Ottola Nesmith Movies

When the Witches Council announces their intention to banish Aunt Clara for her misfire spells, Clara asks Samantha to defend her before a jury of her peers. A tense situation is made even more so when Clara's legal briefs get mixed up with important business papers belonging to Darrin's boss, Larry Tate. The guest cast includes Arthur Malet as warlock Judge Bean, and Nancy Andrews and TV horror-show hostess Ottola Nesmith as Sam's aunts, Hagatha and Enchantra. Written by Ed Jurist, "Trial and Error of Aunt Clara" was first broadcast on February 2, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rafe Hollister (Jack Prince), the taciturn farmer introduced in the second-season episode "The County Nurse", returns in the February 11, 1963 installment "Rafe Hollister Sings." Impressed by Rafe's glorious tenor voice, choir director John Masters (Olan Soule) chooses Rafe to solo in the annual Mayberry concert. Unforunately, the other choir members object on the grounds that Hollister hasn't a decent suit of clothes to his name. Once again, Andy intervenes. Written by Harvey Bullock, "Rafe Hollister Sings" first aired on February 11, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This uneven farce by director Richard Quine has its hilarious and witty moments as American diplomat William Gridley (Jack Lemmon) inadvertently gets caught up in a jewel theft and mayhem. After William lands in London to take up his new position and get settled in his new digs, he becomes involved with his gorgeous landlady Carlye Hardwicke (Kim Novak). Carlye's husband is missing, and she is suspected of doing him in. But then he unexpectedly comes back home where an argument with Carlye over some jewels makes him as dead as everyone had assumed -- with her wielding the murder weapon. Carlye is eventually acquitted thanks to a witness who has designs on the jewels herself -- but the story is far from over. First there is an exciting helicopter ride and a wild chase to decide just who will end up with the loot. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This cinemadaptation of John O'Hara's From the Terrace stars Paul Newman as Alfred Eaton, an unhappily married financial adviser, while his real-life wife Joanne Woodward portrays Mary St. John, his promiscuous screen spouse. Mary's libertine behavior is a by-product of her husband's inability to express love and affection, a trait he has inherited from his cold-blooded father. Mark Robson directs and Myrna Loy heads up a large supporting cast as Newman's alcoholic mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The literalism of writer-director Richard Brooks serves him well in this meticulously faithful adaptation of the Robert Ruark novel Something of Value. Filmed on location in Africa, this is the story of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, as seen through the eyes of a handful of protagonists. Virtually alone in a sea of racist British colonialism, gentleman farmer Peter McKenzie (Rock Hudson) strives to understand the demands of freedom and equality made by Kenya's black population in particular and his childhood friend Kimani (Sidney Poitier) in particular. Ultimately, however, McKenzie and Kimani find themselves on opposite sides of the fence when the latter aligns himself with the Mau Mau. Without advocating the terrorism of this controversial movement, the screenplay is careful to deal the ongoing iniquities and frustrations that forced men like Kimani to take arms against their white brethren. There were a few theatres in the American south who, feeling that the racial tensions inherent in Something of Value hit too close to home, refused to book this fascinating, thought-provoking, often startlingly brutal film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This anthology film tells three stories of love involving the passengers of an ocean liner at sea. In the first, "The Jealous Lover," James Mason plays Charles Coudray, a well-known ballet director. When someone asks Coudray why he staged his masterpiece, "Astarte," only once, he tells the story of Paula Woodward (Moira Shearer), a superb dancer he found practicing in his theater. He was awestruck by her technique and her beauty, but he discovered that she had a secret -- due to a cardiac condition, she has been forbidden to dance too strenuously, as it could tax her heart and eventually kill her. Charles urges Paula to perform for him, so he may use her movements to choreograph his next great work; she agrees, but the exertion proves too much for her and she dies. He arranges for the work she inspired to be performed only once, in hopes that she will somehow see it from on high. In the second segment, "Mademoiselle," Tommy (Ricky Nelson) is a 12-year-old boy travelling with his French governess and tutor (Leslie Caron); she's tired of spending her days watching over a child, and he'd like to get away from Teacher for a while. Mrs. Pennicott (Ethel Barrymore), a older woman who happens to be a witch, hears Tommy wishing he could be a grown-up, and she grants his request: suddenly Tommy is a grown man (played by Farley Granger), but only for the next four hours. The Governess meets the mysterious stranger Tommy has become, and soon they fall in love. In the final segment, "Equilibrium," Kirk Douglas plays Pierre Narval, a high-wire artist who retired from performing after his partner died while performing a trapeze act, an accident Pierre blames on himself. He begins to reconsider his decision when he saves the life of Nina (Pier Angeli), a woman who attempted to drown herself; her husband died in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, and she feels she is to blame for his death. Their shared fatalism equals fearlessness in Pierre's eyes, and he teaches Nina the art of the trapeze; however, when he begins to fall in love with her, he's no longer so certain that he wants her to risk her life. "The Jealous Lover" and "Equilibrium" were directed by Gottfried Reinhardt, while "Mademoiselle" was directed by Vincente Minnelli. ~ Mark Deming, 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

Tough reporter Ed Adams (Alan Ladd) wants to get the full story behind the apparent suicide of a young woman. It seems that the girl left behind a notebook with a list of seemingly unrelated names. Adams tracks down each one of the persons cited in the notebook, slowly but surely putting the pieces together. Once the basic mystery is solved, however, there's one surprising loose end left to be tied up. June Havoc co-stars as Leona, self-styled best friend of the decedent, who helps Adams in his quest. As the victim, Donna Reed appears exclusively in flashbacks. Based on a story by veteran suspense scrivener Tiffany Thayer (of Thirteen Women fame), Chicago Deadline was remade for television in 1966 as Fame is the Name of the Game. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After suffering nobly in several heavyweight MGM dramas, Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon begged the studio to cast them together in a comedy. Though not an all-out laff riot, Julia Misbehaves strives hard to please. Garson plays an ever-in-debt British music-hall performer who relies on the largess of her friends to keep the wolf from the door. Pidgeon portrays Garson's ex-husband, who for the past 20 years has lived in Paris with their daughter Elizabeth Taylor. When Taylor becomes engaged, she sends Garson a wedding invitation. Broke again, Garson hastily joins an acrobatic act to earn steerage money, and charms British nobleman Nigel Bruce into giving her enough cash for a wedding present. Once she arrives in Paris, Garson sticks her nose into everyone's affairs, much to the dismay of the uptight Pidgeon. Garson even advises daughter Taylor to marry someone other than her betrothed. Despite her screwball behavior, Pidgeon can't help falling in love with Garson all over again--but it takes a zany sequence in and around a mountain chalet to knot together the many loose plotlines. Julia Misbehaves was adapted from The Nutmeg Tree, a novel by Margery Sharp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on John P. Marquand's Pulitzer Prize-winning satirical novel of the same title, this film stars Ronald Colman as George Apley, a Beantown blueblood passionately in love with his hometown. In his mind, Boston is the world's center of modern civilization and gentility and he has made it very clear that his son and daughter are to remain there for their entire lives and only associate with native Bostonians. Imagine poor Apley's horror, then, when his Harvard-student son falls in love with a Worcester girl and his daughter falls in love with a Yale student. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The time is just prior to World War II. Lovely Cluny Brown (Jennifer Jones) is the niece of a London plumber; when her uncle is indisposed, Cluny rolls up her sleeves and takes a plumbing job at a society home, where she meets a handsome Czech author (Charles Boyer) - a refugee who has fled the Nazis and now resides with a snobbish and stuck-up family. Hoping to advance herself socially, Cluny accepts a position as a maid in a fancy country home, where she once more meets the Czech author, who is a house guest; they promptly fall for each other, and Cluny follows his lead by turning her nose up at stiff-necked English propriety. Cluny Brown is directed by the matchless Ernst Lubitsch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cult figure and B-movie auteur Joseph H. Lewis directed this taut exercise in film noir. Julia Ross (Nina Foch), an American receiving medical treatment in London, finds herself short on money and takes a job as secretary for Mrs. Hughes (May Whitty), the matriarch of a large estate. Julie meets Mrs. Hughes' son Ralph (George Macready), a mysterious gentleman with a facial scar, shortly before eating lunch and falling into a deep sleep. When she awakes, she's in a different home with a high fence, and everyone around her insists that she's Ralph's wife, just home after a stay in a mental institution. My Name Is Julia Ross was one of Lewis' first "prestige" productions; begun as a ten-day B-picture, studio heads were so impressed with the results that they expanded the schedule by eight days to give the picture more polish. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide