Joan Taylor Movies

Frank Freeman Jr., son of the longtime head of Paramount Pictures, made his debut as producer with the opulent but empty Omar Khayyam. Cornel Wilde stars as the legendary Persian poet, here depicted as not only a philosopher but a scientist, politician and great lover. As the Persians gear up for war against the Byzantines, Omar occupies his time by romancing Sharain (Debra Paget), the favorite wife of the Shah (Raymond Massey). He also does his best to foil a plan by Hasani (Michael Rennie), leader of the Cult of Assassins, to murder the royal family. While many of the characters and events are based on fact, it is difficult to believe the story or the dialogue for more than ten minutes at a stretch. Singer Yma Sumac, then famous for her four-and-a-half octave vocal range, is somehow woven into the proceedings. When Omar Khayyam laid an egg at the box-office, a Hollywood wit, taking into consideration the Southern heritage of Frank Freeman Jr., assessed the results as "A loaf of bread, a bottle of coke and you-all." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

War Drums manages to be pro-Indian, pro-Mexican, pro-tolerance and pro-feminist without ever resorting to speechmaking or sacrificing its entertainment value. Former Tarzan Lex Barker stars as an Apache chief who is almost ostracized by his tribe when he marries Mexican girl Joan Taylor. Eventually, Barker is welcomed back, but Joan refuses to behave like a typical dutiful squaw. In deference to his wife's wishes, Barker trains Joan to become an Apache warrior! It is curious that the Political Correctness crowd has never paid homage to War Drums; perhaps it's because of the film's surfeit of decidedly non-PC violence and bloodshed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Girls in Prison is a typical babes-behind-bars affair, elevated by a better than usual cast. Richard Denning stars as a prison chaplain who believes inmate Joan Taylor's story that she's been framed. But Joan's cellmates, convinced that the girl has salted away several thousand dollars of stolen money, stage a breakout and force the girl to join them. Adele Jergens and Helen Gilbert do their usual "hard-boiled dame" routines as Joan's so-called friends, while Phyllis Coates forever leaves "Lois Lane" behind with a chilling portrayal of a psycho. Veteran thespians Jane Darwell, Raymond Hatton and Mae Marsh also make worthwhile contributions to the proceedings. The 1994 Girls in Prison, produced as part of the cable-TV "Rebel Highway" series, utilizes the title of the 1956 film and nothing else. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1870s Arizona, Anne LeBeau (Joan Taylor) is caught between two cultures in a conflict that may kill her and her brother Armand (Lance Fuller). They're the children of a white French father and an Apache mother (the daughter of a chief, no less), and they find that they're equally despised by both sides. With a series of raids on the stage-line killing whites, and apparently carried out by the Apaches, there's very little prospect for peace in their lives. Enter Rex Moffet (Lloyd Bridges), sent in by the government to try and settle the situation -- instead of being a militarist, Moffet is a conciliator, much to the outrage of the townspeople, who want all of the Apaches driven out or killed, starting with the LeBeaus. When Moffet starts to fall in love with Anne (and visa versa), he must face the wrath of her embittered brother and the Apaches as well as the whites. It turns out that Armand -- who is college educated, and a lawyer, no less -- is the man leading the attacks, out of his bitterness and anger over the rejection he's faced by the whites all of his life. One thing that Rex has on his side is the truth, that the raids are actually the work of a small band of renegades working in tandem with opportunistic whites from the town. But can he stay alive long enough to uncover the identities of those responsible and prevent an Indian War? ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

At age 50, Bob Hope was getting a bit too long in tooth for frenzied farces like Off Limits, but his surplus of energy makes up for his chronological unsuitability. Hope plays the manager of boxing champ Stanley Clements, who has just received his draft notice. Gangster Marvin Miller strong-arms Hope into enlisting himself to keep tabs on Clements; when the latter is given a medical discharge, poor Hope is stuck in uniform. During training, Hope makes the acquaintance of draftee Mickey Rooney, an aspiring boxer who wants Hope to handle him. There's one obstacle, however: the Mick's aunt doesn't want her nephew to box. Hope promises to talk the "old lady" into his way of thinking, only to discover that Rooney's aunt is the luscious Marilyn Maxwell. Before the climactic bout between Rooney and Clements, Hope and Rooney sign up to be military policemen under the aegis of buffoonish CO Eddie Mayehoff. If Bob Hope looks slightly uncomfortable at times in Off Limits, it is probably because he isn't politely inclined to such upstarts as Mickey Rooney and Eddie Mayehoff getting most of the laughs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

War Paint stars Robert Stack as a courageous U.S. Cavalry lieutenant, assigned to deliver a peace treaty to a powerful Indian chief. Unfortunately, a band of bloodthirsty renegades have vowed to kill the officer before he completes his mission. Will our hero be able to deliver the treaty at the appointed time, thereby avoiding mass bloodshed? And will the Indian chieftain's daughter (Joan Taylor) actually survive until the last reel, even though she's fallen in love with the lieutenant? (If so, it will be a Hollywood first!). Beautifully photographed in Pathecolor, War Paint was filmed on location in Death Valley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Randolph Scott plays one of the members of Quantrill's Raiders, staging attacks on Kansas on behalf of the fallen Confederacy in the years following the Civil War. During one raid, Scott kills the man he holds responsible for the death of his brother. The dead man was innocent, and Scott becomes a fugitive from justice. Months later, he resurfaces as the marshal of a Kansas town, in which he routs a vicious gang with the help of another social outcast, Jesse James (Dale Robertson). Written by western "regular" Frank Gruber, Fighting Man of the Plains was one of a group of Randolph Scott oaters produced independently by Nat Holt and released through 20th Century-Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide