Harold Miller Movies

The Best Things in Life are Free is the tuneful if uninspired life story of popular composers DeSylva (Gordon MacRae), Brown (Ernest Borgnine) and Henderson (Dan Dailey). Pooling their talents, the trio rises from Tin Pan Alley to fame and fortune. The team's future is threatened when Buddy DeSylva becomes a big-time movie mogul, his ego expanding with his new responsibilities. But there's a happy ending, replete with a big, blow-out production number. Highlights include Sheree North and Jacques D'Amboise's dance deut to the tune of "Birth of the Blues"; this was North's first opportunity to play something other than a Marilyn Monroe type, and she acquits herself quite nicely. Other DeSylva-Brown-Henderson songs showcased throughout the film include "Button Up Your Overcoat", "Black Bottom", "Sunny Side Up" and the title number. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This formula Esther Williams musical casts the star as Midwestern carnival swimmer Christine Duncan, in love with bandleader Dick Layn (Van Johnson). Attempting to smooth the course of romance for her friend Ellen Hallet (Paula Raymond), Christine makes a play for Ellen's wealthy boss Douglas J. Morrissen, Jr. (John Lund). Ellen wants to protect Douglas from fortune hunters, so Christine pretends to be a fortune hunter, so that he'll appreciate anew how much Ellen cares for him. Confused? So is Dick, who can't fathom Christine's bizarre behavior. If for nothing else, Duchess of Idaho is memorable as the "comeback" picture for dancing star Eleanor Powell, who has just as little to do as her fellow guest stars Lena Horne and (unbilled) Red Skelton. Watch for Amanda Gunsmoke Blake and Dick Sergeant Preston Simmons in supporting roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

James M. Cain's novel received its first authorized screen treatment in this MGM production. Drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) takes a job at a roadhouse run by slovenly but likeable Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway). Nick's sexy young wife Cora (Lana Turner) takes an immediate liking to Frank, but he senses that she's trouble and he keeps his distance--for a while, anyway. Inevitably succumbing to Cora's tawdry charms, Frank enters into her scheme to murder Nick and claim the old boy's insurance money. Not long after committing the foul deed, Frank and Cora are arrested. Thanks to the conniving of slimy attorney Arthur Keats (Hume Cronyn), the illicit lovers are able to beat the murder rap--but, as the film's title symbolically indicates, they eventually pay for their misdeeds in an unexpected manner. Fans of the James M. Cain original--not to mention Cain himself--were aghast at the changes made in the novel by screenwriters Harry Ruskin and Niven Busch; many of the alterations were made to conform with censorship standards of the era, while others simply existed to massage the egos of the stars. Even so, the 1946 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice is infinitely more satisfying than the no-holds-barred 1981 remake, directed by Bob Rafelson with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Olivia De Havilland hadn't wanted to star in RKO's Government Girl, but was forced to do so by her home studio Warner Bros. Perhaps in retaliation, De Havilland delivers a strident, overbaked performance, which serves only to make this so-so wartime comedy something of an endurance test for modern viewers. The actress plays "Smokey", the Washington DC-based secretary of Detroit automobile expert Browne (Sonny Tufts, who's actually pretty good in this one!) Aware that Browne is a babe in the woods so far as Washington lobbying, politicking and backstabbing are concerned, Smokey takes the poor boy by the hand and shows him the ropes. Despite the derivative nature of Adela Rogers St. John's screenplay-the film seems like a hybrid of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and The More the Merrier--Government Girl was an enormous hit, posting a profit of $700,000. The film represents the film directorial debut of producer-screenwriter Dudley Nichols. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Leo McCarey's classic tale of romance stars Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer as two strangers who fall in love on an ocean voyage. Charles Boyer is Michel Marnet, engaged to be married to Lois Clarke (Astrid Allwyn). Irene Dunne is Terry McKay, also engaged to be married, in this case to Kenneth Bradley (Lee Bowman). But when Michel and Terry meet aboard a ship, they fall instantly in love. In order to prove to themselves their love affair is not just a shipboard romance, they agree to meet six months hence on the top of the Empire State Building. If they still feel the same way about each other, they will bid adieu to their fiancees and start their affair anew. Six months later, they are still thinking about each other and proceed to their meeting at the Empire State Building. Michel awaits Terry's arrival, but Terry, on the way to their meeting, is involved in a terrible car accident, leaving her a cripple. Later, by a twist of fate, they are reunited and Michel vows to stay with Terry to help her walk again. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Nancy, a jilted bride-to-be, is played by Janet Gaynor in one of her last starring films. The three loves are novelist Robert Montgomery, publisher Franchot Tone, and gormless nebbish Grady Sutton (Sonny TUFTS??). In New York to find her runaway groom Sutton, Janet runs across Montgomery and Tone. More selective since her unfortunate near-wedding, Gaynor decides to have the two swains demonstrate their worthiness, leading to a brief (and chaste) menage-a-trois in which all three are under the same roof. Three Loves Has Nancy is a sedate screwball comedy, carried completely by the charm of its stars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carnival barker Spencer Tracy befriends elderly concessionaire Henry B. Walthall, who owns a picturesque but stodgy display depicting Dante's Inferno. Walthall is more interested in the spiritual aspects of Man's fascination with Hell, but Tracy uses hoopla and exaggeration to get the suckers into the Inferno. His interest isn't altruistic; Tracy is enamored of Walthall's niece, Claire Trevor. Through his publicity savvy, Tracy builds the Inferno into a major attraction, complete with full orchestra and scantily clad "devil girls". He also buys up the rest of the carnival, using cold-blooded tactics that result in the suicide of a fellow concessionaire. Within five years, Tracy is a millionaire tycoon of the Entertainment industry. While loved by his wife (Trevor) and son (Scotty Beckett), Tracy conducts his business ruthlessly, bribing a city official to look the other way regarding structural defects in his Inferno display. When this duplicity results in a disastrous accident at the exhibit, the bribed official kills himself. Tracy is exonerated thanks to legal chicanery, but his wife is fed up; she walks out on him, taking their son along. Injured in the accident, Inferno creator H. B. Walthall warns Tracy of the pitfalls of success, using an illustrated edition of Dante to make his point. For nearly ten minutes, the movie audience is treated to a lavish depiction of Hell, magnificently photographed by Rudolph Mate. When the plot resumes, Tracy is on hand for his latest venture, a sumptuous gambling ship. Thanks to the drunken negligence of the crew, the ship catches fire, and it is only upon learning that his son has sneaked aboard that Tracy realizes the consequences of his greed. Tracy labors heroically to rescue the passengers--and, incidentally, to atone for his past sins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ceiling Zero is an adaptation of the Broadway play by Frank "Spig" Wead. James Cagney and Pat O'Brien are supremely typecast as, respectively, Dizzy Davis, a cocky civil aviator and Jake Lee, a sober-sided ground commander. Dizzy ducks out of a dangerous mission in order to dally with pretty Tommy Thomas (June Travis). Texas Clark (Stuart Erwin) takes Dizzy's place, and the unpolished young pilot dies in a fiery wreck. Disgraced in the eyes of his co-workers after Clark's death, Dizzy redeems himself by taking a crucial test flight in fog-laden "ceiling zero." Dizzy dies a hero, leaving behind his pal Jake to deliver the eulogy. Isabel Jewell co-stars as Clark's wife, given yet another opportunity to shake the rafters with her emotionally supercharged acting. Ceiling Zero was remade in a wartime setting as International Squadron (1940). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Chorus girl Pauline Garon realizes she'll never get anywhere without publicity. To draw attention to herself, she claims to be engaged to a visiting Russian prince. The nobleman in question calls her bluff by marrying her, and that's how Garon ends up as A Princess on Broadway. Critics were under-enthused by this minor effort, carping that the leading lady was even less convincing as a chorus girl than as a princess. Some nice words, however, were reserved for leading man Johnny Walker and second female lead Dorothy Dwan, as well as for comic relief Neely Edwards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

To keep her daddy from going to prison, heroine Lillian Rich agrees to marry villainous Ernest Wood. When an attorney offers to free Rich from her marital dilemma, Wood retaliates by killing the lawyer and pinning the blame on his wife. She flees to the Canadian North, with Mountie Pat O'Malley in hot pursuit. Upon catching up with Rich, O'Malley fails to recognize her -- but he does marry her! When the truth comes out, O'Malley is torn between love and duty, but a deux ex machina telegram clears Rich's name a mere few seconds before the final fade-out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This low budget program feature had a few lively twists. Playwright Anthony Moore (Harold Miller) refuses to even consider his secretary and fiancee, Mildred Garson (Arline Pretty), for the lead role in his latest crook drama. Angered by Anthony's stubbornness, Mildred asks her brother and sister to help her fake a robbery at Anthony's home. Her brother enlists the help of an underworld leader known as the Fox (Tom Santschi), and they plot to have Mildred play the role of thief. Her scheme takes a frightening turn when real crooks show up and kidnap her. The crooks take her down to Chinatown, where she finds shelter with pious Chinese philosopher Chong Wo (Noah Beery). After the whole incident winds up in the papers and threatens to ruin Mildred's name, Moore goes to Chinatown and has to fight Chong Wo to rescue Mildred. The real thieves are finally captured, saving Mildred's good name, as well as her relationship with Moore. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This romantic adventure was an experiment by Pathe, which offered it as both a nine-reel feature and as a 10-episode serial. When his father is mysteriously murdered, John Cowles (Harold Miller) finds the family finances in a bad state. He travels West to borrow money from his father's partner, Colonel Meriwether. Meriwether has a daughter, Ellen (Allene Ray), and Cowles falls in love with her but he neglects to mention that he is already engaged to marry Grace Sheraton (Kathryn Appleton) Cowles' friend, Gordon Orme (Bud Osborne), shows up, but he turns out to be no friend at all when he tells the Colonel that Cowles has a fiancee back home in Virginia. This angers Meriwether so much that he refuses the loan. Meanwhile. Cowles' mother (Florence Lee), and Grace -- who really loves Orme -- show up. Mrs. Cowles encourages her son to look for gold, and he is successful. Orme, with Grace's help, plans to rob him, but both of them are killed in a fight. It turns out that it was Orme who murdered Cowles's father. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Edith Roberts stars in this lively comedy-drama. When Charles Wilshire died, he left his ranch in the Texas panhandle to his daughter, Ellen (Roberts). Ellen, a tomboy, fits right in with the ranch hands and wins their devotion. When Saunders, Wilshire's attorney, schemes with a railroad agent to get the ranch for far less than it is worth, one of the hands, Slim Higgins (Leonard Claphem), warns Ellen. As a result, she turns Saunders down. Over in England, meanwhile, the Duke of Wilshire has died, and his will bequeaths his estate to his relatives and friends -- unless his brother, Charles, has left an heir. Ellen, of course, is the heir and she heads for England to claim the estate. Saunders, however, brings a chorus girl (Leota Lorraine) to England and tries to pass her off as Ellen. At a loss over what to do, and with the Wilshire relatives eyeing her suspiciously, Ellen decides to return to Texas. Eventually, her identity as the heir to the Wilshire estate is established. Although she is surrounded by eager British suitors, she chooses Slim Higgins as her husband. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide