Dale Robertson Movies

Ex-prizefighter Dale Robertson was brought to films by virtue of his vocal and physical resemblance to Clark Gable. After a year of bit parts at Warner Bros., Robertson graduated to leading-man gigs at 20th Century Fox. In 1957, Robertson was cast on the popular TV Western Tales of Wells Fargo which ran until 1962. Since that time, Robertson has starred or co-starred in a number of television weeklies, nearly always Western (both period and contemporary) in nature: The Iron Horse (1966-1968), Dynasty (1980-1982), and J.J. Starbuck (1989). In addition, Dale Robertson has headlined two TV-movie pilots based on the exploits of famed G-Man Melvin Purvis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
1956  
 
A Day Of Fury stars Jock Mahoney as town marshal Alan Burnett, whose life is saved by a stranger he meets on the trail. His rescuer turns out to be Jagade (Dale Robertson), a gunslinger just returned after years away, who finds when he gets into town that he can't abide the peace that has been settled between "his" people (i.e. the saloon-keepers, gamblers, etc.) and the righteous, "respectable" folk. Jagade stirs up trouble by persuading the saloon owners to open on Sunday, which they'd voluntarily stopped doing years ago. Suddenly, the peace that had settled over the town is broken, and gambling and other vices that had been in check rise anew, drawing in many of the respectable townsmen and women in the process -- some of the men can't resist the lure of a good high-stakes poker game or a pretty woman, and even the spinster schoolteacher finds herself drawn to Jagade's dark charisma. An escalating cycle of vice and violence unfolds in barely 24 hours; Burnett won't back Jagade down, partly because the man has broken no laws and also partly due to his gratitude to the gunman for saving his life. None of the townspeople can comprehend his inaction, however, and this soon jeopardizes not only his job as marshal and his safety, but also the well-being of his fiancée, Sharmon Fulton (Mara Corday), who was a saloon girl before she was brought out of that life and given a home with a respectable family. Soon Jagade loses control of what he's started, and the town begins to destroy itself in a cycle of guilt, anger, betrayal, murder, suicide, and lynch law.
~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dale RobertsonMara Corday, (more)
1960  
 
In this occasionally amusing frolic, Gina Lollobrigida plays a sexy widow who returns to Italy from New York following the death of her husband. Her wealth and good looks entice all the men in her small village except for the one she really wants, the town blacksmith (Dale Robertson). Giuseppe Rotunno's warm cinematography and the irresistible Lollobrigida make this one worth seeing, while the screenplay (by Ettore Margadonna, Luciana Corda, and Joseph Stefano) manages to be clever without being smirky. Look for a funny bit by Vittorio DeSica, who supervised some scenes, as a loquacious priest. This film is also known as both Anna of Brooklyn and Fast and Sexy. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Gina LollobrigidaDale Robertson, (more)
1958  
 
Anna may be from Brooklyn, but this medium-budget domestic drama was filmed and financed in Italy. The title character, played by Gina Lollobrigida, returns from Flatbush to her small village in Italy in search of a husband. Among her suitors are Dale Robertson and Vittorio DeSica, indicating that the producers were hoping to "click" in box-offices on both sides of the Atlantic. Anna finally chooses the Right Man, with plenty of time for "sampling" along the way. The English-language scenes in Anna of Brooklyn were directed by Reginald Denham, while the Italian sequences were helmed by Carlo Lasticati. The film was distributed in the US by Columbia (who bought the picture from RKO) under the title Fast and Sexy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1964  
 
In this western, the sole survivor of an Apache ambush rides out to save a young boy who has been captured. The hero was a captured outlaw en route to his trial. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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1951  
 
The original Broadway musical Call Me Mister was a plotless revue. By the time the property made it to the screen, however, a storyline was grafted on and much of the revue's funnier (and dirtier) material was weeded out. Betty Grable stars as an American USO entertainer Kay Hudson, touring the bases in postwar Japan. Somewhere along the way she crosses the path of former husband Shep Dooley (Dan Dailey). Despite the presence of ardent suitor Capt. Johnny Comstock (Dale Robertson), Dooley begins a campaign to win his wife back. They are reconciled during a climactic stage show, which affords ample opportunity for both Grable and Dailey to demonstrate their terpsichorean skills (Busby Berkeley handled the choreography). Cast as a GI who hates the army, Danny Thomas (a holdover from the Broadway production) does a truncated version of his own nightclub act. Specialty numbers are provided by the Dunhill dance team, and by an unbilled Bobby Short. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Betty GrableDan Dailey, (more)
1953  
 
Unlike many westerns, City of Bad Men is placed within a specific historical time frame. The scene is Carson City, Nevada, in the year 1897. As the city prepares itself for the much-ballyhooed prizefight between Gentleman Jim Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons, soldier-of-fortune Brett Stanton (Dale Robertson) rides into town with a few of his cronies. Stanton takes into consideration the enormous gate proceeds that the prizefight will yield and immediately begins formulating plans to steal the loot. He is deflected from this by his former girlfriend Linda Culligan (Jeanne Crain), whose good example sets Stanton on the right path. Corbett and Fitzsimmons are played, respectively, by ace stunt men John Day and Gil Perkins. Actual film footage exists of their legendary bout, and this brief ribbon of celluloid might make an interesting companion feature to City of Bad Men. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Jeanne CrainDale Robertson, (more)
1965  
 
In the mid-1960s, Richard Todd starred in two British films based on Edgar Wallace's Sanders of the River. Coast of Skeletons was the sequel to Todd's earlier Death Drums Along the River. Playing insurance investigator Harry Sanders, Todd comes upon an insidious scheme to steal the valuables from the sunken ships insured by Sanders' firm. The mastermind behind the plan is one A. J. Magnus, played by the usually heroic Dale Robertson. Since we know from the get-go that Sanders will be triumphant, suspense is minimal in Coast of Skeletons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Heinz DracheMarianne Koch, (more)
1970  
 
In this mystery, a reporter looks into an Asian crime syndicate. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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1956  
 
Some good performances overcome the scripted cliches in Dakota Incident. In the tradition of Stagecoach, the film offers a disparate group of travellers whose lives are imperiled when their coach heads deep into Indian territory. Linda Darnell plays Amy Clarke, the requisite you-know-what with a heart of gold. Dale Robertson costars as hard-bitten outlaw John Banner, who is willing to let a fellow passenger, bank clerk Carter Hamilton (John Lund), take the fall for a recent robbery. Ward Bond is Senator Blakely, whose "live and let live" policy regarding the Indians is a smokescreen for his corrupt activities. Regis Toomey is the obligatory drunk, here named Minstrel. And Whit Bissell is Mark Chester, the seemingly mild-mannered greenhorn who reveals hidden reserves of strength when the going gets rough. A clue as to who will survive the inevitable Indian attack is offered by the order of billing in the opening credits of Dakota Incident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dale RobertsonLinda Darnell, (more)
1953  
 
RKO Radio's second 3D production, Devil's Canyon is a combination western and jail-break picture. The scene is Arizona Territorial Prison, wherein 500 desperate men are incarcerated. The inmates become even more desperate when female outlaw Abby Nixon (Virginia Mayo) is likewise locked up. As the prisoners draw up plans to escape, Abby is attracted to handsome but psychotic ringleader Jessie Gorman (Stephen McNally)--and to U.S. marshal Billy Reynolds (Dale Robertson), who is serving time for manslaughter. The climactic bust-out threatens to get out of hand until the marshal calms things down with a Gatling gun. Available for many years only in washed-out black-and-white prints, the original color version of Devil's Canyon was finally telecast over the American Movie Classics cable service in the late 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Virginia MayoDale Robertson, (more)
1949  
 
Randolph Scott plays one of the members of Quantrill's Raiders, staging attacks on Kansas on behalf of the fallen Confederacy in the years following the Civil War. During one raid, Scott kills the man he holds responsible for the death of his brother. The dead man was innocent, and Scott becomes a fugitive from justice. Months later, he resurfaces as the marshal of a Kansas town, in which he routs a vicious gang with the help of another social outcast, Jesse James (Dale Robertson). Written by western "regular" Frank Gruber, Fighting Man of the Plains was one of a group of Randolph Scott oaters produced independently by Nat Holt and released through 20th Century-Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Randolph ScottBill Williams, (more)
1949  
 
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The fourth of Joan Crawford's Warner Bros. vehicles, Flamingo Road doesn't hold up as well as her earlier Mildred Pierce or Humoresque, but there's plenty to please the eye and ear. Sideshow kootch-dancer Lane Bellamy (Crawford), stranded in a backwater town, gets a job as a waitress. Lane begins falling in love with Fielding Carlisle (Zachary Scott), the political protégé of the town's big-daddy sheriff Titus Semple (Sidney Greenstreet). Semple regards Lane as a gold-digging troublemaker, and does his best to break up the romance, framing her on a trumped-up morals charges and having her shipped off to prison. Once out of the "joint," Lane returns to town, seeking revenge against both Semple and Carlisle. She charms political hack Dan Reynolds (David Brian) into marriage, then transforms Reynolds into a "reform candidate" bent on destroying the corrupt Semple machine. Faced with political ruin, Lane's ex-beau Carlisle commits suicide, a fact that Semple uses as a weapon against Reynolds. A showdown is inevitable--but the story is far from over! Flamingo Road later served as the basis for a weekly TV series; both the film and the series were based on a play by Robert and Sally Wilder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Joan CrawfordZachary Scott, (more)
1951  
 
Golden Girl is the life story (sort of) of legendary 19th-century American entertainer Lotta Crabtree. The daughter of a luckless gambler (James Barton), young Lotta (Mitzi Gaynor) supports herself and her dad by singing and dancing in mining camps during the California Gold Rush of 1849. She carries on her activities into Indian territory, where she saves her scalp by winning over her Native American audiences. During the Civil War, Lotta falls in love with a dashing Confederate spy (Dale Robertson), with whom she is briefly reunited in San Francisco before his inevitable demise. The finale is one of those "smiling through the tears" contrivances that always worked so well in musical films. Golden Girl was produced for 20th Century-Fox by entertainer George Jessel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Mitzi GaynorDale Robertson, (more)
1961  
 
Bounty hunters hired by an ex-con focus on the Wells Fargo agent who placed the ex-con in prison. ~ All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dale RobertsonEllen Burstyn, (more)
1957  
 
In this western, a sheriff attempts to exact his revenge against the desperadoes who cost him his job. The former lawman successfully gets rid of the bad hombres and clears his name. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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1964  
 
This is the first of numerous westerns produced by A.C. Lyles which became famous not for their stories but for who played in them--all the stars being veterans not often seen on the screen anymore. As far as plot line, essentially we have a badguy who has become a good guy (read that ex gunfighter turned judge) and meets his past in his own court room. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dale RobertsonYvonne De Carlo, (more)
1952  
 
Twenty-one-year-old Anne Francis carries off the title-character duties in 20th Century-Fox's Lydia Bailey with class and finesse. Set in Haiti during the Napoleonic era, the film concerns aristocratic landholder Lydia Bailey and her more-than-professional relationship with American attorney Albion Hamlin (Dale Robertson). The idealistic Hamlin becomes involved in the Haitian uprising against the French, aligning himself with rebel leader--and former slave--King Dick (William Marshall). At first, Lydia sides with the French, but she eventually realizes that Hamlin's way is the right way. Based on a novel by Kenneth Roberts, Lydia Bailey was slated for TV presentation on NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies in 1963, but was pulled from the schedule because of a subplot involving miscegenation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dale RobertsonAnne Francis, (more)
1989  
 
This episode is a followup to the previous week's offering, in which Jessica (Angela Lansbury) had renewed her friendship with former Air Force pilot Lee Goddard (Dale Robertson). Invited to visit Lee's ranch in Arizona, Jessica attends a party where a psychic named Franchesco (David Birney) is guest of honor. Much to the dismay of Lee's daughter-in-law Jill (Lisa Pelikan), two of Franchesco's grim predictions come true--and his third prediction has Jill meeting a horrible demise in a fire! Complicating matters is a murder and a kidnapping, obliging Jessica to cut her vacation short and go into full "detective" mode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1988  
 
During the Korean War, Frank Fletcher, late husband of mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), was forced to bail out of the "Dixie Damsel", a crippled C97 cargo plane. Now, 36 years later, the wreckage of the "Dixie Damsel" has been found--with the remains of a murdered man inside! An Air Force inquiry is established to determine if Frank Fletcher had committed murder, prompting Jessica to team up with her old friend, retired pilot Lee Goddard (Dale Robertson), to clear her husband's name and find out what really happened. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1952  
 
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This anthology film assembles five respected directors and a top-notch cast to bring a handful of stories by the great American author O. Henry to the screen. In The Cop and the Anthem, a tramp named Soapy (Charles Laughton) tries to get arrested so that he can spend the winter in jail, only to find that is not as easy as it used to be. Marilyn Monroe appears in this episode as a streetwalker. The Clarion Call features Dale Robertson as Barney, a cop forced to arrest an old friend, Johnny (Richard Widmark). Anne Baxter stars in The Last Leaf as Joanna, an elderly woman who sees her own illness reflected in the fall of the autumn leaves; she's convinced that when the last leaf drops from the tree outside her window, her life will go with it. The Ransom of Red Chief concerns Sam (Fred Allen) and Bill (Oscar Levant), two novice kidnappers who kidnap a child, only to discover that his parents don't want him back -- and after a few hours with the brat, they find out why. And The Gift of the Magi tells the story of a pair of cash-strapped newlyweds, Della (Jeanne Craine) and Jim (Farley Granger), who struggle to get each other the perfect Christmas gift, with unexpected results. John Steinbeck narrates. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Charles LaughtonMarilyn Monroe, (more)
1967  
 
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An old soldier, lying on his deathbed, whispers a clue to the location of a fortune in a Swiss bank, and it sets off an international mad dash to recover the $15 million. ~ All Movie Guide

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1991  
R  
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Rambling Rose is the most part a flashback, related by grown-up Southerner Buddy Hillyer (John Heard). The bulk of the film takes place in 1935, when rambunctious backwoods housekeeper Rose (Laura Dern) virtually invades the Hillyer household. Daddy Hillyer (Robert Duvall), a bed-rock Southern gentleman, welcomes the congenitally amoral but basically goodhearted Rose into his house, carefully fending off her ill-timed romantic advances. But Rose can't help feeling smitten with him; meanwhile, she has also drawn the attentions of 13-year-old Buddy (Lukas Haas). Based on the novel by screenwriter Calder Willingham, Rambling Rose was not the box-office breakthrough that many expected for director Martha Coolidge; though it fizzled financially, the film did manage to secure Oscar nominations for both Dern and her real-life mother Diane Ladd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Laura DernRobert Duvall, (more)
1952  
 
Dale Robertson stars as Sam Crockett, a widowed rancher trying to make a go of his small spread with his father (Walter Brennan) and his two small sons. Financially strapped, Crockett is forced to go to work for nasty neighboring rancher Rod (Richard Boone). When Rod's sister-in-law Ann (Joanne Dru) falls in love with him, Crockett retreats, believing that no woman could ever measure up to his late wife. As the story progresses, however, it is Ann's love, coupled with the faith of his two supportive sons, which help Crockett persevere despite all roadblocks. Based on a novel by Fred (Old Yeller) Gipson, Return of the Texan is a western only in its setting; the film works better as a mood piece and character study. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dale RobertsonJoanne Dru, (more)
1967  
 
Dale Robertson stars as Ben Calhoun, a cagey professional gambler in the west of the 1870s. After an unusually successful card game in Kansas City, Calhoun finds that his opponent has no ready cash. Instead, the gambler wins ownership of the Buffalo Pass, Scalplock and Defiance Railroad. Calhoun soons learns that his prize is no prize--the railroad is plagued by bandits, Indians, bad track, and rival railroad barons who'd like nothing better than to see Calhoun fail. First telecast on The ABC Sunday Night Movie on April 10, 1966, Scalplock was the pilot film for Dale Robertson's subsequent series The Iron Horse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dale RobertsonRobert Random, (more)
1954  
 
This western offers one of Hollywood's more historically accurate accounts of the Battle of Little Big Horn. The story centers on a major in the cavalry who believes the Indians have the same rights as other Americans. Despite his efforts to stop Custer from embarking on his ill-fated mission, the general carries on. Later the major is court-marshaled for being a traitor and ends up sentenced to die. Fortunately, Sitting Bull sends a petition to the President and pleads for the good major's pardon. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dale RobertsonMary Murphy, (more)

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