John Rodney Movies
- 1963
Patricia Crowley guest-stars as beautiful Julia Grant, an aspiring actress whose lofty ambitions far outdistance her modest talents. Despite Julia's thespic shortcomings, Joe Cartwright falls in love with her and promises to advance her career. To that end, Joe elicits the advice of the legendary Edwin Booth (John Rodney), who happens to be appearing in Virginia City. First shown on February 24, 1963, "The Actress" was written by Norman Lessing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1963
After discovering that her lover Paul Clements (Ed Nelson) is married, Ruth Norton (Pamela Tiffin) angrily jumps into her car and speeds away--striking down a pedestrian in the process. The victim turns out to be fugitive from justice Richard Kimble (David Janssen), whom the distraught Ruth takes to her home to recover from his injuries. In his delirium, Kimble recalls the events leading up to the murder of his wife Helen (Diane Brewster) by the elusive One-Armed Man (Bill Raisch)--and also unwittingly reveals that he had plenty of motive to commit the murder himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1949
For various reasons, the 1949 western Calamity Jane and Sam Bass has a rather poor reputation amongst film buffs. Many observers feel that stars Yvonne de Carlo and Howard Duff merely go through the motions, while others complain that the usually dependable Universal-International production values are largely absent. Recent cable-TV showings of this film have revealed that, while not in the same league as Stagecoach or Winchester 73, Calamity Jane and Sam Bass is a relatively entertaining rehash of a familiar story. Most of the film consists of Bass' rise to notoriety as a colorful outlaw. On the verge of retirement, he agrees to one last holdup, which proves his undoing. According to the film, Calamity Jane remains by Bass' side throughout his various exploits, even though she ultimately loses him to "nice" girl Katharine Egan (Dorothy Hart). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvonne De Carlo, Howard Duff, (more)
- 1948
Excellent Technicolor photography, principally in the aerial scenes, is the main asset of the cliché-ridden Fighter Squadron. Set in the months just prior to D-Day, the plot zeroes in on Marjor Ed Hardin (Edmond O'Brien) leader of a squadron of fearless combat pilots. In keeping with the conventions of the era, the training and flying sequences are counterbalanced with comic byplay involving wheeler-dealer Sergeant Dolan (Tom D'Andrea), whose flippant attitudes towards the opposite sex are a bit hard to take today. Far more effective is the performance of 15-year-old Jack Larson, making his screen debut in the role of a rookie pilot who grows up in a hurry after scoring his first kill (Larson later gained TV immortality as Jimmy Olsen on Superman). Also making his first screen appearance, in a role so small it isn't even billed, is a former truck driver named Rock Hudson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Robert Stack, (more)
Richard Brooks and John Huston's screenplay for Huston's Key Largo eschews the lofty blank verse of Maxwell Anderson's original play, concentrating instead on the simmering tensions among the many characters. Humphrey Bogart plays Frank McCloud, an embittered war veteran who travels to Key Largo in Florida, there to meet Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall), the wife of his deceased war buddy. Arriving at a tumbledown hotel managed by Nora's father-in-law James Temple (Lionel Barrymore), McCloud discovers that the establishment has been taken over by exiled gangster Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) and what's left of his mob. Also in attendance is Gaye Dawn (Claire Trevor), Rocco's alcoholic girlfriend. While the others bristle at the thought of being held at bay by the gangsters, the disillusioned McCloud refuses to get involved: "One Rocco more or less isn't worth dying for." As he awaits a contact who is bringing him enough money to skip the country, Rocco is responsible for the deaths of a deputy sheriff and two local Indian youth. Unwilling to take a stand before these tragedies, McCloud finally comes to realize that Rocco is a beast who must be destroyed. To save the others from harm, McCloud agrees to pilot Rocco's boat to Cuba through the storm-tossed waters. Just before McCloud leaves, Gaye Dawn slips him a gun -- which leads to the deadly final confrontation between McCloud and Rocco. His resolve to go on living renewed by this cathartic experience, McCloud heads back to Nora, with whom he's fallen in love. Claire Trevor's virtuoso performance as a besotted ex-nightclub singer won her an Academy Award -- as predicted by her admiring fellow actors, who watched her go through several very difficult scenes in long, uninterrupted takes. While Key Largo sags a bit during its more verbose passages, on a visual level the film is one of the best and most evocative examples of the "film noir" school. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, (more)
Chased by a posse to a remote cabin, Jeb (Robert Mitchum) is joined by his fearful wife Thorley (Teresa Wright), awaiting the arrival of the men tracking them, as they try to reason out what has gone wrong in their lives. Jeb can't remember anything about his early childhood except for a horrible incident in which the people around him were killed by a mysterious stranger, whose flashing spurs were all the boy saw. He was raised by Ma Callum (Judith Anderson), alongside her two children, Thorley and Adam, as one of her own. But every time Jeb seemed poised to find peace, or even simple stability in his life, lurking nearby was Grant (Dean Jagger), a one-armed stranger who seemed bent on tormenting Jeb -- Jeb doesn't know who he really is, much less who Grant is, but Grant knows enough about him and is good enough at manipulating human nature to make Jeb a target for jealousy and murder. Making Jeb's life even more complicated is the fact that he and his adopted sister Thorley fell in love with each other, while Adam (John Rodney), his adopted brother, has come to hate him. The machinations around Jeb and Thorley come home to roost in multiple shootings and murder, a deadly chase and a long-planned lynching. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Teresa Wright, Robert Mitchum, (more)
