Dorothy Peterson Movies
Stage actress Dorothy Peterson made her screen debut in 1930's Mothers Cry, a lachrymose domestic drama that required the 29-year-old actress to age nearly three decades in the course of the film. Mothers Cry instantly typecast Peterson in careworn maternal roles, which she continued to essay for the rest of her career. Most of her subsequent film assignments were supporting roles like Mrs. Hawkins in Treasure Island (1934); often as not she received no screen credit, not even for her touching cameo in 1943's Air Force. In 1942, she briefly replaced Olive Blakeney as Mrs. Aldrich in the comedy series entry Henry Aldrich for President. Her last screen appearance was as Shirley Temple's mother in That Hagen Girl (1947). Dorothy Peterson remained active on the New York TV and theatrical scene until the early '60s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1994
- Add Out of Ireland: The Story of Irish Emigration to America to Queue Add Out of Ireland: The Story of Irish Emigration to America to top of Queue
This documentary chronicles the 200-year history and experiences of Irish-American immigrants. The film is comprised of a blend of still photographs, drawings, and on location re-creations. It also includes the personal stories of many famous Irish-Americans including modern actors Aidan Quinn and Liam Neeson. The film also includes interviews with historians and commentators. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Aidan Quinn, Liam Neeson, (more)
- 1947
A young girl is adopted into a small town family, but instead of finding happiness, she finds her life a living nightmare due to neighbors' constant speculation as to he father's identity. The scuttlebutt is that she is the illegitimate daughter of a prominent lawyer and former resident (Ronald Reagan). The girl (Shirley Temple in her first role as a teen) becomes especially sensitive to the gossip after she hits adolescence. The backbiting gets so bad, that she loses her first boyfriend. Matters become more explosive when the lawyer returns from Washington D.C. and begins a romance with the girl's favorite teacher. He also finds the troubled girl intriguing but does not realize this until the despondent youth attempts to commit suicide. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, Ronald Reagan, (more)
- 1946
Dana Andrews -- in one of the best performances of his career -- plays Logan Stuart, a bold, ambitious general store and freight company owner based in the mining settlement of Jacksonville, OR, in 1856. He and his best friend, local banker and express company owner George Camrose (Brian Donlevy), share an attraction for young, beautiful Lucy Overmire (Susan Hayward). However, that's all the two men share -- Stuart sees life in the Oregon territory as a challenge, to be worked out and overcome with thought and time, with the opportunity to build something lasting and significant in the process. Camrose only sees the opportunity to get rich fast and live easy, and he's addicted to gambling at the local saloon. What no one knows is that he's been doing his gambling with the gold dust that the miners have left on deposit in his vault -- and he's been losing. He wants to get out of the territory, to someplace like San Francisco, and plans to take Lucy away. Stuart, by contrast, is as much a frontiersman as a businessman, and so much a part of the community and so trusted and liked that he might even be a potential political leader, if he ever had the time and the willingness to settle down and stay put. He finds consolation over his loss of Lucy in an engagement to Caroline Marsh (Patricia Roc), a daughter of an Englishman who came to Oregon only to see her father killed by Indians, who lives with the homesteading family of Ben Dance (Andy Devine) and his wife (Dorothy Peterson) and their children. Out of friendship, and also a little guilt over the fact that he would love to be engaged to Lucy, Stuart gives Camrose the money to get even, but Camrose can't resist one last card game, and not only loses what Stuart gave him, but the gold dust of one miner -- who shows up unexpectedly in town that night, planning on getting his dust the next day. When the man turns up drowned, Camrose is accused of murder; Stuart stands by his friend, but he's found guilty and the miners, led by hot-headed young Johnny Steele (Lloyd Bridges), plan on hanging him, and shooting anyone who tries to get in the way. But before his fate can be settled, an Indian war starts over the killing of a young Native American woman, and the lives of every white settler in and around Jacksonville are suddenly endangered. There's all of that, plus four songs (including "Old Buttermilk Sky") from Hoagy Carmichael (who does a great acting job), all convincingly woven into the drama along with one of the music legend's best acting performances. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dana Andrews, Ward Bond, (more)
- 1946
We prefer Rosalind Russell when she's making us laugh; judging by such films as Mourning Becomes Electra and The Velvet Touch, Russell preferred herself in heavy dramatics. In Sister Kenny, Rosalind Russell is all grim determination and pursed lips as Elizabeth Kenny, tireless battler of infantile paralysis. It is in the Australian outback that nurse Kenny first confronts the debilitating illness. Forsaking her private life (as well as any romantic entanglements), Kenny battles with the medical establishment in order to bring her radical theories towards conquering the disease to the public. Her ultimate triumph is solidified upon the formation of Minneapolis' Kenny Institute. Based on Elizabeth Kenny's autobiography, A solid piece of film craftsmanship, Sister Kenny was the sort of glossy prestige picture that always made Hollywood look good in the eyes of its staunchest critics; it was also the sort of picture that almost invariably lost a fortune at the box office (Sister Kenny took a bath to the tune of $660,000). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rosalind Russell, Alexander Knox, (more)
From a novel of the same name by "Elizabeth", the film begins in 1914, with Bette Davis cast as vain, flighty society woman Fanny Trellis. Informed by Jewish-American financier Job Skeffington (Claude Rains) that her brother Trippy (Richard Waring) has stolen money to pay his gambling debts, Fanny marries Job, securing his promise that he won't prosecute her thieving sibling. Angered by Fanny's agreeing to this loveless union, Trippy runs off to join the army, and is killed during World War I. Fanny holds Skeffington responsible for her brother's death, and demands a divorce with a generous cash settlement. Despite Job's oft-repeated belief that "a woman is only beautiful when she is loved," Fanny uses her coquettish beauty to flit indiscriminately from man to man. While on a sailing trip with her latest beau, Fanny comes down with diphtheria. The disease destroys her facial beauty, and before long the shallow Fanny is left completely alone. Her self-centered efforts to reunite all of her old boyfriends for a party is a failure due to her pathetic middle-aged efforts to be kittenish, and the grotesqueness of the mounds of facial makeup she apples. Meanwhile, Skeffington, who has resettled in Europe with his daughter, is captured by the Nazis and placed in a concentration camp. He manages to escape, returning to the US totally blind and utterly penniless. A chastened Fanny comes back to her husband, promising to care for him for the rest of his life. Most TV prints of Mr. Skeffington run 127 minutes; the videocassette and cable TV versions have been restored to the original length. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Claude Rains, (more)
- 1944
In this drama, a young couple ignores the advice of their elders and get married. Soon afterward, the young groom is inducted into the war. Overseas, he suffers from shell shock and must return home. Much of the drama centers upon his reminiscences as he rides the train homeward. Later the people he thought about on his journey home help him to recover. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jimmy Lydon, Grant Mitchell, (more)
Directed by Fritz Lang, The Woman in the Window, a sadly tragic film noir, is the story of the doomed love of married psychology-professor Wanley (Edward G. Robinson), who, with murderous results, meets and falls in love with another woman. Wanley first sees the portrait of a beautiful woman, Alice (Joan Bennett), and then meets the woman herself. After committing murder in self-defense, he finds himself blackmailed by Heidt (Dan Duryea). The script, written by Nunnally Johnson, is carefully structured with crisp dialogue and a convincing ending. Lang is at his best, getting excellent performances from Robinson, as the doomed, naive professor, and Bennett both. The Woman in the Window shows that good and evil are present in all, and that circumstances frequently dictate moral choices. Based on J.H. Wallis' novel Once Off Guard, the film gives viewers their money's worth with not one but two logical and satisfying surprise twists at the end. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1944
In this musical comedy, a soldier falls in love with a very young woman who in turn has a crush on an older, more sophisticated man. When the older gent goes to New York, she follows as does her younger suitor. While in the Big Apple, the soldier encounters the older man's ex-wife who is still in love with him. The soldier helps bring the couple back together and is rewarded by being united with his true love. The story was adapted from a Sinclair Lewis play. Songs include: "Gremlin Walk," "It's the Girl," "Yippee-I-Vot," "With a Song in My Heart," "All or Nothing at All," "You're a Lollapalooza," "At Sundown," and "L'Amour Toujours L'Amour." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Donald O'Connor, Susanna Foster, (more)
- 1944
In this melodrama, two young lovers secretly elope after the woman is involved in a hit-and-run accident. The young groom takes the rap and is thrown out of school. The bride's enraged father shoots the boy. At the trial the bride lies on the stand to save her dad. Things work out, and the young couple goes on a honeymoon. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jane Withers, Paul Kelly, (more)
On December 6, 1941, a squadron of nine B-17 bombers takes off for Hickam Field, HI. The crew of the Mary Ann, including two new men, assistant radio man Private Chester (Ray Montgomery) and gunner Sergeant Joe Winocki (John Garfield), assembles for the flight, and in the first 20 minutes, the movie reveals certain things about the crew: the shadowy past of one, the mother of another, and the wife of a third; two of them are good friends with the sister of McMartin (Arthur Kennedy), the bombardier, who lives in Honolulu; the son of the senior member of the crew, Sgt. White (Harry Carey Sr.), is a pilot stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines. Then more characters make entrances: the aircraft commander Quincannon (John Ridgely); Weinberg (George Tobias), a Jewish mechanic from New York; and a man from a farm in the upper Midwest -- they all represent a broad cross-section of America as it saw itself, and the "regular guys" in the Army Air Force as it existed in 1941. The flight proceeds without incident. Winocki, an embittered, washed-out flight school candidate who accidentally killed another pilot, is about to leave the service when the weather report from Hickam Field is interrupted, and the radio man begins picking up transmissions in Japanese. The Mary Ann and the rest of the squadron fly right into the middle of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor unarmed and out of gas, and nearly crack up landing on an emergency field; no sooner do they make repairs than the crew comes under attack, and the plane takes off and makes for Hickam Field, which they find a flaming shambles. They fly on to the Philippines, stopping at Wake Island just long enough to meet a few members of the doomed Marine garrison, taking their company mascot, a dog, with them. At Clark Field, the Mary Ann and her crew finally go into action against the enemy, flying in alone against a Japanese invasion force; Quincannon is mortally wounded in the brief action, which leaves the plane damaged seemingly beyond repair. The remaining crew won't give up the plane, however, even when ordered to abandon and destroy her; they get the bomber off just ahead of the advancing Japanese, and survive to help bring retribution to the invading fleet and the Japanese empire. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Ridgely, Gig Young, (more)
- 1943
In this downbeat drama based on a novel by John Steinbeck (which was also adapted for the stage), German troops invade Norway during WWII, and Nazi forces occupy a small town. Col. Lanser (Cedric Hardwicke), the officer in charge of the occupation, believes that reason and the illusion of cooperation will achieve more than open hostility against the townspeople, and he tries to persuade the city fathers to work with him. However, an anti-Nazi resistance force soon springs into action, and they begin sabotaging German installations and materiel and assassinating Axis officers. Mayor Orden (Henry Travers) gently but stubbornly refuses to assist Lanser in any way, as he tacitly aids the resistance movement. Eventually, Lanser is forced to respond to the continuing anti-Nazi actions with a series of arrests and executions, but the Norwegians bravely remain steadfast against the enemies to the end. One of the children in the village is played by Natalie Wood, who was a mere five years old at the time (it was her second film, following a small role in Happy Land). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cedric Hardwicke, Henry Travers, (more)
The splashy, star-studded This is the Army is based on the Irving Berlin Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was a reworking of Berlin's WW1 "barracks musical" Yip Yip Yaphank. In both instances, the cast was largely comprised of genuine servicemen, many of them either recently returned from fighting or on the verge of heading off to war. The Hollywood-imposed storyline concerns Jerry Jones (George Murphy), a member of the original 1918 Yip Yip Yaphank cast. His showbiz career curtailed by a leg injury, Jerry becomes a producer during the postwar era. When the US enters WW2, Jerry gathers together several other cast members from the 1918 Berlin musical to help him stage a new all-serviceman show, titled (what else?) This is the Army. The show-within-a-show framework is able to accommodate a romantic subplot, involving Jerry's son Johnny (Ronald Reagan, later a political comrade-in-arms of George Murphy) and Eileen Dibble (Joan Leslie), the daughter of Yip Yip Yaphank alumnus Eddie Dibble (Charles Butterworth). Some of the best moments in This is the Army are from the Broadway production itself, though the lengthy Alfred Lunt-Lynn Fontanne imitation and incessant "gay" jokes may have been too smart for the room in 1943. Guest stars include boxer Joe Louis, Kate Smith (singing "God Bless America", naturally) and Irving Berlin himself, who steals the show with his plaintive rendition of "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning". All profits for the stage and film version of This is the Army went to the Army Emergency Relief Fund, which also controlled the rights to the film. Long withheld from TV distribution, the film finally hit the small screen when it lapsed into Public Domain in the mid-1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- George Murphy, Joan Leslie, (more)
Aircraft plant worker Robert Cummings is accused of sabotaging his factory and causing the death of a co-worker. Actually, Cummings is the fall guy for a clever ring of Nazi spies, headed by above-suspicion American philanthropist Otto Kruger. Our hero goes on a cross-country chase after genuine saboteur Norman Lloyd, all the while pursued himself by the police. Along the way, he acquires a reluctant "travelling companion" in the form of Priscilla Lane, who at first despises Cummings and intends to turn him over to the authorities at the first opportunity, but who gradually comes to realize that the boy is innocent. Alfred Hitchcock intended Saboteur to be the American equivalent to his British The 39 Steps, employing such details as the solid-citizen villain, the handcuffed hero, the unwilling blonde heroine, and any number of stopovers with a variety of offbeat characters (a travelling "freak" show, a compassionate blind man, a grizzled old prospector who turns out to be one of the spies, etc.) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1942
Man in the Trunk is a variation on the "Topper" theme, with Raymond Walburn carrying the weight of the film as a restless ghost. Ten years before the story proper gets under way, bookie Jim Cheevers (Walburn) is murdered and his body is stuffed in a trunk. When the trunk is opened, all that remains is a pile of bones and only fragmentary clues as to the killer's identity. Young lawyer Dick Burke (George Holmes) hopes to use this flimsy evidence to clear his client, who has been sentenced to the electric chair for Cheevers' killing. With the help of the ghostly Cheevers, Burke manages to win a stay of execution, but the crime isn't solved until the murderer stupidly confesses. 20th Century-Fox contractee Lynne Roberts gets top billing as the nominal heroine, but the picture belongs to Raymond Walburn, who can get more laughs by clearing his throat than most comic actors can get by falling on their keesters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lynne Roberts, George Holmes, (more)
- 1941
Corn Cob Kelly (Marvin Stephens) is a young jockey whose ambition is dwarfed only by his ego. All set to ride in his first big race, Kelly is replaced at the last minute by a more experienced jockey. After eating several slices of humble pie, our hero manages to requalify for the contest, squashing the plans of a gang of race-fixing gamblers in the process. Throughout the story, Kelly is encouraged to persevere by crusty stable trainer Duke (Eugene Pallette) and by Ellen Martin (Rita Quigley), daughter of a wealthy horse owner (Dorothy Peterson). Future TV star Mary Healy makes a brief appearance as a nightclub entertainer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eugene Pallette, Marvin Stephens, (more)
Something of a distaff Mr. Chips, schoolteacher Ella Bishop (Martha Scott) devotes her life to her work, ageing 50 years (from 19 to 69) in the course of the film. At a testimonial dinner on the occasion of her retirement, Miss Bishop's former students wonder why their beloved teacher never married. In flashback, the audience learns that town grocer Sam (William Gargan) has carried a torch for her for five decades, while she obliviously pursued unfortunate romantic relationships with weak-willed Delbert Thompson (Donald Douglas) and unhappily married John Stevens (Sidney Blackmer). Adapted by Stephen Vincent Benet from the melancholy novel by Bess Streeter Aldrich, Cheers for Miss Bishop was not only a tour de force for Scott, but also represented the screen debut of another young character actress, Rosemary De Camp. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Martha Scott, William Gargan, (more)
- 1941
Henry Aldrich for President was the second of Paramount's "Henry Aldrich" series to star Jimmy Lydon in the teenaged title role. This time Henry is pitted against an arrogant jock for the presidency of the Centerville High School student council. Henry's chances don't seem bright, especially since a pompous teacher (Lucien Littlefield) is writing the opponent's speeches for him. As often happens in these films, a misunderstanding threatens not only to lose Henry the election but to get him expelled from school as well. Somehow the plot is resolved by a wild climactic airplane ride, with hapless Henry at the controls. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles B. Smith, June Preisser, (more)
- 1940
Musical comedy favorite Elsie Janis, who gained renown in WW1 as "The Sweetheart of the AEF", returned to the screen after a long absence in Republic's Women in War. The story is the old chestnut about two volunteer Red Cross nurses, Pamela (Wendy Barrie) and Gail (Mae Clarke), both in love with dashing aviator Larry (Patric Knowles). The producers brought the storyline up-to-date by plunking it in the middle of the London Blitz, German air raids and all. As a result, Women in War was one of the first Hollywood productions to recreate the Nazi bombing of London, which it did with commendable credibility. Top-billed Elsie Janis plays O'Neill, "den mother" of the volunteer nurses; surprisingly, she is afforded no singing opportunities, but manages to light up the screen all the same. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elsie Janis, Wendy Barrie, (more)
- 1940
Like the other entries Columbia's "Five Little Peppers" series, The Five Little Peppers at Home is based on characters created by Margaret Sidney. Edith Fellows stars as Polly, the oldest child of the Pepper clan, while her four siblings are portrayed by Dorothy Ann Seers (as Phronsie), Ronald Sinclair (Jasper), Charles Peck (Joey) and Davey (Bobby Larson). This time around, Polly and the kids try to figure out a way to save their mother (Dorothy Peterson) from bankruptcy, with the help of crusty-but-lovable Mr. King (Clarence Kolb). After a slow-moving hour or so, the film picks up tremendously in the final reel when the kids are trapped in a copper mine cave-in, sparking a tension-filled rescue effect. A bit too syrupy sweet for modern tastes, Five Little Peppers at Home is redeemed by the cynical performance of Rex Evans as a sneering butler. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Dorothy Ann Seese, (more)
- 1940
Having struck pay dirt with its Blondie films, Columbia Pictures launched another "domestic" film series, based on Margaret Sidney's "Five Little Peppers" stories. The third and last entry in the series was The Five Little Peppers in Trouble, neither the best nor worst of this negligible project. Once more, Dorothy Peterson plays the widowed Mrs. Pepper, while her five precocious and resourceful offspring are portrayed by Edith Fellows, Dorothy Ann Seese, Charles Beck, Tommy Bond (best remembered as "Butch" in the Our Gang comedies) and Bobby Larson (replacing Jimmy Leake, who appeared in the first Pepper outing in 1939). Unable to watch over her kids and go to work at the same time, Mrs. Pepper bundles the little Peppers off to boarding school. The Five Little Peppers in Trouble is describable only as "cute"; you take it from there. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Dorothy Ann Seese, (more)
Lillian Russell is the sanitized musical biopic of the legendary (and much-married) 19th century musical comedy star. Discovered in 1880 by bandleader Tony Pastor (Leo Carrillo), Lillian Russell (Alice Faye) wastes no time rising to fame and fortune on the Broadway stage. Along the way, she curries the favor of such eligible bachelors as newspaperman Alexander Moore (Henry Fonda), composer Edward Solomon (Don Ameche), and railroad tycoon Diamond Jim Brady (Edward Arnold). She marries the first two, and has a high old time (albeit chastely) with the third. The story ends with Russell's retirement in 1912, and her reunion with the one true love of her life. The film's hands-down highlight is a timeworn but classic routine involving those two Broadway comedy giants Joe Weber and Lew Fields, both of whom had appeared on-stage with the real Lillian Russell. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alice Faye, Don Ameche, (more)
- 1940
Pleasing time-fillers at best, Columbia's "Five Little Peppers" films were otherwise undistinguished spinoffs of the best-selling literary series by Margaret Sidney. In the case of Out West With the Peppers, the title and plotline are virtually interchangeable. Once again in dire financial straits, the Pepper family is forced to pull up stakes and head westward. Upon arrival in the Wide Frontiers, the Pepper kids get into mischief in a lumber camp. As usual, the plot is resolved by Edith Fellows as eldest Pepper child Polly, who manages to stumble upon a financial windfall which proves benefical not only to her family but practically everyone else in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Dorothy Ann Seese, (more)
- 1940
The W. Somerset Maugham play Home and Beauty was successful Americanized as Too Many Husbands (British title: My Two Husbands). Led to believe that her husband Fred MacMurray has drowned in a shipwreck, socialite Jean Arthur marries Melvyn Douglas. In time-honored Enoch Arden fashion, MacMurray turns up alive. The rest of the film finds Jean's two husbands figuratively duking it out for her affections. For a Production Code-era film, Too Many Husbands is remarkably risque, with a delicious open-ended denouement. And besides, we get to see the matchless Jean Arthur do the rhumba! In 1955, Columbia trotted out this property once more, and the result was the musical comedy Three For The Show, starring Jack Lemmon and Marge & Gower Champion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, (more)
- 1939
In this patriotic wartime drama set during WW II, a test plane crashes killing all aboard and causes the locals to accuse the aircraft engineer of being a traitor and sabotaging the plane. To prove his son's innocence, the engineer's father looks into the crash and soon reveals the real spies. The justifiably angry patriarch then delivers a stern lecture to the community about making hasty judgments concerning a person's patriotism. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Arleen Whelan, Gordon Oliver, (more)
Bette Davis earned an Oscar nomination for her role in this classic four-hanky tearjerker. Judith Traherne (Bette Davis) is a very wealthy Long Island heiress whose life is a constant whirl of cocktails, parties, and wild living. Despite her hedonistic lifestyle, Judith derives little pleasure from life except for her horses, cared for by stable master Michael O'Leary (Humphrey Bogart). When Judith begins suffering from headaches and dizzy spells, Dr. Frederick Steele (George Brent) gives her the bad news: she has a brain tumor that could threaten her life if not treated immediately. Judith consents to surgery, and Frederick informs her that the operation was a success. A grateful Judith quickly falls in love with Frederick, and they plan to marry. However, the tumor returns, and when Judith discovers that she has only a few months to live, she calls off the wedding, convinced that Frederick is marrying her only as an act of pity for a dying woman. A major success and perennial favorite, Dark Victory was later remade as Stolen Hours with Susan Hayward and as a TV movie starring Elizabeth Montgomery. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, George Brent, (more)
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