Arthur Shields Movies

If you believe all-American Fred MacMurray as an Oxford don, you'll probably swallow the rest of Above Suspicion. Newly married to Joan Crawford, MacMurray goes on a honeymoon in prewar Germany. Actually it's more business than pleasure: they are secret agents for the British, attempting to smuggle back information about a new superweapon being developed by the Nazis. Evil, mean, cruel and also wicked German officer Basil Rathbone imprisons and tortures Crawford (though she still looks like a million bucks), but McMurray comes to the rescue, paving the way for a suspenseful race-to-the-border climax. The tenor of Above Suspicion can be summed up in a scene in which, after being confronted by a monolingual stormtrooper, Fred MacMurray says in English "Nuts to you, dope!," whereupon the Nazi scratches his head and wonders aloud, "Vass iss das 'dope'?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bill Williams and Jane Nigh, the stars of Monogram's Blue Grass of Kentucky, are reunited in the strikingly similar Blue Blood. Based on Peter B. Kyne's story Dog Meat, the film traces the efforts made to rescue a thoroughbred from being ground into hamburger by a dog-food factory. Harry Shannon carries the film's dramatic weight as an elderly trainer who prizes his horses above all else. It is giving away nothing to reveal that the film's climax occurs during the obligatory Big Race. The Cinecolor process is put to excellent use during this sequence, with the color red figuring crucially in the race's outcome. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A "new" Lassie (once again, a male collie in drag) starred in A Challenge to Lassie, MGM's fourth entry in their series based on characters created by Eric Knight. This time, Lassie is plunked into the plotline of William Ludwig's novel Greyfriars Bobby (remade by Disney under its original title in 1963). In 19th-century Edinburgh, crusty sheepherder Jock Gray (Donald Crisp) rescues a puppy and raises it into a champion sheep dog. When Gray is murdered by rustlers, his faithful collie keeps a night-and-day watch over his late master's grave, despite local laws banning the presence of unleashed canines. The rest of the film is a battle of wills between kindly innkeeper John Traill (Edmund Gwenn) and by-the-book constable Davie (Reginald Owen) over the dog's well-being. A romantic subplot is capably handled by Geraldine Brooks and Ross Ford, both of whom went on to healthy character-actor careers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Edgar G. Ulmer directed this silly but fun low-budgeter about young English heiress and bride-to-be Janet (Gloria Talbott), who arrives at the family estate on her 21st birthday. There she is informed by her guardian that her father was none other than the notorious Dr. Henry Jekyll, the inventor of a formula which transformed him into an ill-mannered, murderous beast. As unpleasant as that prospect may be, there's an even greater concern: the doc's condition may be hereditary. This news so mortifies Janet that she calls off her wedding, much to the chagrin of her fiancee (John Agar, no stranger to chagrin), who finds the whole idea ludicrous. Ludicrous maybe, but after a horrible nightmare in which Janet transforms into a monster, she awakens to find herself covered in blood -- and the maid has been torn to shreds. Ulmer makes the most of a painfully low budget by borrowing concepts from countless other horror classics, and Janet's nightmare scenes are fairly chilling, but Talbott's decidedly non-English accent and some glaring period anachronisms threaten to spoil the show. The opening and closing sequences -- featuring a cackling silhouette of Jekyll & Hyde -- are a clever touch, though. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

John Ford directed this outdoor adventure set in the American Colonial period. Gilbert and Lana Martin (Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert) are a young couple trying to make a home in New York State's Mohawk Valley, but repeated attacks by Indians drive them, along with other settlers in the valley, into a nearby fort, where they watch helplessly as the natives lay waste to their farms and cabins. A spinster with a large farm, Sarah McKlennar (Edna May Oliver), comes to their rescue when she hires Gilbert to work as a field hand and gives the Martins a place to stay. The rugged life of the farm and frontier doesn't always sit well with Lana, who was raised in wealthy and comfortable circumstances; in time she develops a thicker skin and learns to love their new life in the Mohawk Valley, especially after giving birth to their first son. Gilbert joins the militia, who must do battle both with the local Indian tribes and the British soldiers who are provoking them to battle. Gilbert returns wounded, and as he recuperates, a healthy crop rises in the fields, but their satisfaction is short lived when the Indians once again hit the warpath. 1939 was a stellar year for John Ford; along with this highly successful adventure tale, which was nominated for three Academy Awards, Ford also released the ground-breaking western Stagecoach. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Enchanted Island bears only the faintest traces of its source material, the Herman Melville novel, Typee. 19th century-whalers Abner Dana Andrews and Tom Don Dubbins jump ship, finding refuge on a tropical island inhabited by cannibals. When Tom disappears, Abner jumps to the logical conclusion and vows not to end up in the pot himself. Returning to his ship, Abner is drawn back to the island by Fayaway (a miscast Jane Powell), the tribal chief's daughter, with whom he has fallen in love. The film's "official" synopsis suggests that the story is unresolved at the end; in fact, the film comes to a satisfying if not altogether believable conclusion. Produced in Mexico by Benedict Bogeaus, Enchanted Island was to have been released by RKO Radio, but the collapse of that studio forced Bogeaus to distribute the film through Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A young Native American boy saves the day in this competent children's western by director George Sherman. Little twelve-year-old Michael (Danny Bravo) is an orphan whose best friends are young Father Phelan (Richard Basehart) and the curmudgeonly Father Walsh (Arthur Shields). The good fathers would like to raise money for a new shrine but the project seems hopeless -- until Michael steps into the picture. He devotes himself to the care and training of a white quarterhorse with his eye on the big, local race coming up soon. If the horse can win the race, it would be enough to cover the cost of the shrine. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Maybe Errol Flynn was never the war hero that he often played, but he was a capable boxer, and Gentleman Jim makes full use of this skill. Flynn stars as Jim Corbett, the 19th-century American pugilist who introduced "scientific" methods to bare-knuckle boxing. Originally an office clerk, Corbett is introduced to the then-illegal sport of fighting when one of the bank executives sponsors the young man's training at the Olympic Club. His arrogance wins Corbett a few enemies, including high-born lady Victoria Ware (Alexis Smith), whose dislike turns to casual affection when she realizes that Corbett is a sincere young fellow who can back up his boasts. What "Gentleman Jim" desires most in life is a match with reigning heavyweight champ John L. Sullivan (Ward Bond). Corbett and Sullivan finally meet in a bout governed by those new Marquis of Queensbury rules that Corbett has helped popularize. Twenty-one epoch-making rounds later, Corbett emerges victorious. At the victory celebration, Sullivan and Corbett graciously exchange mutual words of respect and affection. At this point, Corbett has totally won over the lovely Victoria -- but hasn't quite convinced his brawling brothers that "scientific" boxing is the wave of the future, and the film ends with a typical Raoul Walsh-directed battle royal. More faithful to the facts than most Errol Flynn biopics (but still with enough poetic license to drive historical purists up a wall), Gentleman Jim is broad, boisterous entertainment. Though it looks expensive, the film was made under Warner Bros.' standard pinchpenny restrictions; if you look closely at that moored ship where Corbett has one of his first professional fights, you'll notice that it's a leftover set from the 1940 Errol Flynn swashbuckler The Sea Hawk. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A partial remake of 1936's Wanted: Jane Turner, Lady Scarface is a seedy but entertaining tour de force for the great Judith Anderson. Embittered over the ugly facial scar which covers the left side of her face, a woman named Slade becomes a criminal mastermind. The cops have no idea that the elusive Slade is female, which enables her to move about freely without attracting attention. After a robbery-murder, Slade has her share of the loot mailed to her at a post-office box registered under the phony name of Mary Powell. When the real Mary Powell (Mildred Coles) receives the stolen loot in the mail, the fur-and the bullets-really begin to fly. Judith Anderson once explained that she accepted the starring role in Lady Scarface in hopes that the film would do for her what Little Caesar did for Edward G. Robinson. It didn't. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Judy Garland performs her only on-screen death scene early in the proceedings of Little Nellie Kelly. But despair not! Garland soon reappears as the daughter of the character she was playing in the film's first reels. Now a girl of 20, Garland has fallen in love with Douglas McPhail, much to the dismay of her father George Murphy and grandfather Charles Winninger. However, Murphy and Winninger are too much at odds with each other to give proper attention to Garland. Going into her Miss Fixit act, Garland patches up the differences between pop and grandpop, and gets to keep her beau in the bargain. Based on the play by George M. Cohan, Little Nellie Kelly affords Judy Garland ample opportunity to sing a swing version of "Singin' in the Rain", as well as several newer songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A genuine novelty, MGM's Main Street to Broadway offers the modern viewer a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of the 1953 theatrical scene. The main plot concerns aspiring playwright Tony Monaco (Tom Burton), who pins his future on the possibility that Tallulah Bankhead will star in his first Broadway production. Along the way, Tony imagines that Tallulah has fallen in love with him, but faithful girlfriend Mary Craig (Mary Murphy) hangs around to pick up the pieces. Except for an amusing sequence in which Bankhead imagines herself as the sweet ingenue in a domestic comedy, the storyline can be dispensed with. The principal attraction of Main Street to Broadway is its glittering array of Manhattanite guest stars, including Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, Gertrude Berg, Shirley Booth, Helen Hayes, Leo Durocher, Fay Emerson, Joshua Logan, Mary Martin, Lilli Palmer and John Van Druten. In the film's best scene, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein Jr. come up with an "instant song"--the now-forgotten "There's Music in You"--then perform it for the amusement of their friends, with Rodgers on the piano and Hammerstein rendering the vocals! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After supervising several of the best "psychological" horror films ever made, producer Val Lewton shifted his base of operations from RKO to Paramount. Lewton's first project at his new studio -- and the last -- was My Own True Love, an uncharacteristically sentimental offering. Based on the novel by Yolanda Foldes, the story focuses on the romantic dilemma facing ex-POW Joan Clews (Phyllis Calvert). On the verge of marrying middle-aged Clive Heath (Melvyn Douglas), Joan is introduced to Heath's war-veteran son Michael (Philip Friend). Sympathizing with Michael's wartime loss of his Malayan wife and child, Joan falls in love with him. Unwilling to betray his own father, Michael elects to commit suicide, but that's not quite how things turn out. My Own True Love is proof positive that romantic melodrama was not Val Lewton's forte. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide