Robert Carson Movies

Edward G. Robinson offers an excellent turn as a crime lord obsessed with the welfare of his son in this melodramatic crime story. The lad is born while the notorious Robinson serves 10 years. Unfortunately, the press hound the babies mother and constantly derider her until a kinder reporter takes pity and begins writing stories to support her. This angers his editor who fires him. One day Robinson's wife goes to visit him and he behaves like a brute. She is so shocked that she ends her marriage and hooks up with the reporter. Together, they move far away to start successful new lives. A decade later, Robinson gets out and begins searching for his boy. Unfortunately, he also gets talked into his gangster activities by an old cohort. The gang, however turns on him and forces him to reveal the location of a large cache of loot that he hid before entering the slammer. Tough old Robinson won't tell them, so they kidnap his son.
Fortunately, Robinson and the lad escape. The gangster tries to get to know his boy, but the child wants nothing to do with him. Angered, Robinson swears vengeance upon his ex and her new spouse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Brash and vigorous director William Wellman always had a place in his filmography for movies glorifying the early years of aviation -- from the start of his career (Wings), until the end (Lafayette Escadrille). But, perhaps, never has his devotion to aviation been made more vivid than in his 1938 drama Men With Wings. Wellman, in this film, attempts to dramatize the history of aviation from the early days of the Wright Brothers until the 1930s, when airline transportation first became viable. The story centers upon two contrasting aviation types: the barnstormer, Pat Falconer (Fred MacMurray), and the methodical scientist of flight, Scott Barnes (Ray Milland). Through these two archetypes, Wellman follows Pat and Scott from childhood to adulthood. Pat marries childhood sweetheart Peggy Ransom (Louise Campbell) and they have a child. Scott, who had always loved Peggy, remains in the background, not wanting to break up his solid friendship with Pat. But Pat is clearly doomed by his recklessness and breakneck individuality. After fighting in the skies during World War I, he refuses to sit back and do the methodical work of flight research like Scott. Always searching for another war to fight, Falconer leaves Scott and Peggy behind, taking off for China to help the Chinese fight Japanese invaders. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This second of three movie versions of P.C. Wren's adventure novel Beau Geste is a virtual scene-for-scene remake of the 1927 silent version. We open on the now-famous scenes of a remote, burning desert fort, manned by the dead Foreign Legionnaires, then flash back to the early lives of the Geste brothers. As children, the Gestes swear eternal loyalty to one another and to their family. One of the boys, young Beau (played as a youth by Donald O'Connor), witnesses his beloved aunt (Heather Thatcher) apparently stealing a valuable family jewel in order to finance the Geste home; Beau chooses to remain silent rather than disgrace his aunt. Years later, the grown Beau (Gary Cooper) again protects his aunt by confessing to the theft and running off to join the Foreign Legion. He is joined in uniform by faithful brothers John (Ray Milland) and Digby (Robert Preston), who in turn are pursued by a slimy thief (J. Carroll Naish). The crook is in cahoots with sadistic Legion Sgt. Markov (Brian Donlevy, in one of the most hateful portrayals ever captured on celluloid), who is later put in charge of Fort Zinderneuf, where Beau and John are stationed. When the Arabs attack, Markov proves himself a valiant soldier; it is he who hits upon the idea of convincing the Arabs that the fort is still fully manned by propping up the corpses of the casualties at the guard posts. Beau is seriously wounded, and while the greedy Markov searches for the jewel supposedly hidden on Beau's person, he is held at bay by loyal John. The suddenly enervated Beau kills Markov, then dies himself--but not before entrusting two notes to John, one of which requests that John give Beau the "Viking funeral" he'd always wanted (this is why the fort is in flames at the beginning of the film). After the battle, Digby Geste, a bugler with the relief troops, comes upon Beau's dead body, and appropriates the notes. As it turns out, John Geste is the only one who survives to return to England. He gives his aunt Beau's letter, which explains why Beau had confessed and run off--"a 'beau geste', indeed" comments his tearful aunt. No one missed nominal leading lady Susan Hayward in this essentially all-male entertainment. For years available only in muddily processed or truncated versions, Beau Geste was restored to its pristine glory by the American Film Institute in the late 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A lively espionage drama that reunited the stars and director of the previous year's The Maltese Falcon, Across the Pacific was originally envisioned as the story of a Japanese invasion of Hawaii. Real-life events of December of 1941, however, precluded such a scenario and the location was changed to the Panama Canal. For reasons known only to Warner Bros., the title was retained despite the fact that none of the action takes place in the Pacific. Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Leland, a disgraced ex-army man, who, after being turned down by the Canadian military, jumps a Japanese steamer bound for the Panama Canal Zone. Also onboard are Alberta Marlow (Mary Astor), a small-town girl claiming to be en route to Los Angeles; Dr. Lorenz (Sydney Greenstreet), a corpulent sociologist with a suspiciously friendly regard for all things Japanese; and Joe Totsuiko (Victor Sen Yung), a happy-go-lucky second generation Japanese-American on his way to visit the old country. But no one is exactly who he or she claims to be and the voyage from Halifax via New York City to Panama becomes a matter of life and death for the passengers in general, and for the future of the United States in particular. Director John Huston was forced to leave the film three weeks into the four-week shooting schedule when summoned to report to the Department of Special Services. According to Huston, he purposefully placed Humphrey Bogart's character in a highly precarious situation and left it up to his replacement, Vincent Sherman, to come up with the solution -- which Sherman did in an especially fiery climax. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this Western drama, Steve Upton (Randolph Scott) is the sheriff of a Utah community in 1860. Upton's best friend, Cheyenne Rogers (Glenn Ford), was once an outlaw, but under Steve's guidance, he's gone straight and tries to earn an honest living. However, while Cheyenne is in town to pay Upton a visit, the local bank is robbed and Cheyenne is the prime suspect. Through Cheyenne is quickly convicted, Upton is convinced his friend is innocent, and the sheriff helps the former outlaw break out of jail; together, they hit the trail trying to find the real culprits and clean up the town. The Desperadoes had the distinction of being the first Technicolor feature released by Columbia Pictures. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Pat O'Brien makes the casual acquaintance of fellow American Ruth Warrick while on vacation in Mexico City. What Warrick doesn't know is that O'Brien is a treasury agent, out to get expatriate counterfeiters Alan Hale and Edgar Buchanan. What O'Brien doesn't know is that Warrick is also out to get Hale, whom she holds responsible for her father's death. After a lengthy period of cross purposes, hero and heroine team up to catch the crooks. Perilous Holiday puts Pat O'Brien through his standard paces, and provides an offbeat role for the usually aristocratic Ruth Warrick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After the film-noir melodramatics of Lady in the Lake and Ride the Pink Horse, actor/director Robert Montgomery turned to comedy in Once More, My Darling. Montgomery plays a former movie idol hired by the government to woo a young heiress (Ann Blyth). Someone had previously given the girl some jewelry stolen by the Nazis during the war, and the government wants to find out who that someone was. In the grand tradition, Montgomery pursues Blyth until she finally catches him. Produced by longtime Alfred Hitchcock associate Joan Harrison, Once More, My Darling is more conservatively directed than Montgomery's earlier works, though the director earns at least one laugh by playing a clever editing joke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Since someone had already used the title The Bride Wore Boots, it follows that there'd eventually be a film called The Groom Wore Spurs. Jack Carson stars as movie cowboy hero Ben Castle, who in "real life" is exactly the opposite of his screen image. When Castle gets into a scrape in Las Vegas, he is bailed out by lady lawyer Abigail Furnival (Ginger Rogers). Despite Castle's many faults, Abigail can't help falling in love with the big lug. Once they've entered into a marriage of convenience (a plot device better seen than described), Abigail sets about to force Castle to truly become the virtuous, hard-riding, sweet-singing character he plays on screen. The film is bogged down with an unnecessary murder-mystery subplot, which is happily disposed of during a climactic slapstick chase. The Groom Wore Spurs was produced independently by Fidelity Pictures and released by Universal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1954 musical remake of A Star is Born could have been titled A Star is Reborn, in that it represented the triumphal return to the screen of Judy Garland after a four-year absence. The remake adheres closely to the plotline of the 1937 original: An alcoholic film star, on his last professional legs, gives a career boost to a unknown aspiring actress. The two marry, whereupon her fame and fortune rises while his spirals sharply downward. Unable to accept this, the male star crawls deeper into the bottle. The wife tearfully decides to give up her own career to care for her husband. To spare her this fate, the husband chivalrously commits suicide. His wife is inconsolable at first, but is urged to go "on with the show" in memory of her late husband. In the original, Janet Gaynor played Esther Blodgett, who with no training or contacts came to Hollywood hoping for stardom. The remake, scripted by Moss Hart, is a shade more realistic: Garland's Esther, though far removed from fame, is a working professional singer/dancer when first we meet her. Both Gaynor and Garland are transformed from "Esther Blodgett" to "Vicki Lester" after being screen-tested, though Gaynor goes on to star in fluffy costume dramas while Garland more logically headlines big-budget musicals. The 1937 Star is Born costarred Fredric March as Norman Maine, Esther/Vicki's sponsor-cum-spouse. March patterned his performance after the tragic John Barrymore, reining in his emotions in favor of pure technique; James Mason's interpretation is more original, more emotional, and far more effective (who can forget the scene where Norman sobbingly overhears Vicki planning to give up her career for his sake?) As the studio's long-suffering publicist, the 1937 version's Lionel Stander is more abrasive and unpleasant than the 1954 version's introspective, intellectual Jack Carson; on the other hand, Adolphe Menjou and Charles Bickford are fairly evenly matched in the role of the studio head. Several important omissions are made in the remake. The 1937 Star is Born included Esther's indomitable old grandma (May Robson), a helpful assistant director (Andy Devine) and a soft-hearted landlord (Edgar Kennedy); all three characters are missing from the 1954 version, though elements of each can be found in the "best friend/severest critic" character played by Tommy Noonan. Wisely, both versions end with the grieving Vicki Lester coming out of her shell at a public gathering, greeting the audience with a proud, defiant "Good evening, everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine". Though directors William Wellman (1937 version) and George Cukor (1954 version) handle this finale in their own distinctive manners, the end result is equally effective emotionally. What truly sets the 1954 A Star is Born apart from other films of its ilk is its magnificent musical score by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin. The songs include The Man Who Got Away (brilliantly performed by Garland in one long take, sans dubbing), It's a New World, Somewhere There's a Someone, I Was Born in a Trunk, Lose That Long Face and Gotta Have Me Go With You. When originally previewed in 1954, the film ran well over three hours, thanks to the lengthy-and thoroughly disposable-Born in a Trunk number, added to the film as an afterthought without the approval or participation of director George Cukor. The Warner Bros. executives trimmed the film to 154 minutes, eliminating three top-rank musical numbers and several crucial expository sequences (including Norman's proposal to Vicki). At the instigation of the late film historian Ronald Haver, the full version was painstakingly restored in 1983, with outtakes and still photos bridging the "lost" footage. Though nominated in several categories, A Star is Born was left empty-handed at Academy Award time, an oversight that caused outrage then and still rankles Judy Garland fans to this day (Footnote: Judy Garland had previously played Vicki Lester in a 1942 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the original A Star is Born). ~ 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

The third remake of the 1932 drama What Price Hollywood?, this adaptation of A Star Is Born moved the story into the mid-1970's and changed the milieu from the movie business to pop music. John Norman Howard (Kris Kristofferson) is a rock star whose career has peaked; he is numbed by booze and cocaine, his music has lost its edge, and his performances have become painfully haphazard. One night, after a concert, he stumbles into a club where he sees a singing group fronted by Esther Hoffman (Barbra Streisand). John likes what he hears and loves what he sees; he tries picking her up, but soon realizes if he wants to see her, he'll have to ask her out on an actual date. He does, and before long the two become involved, although Esther has trouble with John's rock star lifestyle. One night, a typically burned-out John lets Esther sing a few songs at one of his shows; before long she's the talk of the record business. While Esther's star begins to rise, John's continues to sink, and while she desperately tries get John to clean up and focus on his music, it may be too late to save him. The song "Evergreen" earned this film an Academy Award for Best Song; the credits contain the amusing notice, "Ms. Streisand's Clothes from ... Her Closet." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide