Olan Soule Movies

At the insistence of Ricky (Desi Arnaz), Little Ricky (Joseph A. Mayer and Michael Mayer) spends his first day at nursery school -- and Lucy (Lucille Ball) is as nervous as a mother hen. Much to her relief, the boy adapts well to school, but close proximity to other children causes him to develop a slight cold. Lucy takes Little Ricky to the doctor, who diagnoses tonsillitis, necessitating a minor operation. Determined to spend the night with Little Ricky in his hospital room, Lucy disguises herself as a nurse -- and the medical profession will never be the same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Six GIs stationed in Asia secretly photograph the arcane rituals of a group of cobra worshippers. At the climax of the ceremony, the cult members turn themselves into snakes. The high priestess catches the soldiers spying and throws a curse upon them. This off-beat horror film follows what happens to the men after that. Soon after they return to the US, the vengeful priestess follows them and people begin to die from snake venom poisoning, adding credence to the strange tale told by a surviving GI to the police, who become less skeptical as more evidence is unearthed. More trouble follows when the serpentine goddess falls for the ex-soldier's roomie. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The object of the search conducted by police detectives Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) is a thief who specializes in stealing costume jewelry. The only other clue the detectives have to go on is the footprint made by someone wearing a very expensive tennis shoe. The most likely suspect would seem to be Alec McCarron (Jimmy Ogg), the son of a wealthy family--but it turns out that the detectives have been following a false lead. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of July 20, 1954. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

From the 1950s "Front Row Center" series, a made-for-television adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel about the unhappy marriage between a psychiatrist and one of his patients. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

Carl Buckley (Broderick Crawford) needs the intervention of his beautiful wife Vicki (Gloria Grahame) to keep his job, so Vicki meets with Carl's boss Owens (Grandon Rhodes), and Carl's job is secure. Insanely jealous, Carl finds Vicki with Owens on board a train and kills Owens. Jeff Warren (Glenn Ford), an off-duty train engineer protects Vicki and they begin an affair. Still obsessively jealous, Carl becomes an alcoholic and blackmails Vicki into staying with him. Vicki persuades Jeff to kill Carl, but at the last minute Jeff relents, taking on the letter which Carl has used to blackmail Vicki with. Vicki leaves town on the train with Carl -- all the while taunting him with her infidelity. Carl is overcome with a jealous rage that ultimately leads to tragedy. Directed by Fritz Lang), Human Desire an updated remake of Jean Renoir's adaptation of Emile Zola's novel, La Bete Humaine, is a grim sordid story in which desperate people try to relieve their desolate lives with cheap pleasures. Gloria Grahame is perversely alluring as the sexually driven Vicki and Broderick Crawford evokes some empathy as the obsessed Carl. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

At the height of the popularity of his Dragnet TV series, producer/director/star Jack Webb struck a deal with Warner Bros. to direct several feature films--the first of which, but of course, was 1954's Dragnet. This time around, the "true story" in which "only the names are changed to protect the innocent" involves the murder of former syndicate member Dub Taylor. LAPD sergeants Joe Friday (Webb) and Frank Smith (Ben Alexander) follow the trail of evidence to shifty gangster boss Stacy Harris, who during most of the film is able to avoid arrest through legal loopholes. Richard Boone plays Captain Hamilton, while Ann Robinson, best known for her screaming and scurrying about in War of the Worlds, plays policewoman Grace Downey. Most of the rest of the cast is drawn from Webb's TV and radio stock company, including Virginia Gregg, who is quite good as the amputee wife of the victim, and Vic Perrin, who would later portray the voyeuristic serial killer in the 1967 TV movie version of Dragnet. Some sources list Cliff Arquette as being in the cast of Dragnet, playing his familiar Charley Weaver character, but we can't find him. Dragnet has often been derided because of Joe Friday's reluctance to honor the civil liberties of his suspects, but remember that this was 1954, long before the "You have a right to remain silent" era. Webb's terse, tightly edited, close-up-dominated TV technique translates surprisingly well to the big screen. At its worst, Dragnet falls victim to the corny overkill of the TV version: the subtle-as-an-earthquake musical cues, Friday and Smith's ubiquitous nods and exchanged glances, etc. Still, Dragnet was a satisfying and profitable feature film directorial debut for Jack Webb, whose subsequent efforts included Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), The DI (1957), 30 (1959) and The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the past several weekends, a number of stores have been burglarized in the same neighborhood. Curiously, the thief takes only small amounts of cash and merchandise--and even more curiously, he leaves behind an empty milk bottle as his "calling card." Inevitably, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) bring in their man...who turns out not to be a man at all, but a diminutive teenager with a severe "Napoleon" complex. This episode was adapted from the Dragnet radio broadcast of November 24, 1953. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are summoned to the Nevada Hotel, where tenant Theodore Benham (James Bell) claims that he took a shot at a burglar who then killed Benham's wife. A witness across the hall confirms that she saw an apparently wounded man was fleeing the scene of the crime. But when the detectives capture the most obvious suspect, Benham insists that they've got the wrong man. Maybe so--but why did Benham and the suspect exchange winks at the police station? The answer to this mystery is found buried in a mattress. This episode is based on "The Big Smart Guy", the Dragnet radio broadcast of June 8, 1950. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Acting on an anonymous tip, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) investigate the apparent beating death of Hazel Rockman. The woman's landlady and next-door neighbor offer evasive and contradictory evidence, suggesting that either Hazel was killed by her absentee husband, or that she committed suicide. Once the cause of death is firmly established, the detectives must race against time to prevent Hazel's husband from taking his own life. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of June 14, 1953. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An unidentified woman has been found strangled to death in a hotel room. The only clue to go on is the obvious that that the killer had extremely large hands. Investigating, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) end up asking several probing questions of elderly circus owner Al Morgan (played by Cliff Arquette of "Charley Weaver" fame). This episode was adapted from the Dragnet radio broadcast of November 21, 1951. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Self-centered Washington socialite Rosalind Russell joins the WACS in order to be near her boyfriend William Ching, a GI stationed in Paris. Russell is certain that her DC connections will enable her to get out of the service as easily as she got in. Unfortunately for her, Russell's ex-husband Paul Douglas decides to teach her a lesson by pulling a few strings himself. Several of the army-camp scenes are stolen by Marie Wilson as an amply proportioned chorus girl, who's joined the WACS to escape stage-door johnnies. Filmed in part on location at the Women's Army Corps training center at Fort Lee, Virginia, Never Wave at a WAC was produced by Rosalind Russell's husband, Frederick Brisson. The film was released in England as The Private Wore Skirts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Friday (Jack Webb) investigates the theft of $10,000 worth of medicinal narcotics from a Catholic Hospital. The trail of clues leads to movie bit player Leonard Castle (Whit Connor)--who, in a typically ironic touch, is currently acting in a B-picture called "Crime Report." Based on a radio episode of Dragnet which originally aired on August 10, 1950, this TV version marks the final appearance of Barton Yarborough as Friday's partner Ben Romero (Yarborough died on December 19, 1951). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sex symbol Marilyn Monroe went dramatic in 1952's Don't Bother to Knock. Monroe plays Nell Forbes, a beautiful but suicidal young woman, recently released from a mental institution. She doesn't mention this on her resumé when she takes a baby-sitting job in a posh hotel. Jed Towers (Richard Widmark), a hotel guest, tries to make time with Nell after his own girlfriend, played by Anne Bancroft, has told him to take a hike. As Nell and Jed neck on the couch, the little girl whom Nell is tending (Donna Corcoran) surprises the spooning couple. This drives the psychotic Nell over the edge, forcing Jed to try to keep the baby-sitter from killing both herself and the child. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide