Edmond O'Brien Movies
Reportedly a neighbor of Harry Houdini while growing up in the Bronx, American actor Edmond O'Brien decided to emulate Houdini by becoming a magician himself. The demonstrative skills gleaned from this experience enabled O'Brien to move into acting while attending high school. After majoring in drama at Columbia University, he made his first Broadway appearance at age 21 in Daughters of Atrus. O'Brien's mature features and deep, commanding voice allowed him to play characters far older than himself, and it looked as though he was going to become one of Broadway's premiere character actors. Yet when he was signed for film work by RKO in 1939, the studio somehow thought he was potential leading man material -- perhaps as a result of his powerful stage performance as young Marc Antony in Orson Welles' modern dress version of Julius Caesar. As Gringoire the poet in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), O'Brien was a bit callow and overemphatic, but he did manage to walk off with the heroine (Maureen O'Hara) at the end of the film. O'Brien's subsequent film roles weren't quite as substantial, though he was shown to excellent comic advantage in the Moss Hart all-serviceman play Winged Victory, in a role he repeated in the 1944 film version while simultaneously serving in World War II (he was billed as "Sergeant Edmond O'Brien"). Older and stockier when he returned to Hollywood after the war, O'Brien was able to secure meaty leading parts in such "films noir" as The Killers (1946), The Web (1947) and White Heat (1949). In the classic melodrama D.O.A. (1950), O'Brien enjoyed one of the great moments in "noir" history when, as a man dying of poison, he staggered into a police station at the start of the film and gasped "I want to report a murder...mine." As one of many top-rank stars of 1954's The Barefoot Contessa, O'Brien breathed so much credibility into the stock part of a Hollywood press agent that he won an Academy Award. On radio, the actor originated the title role in the long-running insurance-investigator series "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" in 1950. On TV, O'Brien played a Broadway star turned private eye in the 1959 syndicated weekly "Johnny Midnight," though the producers refused to cast him unless he went on a crash vegetarian diet. Plagued by sporadic illnesses throughout his life, O'Brien suffered a heart seizure in 1961 while on location in the Arabian desert to play the Lowell Thomas counterpart in Lawrence of Arabia, compelling the studio to replace him with Arthur Kennedy. O'Brien recovered sufficiently in 1962 to take the lead in a TV lawyer series, "Sam Benedict;" another TV stint took place three years later in "The Long Hot Summer." The actor's career prospered for the next decade, but by 1975 illness had begun to encroach upon his ability to perform; he didn't yet know it, but he was in the first stages of Alzheimer's Disease. Edmond O'Brien dropped out of sight completely during the next decade, suffering the ignominity of having his "death" reported by tabloids several times during this period. The real thing mercifully claimed the tragically enfeebled O'Brien in 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1956
A prosaic filmization of George Orwell's cautionary novel, 1984 is set in a futuristic totalitarian society where individuality is forbidden. The ruler is the never-seen "Big Brother," whose minions have monitored and bugged the activities of the populace so that no one can harbor any "subversive" thoughts. Edmond O'Brien plays Winston Smith, a government functionary satisfied with his lot, until he commits the illegal act of falling in love with Julia (Jan Sterling), a member of the anti-sex league. The lovers try to escape the all-powerful influence of Big Brother, but their every move is recorded by listening and viewing devices. Both are captured and sent to rehabilitation centers; preying upon Winston's and Julia's innermost fears, the lieutenants of Big Brother break down their resistance and force them to betray one another. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Redgrave, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1950
Edmond O'Brien plays a telephone repairman whose electronic savvy earns him a job with a bookmaking concern. O'Brien's bookie boss Barry Kelly wants to get instant results from the nation's racetracks, and to this end O'Brien illicitly plugs into several communication centers. The wealthier O'Brien becomes, the more scruples he sheds. Eventually he runs afoul of the Big Boss of an Eastern bookie syndicate (Otto Kruger) and vainly attempts to escape with his life in a slam-bang final at Boulder Dam. 711 Ocean Drive was made to cash in on a then-current national newspaper expose of bookmaking operations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru, (more)
- 1974
- PG
John Frankenheimer's bizarre, satirical gangster film is not for all tastes but has acquired a minor cult following. Elderly mobster Edmond O'Brien hires a hitman (Richard Harris) to eliminate his rival (Bradford Dillman) in a dystopic setting of not-quite reality. There are albino alligators, skillful chase scenes, and Chuck Connors as a one-handed psycho who can fit various deadly weapons on his stumpy arm. None of it makes much sense, and mainstream viewers may end up scratching their heads in bewilderment, but fans of more esoteric films should find it a lot of fun. It would likely have ended up as a big hit on the drive-in circuit if it hadn't been directed by Frankenheimer, from whom most people expect better. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Harris, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1956
Natalie Wood plays what was touted as her first "grown up" role in the tense melodrama A Cry in the Night. Based loosely on the Caryl Chessman case, the film showcases Raymond Burr as a psycho who stalks and attacks young couples on Lover's Lane. Overpowering Wood's boyfriend, Burr kidnaps the girl and locks her up in a seedy one-room apartment. Though he barely lays a hand on her, Wood has every reason to be terrified of her captor, who has a disturbing habit of brutally killing small animals. Meanwhile, Wood's police-captain father Edmond O'Brien brusquely ignores all manner of civil liberties as he and fellow officer Brian Donlevy turn the town inside out in search of the girl and her abductor. Carol Veazie appears as Burr's blowsy, dominating mother, while Mary Lawrence offers an interesting characterization as Wood's plain-Jane sister, who is jealous of all the attention showered on her missing sibling. Cry in the Night is a surprisingly lively offering from the normally uninspired director Frank Tuttle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Brian Donlevy, (more)
Ronald Colman won an Academy Award for his portrayal of an off-the-beam actor in A Double Life. A beloved stage star, Anthony John (Colman), has problems with his private life due to his unpredictable outbursts of temper. This trait has already cost him his wife, Brita (Signe Hasso), and threatens to sabotage his career. Nonetheless, Anthony makes his peace with Brita, and the two actors star in a new Broadway staging of Othello. The play is a hit, running over 300 performances, but the pressures of portraying a man moved to murder by jealousy takes its toll on Anthony. In a fit of delirium, he strangles his casual mistress, Pat (Shelley Winters), but retains no memory of the awful crime. Press agent Bill Friend (Edmond O'Brien), unaware that Anthony is the killer, uses Pat's murder as publicity for Othello. Anthony becomes enraged at this cheap ploy, and attacks Friend. At this point, Anthony realizes that he has been living "a double life" and is in fact Pat's murderer. A Double Life was written for the screen by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, who occasionally digress from the melodramatic plotline to include a few backstage inside jokes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Whit Bissell, (more)
- 1941
The girl is stenographer Dot Duncan (Lucille Ball); the guy is her boss, stuffy young shipping magnate Stephen Herrick (Edmond O'Brien); and the gob is a brash sailor known as Coffee Cup (George Murphy). Not surprisingly, the plot involves the efforts by the self-effacing Stephen and the self-confident Coffee Cup to woo and win the lovely Dot. And that's about all the "story" there is; the rest of the picture is jam-packed with round-robin comic misunderstandings and wild slapstick setpieces. A Girl, a Guy and a Gob was one of two RKO Radio films produced by silent-screen great Harold Lloyd, who reportedly dropped in on the set from time to time to offer a bit of sage comedy advice (note the "handkerchief" bit utlized by Edmond O'Brien; it had previously done service in Lloyd's own Welcome Danger). Not as big a moneymaker as Harold's starring features of the 1920s, the RKO film nonetheless turned a tidy profit for the studio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Murphy, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1948
In this provocative drama, a stern hard-liner judge commits euthanasia to save his terminally ill wife from further suffering. He decides to kill her by driving the both of them off a cliff. He succeeds in ending her pain, but unfortunately he survives and ends up turning himself in with a full confession. Now it is up to his brilliant lawyer to defend him. He not only justifies the old judge's actions, he also proves that the wife took a fatal dose of poison before getting in the car; therefore she committed suicide. The judge is freed and returns to his courtroom where he oversees his cases with considerably more sympathy and understanding than he did before. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1948
Another Part Of The Forest begins some twenty years before the events of Lillian Hellman's play and movie The Little Foxes and shows how that film's Hubbard family became the ruthless, greedy lot they were. It's fifteen years after the Civil War, and the Hubbards dominate their small Southern town financially, if not socially; The patriarch of the family (Fredric March) sold salt for $8 a pound to the Confederate Army at a time when they needed it most. Edmond O'Brien and Dan Duryea play his sons, the former as mean as his father, the latter and younger one a weakling. When the elder child finds out that his father was responsible for the death of Southern troops during the war, he threatens to expose the truth unless the family fortune is placed in his hands. In the end, only Hubbard's wife (Florence Eldridge) stands by her husband during his inevitable fall, and she banishes her own children from their house. Brilliant acting by all, especially March, Duryea, and O'Brien, plus a sharp script, make this unrelentingly grim melodrama fascinating to watch. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Dan Duryea, (more)
- 1950
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
- Starring:
- Virginia Mayo, Gordon MacRae, (more)
- 1950
Between Midnight and Dawn is a solid, no-frills detective drama from the Columbia studio mills. Mark Stevens and Edmond O'Brien star as police officers Barnes and Purvis, who tool around in their prowl car in the wee hours of the morning. Vengeful gangster Ritchie Garris (Donald Buka) would like nothing better than to get Barnes and Purvis out of his hair, especially after breaking out of jail. In a thrill-packed climax, Garris makes a desperate escape using a little kid as a shield, while Purvis tries to second-guess the homicidal gangster. As Kate Mallory, Gale Storm has little to do except serve as the bone of romantic contention between the two male protagonists. Curiously, Storm doesn't get to sing, though supporting actress Gale Robbins does--three times, in fact. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
In this film based on a true story, Burt Lancaster plays Robert Stroud, a withdrawn prison inmate who cures a sick bird that flies into his cell and eventually becomes a world-renowned ornithologist -- all while serving a life sentence. An overbearing warden (Karl Malden) eventually transfers Stroud to the notoriously brutal prison on Alcatraz, but he is able to continue his research, abort a riot, start a romance, and eventually get his story out through a determined reporter (Edmond O'Brien). Directed with his usual solid craftsmanship by John Frankenheimer, Birdman Of Alcatraz tells a quietly moving tale for which Lancaster, Telly Savalas (as one of Stroud's fellow inmates), and Thelma Ritter (as Stroud's mother) all received Oscar nominations. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, (more)
- 1953
In late 1944, an American guerilla unit led by Capt. Matt Reardon (Edmond O'Brien) learns that a Japanese plane carrying Admiral Amara (Philip Ahn) has crashed in China, in warlord-held territory. Reardon and his men are placed under the command of Naval Intelligence officer Commander Bert Thompson (Barry Sullivan) and sent on a mission to ransom Amara -- who is not only the head of Japanese naval intelligence, but also one of the few ranking officers in the Japanese high command known to have questioned the wisdom of continuing the war -- treat his injuries, and bring him back into American hands. Apart from the instant dislike that Reardon takes to Thompson -- a staff officer with no jungle combat experience, who has spent most of the war working in diplomatic circles -- the mission is complicated by the large amount of emergency surgical gear, plus the doctor and his aides that Reardon has to get alive through the jungle, and this is made even worse by the fact that one of them is his surgical nurse, a woman (Jocelyn Brando). When Wu King (Leon Askin), the warlord with whom they're dealing, proves to be less than trustworthy, Reardon and Thompson have to come up with a way of getting past his larcenous nature and getting Amara out of China before the Japanese soldiers sent to rescue him arrive. In the end, the two officers discover that, though they may have gotten to this place by very different paths, they have the same goal -- and each is prepared to go as far as the other to see it through. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Barry Sullivan, (more)
- 1953
A "big" western by Allied Artists standards, Cow Country is directed with his usual panache by horse-opera expert Lesley Selander. Adapted from a novel by Curtis Bishop, the film stars Edmond O'Brien as Ben Anthony, an adventurer-for-hire who casts his lot with Texas cattleman Walt Garnet (Robert H. Barrat). The villains want to drive Anthony and his fellow ranchers off their land, but Ben's six-guns prevent this, at least temporarily. Meanwhile, Linda Garnet (Helen Westcott), Walt's daughter and the fiancee of the film's chief bad guy Harry Odell (Bob Lowery), aligns herself with Ben when Odell proves to be spectacularly unfaithful with saloon chirp Melba Sykes (Peggie Castle). Barton MacLane rounds out the cast in one of his standard loud, abrasive roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Helen Westcott, (more)
We don't see much of Omaha Beach in D-Day, the Sixth of June. Instead, the film concentrates on a romantic triangle involving American officer Robert Taylor, British officer Richard Todd and the lovely Dana Wynter. Taylor and Todd spend the last hours before D-Day reminiscing about Wynter. The romantic dilemma is eventually solved shortly after the invasion, when one of the men conveniently steps on a land mine. Lionel Shapiro's novel was geared more for the beach-and-bonbons crowd than war buffs, and the film follows suit. 20th Century-Fox gives a far more thorough account of D-Day itself in 1963's The Longest Day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Richard Todd, (more)
"I want to report a murder...mine." So begins D.O.A. Told in flashback, the story tells of how vacationing CPA Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) becomes the recipient of a deadly poison known as iridium. Told by a doctor that he hasn't long to live, Bigelow desperately retraces his movements of the previous 24 hours, trying to locate his murderer. Through the aid of his secretary Paula Gibson (Pamela Britton) (who doesn't know of her employer's imminent demise), Bigelow traces a shipment of iridium to a gang of criminals who've used the poison in the commission of a crime. But for much of the film, it remains unclear why Bigelow himself was targeted. Though we know from the outset that Bigelow isn't long for this world, the film builds up an incredible amount of suspense towards the end, when Bigelow is taken "for a ride" by a psychopath (Neville Brand). with a penchant for pummeling his victims in the belly. DOA was remade in 1988 with Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, (more)
- 1975
- PG
A disturbed woman slips over the edge into violent madness in this low-budget horror story. Grace (Brooke Mills) was abandoned by her parents as an infant, and grew up in an orphanage. As an adult, Grace is engaged to Patrick (Paul Prokop), a medical student, and she performs as a high-dive artist in a bizarre Christian revival show staged by Patrick's brother Jesse (Michael Pataki); Grace shares enough of Jesse's religious convictions to insist on abstaining from sex before marriage, though she struggles with her physical desires. The scars from Grace's unpleasant childhood cause her to drift in and out of a world of her own, and she wants to find closure by locating her long-lost father. While looking for her dad, Grace finds her way to a cheap hotel, where a pimp (Marc Lawrence) informs her that he knew her father, and that he died the night before. When Grace sees the dead body of her father (Edmond O'Brien) in the morgue, she snaps and imagines that the corpse has come to life. As Grace drifts deeper into her fantasy world, she goes on a spree of violence and lust fueled by the demons in her mind and the actions of her re-animated dad. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1966
- PG
Stephen Boyd heads a team of scientists sent on a bizarre experimental mission. Through a revolutionary and as-yet untested process, the scientists and their special motorized vehicle are miniaturized, then injected into the blood stream of a near-death scientist (Jean del Val). Their mission is to relieve a blood clot caused by an assassination attempt. One member of the expedition is bent on sabotage so that the scientist's secrets will die with him. Another member is Raquel Welch, seemingly along for the ride solely because of how she looks in a skintight diving suit. The film's Oscar-winning visual effects (by Art Cruikschank) chart the progress of the voyagers through the scientist's body, burrowing past deadly antibodies, chunks of tobacco residue in the lungs, and other such obstacles. Oscars also went to Jack Martin Smith and Dale Hennesy's art direction and Walter M. Scott and Stuart A. Reiss' set decoration. Fantastic Voyage was later spun off into a Saturday morning cartoon series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, (more)
- 1948
Excellent Technicolor photography, principally in the aerial scenes, is the main asset of the cliché-ridden Fighter Squadron. Set in the months just prior to D-Day, the plot zeroes in on Marjor Ed Hardin (Edmond O'Brien) leader of a squadron of fearless combat pilots. In keeping with the conventions of the era, the training and flying sequences are counterbalanced with comic byplay involving wheeler-dealer Sergeant Dolan (Tom D'Andrea), whose flippant attitudes towards the opposite sex are a bit hard to take today. Far more effective is the performance of 15-year-old Jack Larson, making his screen debut in the role of a rookie pilot who grows up in a hurry after scoring his first kill (Larson later gained TV immortality as Jimmy Olsen on Superman). Also making his first screen appearance, in a role so small it isn't even billed, is a former truck driver named Rock Hudson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Robert Stack, (more)
- 1948
Deanna Durbin's career was clearly on the downswing when she starred in For the Love of Mary. Durbin plays a switchboard operator at the White House, whose hiccuping spells throw several incoming special-interest callers into a tizzy. The President himself cures Durbin of her hiccups, thereby becoming entangled with the girl's various romances. She, in turn, finds herself neck-deep in numerous political intrigues. A forgettable comedy with disposable songs, For the Love of Mary turned out to be Deanna Durbin's last picture. The onetime mortgage-lifter of Universal Pictures was tired of the Hollywood grind and of fighting a losing battle with her fluctuating weight; thus she retired to France with her director-husband Charles David. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deanna Durbin, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1964
Made for television, Gallegher was a recurring feature on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Roger Mobley played Gallegher, the adventurous 19th century cub reporter created by Richard Harding Davies, while Edmond O'Brien costarred as bombastic newspaper editor Crowley. The first three-part Gallegher adventure, telecast in early 1965, was later released overseas as a feature film. So too was the 3-part Further Adventures of Gallagher, which ran from September 26 through October 10, 1965. "The Big Swindle" was the second hour-long chapter in the Further Adventures, and thus qualifies for the alternate title Gallagher V. In "Big Swindle", Crowley assigns woman reporter Adeline Jones (Anne Francis) to team up with Gallagher on a series about confidence tricksters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
This curious made-for-TV movie stars Alan Alda as a police detective in a small New England town. The community's elderly are dying at an unusual rate, prompting Alda to investigate. He deduces that the old folks are being murdered, but can't find a motive (there are no robberies involved, and none of the victims have any enemies to speak of). The hunt for the killer becomes personal when Alda's best friend, police chief Lloyd Nolan, falls victim to the unknown assailant. With the help of his funky girlfriend Louise Lasser, Alda assembles the clues and arrives at a startling conclusion. Isn't it Shocking? is enhanced by the presence of several veteran character actors, including Ruth Gordon as a disheveled cat fancier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed this exquisite version of William Shakespeare's play. Louis Calhern is Julius Caesar, whose conquests have enabled him to rise to the status of Roman dictator. But his ascent to almost God-like status has given pause to influential members of the Roman Senate. Chief among them is Cassius (John Gielgud), who is troubled by Caesar's popularity and dictatorial status. Convinced that Caesar's assassination would be the best thing for Rome, he conspires with Casca (Edmond O'Brien) and the influential Brutus (James Mason) to plot Caesar's murder. Despite dark omens, Caesar walks confidently into the Roman Senate, where he is stabbed to death by the conspirators. His companion Marc Antony (Marlon Brando) is shocked and runs to the corpse of his beloved friend. He agrees to support Brutus while an unruly mob gathers in front of the Senate doors, having heard rumors of Caesar's assassination. Brutus convinces the mob that Caesar's death was for the good of Rome, preventing him from forming a monarchy. Then Antony appears, determined to destroy the conspirators; he delivers a speech that subtly damns the assassins. With the mob against them, the conspirators are forced to flee Rome and Antony organizes an army against them. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlon Brando, James Mason, (more)
- 1959
This routine drama about love, betrayal, and ambition stars Richard Basehart as Georges, the spineless husband of Dominique (Andrea Parisy) a woman who has enough ambition for the both of them. Edmond O'Brien is the unfortunate boss who has allowed some deeds on valuable Tahitian phosphate mines to lapse. While the wife keeps the boss distracted with a series of sexual encounters, she also convinces her husband to transfer the deeds to their names. After the deed is done, so to speak, the couple slowly climb up the economic and social ladder. But since karma never sleeps, they ultimately have to face the consequences of their actions. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andréa Parisy, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1967
In this stylish crime drama, a smooth-talking insurance investigator looks into a bank robbery and ends up breaking up two famous gangs involved in a drug war. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Yanne
