Rolland Morris Movies
American actor Rolland Morris worked for radio, stage, and television, and appeared in a few feature films during the early '50s. A native of Colorado, Morris started out in San Francisco theater and from there entered radio. Following service in the Navy during WWII, he returned to radio to appear in numerous nationally aired programs. In film, he usually played minor roles. On television, he made guest appearances in such series as Death Valley Days, The Ann Sothern Show, and Omnibus. He also had a continuing role on the NBC daily serial From These Roots. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1952
She's Working Her Way Through College is a completely depoliticized remake of the liberal-minded comedy The Male Animal (1942). Virginia Mayo plays an exotic dancer, Angela Gardner, who decides to improve her mind; she enrolls in a college where Professor John Palmer (Ronald Reagan) teaches English. In between Angela's lively musical numbers, the film concentrates on an old rivalry between the bookish Palmer and onetime college football jock Shep Slade (Don DeFore, who'd played a bit in The Male Animal). When the college trustees oppose Angela's presence on campus, Palmer staunchly defends her right to an education. In the original Male Animal, the climactic scene involved a controversial public reading of a letter by anarchist Bartolomeo Vanzetti; in She's Working Her Way Through College, Palmer stands up at a public assembly to convince the populace that exotic dancers have the same rights as anyone else. Of course, Ronald Reagan could take a political stance if he wanted to...but not in this film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Virginia Mayo, Ronald Reagan, (more)
- 1951
In the early 1940s, producer Hal Roach turned out several entertaining and profitable "streamliners" (each running approximately 45 minutes) about an army recruit with a photographic memory and his long-suffering sergeant. William Tracy portrayed Private (and later Sergeant) Doubleday, while Joe Sawyer was his topkick Sgt. Ames. In 1951, Hal Roach Jr. decided to revive the series, but only two 6-reel films resulted. The first, As You Were, finds Doubleday re-enlisting, much to the consternation of the bombastic Ames. This time both men find themselves at odds with their new "fellow" sergeant, lovely WAC Joan Vohs. Like its sequel Mr. Walkie Talkie, As You Were was released by Lippert Films. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In one of Alfred Hitchcock's suspense classics, tennis pro Guy Haines (Farley Granger) chances to meet wealthy wastrel Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) on a train. Having read all about Guy, Bruno is aware that the tennis player is trapped in an unhappy marriage to to wife Miriam (Laura Elliott) and has been seen in the company of senator's daughter Ann Morton (Ruth Roman). Baiting Guy, Bruno reveals that he feels trapped by his hated father (Jonathan Hale). As Guy listens with detached amusement, Bruno discusses the theory of "exchange murders." Suppose that Bruno were to murder Guy's wife, and Guy in exchange were to kill Bruno's father? With no known link between the two men, the police would be none the wiser, would they? When he reaches his destination, Guy bids goodbye to Bruno, thinking nothing more of the affable but rather curious young man's homicidal theories. And then, Guy's wife turns up strangled to death. Co-adapted by Raymond Chandler from a novel by Patricia Highsmith, Strangers on a Train perfectly exemplifies Hitchcock's favorite theme of the evil that lurks just below the surface of everyday life and ordinary men. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Farley Granger, Robert Walker, (more)
Booth Tarkington's Alice Adams, coupled with his Penrod stories, were incorporated in the script of the 1951 Warner Bros. musical On Moonlight Bay. The role of the incorrigible Penrod is played by future Father Knows Best regular Billy Gray, but his is a strictly secondary part herein. The emphasis is on Penrod's hoydenish older sister, played by Doris Day. She falls in love with Gordon MacRae, whose mildly anti-capitalist sentiments sit not at all well with Doris' banker dad (Leon Ames). Once a subplot involving Penrod's prevarications concerning his father's drinking habits is out of the way, we are treated to several romantic scenes involving Doris and Gordon, and a steady stream of early-20th-century standards like "Till We Meet Again," "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," "Cuddle Up a Little Closer," and the title song. On Moonlight Bay ends with MacRae marching off to World War I and Doris promising she'll wait for him; she did, as was proven in the 1953 sequel By the Light of the Silvery Moon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, (more)
- 1950
Lizabeth Scott and Diana Lynn are both effectively cast against type in Paid in Full. Scott plays Jane Langley, the spectacularly self-sacrificial older sister of selfish, reckless Nancy Langley (Lynn). Though she is in love with Bill Prentice (Robert Cummings), Jane gives him up to Nancy. And when Jane accidently causes the death of Nancy's child, she vows to makes amends by the most direct means possible. What follows is within the Production Code guidelines of the era -- but just barely. An unabashed "woman's picture" (that's what they called them back in 1949), Paid in Full doesn't always play well today, since viewers might be tempted to yell "Get real, Lizabeth!" at the screen. Still, it worked beautifully for its original target audience, especially those who'd read the factual Reader's Digest article upon which it was based. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Lizabeth Scott, (more)
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