Melinda Plowman Movies

Travelling to California under the alias "Jim Parker", Kimble (David Janssen) is trapped by a sheriff named Corby (John Larch), who unexpectedly strikes a bargain with the fugitive. It seems that Corby's estranged son Larry (Beau Bridges), in desperate need of money for himself and his pregnant girlfriend Ellen (Melinda Plowman), has been wounded while attempting a holdup. If Kimble agrees to tend to Larry's injuries and assist in covering up his crime, the Sheriff promises to set him free. It's a tempting offer--providing that the duplicitous Corby can be trusted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title characters in this episode of Bonanza are the Lowell sisters: Ara (Vera Miles, Gabrielle (Lyn Edgington, Lorraine (Madeline Mack) and Heather (Melinda Plowman). Having inherited their uncle's ranch, the ladies arrive in Virginia City to discover that all they've received is a pile of debts and a whopping bill for back taxes. Ben Cartwright steps in to save the sisters from financial ruin, earning the undying gratitude of three of the ladies-and the suspicions of Ara, who is certain that Ben has an ulterior motive. David Rose's background music for this episode includes what would evolve into the theme for the later David Dortort-produced western series The High Chaparral. Originally telecast on October 30, 1966, "Four Sisters from Boston" was written by John M. Chester. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The venerable John Carradine gets his first chance to play the fanged count in 20 years (the last time was House of Dracula), albeit in one of the weirdest scenarios ever committed to film. Arriving in the Wild West via stagecoach, Drac installs himself in the home of a pretty rancher (Melinda Plowman) by convincing her (through hypnosis) that he is her long-lost uncle. Unfortunately for the Count, one of her hired hands is none other than legendary outlaw Billy the Kid (Chuck Courtney), who has been trying to put his wicked ways behind him. Billy takes a shine to his boss but starts to have his suspicions about her creepy "uncle." Eventually, the reformed desperado straps on his six-guns again to do battle with the Count, ably assisted by the local sawbones who must be an acquaintance of Dr. Van Helsing, since he obviously knows such helpful arcane knowledge such as (gasp) "The Vampire Test!" A camp anti-classic from William "One-Shot" Beaudine, who shot it back-to-back with yet another Wild-West-Horror mutation, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

On the night of his wedding in 1929, Harvey Kry (David Frankham) is surprised by an anonymous gift, a box with a single hole containing a lens, through which a strange light emanates. He looks into it and sees a monstrous creature inside, that holds him in the gaze of its single eye -- and then transports the screaming man inside. Thirty-five years later, the Kry house is in decay, occupied solely by Harvey's bride Mary (Miriam Hopkins), now aging and grotesque in her 1920's sequined dress and thick make-up, still awaiting the consumation of her marriage to Harvey. She finds herself entertaining her first guests in years, Gard (Buck Taylor) and Vivia (Melinda Plowman), a young, under-age couple who are eloping, and offers them her bridal chamber. But the box remains in there, amid the unused, still-wrapped gifts; and inside, the creature watches and waits in its own long vigil, to draw others inside. Vivia and, later, her pursuing father (John Hoyt), are both drawn into the box and the void inside, and confront this monster, an extraterrestrial from another space-time continuum, lost in our four-dimensional space and unable to fulfill its mission -- the destruction of the Earth and then our universe. To accomplish this, it needs a human being to help it find its way. Harvey Kry wouldn't do it and, so, has spent 35 years trapped inside the timeless void, looking exactly as he did in 1929, while his increasingly desperate (and insane) bride has waited, and aged, and conspired with the creature. And Vivia is just frightened enough; and her father is just self-centered enough, that one of them might do what it asks. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Way back in 1942, the ex-husband of Angela Fernaldi left her baby at an orphanage. Twenty years have passed, and now Angela is extremely wealthy--and two girls, both named Maureen, are claiming to be her daughter in order to collect a $200,000 trust fund. One of the two, Maureen Thomas (Melinda Plowman), ends up being chaged with the murder of Bert Renshaw (Jesse White), who supposedly had evidence proving that the "other" Maureen (Eileen Janssen) was the real daughter. In his efforts to defend Ms. Thomas, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) discovers that at least one of the principal players has provided the authorities with a false identity--but why? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gene Autry's summer release for 1953 was the 56-minute Pack Train. In this one, Autry is assigned to safely transport supplies to a band of settlers. The villains, headed by Ross McLain (Kenne Duncan), intend to bushwhack Autry, grab the supplies, and sell them at high prices to a local mining camp. It must needs be that Autry and the bad guy duke it out in the final reel; the climactic fight, which takes place on a speeding train, is the best scene in the film. McLain's partner in crime is played by Sheila Ryan, the real-life wife of Gene Autry's perennial sidekick Pat Buttram (who also appears in the film). The heroine in Pack Train is Autry-contractee Gail Davis, who later in 1953 began filming on her own TV series, Annie Oakley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Howard Hawks hoped to capture the screwball comic fervor of his 1938 film Bringing Up Baby with his 1952 comedy Monkey Business. As in the earlier film, Cary Grant stars as an absent-minded professor involved in a research project. This time he's a chemist seeking a "fountain of youth" formula that will revitalize middle-agers both mentally and physically. Though Grant's own laboratory experiments yield little fruit, a lab monkey, let loose from its cage, mixes a few random chemicals and comes up with just the formula Grant is looking for. This mixture is inadvertently dumped in the lab's water supply; the fun begins when staid, uptight Grant drinks some of the "bitter" water, then begins cutting up like a teenager. A harmless afternoon on the town with luscious secretary Marilyn Monroe rouses the ire of Grant's wife Ginger Rogers, but her behavior is even more infantile when she falls under the spell of the youth formula. Everyone remembers the best line in Monkey Business: foxy-grandpa research supervisor Charles Coburn hands the curvacious Monroe a letter and says "Get someone to type this". Even better is his next line: after Monroe sashays out of the room, Coburn turns to Grant and, with eyes atwinkle, murmurs "Anyone can type." Likewise amusing is Monkey Business's pre-credits gag, wherein Cary Grant opens a door and is about to step forward when director Hawks, off-camera, admonishes "Not yet, Cary." Among the co-conspirators on Monkey Business's carefree script are Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer and I.A.L. Diamond, with an original story by Harry Segall (Here Comes Mr. Jordan) as their source. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alcoholic Bill Cannon's (Dan Duryea) past sins catch up with him in Chicago Calling. Cannon's daughter Nancy (Melinda Plowman) is seriously injured in an accident while out of town, and his wife Mary (Mary Anderson) has promised to call him back as soon as she learns the result of Nancy's operation. Unfortunately, Cannon's phone service is cut off for nonpayment, forcing him to go begging for the $50 necessary to square his phone bill. Only through the kindness of waitress Peggy (Marsha Jones) and telephone engineer Jim (Ross Elliot) is Cannon able to make the crucial call to his wife. Alas, the operation has proved unsuccessful. Will the impact of this tragedy push Cannon over the brink, or will it inspire him to seek out a new lease on life? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical comedy with dramatic touches, Jack and Molly Moran (Dan Dailey and Betty Grable) are a show business couple who, after hosting their own radio show, have just been given a deal to star in a TV series. They're also thrilled to discover that Molly is expecting a baby, but their joy turns to sorrow after she loses the child in an auto accident, and her doctors tell her that she may not be able to conceive again. When they see how happy their friends Walter and Janet Pringle (David Wayne and Jane Wyatt) are with their five children, the Morans decide to adopt, but they discover that show people are not generally regarded as fit parents, regardless of their success or stability. However, good fortune eventually shines on Jack and Molly, as they find themselves with not one but two adopted tykes, and a big surprise around the corner. My Blue Heaven marked the film debut of musical star Mitzi Gaynor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide