William Lundigan Movies

The oft-used title A Shot in the Dark was affixed in 1941 to this Warner Bros. B-picture. Much of the film takes place in the big-city nightclub owned by shady Phil Richards (Ricardo Cortez). When the prospective buyer of Richards' establishment is murdered, there's no shortage of suspects, but the cops have their money on Richards' jealous sweetheart Clare Winters (Lucia Carroll)-until she's murdered as well. Police reporter Peter Kennedy (William Lundigan) and detective Bill Ryder (Regis Toomey) put their heads together to solve the mystery, with the help (and sometimes hindrance) of pert nightclub singer Dixie Waye (Nan Wynn). A Shot in the Dark is based on a story by Frederick Nebel, creator of the "Torchy Blaine" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When MGM made a program western, it generally looked more expensive than an entire years' sagebrusher output at Monogram or PRC. MGM's Apache Trail stars Lloyd Nolan and William Lundigan as two brothers; Nolan is a bellicose highwayman, Lundigan a genial chap assigned guard duties. The main thrust of the film involves an Apache uprising triggered by the theft of a peace pipe. American-as-Cherry-Pie Donna Reed (who plays Lundigan's paramour) is herein cast as "Rosalia Martinez"! Based on a story by Ernest (Stagecoach) Haycox, Apache Trail was remade as Apache War Smoke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Christmas, 1955 presentation of the CBS anthology Climax! was based on a true story in the lives of the ancestors of co-scenarists Dale and Katherine Eunson. Set in rural Wisconsin in the 1860s, the story begins on a somber note, as both parents of 12-year-old Robbie Eunson (Brandon De Wilde die within a few months of each other. Now the man of the family, Robbie sets about to honor his mother's dying wish, that proper homes be provided for Robbie and his five younger siblings. Thus it is that on Christmas eve, Robbie visits several of his neighbors, offering to give away his brothers and sisters. Joan Evans, actress daugher of the Eunsons, serves as narrator. Adapted from the authors' Cosmopolitan magazine article, "The Day They Gave Babies Away" was later transformed into a theatrical feature film, All Mine to Give (1957); of the TV play's cast, only Stephan Woolton repeated his role (as Jimmie Eunson) in the movie, though Allen Reisner directed both versions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, Madeleine Damien (Hedy Lamarr) is a successful magazine editor with a free-spirited private life, but a number of failed relationships and years of burning the candle at both ends have taken their toll and Madeleine is suicidal and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her psychiatrist, Dr. Caieb (Morris Carnovsky), advises her to find a less stressful and more personally satisfying line of work, so Madeleine leaves the publishing industry and moves to a flat in Greenwich Village, where she pursues a long-standing dream of becoming an artist. Madeleine falls in love with a scientist living in her building, Dr. David Cousins (Dennis O'Keefe), and they plan to marry. However, shortly before they are to wed, David is called out of town and Madeleine decides to visit a nightclub, where she runs into Felix Courtland (John Loder), a jeweler with whom she once had an affair. Felix invites Madeleine back to his apartment, but before long she begins to think better of it and tries to slip out the back before he gets the wrong idea; however, at the same time Jack Garet (William Lundigan), a former employee of Felix, arrives at the front door. Jack stole some jewels from Felix but begs him not to turn him in to the police; a fight breaks out, and Jack kills Felix. Since Madeleine was the last person to be seen with Felix, she is accused of murdering him, and David, not knowing of her stormy personal life before he met her, refuses to have anything to do with her. Hedy Lamarr and John Loder were married when they made this film, though perhaps appropriately given their contentious relationship in Dishonored Lady, they divorced before the year was out. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This colorful musical comedy was obviously inspired by the success of Broadway's South Pacific. Army Captain Bill Willoby (William Lundigan) is ordered to make sure that his men do not fraternize with the girls at a South Sea island base. His mission is forgotten when he himself falls in love with Diana Forrester (Jane Greer), the daughter of a local missionary. The fun begins when a native girl (Mitzi Gaynor) is offered to the captain as a goodwill gift by island chieftain Jilouili(!) Naturally, there's a major breakdown in protocol, quite similar to the one found in John Patrick's 1954 Broadway hit Teahouse of the August Moon. Featured in the cast as a woman-hungry lieutenant is Jack Paar, which is why this film got so much TV play in the 1960s. The incidental songs in Down Among the Sheltering Palms were written by Harold Arlen and Ralph Blane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, set in New York City, two brothers fight it out over a girl. The boys were raised by their Italian mother. The younger brother is adopted and they grow up to pursue very different life directions. The adopted brother goes to college, but the older brother gets involved with crime and ends up going to San Quentin. He is released from prison just as the younger brother graduates. Later the older brother returns home with his girlfriend. It is not long before he is in trouble with the local syndicate. Meanwhile, the girl and the other brother fall in love and decide to marry. The older brother is not amused. Still, when the mob bursts in at the wedding, it is the older brother who keeps them at bay until the ceremony is completed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lieutenant Harry Grant (William Lundigan) and Sgt. Art Collins (Jeff Corey) have been handed the unenviable assignment of tracking down "The Judge," a mysterious serial murderer responsible for seven deaths over the past few months. The police have plenty of clues and forensic evidence, but no solid leads to who this highly resourceful strangler is. Complicating Grant's work is the presence of Ann Gorman (Dorothy Patrick), an ambitious reporter for a sensationalistic crime magazine, who keeps sticking her nose into this case and into his work. In exasperation over The Judge's latest victim, a newspaper editor named McGill (Frank Ferguson), Grant decides to take a novel approach to catching the killer -- he prepares a life-size blank-faced dummy using all the clues the police have, as to height, weight, physique, preferred way of dressing etc., in order to give his officers a clearer picture of who and what they're looking for. The result is creepy but effective, and soon Grant is getting closer to the killer -- but The Judge is insane, and agitated by all manner of outside stimuli, and he might prove too much even for a police detective to deal with in a direct confrontation. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this anti-Japanese WW II propaganda film, Japanese invaders attempt to raid Alaska and are totally obliterated. The trouble begins when a stranger visits a small town and tells them that the U.S. is going to be taken over by a powerful country. The story turns out to be true when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. The town then rises up and slaughters a Japanese raiding party. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this inspiring drama, William Thompson (William Lundigan) is a minister from the deep South who has recently married Mary Elizabeth (Susan Hayward), a woman from the city. William is assigned a new parish and moves with Mary Elizabeth to a small town in Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains, where he tends to the spiritual and emotional needs of his small flock. William's faith and inner strength helps guide the town through a major epidemic, while he must also deal with the troubles of Jenny (Barbara Bates), a woman who loves roughneck Jack (Rory Calhoun) against the will of her father; and Mr. Salter (Alexander Knox), a bitter atheist who resists William's attempts to teach him and his children the message of God's love. I'd Climb the Highest Mountain was adapted from the popular novel by Cora Harris. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Brief and very much to the point, Inferno is a grim, fascinating tale of survival. Breaking his leg on a vacation trip, millionaire Carson (Robert Ryan) is left in the middle of the desert by his wife Geraldine (Rhonda Fleming) and his business partner Joseph Duncan (William Lundigan). Ostensibly, they have driven off to seek medical aid for Carson; in fact, they intend to leave him in the desert to die of thirst and exposure. When the truth of his dilemma is made clear, Carson vows to live long enough to exact revenge against his wife and partner. Virtually a one-man show for the most part, Inferno maintains its level of taut suspense from start to finish -- and what a finish. The first 3D effort from 20th Century-Fox, Inferno was remade for television in 1973 as Ordeal, with Arthur Hill in the Robert Ryan part and Diana Muldaur and James Stacy as his would-be murderers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Legion of Lost Flyers is a typically action-packed entry in Universal's Richard Arlen-Andy Devine series (if one can call a group of thematically unconnected B-pictures a "series"). This time, heroes Loop Gillian (Arlen) and Beff Brumley (Devine) are, respectively, a pilot and mechanic for an Alaskan air freight service. The main plotline concerns Loop's efforts to absolve himself of blame for a recent plane crash in which several civilians were killed. He also finds time to romance heroine Paula (Anne Nagel), whose purpose in the picture is never clearly defined: like Mount Everest, she's simply "there." A pre-stardom Jack Carson plays the obligatory "lucky" pilot whose luck runs out, while Carson's vaudeville partner Dave Willock also plays a supporting role. Comedy-relief eskimo Edith Mills may seem offensive to today's ethnically sensitive viewers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide