Nydia Westman Movies
The daughter of actors Theodore Westman and Lily Wren, Nydia Westman joined the family vaudeville act as a child. Westman was seen on Broadway from 1920, and in films from 1932. A short, pudgy lady with an air of perpetual consternation, she was ideally cast as maids, busybodies and spinsters. She was at her best fending off the wisecrackery of Bob Hope in 1939's Cat and the Canary. Westman returned to the stage full-time in the early 1950s, then resumed her film and TV career in the last decade of her life; among her credits was the regular role of Mrs. Featherstone in the 1962 TV-series adaptation of Going My Way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1970
Believing that she has flipped her lid, Darrin's mother, Phyllis (Mabel Albertson), checks herself into a sanitarium after witnessing Samantha's magical redecorating technique. Unwilling to let Phyllis languish in an institution, Sam decides to reveal the truth about her witchcraft. Trouble is, the Witches' Council has temporarily removed Sam's powers. Ineluctable Bewitched supporting player Bernie Kopell is here cast as Dr. Rhinehouse. Written by Lila Garrett and Bernie Kahn, "Samantha's Secret is Discovered" first aired on January 22, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick Sargent, (more)
- 1970
- R
A young married couple struggle with their personal problems and their union and the forthcoming birth oftheir unwanted child in this grim domestic drama. Much of the story centers on the husband, a former high school basketball star who is unable to leave the glory days behind and fashion a future for himself and his wife. Though pregnant, the wife is constantly drunk and the two constantly bicker. One night, they have row and the husband takes off to stay with his now-impoverished former coach thereby setting the stage for further turmoil and tragedy. The plot for Rabbit, Run is based on a John Updike novel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Caan, Anjanette Comer, (more)
- 1969
This week, mobile officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) are summoned to mediate a family fight involving a shiftless husband (Harry Dean Stanton) who wants to get arrested; attempt to recover a stolen fur on behalf of a dithery old lady (Nydia Westman); and break up a loud party held by one of Reed's old school chums (David Westberg). Through it all, Jim is repeatedly frustrated in his efforts to tell a joke to his fellow officers (no one, it seems, can understand the punchline). This is the final episode of Adam-12's first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
- G
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Advertising executive Fred Bolton (Dean Jones) is under pressure from his boss Tom Dugan (Fred Clark) to come up with a new ad campaign for a wealthy client. Fred's daughter Helen (Ellen Janov) loves to ride horses, so her father buys her one to tie the equine into the profitable advertisement. Nearly a third of the film's length is devoted to a Washington D. C. horse show in which Helen participates. Morey Amsterdam, Kurt Russell, Lloyd Bochner, and Diane Baker also appear in this Disney production. Shown with the animated Winnie The Pooh, the cartoon was far more popular and memorable than The Horse In The Gray Flannel Suit, which is one of the studio's less-inspiring efforts. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Jones, Diane Baker, (more)
- 1967
Cissy (Kathy Garver) goes to work as a hospital volunteer, while Buffy (Anissa Jones) joins the Brownies. Before long, both girls have run afoul of "The Rules": Cissy gives water to a patient without consulting a doctor, while Buffy is short the Brownies' age of admission by several months. Ultimately, and surprisingly, 7-year-old Buffy proves a bit more mature in handling her problem than 16-year-old Cissy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Roy Fleming (Don Knotts) is signed on to the space program at NASA by his father Buck (Arthur O'Connell), a gung-ho former World War I vet who is trying to make something out of his son. Roy becomes a janitor who is afraid of heights and mistaken for an astronaut through a series of comedic mishaps. (Jesse White) plays Roy's boss Donelli, with (Leslie Nielsen) as space hero Major Gifford. Knotts uses his patented brand of nervousness to perfection in this lighthearted situation comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Knotts, Leslie Nielsen, (more)
- 1966
The most interesting aspect of The Swinger is the name of the character played by Ann-Margret: the former Ann Margaret Olsson essays the role of Kelly Olsson. A naive small-town girl, Kelly aspires to become a writer in the Big City. When her stories are rejected because they aren't exciting and provocative enough, she decides to do some hands-on research by posing as the titular "swinger." She is so successful at this subterfuge that Hefner-like publisher Anthony Franciosa makes it his mission in life to reform the "fallen" Kelly. Didn't they do this one in the 1930s as Theodora Goes Wild, with Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann-Margret, Anthony Franciosa, (more)
Luther Heggs (Don Knotts) is a typesetter at a newspaper who longs for a chance to be a reporter. Editor Beckett (Dick Sargent) gives Luther his big break and assigns him to spend the night in a house generally considered to be haunted. The situation allows a broad canvas for Knotts to react to sight gags with the special brand of eye-popping nervousness that made him a star. Former Playboy Bunny Joan Staley plays the pretty girlfriend of star reporter Ollie Skip Homeier. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Knotts, Joan Staley, (more)
All hell breaks loose in a Texas town when an escaped convict heads home in Arthur Penn's Southern gothic melodrama. Appointed by local kingpin Val Rogers (E. G. Marshall), benevolent Sheriff Calder (Marlon Brando) manages to keep the peace in Tarl, but the situation starts to fester one Saturday when news filters in that wild child Bubber Reeves (Robert Redford) has jumped prison. Bubber's impending arrival arouses hostility among Tarl's citizens, such as Edwin Stewart (Robert Duvall), who believes that Bubber will come after him to settle an old score, and Damon Puller (Richard Bradford), who, between grope sessions with Edwin's wife Emily (Janice Rule), uses Bubber as an excuse to terrorize black residents. As the atmosphere heats up, Calder wants to keep Bubber alive, and he convinces Bubber's wife Anna (Jane Fonda) and her lover, Val's son Jake (James Fox), to find Bubber and coax him into surrender. Val's fear that Bubber will kill his son, however, sparks a long confrontation that leaves rational law and order pummeled into the ground by the town's ignorant cruelty. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, (more)
- 1965
Actress Patrice Wymore, best known for her brief but tempestuous marriage to film star Errol Flynn, makes a rare TV appearance in this episode as legendary stage star Laura Lee. The men of F Troop are agog over O'Rourke's (Forrest Tucker) announcement that Laura Lee is going to make an appearance at Fort Courage. Only one problem: It isn't Laura who's on her way, but instead the mother (Nydia Westman) of the troop's bugler Hannibal Dobbs (James Hampton). This is one of the few episodes in which the Hekawi Indians do not appear. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
To study the aging process of humans, Martin (Ray Walston) pushes his own age forward fron 450 to 850 years--thereby making himself seventy in Earth Years. In this guise, Martin takes a job as a night watchman, and subsequently comes to the rescue of two elderly sisters (Lurene Tuttle, Nydia Westman) who are in danger of losing all their possessions. Unfortunately, "Old Man Martin" also ends up with a stolen sapphire which proves impossible to dispose of no matter how hard he tries! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Why is Herman (Fred Gwynne) prancing around the mansion singing "Shuffle Off to Buffalo"? Well, it seems that he's in line for a big promotion, which he will receive if he relocates to Buffalo with his family. Unfortunately, Eddie (Butch Patrick) has just been made captain of his high school baseball team and doesn't want to move. Ultimately, Herman decides to remain in Mockingbird Heights--just as Grandpa (Al Lewis) has made arrangements to have the Munster Mansion demolished! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Alfred Hitchcock inaugurated the tenth and final season of his popular TV suspense anthology by moving from CBS to NBC -- only three years after switching from NBC to CBS. Season ten's initial offering stars a young Dennis Hopper as farm boy Verge Likens, whose father has been killed in a barroom brawl by corrupt political boss Riley McGrath (Robert Emhardt). After McGrath managed to get off scot-free, Verge completely disappeared from view, but not before vowing to avenge his dad. As time passes, everyone forgets all about Verge, including McGrath, who calmly enters his favorite barbershop one day to get a shave. It just so happens that the barber has hired a new assistant: a young fellow by the name of Verge Likens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Fonda, Robert Emhardt, (more)
- 1964
Fresh from her six-year stint on Lassie, June Lockhart is cast as Mona Harvey, the wife of wildly eccentric sculptor Hannibal Harvey (Sean McClory), and the principal stockholder in the highly respected publishing firm owned by her uncle Everett Stanton (Stuart Erwin). In dire need of $10,000, Hannibal takes advantage of Mona's temporary absence to shake down Everett for the money, arranging for his model Bonnie (Sue Ane Langdon) to deliver a blackmail note. But Mona gets her hands on the note and decides to confront Bonnie--and as a result, she and Hannibal show up just in time to find the girl's corpse, and to be charged with murder. Looks like it's going to be another one of those days for overworked defense attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr)! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Ernest Truex guest-stars as "Square Deal Sam" Washburn, a veteran confidence trickster. Sam's latest suckers are the Cartwrights and their cook Hop Sing, whom he sweet-talks into a phony land deal. But redemption is at hand for Sam and his wife Martha (Nydia Westman), courtesy of a group of cherubic orphans. Sandy Kenyon rounds out the guest cast as Gibson. First telecast on November 8, 1964, "Square Deal Sam" was written by Jessica Benson and Murray Golden. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1963
In this romantic comedy, Deke Gentry (Kirk Douglas) is a lawyer who gets an unusual assignment from Chloe Brasher (Thelma Ritter), a wealthy widow, owner of a successful hotel chain, and one of his most prominent clients. Chloe has three daughters, sensible Kate (Mitzi Gaynor), bohemian Jan (Leslie Parrish), and heath food fanatic Bonnie (Julie Newmar), and she wants Deke to find them husbands. Though Deke protests that matchmaking is outside his traditional area of expertise, Chloe is insistent, and he ends up taking the job. To be sure that he's going through with it, Chloe assigns her security chief Joe (William Bendix) to keep his eye on Deke. Eventually, Deke fixes up Bonnie with Harvey Wofford (Richard Sargent), a meek IRS agent, and pairs Jan with artist Sam Travis (William Windom), but Kate turns out to be the hardest Brasher sister to marry off, until he throws his own hat into the ring. Richard Sargent would later shorten his first name to Dick and find success on the popular television comedy Bewitched. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Mitzi Gaynor, (more)
- 1962
One of an outcropping of "twist" dance craze movies to pop up like mushrooms after a rain, this standard musical drama by director Oscar Rudolph is actually a sequel to producer Sam Katzman's earlier success, Twist around the Clock. The plot on which the many twist dances hinge is the preparation for a TV variety show on the twist. While the special is still in the production stages, jealousies lead to problems -- and a lot of dancing. Performers featured as themselves include Chubby Checker, Vic Dana, Linda Scott, The Dovells, and the Carroll Brothers -- all popular in the early '60s. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Chandler
- 1957
The prestigious CBS dramatic anthology The U.S. Steel Hour digressed from its usual format to present this lively musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's classic comedy of manners, The Importance of Being Earnest. The story, about two love struck young men who both pretend to bear the name of Earnest to please their respective sweethearts, remains substantially the same. However, the emphasis is shifted away from nominal leading man John Worthing (David Atkinson) and his aristocratic fiancée, Gwendolen Fairfax (Louise Troy), so that the characters of scampish Algernon Moncrieff and impressionable ingénue Cecily Cardew become the major roles. Edward Mulhare (who was at the time occasionally spelling Rex Harrison as star of the Broadway smash My Fair Lady) is seen as Algernon, with Dorothy Collins, an American vocalist best known for her work on Your Hit Parade, top-billed as Cecily. Also in the cast is Martyn Green, who in 1957 was the foremost interpreter of the works of Gilbert & Sullivan, in the somewhat expanded role of Rev. Chasuble. The original songs, by Lee Pockriss and Ann Crosswell, include "Mr. Bunbury," "Perfection,," "My Eternal Devotion," "A Wicked Man," "Metaphorically Speaking," "Lost," and "My Very First Impression." "Who's Earnest?" was originally broadcast live from New York. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Collins, Edward Mulhare, (more)
- 1956
Irregularly scheduled on NBC from 1954 through 1957, Producers' Showcase was a series of lavish, full-color 90 minute specials, bringing the best of Broadway to the 21 inch screen. The series' May 28, 1956 presentation was an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Bloomer Girl, which originally played for 654 performances during the 1944-45. Composer Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y. Harburg were clearly under the influence of Oklahoma when they concocted this "integrated" musical (in every sense of the word), wherein the songs flowed naturally from the story and the characters, a relatively new concept back then. Originally starring Celeste Holm, David Brooks, Joan McCracken and Dooley Wilson ("Sam" of Casablanca fame), the show was set in the town of Cicero Falls, New York in the waning months of the American Civil War. The heroine, Evelina Applegate (here played by Barbara Cook, twixt and tween her Broadway stints in Candide and The Music Man, is the daughter of the town's richest man, a manufacturer of women's hoop skirts. Rebelling against the notion of marrying the man of her dad's choosing, Evelina gravitates to her freewheeling aunt, Dolly Bloomer (Carmen Mathews), a pioneering Feminist whose insistence upon wearing the undergarments bearing her name ("bloomers", that is), strikes a blow against the "confinement" represented by the mounds of petticoats usually worn by the proper ladies of the period. In addition to donning her own pair of liberating bloomers, Evalina also joins Dolly in her abolitionist activities, helping slaves escape to the freedom by way of the Underground Railroad. The songs include "Right as the Rain", "When the Boys Come Home", "Got a Song", "Never Was Born", "Evalina", and "The Eagle and Me", a showstopper performed by the previously enslaved Pompey (Roy Spearman). Because Bloomer Girl was never filmed by Hollywood, this Producer's Showcase version is the only known visual record of the popular musical--if, indeed, any kinescopes exist outside of private collections. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1948
Based upon a story by William Mercer, The Velvet Touch stars Rosalind Russell as Valerie Stanton, a celebrated Broadway actress whose latest smash comedy is coming to the end of its successful run. The play's producer, Gordon Dunning, has produced all of Stanton's hits for the last decade, and takes credit for making her the star she is today. He is therefore upset when she informs him that she wishes to make a break with him by both marrying Michael Morrell, a renowned architect, and by taking a stab at one of the classic roles -- namely Hedda Gabler -- under the auspices of another producer. Dunning has no intention of letting her move forward with her plans, and he tells her that if she refuses to continue working with him in light, profitable comedies, he will reveal unflattering information about her to Morrell. Frightened that this will destroy her relationship, Stanton picks up a statue from Dunning's desk and delivers a fatal blow. Fortunately, because she is wearing her trademark long black gloves, there are no fingerprints, and Stanton creates a plausible alibi. Suspicion therefore shifts to Marian Webster, a rival of Stanton's who finds the body and was once romantically involved with Dunning. Stanton seems to have gotten away with murder -- but can she avoid making any mistakes as police captain Danbury proceeds with the investigation? ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosalind Russell, Leo Genn, (more)
- 1947
Based on John P. Marquand's Pulitzer Prize-winning satirical novel of the same title, this film stars Ronald Colman as George Apley, a Beantown blueblood passionately in love with his hometown. In his mind, Boston is the world's center of modern civilization and gentility and he has made it very clear that his son and daughter are to remain there for their entire lives and only associate with native Bostonians. Imagine poor Apley's horror, then, when his Harvard-student son falls in love with a Worcester girl and his daughter falls in love with a Yale student. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Edna Best, (more)
- 1944
In this crazy comedy, a casino worker writes a book about headhunters and finds himself the target of the leader of an anthropological society who is determined to prove that the book is phony. The writer tricks the woman into going on a head-hunting expedition to prove his claims. He dresses up as a headhunter, and allows her to capture and return him to her society for study. Dressed as a native, the writer also manages to secure a $10,000 advance from his publisher to write an expose of the wealthy society-leader's life. Meanwhile, another heiress pursues the writer to collect on a $10,000 debt. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louise Allbritton, Robert Paige, (more)
- 1943
A princess finds love with a regular American Joe in this patriotic romantic comedy. A European diplomat (Charles Coburn) is named an ambassador to the U.S., and when he relocates to Washington D.C., he's accompanied by his niece, Princess Maria (Olivia de Havilland). Maria's uncle hopes that she'll meet an eligible American bachelor during her visit, since potential husbands are in short supply at home. Maria tires of her uncle's attempts at matchmaking, and when he suggests that she take a side trip to San Francisco, she leaps at the chance. However, Maria has a fear of flying, and when she's given tranquilizers to settle her nerves, she passes out in mid-flight. Maria is down for the count when bad weather forces the flight to return to Washington, and pilot Eddie O'Rourke (Robert Cummings) volunteers to put her up for the night. When Maria comes to, she's struck by Eddie's decency and charm, and it's love at first sight for them. However, Maria's uncle was hoping for someone higher up the social ladder than a pilot, and the lovebirds have an uphill battle getting him to consent to their wedding. No one seems sure if it's actually President Franklin D. Roosevelt appearing in the film's final scenes or just an impersonator, but apparently FDR's dog Fala did actually play himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1943
Deanna Durbin is all grown up in Hers to Hold, the unofficial sequel to her "Three Smart Girls" films of the 1930s. Durbin plays Penelope Craig, the starry-eyed daughter of wealthy Judson and Dorothy Craig (Charles Winninger, Nella Walker). Developing a crush on much-older playboy Bill Morley (Joseph Cotton), Penelope stops at nothing to land the elusive Morley as her husband. Highlights include Durbin's renditions of "Begin the Beguine" and the "Seguidilla" from Carmen, and a captivating sequence that includes highlights from Durbin's earlier films, presented as home movies! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deanna Durbin, Joseph Cotten, (more)
- 1942
Joan Crawford is the kissable bride of the title--but when the film opens, matrimony is the farthest thing from her mind. Crawford becomes a big-time executive upon inheriting her father's trucking business, which leaves her no time for such trivialities as romance. To enhance her business, Crawford arranges a marriage of convenience for her younger sister (Helen Parrish). At the wedding, Crawford meets reporter Melvyn Douglas, who is out to discredit Crawford....and you know what's coming next. They All Kissed the Bride was one of several 1942 productions originally slated for Carole Lombard, whose sudden death in a plane crash required all the major studios to reshuffle their production schedules to come up with last-minute Lombard replacements. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas, (more)
