Elizabeth Patterson Movies

In this romantic comedy, a young basketball star proposes to a tall and intelligent coed while attending Custer College. She accepts, and he begins to worry about how they will get the money they need to survive. He then finds himself tempted to take a gambler's bribe and throw the game during an upcoming match with a Russian team. The weight of his decision affects his studies, causing him to fail a major test. As a result, he nearly misses the big game. Jane Fonda made her debut in this film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

As the Oregon Territory prepares to welcome settlers in 1846, wagons traveling the Oregon trail face increasing hostility from the Native Americans who have vowed to protect their land. Dispatched to investigate rumors that President Polk is sending troops to the Oregon Territory disguised as pioneers, New York Herold reporter Neal Harris (Fred MacMurray) is captured by angry natives as he makes his way back to the city. Enlisting the help of a comely Native American maiden to make a daring escape, Harris makes it out just in time to warn the trrops of a potentially devistating attack. Subsequently resigning from his position as a reporter, Harris decides to make a home for himself and his faithful maiden in the new territory. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The John O'Hara/Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart Broadway musical Pal Joey created quite a stir during its original theatrical run in 1940. Here we had a heel of a hero who sleeps with a wealthy older woman in order to realize his dream of owning his own nightclub, and who breaks the heart of the girl who truly loves him when she impedes his plans to get ahead. Blossom Time it wasn't. Due to the seamy nature of the plot and the double- and single-entendre song lyrics (especially the original words for "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", which you aren't likely to hear on most mainstream recordings of this tune), Pal Joey could not be faithfully filmed back in the 1940s. Even this 1957 version, made at a time when movie censorship was beginning to relax, was extensively sanitized for public consumption. Ambitious singer/dancer Joey (Frank Sinatra) is still something of a louse, but a redeemable one. The relationship between Joey and his older benefactress Vera Simpson (Rita Hayworth, who was actually a few years younger than Sinatra) is one of implication rather than overt statement. And Joey's true love, chorine Linda English (Kim Novak), is as pure as the driven snow, who vehemently expresses distaste at having to perform a striptease. The Rodgers and Hart songs ("I Could Write a Book" the aforementioned "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered") which seemed so cynical and ironic back in 1940, are given the typically lush, luxurious Hollywood treatment (many of the tunes, notably "There's a Small Hotel", were borrowed from other Rodgers and Hart shows, a not uncommon practice of the time). Pal Joey is nice to look at and consummately performed, but don't expect the bite of the original play, or the John O'Hara short stories which preceded them. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cornell Woolrich, whose written works have served as the basis for many an Alfred Hitchcock production, was the author of this Playhouse 90 drama. After arranging to meet his fiancee at a busy downtown street corner, a young man arrives at the appointed destination--only to find that the girl is dead. It is the first of several mysterious, unmotivated and apparently unrelated murders in the same metropolis. Can it be that a maniacal serial killer is on the loose--or, perhaps, have the victims been killed by persons whom they already knew? Directed by John Frankenheimer and boasting an all-star cast, "Rendezvous in Black" was originally telecast live from Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A contest in which the participants must guess the number of jellybeans in a jar has been rigged by a gang of crooks. Clark Kent (George Reeves), aka Superman, uses his special powers to foil the bad guys by counting the jellybeans and helping a needy woman (Elizabeth Patterson) win the contest. Meanwhile, the old lady's grandson Bobby (Henry Blair) is being flim-flammed by criminal Dexter Brown (Henry Blair), who claims that he himself is Superman! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kathryn Card makes her first appearance as Mrs. MacGillicuddy, the flamboyant mother of Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball). Upon learning that Lucy and Ricky (Desi Arnaz) are preparing a motor trip to Hollywood, Mrs. McGillicuddy shows up at the Ricardo apartment, insisting on going along for the ride. Through a series of mirthful misunderstandings, Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) become convinced that they've been "uninvited" to accompany the Ricardos to California -- and when this happens, Lucy refuses to go as well. Even more complications ensue before the trip can get under way with the now-famous rendition of "California, Here We Come," performed by Lucy, Ricky, Fred, and Ethel in front of I Love Lucy's first-ever "rear projection" shot. ~ All Movie Guide

Another "torn from today's headlines" crime drama, Las Vegas Shakedown stars Dennis O'Keefe as honest casino operator Joe Barnes. When not fending off gangster boss Sirago (Thomas Gomez), who wants a big piece of the action, Barnes endeavors to dodge pretty schoolteacher Julia Rae (Colleen Gray), who is writing a thesis on the futility of gambling. The episodic storyline occasionally cuts away to small-town banker Raff (Charles Winninger), who tries to have a little fun at the gaming tables despite the interference of his wife (Elizabeth Patterson), and a bevy of attractive divorcees who've set their cap for Barnes. Filmed on location, Las Vegas Shakedown comes to a head when the disgruntled Sirago resorts to all-out violence to take over Barnes' operation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most famous of all I Love Lucy story arcs gets under way when a Hollywood talent scout (Frank Nelson) arrives at the Ricardo home to discuss a possible screen test for Ricky (Desi Arnaz). It seems that MGM is planning a musical version of "Don Juan," and Ricky would seem to be a natural choice for the role. Naturally, everyone wants to get into the act, and before long Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) are parading around in Spanish costumes, Lucy (Lucille Ball) dolls herself up to look like Marilyn Monroe, and even old Mrs. Trumbull (Elizabeth Patterson) lifts her voice in song. ~ All Movie Guide

More sensitive than usual -- if such a thing is possible -- Lucy (Lucille Ball) becomes convinced that everyone has forgotten her birthday. Wandering disconsolately into Central Park, lonely Lucy is "adopted" by a lachrymose benevolent group called The Friends of the Friendless. With her new comrades in tow, Lucy angrily storms into the Tropicana to tell Ricky (Desi Arnaz) off for his negligence -- only to get the surprise of her life (which, by her count, has lasted a mere 29 years!). This is the one and only episode in which Desi Arnaz sings the I Love Lucy theme song, with special lyrics written for the occasion by Harold Adamson. ~ All Movie Guide

The truth inherent in the title of this episode is vividly illustrated when the Ricardos sell their old washing machine to the Mertzes. The machine immediately malfunctions, whereupon Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) demand that Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Ricky (Desi Arnaz) cancel the bill of sale, which amounts to 35 dollars. Lucy and Ricky refuse, insisting that since the Mertzes now own the washer, they are obliged to pay up. Not one but two zany slapstick set pieces ensue, concluding with a memorable climactic struggle on a second-story porch. This was the final episode of I Love Lucy's second season. ~ All Movie Guide

Because of a minor error on their wedding license, Lucy (Lucille Ball) is convinced that she is no longer legally married to Ricky (Desi Arnaz). Taking advantage of the situation, Lucy insists that Ricky court her all over again, and that he drop to his knees to propose marriage in the most archaic "love language" imaginable. The situation is played to the hilt, culminating in an elopement in the wilds of New England. When originally telecast in April 1952, this I Love Lucy episode was seen by more viewers than any other TV show in history (ten million!). ~ All Movie Guide

Bright Leaf, a sprawling saga of the tobacco industry in North Carolina, began as a novel by Foster Fitzsimmons, a native Carolinian who for many years taught at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's theatre department. The film version of Bright Leaf has been simplified and reshaped to serve as a traditional Gary Cooper vehicle. Cooper stars as tenant farmer Brant Royle, who after being driven from his home town by autocratic tobacco tycoon Major Singleton (Donald Crisp) returns in triumph with a revolutionary cigarette-making machine. Royle's streamlined techniques soon drive Singleton out of business. Margaret Singleton (Patricia Neal), Royle's old flame, agrees to marry him to save her father from ruin--whereupon the Major commits suicide. The vengeful Margaret then does everything she can to destroy Royle. The question remaining: can Brant Royle save himself and find ultimate happiness with his true love, Sonia Kovac (Lauren Bacall)? Also appearing in Bright Leaf are Jack Carson as Royle's flamboyant business partner Chris Malley and Jeff Corey as John Barton, the inventor of the "miracle" cigarette-making apparatus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Of the many film versions of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, this 1949 MGM adaptation is by far the prettiest. Set in New England during the Civil War, the film relates the various adventures of the March sisters: Jo (June Allyson), Beth (Margaret O'Brien), Amy (Elizabeth Taylor) and Meg (Janet Leigh). Jo emerges as the main character, as she leaves hearth and home to try her luck as a novelist in New York. Moments of high comedy (the sisters' amateur theatricals) are counterpointed with grim tragedy (the death of the youngest March girl), with romantic interludes provided by the faithless Laurie (Peter Lawford) and the loyal Professor Bhaer (Rossano Brazzi). Unlike Selznick's 1933 Little Women or Gillian Armstrong's 1994 adaptation, this 1949 version tends to be more an extension of the old Hollywood contract-player typecasting system than a heartfelt evocation of the Alcott original. Even so, Little Women is consistently pleasing to the eye, especially when seen in its original Technicolor hues. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide