Mary Scott Movies
- 1963
In this offbeat crime drama, Mafia boss Johnny Colini (Marc Lawrence) has run afoul of the law and is being deported back to his native Sicily. Colini is not at all happy about this, and after he saves the life of a young thug, Johnny Giordano (Henry Silva), he knows the perfect way for Giordano to pay him back. Colini teaches Giordano the fine art of being a hit man, then sends him to America as Johnny Cool, with a long list of people who he believes informed on him to the police. Johnny Cool begins knocking off Colini's old enemies with a brutal violence that betrays the cool detachment of his personality; along the way, he meets Dare Guinness (Elizabeth Montgomery), a beautiful but promiscuous woman with whom Johnny falls in love. Several gangsters wanting to stop Johnny Cool's reign of terror rough up Dare as a warning to the hit man, but this only serves to make him all the more bloodthirsty. Produced in part by Peter Lawford, Johnny Cool features an interesting variety of notables as Johnny's associates and victims, including Telly Savalas, Mort Sahl, Joey Bishop, Jim Backus, and Sammy Davis, Jr., who also sings the theme song. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Silva, Elizabeth Montgomery, (more)
- 1963
After 15 miserable years of matrimony, mousy Gerald Swinney (a superbly cast Bob Newhart) asks his wife, Edith (Jane Withers), for a divorce. She refuses, at which point Gerald stammers, "Well, uh, Edith, I guess I'll, uh, have to get rid of you." No, Gerald doesn't intend to murder Edith -- merely to make her think he is going to murder her. Before long, Edith is going crazy with anxiety...and that is only step one of Gerald's master plan. (Trivia note: the famous Leave It to Beaver house on the Universal studio lot is very much in evidence in this episode -- four years before it was converted into the equally famous Marcus Welby, M.D. house.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Newhart, Jane Withers, (more)
- 1962
Two young women have been murdered in the woods surrounding the campus of a college, and in each case the victim's body was sliced up in surgical fashion. While the police investigate the possibility that one of the faculty members is the killer, medical student Daphne Grey (Vera Miles) lives in mortal fear that she might be the next victim. Even so, Daphne agrees to act as bait in a scheme concocted by her psychology-professor boyfriend, Harold (Jeffrey Hunter), to trap the murderer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
This uneven farce by director Richard Quine has its hilarious and witty moments as American diplomat William Gridley (Jack Lemmon) inadvertently gets caught up in a jewel theft and mayhem. After William lands in London to take up his new position and get settled in his new digs, he becomes involved with his gorgeous landlady Carlye Hardwicke (Kim Novak). Carlye's husband is missing, and she is suspected of doing him in. But then he unexpectedly comes back home where an argument with Carlye over some jewels makes him as dead as everyone had assumed -- with her wielding the murder weapon. Carlye is eventually acquitted thanks to a witness who has designs on the jewels herself -- but the story is far from over. First there is an exciting helicopter ride and a wild chase to decide just who will end up with the loot. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, (more)
- 1958
Art Carney guest stars as Cyril T. Jones, a timid gunsmith who is caught in the crossfire of a gangland killing. Though his wound is minor, Cyril is afraid to leave the hospital for fear he has been targeted for death because he witnessed the earlier "hit." Finally, Cyril hits upon a brilliant idea that will ensure him round-the-clock police protection: he will commit a murder himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Mac Hyman's hilarious barracks novel No Time for Sergeants was adapted for TV by Ira Levin in 1955, with newcomer Andy Griffith as bumptious Air Force draftee Will Stockdale. This TV version was soon afterward transformed into a Broadway play, and then a movie, again with Griffith in the lead. Brought to the Air Force base in handcuffs because his farmer father has been hiding his draft notices, good-natured Will becomes the target of ridicule for the other transcripts. Especially nasty is Private Irvin (Murray Hamilton), but Will is able to forgive him because he knows that Irvin is suffering from some mysterious disease called ROTC. Will's best pal is hot-headed private Ben (Nick Adams), who wants to be transferred to the Infantry and convinces Will to try for the same goal. Slowly becoming aware that the trusting, naïve Will may prove to be a troublemaker, career sergeant King (Myron McCormick), who wants nothing more out of life than a little peace and quiet, tries to keep Stockdale out of mischief by appointing him "PLO" -- Permanent Latrine Orderly, a dubious distinction in which Will takes enormous pride. Later on, King tries to pull strings to get Will transferred, succeeding only in losing his sergeant's stripes. The story goes off on a zany tangent when Will and Ben find themselves on a crippled plane in flight. They manage to escape with their lives, but all evidence suggests that they've been killed in the plane's crash. Imagine the dismay of newly reinstated Sergeant King when Will and Ben show up in his office -- just as the entire base is gathered for a memorial service for the two "fallen heroes." Featured in a minor role as a "coordination officer" is Griffth's future TV cohort Don Knotts, while Sammy Jackson, who played Stockdale in a 1964 sitcom version of No Time for Sergeants, shows up in an unbilled bit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Griffith, Myron McCormick, (more)
- 1957
While on vacation in Mexico, a wealthy woman dies in the back seat of the car owned by her daughter Janet (Mary Scott) and son-in-law Evan (George Peppard). Reporting the woman's demise, the couple returns to find that the car has been stolen -- and with no corpse, they will be unable to claim Janet's inheritance. In desperation, Janet and Evan hire a sleazy private eye named Tomas Salgado (a role made to order for Peter Lorre), who agrees to locate the body and ship it back to Los Angeles...but only for a hefty price. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
Who better to direct an affectionate spoof of Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 suspense classic Rear Window than Hitchcock himself? Babs Fenton (Mary Scott), a housewife with a highly fertile imagination, wonders just what is going on between Mr. and Mrs. Blanchard (Dayton Lummis, Meg Mundy) in the house next door. By and by, Babs becomes convinced that Mr. Blanchard has murdered his wife, and inveigles her own long-suffering husband John (Robert Horton) into playing detective. The clues, motive, and opportunity are all there -- but the outcome isn't quite what Babs had anticipated. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
When their car breaks down, honeymooning couple Ray and Meg Loomis (Biff McGuire, Mary Scott) accept the courtesy of a brash middle-aged man named Mr. Moon (Robert Emhardt). Unfortunately, while trying to fix the car, Mr. Moon ruins his new suit -- whereupon he goes berserk, threatening dire consequences to both Ray and Meg. Before long, it is obvious that the Loomises are unable to escape the wrathful Mr. Moon -- but as things turn out, this temperamental gentleman is not the villain of the piece. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
The "B"-western field of the 1950s was laid low by increasing budgets and decreasing box-office appeal. Gene Autry's series for Columbia was still turning a profit in 1952, but films like Apache Country were a lot stingier-looking than his earlier efforts. Autry plays a government agent who rides into Indian territory to find out who's been selling guns and liquor to the Apaches. Hoping to keep his identity a secret, Autry is betrayed by a "mole" for the crooks, and gunplay ensues. TV and radio soap-opera veteran Mary Scott does an adequate job as the heroine, while movie veteran Francis X. Bushman brings his usual polished professionalism to a disturbingly minor role. And, oh yes, Gene Autry and his traditional cohorts Pat Buttram and Carolina Cotton do a lot of singing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
- 1947
Philo Vance, the infuriatingly brilliant amateur detective created by S. S. Van Dine, hadn't been seen on screen for seven years when PRC decided to launch a new "Philo Vance" series in 1947. William Wright plays the title role in the first entry, Philo Vance Returns, while Alan Curtis would take over the role for the remaining two films. This time around, Vance investigates the murder of a much-married playboy. With so many of the victim's former wives and sweethearts still around and about, Vance has quite a selection of suspects to choose from. Without revealing too much, it can be noted that the identity of the actual killer will probably startle fans of MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939). Like Monogram's Charlie Chan films, Philo Vance Returns is topheavy with clever but somewhat pointless gimmickry, including a poisoned bubble bath. Older prints of this film still carry its TV-reissue title Infamous Crimes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Wright, Terry Austin, (more)
The most unlikely cowboy hero of them all, whip-wielding, black-garbed "Lash" La Rue made his starring debut in this moderately entertaining B-Western from low-budget PRC. "Lash" La Rue plays the Cheyenne Kid, a prospector saving pretty shopkeeper Jane Hilton (former Fox starlet Mary Scott) from being harrassed by uncouth stage robber Lefty (Lee Roberts in a fine multi-layered performance). The latter follows Jane and her father (John Elliott) on an errand to Cheyenne's camp but is disarmed by the black-clad stranger's whip. Going slowly "loco" from being cooped up in a cabin for days with Cheyenne's uncommunicative sidekick Fuzzy (Al St. John) and the incessant ticking of a clock as sole company, Lefty is finally released by a seemingly magnanimous Cheyenne. Naturally, the henchman leads Cheyenne and Fuzzy straight to his boss, Decker (Jack O'Shea). In the climactic shootout, Cheyenne not only reveals himself to be a U.S. marshal in disguise, but that "Decker" is in reality the notorious wanted criminal "Dude" Bracken. Slightly better than its rather tawdry reputation, the La Rue Cheyenne Kid series was ostensibly launched because a jaded post-war audience liked the idea of a cowboy hero resembling Humphrey Bogart rather than Gene Autry. An equally valid reason for the series' modest success, however, was the enduring appeal of St. John's Fuzzy Q. Jones character, a hold-over from PRC's late Buster Crabbe/Billy the Kid Westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lash LaRue, Lee Roberts, (more)
A seemingly quiet Midwestern town is the hiding place for a number of sordid secrets in this melodrama based on Henry Bellamann's best-selling novel. Parris Mitchell (Scotty Beckett) is a young boy growing up in the town of King's Row, where he becomes close friends with Cassandra (Mary Thomas), a quiet girl who isn't popular with the other children. Parris is also friends with Louise (Joan Duvalle), a rich girl who looks down on others; Drake (Douglas Croft), a good-natured but self-centered type; and Randy (Ann Todd), a girl with a wild tomboy streak. It's a testimony to Parris' character when Cassandra and Louise both invite him to parties on the same day and he decides to go to Cassandra's, because he's not sure who else might be there for her. However, his friendship with her begins to fade after her father, local psychiatrist Dr. Tower (Claude Rains), decides to withdraw her from public school and tutor her at home instead. Years later, Parris (now played by Robert Cummings) is a promising medical student studying psychiatry with Dr. Tower, and while he's stayed in contact with Cassandra (now played by Betty Field), she remains at a curious emotional distance from those around her. Randy (now played by Ann Sheridan) romances Drake (now played by Ronald Reagan), who has inherited a fortune and is living the high life to the fullest. However, Drake is also involved with Louise (Nancy Coleman), who is not allowed much of a social life by her father, Dr. Gordon (Charles Coburn), and she fears that the more outgoing Randy will steal Drake away from her. When Parris decides to travel to Europe to further his studies, Cassandra asks if she can join him; he's not keen on the idea, but he considers it. He is then shocked to learn that Cassandra has been killed by her father after he learned that she was with child, shortly before taking his own life. Drake, meanwhile, loses his money through a series of unfortunate circumstances and is forced to take a job with the railroad; when he is injured at work, he's taken to Dr. Gordon for treatment. However, the doctor never approved of Drake's romance with Louise and was even more upset when he decided to leave her for Randy; in retaliation, Dr. Gordon amputates Drake's legs, even though his condition in no way justified it. Meanwhile, Parris comes back from Europe and makes the acquaintance of a local resident, Dr. Sandor (Erwin Kalser), while becoming infatuated with his daughter, Elise (Kaaren Verne). He also learns of Dr. Gordon's shocking mutilation of Drake, who is determined to somehow live a normal life despite it all, with Randy by his side. Kings Row was nominated for three Academy Awards (including Best Picture of 1943), and is generally conceded to feature the best performance of Ronald Reagan's Hollywood career; he titled his autobiography Where's the Rest of Me?, after the key line of his most memorable (and challenging) scene in the picture.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, (more)
