Marilyn Maxwell Movies

Have you ever longed for the day when James Brown, Martha Raye, and Col. Harland Sanders would appear in a movie together? Well, that's barely the tip of the improbable casting iceberg in this bizarre cold-war spoof. The leaders of the American intelligence organization the S.S.A. ("Super Secret Agency") are becoming increasingly alarmed by the disappearance of a number of B-list celebrities, who are being spirited off to Communist Albania. Eager to bring the fading stars back to the Land of the Free, the S.S.A. come up with a simple plan: They'll find four typical guys in their mid-twenties, have them form a rock group, make them into international stars, and wait until they get invited to play a gig in Albania, which will allow them to find out what's become of Rudy Vallee, Butterfly McQueen, and Huntz Hall, among others. Unemployed philosopher Michael A. Miller, Native-American honor student Ray Chippeway, phys-ed major Dennis Larden, and male model Lonny Stevens are drafted by the S.S.A., and after some intensive training by experts (Trini Lopez shows them a few guitar chords, and Richard Pryor gives them a crash course in soul), they become an overnight sensation as The Phynx (yes, it's pronounced "Finks"). Their album sells 17 million copies on the strength of songs like "What Is Your Sign?," and their groupies have to be cleared away by forklift. But fun and games have to go to the back burner when Albanian ruler Markevitch (George Tobias) and his wife, Ruby (Joan Blondell), invite the Phynx to perform at the behest of their son. Pat O'Brien, Xavier Cugat, Patty Andrews, and Dick Clark are just a few of the other notables who make cameo appearances in The Phynx, which had a very brief theatrical release before being sold to television in the early '70s. Legendary songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller penned the songs performed by The Phynx (and Stoller composed the background score), though for some reason they're not covered nearly as often as "Jailhouse Rock," "Hound Dog," or "Yakkety Yak." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this musical showcase, a married couple leaves the Big Apple for a vacation in Music City. Once in Nashville, the well-to-do duo have car trouble and end up assisted by friendly Marty Robbins who gives them a pair of Opry tickets. Delighted, the two slickers dress up in their finest clothes, believing they are truly in for a night of grand opera. Boy are they surprised when they end up at Rhyman Auditorium dressed to the hilt and sitting amongst over-all clad farmers with their calico-clad wives listening not to soaring sopranos and profound basses, but the nasal twang of some of country music's finest, including Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Marty Robbins and Marilyn Maxwell. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) accepts a lucrative job as ranch supervisor from wealthy Lucy Benson (Marilyn Maxwell). Unfortunately, the story of McCord's alleged cowardice under fire has apparently preceded his arrival, as witness the beating Jason endures from three toughs who order him to get out of town. As it turns out, however, it is Lucy who has sparked the hostility--but how? This is the final episode of Branded's first season, and the last one filmed in black and white. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this remake of Johnny Dark (1954) an ex-GI and college dropout would rather play with cars than anything else until he meets the lovely Eady with whom he falls passionately in love. They get engaged and go to San Francisco where he begins working on building a prototype car for a millionaire. When the arrogant young man ignores the millionaire's advice and destroys the car, he is immediately fired. The young man, determined to make his engine work, manages to scare up enough cash to get his engine back from the millionaire. He then goes on to enter the Tri-State Endurance Race. After it is all over, the young fellow finds that he has become a serious young man. He then marries his girl, and goes back to college. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this comedy, an awkward TV repairman finds himself falling for an actress who doesn't even know he exists and instead marries a dashing Mexican bullfighter. Unfortunately, he dies the day after their wedding; fortunately, he managed to impregnate her. Unfortunately, she is soon supposed to be starring in a religious epic called The White Virgin on the Nile. To help her, the repairman offers to watch her baby after it is born. Unfortunately, she gives birth to triplets. Later he marries the sister of the actress who bears him quintuplets. Some guys have all the luck. Songs include: "In the Land of La La La", "Dormi, Dormi, Dormi", "The White Virgin of the Nile", "Love is a Lonely Thing" and ""Why Can't He Care for Me?"" ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

New York Confidential is based on the Jack Lait-Lee Mortimer bestseller of the same name. Richard Conte plays Nick Magellan, a "torpedo" for Manhattan crime boss Charlie Lupo (Broderick Crawford). Pleased with Magellan's work, Charlie promotes him to the topmost rungs of the Syndicate. He regrets this act of largesse when the powers-that-be demand that Lupo be rubbed out. . .by good old Magellan. The most fascinating aspect of New York Confidential is that there isn't a sympathetic character in the bunch; even Anne Bancroft as Lupo's maladjusted daughter is a bit on the obnoxious side. The original Lait-Mortimer book was later adapted into a 1958 TV series, starring Lee Tracy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Paris Model is quickie producer Albert Zugsmith's answer to such multistoried films as Tales of Manhattan. Linking the four stories presented herein is a Paris-original gown, "Nude at Midnight." The gown is first purchased by "good bad girl" Gogo Montaine (Eva Gabor), who hopes to impress her date for the evening, the Maharajah of Kim-Kepore (Tom Conway, who happened to be Gabor's brother-in-law at the time, a fact that wasn't ignored in the film's publicity). Next, the gown is illegally copied in the U.S., leading to a major social gaffe involving secretary Betty Barnes (Paulette Goddard), her boss Edgar Blevins (Leif Erickson) and Blevins' wife Cora (Gloria Christian). Next, Marion Parmelee (Marilyn Maxwell) wears the gown to coerce her husband's boss (Cecil Kellaway) into giving hubby a promotion. And finally, Marta Jensen (Barbara Lawrence) dons the gown in hopes that her erstwhile beau Charlie Johnson (Robert Hutton) will pop the question. Tom Conway makes a return appearance in this final sequence, as does 1930s comedy favorite El Brendel and Hollywood restaurateur Prince Michael Romanoff. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in Ansco Color (a fancy name for Eastmancolor), New Mexico stars Lew Ayres as Capt. Hunt, a U.S. Cavalry Captain stationed in Indian territory. Sympathetic to the plight of the long-suffering Native Americans, Hunt sets out to sign a peace treaty with the local chief (Ted de Corsia). En route, he rescues saloon girl Cherry (Marilyn Maxwell) from an Indian attack. Cherry remains by Hunt's side when he is forced to defend an Army fortress from the enraged chief, whose son was accidentally killed by a soldier. The supporting cast includes such TV favorites as Raymond Burr, Andy Devine, Verna Felton, and, as President Lincoln, Hans Conreid. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

George Sidney directs this pleasant romantic comedy concerning mayoral love. During a convention of mayors in San Francisco, Clarissa Standish (Loretta Young), the mayor of a small town in Maine, meets Steve Fisk (Clark Gable), the down-to-earth leader of a tiny northern California community. During the rowdy proceedings of the convention, the two find themselves pushed together frequently, with the typical result -- they fall in love. After the convention, the two head back to Steve's town, where crooked local politician Les Taggart (Raymond Burr) is squaring off against Fisk in a mayoral election. With the help of Clarissa, Steve gears up for his reelection bid. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

While far from the only good film on boxing, Champion is perhaps the best drama ever based on the fight game. It is remarkable for a number of things: the unrelenting, grinding logic that leads to the hero's tragic fate; the beautiful cinematography and editing that make it a masterpiece of light and shadow; near-perfect performances by everyone, from Kirk Douglas as Midge Kelly, down to the actor who plays a sleazy small-time ring manager; and the boost it gave to the budding careers of Douglas and others. The basic story has been told many times, but never so powerfully: a poor, ambitious boy accidentally learns that he is a "natural" boxer, and that he might "go all the way." He wins his early fights with ease and, at last, in the big one, he becomes champion of the world. Then rot sets in. He lives it up, deserts his loved ones and best friends, and loses his physical and moral advantages. Near the end -- out of condition, demoralized -- the champion loses (or almost loses) his boxing crown. Finally, he grits his teeth, returns to rigorous training and to people he really likes, and he regains (or holds onto) the championship.

Part of Champion's dramatic superiority is in its brilliant revealing of the boxer through the eyes of other people in his life. There are good guys: Midge's brother Connie (Arthur Kennedy); his tough but honest trainer (Paul Stewart); his wife, Emma (Ruth Roman); and Johnny Dunne, the up-and-coming contender he eventually beats. There are bad guys: the manager who cheats him in his first, amateurish fight; two successive "owners," of the diner where Midge and Connie try to be entrepreneurs and end up as dishwashers; the blonde siren (Marilyn Maxwell) who abandons Johnny Dunne and helps corrupt Midge; and the mob-connected promoter Harris, who gets Midge his championship bout. There are ambiguous in-betweens, like Palmer (Lola Albright) who is Harris' wife, but who loves Midge and is, perhaps, loved in return. Then there is Midge himself. Unlike Charlie in Body and Soul (John Garfield, 1947) or the hero of the Rocky quintuplets (Sylvester Stallone, 1976-1990), Midge is not a basically nice guy who's been led astray. His ambition, arrogance, and stubbornness make him at once villain and hero. These "fatal flaws" contain, as surely as in Macbeth or Othello, the seeds of the champ's ultimate dissolution. Midge is dealt his share of life's unfairness and bad luck. Yet it is not the events themselves, but his bitter, violent responses to each blow that seal his doom. The final irony comes when he makes his comeback. In the last round of the last fight, his most manly virtues -- bull-like strength and stubborn stamina -- bring about both victory and defeat.

Too bad that this wonderful film -- nominated for six Oscars including Best Actor -- won only an Academy Award for Film Editing (Harry Gerstad) and a Golden Globe Award for Best Cinematography (Franz Planer). All the acting performances are superb: Champion was the breakthrough role for Douglas; his Oscar nomination led to many later starring vehicles. Champion also launched the careers of actresses Roman and Albright, and has what is probably Marilyn Maxwell's finest performance as the unforgettable gold digger Grace Diamond. And all that terrific acting certainly implies some credit for director Mark Robson, who went on to do award winners like Bright Victory and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Regardless of what Oscars it won or didn't win, Champion is a landmark film that should be on everyone's must-see list. ~ Michael P. Rogers, Rovi

In this dark crime drama, the trouble begins when a San Francisco bookie attempts to lead an honest life by marrying a comely widow. In preparation for his nuptials, the fellow stays on the straight and narrow, but when he learns that one of his cohorts has been murdered by an East Coast gang that is trying to horn in on West Coast territory, he reenters the underworld. A boyhood friend who became a cop tries to convince him to team up with the police, but the vengeful bookie remains determined to things his way. It proves to be a tragic mistake and shows the bookie that those closest to him are not what they seem. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Previously filmed in 1926 and 1934, George Kelly's venerable stage comedy The Show-Off was dusted off as a Red Skelton vehicle in 1946. Skelton is well cast as Aubrey Piper, an inveterate braggart who sorely annoys the family of his wife Amy (Marilyn Maxwell). All talk but no action, Piper gets Amy's family involved in one foredoomed get-rich-quick scheme after another. Through a fluke, the show-off actually makes good towards the end, but though he realizes that he could never have done so without his wife's help he insists upon blowing his own horn well past the fadeout and "end" credits. Only Skelton's inherent likeability saves Aubrey Piper from being a thoroughly obnoxious blowhard. Featured in the cast of The Show-Off is Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, who is given surprisingly little to do. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lost in a Harem is arguably the best of Abbott & Costello's trio of MGM films; it's certainly the silliest, with any number of nonsensical plot twists and sidesplitting gags. This time, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play Pete and Harvey, two American magicians stranded in a mythical Arabian Nights kingdom with songstress Hazel Moon (Marilyn Maxwell). Our heroes and heroine become involved with the trials and tribulations of Prince Ramo (John Conte), who hopes to rightfully reclaim his throne from his evil usurping uncle Nimativ (Douglas Dumbrille). Alas, the villain is armed with a pair of hypnotic rings with which he forces everyone to do his bidding: his most anti-social act is to kidnap and hypnotize the entire Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra! Pete, Harvey, Ramo and Hazel risk death at every turn to thwart Nimativ, encountering a giant guard (Lock Martin, later to play the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still), a gibbering lunatic (Murray Leonard) and a bevy of harem beauties along the way. The film's sets and costumes, as well as the more elaborate musical numbers, are "borrowed" from the recently completed MGM superproduction Kismet. While the plot is for the birds, Lost in a Harem is saved by the fast-and-furious antics of Abbott and Costello. And as a bonus, this is the film in which Bud and Lou, accompanied by Murray Leonard, perform those deathless burlesque classics "Slowly I Turned" and "Mike's Place." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi