Patrick Aherne Movies

Danny Kaye spoofs medieval swashbucklers in this classic musical comedy. While the infant King of England awaits his rightful place as leader of the British Empire, his rule is usurped by Roderick (Cecil Parker), an evil pretender to the throne. Brave rebel leader The Black Fox (Edward Ashley) intends to remove Roderick from the palace and bring the crown back to its true owner, but in the meantime the baby king needs to be looked after, which is the job of a man named Hawkins (Kaye). The Black Fox travels with the little king and his rebels as they search for the key to a secret tunnel that will allow them passage into the castle. Maid Jean (Glynis Johns), one of the rebels, meets a man en route to the Castle who is to be Roderick's new jester. The rebels quickly hatch a plan: detain the jester and send Hawkins in his place; the king can then find the key and initiate the overthrow. Hawkins is able to persuade Roderick and his men that he is indeed a jester, but his espionage work gets complicated when Princess Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury) falls in love with him, and he runs afoul of Sir Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone), the evil genius behind Roderick. Court Jester features Kaye's famous "Pellet with the Poison" routine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This final episode of The Adventures of Superman's second season begins as a little blind girl named Ann Carson (Judy Ann Nugent) sends a heart-tugging message to the "Daily Planet." Responding to the message, reporter Clark Kent (George Reeves) goes into "Superman" mode to help the girl. In short order, Superman manages to reunite Ann's estranged parents (Kay Morley, James Brown), enables a jittery doctor (Raymond Greenleaf) to perform the operation that will restore the girl's sight, and, per the episode's title, takes the wide-eyed youngster on a flight around the world (or at least around a studio process screen!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While returning to Metropolis from a European assignment, Clark (George Reeves) and Jimmy (Jack Larson) make a stopover in England, where they find themselves up to their necks in "supernatural" phenomena. It seems that a recently deceased magician named Brockhurst (Leonard Mudie) has apparently risen from his grave to wreak vengeance on his enemies. It is up to Clark's alter ego Superman (George Reeves) to expose the fraud behind Brockhurst's ghostly "visitations", and to save his would-be victims from being bumped off en masse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Louis Hayward goes the "stiff upper lip" route in the Allied Artists "B"-plus actioner The Royal African Rifles. Set in British East Africa during the early days of WW I, the story concerns the efforts by Royal African Rifle troops to get their hands on much-needed machine guns. Officer Denham (Louis Hayward) leads a group of soldiers on a "hunting party," the better to steal the valuable weapons. Michael Pate co-stars as Cunningham, the gun-running heavy of the piece. Veronica Hurst, whom Allied Artists had been grooming for stardom ever since The Maze, is the rather disposable heroine. As usual, director Lesley Selander paces his material like a western film, with salutary results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Son of Dr. Jekyll is Edward Jekyll, played by Louis Hayward. The film's events take place long after the unpleasantness involving Dr. J's doppelganger Mr. Hyde. Young Edward hopes to prove that his father was a dedicated scientist, and not merely a mad monster. His nemesis in this endeavor is Curtis Lanyon (Alexander Knox), executor for the Jekyll estate, who hopes to drive Edward into insanity and irrational behavior so he can keep the late doctor's legacy for himself. Much to the disappointment of the audience, Eddie Jekyll never turns into Hyde, no matter how hard he and Lanyon try to re-create the original doctor's experiments. Thus, Son of Dr. Jekyll can scarcely be designated a horror film; it looks more like a period-costume Charlie Chan picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lorna Doone is based on the oft-filmed novel by Richard D. Blackmore. Set in 17th century Scotland during the reign of Britain's Charles II, the story concerns young Lorna (Barbara Hale), a member of a much-hated landowning family. Lorna falls in love with a humble villager (Richard Greene), who like the rest of community has suffered under the rule of the despotic Doones. The villagers revolt against their oppressors, but when it is revealed that Lorna is not a genuine Doone, she is able to marry her low-born swain. Star Barbara Hale was pregnant throughout the filming of Lorna Doone; thus it can be said that the film "co-starred" her son, future actor William Katt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Decked out with leftover sets and stock footage from 1946's Bandit of Sherwood Forest, Columbia's Rogues of Sherwood Forest stars John Derek as the son of legendary do-gooder Robin Hood. When King John (George Macready) revives his old cycle of taxation and repression, Robin Jr. summons forth his father's Merry Men and inaugurates a rebel movement. Aiding the younger Robin in his fight for rights is Lady Marianne (Diana Lynn), who exhibits a lot more leg and decolletage than was customary in 13th-century England. Prominent among the Merry Men is Little John, played by Alan Hale Sr., who'd previously essayed the same role in the 1922 and 1938 filmizations of Robin Hood. Attractively lensed in Technicolor, Rogues of Sherwood Forest seems far more expensive and ambitious than it really was. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 161-minute costume drama Green Dolphin Street is set in 1840, on an island off the coast of Newfoundland, (or at least, the MGM backlot facsimile of same). Boiled down to essentials, it's the story of two sisters, blonde Marguerite Patourel (Donna Reed) and brunette
Marianne Patourel (Lana Turner), daughters of the wealthy Octavius Patourel (Edmund Gwenn). The two women meet New Zealander William Ozone (Richard Hart) and both quietly fall in love with him, though he's far more interested in Marguerite. To get William away from her sister, the conniving Marianne encourages the young man to fulfill his dreams by enlisting in H.R.H.'s Navy, whereby he'll be shipped off to China. But William misses the boat (no pun intended) and becomes a fugitive. He and buddy Timothy Haslam (Van Heflin) pair up and ship out to New Zealand, where they found a lumber business. William gets soused one night and writes to the sister he loves, inviting her to join him in marriage - but drunkenly uses the other sister's name by mistake. Marianne, believing he meant to write to her, decides to set off for New Zealand to be with her intended. Meanwhile,
Timothy secretly pines for Marguerite - and that's only the set up for this broadly-scaled melodrama. Reportedly budgeted at $4 million, Green Dolphin Street was based on the somewhat better bestseller by Elizabeth Goudge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Returning to Singapore after a five-year absence, WWII veteran Matt Gordon (Fred MacMurray) mournfully recalls his romance with, and marriage to, a girl named Linda (Ava Gardner), whom he assumes was killed in a bombing raid on their wedding night. Resuming his prewar profession as a pearl smuggler, Matt gets mixed up with gangsters who are seeking a cache of pearls that he hid somewhere in Singapore during the war. He also meets wealthy Michael Van Leyden (Roland Culver), who is married to a woman who closely resembles the lamented Linda. In point of fact, she is Linda, but has been suffering from amnesia ever since the wartime bombing. Upon being reunited with his lost love, Matt does his best to ditch his unsavory companions and to rescue Linda from her "new" life. Clearly inspired by Casablanca, Singapore was remade as the 1957 Errol Flynn vehicle Istanbul. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy drama, a young girl's family disintegrates after the child becomes a movie star. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This British spy thriller concerns the theft of valuable aircraft secrets by enemy agents. Laurence Olivier plays a firebrand test pilot who falls under suspicion when several planes disappear. Costar Ralph Richardson steals the film as a seemingly befuddled secret service operative assigned to the case. Despite its topicality (the film was made in 1939, when Europe was bracing itself against the possibility of war), Q Planes is played with the tongue-in-cheek bravado of a "Boy's Own Paper" tale. Q Planes was released in the US as Clouds over Europe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the character created by "Sapper" (Herman Cyril McNeile), Return of Bulldog Drummond was a British production starring Ralph Richardson in the title role. The film is closer to the jingoistic, near-fascist spirit of the original stories than were the Hollywood "Drummond" B-pictures of the mid-1930s. In fact, Richardson's Drummond organizes the "Black Clan," then goes on a crusade to rid England of all foreigners, on the theory that every "outsider" is a criminal or at the very least an undesirable. And according to the script, he's right: The villains are European armament merchants hoping to increase profits by sparking a new world war. Return of Bulldog Drummond is about as politically incorrect as it's possible to get, with Ralph Richardson coming across more as a heavy than a hero; two years later, he was more effectively cast as a criminal mastermind in the "Drummond" parody Bulldog Jack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide