Jimmy Lydon Movies
To help support his large family, American actor Jimmy Lydon was forced along with his eight siblings to seek out work at an early age. The boy began picking up acting jobs, appearing in such plays as Western Waters and The Happiest Days. Lydon's first film was Back Door to Heaven, after which he appeared as the title character of Tom Brown's School Days (1940). The essential seriousness with which he tackled his work may have stemmed from Lydon's dislike of the demeaning audition process and the callous manner in which child actors were treated by many adult directors. When Jackie Cooper balked at continuing the role of Henry Aldrich in a series of Paramount B-pictures, Lydon was assigned to the part, ultimately appearing in nine Henry Aldrich films. The adenoidal, trouble-prone Henry was a hard image for Lydon to shake, but he did his best with polished performances in such films as Strange Illusion (1945) (a bizarre "B"-film based on Hamlet), and Life with Father (1947), in which Lydon was paired with Elizabeth Taylor. Finding film work sparse in the '50s, Lydon began doing commercial voiceovers and acting in television: he played a newlywed in the 1952 daytime serial The First Hundred Years, a benign space alien on the syndicated 1953 sci-fier Rocky Jones: Space Ranger, an actor's agent on So This is Hollywood (1955), and Anne Jeffreys' secretary in the 1958 sitcom Love That Jill. From 1956 onward, Lydon, wearying of the headaches and heartaches of an acting career (though he'd still accept a part if he liked it), began training for production work behind the cameras. He worked on the producer's staff of such series as Wagon Train and 77 Sunset Strip, and on occasion (notably the 1965 TV version of Mister Roberts) directed as well as produced. Lydon also functioned as producer on several films, such as the Sean Connery vehicle Chubasco (1968). Frequently, Lydon used his production clout to secure work for his ailing father-in-law, veteran movie villain Bernard Nedell. But while he was willing to help an older relative, James Lydon, still smarting from losing out on a normal childhood, actively discouraged his children from entering show business -- at least until they were grown up. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 2004
Edgar G. Ulmer was one of the most fascinating figures of Hollywood's Golden Age. While Ulmer directed the occasional big-budget major studio film (most notably The Black Cat starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and The Strange Woman with Hedy Lamarr), Ulmer was a maverick who valued his creative freedom and he most often worked for"Poverty Row studios, most notably PRC, where he was allowed to make films as he pleased as long as they were done fast and cheap. Ulmer made a handful of small masterpieces for the minor league studios, most notably Detour, The Naked Dawn, Bluebeard, and Ruthless, and he also directed several important Yiddish-language films as well as an early all African-American cast musical. However, Ulmer's own version of his life was often dotted with creative embellishment and stories that no one could verify (particularly pertaining to his early career in Germany), and despite his very real degree of ability and influence, much of Ulmer's story remains shrouded in uncertainty. Documentary filmmaker Michael Palm explores both the art and the illusion of this singular artist in Edgar G. Ulmer: The Man Off-Screen, which features interviews with some of Ulmer's more noted admirers (Peter Bogdanovich, Wim Wenders, Joe Dante), actors who worked with him (John Saxon, Ann Savage), and members of his family (Arianné Ulmer Cipes). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1976
- PG
In this exciting adventure, the residents of a remote California community grow tired of having their lives disrupted by growing groups of rowdy oilworkers who have no respect for law and order. In desperation they hire a Vietnam veteran to clean up the town. The ex-fighter brings in a band of other vets and does just that. Unfortunately, the veterans then begin controlling the town until the leader's brother and his friends manage to oust him and restore peace to the sleepy little town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kris Kristofferson, Jan-Michael Vincent, (more)
- 1976
Though there's no love lost between Jim Rockford (James Garner) and fellow ex-convict "Joey Blue Eyes" DiMinna (Michael Ansara), Beth (Gretchen Corbett) persuades Jim to come to Joey's aid when the man is victimized by a crooked corporation. DiMinna owns a small restaurant which the corporation dearly covets, and the powers-that-be are not above extortion and physical violence--mostly directed at Joey's daughter Paulette (Suzanne Charney)--to get what they want. Figuring that it takes a crook to catch a crook, Jim stage-manages an elaborate swindle to foil the villains...with peril-prone Paulette at the center of things again. Appearing as loan shark Bert Striker is James Luisi, who later joined the Rockford Files cast in the role of antagonistic police detective Doug Chapman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
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The third and final TV-movie in the "Joshua Cabe" saga, this ABC effort stars John McIntire as rascally rancher-turned-sheriff Joshua Cabe, a role played by Buddy Ebsen in the original The Daughters of Joshua Cabe) and by Dan Dailey in The Daughters of Joshua Cabe Return. This time out, Cabe is accused of a murder he didn't commit and carted off to jail, there to await hanging. Coming to his rescue are Joshua's "daughters"--actually three unrelated shady ladies named Charity (Liberty Williams), Ada (Renne Jarrett) and Mae (Lezlie Dalton)--who devise a brilliant and thoroughly unbelievable escape plan. The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe aired on May 29, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Ellery Queen (also known as Too Many Suspects) was the 78-minute pilot film for a TV series based on the fictional intellectual author/sleuth created by cousins Frederick Dannay and Manfred Lee. Jim Hutton plays Ellery (the tenth actor to do so on screen!), while David Wayne is his police inspector father. The plot, set in 1947 Manhattan, involves the murder of a fashion model. Fifteen minutes before the fade-out, Ellery turns to the audience, presents the clues, and asks us to solve the murder--a cute if unnecessary trick, since Ellery's got the case all worked out and the killer is no surprise to anyone who's watched TV murder mysteries in the last 25 years (the actor in question has said "I did it!" so often that it's a wonder he can walk the streets without being apprehended). Ellery Queen was a pet project of the TV writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link (of Columbo) fame. After the subsequent Queen TV series expired after a single season, Levinson and Link revived the notion of a murder-solving novelist and changed the gender of the protagonist--and the result was Murder She Wrote. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Former B-western leading man Donald Barry guest stars as Charlie Bishop, an ex-convict who has ended up on skid row. Relaying a message to Officer Pete Malloy (Martin Milner), Charlie begs to sent back to prison--and indicates that he will go to any lengths to land behind bars. Malloy and his partner Jim Reed (Kent McCord) race against time to prevent Charlie from doing something that everyone will regret. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Jim (James Garner) is understandably confused when a woman (Joan Van Ark) identifying herself as Florence Baker hires him to find her--that's right, to find HER! He soon discovers that Florence is actually Barbara Kelbaker, and that she has stolen $50,000 from her live-in lover Ralph Correll (played by a pre-Starsky and Hutch Paul Michael Glaser). This doesn't quite explain why Florence, or Barbara, or whoever has hired Jim--but it does tell more than we want to know about Correll and his sinister motives. Curiously, guest star Joan Van Ark's name is spelled "Van Arc" in the opening credits...a mistake that certainly would not occur in future years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Investigating a missing-child report, officers Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) expose an illegal adopting ring. In another incident, the two cops probe a report of stolen narcotics on a college campus, following the trail of clues to a star football player. And this being Adam-12, the episode is capped by a high-speed car chase. Featured in the cast are two former child stars, Jackie Coogan and James Lydon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
The Old West is just not the same, what with so few cattle being run, and law-abiding folk running around like they own everything. In this family comedy drama, it's too much for John McCanless (Brian Keith). He is a cranky old rancher and former gunslinger who has no intention of selling his beloved acres to some fool who wants to build a dam and flood them all. Going "gently into that good night" is not in the cards at all, and this latter-day Quixote prepares to wage a lonely battle against the namby-pamby modern world. His ranch hand, Paco (Alfonso Arau), an illegal immigrant, and his bemused daughter, Amanda (Michele Carey) do what they can to help. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Keith
- 1969
- PG
Famed anonymous director Alan Smithee (in this case a hybrid of Richard Totten and Don Siegel), directed this turgid western drama concerning Marshal Frank Patch (Richard Widmark), who, even though he has kept the peace in Cottonwood Springs for over twenty years, is now considered a local joke by the town liberals who want some new blood in the Marshall's Office. They get it when Patch shoots the drunken Luke Mills (James Lydon) in self-defense. Now the forces of progress really want Patch out. So much so that the local newspaper editor, Andrew Oxley (Kent Smith) demands his resignation. Patch not only refuses to quit but disgraces Oxley so badly in front of his son Will (Mercer Harris) that Oxley kills himself. Will is now out for blood, but Patch remains stoic, even when his old friend Lou (John Saxon) comes to town to advise him to quit. Patch refuses Lou's suggestion but decides to marry Claire (Lena Horne), the owner of the local saloon and whore house. But an uninvited guest attends the wedding ceremony --Will. And both Will and his gun are loaded. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Lena Horne, (more)
- 1968
When the skeleton of a shooting victim is unearthed by the Feds, Mafia functionary John Duqesne (a pre-superstardom Burt Reynolds) begins to tremble. He's currently trying to beat one murder rap,and now he's faced with charges for another killing ten years earlier. Further worrying Duquesne is the fact that the Mob has ordered the extermination of the one witness who could seal his doom--his ex-wife Irene (Diana Muldaur). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
The title character in this standard comedy about the foibles of military life is Archie Hall (Robert Mitchum), a puffed-up dandy whose strutting personality makes the other privates in a Civilian Pilot Training program absolutely certain he is a spy. They figure him for a multiple-star general, out to entrap a Japanese spy by the unlikely name of Cindy (France Nuyen). A series of enlisted men and officers contribute to the misadventures due to the misunderstanding, including comics like Don Knotts as Captain Little and Louis Nye as Private Sam Beecham. Jack Webb directs, and plays the role of Archie's sidekick. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Jack Webb, (more)
- 1961
After speculating on the possibility that a person can travel back in time and change history, Peter Corrigan (Russell Johnson) bids farewell to his friends and prepares to head home from his club. As he walks through the doors, he is unexpectedly transported from 1961 to 1865. Once he gets his bearings, Corrigan finds himself in a position to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln -- but this "wrinkle in time" turns out to have entirely different results. Scripted by Rod Serling, "Back There" is one of the lesser offerings of Twilight Zone's 1960-61 season, though it does boast an excellent musical score by Jerry Goldsmith, which would remain in the standard TV stock-music repertoire throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The episode first aired January 13, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Johnson, Bartlett Robinson, (more)
- 1960
A curious "gimmick" movie in the William Castle tradition (though not itself a Castle project), screenings of this film featured a hokey but creative "Hypno-Magic" process allegedly designed to hypnotize the theater audience. The otherwise mundane psycho-thriller plot features Jacques Bergerac as stage mesmerist "The Great Desmond," whose act includes hypnotizing entire audiences into performing rather dull Simon-says maneuvers and such. The real trick, it turns out, involves Desmond's Svengali-like seduction of his more comely female patrons -- most of which end up horribly disfigured the next morning, the victims of apparent self-mutilation. Thanks to several scenes hinting at the obvious hatred Desmond's wife and assistant, Justine (Allison Hayes), harbors toward her husband's pretty subjects, there's not much of a mystery here. Nevertheless, the police are baffled, leading one victim's best friend to set herself up as bait and trap the guilty party -- whose secret is revealed in the "shocking" climax. The Hypno-Magic gimmick, though certainly ineffective, provides some of the film's more hilarious diversions, and thoroughly disarms any potential for suspense. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Bergerac, Merry Anders, (more)
In this romantic melodrama, a light-skinned black woman abandons her family to pretend that she is white. She soon marries a white wealthy man, but does not tell him the truth. Eventually the pressures caused by her deception cause her to breakdown. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sonya Wilde, James Franciscus, (more)
- 1959
Developing a hankerin' for Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly), wealthy young widow Belle Morgan (Julie Adams) arranges it so Bart can participate in a big-time poker game. Emerging victorious, Bart finds himself the proud owner of the Brasada railroad spur. Unfortunately, the "prize" soon turns out to be far more trouble than it's worth--and Bart once again faces a quick and ignominious demise. Featured in the cast is actor-producer James Lydon, best known for his portrayal of goofy teenager Henry Aldrich in a series of popular B-movies of the 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
In this crime thriller a young woman marries a wealthy vintner. Soon afterward, she falls in love with a handsome rodeo rider whom she sees every time her husband is away. One night, her mother-in-law spots a burglar outside the house and reports it to the police. The conniving wife sees a window of opportunity and plots the death of her husband, hoping to blame it on the burglar. Unfortunately, she accidentally murders her husband's friend. Fortunately, she is able to con her husband into taking the rap with the promise that he will be acquitted. During the trial, she lies and he is put away. Later she gets hers when her mother-in-law is poisoned and she is convicted of the crime. The irony of it all is that the wife is innocent of that crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, Diana Dors, (more)
- 1957
Former "Henry Aldrich" James Lydon is cast against type as a mean-spirited reform school alumnus in Chain of Evidence. Despite the boy's volatile temper, police lieutenant Bill Elliot is convinced that Lydon is a good kid underneath. Elliot's faith in his fellow man is sorely tested when Lydon is accused of murdering businessman Hugh Sanders at the urging of Sanders' craven wife Tina Carver. With the help of Lydon's girlfriend Claudia Barrett, Elliot follows the chain of evidence in hopes of proving the boy's innocence. This Allied Artists programmer was originally released on a double bill with Dragoon Wells Massacre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Haggerty
- 1956
Produced by low-budget maven Bryan Foy, Battle Stations is a standard wartime melodrama with the usual assortment of cliches. John Lund plays Father Joe McIntyre, who is assigned as chaplain of an Essex-class aircraft carrier. Father Joe finds himself in conflict with the carrier's Captain (Richard Boone), a strict disciplinarian with little room for compassion. Among the chaplain's allies on board are tough-but-tender chief bos'un Buck Fitzpatrick (William Bendix), hotheaded sailor Chris Jordan (Keefe Brasselle), and young pilot Pete Kelly (William Leslie), whose doom is assured the moment he learns that he's about to become a father. The economies in Battle Stations extend to its opening-credit music, which has been lifted bodily from Max Steiner's score for The Caine Mutiny. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lund, William Bendix, (more)
- 1954
The third of four Wayne Morris B-westerns for Allied Artists, Desperado casts Morris as fugitive gunman Sam Garrett. The early reels are devoted to Tall Cameron (James Lydon) and Ray Novac (Rayford Barnes), who run afoul of the post-Civil War Texas State Police, as represented by sadistic Captain Thornton (Nestor Paiva). Escaping Thornton's wrath, Tall and Ray meet Garrett, who becomes Tall's friend and advisor when Ray proves to be a louse. Seeking revenge, Ray kills Thornton and frames Tall for the crime. Sympathetic sheriff Jim Langley (Dabbs Greer) joins forces with "friendly enemy" Garrett to clear Tall and mete out just desserts to Ray. Beverly Garland costars as a more resourceful heroine than one usually finds in westerns of this nature. Though hamstrung by a low budget, Desperado is an intellingently written, well-paced endeavor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wayne Morris, Jimmy Lydon, (more)
- 1954
In this low-budget but nostalgic sci-fi movie based on an early live television show about space cadets, courageous Rocky takes on those villains who would destroy the United Solar System. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1953
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Rocky Jones, Space Ranger was an action/adventure television show of the early '50s that followed the trials and tribulations of Rocky Jones, a pilot who flew the spaceship Orbit Jet for the United Worlds. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
During World War II, a Military Air Transport Command DC-3 piloted by a civilian crew is forced down in northern Labrador. The five men, led by Dooley (John Wayne), have barely any food and almost no way to keep warm, and their power supply is fading fast, but they have to find a way of staying alive until search planes find them. At first, even Dooley is overwhelmed by the responsibility for his crew's safety, and he is too lax in handling them -- but after one man dies, frozen to death just steps from help, he takes over and pushes his men and himself to the limits of their endurance; he even seems ready to crack himself at one moment. Meanwhile, the men who fly with Dooley push themselves and their machines past their endurance limits searching the arctic wastes for the downed plane. Island in the Sky -- based on the book by Ernest K. Gann (perhaps the best aviation novel ever written), which was, in turn, based on a true incident that happened during the war -- is one of the most startling movies in Wayne's output. He doesn't even look like the "star" John Wayne, but like a real pilot, and the cast, made up of familiar faces, all look like the real article; indeed, this movie should have been in the running for Academy Awards for costuming and makeup, just for making these familiar performers, such as Lloyd Nolan (in maybe his best performance) and Andy Devine (ditto), look like real pilots and ordinary men, rather than familiar actors. You end up feeling like you're watching a documentary, and the effect is bracing and unsettling, and dramatically unparalleled in Wayne's entire output. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Lloyd Nolan, (more)
