Frances Rafferty Movies

In one of his first acting roles, Arnold Schwarzenegger is typecast as professional bodybuilder Josef Schmidt. Anticipating Arnold's earliest, villainous film appearances, Schmidt is dangerously sensitive to criticism of his chosen profession--a sensitivity that leads inexorably to murder. Who'd have thought back in 1977 that Schwarzenegger would one day forsake the Streets of San Francisco to take up residence in the gubernatorial mansion in Sacramento? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wealthy Timothy Balfour Sr. (Otto Kruger) draws up a new will leaving a great deal of money to his namesake grandson Tim (John Washbrook), but the lad may not be worthy of such an honor. Well on the way to becoming a full-fledged "J.D.", Tim is shaken down by hoodlum crony Chick Montana (David Winters), who wants to boy to get his hands on his inheritance ahead of time, or else he'll tell the cops about Tim's involvement in a liquor-store holdup. When Chick is bumped off, Tim faces a murder charge, whereupon Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is galvanized into action. Featured in the cast is Roland Winters, formerly the movies' "Charlie Chan". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wealthy J.J. Gideon (Otto Kruger) disapproves of the romance between his grandson David (Karl Held) and David's secretary Dorine (Patricia Barry). As it happens, Gideon has good reason to be upset: Dorine is a duplicitous golddigger who swindles David out of $10,000, claiming that she needs it to get her husband Tony out of her life. Pretty soon, Tony is out of his own life as well--and David, who was seen fighting with Tony just before the man's death, is charged with murder. Evidently Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) takes quite a shine to David while preparing his defense; during the series' fifth season, David Gideon would return on a semi-regular basis as Perry's new legal assistant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of Walt Disney's two-part miniseries Moochie of Pop Warner Football, diminutive Moochie Morgan (Kevin Corcoran) has put baseball aside to concentrate on the gridiron. Alas, in order to meet the 60-pound weight requirement to join Pop Warner Football League, Moochie must gain five pounds. Should he fail, he'd be forced to play in the Peewee league -- and their current isn't a team for that league in his small town. Then another crisis develops, this one of a political nature. "The Peewees vs. City Hall" originally aired as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology and was later serialized on the syndicated version of The Mickey Mouse Club. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the concluding episode of Walt Disney's two-part miniseries Moochie of the Little League, the Bobcats baseball team has successful prevented their ball field from being sold, and young Moochie Morgan (Kevin Corcoran) and several of his fellow Bobcats have been selected to play in an all-star game. Moochie's sister, Marian (Donna Corcoran), is none too happy over this, since if Moochie stays in town to play, the Morgan's annual vacation is off. Be that as it may, the day of the Big Game approaches, whereupon Moochie takes to wearing his "lucky socks" day and night. As indicated by the title of this episode, however, things don't go quite the way our hero had hoped. Originally telecast as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology, "Wrong Way Moochie" and the previous episode "A Diamond Is a Boy's Best Friend" were later edited together and released theatrically in Europe as Little League Moochie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced and directed by the prestigious Frank Lloyd, The Shanghai Story was promoted as a "class" production by the bread-and-butter firm of Republic Pictures. The film takes place in the eponymous far-eastern metropolis (courtesy of the Republic backlot), where Communist police chief Colonel Zorek (Marvin Miller) hopes to trap an American spy. Zorek rounds up the usual suspects and sequesters them in a seedy hotel. Could the spy be Dan Maynard (Edmond O'Brien), a cynical doctor? Is it munitions profiteer Ricki Dolmine (Barry Kelley)? Perhaps it's two-fisted mercenary seaman Knuckles Greer (Richard Jaeckel). Orrrrrrr, maybe it's the mysterious Rita King (Ruth Roman), who is inexplicably given permission to come and go as she pleases by the otherwise intractable Zorek. True to form, this Republic A-picture resolves its problems with a final reel of good old B-flick action and violence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a break from tradition, the third-seasoner opener of Dragnet is not based on a radio broadcast, but was written specifically for television. Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) suspect that drug dealers have broken into an experimental laboratory and stolen five white rats. But further evidence indicates that a pair of schoolchildren are responsible for the theft. Unfortunately, the rats have been infected with bubonic plague--and the two detectives have only 48 hours to track down the animals before a fatal epidemic engulfs Los Angeles. Dorothy Abbott is prominently featured in this episode as Friday's off-and-on girlfriend Ann Baker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hard-working leading lady Jane Nigh attains top billing in 1952's Rodeo. It's all about rough-and-ready gal Nancy Cartwright (Nigh) who takes over a travelling rodeo after the manager skips town with the payroll. Under her guidance, the show becomes a money-making proposition. Unfortunately, in her efforts to prove her value as a businesswoman, Nancy makes a careless remark to aging but proud ex-rodeo star Barbecue Jones (Wallace Ford). A near-tragedy ensues, prompting the rodeo workers to walk out on Nancy when she needs them most. But Slim Martin (John Archer), the rodeo's main attraction, manages to convince his fellow workers that Nancy is a "good egg" after all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The direction of Lady at Midnight is credited to Sherman Scott, who was really our old friend Sam Newfield, aka Peter Stewart, possibly the most prolific director in "B"-picture history. Radio newscaster Peter Wiggins (Richard Denning) and his wife Ellen Wiggins (Frances Rafferty) hope to adopt little Tina (Lora Lee Michel), the foster child who's lived with them for seven years. The Wiggins' efforts are blocked by a mysterious party who claims to be the child's parent. What starts as a standard legal maneuver quickly degenerates into murder, as private eye Al Garrity (Ralph Dunn) tries to discern the motives behind the unknown killer's behavior. Though no cliché is left unturned, Lady at Midnight is acceptable non-think entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Much of the enjoyment inherent in Money Madness can be derived from watching Hugh Beaumont, nine years before his "Ward Cleaver" stint on TV's Leave It to Beaver, playing a low-down, dirty-rat heavy. Armored-car driver Steve Clark (Beaumont) gets tired of hauling around other people's money and begins drawing up plans to accumulate his own loot. Using inside information, Clark manages to pilfer 200 grand without arousing the suspicions of the authorities. He then weds heiress Julie (Frances Rafferty), for the express purpose of murdering both her and her wealthy aunt Cora (Cecil Weston). Only attorney Donald (Harlan Warde) figures out that the smooth-talking Clark is up to no good, but by then it's too late. Hugh Beaumont's cold-blooded performance in the film's final scenes is enough to make one fear for the future safety of Barbara Billingsley, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second Hollywood-filmed effort from the British-based Eagle Lion company, Lost Honeymoon is a decided improvement on the first (It's a Joke, Son). Franchot Tone plays returning GI Johnny Gray, who knows that he suffered from amnesia while in London but doesn't know what he did during his memory lapse. Johnny soon finds out when British lass Amy Atkins (Ann Richards) shows up at his doorstep. Amy insists that not only is she married to Johnny, but that she's the mother of his two children! In desperation, Johnny runs around trying to bonk himself in the noggin so that he can regain his amnesia and escape from his parental responsibilities-and that's just one of the many comic complications. Hardly an important film, Lost Honeymoon is a consistently entertaining one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Hidden Eye was the second of two MGM films featuring mystery writer Baynard Kendrick's blind detective Duncan McLain. As in Eyes in the Night, sightless sleuth McLain is played by Edward Arnold. This time, our hero tackles a series of murders apparently tied in with an ancient oriental cult. The one clue to the killer's identity is the scent of a rare Oriental perfume. Refusing to jump to conclusions, McLain, accompanied by his faithful seeing-eye dog Friday, meticulously follows the trail of evidence to the Least Likely Suspect. The finale finds the judo-trained McLain taking on his evil adversary; though it's obvious that stunt doubles are used, it's an exciting sequence all the same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This lavish, 145-minute cinemadaptation of the Pearl Buck best-seller Dragon Seed was intended by MGM as a followup to the studio's successful film version of Buck's The Good Earth. In true Hollywood fashion, the Chinese protagonists are all played by Caucasian actors, with fascinating if not always convincing results. When a peaceful Chinese village is invaded by the Japanese prior to WW2, the men elect to adopt a peaceful, don't-rock-the-boat attitude towards their conquerors-and it is understood that the women will stoically acquiesce as well. But Jade (Katharine Hepburn), a headstrong young woman, intends to stand up to the Japanese whether her husband Lao Er (Turhan Bey) approves or not. She even goes so far as to learn to read and to handle a weapon, so that she may properly equipped for both psychological and physical combat. Jade's attitude spreads to the rest of the village, convincing even the staunchest of male traditional that the Japanese can be defeated only by offering a strong united front-male and female. Alas, there are a few Quislings in their midst, notably avaricious merchant Wu Lien (Akim Tamiroff), who learns all too late the terrible cost of collaboration. While it seems odd to see so many non-Orientals-Walter Huston, Agnes Moorehead, Hurd Hatfield, J. Carroll Naish-in the major roles, Dragon Seed manages to retain its power and entertainment value even 50 years after the fact (Incidentally, there are a few genuine Chinese in the cast-most of them playing Japanese!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide