Jean Parker Movies
While still a junior high student, American actress Jean Parker was discovered by MGM when she posed for a poster contest. Her first film under her MGM contract was Divorce in the Family (1932), and her first important film was Rasputin and the Empress (1933), in which the novice performer failed to wilt despite the formidable presence in the cast of Lionel, John and Ethel Barrymore. Pretty and vivacious, Parker became the queen of the MGM B-pictures but never quite made it in the studio's top-drawer productions. Gaining a reputation of working quickly, efficiently and inexpensively, she became a valuable commodity on the independent-film market; two of her free-lance appearance, in Laurel and Hardy's Flying Deuces (1939) and director Eddie Sutherland's ultra-sentimental Beyond Tomorrow (1940), are familiar public-domain additions to video stores throughout America. At Monogram in the mid '40s, Parker inagurated a comedy-mystery series as Detective Kitty O'Day, but only two films were made, with her performance overshadowed by costar Peter Cookson in both. The actress was a regular in B-plus Technicolor westerns of the '50s, seen to best advantage as a faded society belle in Randolph Scott's A Lawless Street (1955). Parker made her final appearance in a western, billed eleventh after several other movie veterans in Apache Uprising (1966), in which she had only one scene. While never a big star in films, Parker did considerably better on stage, appearing in the west-coast productions of such hits as Dream Girl and Born Yesterday. Jean Parker worked as an acting coach in the '60s and early '70s, but by the '80s she was a recluse, accepting few visitors outside of her grown son. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Jim Walker Rory Calhoun is a hero who fights Indians and crooks who plan a series of stagecoach robberies in this routine western. He defends the honor of a woman (Corinne Calvet) wrongly accused of having a bad reputation. Johnny Mack Brown plays the local Sheriff Ben Hall, with Lon Chaney, Jr. as the friendly stagecoach driver Charlie Russell. Watch for DeForest Kelley in a pre-Star Trek role as a crazed gunman. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Corinne Calvet, (more)
- 1957
Parson and the Outlaw is a cheapjack rally of washed-up movie actors, leftover sets and cobwebbed cliches. Anthony Dexter, who failed to scale the heights after starring in the 1951 biopic Valentino, plays Billy the Kid, once more as a victim of society. The parson of the title is Sonny Tufts, who by 1957 was already a national joke ("Sonny TUFTS?") Billy the Kid tries to mend his ways thanks to the intervention of the parson, but he winds up plugged and planted trying to avenge the preacher's murder. Even such able supporting actors as Marie Windsor, Jean Parker and Bob Steele look embarrassed by their tawdry surroundings. One of the last and least of Columbia's programmer westerns, Parson and the Outlaw is best buried on Boot Hill and forgotten. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Dexter, Sonny Tufts, (more)
Up until its surisingly mundane finale, A Lawless Street is one of the best of the Randolph Scott westerns of the 1950s. Scott plays famed marshal Calem Ware, whose strenous activities on behalf of law and order have exacted a toll on his personal life. Keeping the peace in the town of Medicine Bend, Ware hopes to someday be reconciled with his ex-wife Tally Dickinson (Angela Lansbury), now a touring musical comedy star. Just as Tally arrives in Medicine Bend, Ware is forced to deal with big-time criminals Thorne (Warner Anderson) and Clark (John Emery), not to mention their hired gun Baskam (Michael Pate). Will he do his duty and rid the town of his outlaw element, or will he hang up his guns as Tally wants him to? One of the highlights of A Lawless Street is a lively saloon-hall number performed by Angela Lansbury, who is quite a dish in her revealing stage wardrobe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randolph Scott, Angela Lansbury, (more)
- 1954
On the eve of his execution, killer Edward G. Robinson busts out of prison with the help of his girlfriend (Jean Parker) and a crook posing as a reporter (Warren Stevens). Robinson takes along five hostages, including the daughter of the murdered head guard (Sylvia Findley), a real reporter (Jack Kelly), and a priest (Milburn Stone). Escaping with Robinson is a murderous bank robber (Peter Graves), who is wounded while evading the law. The bleeding robber heads for the safety deposit box where he keeps his ill-gotten gains, allowing the Law to follow the trail of blood to Robinson's hideout. Robinson threatens to kill his hostages if he's not given safe passage, then murders the priest just to prove his point. Appalled at this action, the bank robber kills Robinson, allows the surviving hostages to escape, and gives himself up. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Peter Graves, (more)
- 1953
Paramount's Pine-Thomas production unit takes the plunge into the 3-D craze in Those Redheads from Seattle. The titular carrot-tops are played by Rhonda Fleming, Teresa Brewer and Cynthia and Kay Bell, as members of a singing-sister act. Arriving in the Yukon during the Gold Rush days in the company of their mother (Agnes Moorehead), the four heroines get work at the saloon owned by Johnny Kisco (Gene Barry). What plot there is concerns Kathy Edmond's (Fleming) search for her father's murderer, who may or may not be Kisco. Despite all the heady competition, the film is stolen by the diminutive Teresa Brewer, who sings practically everything except "Music Music Music." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rhonda Fleming, Gene Barry, (more)
- 1952
In his second and last Western for Republic Pictures, former bandleader Vaughn Monroe plays a marshal returning to Tombstone with a wanted gun-runner (Victor Jory) when he stumbles upon a woman (Joan Leslie) and a couple of children, apparently the only survivors of an Indian raid on a wagon train. The woman's cowardly husband, a telegrapher (Harry Morgan), had managed to escape and is now helping the gun-runner's siblings (Ian MacDonald and Lee MacGregor) to both free their brother and attack a valuable shipment of silver. When Monroe comes gunning for the bandits, he learns that the supposedly dead husband of the woman he has grown to love is still alive. There is a final shootout and the marshal comes face-to-face with his rival, now a murderer. Learning that her husband is to be tried in Prescott, Leslie loyally leaves to be with him despite the fact that she has fallen in love with Monroe. But, as Monroe's young daughter (Diana Christian) predicts, "she'll be back." In between the action, Monroe finds time to perform "Hound Dog," "Bay at the Moon," "A Man's Best Friend is His Horse," and the ballad "The Man Don't Live Who Can't Die Alone." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vaughn Monroe, Joan Leslie, (more)
- 1950
In this classic noir-influenced Western, Gregory Peck stars as an aging gunslinger, sick of killing but haunted by punks wanting to make a name for themselves by slaying a legend. After being warned by his old friend the Sheriff, Peck decides to return East to see his estranged wife and the child he left behind. Knowing his death is an inevitability if he stays, Peck leaves but before he can reach his destination his past catches up with him in the form of a young outlaw. A showdown-cum-Greek tragedy follows and the film ends on a haunting, bleak note. Nominated for an Academy Award in Best Motion Picture Story, The Gunfighter was often imitated by other Westerns, most notably by High Noon, and its minimalist, morally difficult, and compelling tale made it one of the most important films produced in the 1950s. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Cliff Clark, (more)
In this western, an ol' cowhand and his grandson enter a nice, but lame horse in a trotting race in hopes of raising enough money to save the little town church. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
The first of two Monogram comedy-mysteries built around the talents of perky Jean Parker, Detective Kitty O'Day casts Parker in (what else?) the title role. A switchboard operator who aspires to be a sleuth, Kitty insists upon being in on the investigation when her boss is murdered. This causes no end of headaches for Kitty's boyfriend Johnny Jones (Peter Cookson, in his first major screen role). Tim Ryan, who doubled as screenwriter, is seen as Inspector Miles, who strongly suspects that Kitty herself was the murderer. The film's economies are evident when the dead bodies begin piling up and dummies are substituted for the corpses. More frantic than funny, Detective Kitty O'Day did well enough at the box-office to warrant a decidedly superior sequel, The Adventures of Kitty O'Day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Parker, Peter Cookson, (more)
Johnny Jersey (Robert Lowery) learns The Navy Way in this typical Pine-Thomas actioner. A product of the streets, Johnny has no time for authority and protocol, thus has a lot of difficulty adjusting to the regimen at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station (where much of the film was shot). Gradually, however, Johnny comes to appreciate the value of cooperation and teamwork. It helps a bit, of course, that he falls for pretty WAVE Ellen Sayre (Jean Parker). But even after losing Ellen to fellow seaman Mal Randall (Bill Henry), Johnny remains loyal to the Navy and all it stands for (which is evidently quite a lot!) Not so much a movie as a patriotic tract, The Navy Way is definitely a product of its times. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Lowery, Jean Parker, (more)
- 1944
Another of Jack Haley's comedy vehicles for Pine-Thomas productions, One Body Too Many casts Haley as timid insurance salesman Albert Tuttle. Much against his better judgment, Tuttle makes a business call at a sinister old mansion, intending to sell life insurance to the owner. He proves a bit late, inasmuch as the owner has just kicked the bucket. The mansion is full of avaricious relatives, who are obliged by the dictates of the decedent's will to remain in the house until the authorities claim the body. Realizing that dead man's niece Carol (Jean Parker) is a damsel in all kinds of distress, Albert decides to stick around to keep Carol from meeting her uncle's fate. Though there's a murder-mystery angle in One Body too Many, the audience knows who didn't do it the moment Bela Lugosi shows up as a butler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Parker, Bela Lugosi, (more)
- 1944
Like many PRC films, Lady in the Death House was run incessantly in the early days of television, then disappeared into the void of Public Domain once better-quality films were made available to TV. Actually, this women-in-prison low-budget attempt at film noir is pretty good as far as PRC productions go, with lovely Jean Parker as the title character, an innocent girl framed for murder. Cast against type, Lionel Atwill plays a kindly criminologist (and part-time psychologist) who clears the heroine's name and traps the real killer. With most of the handsomer leading men out fighting WW II, Parker's love interest in Lady in the Death House is played by the usually sinister Douglas Fowley. Former child star Marcia Mae Jones delivers a surprising characterization in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Parker, Lionel Atwill, (more)
- 1944
Bluebeard casts the saturnine John Carradine as Gaston, a popular painter in 19th century Paris. Unbeknownst to the authorities, Gaston is also the serial killer of beautiful young women that they have been seeking for several months. Whenever a girl fails to come up to Gaston's standards of perfection, she is summarily strangled and tossed into the streets. Gaston's latest model is the gorgeous Lucille (Jean Parker), who once she learns her employer's horrible secret courageously vows to bring him to justice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Carradine, Jean Parker, (more)
- 1944
The third installment in Universal's low-budget "Inner Sanctum" mysteries, Dead Man's Eyes promises a great deal more than screenwriter Dwight W. Babcock can deliver. Lon Chaney Jr. stars as Dave Stuart, a struggling artist promising his fiancée Heather Hayden (Jean Peters) that he will marry her as soon as he finishes a portrait of beautiful Tanya Czoraki (Acquanetta). The jealous Tanya causes Dave to have an accident that blinds him. According to eye specialist Dr. Sam Welles (Jonathan Hale), Dave's sight can only be restored by a cornea transplant and Heather's father, "Dad" Hayden (Edward Fielding), promptly wills the unfortunate young man his own eyes. When Dad is found killed, Dave becomes the obvious suspect but Welles nevertheless goes ahead with the operation. Tanya, meanwhile, has her suspicions about the identity of the killer, but before she can reveal the name to Heather, she, too, is killed. Although the operation seems at first to have been a failure, Dave regains his sight just in time to unmask the killer, who is made to confess. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Parker, Paul Kelly, (more)
- 1944
The world's nosiest telephone operator is at it again in this murder mystery. This time Kitty overhears the plans for three murders. She and her boy friend decide to investigate and soon find themselves in deep trouble with both the bungling cops and the killers. Despite the mayhem, Kitty prevails and the culprits are brought to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Parker, Peter Cookson, (more)
- 1944
Edmund Lowe was old enough to know better when he starred in the anachronistic Monogram crime comedy Oh, What a Night! Lowe plays Rand, a suave gentleman jewel thief who plans to divest clueless dowager Lil Vanderhoven (Marjorie Rambeau) of her diamonds. Complicating matters is the appearance of Rand's young niece Valerie (Jean Parker), who has no idea what her uncle is up to. Rand's efforts to hide his profession from Valerie, and to successfully pull off the heist, makes for a hectic seven reels. Oh, What a Night! tries hard, but, after all, Monogram wasn't MGM, and Edmund Lowe wasn't William Powell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Marjorie Rambeau, (more)
- 1943
After gathering dust for nearly a year, the independently produced The Deerslayer attained a national release through Republic. A bottom-budget adaptation of the James Fenimore Cooper classic, the film stars Bruce Kellogg as Deerslayer, an intrepid Indian scout-hunter in the 18th century Hudson Valley. He spends most of the film escaping from hostile Indians and helping white settlers protect themselves against the savage hordes. Most of the film is amateurishly shot, with the actors fighting a losing battle against an uninspired, illogical script (in one scene, an Indian brave receives a wound in a portion of the body that was out of the range of gunfire!) In later years, Deerslayer would gain reissue value by virtue of supporting actors Larry Parks and Yvonne De Carlo, who'd gone on to achieve full-fledged stardom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Kellogg, Larry Parks, (more)
- 1943
High Explosive is a Hollywood "B" precursor to the later, more critically lionized The Wages of Fear. Chester Morris plays a two-fisted trucker who takes on a deadly assignment: Transporting nitroglycerin over bumpy terrain. As half the supporting cast is blown to smithereens, Morris persists in his white-knuckle mission. His diligence is motivated by guilt; Morris had been responsible for the training death of his girl friend's (Jean Parker) brother. High Explosive was a lucrative entry produced by Paramount's "Two Dollar Bills," William Pine and William Thomas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chester Morris, Jean Parker, (more)
Adhering to the formula of such previous Pine-Thomas productions as Forced Landing, Flying Blind and Torpedo Boat, Minesweeper is the action-packed story of military men under wartime pressure. Richard Arlen plays Jim Smith, a once-reliable Naval officer who has virtually destroyed his life with his chronic gambling. When Pearl Harbor is attacked, Smith finds a chance for redemption. He signs up under an assumed name as a lowly seaman, then proves that he's still made of "the right stuff" by single-handedly seeking out and destroying a new type of Japanese mine. Jean Parker, who like Arlen was a "regular" in the Pine-Thomas product, plays Smith's loyal wife Mary, while the requisite romantic-rival duties are handled by western alumnus Russell Hayden. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Jean Parker, (more)
Army engineeer Richard Arlen helps blaze the trail for a crucial highway in the Alaskan wastes. His younger brother William Henry works side by side with Arlen, though Henry is hampered by a tendency to down tools and raise fists whenever someone calls him out. Arlen is willing to bail Henry out of trouble, but less willing to share the attentions of pretty Jean Parker. The Pine-Thomas unit at Paramount really had only one plot (two guys and one gal battling the elements), but Alaska Highway, like all of the unit's other 1940s efforts, brought home the bacon at the box-office. And as in most of the other Pine-Thomas escapades, burly Ralph Sanford is around for good-natured comedy relief. Whether by accident or design, many of the production personnel of this 66-minute actioner are alumni of the Hal Roach Studio: coscripter Lewis R. Foster, cinematographer Fred L. Jackman, and editor William Ziegler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Jean Parker, (more)
A crime lord with the ability to mesmerize and manipulate others forces an old ex-convict to do his evil bidding. When the reformed crook's daughter finds out, she starts working to save him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1942
In this drama, a truck driver begins wooing a young woman who still lives with her father who constantly brags how he, not the town mayor, was responsible for catching a regiment of Germans during WW I. Unfortunately, no one in town takes him seriously. Later the daughter meets a German immigrant who confirms her father's claim. She then convinces her boy friend to use this information to blackmail the mayor into giving him a new truck and some extra amenities lest he tell the truth. The conniving woman then tells the mayor's opponents. Rather than deal with the upcoming scandal, the mayor commits suicide. The trucker then gets into trouble and the corrupt politicians end up imprisoned. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don "Red" Barry, Jean Parker, (more)
- 1942
No relation to the much-later "Matt Helm" spy comedy of the same name, Pine-Thomas Productions' The Wrecking Crew serves as a virile vehicle for Richard Arlen and Chester Morris. The stars appear respectively as a demolition-crew boss and his top worker. Morris has earned a reputation as a "jinx", an onus he may have trouble overcoming on his latest peril-fraught assignment. Jean Parker costars as the romantic bone of contention between Arlen and Morris, while character actress Esther Dale scores as the no-nonsense owner of the wrecking firm. Dozens of stock shots from previous Paramount efforts are utilized to excellent effect in this two-fisted actioner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Arlen, Chester Morris, (more)
- 1942
Hi, Neighbor is a Republic "regional," spotlighting many of the 1942 stars of radio's Grand Ole Opry. Jean Parker and John Archer are among the rather mature coeds of a financially strapped college. In order to raise enough funds to remain open in the fall, the kids decide to turn the college into a vacation resort during the summer. Providing the necessary entertainment for such a venture are Jack Benny Show announcer Don Wilson, Bob Hope Show regular Vera Vague (aka Barbara Jo Allen), and country-western favorites Roy Acuff, Harry "Pappy" Cheshire and Lullubelle and Scotty. Hi, Neighbor was scripted by Dorrell and Stuart McGowan, of Death Valley Days fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
