Ron Randell Movies
Ron Randell was engaged in radio and stage work in his native Australia from his teens. Randell's first leading film role was as a real-life aviation hero in Smithy (1946). In Hollywood, Randell starred as fictional detectives Bulldog Drummond and the Lone Wolf, at the tail end of both of those characters' long-running B-picture series. He spent the 1950s fluctuating between American and British productions; he was featured as Cole Porter in Kiss Me Kate (1958) and starred in the 1957 TV espionage series O.S.S. Ron Randell continued his stage career into the 1990s, going on to join Tony Randall's National Actors Theater. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Omoo-Omoo (The Shark God) is based on a novel by Herman Melville. Within its attenuated budget, the film does a nice job visualizing Melville's concept. A sea captain (Trevor Bardette) courts disaster when he removes a pair of black pearls from a native shrine. According to native legend, bad luck will befall the captain and everyone else who comes in contact with those pearls. By the time the film's 57 minutes have run their course, practically everyone has come to grief except top-billed Ron Randell. Cast as Trevor Bardette's luckless daughter is Devera Burton, of whom little was heard after Omoo-Omoo ended its theatrical run. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Randell, Devera Burton, (more)
- 1949
Make Believe Ballroom is a feature-length derivation of the popular LA-based radio series of the same name. Hosted by Martin Block and then by Al Jarvis, the original Ballroom was a combination disc-jockey program and quiz show. Jarvis plays himself in the film version, introducing such musical artists as Frankie Laine, the King Cole Trio,Jack Smith, Kay Starr, Charlie Barnet, Jimmy Dorsey, Jan Garber, Gene Krupa and Pee Wee Hunt. The barely relevant plot concerns two carhops, Gene Thomas (Jerome Courtland) and Josie Marlow (Virginia Welles), who participate in the question-and-answer portion of the radio series. Though competitors on the air, Gene and Josie eventually fall in love. The supporting cast is filled with such stock Columbia players as Sid Tomack, Adele Jergens, and Vernon Dent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerome Courtland, Ruth Warrick, (more)
- 1948
So often wasted in passive roles, Evelyn Keyes is virtually the whole show in The Mating of Millie. Keyes is cast as pretty businesswoman Millie McGonigle, who hopes to fill a gap in her life by adopting orphan boy Tommy Bassett (Jimmy Hunt, future star of 1953's Invaders from Mars). But this is 1948: self-supporting though she may be, Millie must have a husband to qualify as an adoptive parent. With the help of her neighbor Doug Andrews (Glenn Ford), Millie tries to trap an acceptable hubby. Guess who Millie falls in love with in the last reel. Just guess. Columbia mounted an elaborate and expensive promotional campaign for The Mating of Millie, resulting in excellent returns at the box office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Evelyn Keyes, (more)
Perhaps it's just as well that Columbia elected to film Prosper Merimee's Carmen without Georges Bizet's music: after all, Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford weren't exactly Leontyne Price and Robert Merrill. The Loves of Carmen is a reasonably faithful rehash of Merimee's story of the tempestuous gypsy cigarette-factory worker Carmen (Hayworth) and the devastating effect she has on the men in her life. Assigned to arrest Carmen after a street brawl, handsome military officer Don Jose (Ford) falls in love with her instead, renouncing his virginal sweetheart and falling in with Carmen's smuggler cronies. So smitten is Don Jose that he doesn't realize until it's too late that the amoral Carmen is foredoomed to destroy herself and her lovers. Highlights include a knife duel between Don Jose and Carmen's common-law husband Garcia (Victor Jory) and the fatal final confrontation stemming from Carmen's flirtation with bullfighter Lucas (John Baragrey). Dazzling Technicolor photography is the principal asset of this entertaining but uneven star vehicle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, (more)
- 1948
Susan Peters, a fine actress of the 1940s whose career was curtailed by an accident which left her wheelchair-bound, utilizes her handicap to her advantage in Sign of the Ram. Peters plays an invalid wife and mother who exercises dictatorial control over all around her. Peters' loved ones are willing to forgive her nastiness due to her condition--a fact that she realizes fully and exploits to the utmost. Eventually her atrocious behavior leaves Peters alone and friendless, but even in her darkest moments she insists upon being a "control freak" and engineers her own spectacular death. Far more tasteful than it sounds, Sign of the Ram was a worthwhile valedictory vehicle for Susan Peters, who died a few years after the film's release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Peters, Alexander Knox, (more)
- 1947
A precursor of sorts to the 1999 Julia Roberts vehicle The Runaway Bride, It Had to Be You stars Ginger Rogers as Victoria Stafford, a wealthy girl who has been engaged three times, and has three times chickened out at the altar just before saying "I do." Determined to wed her fourth fiancé, Oliver H.P. Harrington (Ron Randell), Victoria is on the verge of saying those two little words, when suddenly she sees the vision of her "dream lover," George (Cornel Wilde), whom she has envisioned since childhood. Ultimately our heroine meets an in-the-flesh lookalike for her imaginary sweetheart: a no-nonsense fireman named Johnny Blaine, who indeed was a childhood friend of Victoria's. So, do wedding bells finally ring? Not on your life. Though Victoria is ga-ga over Johnny, the feeling is far from mutual -- and besides, there are several reels to go before the end title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, Cornel Wilde, (more)
- 1947
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back was the second and last entry in Columbia's abortive attempt to revive the "Bulldog Drummond" B-series of the 1930s. As in Bulldog Drummond at Bay, Ron Randell stars as the dashing adventurer. The plot this time is the old saw about a phony heiress laying claim to a vast estate. Yes, that's Gloria Henry, future Dennis the Menace mom, as the heroine. This 1947 quickie is not a remake of the far superior 1934 Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back, which starred Ronald Colman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1947
Bulldog Drummond at Bay was the title of two entries in the long-running "Bulldog Drummond" series. The later film, lensed in 1947, introduces Australian Ron Randell in the title role. Soldier of fortune Drummond is obliged to find a jewel thief, lest he himself be accused of the crime. Of interest is the presence in the cast of former child star Terence Kilburn. The first "Drummond" flick in eight years, Bulldog Drummond at Bay was the vanguard of a failed two-picture attempt by Columbia Pictures to revive the once-thriving series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1946
A Son is Born was the maiden directorial effort of Australian producer Eric Porter. Future international star Peter Finch heads the cast of this sprawling drama, dealing with the rivalry between a headstrong father and his rebellious son. Ron Randell and Muriel Steinbeck, who like Finch were big favorites "down under" in 1946, also appear. Distribution of A Son is Born throughout the rest of the British empire was handled by Ealing Studios, long before the company began specializing in domestic comedies. American audiences were denied an opportunity to see A Son is Born until it began making the TV "Late Show" rounds in the mid-1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Randell, Muriel Steinbeck, (more)
- 1946
Originally titled Smithy, Pacific Adventure is the story of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Australia's first great aviator. In the cockpit of the legendary aircraft "Southern Cross," Smith sets records only for the pleasure of breaking them. The film's two focal points are Smith's romance with his aristocratic wife-to-be (Muriel Steinbeck) and his efforts to be the first Australian to fly solo across the Pacific. More a series of tableaux than a movie, Pacific Adventure doesn't give its star Ron Randell (in his film debut) much to do other than imitate every still picture of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith ever taken. Filmed in England and Australia in 1946, Pacific Adventure was picked up for American release by Columbia one year later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Randell, Muriel Steinbeck, (more)
