Damian O'Flynn Movies
American general purpose actor Damian O'Flynn made his first screen appearance in 1937's Marked Woman. O'Flynn went on to freelance at Warner Bros., RKO, Paramount, Monogram, and other studios, usually in secondary roles, but occasionally playing leads. While serving in WWII, he appeared along with several other actors-in-uniform in 20th Century Fox's Winged Victory, billed as Corporal Damian O'Flynn. A veteran of many a big-screen Western, he appeared regularly in the mid-'50s TV series Wyatt Earp as Doc Goodfellow. Damian O'Flynn remained active until 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1969
Hoping to test the theory that "absence makes the heart grow fonder," Lisa (Eva Gabor) decides to take a vacation without Oliver (Eddie Albert). With the Green Acres theme song in mind, it is only natural that Lisa should choose to make a solo trip to New York City. And with the gossipy habits of the Hooterville citizens in mind, it is equally natural that everyone will jump to the conclusion that Oliver and Lisa have split up for keeps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Long, Damian O'Flynn, (more)
- 1965
Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) goes to town to pick up a postage stamp and comes home with the whole post office. Figuring that he could do a better and more efficient job than the present P.O. staff, Joe wangles the job of Hooterville Postmaster. But the fun doesn't really begin until Joe transforms the Shady Rest Hotel into the new drop-off site for the local mail traffic! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In this western, set in 1875, an agent for the National Detective Agency is assigned to find the murderous outlaw gang that has been breaking convicts out of prison and helping them to commit more crimes. The resulting crimes cause the bounties upon the fugitives' heads to rise. The outlaws then kill the convicts and reap the generous rewards. Fortunately, the agent succeeds in infiltrating the group and killing the leader. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audie Murphy, Ben Cooper, (more)
- 1960
In this taut thriller, an aging safe-cracker's daughter gets involved with a petty gangster who is always looking for the big heist that will make him a rich man. The fellow reminds her of her father, but this doesn't stop her from attending his latest crime and acting as a look out. Her boyfriend proves to be a lousy safe-cracker and the heist fails. The woman goes back to her night club singing gig. She then gets involved with the club owner. Meanwhile her father has found a female lock-picker and fallen in love. Later the girl is forced to join her father and his lover on a heist. The club owner also comes and ends up shot by the father's girl friend. The poor daughter ends up convicted of the crime and given the death penalty. Just before she is to fry, the real killer bursts in and confesses. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Bret (James Garner) is among the participants when the lovely but larcenous Samantha Crawford (Diane Brewster) organizes a big, no-limit poker game. Before long, Bret is being accused of cheating, and of masterminded a robbery in which the players are cleaned out. Naturally, Samantha has vanished, forcing Bret to venture into Indian territory to bring her back and clear his name. One of the minor pleasures of this episode is the verbal give-and-take between Bret and Samantha, including several pointed comments about marriage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Teenage Doll in this Roger Corman-directed "J. D." opus is a little number named Barbara (June Kenney). Basically a good girl, she falls into bad company when she impulsively decides to rebel against her parents. It isn't long before Barbara accidentally kills her tough-babe romantic rival (Barboura Morris), whereupon she is pursued all over town by femme gang leader Hel (Fay Spain) and her henchgirls (Barbara Wilson, Ziva Rodann). Barbara runs to her punk boy friend Eddie (John Brinkley) for protection, setting the stage for a climactic rumble. And remembers, kids: This could happen to you, so keep your record clean and stay home nights! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Kenney, Fay Spain, (more)
- 1957
In this teenage exploitation drama, a young woman secretly marries. The trouble begins after her husband is killed while drag racing. She bears his child, but she cannot prove that she was married. Caring nothing for the child, she spends her time hitting on a jazz trumpeter who takes her to Las Vegas. Soon she figures out that he is not interested in marriage. She takes off and marries a DJ. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Webster, William Campbell, (more)
- 1957
Keith Larsen stars as the Apache Kid, an Indian scout. He is willing to cooperate with the US cavalry until his brother is killed by another Native American. The Apache Kid is permitted to seek revenge under tribal law, but white law does not recognize this ruling; as a result the Kid is branded a renegade. A fellow cavalry scout (Jim Davis) is ordered to stop the Kid, but decides instead to let him go and seek out justice in his own way. Supposedly based on fact, Apache Warrior was directed by Elmo Williams, who in 1952 was film editor for the landmark western High Noon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keith Larsen, Jim Davis, (more)
- 1957
Union army major Drango (Jeff Chandler) is assigned to rebuild a ruined Georgian town in the aftermath of the Civil War. Despite his best intentions, Drango has trouble combatting the hatred and resentment of the townsfolk. In particular, Clay Allen (Ronald Howard), the hotheaded son of Judge Allen (Donald Crisp), does his utmost to sabotage Drango's efforts and foment a Confederate insurrection. It takes the conscience-stricken intervention of the Judge himself to prevent wholesale bloodshed. The film's low-key romantic interest is handled by Joanne Dru and Julie London, cast respectively as the daughter of a despised Union sympathizer and an "unreconstructed" female plantation owner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Chandler, John Lupton, (more)
Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer was lensed in the Trucolor process. Brice Bennett plays the titular 18th century frontiersman, carving out a home for himself, his family and his fellow settlers in the wilds of Kentucky. The climax finds Boone and company defending Fort Boonesborough from a Shawnee Indian attack, fomented by unhinged renegade Simon Girty (Kem Dibbs). Lon Chaney does the strong-and-silent bit as Shawnee chief Blackfish. Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer was filmed in its entirety in Mexico. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Bennett, Lon Chaney, Jr., (more)
- 1956
Jack Larson plays a dual role in this episode, as cub reporter Jimmy Olsen and two-bit crook Kid Collins. A group of investment racketeers kidnap Jimmy and plant his lookalike Collins in the "Daily Planet" building, the better to steal the evidence used by Clark Kent (George Reeves) for his series of racket-busting articles. Things get worse when Collins breaks into Clark's apartment and steals his Superman outfit--forcing Clark not only to track Collins down in his street clothes, but also to explain to Lois (Noel Neill) how the outfit came to be in his closet in the first place! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Hidden Guns is not so much a western as a suspense melodrama. Bruce Bennett plays Stragg, a mean-spirited cardsharp with friends in high places. Though he has ordered the killing of a rival, Stragg is able to escape prosecution by greasing a few local palms. It is up to heretofore ineffectual sheriff Young (Richard Arlen) to bring justice to his corrupt community. Aiding Young is his callow son Faron (Faron Young), who likewise is considered too wishy-washy to be effective--at least until the slam-bang climax. John Carradine steals the show as Stragg's saturnine hired gun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Bennett, Richard Arlen, (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)
One of the most entertaining of the Western movies to come out of the 1950s, this is a Stewart vehicle in which he must take on the ruthlessness of the frontier. Set in the Yukon, Stewart and his friends are driving cattle to market from Wyoming to Canada, where the boom towns pay top dollar for beef. When they arrive in Skagway, the corrupt sheriff of the town (John McIntire) steals the cattle and Stewart et al are forced to fight for their herd. Together with the female saloon keeper of another town (Ruth Roman), they find themselves up against an evil they were not prepared for. When Stewart's friend (portrayed by Walter Brennan) is killed, he is forced to go up against the evil sheriff. Good versus evil in incredible Yukon settings makes this an above average Western. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Ruth Roman, (more)
- 1955
This last remake (thus far) of the Jean Webster novel Daddy Long Legs was extensively revised to accommodate the talents of Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron. Fragments of the basic plot remain: American millionaire Astaire is the unknown benefactor of French orphan girl Caron, financing the girl's education on the proviso that his identity never be revealed to her. Moved by Caron's letters of thanks, Astaire's secretary Thelma Ritter advises Astaire to go to France to visit the "child". When he arrives, he finds that his ward has grown up rather nicely, and the two fall in love--though Caron never knows until the very end who Astaire really is. The old story has been updated to allow for an elaborate "cowboy" number and a couple of Eisenhower jokes. Highlights include a solo ballet by Caron and a wonderful Astaire routine involving a set of drums. The score for Daddy Long Legs is unremarkable save for Johnny Mercer's hit "Something's Gotta Give". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, (more)
- 1954
In the last of his four western programmers for Allied Artists, Wayne Morris plays frontiersman Jim Bisby. Mistaken for a notorious gunslinger, Jim is appointed deputy sheriff of a wide-open cattle town. Playing along, our hero gets down to business -- and by the time his true identity is revealed, it hardly matters, since most of the bad guys are pushing up daisies on boot hill. Beverly Garland turns in another exceptional performance as the heroine, while Morris Ankrum, Roy Barcroft and I. Stanford Jolley fulfill their usual responsibilities. Two Guns and a Badge is of historical interest as the very last "B"-grade "series" western ever produced in Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wayne Morris, Morris Ankrum, (more)
- 1954
In this Miami-set crime drama, a secret society of residents united against the ever-encroaching Mafia, hire a reform mobster to help them stop the violence by exposing the Mafia to public scrutiny. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Sullivan, Luther Adler, (more)
The Glenn Miller Story traces Miller's rise from pit-orchestra trombone player to leader of the most successful big band of his era. June Allyson is on hand as Miller's wife, Helen, who learns the value of patience when Glenn spends his wedding night jamming with Gene Krupa and Louis Armstrong. Given an officer's commission during World War II, Miller helms the swingin'est military band ever heard. In December of 1944, a plane carrying Miller disappears while flying over the English Channel. In memoriam, radio stations all over the world suspend their regular broadcasts to play such Miller standards as "Moonlight Serenade," "Chattanooga Choo Choo," and "Little Brown Jug." Many of Miller's contemporaries, including his first big-time boss, Ben Pollack, appear as themselves. The success of The Glenn Miller Story inspired Universal to give the go-ahead for another musical biopic, 1956's The Benny Goodman Story, with Steve Allen in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, June Allyson, (more)
- 1953
"Daily Planet" reporters Clark (George Reeves), Lois (Noel Neill) and Jimmy (Jack Larson) head into a treacherous jungle, searching for a scientific expedition which has vanished. The local natives prove quite hostile to the "intruders" because the jeweled eye of a native idol has apparently been stolen. This is the episode in which Clark's alter ego Superman not only wrestles a gorilla, but also uses his bare hands to convert a lump of coal into a diamond! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Plymouth Adventure earned a footnote in film history as the last directorial effort by the prolific Clarence Brown. Otherwise, this colorful re-creation of the Pilgrims' journey to America is a workmanlike job, never inspired but always interesting. Spencer Tracy stars as bull-stubborn Captain Christopher Jones, who intends to guide the Mayflower to its destination come Hell, high water or any other obstacle. Since Jones is spiritually "wed" to his job, the film's romantic angle is handled by Van Johnson as John Alden and Dawn Addams as Patricia Mullen. Gene Tierney is second-billed as Dorothy Bradford, the ill-fated bride of future Plymouth Colony governor William Bradford. Though the film makes several departures from the facts (there's even a villain!), Plymouth Adventure tells its tale professionally and with satisfactory entertainment value. The film earned MGM artisan A. Arnold Gillespie an Academy Award for best special effects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Gene Tierney, (more)
- 1952
Pride of St. Louis is the story of one of baseball's most colorful characters, Jerome Herman "Dizzy" Dean. While playing amateur ball in 1928, Dizzy (Dan Dailey) is hired by the St. Louis Cardinals. He spends a year or so playing with the Cards' Texas farm team, during which time he woos and wins department-store clerk Pat Nash (Joanne Dru, who ironically was the real-life aunt of pro baseball player Pete LaCock!) Once in the majors as a pitcher, Dean is joined on the Cards lineup by his younger brother Paul (Richard Crenna), whom the press nicknames "Daffy." Through a combination of spectacular ballplaying and zany publicity stunts, Dizzy and Daffy become nationwide favorites. Their popularity really soars after they help the Cardinals win the 1934 World Series. After this triumph, things begin to go downhill for Dizzy, who endures several injuries and finally "loses" his pitching arm. Dean is rescued from a binge of self-pity by his old friend Johnny Kendall (Richard Hylton), whose dad is a brewery executive. Johnny convinces his dad to sponsor a series of St. Louis Browns radio broadcasts, and to hire Dizzy as a play-by-play announcer. Ol' Diz gets in a lot of trouble with local schoolteachers because of his eccentric grammar ("he slud into third base," etc.) but things eventually turn out A-OK. Pride of St. Louis takes any number of liberties with the facts, but the real Dizzy Dean didn't care so long as 20th Century-Fox ponied up a huge sum of money for the rights to his life story: "Jeez," he said at the time, "they're gonna give me 50,000 smackers just fer livin'!" Future NBC news commentator Chet Huntley shows up in one of the closing scenes as sportscaster Tom Weaver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Dailey, Joanne Dru, (more)
- 1952
The Kefauver Committee's ongoing investigation of organized crime spawned several "Torn from Today's Headlines!" films in the early 1950s. Republic's Hoodlum Empire concerns the efforts by gangster Joe Gray (John Russell) to get out of the rackets after WW II. Part of Gray's "reclamation" is to testify at a public hearing, prompting a series of flashbacks. Part of the fun is to guess who all the "fictional" criminals are really supposed to be: Luther Adler's character may be called "Nicky Mancini," for example, but for all intents and purposes Adler is playing Frank "Fifth Amendment" Costello. Other famous underworld personages are impersonated by Claire Trevor, Forrest Tucker and Roy Barcroft, while the steadfast Estes Kefauver counterpart is portrayed by Brian Donlevy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Donlevy, Claire Trevor, (more)
- 1951
One of only five films directed by Academy Award-nominated editor Stuart Gilmore, this 1951 Western stars Robert Young as Dan Craig, a gambler who may be the only man who can stop a war between a tribe of Native Americans and a group of white settlers. Shortly after the U.S. Civil War, Frank Crawford (Reed Hadley), a crooked politician, concocts a scheme to pillage the vast quantities of gold present on Apache tribal land. If Crawford can incite a war, he can clear the Apaches from the area and the gold will be his. Luckily Craig steps in, and with the help of Charlie Wolf (Jack Buetel), a half-Apache, helps prevent the tribe members from playing into Crawford's plan. But when Wolf's sister is murdered, he can no longer resist the urge to rise up, leaving Craig as the only one to avert a disastrous battle. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Young, Janis Carter, (more)
- 1951
Wayne Morris was rapidly becoming Monogram's answer to John Wayne when he starred in Yellow Fin. Lensed on location in the Northern Pacific, the story concerns a group of rough-and-ready tuna fishermen. When he isn't fighting the elements, Mike (Wayne Morris) is trying to snap his father (Damian O'Flynn) out of a catatonic state, brought about by an accident on the high seas. A doctor suggests that Mike take his father out on his boat during bad weather, thereby recreating the events leading up to his mental condition as a means to bring him back to normal (does the AMA know about this brand of therapy?) A secondary plot strand involves a romantic triangle consisting of Mike, Jean (Adrian Booth) and Nina (Gloria Henry). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wayne Morris, Adrian Booth, (more)
