Charles McGraw Movies
Gravel-voiced, granite-faced stage actor Charles McGraw made his first film The Moon is Down in 1943. At first it seemed as though McGraw would spend his movie career languishing in villainy, but while working at RKO in the late 1940s-early 1950s, the actor developed into an unorthodox but fascinating leading man. His shining hour (actually 72 minutes) was the role of the embittered detective assigned to protect mob witness Marie Windsor in the 1952 noir classic The Narrow Margin. McGraw continued being cast in the raffish-hero mold on television, essaying the lead in the 1954 syndicated series Adventures of Falcon and assuming the Bogartesque role of café owner Rick Blaine in the 1955 weekly TV adaptation of Casablanca (1955) (his last regular TV work was the supporting part of Captain Hughes on the 1971 Henry Fonda starrer The Smith Family). Active until the mid-1970s, Charles McGraw growled and scowled his way through such choice character roles as gladiator trainer Marcellus in Spartacus (1960), Sebastian Sholes in Hitchcock's The Birds (1963), and The Preacher in the cult favorite A Boy and His Dog (1975). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on the novella by Harlan Ellison, A Boy and His Dog is set in a post-apocalyptic future where canned goods are used as currency and where entertainment often consists of old porn reels. Vic (Don Johnson) is a violent, illiterate scavenger, principally interested in getting laid. He communicates telepathically with his deceptively cute-looking dog Blood (voiced by Tim McIntire); Vic finds food for Blood, while Blood sniffs out girls for Vic. One of these girls is the sexy Quilla June (Susanne Benton), who, unbeknownst to Vic is a spy for an underground society, headed by a Mr. Craddock (Jason Robards Jr.). This subterranean civilization needs a human "sperm bank" to stay alive, and the oversexed Vic fills the bill. Produced by character actor Alvy Moore (Mr. Kimball of TV's Green Acres), A Boy and His Dog was written and directed by another veteran actor, L.Q. Jones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Johnson, Susanne Benton, (more)
- 1973
Season Six of Adam-12 begins with the first of several "remote" assigments for LAPD mobile officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner]). On this occasion, the two cops are assigned to the city's harbor and waterfront, where they run up against a credit-card forger and a besotted sailor. Jayne Meadows guest stars as a literally starry-eyed traffic violator who issues a verbose lecture to Jim and Pete on the subtleties of astrology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
It's an unhappy birthday for Officer Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) when he forgets to renew his driver's license. As a result, Malloy's partner is forced to take the wheel of Adam-12 for the first time--and both men are nervous over the prospect. This episode's case log includes a fatalistic bank robber, an infant abandoned in a trash can, a drug dealer who sells his wares from an ice cream truck, a man who is burglarized by his neighbors, a woman who commits murder as an "anniversary present", and an baby abandoned in a trash can. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Some auteur critics feel that director Richard O. Fleischer did his best work while laboring in the "B" mills of RKO Radio. Fleischer's minimalist noir exercise Armored Car Robbery stars William Talman as the chief crook and Charles McGraw as the detective dogging his trail. A shade smarter than his gang underlings, Talman manages to elude capture, and even travels freely about in the company of his flashy lady friend Adele Jergens. But McGraw's persistence eventually pays off. Don McGuire, later a prolific TV producer/director, provides a welcome touch of comic relief as McGraw's rookie-cop assistant. A powerful (and slightly gruesome) climax caps this low-budget gem. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, (more)
- 1956
Based on the novel by Kenneth M. Dodson, Away All Boats stars Jeff Chandler as a tough Navy captain who takes charge of a group of raw, undisciplined sailors during World War 2. To keep his men from getting on each other's nerves, Chandler makes himself the target of their excess hatred by assuming the pose of a rigid martinet who cares nothing about his crew's wellbeing. He finds an ally in lieutenant George Nader, who catches on to Chandler's "act" and helps him maintain discipline. The crew survives numerous Japanese air and sea attacks with flying colors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Chandler, George Nader, (more)
- 1948
On a trip from France to Allied-occupied Berlin, a group of travelers -- a mysterious and very secretive European woman (Merle Oberon), an American agricultural expert (Robert Ryan), a British educator (Robert Coote), a Soviet Army officer (Roman Toporow), and a French official (Charles Korvin) -- all cross paths in the cramped quarters of a military train. They discover that the notion of the "Allied forces" is breaking down amid their victory in the war; they neither like nor trust each other, nor each other's countries, except where the Germans are concerned, where they share a distrust. And then they cross paths with a German VIP who makes them wonder if they've got all of the Germans pegged right. A bomb goes off, killing their newfound acquaintance, and the suspicions start anew. The mystery surrounding the victim only deepens when they discover that he wasn't who he claimed to be -- and that the army isn't saying who he was. Ryan, Oberon, et al. soon find themselves up to their necks in unrepentant Nazis and militant German nationalists who have banded together against the occupiers to destroy any chance of success for a peace plan being put forward by a visionary German (Paul Lukas). They find Frankfurt a hotbed of sabotage and armed underground resistance, with the occupying armies seemingly caught flat-footed by the plotting in their midst, which includes murder and blackmail. Berlin Express is a spellbinding mix of action, suspense, and topical political intrigue, laced with idealism and a surprising degree of sophistication, a level a wit almost worthy of Graham Greene, and an eye for suspense worthy of Hitchcock. Indeed, the film could almost be considered director Jacques Tourneur's postwar equivalent to Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent (1940). It also represents a fascinating cultural snapshot, depicting the very last moments of hope for peaceful relations with the Soviets that could be seen in American movies for decades. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Merle Oberon, Robert Ryan, (more)
- 1948
- NR
One of the best "psychological" westerns of the 1940s, RKO Radio's Blood on the Moon stars Robert Mitchum as itinerant cowboy Jim Garry. Riding into a Texas Indian reservation, Garry finds himself embroiled in a deadly feud between cattle ranchers and homesteaders. He befriends both Amy Lufton (Barbara Bel Geddes), daughter of wealthy cattle man John Lufton (Tom Tully), and smooth-talking mercenary Tate Rilling (Robert Preston). What neither Garry nor Amy realize is that Rilling is a snake, conspiring with crooked Indian agent Jake Pindalest (Frank Faylen) to make off with Lufton's cattle. At first aligning himself with Rilling, Garry finally figures out that his so-called friend is up to no good and casts his lot with Lufton, leading to a bloody showdown. Based on the novel by Luke Short, Blood on the Moon was given top-grade treatment by director Robert Wise, an alumnus of RKO Radio's editing department. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, (more)
- 1962
While on a cattle drive, the Cartwright men make a stopover in the town of Alkali. The next morning, the Cartwrights are tossed into the local jail, accused of robbing the town's bank and killing several innocent bystanders. Escaping from his cell, Joe Cartwright tries to summon help before his father Ben and his brothers Adam and Hoss are summarily hanged. Featured in the cast are two of Hollywood's most reliable tough guys, Charles McGraw as Sheriff Gains and Ben Johnson as Stan. First telecast April 1, 1962, "The Gamble" marked the scriptwriting debut of Bonanza star Michael Landon, who coauthored the episode with Frank Chase. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1969
Before she played Joe Cartwright's ill-fated love interest in the 1972 Bonanza episode "Forever," Bonnie Bedelia guest-starred in the series' April 6, 1969 episode "The Unwanted." Bedelia is cast as Lorrie, the daughter of Ben Cartwright's old friend, lawman Luke Mansfield (Charles McGraw). Rebelling against her disciplinarian father, Lorrie openly consorts with young ex-convict Rick Miller (Jan-Michael Vincent), who may or may not be the cousin of a man who once shot Luke. "The Unwanted" was written by Thomas Thompson and Suzanna Clauser. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1949
- NR
As far removed from a "typical" MGM picture as it was possible to get back in 1949, Border Incident is a gritty, realistic crime melodrama. The story concerns the efforts by both the Mexican and American governments to stop the smuggling of Mexican migrant workers across the border. Representing Mexico is special agent Pablo Rodriguez (Ricardo Montalban), while Jack Bearnes (George Murphy) works on behalf of the US. Screenwriter John C. Higgins and producer/director Anthony Mann refuse to pull any punches, as witness the surprising mid-film murder of one of the major characters. Highlights include a harrowing episode involving a plowing machine and a climactic shootout in a quicksand swamp. The uniformly well-chosen supporting cast includes Howard da Silva, Arnold Moss, Alfonso Bedoya and Charles McGraw, "film noir" veterans all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, (more)
Burt Lancaster had one of his first starring roles in this hard-hitting prison drama. Capt. Munsey (Hume Cronyn) is a cruel, corrupt prison guard who has his own less-than-ethical ways of dealing with inmates, enough so that Joe Collins (Lancaster) -- the toughest inmate in the cell block -- has decided to break out. Collins tries to persuade Gallagher (Charles Bickford), the unofficial leader of the inmates and editor of the prison newspaper, to join him, but Gallagher thinks Collins' plan won't work. However, Collins does have the support of his cellmates, most of whom, like himself, wandered into a life of crime thanks to love and good intentions. Tom Lister (Whit Bissell) was an accountant who altered the books so he could buy his wife a mink coat. Soldier (Howard Duff) fell in love with an Italian girl during World War II and took the rap for her when she murdered her father. Collins pulled a bank job to raise money to pay for an operation that could possibly get his girl out of a wheelchair. And Spencer (John Hoyt) made the mistake of getting involved with a female con artist. After Munsey drives Tom to suicide and prevents Gallagher from obtaining parole, Gallagher joins up with Collins and his men in the escape attempt. Director Jules Dassin would next direct the influential noir drama The Naked City; six years later, he would move to Europe after political blacklisting prevented him from continuing to work in the United States. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, (more)
The Oklahoma land rush of 1889 provides the starting point for this western drama, based on a novel by Edna Ferber. Yancey Cravat (Glenn Ford) is an impulsive, short-fused cowboy who has married an immigrant woman, Sabra (Maria Schell). Together, Yancey and Sabra claim a homestead, and Yancey starts a newspaper. While he doesn't have much of a head for business, Sabra does, and when she takes greater control of the paper, it grows into a profitable and influential journal. Eventually, Yancey becomes a well-recognized figure, and it's suggested that he run for public office. However, Yancey finds himself unable to support legislation that would steal more land and mineral rights away from the Native Americans who first settled the land. Cimarron was previously filmed in 1931; this version reduced the role of stereotyped black characters and has Native American actors playing the "Indians," including Eddie and Dawn Little Sky. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Maria Schell, (more)
- 1943
Randolph Scott was the star of Corvette K-225, a tribute to the World War II corvette escorts which guided Allied convoys through treacherous Atlantic waters. Scott plays the officer in charge of a Royal Canadian corvette cruiser, dedicated to keeping the troops safe from enemy submarine attack. The focus of the film is a danger-ridden journey from Halifax to Britain, the tension quotient heightened by the use of actual combat footage. Only the romantic triangle involving Scott, James Brown and Ella Raines bogs down this thrill-a-minute war picture. Corvette K-225 was produced by Howard Hawks, though the direction was credited to Richard Rosson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, James Brown, (more)
- 1943
Edward G. Robinson portrays a hard-driving, hard-nosed perfectionist who causes dissension aboard the WWII destroyer he helped build before re-enlisting in the Navy. Coming aboard as a senior crewman and trying to emulate the perfection of his hero John Paul Jones, he drives himself as hard as he drives the younger generation of sailors he commands, even going so far as recounting the last battle of the Bon Homme Richard to the increasingly disgruntled crew. But it is not his words that earn him their respect. During a major battle Robinson proves himself a true hero. The harsh training also pays off and the young sailors successfully defeat the enemy. Afterward they realize that Robinson was right to be tough on them and never question him again. Meanwhile, the captain who stood by Robinson through the thick of it even winds up involved with the old salt's daughter. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Glenn Ford, (more)
- 1950
Double Crossbones is an unusually elaborate comedy vehicle for Donald O'Connor. Set in the Carolinas in the 18th century, the film casts O'Connor as Davy Crandall, a bumbling shopkeeper's apprentice. Davy's boss (Hayden Rourke) is in cahoots with the corrupt colonial governor (John Emery), who in turn deals directly with the pirates who sail in and out of port with impunity. Unfairly accused of piracy, Davy finds refuge on a buccaneer's boat. Through circumstances better seen than described, our hapless hero gains the reputation of being the boldest pirate on the Seven Seas. The stellar supporting cast includes Helena Carter as the heroine, Will Geer as O'Connor's aide-de-camp, and Hope Emerson, Alan Napier and Robert Barrat, cast respectively as notorious pirates Anne Bonney, Capt. Kidd and Henry Morgan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald O'Connor, Helena Carter, (more)
Ex-lawman turned rancher Jed Cooper (Clint Eastwood) is moving a small herd of cattle when a group of nine men on horseback, led by Captain Wilson (Ed Begley Sr.), ride up and accuse him of having stolen the cattle and killed their owner. Refusing to believe his account, they string him up by the neck and leave him for dead, but they don't do the job right. Cooper is dangling there, barely alive, a few minutes later when Deputy U.S. Marshal Bliss (Ben Johnson) spots him and cuts him down. He survives the next few days in Bliss' tumbleweed wagon with the other prisoners, and is later cleared of any wrongdoing and released by Judge Fenton (Pat Hingle), just in time to witness the hanging of the man who really murdered the owner of the cattle and took Cooper's money. Cooper still wants revenge on the nine men who tried to hang him, but Fenton insists that he leave the bringing of them to justice to his deputy marshals. As it happens, Fenton is in desperate need of deputy marshals for the territory that he oversees, and he also knows that Cooper was a good lawman. Cooper, in turn, is now broke and in need of a job, and does want to see justice done. They strike an uneasy bargain, Cooper agreeing to wear a badge and bring in the men he's looking for -- alive -- for trial. The latter proves easier said than done, however, when the first of them that he spots tries to draw on him when he makes the arrest. One of the hanging party, Jenkins (Bob Steele), soon turns himself in and provides the names of the others. Cooper takes Stone (Alan Hale Jr.) alive, but the hapless blacksmith is later shot by the local sheriff (Charles McGraw) while trying to escape. The other men, led by Wilson, have no intention of dying, or even being brought to trial, without a fight. Two of them go on the run out of the territory, while Wilson and two of the others decide to take the law into their own hands once again. Meanwhile, Cooper becomes a hero when he single-handedly brings back a trio of rustlers who are also guilty of murder. This leads to Cooper's first confrontation with Judge Fenton, who, in a gripping scene, explains why it is essential that he be as seemingly quick to hang a man as he is. Unless the people are convinced that the law will do its job -- including hanging men who deserve it -- they will keep taking the law into their own hands and there will be more lynch mobs like the one that tried to kill Cooper. In the course of his quest for justice, Cooper also makes the acquaintance of Rachel (Inger Stevens), a young woman with her own search for justice, haunted by her own ghosts, and the two of them are drawn together, no more so than when Wilson and two of the others try to gun Cooper down in cold blood. The final confrontation between Cooper and Wilson escalates in violence to its savage, irony-laced conclusion. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, (more)
- 1973
Also known as Death and the Maiden, Hawkins on Murder introduced Jimmy Stewart to the TV-detective genre as folksy sleuth Billy Jim Hawkins (this TV movie was produced by MGM, the studio which gave Stewart his start in the 1930s). Hawkins travels from his West Virginia hometown to investigate a triple murder in Los Angeles. Along for the ride is Strother Martin as Hawkins' somewhat slow cousin/assistant, who would continue in this role when the Hawkins series premiered on a regular basis in the fall of 1973. The Harold Lloyd estate in Beverly Hills provided some of the more lavish backgrounds for this rambling mystery yarn. On the whole, Hawkins on Murder is better than the series that followed, which fell prey to banality and repetition early on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1948
Chronic gambler Ellen Crane (Paulette Goddard) indulges in games of chance to compensate for the loss of her boyfriend during WW2. Heavily in debt to gambling czar Lonnie Burns (Fred Clark), Ellen promises to marry him to clear her financial slate, but in the cold light of day she rethinks her decision and takes it on the lam. The irascible Burns hires detective J. D. Storm (Macdonald Carey) to track Ellen down and bring her back. After a hectic cross-country pursuit, Ellen and Storm come to realize what the audience has predicted all along: they've fallen in love with each other. This very standard assembly-line comedy is redeemed by its character actors, notably squeaky-voiced Percy Helton as a "three time loser" jailbird. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paulette Goddard, MacDonald Carey, (more)
- 1951
His Kind of Woman directed by veteran John Farrow, is a convoluted mystery thriller which tries unsuccessfully to combine slapstick comedy with excessive violence, resulting in a film that depends more on stereotypes than on plot development. Nick (Raymond Burr), is a deported gang boss who needs to get back to the United States to run his operation. Dan Miller (Robert Mitchum) is a hard-up guy, who is persuaded, both by a series of beatings and a substantial sum of money, to sell his identity to Nick. Lenore (Jane Russell) a singer, poses as a heiress, trying to marry a millionaire. They all meet up in a resort in Mexico where Nick intends to have plastic surgery to alter his looks. There, a number of double-crosses, shootings, and chases all culminate in an exciting confrontation aboard ship. His Kind of Woman, a Howard Hughes production designed to be a showcase for Jane Russell, is entertaining when viewed as a comedy. As a serious film-noir thriller, it lacks suspense and depth. However, the film has its moments, and Robert Mitchum is in his element as the loner anti-hero. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, (more)
- 1950
The title tells all--or at least most--in I Was a Shoplifter. The title character, played by Mona Freeman, is Faye Burton, a well-off socialite suffering from kleptomania. Faye falls into the hands of a professional shoplifting ring headed by Herb Claxton (Charles Drake) and Ina Perdue (Andrea King), who want to exploit her high-society connections. It's up to undercover agent Jeff Andrews (Scott Brady) to save Faye from the villains--and from herself. Cast as a brutish henchman is one Anthony Curtis, who grew up to become you-know-who. Featured in a role so small that it wasn't listed in the studio's official credits is still another star in the making: Rock Hudson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Brady, Mona Freeman, (more)
Richard Brooks wrote and directed this stark black-and-white (with brilliantly evocative cinematography by Conrad Hall) study of two drifters who murder a family, based on Truman Capote's non-fiction novel In Cold Blood. The film takes place in Holcomb, Kansas, where four members of the Herbert Clutter family are roused from their sleep and brutally murdered. The killers, Perry Smith (Robert Blake) and Dick Hickock (Scott Wilson), are two ex-cons who plan to rob the Clutters of $10,000 kept in a safe in their home. But Dick and Perry find no safe and no $10,000 and end up leaving the murder scene with only $43. The police, led by Alvin Dewey (John Forsythe) of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, try to track down the killers. Meanwhile, Dick and Perry take off to Mexico, where Perry has fantasies of prospecting for gold. But when his dreams of prospecting come to naught, Dick insists that they return to the United States. Confident that they have left no clues, they cash bad checks, and the police track them down in Las Vegas. During questioning, their alibis are broken when they are separated and tell conflicting stories. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, (more)
- 1972
No one in the police department seems to care too much when call girl Wanda Bolen (Tisha Sterling) turns up murdered. All this changes when Chief Ironside meets and befriends the girl's elderly, grief-stricken father (Titos Vandis). Making it his personal crusade to bring Wanda's killer to justice, the Chief must forge a temporary truce with the pimps and hookers who may be able to provide him with the necessary leads. This episode features an orginal song by Marty and David Paich, "Money Girl", sung by Carol Carmichael). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
- Add It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World to QueueAdd It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World to top of Queue
With this all-star Cinerama epic, producer/director Stanley Kramer vowed to make "the comedy that would end all comedies." The story begins during a massive traffic jam, caused by reckless driver Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante), who, before (literally) kicking the bucket, cryptically tells the assembled drivers that he's buried a fortune in stolen loot, "under the Big W." The various motorists setting out on a mad scramble include a dentist (Sid Caesar) and his wife (Edie Adams); a henpecked husband (Milton Berle) accompanied by his mother-in-law (Ethel Merman) and his beatnik brother-in-law (Dick Shawn); a pair of comedy writers (Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney); and a variety of assorted nuts including a slow-wit (Jonathan Winters), a wheeler-dealer (Phil Silvers), and a pair of covetous cabdrivers (Peter Falk and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson). Monitoring every move that the fortune hunters make is a scrupulously honest police detective (Spencer Tracy). Virtually every lead, supporting, and bit part in the picture is filled by a well-known comic actor: the laughspinning lineup also includes Carl Reiner, Terry-Thomas, Arnold Stang, Buster Keaton, Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, and The Three Stooges, who get one of the picture's biggest laughs by standing stock still and uttering not a word. Two prominent comedians are conspicuous by their absence: Groucho Marx refused to appear when Kramer couldn't meet his price, while Stan Laurel declined because he felt he was too old-looking to be funny. Available for years in its 154-minute general release version, the film was restored to its roadshow length of 175 minutes on home video; the search goes on for a missing Buster Keaton routine, reportedly excised on the eve of the picture's premiere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, (more)
