Joan Barton Movies

Masterfully directed by Fritz Lang, Scarlet Street is a bleak film in which an ordinary man succumbs first to vice and then to murder. Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson) is a lonely man married to a nagging wife. Painting is the only thing that brings him joy. Cross meets Kitty (Joan Bennett) who, believing him to be a famous painter, begins an affair with him. Encouraged by her lover, con man Johnny Prince (Dan Duryea) Kitty persuades Cross to embezzle money from his employer in order to pay for her lavish apartment. In that apartment, happy for the first time in his life, Cross paints Kitty's picture. Johnny then pretends that Kitty painted to portrait, which has won great critical acclaim. Finally realizing he has been manipulated, Cross kills Kitty, loses his job, and because his name has been stolen by Kitty, is unable to paint. He suffers a mental breakdown as the film ends, haunted by guilt. Kitty and Johnny are two of the most amoral and casual villains in the history of film noir, both like predatory animals completely without conscience. Milton Krasner's photography is excellent in its use of stark black-and-white to convey psychological states. Fritz Lang is unparalleled in his ability to convey the desperation of hapless, naïve victims in a cruelly realistic world. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

In his penultimate musical Western for Columbia, Ken Curtis played Curt Norton, a returning G.I. planning to convert his family's Western radio station into television. Unfortunately, Curt's father Amos (Guy Kibbee) has not been taking proper care of the station. Not only that, but a rival station owned by Eddie Jackson (Robert Stevens) has gained the upper hand in the market, and Eddie himself is dating Curt's former girlfriend Jean (Joan Barton). To recoup his losses and regain his share of the market, Curt arranges a giant auction-cum-hoedown. Eddie answers by hiring an actress, Mimi (Claudia Drake), to impersonate Curt's non-existent French war-bride. Despite the scandal, Curt goes ahead with his plans. Mimi, meanwhile, regrets her actions and confesses all, causing Eddie to receive the beating of his life. The auction is successful and Curt gets his television license. This very minor horse opera flirted dangerously with what would eventually kill the genre, television. Broadcasting, however, was still in its infancy and movie producers were not overly alarmed, yet! Curtis didn't make it as a singing cowboy, but he went on to enjoy a lengthy career as a supporting actor, notably as "Festus" on the long-running television series Gunsmoke. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this musical comedy a young man and woman base their love on lies that eventually manage to come true. Songs include: "It's All In The Mind," "The More We Get Together," "How Can You Tell?" "They Won't Let Me Sing," "Honeymoon On A Dime." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this the final Hopalong Cassidy Western, Hoppy (William Boyd), California Carlson (Andy Clyde), and Lucky Jenkins (Rand Brooks) search for the leaders of a counterfeiting ring after receiving a tip from an anonymous source whose signature is a pencil sketch of a comet. In Silver City, they help Nora Murray (Elaine Riley), her brother Sid (William Leicester), and ailing sister-in-law Mary (Joan Barton) get a room at the inn despite the misgivings of hotel (and town) owner Ora Mordigan (James Craven). The latter, needless to say, is the instigator of the counterfeiting scheme, which he operates from the Silver Belle Mine founded by John Murray (Herbert Rawlinson), Nora and Sid's long-lost father. The old man, an engraver by trade, has been kept a virtual prisoner for years, forced to print fake U.S. and Mexican money for Mordigan and his henchmen. With the assistance of undercover Mexican investigator DeLara (Albert Morin) and "the Comet," a local doctor (Joel Friedkin), Hoppy manages to rescue the old man and capture the entire gang. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

An offbeat 1970s black-comic Western with an all-star cast, this Joseph L. Mankiewicz film is set in 1883 in Arizona. Paris Pitman, Jr. (Kirk Douglas) is the leader of a band of outlaws that steals $500,000 from a wealthy businessman named Lomax (Arthur O'Connell). The other gang members die in a shootout, but Pitman escapes and hides the loot in women's underwear and drops it into a snake pit. After Lomax recognizes Pitman in a brothel, he is arrested by Sheriff Woodward Lopeman (Henry Fonda). At the territorial prison, Pitman bribes Warden Le Goff (Martin Gabel), offering him a share of the hidden money if he lets him escape. But before the scheme is carried through, the warden is killed by a prisoner. Lopeman becomes the new warden, and he is bent on ridding the prison of corruption. Pitman convinces Lopeman that he will cooperate with the reforms, then he uses the new freedoms given to him to plan an elaborate escape with several other men. The escape is to take place during an inspection by the governor. The screenwriting team for this film was Robert Benton and David Newman, who had penned the brilliant Bonnie and Clyde. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide