Eric Wilton Movies

Crusading publisher Austin Spenser (Sidney Blackmer) wants to prove a point about the insufficiency of circumstantial evidence. Spencer talks his prospective son-in-law Tom Garrett (Dana Andrews) into participating in a hoax, the better to expose the alleged ineptitude of conviction-happy DA (Philip Bourneuf). Tom will plant clues indicating that he is the murderer of a nightclub dancer, then stand trial for murder; just as the jury reaches its inevitable guilty verdict, Spencer will step forth to reveal the set-up and humiliate the DA. Somewhat surprisingly, Tom eagerly agrees to this subterfuge. Unfortunately, an unforeseen event renders their perfectly formed scheme useless. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt was the last American film of director Fritz Lang. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this subtle 1954 comedy with feminist overtones, Clifton Webb plays Gifford, an executive with a large automobile manufacturer who is having trouble deciding who to hire as his chief sales manager. His three candidates are equally competent, so he brings their wives with them to New York headquarters, planning to hire the one whose wife is most suited to be an executive's wife. Elizabeth (Lauren Bacall) is the wife of Sid (Fred MacMurray), a company man. Elizabeth knows that Sid is such a workaholic that she will never see him if he gets the new job, but she is loyal to her husband and impresses the hiring team with her competency. Bill Baxter (Cornel Wilde) is handicapped in the competition by his wife Katie (June Allyson), a clumsy but sweet small-town girl from the Midwest. Katie dutifully tries to impress the big boss but proves inept at handling the social responsibilities. She would prefer to stay in Kansas City anyway. Jerry (Van Heflin) is married to Carol (Arlene Dahl), a seductive gold-digger who sexually teases various executives in the hopes that her assets can help land Jerry the job. Instead, her out-of-bounds behavior gets Jerry eliminated from the list, at least until Jerry tells Gifford that he doesn't sanction his wife's behavior. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

The 1954 musical remake of A Star is Born could have been titled A Star is Reborn, in that it represented the triumphal return to the screen of Judy Garland after a four-year absence. The remake adheres closely to the plotline of the 1937 original: An alcoholic film star, on his last professional legs, gives a career boost to a unknown aspiring actress. The two marry, whereupon her fame and fortune rises while his spirals sharply downward. Unable to accept this, the male star crawls deeper into the bottle. The wife tearfully decides to give up her own career to care for her husband. To spare her this fate, the husband chivalrously commits suicide. His wife is inconsolable at first, but is urged to go "on with the show" in memory of her late husband. In the original, Janet Gaynor played Esther Blodgett, who with no training or contacts came to Hollywood hoping for stardom. The remake, scripted by Moss Hart, is a shade more realistic: Garland's Esther, though far removed from fame, is a working professional singer/dancer when first we meet her. Both Gaynor and Garland are transformed from "Esther Blodgett" to "Vicki Lester" after being screen-tested, though Gaynor goes on to star in fluffy costume dramas while Garland more logically headlines big-budget musicals. The 1937 Star is Born costarred Fredric March as Norman Maine, Esther/Vicki's sponsor-cum-spouse. March patterned his performance after the tragic John Barrymore, reining in his emotions in favor of pure technique; James Mason's interpretation is more original, more emotional, and far more effective (who can forget the scene where Norman sobbingly overhears Vicki planning to give up her career for his sake?) As the studio's long-suffering publicist, the 1937 version's Lionel Stander is more abrasive and unpleasant than the 1954 version's introspective, intellectual Jack Carson; on the other hand, Adolphe Menjou and Charles Bickford are fairly evenly matched in the role of the studio head. Several important omissions are made in the remake. The 1937 Star is Born included Esther's indomitable old grandma (May Robson), a helpful assistant director (Andy Devine) and a soft-hearted landlord (Edgar Kennedy); all three characters are missing from the 1954 version, though elements of each can be found in the "best friend/severest critic" character played by Tommy Noonan. Wisely, both versions end with the grieving Vicki Lester coming out of her shell at a public gathering, greeting the audience with a proud, defiant "Good evening, everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine". Though directors William Wellman (1937 version) and George Cukor (1954 version) handle this finale in their own distinctive manners, the end result is equally effective emotionally. What truly sets the 1954 A Star is Born apart from other films of its ilk is its magnificent musical score by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin. The songs include The Man Who Got Away (brilliantly performed by Garland in one long take, sans dubbing), It's a New World, Somewhere There's a Someone, I Was Born in a Trunk, Lose That Long Face and Gotta Have Me Go With You. When originally previewed in 1954, the film ran well over three hours, thanks to the lengthy-and thoroughly disposable-Born in a Trunk number, added to the film as an afterthought without the approval or participation of director George Cukor. The Warner Bros. executives trimmed the film to 154 minutes, eliminating three top-rank musical numbers and several crucial expository sequences (including Norman's proposal to Vicki). At the instigation of the late film historian Ronald Haver, the full version was painstakingly restored in 1983, with outtakes and still photos bridging the "lost" footage. Though nominated in several categories, A Star is Born was left empty-handed at Academy Award time, an oversight that caused outrage then and still rankles Judy Garland fans to this day (Footnote: Judy Garland had previously played Vicki Lester in a 1942 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the original A Star is Born). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lorna Doone is based on the oft-filmed novel by Richard D. Blackmore. Set in 17th century Scotland during the reign of Britain's Charles II, the story concerns young Lorna (Barbara Hale), a member of a much-hated landowning family. Lorna falls in love with a humble villager (Richard Greene), who like the rest of community has suffered under the rule of the despotic Doones. The villagers revolt against their oppressors, but when it is revealed that Lorna is not a genuine Doone, she is able to marry her low-born swain. Star Barbara Hale was pregnant throughout the filming of Lorna Doone; thus it can be said that the film "co-starred" her son, future actor William Katt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most notorious flops in the history of Columbia Pictures, Valentino is actually fairly entertaining -- but only when regarded as a work of fiction. In dramatizing the life of silent-screen Latin lover Rudolph Valentino, screenwriter George Bruce ignored virtually all of the facts, even those in the public domain; in addition, with the exception of Valentino, all the real-life characters' names have been changed to avoid lawsuits. What's left is an amusing fairy tale about a young Neapolitan dancer named Rudolph Valentino (Anthony Dexter), who joins a U.S.-bound dance troupe headed by his lover Marie Torres (Dona Drake). Onboard ship, Valentino makes the acquaintance of famous movie star Joan Carlisle (Eleanor Parker), sparking a brief transatlantic romance. Once in America, Valentino supports himself as a dishwasher and gigolo before Carlisle introduces him to big-time director William King (Richard Carlson), who arranges for the young immigrant to attain a few extra roles in Hollywood. Valentino becomes an overnight star after being selected to play the lead in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. As his fame rises, Valentino reignites his affair with Carlisle, but will not commit himself to marriage. She marries King on the rebound, but the romance starts all over again when Valentino and Carlisle are cast together in The Sheik. At the height of his stardom, Valentino dies of peritonitis. The film ends with the mysterious "Lady in Black" making her annual pilgrimage to Valentino's tomb. It serves no purpose to list the film's many inaccuracies and anachronisms, though it's worth mentioning that his last film was not The Sheik but Son of the Sheik. As a filmed biography, Valentino is worthless. As a movie pure and simple, it's not all that bad. Even the much-maligned Anthony Dexter, an unknown who was cast purely on the basis of physical resemblance, is passable in the title role, though he comes nowhere near the original Valentino's magnetism and charisma. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Technicolor follow-up to Columbia's 1946 blockbuster The Jolson Story again stars Larry Parks as legendary entertainer Al Jolson--and Jolson himself, as Parks' singing voice. The story concentrates on Jolson's tireless activities entertaining the troops during WW II. After VJ day, Jolson finds that his services are no longer required. Fortunately, he stages a spectacular comeback, thanks in great part to the release of The Jolson Story! The film's Pirandellian overtones come to a head when Larry Parks as Jolson meets Larry Parks as Larry Parks. Also returning from The Jolson Story are William Demarest as the title character's manager Steve Martin, Bill Goodwyn as Broadway-producer Tom Baron, and Ludwig Donath and Tamara Shayne as Jolson's old-world parents. Barbara Hale appears as Jolson's wife (his third, though this fact is not dwelled upon), renamed Ellen Clark for the moment, while Myron McCormick plays a composite character based on several Hollywood executives (including, one supposes, Columbia mogul Harry Cohn). Song highlights include "After You've Gone", "You Made Me Love You", "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy", "Sonny Boy", "About a Quarter to Nine", "April Showers", "Back in Your Own Backyard", and, of course, "Mammy". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Appointment with Murder is the second of three "Falcon" mysteries produced by bargain-basement Film Classics Productions in the late 1940s. Professional magician John Calvert assumes the leading role of private eye Michael Lanyard, aka The Falcon. Working for an insurance company, Lanyard travels from Hollywood to Italy in search of a pair of stolen paintings. This brings him in close contact with pretty art curator Lorraine (Catherine Craig), who may be involved in the thefts, and erudite international criminal Norton (Jack Reitzen). The only complaint one can level against Appointment with Murder is that it's a bit too ambitious for its tiny budget. ~ 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

Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young reprise their roles from the film Claudia, which followed the titular young couple as they dealt with the trials of parenthood. Claudia, a bit wiser than she was in the first film but still charmingly naive and a bit nervous, is struggling with the responsibilities of motherhood when a fortune teller predicts that something horrible will happen to her husband. Since David is soon to travel to the West Coast on business, Claudia tries to persuade him not to go, even though it could mean losing his job. Claudia is next convinced that the baby has contracted a fatal illness, though it turns out to be nothing more than the measles. And jealousy creeps into the relationship when Elizabeth (Mary Astor) starts consulting David on a building project, while Claudia is attracting the uninvited attentions of Phil (John Sutton), who happens to be married. Like its predecessor, Claudia and David was based on a series of short stories by Rose Franken, which also inspired a successful stage play and radio series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Faced with the challenge of writing a screenplay based on the life of fabulously wealthy, fabulously successful composer Cole Porter, one Hollywood wag came up with a potential story angle: "How does the S.O.B. make his second million dollars?" By the time the Porter biopic Night and Day was released, the three-person scriptwriting team still hadn't come up with a compelling storyline, though the film had the decided advantages of star Cary Grant and all that great Porter music. Roughly covering the years 1912 to 1946, the story begins during Porter's undergraduate days at Yale University, where he participated in amateur theatricals under the tutelage of waspish professor Monty Woolley (who plays himself). Though Porter's inherited wealth could have kept him out of WWI, he insists upon signing up as an ambulance driver. While serving in France, he meets nurse Linda Lee (Alexis Smith), who will later become his wife. Focusing his attentions on Broadway and the London stage in the postwar years, Porter pens an unbroken string of hit songs, including "Just One of Those Things," "You're the Top," "I Get a Kick Out of You," "Begin the Beguine," and the title number. The composition of this last-named song is one of the film's giddy highlights, as Porter, inspired by the "drip drip drip" of an outsized rainstorm, runs to the piano and cries "I think I've got it!" The film's dramatic conflict arises when Porter is crippled for life in a polo accident. Refusing to have his legs amputated, he makes an inspiring comeback, even prompting a WWI amputee to remark upon his courage! Corny and unreliable as biography, Night and Day is redeemed by the guest appearances of musical luminaries Mary Martin (doing a spirited if disappointingly demure version of her striptease number "My Heart Belongs to Daddy") and Ginny Simms, the latter cast as an ersatz Ethel Merman named Carole Hill. Jane Wyman, seen as Porter's pre-nuptial sweetheart Gracie Harris, also gets to sing and dance, and quite well indeed. Beset with production problems, not least of which was the ongoing animosity between star Grant and director Michael Curtiz, Night and Day managed to finish filming on schedule, and proved to be an audience favorite -- except for those "in the know" Broadwayites who were bemused over the fact that Cole Porter's well-known homosexuality was necessarily weaned from the screenplay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The real Diamond Horseshoe was a Las Vegas nightclub created by impresario Billy Rose, which spotlighted old-time stars from the early 20th century recreating the songs and skits that had made them great. Rose allowed 20th Century-Fox to use the name "Diamond Horseshoe" for a Technicolor musical, but only on the proviso that Rose's name be included in the title. Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe does have the occasional old-timer specialty, but for the most part the plot concentrates on Betty Grable, a young entertainer who romances would-be songwriter Dick Haymes. The affair is frowned upon by Haymes' father (William Gaxton), the manager of the Diamond Horseshoe, who is determined that his son pursue a medical career. The predictability of the storyline is redeemed by Haymes' rendition of the song hit "The More I See You", and by the comedy turns of Phil Silvers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Secrets of Scotland Yard is Republic's spin on a plotline first elucidated in the old E. Phillips Oppenheim novel The Great Impersonation. After losing WW I, the German high command, with remarkable foresight, prepares for the next war by planting a spy in the British Admiralty. Edgar Barrier plays the dual role of the German spy and his British twin brother. When one twin is killed, the other assumes his identity. The question: is the surviving brother the "good" one or the bad? It is up to C. Aubrey Smith, cast as Scotland Yard inspector Sir Christopher Belt, to sort out the mystery. Though it owes a great deal to the aforementioned Oppenheim yarn, Secrets of Scotland Yard is actually based on a novel by Denison Clift, who also wrote the screenplay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide