Minerva Urecal Movies
Actress Minerva Urecal claimed that her last name was an amalgam of her family home town of Eureka, California. True or not, Urecal would spend the balance of her life in California, specifically Hollywood. Making the transition from stage to screen in 1934, Ms. Urecal appeared in innumerable bits, usually as cleaning women, shopkeepers and hatchet-faced landladies. In B-pictures and 2-reelers of the 1940s, she established herself as a less expensive Marjorie Main type; her range now encompassed society dowagers (see the East Side Kids' Mr. Muggs Steps Out) and Mrs. Danvers-like housekeepers (see Bela Lugosi's The Ape Man). With the emergence of television, Minerva Urecal entered the "guest star" phase of her career. She achieved top billing in the 1958 TV sitcom Tugboat Annie, and replaced Hope Emerson as Mother for the 1959-60 season of the weekly detective series Peter Gunn. Minerva Urecal was active up until the early '60s, when she enjoyed some of the most sizeable roles of her career, notably the easily offended Swedish cook in Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) and the town harridan who is turned to stone in Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (1964). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1966
Declaring her independence, Billie Jo (Gunilla Hutton) moves out of the Shady Rest and away from Hooterville, relocating in the "faraway" community of Pixley. Unfortunately, Billie's new apartment, and her landlady (Minerva Urecal), turn out to be horrors. So now Billie must find a way to get back in the good graces of her mother Kate (Bea Benaderet without humiliating herself. (Ironically, Gunilla Hutton, the second of the three actresses cast as Billie Jo Bradley, would soon exit Petticoat Junction after only a single season). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Hired by Dr. Philip Stark (Donald Murphy) to care for his invalid wife Frances, college coed Betty Kaster (Margaret Bly) goes to Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) with her suspicions that Stark plans to murder Frances for her $2,000,000 inheritance. A murder does indeed take place, but it's Stark who is killed and it's Betty who is charged with the crime. In mounting Betty's defense, Perry must wade through a veritable Tsunami of greedy relatives, and must also contend with the victim's not-so-secret girlfriend Jill Fenwick (Joan O'Brian). And there's another complication: Is the "helpless" Frances Stark really all she claims to be? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Two feuds are fired up in the course of this episode. For starters, Hooterville vies with Crabwell Corners over the ownership of a cannon originally used in the Spanish American war. Meanwhile, Hooterville's Betty Jo Bradley (Linda Kaye) squares off against Crabwell Corners' Tad Winslow (Frank Kilmond) as to who owns the best and smartest dog. Robert Shayne, best known as Inspector Henderson on the 1950s TV-series version of The Adventures of Superman, appears as Mr. Fillmore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this romantic comedy, an aspiring actress pays her bills by working as a maid for various households. One of her employers is a wealthy and prominent publisher. After accidentally running into each other a number of times on the New York streets without recognizing each other, they begin to fall in love. She wants to take him home, but she is ashamed of her humble quarters. Believing that the publisher is out of town, she decides to take the lover to that apartment and pretend that it is hers. The lover/ publisher did have a business trip, but it was canceled. He decides to go along with her ruse and pretends that he has never been in his own apartment before. The trouble is, he now has no home to go home to; instead, he begins bunking with his business partner. In the end, both would-be lovers learn the truth, but they still refuse to tell each other that they know. Things get a little crazy, especially when the maid has all her girl friends dress up as hookers and come for a wild party at his apartment. He has the last laugh when they end up in jail. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin, (more)
Tony Randall has the showcase of a lifetime in the marvelous George Pal production The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao. We first see Randall as Dr. Lao, an enigmatic Chinese medicine-show impresario. The doctor brings his travelling show into the frontier town of Abalone, which is chafing under the oppression of land-hungry Clint Stark (Arthur O'Connell). Newspaper editor Ed Cunningham (John Ericson) is conducting a campaign of words against Stark, but he is no match for the land baron's money, power, and hulking henchmen. Nonetheless, Cunningham continues his crusade, all the while attempting to romance icy young widow Angela Benedict (Barbara Eden). All of this is observed with bemusement by Dr. Lao, who has already established himself as a man of many talents by alternating between pidgin-English and eloquent articulation, depending on the circumstances. Each of the townspeople--including the three already mentioned--learn a great many truths about themselves when they attend Dr. Lao's unusual circus. In the course of straightening out everyone's problems, Lao metamorphoses into (1) Merlin the Magician, (2) Pan, (3) Medusa, (4) The Abominable Snowman, (5) Apollonius of Tyana and (6) a Talking Serpent. The combined talents of Randall, puppeteer Pal and make-up wizard William J. Tuttle (who won two Special Oscars) resulted in this captivatingly unique entertainment experience. Curiously, Tony Randall is not fond of Seven Faces of Dr.Lao, and refuses to be interviewed on the subject. Perhaps he was unhappy that much of the philosophy dispensed in the original Charles G. Finney novel The Circus of Dr. Lao was weeded out of Charles Beaumont's script....or perhaps he just didn't like having his head shaved for the part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Randall, Barbara Eden, (more)
Screenwriter Nunnally Johnson adapted the novel by author Edward Streeter, whose work was also the basis of Father of the Bride (1950), into this domestic comedy. James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara star as Roger and Peggy Hobbs, a St. Louis couple with a large brood who desire a seaside vacation. Renting a cottage by the ocean is just the first step in a summer fraught with disasters, including a couch potato son, a shy daughter with newly installed braces, a pair of grown daughters who have married badly, and a local yachtsman with eyes for Peggy. Not to mention the ramshackle state of the shoreline abode, Roger and Peggy's new grandparent status, and incidents involving a sexy neighbor, a sailboat regatta and bird watching. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
- 1960
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MGM's all-star 1960 filmization of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn surgically removes the sociological subtext of Mark Twain's novel in the interests of "entertainment for the whole family." The emphasis is on the adventuresome escapades of Huck (Eddie Hodges) and fugitive slave Jim (played by boxing champ Archie Moore), and on the comic elements inherent in the characters of the King (Tony Randall) and the Duke (Mickey Shaughnessy). In the manner of Around the World in 80 Days, every role is filled by a "name" actor: featured in the cast are Judy Canova, Andy Devine, Buster Keaton, Sterling Holloway, Finlay Currie, Josephine Hutchinson and John Carradine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Randall, Eddie Hodges, (more)
- 1957
After witnessing an automobile accident, Perry (Raymond Burr) and Della (Barbara Hale) see a young Mexican woman fleeing the scene. Perry later discovers that the girl is exotic dancer Cherie Chi-Chi (played by Judy Tyler in one of her last appearances before her death in a real-life car accident). He also finds out that the girl is in big trouble, and the reason is a fellow named John Callender (Hugh Sanders), who is quite dead. Based on a 1947 novel by series creator Erle Stanley Gardner, this was the first Perry Mason episode to be filmed, but not the first shown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Much to the dismay of his wife Norma (Virginia Gregg), middle-aged Harry Parker (Henry Jones) is quite smitten by his new neighbor across the hall, sexy actress Lainie Elliott (Barbara Baxley). Thus it is that, when Lainie comes to Harry's door in a panic, he offers to help her in any way he can. It seems that someone fired a shot through Lainie's window, instantly killing her husband -- and rather than be blamed for the murder, Lainie begs Harry to help her dispose of the body. The viewer might conclude that Harry is being set up for a fall by Lainie...but the viewer would be only half right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The fate that brings lovers together can easily tear them apart as can be seen in this sentimental tragedy that centers on an ordinary-looking secretary's (Jane Wyman) lonely life. Other than working and spending some free time with a spinster (Eileen Heckart), who is her best friend, the woman devotes most of her time attempting to cheer up her deeply depressed, eternally grieving mother, who has never recovered from her husband's leaving her. One day the secretary is in Central Park when a cloudburst occurs and she ends up meeting a handsome young soldier from Tennessee (Van Johnson). Although they couldn't be more different, they fall deeply in love. Unfortunately, he goes overseas and gets killed. The poor secretary nearly falls apart both mentally and physically. She seems near death when one day she is walking near St. Patrick's Cathedral when a second miracle occurs, giving her the will to live again. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Wyman, Van Johnson, (more)
- 1956
In this entry in the Bowery Boys series, one of the members suddenly finds that he can predict winning numbers after he suffers an electrical shock. He and the boys take this special talent and use it on a TV game show. They win a trip to Las Vegas. Unfortunately, his winning streak attracts the interest of local gangsters who trick the clairvoyant lad into believing he killed a man. They use this to blackmail him into forking over his winnings. The gang comes to his aid. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Paddy Chayefsky's Oscar-winning slice-of-life drama is a heartwarming story about Marty Pilletti (Ernest Borgnine), a lonely Bronx butcher. Marty is a burly but gentle man, easing into middle age without much hope for romance or a career. He lives at home with his mother (Esther Minciotti), a kind but life-smothering woman, and a small circle of dead-end friends. Marty has no self-confidence and feels he's dumpy and unattractive. While it takes some doing, Marty's mother finally convinces him to go to the Stardust Ballroom in Manhattan, where he meets a plain-looking schoolteacher named Clara (Betsy Blair), whose life appears to mirror his own. He asks Clara to dance and soon they are smitten with one another. But to Marty's surprise and frustration, his friends put her down and his mother is hostile to her. Swayed by his friends and his mother, he doesn't call Clara back. But sitting at the bar with his friends the next night, Marty decides he has had enough, and defying his enclosed little world, he rushes to a phone booth to call Clara. As Marty shouts to his friends, "You don't like her. My mother don't like her. She's a dog. And I'm a fat, ugly man. Well, all I know is I had a good time last night ... You don't like her? That's too bad!" ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, (more)
- 1955
Having forsaken westerns for detective melodramas in Dial Red O, William "Wild Bill" Ellliot continues in this vein in Sudden Danger. Elliot is cast as detective lieutenant Doyle, who at present is investigating the alleged suicide of a clothing manufacturer. Doyle suspects that the victim was murdered, and that the perpetrator was the dead man's blind son, Curtis (Tom Drake). Hoping to clear himself, Curtis begins searching for clues on his own, and by fadeout time he and Doyle have cornered the actual killer. Though obviously made in a hurry, Sudden Danger is elevated by better-than-usual scripting and a well-chosen supporting cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Drake, Beverly Garland, (more)
- 1955
Ray Milland made his directorial debut with the Republic western A Man Alone. Milland also starred in the film, playing fugitive gunslinger Wes Steele. While escaping a lynch mob, Steele stumbles onto an Arizona ranch that has been quarantined due to Yellow Fever. During his enforced stay, he falls in love with sheriff's daughter Nadine Corrigan (Mary Murphy), who is as much a "lost soul" as Steele. The only hope the lovers have for a happy future is Steele's exoneration, but this won't happen so long as crooked town banker Stanley (Raymond Burr) holds all the cards. A Man Alone did well enough to encourage future directorial efforts by Ray Milland, which included the well-paced espionager Lisbon and the above average sci-fi exercise Panic in the Year Zero! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Mary Murphy, (more)
- 1953
Virginia Mayo stars in this unofficial follow-up to her 1952 musical hit She's Working Her Way Through College. Mayo plays movie star Catherine Terris, who after three box-office flops in a row, returns to the Broadway stage whence she came. Her co-star in this endeavor is Rich Sommers (Steve Cochran), who still harbors a grudge against Catherine because of her walkout during her last Broadway appearance. Predictably, Rich and Catherine bury the hatchet by midfilm, and when fadeout time rolls around they're in each other's arms. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginia Mayo, Gene Nelson, (more)
- 1953
All suspense in The Woman They Almost Lynched would seem to be dissipated by title, but director Allan Dwan holds the viewers spellbound throughout. Part of the tension arises from fact that there are two leading female characters: Kate Quantrill (Audrey Totter), wife of infamous Confederate raider Quantrill (Brian Donlevy), and Sally Maris (Joan Leslie), virginal sister of Kate's ex-lover, saloonkeeper Bitteroot Bill (Reed Hadley). Sally herself falls in love with Lance Horton (John Lund), ostensibly a mine foreman but actually a Southern spy. Rest assured that one of the two ladies is going to wind up with a noose around her neck for keeping "bad" company -- and that the other will somehow come to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lund, Brian Donlevy, (more)
- 1952
Joan Davis' cinematic swan song was the slapstick farce Harem Girl. Davis plays Susie Perkins, the secretary-travelling companion of Arabian Nights princess Shareen (Peggie Castle). Evil sheik Jamal (Donald Randolph) hopes to murder Shareem and claim her oil-rich country, but Susie does her best to foil this scheme. The plot requires Susie to pose as a jeweled and veiled harem dancer, leading to a series of athletic comedy routines, most of them better suited to a 2-reel comedy than a 7-reel feature. Director Edward Bernds, a recent graduate of Columbia's Three Stooges shorts, co-scripted Harem Girl with another Stooge veteran, Ellwood Ullman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Davis, Peggie Castle, (more)
- 1952
The fraternal comedy team of George and Bert Bernard gained fame in the 1950s with their "record act," wherein they pantomimed to the popular recordings of the day (other aspiring comics who labored in this peculiar brand of humor included Jerry Lewis and Dick Van Dyke). Republic Pictures decided that the time was ripe to turn the Bernard Brothers into movie stars, and so it came to pass that Gobs and Gals were born. George and Bert play a couple of sailors stationed at a remote South Sea weather station. To keep themselves well stocked with cookies, candy and the like, the boys send out love letters to various stateside girls, enclosing photographs of their much handsomer commanding officer (Robert Hutton). Somehow this harmless subterfuge gets the Bernard boys mixed up with a nest of Soviet spies, headed by modern-day Mata Hari Sonya Dubois (Florence Marly). Some of the jokes at the expense of Stalinist communism are amusing, as is the film's zany slapstick finale. Otherwise, Gobs and Gals was proof positive that George and Bert Bernard posed no threat to Martin and Lewis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Bernard, Bert Bernard, (more)
Belated honeymooners Polly (Jean Peters) and Ray Cutler (Casey Adams) arrive at their Niagara Falls cottage only to find that Rose (Marilyn Monroe) and George Loomis (Joseph Cotten) have not yet checked out. Though the Cutlers temporarily take another cabin, the lives of the two couples are bound together for the next two days. Polly discovers that Rose is having an affair and that George, though emotionally unstable, has good reason for his jealous rage. George accurately suspects that Rose openly flaunts her sexuality to make him act crazy in front of witnesses. This is part of Rose's plan: her lover Patrick (Richard Allan) will kill George and make it look like suicide or a disappearance. Instead, George kills Patrick, and he returns to kill Rose, but finds Polly instead. As she had been sympathetic to him, he asks her not to tell anyone that he is alive so he can simply disappear. But, realizing that he wants to kill Rose, Polly informs the police. What follows is escalating terror, with George stalking Rose, Rose desperately trying to leave town, the police searching for both of them, and finally George and Polly adrift in a boat heading for the precipice. In Henry Hathaway's Technicolor film noir, Niagara Falls serves as an apt metaphor for the destructive power of out-of-control carnal and murderous obsessions. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, (more)
- 1952
Except for a few later guest-star spots, Dinah Shore ended her film career with Aaron Slick From Punkin Crick. Based on an old stock-company perennial by Walter Benjamin Hare, the film stars Dinah as Josie, a farm gal who is slickered out of her life land by big-city con artists Bill Merrydew (Robert Merrill) and Gladys (Adele Jergens). Unbeknownst to Josie, her farm is rich with oil. Upon finding this out, Josie's neighbor and erstwhile beau Aaron Slick (Alan Young) heads to town to retrieve her holdings. Since the film stars three well-established singers--Dinah Shore, Alan Young, and Robert Merrill--the Hare original has been transformed into a musical (though truth to tell, it isn't exactly on the level of Oklahoma). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Young, Dinah Shore, (more)
- 1952
One reviewer of Abbott & Costello's Lost in Alaska summed up the proceeding in three pithy words: "Lost is right." While not A&C's worst film, it's several miles removed from their best. Cast as firemen in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, Bud and Lou rescue would-be suicide Tom Ewell. It turns out that Ewell is mooning over his former girl friend, saloon chanteuse Mitzi Green. It also transpires that Ewell has just come from Alaska, where he's been searching for $2 million in gold. Abbott and Costello accompany their new friend back to Alaska, where they're forced to dodge the bullets of Ewell's old enemies; foremost among these is plug-ugly Bruce Cabot. They find the gold, only to lose it all over again. The film's best scene occurs at the beginning, when Abbott, Costello and Ewell take turns saving one another from drowning. Otherwise, Lost in Alaska looks like a 2-reel comedy, clumsily stretched into an 8-reel feature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, (more)
- 1951
Auteur theorists may have trouble discerning the "signature" of director Phil Karlson in the Columbia costume adventure Mask of the Avenger. John Derek stars as Capt. Renatu Dimorna, the son of an Italian aristocrat, who vows revenge after his father is murdered during the European political upheaval of 1848. To this end, Dimorna becomes a dashing Robin Hood type, swashbuckling his way throughout Italy. His principal rival is a traitorous military leader (Anthony Quinn), who is also Dimorna's rival for the affections of a beautiful woman (Jody Lawrance). Production values are quite good in Mask of the Avenger, belying the picture's modest budget. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Derek, Anthony Quinn, (more)
Texans Never Cry but they sure do sing a lot in this Gene Autry western. Cast as a Texas Ranger, Autry is trying to get the goods on a frontier numbers racket. Perpetrating the crime is Tracy Wyatt (Richard Powers, who'd previously been a western hero himself under the name of Tom Keene). Adding to the fun is the presence of two leading ladies: conventional ingenue Gail Davis (later TV's Annie Oakley) and villainess Mary Castle. At the time Texans Never Cry was first released, critics were amused by the film's sound effects, which seemed more appropriate for a Three Stooges comedy than a Gene Autry vehicle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
- 1951
The film traces Naples-born Caruso's ascension from adolescent choir singer to the uppermost ranks of the opera world. Caruso is brought to America, getting off to a bad start by inadvertently insulting the impresario (Carl Benton Reid) responsible for his Metropolitan debut. This complication has a happy outcome when Caruso marries his benefactor's daughter (Ann Blyth). Refusing to spare himself or to hold back his talents from his fans, Caruso's health fails him, and he dies in 1921 at the age of 47. Featuring no fewer than 27 musical numbers, Great Caruso also stars Mario Lanza as Caruso, as well as such operatic superstars as Dorothy Kirsten and Jarmila Novotna. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth, (more)
- 1951
The Raging Tide stars Richard Conte as San Francisco crime boss Bruno Felkin. After killing off a rival, Felkin tries to arrange an alibi with his girlfriend Connie Thatcher (Shelley Winters). Unfortunately, she isn't available, obliging Felkin to hide out on a fishing boat owned by Ilmael Linder (Charles Bickford) until Connie can be located. Far from the perfect guest, Felkin tries to inveigle Linder's son Carl (Alex Nicol) into doing his dirty work until the heat's off. Gradually, however, Felkin, and by extension Connie, are reformed by the essential decency of the Linder family -- though pursuing cop Kelsey (Stephen McNally) might not see things in this new light. The Raging Tide was based on Fiddler's Green, a novel by Ernest K. Gann. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Conte, Shelley Winters, (more)
