGM musicals of the 1950s. Most of the story takes place on an Oregon ranch, maintained by Adam Pontabee (Howard Keel) and his six brothers, played by Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall, Mark Platt, Matt Mattox, and Jacques d'Amboise (it is no coincidence that five of those six boys are played by professional dancers). When Adam brings home his new bride Milly (Jane Powell), she is appalled at the brothers' slovenliness and sets about turning these unwashed louts into immaculate gentlemen. During the boisterous barn-raising scene, the brothers get into a scuffle with a group of townsmen over the affection of six comely lasses: Virginia Gibson, Julie Newmeyer (later Newmar), Ruth Kilmonis (later Ruth Lee), Nancy Kilgas, Betty Carr, and Norma Doggett (yep, most of the girls are dancers, too). Yearning to become husbands like their big brother, they ask Adam for advice. Alas, he has been reading a book about the abduction of the Sabine Women (or, as he puts it, the Sobbin' Women); and, in order to claim their gals, Adam explains, the boys must kidnap them--which they do, after blocking off all avenues of escape. Vowing to remain on their best behavior, the boys make no untoward advances towards their reluctant female guests--not even during one of the coldest winters on record. Comes the spring thaw, the angry townsfolk come charging up the mountain, demanding the return of the stolen girls (who, by this time, have "tamed" their men). A happy ending is ultimately had by all in this delightful if politically incorrect concoction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Recently discharged museum curator Lyle Endicott (Darren McGavin) uses a forged letter to gain entry to the home of elderly recluse Martha Cheney (played by Patricia Collinge, who had been prominently featured in Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 movie classic Shadow of a Doubt). A lonely invalid, Martha is kept alive only by her obsession with preventing her prized possession, a priceless vase, from falling into the hands of strangers. Conversely, Lyle wants nothing more out of life than to wrest the vase away from Martha and sell it to a museum for a hefty price. Needless to say, one of these two characters is in for a big disappointment by episode's end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Newly arrived in Heaven, mystery writer Alexander Arlington (John Williams) asks permission from Recording Angel Wilfred (Alan Napier) to return to Earth so that he can find out who murdered him. The list of suspects is formidable indeed, including not only Arlington's faithless wife Carol (a pre-Gunsmoke Amanda Blake), but also his nephew and his secretary. In his efforts to reconstruct the crime, Arlington succeeds only in getting himself bumped off all over again -- and it looks for a while as though he'll never discover "whodunit." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having just recovered from a heart attack, fabled British barrister Sir Wilfred Robards (Charles Laughton) has been ordered by his doctor to give up everything he holds dear-brandy, cigars and especially courtroom cases. Robards' already shaky resolve to follow doctor's orders flies out the window when he takes up the defense of Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), a personable young man accused of murdering a rich old widow. The case becomes something of a sticky wicket when Vole's "loving" German wife Christine (Marlene Dietrich) announces that she's not legally married to Robards' client-and she fully intends to appear as a witness for the prosecution! At the close of this film, a narrator implores the audience not to divulge the ending; we will herein honor that request. A delicious Billy Wilder mixture of humor, intrigue and melodrama, Witness for the Prosecution is distinguished by its hand-picked supporting cast: John Williams as the police inspector, Henry Daniell as Robards' law partner, Una O'Connor as the murder victim's stone-deaf maid, Torin Thatcher as the prosecutor, Ruta Lee as a sobbing courtroom spectator, and Charles Laughton's wife Elsa Lanchester as Robards' ever-chipper nurse (a role especially written for the film, so that Lanchester could look after Laughton on the set). And keep an eye out for that uncredited actress playing the vengeful-and pivotal-cockney. Adapted by Wilder, Harry Kurnitz and Larry Marcus from the play by Agatha Christie, Witness for the Prosecution was remade for television in 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This filmed version of the 1927 George Gershwin Broadway musical Funny Face utilizes the play's original star, Fred Astaire, and several of the original tunes, then goes merrily off on its own. Astaire is cast as as fashion photographer Dick Avery (a character based on Richard Avedon, the film's "visual consultant"), who is sent out by his female boss Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) to find a "new face". It doesn't take Dick long to discover Jo (Audrey Hepburn, who does her own singing), an owlish Greenwich Village bookstore clerk. Acting as Pygmalion to Jo's Galatea, Dick whisks the wide-eyed girl off to Paris and transforms her into the fashion world's hottest model. Along the way, he falls in love with Jo, and works overtime to wean her away from such phony-baloney intellectuals as Professor Emile Flostre (Michel Auclair). The Gershwin tunes include the title song, "S'wonderful", "How Long Has This Been Going On" and "He Loves and She Loves"; among the newer numbers is Kay Thompson's energetic opener "Think Pink". For years available only in washed-out, flat prints, Funny Face was eventually restored to its full Technicolor and VistaVision glory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marjorie Morgenstern (Natalie Wood) is an 18-year-old, middle-class, Jewish girl from New York who wants nothing more than to be an actress, despite the hopes and wishes of her parents (Everett Sloane and Claire Trevor) that she graduate from college, marry, and settle down to have a family. At the urging of her more worldly friend Marsha Zelenko (Carolyn Jones), she takes a job at an upstate camp, and, one night when sneaking onto the grounds of a neighboring resort, meets and falls wildly in love with the entertainment director, Noel Airman (Gene Kelly). A Lothario with a gift of song as well as dance, Airman romances Marjorie and tries to teach her something of theater, suggesting that she change her name to Marjorie Morningstar, which she does. He intends to enjoy her company for the summer, until her aging uncle Samson (Ed Wynn), who is also working at the resort, tells him of the family's concerns for the girl. Noel and Marjorie end up linked romantically, despite their best efforts to stay away from each other. Marjorie gives up a potential romance with a slightly older, successful doctor (Martin Balsam) and resists the honest entreaties of Airman's assistant, Wally Wronken (Martin Milner), and tries to get Airman to straighten up and fly right; she can't get her own acting career off the ground, but she owns Airman's heart. Instead of biding his time at writing a musical that he's been working at for four years, and spending his summers working in the Catskills, Noel tries to work in the advertising world -- he also finds himself just as troubled by the stable family life and religious life that Marjorie comes from as he is attracted to her personally. He is also bitterly disturbed by the fact that his one-time assistant Wally Wronken is now a successful Broadway playwright, the darling of critics and audiences, with backers eager to sign checks to produce his work. Unable to pursue a life in business, or remain faithful to Marjorie, he reaches a crisis point from which only she can rescue him -- together they try to build a life and he tries to finish his long-gestating masterpiece, which proves a disaster when it gets to Broadway. Noel abandons Marjorie, and when she goes to find him, Wally warns her off, explaining that Noel has to return to a place where he can feel successful, like the Catskills resort where they met, where he can be the big fish in the tiny pond. Her marriage over and her girlish ideals behind her, she sees Noel back in his element, wowing young acting students with his skills, and finally turns to the one man who has loved her for precisely who she is all along, Wally. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

While travelling on a stagecoach, Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly) strikes up a conversation with Ann Saunders (Pat Crowley), an Easterner who claims to have come West to meet her cousin. En route, the coach is robbed, and Bart cannot help but notice that Ann seems to be acquainted with one of the masked holdup men. Things get even curiouser when Ann helps the robbers escape from jail, leaving Bart to face the wrath of the authorities. Former cowboy star Don "Red" Barry plays a sheriff in this episode, which was written by western-movie veteran Winston Miller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Released about five weeks before the Adolf Eichmann trial began in Jerusalem on April 11, 1961, this docudrama by director R.G. Springsteen was quickly dashed together to take advantage of the trial, and it shows. Overplaying Eichmann's venality and lacking any depth in characterization, the story unfolds in several large segments. Eichmann (played by Werner Klemperer), as head of Dept. IV, B4 or "Jewish affairs/evacuation affairs, personally ordered, or watched, or supervised the extermination of Jews in Germany and the nations under its occupying forces. These years are shown in the first part of the film; the second half deals with Eichmann's escape from an American POW camp, his four years under cover in Germany, aided by an association of Nazi SS members (ODESSA), his escape in 1950 to Argentina through Italy, and his capture on May 11, 1960. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Nabbed by Andy for an outstanding traffic citation, powerful newspaper mogul J. Howard Jackson (Roy Roberts) vows to get even by having Andy removed from office. Barney unwittingly helps Jackson by providing "evidence" against Andy to girl reporter Jean Boswell (Ruta Lee). When Andy's case is brought to court, it is the shamefaced Barney who saves the day. Written by Jack Elinson and Charles Stewart, "Andy on Trial" originally aired on April 23, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Allied Artists' Gun Hawk puts Rory Calhoun through his usual paces as an aging gunman. Calhoun has pretty much retired from shoot outs, and now runs a small town populated by outlaws. He befriends hotheaded fast gun Rod Lauren, who behaves as impulsively as Calhoun had in his earlier days. When the outlaws turn on Calhoun and shoot him down, the mortally wounded gunslinger tries to goad Lauren into a fight so that he can die with a modicum of dignity. Producer Richard Bernstein co-wrote the screenplay of Gun Hawk from his own story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Kimble (David Janssen) continues his westward journey to California in the company of the redoubtable Sister Veronica (Eileen Heckart). Along the way, the mismatched pair runs afoul of some motorcycle punks, and have another run-in with crooked Chuck Mathis (Albert Salmi), during which they find a new ally in the form of Chuck's sister-in-law Janet (Ruta Lee). Throughout this picaresque adventure, Kimble tries to figure out a way to persuade Sister Veronica from renouncing her vows and turning her back on the Church--while simulatenously avoiding arrest at every turn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A small town in the Midwest goes in big for the folk music craze that followed in the wake of the twist. The thin plot has some romantic interplay between two amorous couple, but mainly the film serves as a showcase for some non-offensive music from the collection of stars. Johnny Cash, Sheb Wooley, The Brothers Four and George Hamilton IV are some of the musical acts featured. Wooley, famous for his novelty tune "Purple People Eater", co-wrote the title song with musical supervisor Fred Karger. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide