Lola Albright Movies

After suffering nobly in several heavyweight MGM dramas, Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon begged the studio to cast them together in a comedy. Though not an all-out laff riot, Julia Misbehaves strives hard to please. Garson plays an ever-in-debt British music-hall performer who relies on the largess of her friends to keep the wolf from the door. Pidgeon portrays Garson's ex-husband, who for the past 20 years has lived in Paris with their daughter Elizabeth Taylor. When Taylor becomes engaged, she sends Garson a wedding invitation. Broke again, Garson hastily joins an acrobatic act to earn steerage money, and charms British nobleman Nigel Bruce into giving her enough cash for a wedding present. Once she arrives in Paris, Garson sticks her nose into everyone's affairs, much to the dismay of the uptight Pidgeon. Garson even advises daughter Taylor to marry someone other than her betrothed. Despite her screwball behavior, Pidgeon can't help falling in love with Garson all over again--but it takes a zany sequence in and around a mountain chalet to knot together the many loose plotlines. Julia Misbehaves was adapted from The Nutmeg Tree, a novel by Margery Sharp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While far from the only good film on boxing, Champion is perhaps the best drama ever based on the fight game. It is remarkable for a number of things: the unrelenting, grinding logic that leads to the hero's tragic fate; the beautiful cinematography and editing that make it a masterpiece of light and shadow; near-perfect performances by everyone, from Kirk Douglas as Midge Kelly, down to the actor who plays a sleazy small-time ring manager; and the boost it gave to the budding careers of Douglas and others. The basic story has been told many times, but never so powerfully: a poor, ambitious boy accidentally learns that he is a "natural" boxer, and that he might "go all the way." He wins his early fights with ease and, at last, in the big one, he becomes champion of the world. Then rot sets in. He lives it up, deserts his loved ones and best friends, and loses his physical and moral advantages. Near the end -- out of condition, demoralized -- the champion loses (or almost loses) his boxing crown. Finally, he grits his teeth, returns to rigorous training and to people he really likes, and he regains (or holds onto) the championship.

Part of Champion's dramatic superiority is in its brilliant revealing of the boxer through the eyes of other people in his life. There are good guys: Midge's brother Connie (Arthur Kennedy); his tough but honest trainer (Paul Stewart); his wife, Emma (Ruth Roman); and Johnny Dunne, the up-and-coming contender he eventually beats. There are bad guys: the manager who cheats him in his first, amateurish fight; two successive "owners," of the diner where Midge and Connie try to be entrepreneurs and end up as dishwashers; the blonde siren (Marilyn Maxwell) who abandons Johnny Dunne and helps corrupt Midge; and the mob-connected promoter Harris, who gets Midge his championship bout. There are ambiguous in-betweens, like Palmer (Lola Albright) who is Harris' wife, but who loves Midge and is, perhaps, loved in return. Then there is Midge himself. Unlike Charlie in Body and Soul (John Garfield, 1947) or the hero of the Rocky quintuplets (Sylvester Stallone, 1976-1990), Midge is not a basically nice guy who's been led astray. His ambition, arrogance, and stubbornness make him at once villain and hero. These "fatal flaws" contain, as surely as in Macbeth or Othello, the seeds of the champ's ultimate dissolution. Midge is dealt his share of life's unfairness and bad luck. Yet it is not the events themselves, but his bitter, violent responses to each blow that seal his doom. The final irony comes when he makes his comeback. In the last round of the last fight, his most manly virtues -- bull-like strength and stubborn stamina -- bring about both victory and defeat.

Too bad that this wonderful film -- nominated for six Oscars including Best Actor -- won only an Academy Award for Film Editing (Harry Gerstad) and a Golden Globe Award for Best Cinematography (Franz Planer). All the acting performances are superb: Champion was the breakthrough role for Douglas; his Oscar nomination led to many later starring vehicles. Champion also launched the careers of actresses Roman and Albright, and has what is probably Marilyn Maxwell's finest performance as the unforgettable gold digger Grace Diamond. And all that terrific acting certainly implies some credit for director Mark Robson, who went on to do award winners like Bright Victory and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Regardless of what Oscars it won or didn't win, Champion is a landmark film that should be on everyone's must-see list. ~ Michael P. Rogers, All Movie Guide

A married team of diamond smugglers enter New York to fence their purloined gems unaware that the wife is carrying the highly contagious, deadly smallpox virus. The crooks ensconce themselves in a hotel without realizing that the wife's every move is being monitored by a Treasury agent. The husband directs her to stay put while he goes off on business. Actually he is going out to tryst with his conniving sister-in-law. Back in the room, the wife feels ill and so creeps out to see a doctor. The T-man loses her trail. The doctor doesn't recognize the dread disease until much later and so the woman is free to travel about leaving a trail of death behind her. Once again she is followed, but the agents have a hard time keeping up with her. Eventually she finds her husband and learns the truth. Not only has he been unfaithful, he and her sister are planning to abscond with the jewels. A struggle between man and wife ensues culminating in the husband's death. Afterward the woman goes to authorities and before succumbing to the disease, provides them with a badly needed list of those she contacted. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sierra Passage was the first of a brief series of program westerns produced by Monogram and starring Wayne Morris. The film casts Morris as Johnny Yorke, the sharpshooting star of a travelling show run by Sam (Roland Winters) and Thad (Lloyd Corrigan). Johnny hopes someday to run across the man (or men) responsible for the murders of his parents. Meanwhile, he romances the travelling troupe's songstress Ann (Lola Albright). Billy Gray, who later played Bud in TV's Father Knows Best, shows up as the younger Johnny Yorke. The ironic ending of Sierra Passage is but one of the film's many unexpected highlights. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As indicated by the title, Beauty on Parade is largely an excuse to display beautiful, well-proportioned young women in the latest swimming attire. That's okay for the men in the audience, but the ladies needed a plot to hold their attention, so here goes. Future All My Children-star Ruth Warrick plays aging beauty queen Marian Medford, who attempts to vicariously regain her past glories through her pretty daughter Kay (Lola Albright). Marian's relentless promotion of her daughter on the beauty-contest circuit has an injurious effect on Kay's romantic life, not to mention her own marriage to Jeffrey Woodstock (John Ridgely). "B"-picture "regular" Robert Hutton co-stars as a journalist who follows the beauty contestants from pageant to pageant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Monogram Studios certainly got its money's worth out of contractee Wayne Morris, profitably plunking him into virtually every film genre known to man. In Arctic Flight, Morris plays an Alaskan bush pilot named Mike, hired to take a tenderfoot named Wetherby (Alan Hale Jr.) on a hunting trip. It soon develops that Wetherby is actually--gasp--a communist spy, who intends to take photos of Alaskan military installations on behalf of the Kremlin. By the time Mike finds this out, Wetherby has ingratiated himself with everyone in the region, thus no one believes Our Hero's shouts of "Red! Red!" The tension mounts steadily to an edge-of-seat climax. Lola Albright delivers the film's best performance as a self-reliant schoolteacher assigned to the desolate Little Diomede region. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The exciting, metaphorical world of bull-fighting provides the setting for this dramatic tale of an aging toreador faced with a difficult decision after his illustrious reputation is nearly destroyed when he introduces his young rival and protege and suddenly runs from the ring. The distraught old matador finds comfort in the tender arms of an American fan. Unfortunately, her old boyfriend gets jealous and proclaims the fighter a coward. In time, the matador and his student enter the ring together for a final battle. It is here in the unforgiving arena that the true nature of their relationship is revealed. The film's director Budd Boetticher, gives the film added realism as he, a former matador, also worked as the technical advisor. Originally, the bull-fighting scenes were more graphic, but squeamish censors intervened and the scenes were heavily edited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lucy Hunt (Lola Albright) begs Matt Dillon (James Arness) to protect her from her much older husband Ephraim (John Carradine), whom she claims intends to kill her. Though Matt has trouble believing that the mild-mannered Ephraim could hurt anyone, Lucy's story seems to be quite credible. But Kitty suspects that the Hunts' handsome new hired hand Booth Rider (a pre-Virginian James Drury) is the real villain of the piece. Series star James Arness' then-wife Virginia appears in a small role. This episode is adapted from the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of June 18, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

George Montgomery stars in Pawnee as Paul, a white man raised by Indians. Upon attaining adulthood, Paul finds himself rejected by both the Pawnee tribe and the white community. He manages to attain a job as a wagon train scout, but even in this position of respect and authority he is treated with hostility and suspicion. When Wise Eagle (Ralph Moody), the Pawnee chief who raised Paul as his own son, dies, the tribe is taken over by Paul's lifelong enemy Crazy Fox (Charles Horvath). Thus, when the wagon train is attacked by Indians, Paul has no qualms about aligning himself with the passengers. Featured in the cast as Dancing Fawn is Charlotte Austin, the cult-favorite star of such horror cheapies as The Man Who Turned to Stone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Oregon Passage proves that even out west, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. John Ericson plays idealistic young Cavalry lieutenant Niles Ord, who hopes to peacefully capture renegade Shoshone chief Black Eagle (H. M. Wynant). Ord is convinced that his knowledge and understanding of Shoshone traditions and battle strategies will enable him to complete his mission without bloodshed. Alas, Ord's commanding officer Roland Dane (Edward Platt) is thoroughly and belligerantly ignorant of the ways of the Indian, and it is his pigheadedness that results in tragedy. Though relatively light in the action department, Oregon Passage succeeds by virtue of its avoidance of cliches. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this volume of episodes from the stylish and exciting television detective series from the late '50s, the suave and sexy detective Gunn solves two puzzling cases: "Lyn''s Blues" and "Take Five for Murder." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A routine stagecoach ride becomes a terrifying experience when it is ambushed by desperadoes who hold the passengers hostage while trying to figure out how to rob a shipment of gold. Rootin' tootin' western action ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide