William Bishop Movies

Amidst a sea of late-1950s psychological westerns, The Phantom Stagecoach is almost refreshingly old-fashioned. The plot is motivated by an ongoing war between two rival stagecoach firms. Stagecoach owner Joe Patterson (Frank Ferguson) is as honest as the day is long, which is more than can be said for his competitor, Martin Maroon (Hugh Sanders). Using an armored stagecoach, Maroon sabotages Patterson's operation, never leaving behind any evidence that can be traced back to him. Operating undercover, Wells Fargo agent Glen Hayden (William Bishop) tries to put an end to Maroon's skullduggery, and along the way he falls in love with the villain's innocent niece Fran (Kathleen Crowley). Some amusing moments are provided by those grand old troupers Percy Helton and Maudie Prickett, while Richard Webb, TV's Captain Midnight, is cast against type as a reluctant baddie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Payne always felt that he delivered his best screen performance in The Boss. Set in the years following WW1, the story concerns a small-town veteran named Matt Brady (John Payne), whose brother, machine politician Tim Brady (Roy Roberts), arranges for Matt to get a cushy government job. When Tim dies, Matt takes over his operation, eventually assuming control of the entire state (which judiciously remains unnamed in the film). Though a successful power broker, Matt is unable to win the woman he loves (Doe Avedon), so he settles for another (Gloria McGhee) whom he treats atrociously. A falling out with his best friend/severest critic Bob Herrick (William Bishop) sets the stage for the ruthless Brady's inevitable downfall. Though all the names were changed to protect the guilty, audiences in 1956 were quick to perceive that the film was a thinly disguised attack on the Pendergast machine of Kansas City, Missouri. Coproduced and cowritten by John Payne, The Boss falters only in its overreliance upon anachronistic newsreel footage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Phil Carey is his usual rough-and-tumble self in the Columbia western programmer Wyoming Renegade. Carey plays Brady Sutton, a former outlaw who wants to go straight. Trouble is, everyone is convinced that Sutton is still a no-good -- everyone, that is, except heroine Nancy Warren (Martha Hyer). When it appears as though Sutton has joined the "Hole in the Wall" gang headed by Butch Cassidy (Gene Evans), it looks like Nancy was wrong and everyone else was right. Ah, but Sutton's motives are honorable, though it takes him half the movie to prove it. William Bishop is fourth-billed as Butch Cassidy's cohort Sundance, while desperado Blackjack Ketchum makes a cameo appearance in the form of bit player A. Guy Teague. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gunman Sterling Hayden rides into a small frontier town in search of his mother's killer. William Bishop is a wealthy ranch owner who has married Karin Booth, Hayden's former girl friend. Hayden has reason to suspect that Bishop is the man he is gunning for. When the town marshal is shot down, Hayden takes his place, which establishes once and for all who the real hero is in this film. It is superfluous to add that this 1955 Top Gun bears no relationship to the 1985 stud-in-the-skies adventure film of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title character of this western can only be one of two actresses: Maureen O'Hara or Rhonda Fleming. But Fleming apparently had something else to do, so O'Hara won the coin-toss. She plays a dance-hall gal who protects the identity of a cattle rustler--mainly because she's the same crooked business herself. Complications ensue when O'Hara falls in love with the very sheriff (Alex Nicol) who intends to bring the rustler to justice. Redhead from Wyoming was filmed in Technicolor; the producers would have been insane not to do so. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Low-budget Realart Films managed to pick up an above-average property when it secured the screen rights to the Robert Abel play The Samson Slasher. Retitled Breakdown, the story concerns a heavyweight boxer, played by William Bishop. Framed for murder, Bishop is sent to prison, but is released after a few years on good behavior. Putting two and two together (no mean feat when you're wearing boxing gloves), Bishop surmises that the real killer is linked up in some way with his girl friend Anne Gwynne. Richard Benedict, a real-life boxer who turned actor in the mid-1940s, appears in the supporting cast as "Punchy." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Billed "Jack Mahoney" for the occasion, former stunt man Jock Mahoney steps up to the plate as a leading man in this average Western originally released in an inexpensive color process. Mahoney plays Ross Granger, a railroad agent masquerading as a telegrapher and looking into a series of Comanche raids on the railroad construction near Oaktown. But as Ross quickly establishes, the raids are sponsored by local businessmen Del Stewart (William Bishop) and Broden (George Eldredge), who want to force the railroad through land they possess. Stewart, an old friend of Granger's, is in love with Ann Dennison (Peggie Castle), the daughter of the railroad surveyor, but not even he can prevent Broden from having old man Dennison (Walter Sande) killed. Jock Mahoney had recently starred on television's Range Rider series when hired by former Columbia Pictures colleague Fred Sears for this independently produced Western. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this World War II drama, Richard Widmark plays Lt. Cmdr. John Lawrence, a strict navy commander assigned to replace the popular senior officer of a group of underwater demolition divers -- better known as frogmen. Lawrence tightens the discipline of this brave but fiercely independent group of underwater warriors, winning few friends in the process. The unpopular officer proves his worth in front of his men by neutralizing a live torpedo at the risk of his own life. The principal attraction of The Frogmen is its underwater photography, which would have been twice as effective in black-and-white. An intelligent, low-key wartime adventure, The Frogmen is weakened only by the excessive "Brooklynese" comedy of Harvey Lembeck. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lorna Doone is based on the oft-filmed novel by Richard D. Blackmore. Set in 17th century Scotland during the reign of Britain's Charles II, the story concerns young Lorna (Barbara Hale), a member of a much-hated landowning family. Lorna falls in love with a humble villager (Richard Greene), who like the rest of community has suffered under the rule of the despotic Doones. The villagers revolt against their oppressors, but when it is revealed that Lorna is not a genuine Doone, she is able to marry her low-born swain. Star Barbara Hale was pregnant throughout the filming of Lorna Doone; thus it can be said that the film "co-starred" her son, future actor William Katt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Harriet Craig is the third film version of George Kelly's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Craig's Wife. Joan Crawford stars as the title character, a thoroughly selfish woman who prizes her house and her possessions above all else. Harriet Craig is even willing to spoil the business opportunities of her husband Walter (Wendell Corey) to avoid losing her precious home. When her self-involvement causes turbulence in the romantic life of her cousin (K.T. Stevens), and when her husband's eyes are finally opened to his wife's true nature, Harriet Craig is at long last hoist on her own petard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Douglas Sirk's love of cinematic esoterica was kept in check in the musical comedy Slightly French. Dorothy Lamour stars as Mary O'Leary, a carnival entertainer who's discovered by enterprising director John Gayle (Don Ameche). The plot dictates that Gayle must pass off Mary as an elegant Parisian actress/singer. This slender plotline enables the film to toss off a number of satirical quips about show biz, and to display Lamour in a variety of exotic costumes. The best musical numbers occur during an extended film-within-a-film sequence. Slightly French is buoyed by its expert supporting cast, including Janis Carter, Willard Parker and Adele Jergens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Philip Yordan's stage hit Anna Lucasta posed two problems to Hollywood in 1949. For one thing, the story concerned a prostitute who is exploited by her greedy family. For another, the characters were black, thereby cutting the box-office potential in half in those racially divisive times. In adapting Anna Lucasta to the screen, Yordan and co-scripter Arthur Laurents "laundered" the property for popular consumption. Anna's sexual hijinks are only hinted at, and in fact an impressionable viewer might even get the idea that she's still a virgin when the film comes to an end. And the racial angle was tackled by transforming the characters into Polish-Americans, which enabled Paulette Goddard to assume the leading role. Otherwise, the film differs but little from the play: Thrown out of her house by her drunken father (Oscar Homolka), Anna is welcomed back into the fold only as bait to trap an unmarried, wealthy farmer. Anna squelches her family's avaricious plans by genuinely falling in love with the poor sucker who's been targeted as her husband. Broderick Crawford fares best as Anna's doltish brother-in-law, a characterization deftly combining boorish selfishness and lovable humor. Anna Lucasta was remade with most of its Broadway bite intact in 1958 -- this time with an all-black cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide