Forrest Stanley Movies

Alfred Hitchcock's second directorial effort for his popular suspense anthology is one of the series' best ever episodes. Joseph Cotten stars as William Callew, a hard-nosed and hard-hearted businessman who holds in contempt such human failings as sentiment, pity, and tears. While racing to keep an appointment in New York, Callew is involved in a spectacular car accident. Awakening, he finds that he is completely paralyzed, unable to move or speak -- though we hear his every thought on the soundtrack. Everyone who comes across Callew assumes that he is dead, including the police and the coroner...and as the episode draws to its conclusion, the horrified Callew is being wheeled into the autopsy room of the morgue! "Breakdown" was re-filmed for the 1985 revival of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, with John Heard in the Joseph Cotten role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This second film version of the Edna Ferber/Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical Show Boat is considered by many film buffs to be the best of the three. Covering nearly four decades (was there ever an Edna Ferber novel that didn't?), the film stars Irene Dunne as Magnolia Hawks, a role she'd previously played on stage, though not in the Broadway version. The daughter of showboat impresario Captain Andy (Charles Winninger, who was in the Broadway original), Magnolia is swept off her feet by dashing gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Allan Jones). Yearning to appear on the showboat stage, Magnolia gets her chance when Captain Andy's leading lady, the tragic Julie (Helen Morgan, likewise a holdover from Broadway), is ordered not to perform by a small-town sheriff because she is Mulatto. Julie's husband Steve (Donald Cook) loyally walks out with his wife, thereby leaving the leading-man position open--but not for long, since Gaylord Ravenal agrees to take over for Steve, the better to stay close to Magnolia. Despite the disapproval of Magnolia's mother Parthy Hawks (Helen Westley), Magnolia and Ravenal are married. Later on, the couple has a baby girl named Kim. At first, the young family is blissfully happy, but as Ravenal's gambling debts begin to mount, things turn sour. Unable to support Magnolia and Kim, Ravenal walks out on them both. Desperately, Magnolia tries to get a job as a singer in Chicago. She auditions at a night spot where, fortuitously, Julie is the featured attraction. Hoping to give Magnolia a break, Julie gets drunk, forcing the manager to hire Magnolia as a replacement. During her New Years' Eve debut, Magnolia "chokes up" in front of the raucous audience--and then, who should emerge from the crowd but lovable Captain Andy, who gives Magnolia the encouragement she needs. Magnolia goes on to become a famous musical comedy star, as does her grown-up daughter Kim (played as an adult by Sunnie O'Dea). On the eve of Magnolia's retirement from the theater, she is reunited with her now-contrite husband Gaylord Ravenal. While the second half of Show Boat departs radically from both the novel (in which Ravenal never returns ) and the Broadway show, the film manages to capture the spirit of its literary and theatrical ancestors. Of the original score, "Cotton Blossom," "Ol' Man River," "Where's the Mate for Me?" "Make Believe," "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," You are Love" and "Bill" are retained, while most of the other songs are heard as background accompaniment. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II penned three new tunes for the film version: "Ah Still Suits Me," "Gallavantin' Around" and "I Have the Room Above." As in all stage and screen versions of Show Boat, the Charles K. Harris standard "After the Ball" is heard in the New Year sequence. In addition to the aforementioned Dunne, Jones, Winninger, Westley, Morgan, and O'Dea, the Show Boat cast includes the magnificent Paul Robeson as Joe (his rendition of "Ol' Man River" can still induce goosebumps), Hattie McDaniel as Queenie and Sammy White and Queenie Smith as the engagingly second-rate vaudeville team of Frank and Ellie Schultz. Though James Whale of Frankenstein fame seems an odd choice for director, he brings a vibrant theatricality to the proceedings that is lacking in other versions. Show Boat literally saved the financially strapped Universal Pictures from receivership--but not soon enough to prevent the ousters of Carl Laemmle Sr. and Jr. in favor of a new administration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Defense attorney Forrest Stanley insists upon hiring himself out to gangsters, much to the dismay of his wife Dorothy Revier. She walks out on Stanley, whereupon he goes into a personal and professional slump. Our hero is given a new lease on life when he adopts orphan Mickey McGuire (later known as Mickey Rooney), only to be plunged into the depths of despair again when the boy is killed in the crossfire of a mob shootout. Immediately switching gears, Stanley becomes a crusading prosecutor, sending his former criminal clients to the pen -- and wining back the love of Revier in the process. Sin's Payday is among the first films in which a criminal's recorded confession is entered into evidence -- and never mind the questionable circumstances through which the confession is obtained! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Lt. Bob Denton (John Wayne) tells his girlfriend Evelyn (Laura La Plante) that he has no intention of marrying her, she takes her revenge by romancing Denton's protege and father figure Colonel Bonham (Forrest Stanley). Unbeknownst to Evelyn (La Plante), Denton (Wayne) begins to court Evelyn's younger sister Bonita (June Clyde). It doesn't take long for Denton to fall in love with Bonita (Clyde), and the former ladies man decides to commit to their relationship. Though a reformed Denton secretly marries Bonita, Evelyn finds a way to convince the Colonel that Denton had made illicit advances at her. Feeling angry and betrayed, Colonal Bonham asks for Denton's resignation. Men Are Like That was directed by George B. Seitz and also features actress (Susan Fleming). ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

An innocent maid stands accused of killing her employer in this courtroom melodrama from the silent era. During the trial it is revealed that the maid was actually the ex-wife of her wealthy late boss' new husband, but that doesn't necessarily mean she committed the crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When a wealthy recluse apparently commits suicide, his trusted friend Rex Lease is put in charge of the estate. Lease is ordered to locate the dead man's long-lost son and daughter and inform them of their legacy. The two beneficiaries turn out to be the owners of a run-down racetrack. Falling in love with the daughter (Helene Costello), Lease tries to rejuvenate the track with a high-stakes horse race. Complications ensue when a crooked lawyer tries to undo all of Lease's good works. The film's surprise ending is virtually the only original aspect of Phantom of the Turf. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Silent stars Bryant Washburn and Vera Reynolds had both seen better days by the time they made the inexpensive programmer Jazzland. The story is set in motion by newspaper reporter Carroll Nye, (remember him as Frank Kennedy in Gone With the Wind?) who opposes the construction of a nightclub in his respectable small town. Trouble is, the brains behind the club is a mysterious Mister Big who keeps himself hidden from view. While trying to uncover the owner's identity, Nye's brother Forrest Stanley is killed. Good-natured "jazz baby" Vera Reynolds puts her own life in jeopardy to avenge Stanley's murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frank Willard's barn-storming stage melodrama Cat and the Canary was filmed four times over a fifty-year period. This silent 1927 version stars Laura LaPlante as one of several potential heirs to a huge fortune. Brought to a foreboding mansion on the 20th anniversary of their eccentric benefactor's death, the heirs must sit in silence as the lawyer (Tully Marshall) recites the terms of the will. The legacy hinges upon three sealed letters, each to be opened at a strategic point in the evening. Also crucial to the inheritance is the insistence that all the heirs spend the night in the creepy old mansion. Nervous Creighton Hale appoints himself LaPlante's protector--a far from simple job, given the many hidden panels and revolving doors which festoon the house. When the lawyer is murdered, LaPlante is the principle suspect. Cat and the Canary was remade as The Cat Creeps in 1930, and under its own title in 1939 (with Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard) and 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This inexpensive "outdoor" actioner is set in a logging camp, where the crooked supervisor busies himself by stealing lumber from the owner. The villain manages to escape detection, principally because he's engaged to the owner's daughter. A handsome young logger gets wind of the supervisor's scheme, whereupon he and the heroine are marooned in the middle of a raging forest fire. The hero rescues the heroine, losing his eyesight in the process but winning her hand in marriage. Tired of waiting on her incapacitated husband hand-and-foot, the girl begins keeping time with the villain, never suspecting that it was he who set off the forest fire in the first place. But the hero regains his vision in time to take care of the bad guy once and for all. Top-billed in Forest Havoc is one Forrest Stanley, cast in the role of "Ronald McDonald" (no kidding!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Happily married Robert Agnew tries to put a little variety in his life by taking dance lessons. He spends so much time learning the intricacies of the Charleston and Black Bottom that he begins to neglect his wife Lillian Rich. The limit comes when Agnew begins falling for seductive dance instructress Helene Chadwick. In retaliation, Rich steps out with bachelor Forrest Stanley, and soon she's cutting a pretty mean rug herself. Ultimately, both husband and wife realize the error of their ways and waltz themselves home. A well-staged car crash is the highlight of this easy-to-take domestic drama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cecil B. DeMille's Producers Distributing Corporation released this routine silent western starring brunette Mabel Ballin as an aspiring singer who marries the church organist (Andre deBeranger). He turns out to be a heel, unfortunately, and Ballin turns to the rough-hewn Modoc Bill (Forrest Stanley) for comfort. None of the leads felt all that at home in westerns -- least of all the Australian-born deBeranger (AKA George Beranger), who had played Lord Byron the previous year in Beau Brummel. Beauty and the Bandit was yet another western based on popular pulp writer Peter B. Kyne. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This early directorial effort by William Wellman focuses on two married couples: Violet and Henry Gilbert (Dorothy Revier, Forrest Stanley) and Violet's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Belcher (Tom Ricketts, Ethel Wales). The Gilberts are newlyweds, while the Belchers have been spliced for years. When Mr. Belcher wanders away from his nest in the company of blonde vamp Charlotte (Maude Wayne), Violet begins to suspect that her own husband will follow suit -- and when she finds Henry's briefcase in Maude's roadster, she's sure of it. Actually, Henry has been trying to persuade his father-in-law to give up Charlotte, but try telling that to the easily excitable Violet. Originally released in January of 1926 by Harry Cohn's C.B.C. Pictures, When Husbands Flirt was reissued in July by C.B.C's successor, the fledgling Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide