Franchot Tone Movies

A police investigator is forced to rely on the man he's been instructed to apprehend in this cold war thriller. Sir James Quentin (Christopher Plummer) is a high level negotiator with the British government who is approached by Scobie Malone (Rod Taylor), an Australian detective who has been instructed to arrest Quentin in connection with the murder of his first wife 25 years earlier. Quentin calmly asks Malone if he could wait until he completes his work at a diplomatic conference, and Malone agrees; Quentin even allows Malone to stay at his home with his second wife Shelia (Lilli Palmer). Malone's assignment soon proves to be more complicated (and dangerous) than he expected when he has to save Quentin from an assassination attempt. Quentin must protect a fellow diplomat also targeted by gunmen, and Malone learns that Shelia has a deadly secret. The High Commissioner was also released under the title Nobody Runs Forever. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this adventurous chase film, three orphans head for the US. Unbeknownst to them, they carry with them important information--information the man who killed their father is desperate to retrieve. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In Harm's Way, based on James Bassett's novel Harm's Way, has enough plot in it for four movies or a good miniseries (when it was shown on network television in prime time, it was broken into two very full nights). On the morning of December 7, 1941, a heavy cruiser, commanded by Captain Rockwell Torrey (John Wayne), and the destroyer Cassidy, under acting commander Lieutenant (jg) William McConnell (Thomas Tryon), are two of a handful of ships that escape the destruction of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Under Torrey's command, the tiny fleet of a dozen ships carries out its orders to seek out and engage the enemy fleet. But lack of fuel and a daring maneuver (but tragic miscalculation) by Torrey causes his ship to be seriously damaged. He's relieved of command and assigned to a desk job routing convoys in the shakeup following the attack, and his exec and oldest friend, Commander Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas), is reassigned after a brawl, the result of his anger after identifying the body of his wife (Barbara Bouchet) who was killed during the attack while cavorting with an Marine Corps officer.

Torrey's shore assignment leads him to reestablish contact on a very hostile level with his estranged son, Ensign Jere Torrey (Brandon de Wilde), from his long-ended marriage; he establishes a romantic relationship with Lt. Maggie Haynes (Patricia Neal), a navy nurse; and he also befriends Commander Egan Powell (Burgess Meredith), a special-intelligence officer. Partly as a result of his contact with Powell, Torrey is chosen by the commander of the Pacific Fleet (Henry Fonda) to salvage an essential operation called Sky Hook, which has become bogged down through the indecisiveness of its area commander, Vice Admiral Broderick (Dana Andrews). Promoted to rear admiral, with Eddington -- who'd been rotting away on a shore assignment, drunk most of the time -- assigned as his chief of staff, Torrey gets Sky Hook rolling and finally finds his purpose in this war, gaining the belated admiration of his son in the process. Eddington is similarly motivated but is still haunted by the violent, ultimately self-destructive demons that blighted his marriage and his life -- he is particularly attracted to a young nurse, Annalee Dohrn (Jill Haworth), not knowing that she is already involved romantically with Jere Torrey. Meanwhile, McConnell survives the sinking of his ship and is ordered to join Torrey's staff. Matters all come to a head when the Japanese begin a counter-offensive to Torrey's planned troop landing. And just at the time Torrey needs his men at their best, Eddington's violence and rage boil to the surface in a way that will destroy him and blight both men's lives. In a final attempt at redemption, Eddington provides Torrey with the information he needs to set up a battle that he has at least a chance of winning, pitting his small task group of destroyers and cruisers against the Japanese task force led by the Yamato, the largest battleship ever built. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this romantic drama, a middle-aged gambler tells a casino croupier her life story. The story is told in flashback and chronicles the woman's romantic exploits with men. Though she was involved with many men, only one really touched her heart. He was a bartender who was tragically shot and killed during an attempted robbery. She later marries and has a daughter. Unfortunately she alienates herself from her daughter when she has an affair with her daughter's fiance. Her remorse is short lived. The film jumps back to the present with the woman leaving the casino on the arm of a handsome millionaire. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Fed up with the loud and incessant talking of fellow men's club member Jamie Tennyson (Liam Sullivan), pompous Col. Archie Taylor (Franchot Tone) decides to place a most unusual wager. With $500,000 at stake, Taylor bets that Tennyson cannot remain silent for a full year. Deeply in debt, Tennyson accepts the wager, and even permits himself to be placed in a glass cage in the club's basement, so that Taylor and the other members can monitor his silence. Though the story contains no science-fiction or fantasy trappings whatsover, the ironic ending is very much in keeping with the standards set by previous Twilight Zone episodes. First telecast April 28, 1961, "The Silence" was scripted by Rod Serling -- and though Serling denied it at the time, the story would seem to have been influenced by Anton Chekhov's "The Bet." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Washed-up actor Oliver Mathews (Franchot Tone) would rather dally with a pretty wardrobe girl than spend time with his adoring spinsterish secretary, Miss Hall (Carmen Mathews). But there's a more pressing problem in Oliver's life: namely, a middle-aged woman named Grace Dolan (Mary Astor), who has been blackmailing him for years. Confronting Grace, Oliver tells her that he can no longer afford to pay her, but she refuses to let him off the hook. In time-honored Alfred Hitchcock Presents fashion, the story culminates in a murder, a cover-up, and a deliciously ironic coda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cornell Woolrich, whose written works have served as the basis for many an Alfred Hitchcock production, was the author of this Playhouse 90 drama. After arranging to meet his fiancee at a busy downtown street corner, a young man arrives at the appointed destination--only to find that the girl is dead. It is the first of several mysterious, unmotivated and apparently unrelated murders in the same metropolis. Can it be that a maniacal serial killer is on the loose--or, perhaps, have the victims been killed by persons whom they already knew? Directed by John Frankenheimer and boasting an all-star cast, "Rendezvous in Black" was originally telecast live from Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though hampered by a small budget that shrank with each shooting day, director Burgess Meredith fashioned a serviceable film version of Georges Simenon's A Battle of Nerves. Retitled The Man on the Eiffel Tower, the film pits Simenon's analytical Inspector Maigret (Charles Laughton) against a wily murderer. We know virtually from the outset that the guilty party is Radek (Franchot Tone), a psychotic with delusions of grandeur who has been seduced into killing the wealthy aunt of slatternly Edna Wallace (Jean Wallace). Maigret suspects Radek , but without solid proof he must suffer the taunting and baiting of the beyond-the-law killer. Eventually Maigret wins the psychological battle, forcing Radek to seek refuge on the titular tower. And if you're waiting for that final fatal fall, this isn't that kind of movie. Burgess Meredith also appears in the film as the sort of obvious suspect that is automatically disregarded by any true detective-story buff, despite the most damning evidence. Originally released in eye-pleasing Anscocolor, Man on the Eiffel Tower is generally available nowadays in washed-out public-domain prints. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made on a miniscule budget primarily financed by its star Franchot Tone, Jigsaw is a strange little crime film. Howard Malloy (Tone), a crusading New York assistant district attorney, is dedicated to exposing a group of supposedly patriotic Americans who have murdered his friend after he discovered that they were truly a fascist "hate group." The group sends Barbara, (Jean Wallace) to seduce and compromise Malloy. Barbara regrets her actions and is murdered as she attempts to confess to Malloy. Malloy now is determined to expose the group. All the loose ends are tied up in the climax, which takes place in a modern art museum. Jigsaw is a competent, uninspired crime drama peppered with cameo appearances by top Hollywood stars including Marlene Dietrich, Henry Fonda, Burgess Meredith and John Garfield. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Honeymoon stars an attractively grown-up Shirley Temple as Barbara, the sweetheart of a GI corporal named Phil (Guy Madison). Eloping to Mexico City, Barbara discovers that her boy friend, stationed in the Panama Canal zone, is tied up in bureaucratic red tape and may not make it to his own wedding. The headstrong bride-to-be enlists the reluctant aid of American consul Flanner (Franchot Tone), leading to any number of compromising situations involving Barbara, Flanner, and Flanner's own girl friend Raquel (Lina Romay). The film extracts most of its laughs from the legal and language barriers facing Barbara and her beau while south of the Border. Posting a $675,000 loss, Honeymoon unfortunately proved that Shirley Temple's drawing power had slipped considerably since her 1930s heyday. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lucille Ball offers a seminal version of her Lucy Ricardo TV character in Her Husband's Affairs. Ball is cast as Margaret Weldon, the wife of advertising executive William Weldon (Franchot Tone). Though Weldon is successful, Margaret can't help but feel that he'd be more successful if she were to take an active part in his business affairs. The fun really begins when Margaret tries to help Weldon promote a crackpot inventor (Mikhail Rasumny) who's come up with a revolutionary new embalming fluid. As in the previous year's The Hucksters, Madison Avenue and Big Business are targetted for a great deal of derisive ribbing. If only Her Husband's Affairs were as funny as everyone involved seems to think it is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As appealing as ever in 1946, Deanna Durbin was admittedly getting a bit long in tooth for her ingenue-like role in Because of Him. Durbin is cast as Kim Walker, an aspiring actress determined to become the protegee of famed Broadway actor/producer Sheridan (Charles Laughton). The only person not charmed by Kim's herculean efforts to achieve stardom is playwright Paul Taylor (Franchot Tone), who balks when ordered to write a play for her. But even Taylor is won over by fadeout time, leaving Sheridan, who'd also had designs on Kim, in the lurch. Evidently intended as a "straight" comedy, Because of Him was turned into a musical at the last minute, with a handful of pleasant but irrelevant songs wedged into the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide