Anne Baxter Movies

As indicated by the title, 20 Mule Team is all about pioneering borax miners in territorial Arizona. Wallace Beery goes through his usual paces as Skinner Bill Bragg, a fugitive from justice who forms an uneasy alliance with slick outlaw Stag Roper (Douglas Fowley). The two scoundrels plot to jump a valuable borax claim in Death Valley, but Bragg changes his minds when Roper begins to have unsavory designs on virginal heroine Jean Johnson (Anne Baxter, in her film debut). Ever on the prowl for a new Wallace Beery-Marie Dressler screen team, MGM pairs up Beery with Marjorie Rambeau this time out, with mixed results. 20 Mule Team was originally released in Sepiatone, a tinting process MGM had previously utilized in the "Kansas" scenes of The Wizard of Oz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Ticket to Tomahawk has sometimes been described as a musical western satire, but in fact is more "straight" western than anything else--not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. Dan Dailey plays a travelling medicine show entrepreneur who comes to the aid of fast-shootin' Anne Baxter, daughter of a railroad man. Stagecoach line representative Rory Calhoun is doing everything he can to prevent a new train service from winning a Colorado territory franchise. The whole affair boils down to a race between the train and Calhoun's coaches. The film's never-take-a-breath action scenes are played out against some of the most gorgeous Colorado scenery ever captured on Technicolor. A Ticket to Tomahawk has achieved latter-day fame due to the unbilled presence of Marilyn Monroe as one of Dan Dailey's chorus gals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, Paul Muni plays a recently murdered gangster who finds himself roasting in Hell. Muni can't believe that he's in for All Eternity and keeps trying to "bust out," which brings him to the attention of the Head Man (Claude Rains), who calls himself Nick. Nick strikes a bargain with Muni: There's a troublesome honest judge on Earth who's been shipping too many souls to Hell; if Muni will take over the judge's body and begin performing bad deeds, Nick will set him free. Muni readily agrees, eager to settle the score with the ex-partner (Hardie Albright) who bumped him off. Once he "becomes" the judge, however, Muni discovers that he is utterly incapable of performing any misdeeds--and when he falls in love with the judge's fiancee (Anne Baxter), Muni becomes determined to wriggle out of his agreement. Angel on My Shoulder is based on a story by Harry Segall, whose previous play Heaven Can Wait was filmed as Here Comes Mr. Jordan, also with Claude Rains. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this dark drama, a young American is on his way to take his final vows as a priest when he encounters a troubled nightclub singer with a checkered past. He honestly wants to help her and soon falls for her and finds himself tempted by her seductive ways. But giving in to temptation could have more serious repercussions than the damnation of his immortal soul, as she is a murderess. The story was filmed in Paris. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lensed in Germany, Carnival Story stars Anne Baxter as a wayward Teutonic lass who joins a travelling carnival troupe. She falls in love with carny spieler Steve Cochran, and out-and-out louse who treats Baxter like dirt and makes her like it. Eventually, she rises to star status through the auspices of high-diver Lyle Bettger, but she can never get over her passion for Cochran. Inevitably, this romantic triangle degenerates into violence, leaving magazine photographer George Nader to pick up the pieces. Carnival Story was filmed simultaneously with a German-language version, Rummelplatz der Liebe, which starred Eva Bartok, Curt Jurgens and Bernhard Wicki. Produced by the King Brothers and released by RKO, Carnival Story has since lapsed into public domain, and as such has become a ubiquitous presence on cable television. There's even a version that has been outfitted with a narration for the benefit of sight-impaired film fans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Why has total stranger Richard Todd shown up at the villa of wealthy Anne Baxter? Why does he claim to be her long-lost brother? Is Todd planning to finagle Baxter out of her inheritance? Is someone going to end up seriously dead? The answers to these questions can be found in Chase a Crooked Shadow, a confounding chiller with more than a few adroit plot twists. Before the film has run its course, we learn that the true villain is not necessarily whom it appears to be--nor is the heroine all that she seems. Chase a Crooked Shadow was based on an 1943 Whistler radio play; the plot was later reworked into no fewer than three American made-for-TV movies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Requiem for a Falling Star features Anne Baxter as a fading movie queen. And is her face red--Baxter had intended to murder a vicious gossip columnist, but accidently kills her own secretary instead. Only briefly at a loss, Baxter endeavors to pin the blame for the secretary's demise on the columnist. Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) suspects that the "falling star" is attempting to obfuscate the facts. This January 21, 1973 Columbo episode co-stars Mel Ferrer, Kevin McCarthy and Frank Converse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tyrone Power made his last screen appearance before a three-year stretch in the Marines in this World War II drama. Lt. Ward Stewart (Tyrone Power) has served with distinction as the commander of a PT boat, so his uncle, Adm. Bob Stewart (Minor Watson), gives him a new and more challenging assignment aboard a submarine. Before shipping out, Ward enjoys a night on the town, where he meets and romances a pretty schoolteacher, Jean Hewlett (Anne Baxter). However, when Ward reports for duty, he discovers he'll be serving under Lt. Cmdr. Dewey Connors (Dana Andrews), who happens to be Jean's boyfriend. On leave and on land, Ward and Dewey are soon caught up in a romantic rivalry, while on duty and under the water they must work together to ferret out Nazi U-boats. Crash Dive received an Academy Award nomination for the special effects work in the film's battle sequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Billy Wilder's Five Graves to Cairo is the third take on Lajos Biro's theatrical tale of romance and espionage, Hotel Imperial. This time, the action is transplanted from World War I Galicia to World War II Egypt as Rommel's Afrika Corps viciously forces the British Army to retreat towards Cairo. Protagonist John J. Bramble (Franchot Tone) is stranded in the Sahara, the lone survivor of a British tank crew. In shock and suffering from sunstroke, Corporal Bramble deliriously staggers across the desert searching for the nearest outpost. What he finds is the Empress of Britain Hotel in the Libyan border town of Sidi Halfaya. The city has been deserted and destroyed; no one remains but the Inn's owner, Farid (Akim Tamiroff), and the French chambermaid, Mouche (Anne Baxter). To the woman's chagrin, Farid conceals the English soldier as the Germans commandeer his hotel for the lodging of General Rommel (Erich Von Stroheim). Mouche is unsympathetic toward the plight of any Englishman. She feels the British had abandoned the French Army at Dunkirk, where one of her brothers was killed and another was captured. She has remained in Sidi Halfaya only to wait for the German Army and to bargain for her sibling's freedom, not to help the British. Despite Mouche's protests, Bramble assumes the identity of the hotel's deceased waiter, Davoss, who was crushed during an air raid. Surprisingly, the disguise affords him an immediate audience with Rommel. Davoss was, in fact, a top-secret Nazi spy. This access to Rommel, the invincible Desert Fox, inspires Bramble to remain at the Empress. It becomes his mission to steal the crucial secret of the five supply depots the Germans have buried from Tobruk to Cairo -- which gave them a fighting advantage -- and possibly turn the war in Britain's favor. Meanwhile, after being rejected by the General, Mouche is desperately reduced to "entertaining" Rommel's deceitful lieutenant in order to help her brother. She and Bramble inevitably grow closer as they each struggle to save what is dear to them. When the body of the real Davoss starts to emerge from the rubble in the Empress' basement, it becomes Mouche's fate to make the ultimate decision between saving one brother and saving many. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide

Just as they did for 1965's Shenandoah and 1968's Bandolero!, director Andrew V. McLaglen and screenwriter James Lee Barrett team up with actor James Stewart for this Western about a band of ex-convicts trying to go straight. Stewart stars as Mattie Appleyard, the leader of the group. After serving his time, Mattie retrieves a 25,000-dollar check from a banker who looked after his funds while he was in prison. Along with his two pals, Mattie intends to use the money to open up a general store and make a fresh start. Unfortunately for them, the banker and a former jailer both look to stand in the way of their dreams. George Kennedy, who also had roles in Shenandoah and Bandolero!, co-stars as Dock Council, the former prison official, and a young Kurt Russell appears in one of his first non-Disney films. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

When the blame of murder is placed on his friend, a private detective attempts to clear his reputation in a small cattle community. ~ All Movie Guide

Based on the turn-of-the-century play Our Two Consciences by Paul Anthelme, Hitchcock's I Confess is set in Quebec. Montgomery Clift plays a priest who hears the confession of church sexton O.E. Hasse. "I...killed...a man" whispers Hasse in tight closeup--and, bound by the laws of the Confessional, Clift is unable to turn Hasse over to the police. But police-inspector Karl Malden has a pretty good idea who the guilty party is: all evidence points to Clift. It seems that the dead man had been blackmailing Anne Baxter, who was once in a factually innocent, but seemingly exploitable compromising position with Clift. Tried for murder, Clift is released due to lack of evidence, but he is ruined in the eyes of the community. Then it is Hasse's turn to make that One Fatal Error. I Confess is frequently dismissed as a lesser Hitchcock, due mainly to the quirky performance of Montgomery Clift (who, it is said, steadfastly refused to take direction). Today, four decades removed from its on-set intrigues, the film has taken its place as one of the best of Hitchcock's "between the classics" efforts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anne Baxter guest stars as Ironside's attorney friend Carolyn White, whom the authorities have tagged as the "most obvious" suspect in the murder of her cheating spouse. Convinced that Carolyn is being framed, Ironside (Raymond Burr) dedicates himself to proving his thesis, while his colleagues accuse him of allowing his heart to rule his head. Meanwhile, the search goes on for the murder victim's missing body--a search that yields startling results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide