Kathleen Mulqueen Movies

Although not as well known as Pillow Talk (1959), this romantic-comedy pairing of stars Rock Hudson and Doris Day earned an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. Hudson stars as Jerry Webster, a Madison Avenue advertising executive who has achieved success not through hard work or intelligence but by wining and dining his big-shot clients, even setting them up on dates with attractive girls. Jerry's equal at a rival agency is Carol Templeton (Day). Although she has never met him, Carol is disgusted by Jerry's unethical antics and reports him to the Ad Council. Jerry avoids trouble with his usual aplomb, sending a comely chorus girl, Rebel Davis (Edie Adams), to seduce the council members. When Jerry subsequently makes Rebel the star of television commercials for a nonexistent product called VIP, the spots are accidentally aired by perplexed company president Pete Ramsey (Tony Randall). Carol becomes determined to win the VIP account away from Jerry, but after she discovers the truth, she again reports him to the Ad Council. Jerry skirts out of trouble a second time by producing VIP, an intoxicating candy quickly whipped up by company research scientist Linus Tyler (Jack Kruschen). VIP's extreme effects lead to a one-night stand between bitter rivals Jerry and Carol, with unexpected consequences. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Ben Sutton (Richard Shannon) is having a high old time spending the royalties from his best-selling book, dealing with his experiences a Korean POW. In fact, Ben has apparently depleted his savings, else why would he be borrowing so much from the brother of his long-suffering wife Sylvia (Bethel Leslie)? As it happens, Sutton is being blackmailed by someone who knows that he is a fraud, and that the actual author of his book is recuperating in an Army hospital. Sylvia also knows that Ben is a phony--and as such, she is arrested when her husband is murdered. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must find out who else besides Sylvia knew Sutton's secret and was willing to kill him because of it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Created and written by Sam Peckinpah, the premiere episode of The Rifleman stars Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford as Lucas and Mark McCain, father and 10-year-old son in search of settling down near North Fork, New Mexico. But when Lucas, a noted crack shot with a rifle, enters the local turkey shoot, he gets in the way of Jim Lewis (Leif Erickson), the local town czar, who has rigged the contest in favor of young Vernon Tippert (Dennis Hopper). All set to win the grand prize, Lucas is "persuaded" to throw the contest by Lewis, who uses little Mark as a bargaining tool. Sidney Blackmer and R.G. Armstrong also star in this fine television western, which premiered on ABC September 30, 1958. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Claudette Colbert makes a long-overdue entree into the Western genre in Texas Lady. Looking at least a decade younger than her 50 years, Ms. Colbert plays Prudence Webb, who arrives in the wide-open town of Fort Ralston, Texas, to assume control of her late father's newspaper. Her first major print crusade is aimed at gambler Chris Mooney (Barry Sullivan), whom Prudence holds responsible for her dad's suicide (Mooney isn't, but it takes our heroine nearly eight reels to find this out). She then takes aim at a couple of crooked cattle barons (Ray Collins and Walter Sande), who'd like nothing better than to put Prudence out of the way for keeps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "juvenile delinquent" film cycle of the 1950s, sparked by The Blackboard Jungle, resulted in such hastily assembled B-flicks as Columbia's Teenage Crime Wave. The "crime wave" of the title consists of the criminal activities of teenager Mike Denton (Tommy Cook). After escaping from reform school, Mike goes on a statewide shooting spree, accompanied by his girlfriend Terry Marsh (Mollie McCart) and victim-of-circumstance Jane Koberly (Sue England). Most of the film takes place in the farmhouse of middle-aged Tom Grant (James Bell), as Mike, Terry and Sue hold the Grant family hostage. Since Sue is really a nice kid at heart, the audience can rest assured that she will foil Mike's perfidy before fade-out time. One noted film critic has bestowed a "BOMB" rating upon Teenage Crime Wave, though it's certainly no worse than the others of its ilk. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

At least half of the two-part Actors and Sin is well worth having. Part One, "Actor's Blood", is based on a Ben Hecht tale of theatrical intrigue. Edward G. Robinson plays a Barrymoresque Shakespearean actor whose obsessive control of the life and career of his actress-daughter Marsha Hunt results in disaster. Part Two, "Woman of Sin", is another Ben Hecht yarn, this one satirical in nature. Eddie Albert stars as a Hollywood agent who'd sell his Grandmother to represent the author of a sensationally sexy screenplay titled, yes, Woman of Sin. Much to Albert's surprise (but not ours), the author turns out to be a precocious 9-year-old girl, played by Hecht's own daughter Jenny. Of the two playlets, "Actor's Blood", though ripely melodramatic, scores best in the acting department. "Woman of Sin" is too arch and smug to be consistently funny, while Jenny Hecht is perhaps the greatest argument against nepotism in film history. Ostensibly directed by Ben Hecht (who also produced), Actors and Sin was largely helmed by cinematographer Lee Garmes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide