Ed Begley, Sr. Movies

Supervised by Elliot Roosevelt, The Roosevelt Story is an odd, dogmatic combination of newsreel footage and low-key dramatizations. Opening with the funeral of President Franklin Roosevelt in April of 1945, the film flashes back to Roosevelt's privileged childhood, his marriage to cousin Eleanor, his WWI activities as Secretary of the Navy, his crippling bout with infantile paralysis, his political comeback in 1922, and his ultimate ascension to the White House in 1933. Scenes of FDR's New Deal in action are followed by his national leadership in the dark days of WWII, and his ultimate death by cerebral hemorrhage during his fourth term in office. All of this is narrated by a "typical" American cabdriver, played by Kenneth Lynch, who is supposed to be the Voice of the People. In a similar vein, "The Depression" is personified by actor Canada Lee, while "The Opposition" is represented by Ed Begley. Occasionally corny and obvious, The Roosevelt Story is overall a worthy tribute to one of the 20th century's most significant figures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bob Regan (Edmond O'Brien) -- a small-time attorney from the wrong side of the tracks who nonetheless has a lot of dedication -- is representing a vegetable pushcart owner (Tito Vuolo) in a damage suit against multi-millionaire Andrew Colby (Vincent Price). It seems Colby's car wrecked the man's cart, and he and his attorneys have been too busy running the world (or Colby's world) to deal with the case, so Regan barges right into the millionaire's office. Professing to be impressed with Regan's tenacity on behalf of his client, Colby offers to hire him, for a lot more money than he is making or ever stood to make, but not as an attorney -- rather, as a bodyguard/troubleshooter. It seems that Colby's been receiving threats lately, and he likes the way Regan looks after his clients. To aid him in his new job, Colby also secures a gun and permit for his new employee. Regan is so surprised at this whole turn of events in his life that he accepts the offer for the chance to finally get in on some the big money he sees around him. He's given entrée to Colby's upper-crust world, including his huge New York townhouse and all that goes with it, never smelling a rat. This is mostly because, apart from the money he's suddenly earning and traveling in the midst of, he's distracted by the presence of Colby's personal secretary, Noel Faraday (Ella Raines) -- about as pretty, intelligent, and seductive a female as Regan has ever seen, and who seems mutually intrigued by his rather earthy and plain-spoken presence in the Colby organization. Regan is a fresh dose of working-class honesty amid the elegance, affectation, and duplicity that oozes out of Colby's world, and on Regan's side of it he can hardly keep his hands off of her.

However, during Regan's first night on the job, a shot rings out from upstairs and he finds Colby in a struggle with an intruder carrying a gun -- and Regan shoots the man dead. The stranger turns out to be Leopold Kroner (Fritz Leiber), Colby's one-time business associate, who just finished a ten-year stretch for embezzlement of a million dollars. The threats seemed to come from Kroner, and there was a gun in his hand when Regan shot him, but that's not good enough for Lieutenant Damico of the NYPD; it's all a little too convenient that Colby's one-time partner gets himself killed that way, at the hands of some lawyer playing detective whose gun permit barely has the ink dry. Damico makes no secret of his doubts to Regan, or of the fact that he would like nothing more than to pull his friend in on a murder rap just for being a prize chump, mostly because he doesn't like murder and can't really see Regan as being as stupid as he seems. It turns out that he is just about that stupid, and is always a step behind Colby in trying to unravel the mystery of what really happened and how Kroner came to be in the house. Even Noel, for all of her intelligence and education, can't keep ahead of her employer's machinations; even as they dig deeper, more and more evidence gets planted implicating them both in a conspiracy, and before they can spring their trap, Damico is there ready to put the cuffs on both of them. But that's when matters get really interesting, as Damico begins to prove that if Regan isn't half as bright as he ought to be, the police lieutenant is a lot smarter than he looks or his job description calls for. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

FBI operative Mark Stevens is dispatched by his boss Lloyd Nolan to infiltrate a criminal gang. Stevens ingratiates himself with Richard Widmark, the gang's leader, then helps concoct a robbery that will deliver the criminals into the hands of the authorities. But there's an informant in the police department, who gets word back to Widmark. Aware that there's a stoolie in his gang, Widmark automatically assumes that his wife Barbara Lawrence is the guilty party, and beats her senseless. Eventually determining that Stevens is the "mole," Widmark methodically plans to kill Stevens during a holdup; by this time, however, the FBI is a step or so ahead of him. Remade in 1955 by Samuel Fuller as House of Bamboo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Clifton Webb has the role of a lifetime as Lynn Belvedere, self-styled genius and expert on everything. Belvedere accepts the job of baby-sitting the troublesome children of Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara; he wins the job by calmly dumping a bowl of cold oatmeal on the head of the couple's most contentious offspring! At first the family chafes at Belvedere's imperiousness and unlimited resourcefulness, but gradually everyone--especially the children--grow quite fond of the man. The couple's snoopy neighbor (Richard Haydn), noting that Belvedere spends quite a lot of time in the house when the husband is away, begins spreading rumors of a clandestine affair. Belvedere only fuels the flames of innuendo by working on a "secret project" in his room. That project turns out to be a book about the community where he is staying, a revealing volume that exposes the pettiness and hypocrisy of several respectable citizens. Robert Young nearly loses his job over the ensuing scandal, but when the community becomes world famous and the object of increased business activity, Belvedere is the hero of the day. Clifton Webb made so vivid an impression as Mr. Belvedere that he repeated the role in two sequels, and played variations of Belvedere (with emphasis on his "child psychology" tactics) in such films as Cheaper by the Dozen and Mr. Scoutmaster. After numerous failed attempts at launching a TV series based on the Gwen Davenport-created character, Mr. Belvedere settled into a long video run in 1985, with Christopher Hewett in the title role and sportscaster Bob Uecker as Belvedere's nonplused employer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This second film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's definitive jazz-age novel The Great Gatsby stars Alan Ladd in the title role. Jay Gatsby, formerly Jake Gatz, is a successful bootlegger with aspirations of being accepted in the highest social circles of Long Island. Once he's done this, Gatsby devotes his time to winning back the love of his former lady friend Daisy (Betty Field), now married to boorish "old-money" millionaire Tom Buchanan (Barry Sullivan). Gatsby's obsession with rekindling old flames results in disillusionment and, ultimately, tragedy. Sidelines observer Nick Carraway, the narrator of the original Fitzgerald novel, is expertly played by MacDonald Carey, while Shelley Winters makes an excellent impression as Buchanan's slatternly mistress Myrtle Wilson. Cast as Myrtle's dour optometrist husband is Howard Da Silva, who essayed a minor role in the 1974 remake of Great Gatsby. That 1974 version has unfortunately kept the 1949 Gatsby from being released to television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tulsa was, in 1949, the most elaborate production released to date by the Eagle-Lion corporation-though all evidence, especially the technical credits, suggests that the film was put together at Universal-International, then merely distriibuted by Eagle-Lion (who made a fortune at the box office). The film traces the matriculation of the sleepy Oklahoma village of Tulsa into a major oil center Susan Hayward stars as an amibitious cattleman's daughter who wishes to wreak vengeance on the encroaching oil interests but who becomes a "black gold" mogul herself. Robert Preston costars as a geologist who hopes to rescue his beloved Oklahoma from being utterly devastated by drilling and derricks. This being a late-1940s film, Greed runs a poor second to Good at film's end, with the oilmen and the conservations learning to work together rather than as bitter enemies. While the story is a good one, the true selling angle of Tulsa was its action sequences, notably a fire scene that must have cost as much as all the other Eagle-Lion releases of 1949 combined. Originally lensed in vibrant Techicolor, Tulsa is usually seen today in washed-out, two-color Public Domain prints. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wyoming Mail stars Stephen McNally as frontier postal inspector Steve Davis. Assigned to break up a gang of outlaws who prey upon mail trains, Davis goes undercover, posing first as a fugitive from justice. Joining the bandit gang run by the ruthless Cavanaugh (Howard da Silva), Davis discovers that the crooks have an "inside man" within the railroad company itself. Alexis Smith co-stars as the "bad" girl who turns good to save Davis. Universal-International's knack for turning out superior westerns on modest budgets is entertainingly demonstrated in Wyoming Mail. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joel McCrea was still relatively new to westerns when he starred in Saddle Tramp. McCrea is cast as footloose and fancy free cowpoke Chuck Connor, who has no intention of settling down. Alas, this decision is made for him when Connor "inherits" the four recently orphaned sons of his best friend. Since his pal died while riding Connor's horse, Our Hero feels obligated to raise the kids as his own -- and it's not gonna be easy. Connor's brood is increased to five when they're joined by runaway gamine Della (Wanda Hendrix). Additional complications include Connor's kid-hating rancher boss (John McIntire), a crooked foreman (John Russell), and an ongoing blood feud. The song "The Cry of the Wild Goose" popularized by Frankie Laine, is heard throughout Saddle Tramp as the restless Joel McCrea's leitmotif. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When he's discharged from a military hospital, ex-GI Bob Corey (Gordon MacRae) goes on a search for his army buddy Steve Connolly (Edmond O'Brien). A reformed crook, Connolly is on the lam from a trumped-up murder rap, and Corey hopes to clear his pal. Tagging along is Army nurse Julie Benson (Virginia Mayo), who has fallen for Corey. The rest of the film emulates the 1946 noir exercise The Killers, with Julie and Corey interviewing various people with whom Connolly has come in contact. One of those people, of course, is the actual killer, who now adds the GI and the nurse to the "hit list." Warner Bros. used Backfire to test the dramatic potential of singing star Gordon MacRae, who passes that test with flying colors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mona Freeman plays Bonnie Lee, who is--surprise!--not the Lady from Texas in this well-constructed Universal western. A lowly kitchen helper at a large ranch, Bonnie seeks the aid of self-styled do-gooder Dan Mason (Howard Duff). It seems that Bonnie's elderly friend Miss Birdie (Josephine Hull) is in danger of being victimized by villains Cyril and Mabel Guthrie (Craig Stevens, Barbara Knudson). Mason is reluctant to help out until he gets to know Miss Birdie, a feisty Civil War widow who refuses to believe that her husband has been dead these 20 years. Guthrie tries to have Miss Birdie declared incompetent so that he can claim her land, but Mason isn't about to let that happen. Thus it is that Josephine Hull, fresh from her Oscar win for Harvey, is the titular Lady From Texas, even though she's contractually consigned to third billing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

William Holden plays Boots Malone, a dishonest--and impoverished--jockey's agent. Malone sees a chance to crack the big time through the talents of young jockey John Stewart. Stewart's wealthy mother wants to remove the boy from the rarefied world of the race track, but it is Malone himself who destroys his friendship with Stewart by ordering the boy to throw the race, or else they'll be put on the spot by gangsters. Malone's last-minute regeneration restores Stewart's faith in him. Filmed on location, Boots Malone is a satisfying horse-race drama, though one might expect a little something extra from star William Holden and director William Dieterle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An abundance of subplots are expertly woven together by screenwriter/director Richard Brooks in Deadline - USA. Humphrey Bogart stars as crusading editor Ed Hutcheson, whose newspaper is on the verge of closing thanks to the machinations of the mercenary daughter (Audrey Christie) of Mrs. Garrison (Ethel Barrymore), the paper's owner. Though he and his staff will all be out of work within a few days, Hutcheson intends to go out with a bang, exposing the criminal activities of "untouchable" gang boss Rienzi (Martin Gabel). Despite numerous disappointments and setbacks, Hutcheson achieves a pyrrhic victory as the film draws to a close. Throughout the story, the many pressures brought to bear upon a big-city newspaper--political, commercial, etc.--are realistically detailed, as is the relationship between Hutcheson and his ex-wife Nora (Kim Hunter). The cast of Deadline USA is uniformly excellent, from featured players Warren Stevens, Jim Backus, Paul Stewart Fay Baker and Ed Begley to such unbilled performers as Tom Browne Henry, Raymond Greenleaf, Tom Powers, and Kasia Orzazewski (essentially reprising her unforgettable characterization in Call Northside 777). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

James Cagney signed on to play Captain Flagg in 20th Century Fox's 1952 remake of the 1926 classic What Price Glory after being told that the old property was being converted into a musical. By the time Cagney learned that Fox had no intention of adding songs and dances to the venerable Maxwell Anderson/Laurence Stallings stage piece, it was too late to pull out, so he decided to grin (sometimes) and bear it. Under the direction of John Ford, the potent anti-war message of the original play is blunted, while the drunken rowdiness of Capt. Flagg and his friendly enemy Sergeant Quirt (Dan Dailey) was played for all it was worth and then some. Much of the brawling is over the affections of vivacious barmaid Charmaine, played by Corinne Calvet. Contrasting the rough-hewn hijinks of Flagg, Quirt and their fellow Marines on the fields and in the villages of World War I-era France is the doomed romance between private Robert Wagner and French lass Marisa Pavan. (Why does Wagner get to sing, while Cagney and Dailey do not?) Barry Norton, who played Wagner's role in the original What Price Glory? appears in the remake as a priest. Norton is unbilled, as are such familiar faces as Harry Morgan, Paul Fix, Henry Kulky, and John Ford "regulars" Dan Borzage and Bill Henry. Falling well short of classic status, the Technicolor remake of What Price Glory? is kept alive by the marvelous roughneck rapport between James Cagney and Dan Dailey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide