Raymond Massey Movies
As one of several sons of the owner of Toronto's Massey/Harris Agricultural Implement Company, Raymond Massey was expected to distinguish himself in business or politics or both (indeed, one of Raymond's brothers, Vincent Massey, later became Governor General of Canada). But after graduating form Oxford University, Massey defied his family's wishes and became an actor. He made his first stage appearance in a British production of Eugene O'Neill's In the Zone in 1922. By 1930, Massey was firmly established as one of the finest classical actors on the British stage; that same year he came to Broadway to play the title role in Hamlet.In 1931, Massey starred in his first talking picture, The Speckled Band, portraying Sherlock Holmes. One year later, he was co-starred with Charles Laughton, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Stuart and Ernst Thesiger in his first Hollywood film, the classic The Old Dark House (1932). Returning to England, Massey continued dividing his time between stage and screen, offering excellent performances in such major motion-picture efforts as The Scarlet Pimpernal (1935) and Things to Come (1936). In 1938, he was cast in his most famous role: Abraham Lincoln, in Robert E. Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway production Abe Lincoln in Illinois. Massey repeated his Lincoln characterization in the 1940 film version of the Sherwood play, and 22 years later played a cameo as Honest Abe in How the West Was Won (1962).
Refusing to allow himself to be pigeonholed as Lincoln, Massey played the controversial abolitionist John Brown in both Santa Fe Trail (1940) and Seven Angry Men (1955), and gave an effectively straight-faced comic performance as mass murderer Jonathan Brewster (a role originally written for Boris Karloff) in Frank Capra's riotous 1941 filmization of Arsenic And Old Lace. Though he would portray a wisecracking AWOL Canadian soldier in 1941's 49th Parallel and a steely-eyed Nazi officer in 1943's Desperate Journey, Massey served valiantly in the Canadian Army in both World Wars.
On television, Massey played "Anton the Spymaster", the host of the 1955 syndicated anthology I Spy; and, more memorably, portrayed Dr. Gillespie in the 1960s weekly Dr. Kildare. An inveterate raconteur, Massey wrote two witty autobiographies, When I Was Young and A Thousand Lives (neither of which hinted at his legendary on-set contentiousness). Married three times, Raymond Massey was the father of actors Daniel and Anne Massey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
In this sequel to the highly popular 1972 TV movie All My Darling Daughters, it has been one year since the four grown daughter of widowed judge Charles Raleigh (Robert Young) were married on the very same day. Now it is the Judge's turn to march down the aisle with his new old sweetheart, Maggie Cartwright (Ruth Hussey, who had previously costarred with Young in the 1942 film H.M. Pulham, Esq.) Unable to pin down his peripatetic daughters (or the husbands) to announce the good news, Raleigh states his intentions toward Maggie in his "happy anniversary" cards to his offspring. Upon learning that their dear daddy is going to take the matrimonial plunge, daughters Susan (Darlene Carr), Robin (Judy Strangis), Jennifer (Sharon Gless) and Charlotte (Lara Parker) are at first delighted, but then begin to fret over the possibility that Maggie won't be quite "good enough" for the jovial Judge. Raymond Massey makes his final film appearance in the role of Matthew Cunningham. My Darling Daughters' Anniversary debuted November 7, 1973, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Originally titled My Darling Daughters' Anniversary, this TV movie was the sequel to the popular 1972 presentation All My Darling Daughters. Robert Young returns as Judge Charles Raleigh, who in the first film managed to survive the same-day marriages of all four of his daughters. This time around, it's the widowed Raleigh himself who's bitten by the love bug. When he announces his intention to remarry (to Ruth Hussey), his four offspring are rather taken aback. The Raleigh daughters are played by Darlene Carr, Judy Strangis, Sharon Gless, and Lara Parker, while the supporting cast is dotted with such veterans as Raymond Massey, Anna Lee, Ben Wright, and Lois January. Intended as the pilot for a weekly series, My Darling Daughters' Anniversary debuted November 7, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Robert Young stars as Judge Charles Raleigh in the made-for-television All My Darling Daughters. The Judge happens to have four daughters, played by Darleen Carr, Judy Strangis, Sharon Gless, and Fawne Harriman (what did all the detective shows and sitcoms do for ingenues while these four ladies were tied up in this film?) And, as the fates would have it, all four daughters plan to get married on the same day! Screenwriter John Gay and David Lowell Rich, two of the most prolific TV-movie artisans in Hollywood, managed to maintain audience interest despite the story's inbuilt cliches. Originally telecast November 22, 1972, All My Darling Daughters was followed by a TV-pilot sequel, All My Darling Daughters' Anniversary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
A crisis ensues when Air Force One crashes while on a flight out west, apparently killing all those aboard, including President Jeremy Haines (Tod Andrews). The United States is in the midst of a confrontation with China that could lead to a nuclear war between the two countries, and the government is now in the hands of Vice President Kermit Madigan (Buddy Ebsen), a not too intelligent or sophisticated man, who was deliberately kept out of the loop. His confidence on foreign policy issues virtually nil, Madigan seeks to carry out Haines's intended policy in confronting the Chinese but gets two completely different accounts of what that policy was to be. Secretary of State Freeman Sharkey (Raymond Massey), a career diplomat, claims that Haines was pursuing firm but peaceful containment of the problem, while National Security advisor George Oldenburg (Rip Torn) says that Haines was ready to go eyeball-to-eyeball with the Chinese and go to war if necessary -- and Oldenburg quickly picks up on how to gain Madigan's confidence. As if Madigan doesn't have enough problems, the stunned Washington community cannot help but openly doubt his competence, while his ambitious wife (Mercedes McCambridge) sees this unfolding tragedy as a way for herself and her husband to finally get some respect and settle a few scores with those who belittled the Second Couple. Even more troubling, as the search teams comb the wreckage, another mystery ensues -- they can't seem to find the president's body. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Filmed in panoramic Cinerama, this star-studded, epic Western adventure is a true cinematic classic. Three legendary directors (Henry Hathaway, John Ford, and George Marshall) combine their skills to tell the story of three families and their travels from the Erie Canal to California between 1839 and 1889. Spencer Tracy narrates the film, which cost an estimated 15 million dollars to complete. In the first segment, "The Rivers," pioneer Zebulon Prescott (Karl Malden) sets out to settle in the West with his wife (Agnes Moorehead) and their four children. Along with other settlers and river pirates, they run into mountain man Linus Rawlings (James Stewart), who sells animal hides. The Prescotts try to raft down the Ohio River in a raft, but only daughters Lilith (Debbie Reynolds) and Eve (Carroll Baker) survive. Eve and Linus get married, while Lilith continues on. In the second segment, "The Plains," Lilith ends up singing in a saloon in St. Louis, but she really wants to head west in a wagon train led by Roger Morgan (Robert Preston). Along the way, she's accompanied by the roguish gambler Cleve Van Valen (Gregory Peck), who claims he can protect her. After he saves her life during an Indian attack, they get married and move to San Francisco. In the third segment, "The Civil War," Eve and Linus' son, Zeb (George Peppard), fights for the Union. After he's forced to kill his Confederate friend, he returns home and gives the family farm to his brother. In the fourth segment, "The Railroads," Zeb fights with his railroad boss (Richard Widmark), who wants to cut straight through Indian territory. Zeb's co-worker Jethro (Henry Fonda) refuses to cut through the land, so he quits and moves to the mountains. After the railway camp is destroyed, Zeb heads for the mountains to visit him. In the fifth segment, "The Outlaws," Lilith is an old widow traveling from California to Arizona to stay with her nephew Zeb on his ranch. However, he has to fight a gang of desperadoes first. How the West Was Won garnered three Oscars, for screenplay, film editing, and sound production. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1961
Something of a variant on the American western where colonialists face off with Native Americans, The Fiercest Heart by George Sherman is set in 1837 and focuses on a group of Boers (Dutch colonialists in South Africa) and their enemies, the Zulus. Similar to the former portrayals of Native Americans, the Zulus are the bad guys. Bates (Stuart Whitman) has escaped from a British prison and joins a group of Boers migrating to farming lands further north. Francina (Juliet Prowse) is the most sought-after woman in the group, and Bates cannot help but notice her. As the band of farmers continue in their journey, the ragged, rugged, untamed Bates starts to learn how to behave and leads his newfound friends in their defensive battles against the aggressive Zulus. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Whitman, Juliet Prowse, (more)
- 1961
The Great Impostor is the true story of chameleonlike Canadian Ferdinand Waldo DeMara Jr., well-played by Tony Curtis. Unable to decide what he wants to do with his life, DeMara goes about pretending to be other people, hoping to eventually "find himself." He poses as a Harvard professor, a Trappist monk, a prison warden, and a navy physician, and manages each time to get away with the artifice. The film wavers uncertainly between tense drama and frothy comedy, with comedy finally winning out. Karl Malden co-stars as Father Devlin, the young DeMara's spiritual advisor, while Joan Blackman is the nominal (and hardly visible) heroine. The real Ferdinand DeMara (if indeed there was a real Ferdinand DeMara) can be seen in a supporting role in the 1960 melodrama The Hypnotic Eye. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1958
The ever-mounting Civil Rights movement of 1958 prompted entrepreneurs Jules B. Weill and Carroll L. Puciato to reissue the 1926 screen version of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Narrated by Raymond Massey, who also appears in a newly filmed prologue, the 32-year-old production is presented fairly intact. Unfortunately, audiences of the late 1950s, primed to laugh derisively at silent movies, were underwhelmed by the old film, which though admittedly no classic was certainly better than most adaptations of the Stowe original. George Siegmann steals the show as the libidinous, tobacco-stained Simon Legree; Virginia Grey (then a mere child) is an effective Little Eva; Margarita Fisher is effective, though a shade too mature, as Eliza; and Noble Johnson is a tower of strength as Uncle Tom. The film follows the Stowe novel with off-and-on fidelity; after all, that Eliza-crossing-the-ice bit originated not with Stowe but with the original stage presentations of Uncle Tom's Cabin, a staple of travelling shows and repertory companies throughout the end of the 19th century. One question: if this reissue of Uncle Tom's Cabin was really meant to reflect an enlightened view of race relations in the late 1950s, as the publicity alleged, how did Weill and Puciato explain away the fact that mischievous slave Topsy was played by Mona Ray, a white actress in blackface? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Despite an ad campaign wherein RKO Radio congratulated itself for its "guts", this long-delayed film version of Norman Mailer's bestselling WW2 novel The Naked and the Dead still had to pull most of its punches (especially when it came to four-letter words). Aldo Ray heads the cast as sadistic sergeant Croft, who'd as soon kill one of his own men as he would the Japanese. Sensitive, moralistic Lieutenant Hearn (Cliff Robertson) tries to put a leash on Croft, but he's ordered to keep out of the situation by psychotic General Cummings (Raymond Massey), who is convinced that soldiers will fight harder the more they hate their superiors. The film wavers uncomfortably between excessive violence and excessive moralizing, with time out for a few ill-conceived slapstick setpieces (including an outsized barroom brawl) and romantic interludes with such zaftig beauties as stripteaser Lili (Lili St. Cyr) and good-time girl Mildred (Barbara Nichols). In one of his first film appearances, comedian Joey Bishop plays Pvt. Roth, whose reaction to Sgt. Croft's relentless anti-semitism culminates in a spectacular death scene. Distribution of The Naked and the Dead was taken over from the failing RKO Radio operation by Warner Bros., who also changed the name of the film's widescreen process from SuperScope to WarnerScope. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aldo Ray, Cliff Robertson, (more)
- 1957
Frank Freeman Jr., son of the longtime head of Paramount Pictures, made his debut as producer with the opulent but empty Omar Khayyam. Cornel Wilde stars as the legendary Persian poet, here depicted as not only a philosopher but a scientist, politician and great lover. As the Persians gear up for war against the Byzantines, Omar occupies his time by romancing Sharain (Debra Paget), the favorite wife of the Shah (Raymond Massey). He also does his best to foil a plan by Hasani (Michael Rennie), leader of the Cult of Assassins, to murder the royal family. While many of the characters and events are based on fact, it is difficult to believe the story or the dialogue for more than ten minutes at a stretch. Singer Yma Sumac, then famous for her four-and-a-half octave vocal range, is somehow woven into the proceedings. When Omar Khayyam laid an egg at the box-office, a Hollywood wit, taking into consideration the Southern heritage of Frank Freeman Jr., assessed the results as "A loaf of bread, a bottle of coke and you-all." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cornel Wilde, Michael Rennie, (more)
- 1956
This 71-minute documentary is a celebration of photographers and photography. No mere dry treatise, the film endeavors to convey the fun and enjoyment of photography to the uninitiated. Filmmaker Clyde Stoumen achieves the near-impossible by bringing still pictures to "life" through the utilization of a process he described as "photographic animation," far better seen than described. In addition, Stoumen offers generous vignettes from Willard Van Dyke's similarly-themed documentary The Photographer. The Naked Eye was narrated by Raymond Massey, with music provided by Elmer Bernstein. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This truncated screen version of John Steinbeck's best-seller was the first starring vehicle for explosive 1950s screen personality James Dean, who plays Cal Trask, the "bad" son of taciturn Salinas valley lettuce farmer Adam Trask (Raymond Massey). Although he means well, Cal can't stay out of trouble, nor is he able to match the esteem in which his father holds his "good" brother Aron (Richard Davalos). Only Aron's girlfriend Abra (Julie Harris) and kindly old sheriff Sam Burl Ives) can see the essential goodness in the troublesome Cal.
When Adam invests in a chancy and wholly unsuccessful method of shipping his crops east, his wealth plummets. In an effort to save the business, Cal obtains money from his estranged mother (the proprietor of a whorehouse) and invests it in a risky new bean crop. The gamble pays off (thanks in no small part to the war), but Adam refuses to take the money from Cal, and the resultant quarrel causes Adam to have a stroke. Released the same year as Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden provided Dean with his first Oscar nomination, for Best Actor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When Adam invests in a chancy and wholly unsuccessful method of shipping his crops east, his wealth plummets. In an effort to save the business, Cal obtains money from his estranged mother (the proprietor of a whorehouse) and invests it in a risky new bean crop. The gamble pays off (thanks in no small part to the war), but Adam refuses to take the money from Cal, and the resultant quarrel causes Adam to have a stroke. Released the same year as Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden provided Dean with his first Oscar nomination, for Best Actor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Harris, James Dean, (more)
Adapted by Leon Uris from his own novel, the film follows a group of World War II marines, from Basic Training to Battlefield. Major Van Heflin knows that his men are spoiling for a real fight, but must make do with the desultory skirmishes assigned them by the Brass. All this changes with an onslaught of heavy-duty battling in the South Pacific. Aldo Ray plays a tough leatherneck who falls in love with demure Nancy Olson, while James Whitmore, Tab Hunter, Dorothy Malone and Raymond Massey costar. And watch for young Justus McQueen, cast as private L.Q. Jones; McQueen liked his character name so much that he adopted it as his professional cognomen. Composer Max Steiner's musical score earned him an Oscar nomination. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, (more)
- 1955
In Seven Angry Men, Raymond Massey stars as controversial 19th-century abolitionist John Brown, a role he'd previously essayed in 1940's Santa Fe Trail. Without glossing over Brown's murderous fanaticism and cold-bloodedness, the film manages to invoke a degree of sympathy for the man, whose intentions were honorable even if his methods were not. After cutting a bloody swath through Kansas, Brown and his followers hole up in a warehouse at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, where he meets his own personal Waterloo at the hands of federal troops. The romantic subplot is handled by Jeffrey Hunter, cast as Brown's son Owen, and Debra Paget as Owen's sweetheart Elizabeth. James Edwards offers another strong characterization as an articulate freed slave who follows John Brown to his doom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Massey, Dennis Weaver, (more)
- 1955
Opening with elaborate preparations for the Queen of England's birthday, The Queen's Guards introduces the audience via voiceover to John Fellowes, a young captain overseeing the participation of the Grenadier Guards in the celebratory parade. A series of flashbacks follow, which fill the viewer in on John's difficult past: a crippled father who is a former Guardsman himself and maintains an obsessive interest with the Guards; a dead brother (also a Guardsman) to whom John is constantly (and unfavorably) compared by his father; and difficulties encountered during his military training when he learns his brother died a coward and caused the death or injury of many of his colleagues (including the father of a girl in whom John has a romantic interest.) Eventually, John is placed in charge of a military operation that has many parallels to the ill-fated one led by his brother, putting him in the position to either repeat his brother's mistakes or atone for them and thereby restore the family's honor. The film mixes shot of actors portraying Guards with footage of actual Guardsmen and soldiers on parade and in action, and also includes some location shots of Battersea Bridge and the Prospect of Whitby. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Massey, Raymond Massey, (more)
- 1955
Screenwriter Philip Dunne doubled as director on the elaborate filmed biography Prince of Players. Richard Burton stars as the eminent American tragedian Edwin Booth, whose life and career is thrown into turmoil after his younger brother John Wilkes Booth (John Derek) assassinates Abraham Lincoln. The film begins as the younger Edwin assists his alcoholic, ailing father Junius Brutus Booth (Raymond Massey) during a tour of the American hinterlands. When Junius dies just before a performance, Edwin goes on in his stead, thereby launching his own starring career. In danger of becoming as much of a drunk and carouser as his father, Edwin eventually pulls himself together, but his brother's act of violence turns the audience against the name of Booth. Almost booed offstage during a performance of Hamlet, Edwin stands his ground, finally earning the respect of his rowdy audience. Not exactly packed with fast action, Prince of Players will appeal most to lovers of theater in general and Shakespeare in particular. Highlight: Richard Burton and Eva LeGalleine performing the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet in the courtyard of a brothel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Burton, Maggie McNamara, (more)
- 1953
The Desert Song is the third film version of the famous Sigmund Romberg/Oscar Hammerstein Jr. stage operetta. Gordon MacRae plays the wimpish American tutor of lovely Kathryn Grayson, the daughter of a military officer stationed in Arabia. Under cover of night, MacRae assumes the identity of the Red Shadow, head of the Riffs, who fights against the oppression of a cruel local potentate (Raymond Massey). Circumstances force MacRae to kidnap Grayson and spirit her away to his desert headquarters, where she eventually sees the wisdom of his mission and falls in love with him. With Grayson's help, the Red Shadow thwarts Massey's plans to massacre all "foreigners" living in his domain. The story was old-fashioned even when Desert Song was first produced in the 1920s, but the songs, including One Alone, The Riff Song and the title tune, still retain their audience appeal. The only serious detriment to the 1953 Desert Song is the comedy relief of Dick Wesson as a wisecracking American reporter, a wearisome carryover from the stage original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathryn Grayson, Gordon MacRae, (more)
- 1952
When a final tally is made, it may turn out that Andre De Toth directed as many superior Randolph Scott westerns as the more celebrated Budd Boetticher. In De Toth's Carson City, Scott is cast as a railroad construction engineer known only as Silent Jeff. His plans to build a railroad line between Nevada's Carson City and Virginia City are met with hostility by the locals, who feel that where there are trains, there are bandits. Sure enough, a criminal gang headed by Big Jack Davis (Raymond Massey) and Jim Squires (James Millican) begins drawing up plans to plunder Carson City. When Silent Jeff vows to get rid of the town's criminal element, the villains frame him on a murder charge. The climax is one of the best of its kind, with Silent Jeff forced to contend with both a landslide and a big-scale gold bullion heist. Lucille Norman plays the heroine, whose attentions are torn between Silent Jeff and second lead Richard Webb (later TV' s Captain Midnight). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Lucille Norman, (more)
- 1951
Randolph Scott stars as a former Confederate Army officer known only as "Sugarfoot." Hoping to start life anew in Arizona, Sugarfoot manages to incur the wrath of territorial bigwigs Jacob Stint (Raymond Massey) and Asa Goodhue (Hugh Sanders), who've carried a grudge against him since the Civil War. Fortunately he also gets on the good side of saloon-hall singer Reva Cairn (Adele Jergens), which if nothing else affords him comfort during the plot's darker moments. Somewhere along the way, Sugarfoot loses Reva's affections, and nearly loses his life to Stint and Goodhue's hired guns. The aggressively mittel-European S.Z. Sakall is featured in the cast as a local merchant named Don Miguel. Based on a novel by Clarence Buddington Kelland, Sugarfoot was renamed Swirl of Glory when released to television, to avoid confusion with the TV series Sugarfoot--which, in turn, was based on the 1954 feature Boy From Oklahoma. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Adele Jergens, (more)
- 1951
James Cagney plays a once great newspaper reporter ruined by liquor. Thanks to the help of reformed alcoholic James Gleason, Cagney pulls himself out of the gutter and restores his journalistic reputation. Because of his own redemption, Cagney is asked by his editor to straighten out the editor's nephew (Gig Young), a drunken wastrel. The task is made dicey by the fact that the nephew's wife (Phyllis Thaxter) is Cagney's former girlfriend. The nephew's involvement in gangsters results in the death of Cagney's old friend Gleason, but Cagney swallows his rage, vanquishes the crooks, and puts the nephew on the right track. Come Fill the Cup was a little too melodramatic to succeed as an anti-alcohol tract, but it was well acted throughout, especially by Gig Young, who received an Oscar nomination for his efforts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Phyllis Thaxter, (more)
David and Bathsheba is a respectable, slightly stodgy cinematic adaptation of the Old Testament story. King David (Gregory Peck), much beloved by his subjects and a war hero of long standing, falls victim to the sins of the flesh when he falls in love with Bathsheba (Susan Hayward), the wife of Uriah (Kieron Moore), one of David's most trusted soldiers. His downfall begins when David orders Uriah into a suicidal battle, knowing that this will clear the way for his relationship with Bathsheba. His infatuation leads him to neglect his kingdom and his people, and invokes the wrath of God. Only after his land has been devastated by God's hand does David offer atonement. The film's lavish production values compensate ever so slightly for the long-winded script. David and Bathsheba was the last major "flat-screen" Biblical epic; it was filmed in 1951 B.C. -- Before Cinemascope. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, (more)
