Matt Willis Movies

Filmed with the full cooperation of the U.S. Army, Breakthrough is a lean, no-nonsense war film set during the 1944 invasion of the continent. Led by Captain Hale (David Brian), a small group of infantrymen march through Normandy. The war-weary foot soldiers resent the presence of 90 Day Wonder lieutenant Joe Mallory (John Agar), but before long he proves his value to the platoon. The supporting characters are the usual aggregation of "types," though for the most part the usual cliches are avoided (so far as can be determined, nobody mentions the Brooklyn Dodgers). The only woman in the cast is Suzanne Dalbert, playing a Normandy villager with whom the GIs briefly dally. Near the beginning of Breakthrough, several scenes of actual combat training are deftly inserted into the dramatized sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Shep Comes Home was the belated sequel to Screen Guild's My Dog Shep (1946). The title pooch is played by "Flame" (who also starred in Columbia's "Rusty" series), while his orphaned master Larry is portrayed by Billy Kimberly. Escaping from an orphanage, Larry and Shep hit the road, with a sympathetic old sheriff (J. Farrell McDonald) in pursuit. The boy and his dog come to the rescue of an innocent emigrant (Martin Garralaga) who has been blamed for the perfidy of a two-bit crook (Sheldon Leonard). Thankfully, the film's inherent sentiment never gets too gooey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Like Disney's earlier Song of the South, So Dear to My Heart peppers its live action with animated sequences. In this film, however, it is the "live" story that lingers longest in the memory. Set in 1903, the film takes place on the small Kincaid farm. Twin sheep are born in the barn: one white, one black. When the mother sheep rejects the black lamb, young Jeremiah Kincaid (Bobby Driscoll) adopts the animal, naming it Danny, after the great trotting horse Dan Patch. Danny grows up to be quite troublesome, and Jeremiah's grandmother (Beulah Bondi) wishes that the boy would get rid of his pet. Jeremiah's only ally is kindly blacksmith Uncle Hiram (Burl Ives), who encourages the boy to enter Danny in blue-ribbon competition at the county fair. Granny is against this notion, so Jeremiah sets about to pay his own way. On a stormy night, Danny runs away; Jeremiah is kept from searching for the lost sheep by Granny, who now believes that the boy wants to enter the state fair contest for selfish reasons rather than out of love for his pet. She further warns that the Lord may not let Danny survive the night. The next day, however, Danny returns. Remembering Granny's remonstrations, Jeremiah now states that he won't attend the county fair, having promised the Lord that he'd forget about the competition if Danny was spared. Moved by this unselfishness, Granny softens her own stance, claiming that she'd promised the Lord that Jeremiah could go to the fair if the lamb returned alive. The story reaches a warm-hearted climax at the fair; Danny doesn't win, but his ultimate prize is far more meaningful than any blue ribbon. The isolated animated sequences spring from Jeremiah's scrapbook, illustrating such homespun philosophies as "stick-to-it-tivity" and "it's whatcha do with whatcha got." So Dear to My Heart yielded a hit song, "Lavender Blue," which co-star Burl Ives retained in his repertoire until his dying day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Adventures of Rusty was Columbia Pictures' low-budget answer to MGM's Lassie series. This boy-and-his-dog effort starred Ted Donaldson and a German Shepherd. The first Rusty film paid its way, so Columbia hastily fashioned a sequel, Son of Rusty. The basic premise of the first film-a vicious dog tamed by love-could not be logically used twice, so the filmmakers relied on the old "separate boy and dog in the first reel, reunite them in the last" bit. Of the original Adventures of Rusty cast, only Ted Donaldson is back for Son of Rusty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

At a time when Jim Crow segregation was de rigeur in the South and anti-lynching laws were still being voted down by certain legislators, the independently produced The Burning Cross provoked a great deal of controversy. Unlike previous films dealing with the Ku Klux Klan, this one wasn't afraid to identify the infamous organization by name. Hank Daniels plays Johnny, an embittered, unemployed war veteran who really goes off the deep end when his former sweetheart Doris (Virginia Patton) becomes engaged to Italian-American Tony (John Fostini). Seething with hatred and resentment, Johnny is easy pickings for the local branch of the KKK. Joining the hooded bigots in their terrorist activities, Johnny realizes what he's gotten himself into only when it's nearly too late. An excellent supporting cast includes those often underused black character actors Joel Fluellen and Maidie Norman as two of the Klan's targets. Far from a good film (its threadbare production values weigh heavily against it), The Burning Cross is nonetheless a fascinating one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Former army pilot Robert Taylor is accused, on the basis of strong circumstantial evidence, of his wife's murder. Suffering from periodic blackouts, Taylor isn't so certain of his innocence himself. When offered a brain operation, Taylor refuses, knowing that if he is proven sane he will be executed for murder. Instead, he opts for confinement in a high-walled veteran's mental institution. A compassionate lady doctor (Audrey Totter) falls in love with Taylor, convincing him to have the operation. Even after emerging from the ether, Taylor cannot remember any of the details concerning his wife's death--but he does recall that the dead woman had recently taken a job with a publisher (Herbert Marshall) of religious books. While the killer's identity is tipped off by this revelation, the audience is never certain that Robert Taylor isn't a murderer--especially since he'd previously appeared as a homicidal maniac in the 1946 film Undercurrent. The best moment in High Wall is the casual disposal of the sole witness to the murder, via a long, dark elevator shaft. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With Vacation in Reno, RKO contract actress Anne Jeffreys proved herself an accomplished comedienne, a fact verified by her later work on TV's Topper. Jeffreys is cast as Eleanor, the wife of would-be prospector Jack Carroll (Jack Haley). When hubby goes off to find a cache of hidden loot near Reno, Eleanor becomes convinced that he's actually gone to the Nevada city to secure a quickie divorce. She trails him to a dude ranch on the outskirts of Reno, where Jack has somehow gotten mixed up with a gang of thick-witted bank robbers (Morgan Conway, Alan Carney, Iris Adrian). No opportunity for a slapstick setpiece is ignored throughout the film, culminating with the inevitable "wild ride" through the desert. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, The Yearling is set in post-Civil War Florida. Claude Jarman Jr. plays Jody Baxter, the lonely son of just-getting-by farmers Pa and Ma Baxter (Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman). With all of his siblings dead and buried, Jody yearns to have a pet of some sort. When Pa is forced by circumstances to kill a doe, the animal's fawn-the yearling of the title-is adopted by Jody. The boy's love for the animal does not alter the fact that the fawn is eating all of the Baxters' crops. Sadly, Pa tells Jody that he must kill the yearling before all their crops are destroyed. Jody can't bring himself to do this, so he sets the animal free in the wilds. Time and again, however, the yearling returns to the farm. Finally, Ma Baxter, who'd been against having the fawn on the property in the first place, shoots and wounds the animal. Now, Jody has no choice: rather than see his beloved yearling writhe in agony, he kills it. Though this results in a rift between himself and his family, Jody at last realizes that, by taking the responsiblity of saving the farm at the expense of his own feelings, he has also taken the first step towards manhood. He himself is a "yearling" no more. MGM had intended to film The Yearling in 1941 with a different cast and director, but a series of personality clashes delayed production for five years. Watching the inspired performances of Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman and Claude Jarman Jr., it is nearly impossible to imagine the film with its originally intended cast of Spencer Tracy, Anne Revere and the unknown Gene Eckman. The studio had also intended to lens the film on location in Florida, but in the end it proved more practical and expedient to shoot in the studio and its environs. Oscars went to the Technicolor photography of Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith and Arthur Arling, and to the art direction/set decoration work of Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse and Edwin B. Willis. Originally released at 128 minutes, the film was reissued in a butchered 94 minute version; steer clear of this one and opt for the still-available original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Masterfully directed by Fritz Lang, Scarlet Street is a bleak film in which an ordinary man succumbs first to vice and then to murder. Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson) is a lonely man married to a nagging wife. Painting is the only thing that brings him joy. Cross meets Kitty (Joan Bennett) who, believing him to be a famous painter, begins an affair with him. Encouraged by her lover, con man Johnny Prince (Dan Duryea) Kitty persuades Cross to embezzle money from his employer in order to pay for her lavish apartment. In that apartment, happy for the first time in his life, Cross paints Kitty's picture. Johnny then pretends that Kitty painted to portrait, which has won great critical acclaim. Finally realizing he has been manipulated, Cross kills Kitty, loses his job, and because his name has been stolen by Kitty, is unable to paint. He suffers a mental breakdown as the film ends, haunted by guilt. Kitty and Johnny are two of the most amoral and casual villains in the history of film noir, both like predatory animals completely without conscience. Milton Krasner's photography is excellent in its use of stark black-and-white to convey psychological states. Fritz Lang is unparalleled in his ability to convey the desperation of hapless, naïve victims in a cruelly realistic world. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

In this exciting adventure, a band of treasure hunters sail to the Mexican coast to find a buried treasure. Along the way, the seafarers encounter a variety of strange occurrences that convince them that they are on a cursed mission. The leader does all he can to quell their fears, but what with raging storms, giant octopi, sharks, and a sandstorm, he has his work cut out for him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

If one were forced to choose, Swingtime Johnny may well be the best of the Andrews Sisters' 1940 "B"-musicals. Patty, Maxine and Laverne Andrews play three popular singers (what a stretch!) who do their bit for Uncle Sam by landing jobs in a defense factory. When they're not hammering and rivetting, the girls provide dinner-break entertainment for their fellow workers. The film's wisp of a romantic subplot is carried by Harriet Hilliard (aka Harriet Nelson) as a nightclub chanteuse who falls in love with the handsome factory owner (Peter Cookson). Meanwhile, a jealous employee does his best to sabotage the romance. Fans of "Our Gang" will recognize chubby Joe Cobb in a bit as a garage mechanic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally titled They Shall Have Faith, Forever Yours was designed as Monogram's "prestige" release for 1945. Musical favorite Gale Storm goes dramatic as Joan Randall, a young debutante who is confined to a wheelchair after contracting infantile paralysis. Neither her doctor father (Conrad Nagel) nor her physician grandfather (C. Aubrey Smith) can offer much help to the courageous but disconsolate Joan. But Army medico Tex (Johnny Mack Brown, in a break from his western roles) may have developed a revolutionary new means of curing the girl. Over the protests of her family, Tex applies his theories to the heroine, falling in love with her along the way. The old-fashioned plotting and archaic dialogue of Forever Yours is redeemed somewhat by an early song-and-dance number featuring Gale Storm and Johnny Downs-the sort of escapist fare that Monogram did far better than lachrymose melodramas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide