Howard McNear Movies

Alcoholic Lottie Mead (Claire Trevor) bursts into the home of Ralph and James Birdwell (Robert Sampson, Patricia Smith), the couple who have been caring for Lottie's daughter ever since the girl's mother deserted her. Now Lottie declares that she will take the girl away from the Birdwells unless she is given a 25,000-dollar payoff. When the couple refuses, Lottie cooks up a kidnapping scheme with a seemingly dishonest detective named Phil Ames (Biff Eliott) -- who turns out to have an agenda of his own. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the best-selling novel by Robert Traver (the pseudonym for Michigan Supreme Court justice John D. Voelker), Anatomy of a Murder stars James Stewart as seat-of-the-pants Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler. Through the intervention of his alcoholic mentor, Parnell McCarthy (Arthur O'Connell), Biegler accepts the case of one Lt. Manion (Ben Gazzara), an unlovable lout who has murdered a local bar owner. Manion admits that he committed the crime, citing as his motive the victim's rape of the alluring Mrs. Manion (Lee Remick). Faced with the formidable opposition of big-city prosecutor Claude Dancer (George C. Scott), Biegler hopes to win freedom for his client by using as his defense the argument of "irresistible impulse." Also featured in the cast is Eve Arden as Biegler's sardonic secretary, Katherine Grant as the woman who inherits the dead man's business, and Joseph N. Welch -- who in real life was the defense attorney in the Army-McCarthy hearings -- as the ever-patient judge. The progressive-jazz musical score is provided by Duke Ellington, who also appears in a brief scene. Producer/director Otto Preminger once more pushed the envelope in Anatomy of a Murder by utilizing technical terminology referring to sexual penetration, which up until 1959 was a cinematic no-no. Contrary to popular belief, Preminger was not merely being faithful to the novel; most of the banter about "panties" and "semen," not to mention the 11-hour courtroom revelation, was invented for the film. Anatomy of a Murder was filmed on location in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Van Druten's stage comedy Bell Book and Candle starred Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer on Broadway. The 1958 filmed version stars James Stewart and Kim Novak, fresh from their successful teaming in Hitchcock's Vertigo. Novak plays Gillian Holroyd, a genuine, bonafide witch. Falling in love with publisher Sheperd Henderson (Stewart), Gillian casts a spell on him, obliging him to dump his fiancee and rush to her side. All of this goes against the grain of Gillian's mentor Mrs. De Pass (Hermione Gingold), who does her best to counterract the love spell. Meanwhile, Gillian's wacky warlock brother Nicky (Jack Lemmon) courts disaster by coauthoring a book on black magic with pompous, bibulous novelist Sidney Redlitch (Ernie Kovacs). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This musicalized remake of the 1939 comedy Bachelor Mother stars Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher (then Mr. and Mrs.) in the roles originated by Ginger Rogers and David Niven. Reynolds plays a department store salesgirl whose life is turned topsy-turvy when she finds an abandoned baby. Despite her protestations, everyone assumes that she's the mother of the child, including Fisher, the son of store owner Adolphe Menjou. Meanwhile, Menjou convinced that his son is the baby's father, is determined that his boy will "do right" by the innocent Reynolds. Much of the comic zest of the original film is diluted by the lackluster performance of Eddie Fisher, though Debbie Reynolds and the rest of the cast are in fine form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Audie Murphy is at his taciturn best in the Universal western Drums Along the River. Murphy is cast as Gary Brannon, a peaceful homesteader living a quiet existence with his father Sam (Walter Brennan). No-account Frank Walker (Lyle Bettger), hoping to open up the Ute Indian territory for gold-mining purposes, tries to foment a war between the Utes and the local whites. As an added filip, he steals a gold shipment and pins the blame on Brannon. Now a fugitive from justice, Brannon joins Walker's gang, much to his father's dismay. Actually, it's all part of a plan to expose Walker's perfidy and prevent Ute hostilities, but no one knows this until Brannon wants them to. Jay Silverheels, best known as Tonto on TV's Lone Ranger, co-stars as Ute warrior Taos. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of a handful of Elvis Presley vehicles for United Artists release, Follow That Dream is a leisurely comedy/musical with a homey appeal that will delight even non-Presley fans. Based on Richard Powell's novel Pioneer Go Home, the film casts Elvis as Toby Kwimper, the most responsible member of an itinerant rural family comprised of Pop Kwimper (Arthur O'Connell) and nubile cousin Holly Jones (Anne Helm). Claiming "squatter's rights," the Kwimpers set up housekeeping, much to the dismay of local gamblers Carmine (Jack Kruschen) and Nick (Simon Oakland). In an attempt to force the family off their land, social worker Alicia Claypool (Joanna Moore) tries to prove that Toby is "degenerate," but succeeds only in making a fool of herself. Beyond a handful of pleasant songs, the film's highlights include Elvis' unwitting breakup of the local gambling casino, and the climactic trial scene featuring Roland Winters as a dyspeptic but basically likeable judge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Springdale, NE, bank is held up and robbed by a well organized gang. One of the members is Eddie Campbell (Robert Vaughn), a onetime resident of the town and orphan who was brought up in part by Ben Cutler (Fred MacMurray), an ex-lawman-turned-rancher. While pursuing the robbers, the town marshal, Hiram Cain (Emile G. Meyer), is shot dead by Campbell, who in turn is wounded and captured by Cutler. The town council appoints Cutler as temporary marshal, and the prosecution seems like an open-and-shut case -- he begins to see signs of trouble when his own daughter Laurie (Joan Blackman), who was raised with Campbell and was once his sweetheart, refuses to believe that he's guilty of the crime. Ben's fiancée, Ruth (Maggie Hayes), also feels the boy deserves leniency, but the real trouble starts when Campbell's attorney, William Selby (Edmon Ryan), shows up; he first tries to compromise the jury pool by ingratiating himself with the asking the townspeople what we would now call "push" questions, about Campbell's being an orphan and a hard-luck case all of his life, under the guise of building his case. He's also just clever enough at the trial to shake the testimony of the five other witnesses to the shooting, but Cutler's testimony is enough to put the jury into the guilty column. Then Campbell starts working on the sympathy of Laurie and the townspeople who've been persuaded by his lawyer -- it's also been a long time since there's been a capital case like this in the state, and Cutler discovers that the townspeople and even the law may not be as ready to execute a killer as common sense says they should be. Cutler's and Ruth's romance is jeopardized, and he is pushed to the point of resigning when matters come to an explosive head. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The talents of the cast and director George Cukor (A Star Is Born, My Fair Lady), combine to bring off this otherwise routine Western based on a Louis L'Amour novel. Sophia Loren is Angela Rossini, a woman who seems to create the situations she gets into, and Anthony Quinn is the strong, silent but soft-hearted Tom Healy. Rather than playing it straight, Cukor opts for satire and effective comedy in taking "The Great Healy Dramatic and Concert Co.," with its two-wagon loads of thespians and their gear, and turning it into a fun romp. As the troupe carries on with their performances heading through Wyoming, they are fighting for their economic survival and, as often as not, running like the devil from the law. There is a likeable villain in the piece, Mabry (Steve Forrest), a zany woman who has "sacrificed" her own dubious stage career for that of her daughter (Eileen Heckart), a so-called Shakespearean actor (Edmund Love), a banker with menacing undertones (Ramon Novarro), and a really hysterical Indian attack. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This romantic comedy opens with a resounding warning: its chief concerns are passion, bloodshed, desire, and death. "Everything," exclaims the narrator, "that makes life worth living." Irma La Douce (Shirley MacClaine) is Paris' most prosperous prostitute. Wise, endearing, and compulsively clad in green, Irma rules the rue Casanova. She triumphantly works the most coveted corner on a street where the cops gladly look the other way and the naughty johns leave tips. Her street is a content community of live and let live and good-natured desire, an Augean stable of human understanding. However, to upright Nester Patou (Jack Lemmon), the area's new policeman, genial wrongdoing is still wrongdoing. Freshly promoted from day patrol at a children's playground, the scrupulous Nestor arrests Irma and her colleagues in a bumbling, unauthorized raid. He takes pity on Irma, but harasses the guilty johns -- including the police captain. Promptly unemployed, Nester returns to the scene of his crime, the rue, and to Irma. After physically besting her pimp, Nester unwittingly takes his position. The two fall madly in love, but Nestor quickly grows jealous of Irma's patrons. Thus, he masquerades as a wealthy English aristocrat and becomes Irma's sole customer -- only to eventually grow violently jealous of himself. Soon enough, this formally righteous cop is comically jailed for his own brutal murder! As the film's prologue promises, Irma La Douce is a celebration of life from beginning to end -- unabashedly adoring lust, emotion, fervor and, above all, foolish love. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide

Envious of Wally's touchdown at the school football game, Eddie (Ken Osmond) needles Wally (Tony Dow) because he hasn't started shaving yet. Determined to reaffirm his manhood, Wally attempts to trim what few whiskers he has with his dad Ward's safety razor -- and gives himself a bad nicking in the process. Hoping to discourage Wally, Ward (Hugh Beaumont) applies a bit of psychology, which in typical Leave It to Beaver fashion, bids fair to make the situation worse. And yes, that's Howard McNear, the future Floyd the Barber on The Andy Griffith Show, playing (what else?) a barber. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When someone takes a shot at wealthy Diana Dangerfield (Diana Millay), Bart (Jack Kelly) gallantly comes to her rescue. Alas, Diana is convinced that Bart himself faked the shooting merely to meet her--and now he finds himself accused of robbery and murder. Cast as the ineffectual sheriff of Dangerfield is Howard McNear, who had originated the role of Doc Adams on the radio version of Gunsmoke, and who later entered the Valhalla of TV-sitcom icons with his portrayal of Floyd the Barber on The Andy Griffith Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

My Blood Runs Cold was a typically lurid horror chiller produced and directed by William Conrad during his 1960s tenure on the Warner Bros. staff. Heiress Joey Heatherton falls prey to the charms of a handsome young man (Troy Donahue) who claims to be the reincarnation of a legendary lothario. Troy further insists that Joey had been his lover in a previous life. Pretty soon Joey nearly has the opportunity to check out the veracity of Troy's story in the Hereafter, for Mr. Donahue is actually a psychopath who hopes to claim Ms. Heatherton's fortune and then bump her off. My Blood Runs Cold is silly enough to have been dreamt up by Bill Conrad while he was narrating Rocky and His Friends. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide