Loretta Young Movies

This installment of the series American Traditions explores the Antebellum South. Actress Loretta Young leads the tour of this picturesque region. American Traditions: Life Along the Mississippi allows viewers to explore the banks of the great Mississippi River, and see some of the places that inspired painter James Audubon. Released in 1990, the program also looks at some of the most famous plantations of the American South. ~ Linda J. Shriver, All Movie Guide

The sole reason for watching the made-for-TV Lady in a Corner is star Loretta Young, looking as youthful and stunning as ever in the role of a powerful magazine publisher. The plot introduces a British "sleaze lord" based on you-know-who, who inaugurates a hostile takeover of Young's publishing empire. Lindsay Frost, one of Young's most trusted editors, is actually an "inside man" for the British mogul and is undermining Ms. Young at every opportunity. Despite the entreaties of marriage from faithful chief editor Brian Keith, Young digs in her designer heels and fights off the takeover. Lady in a Corner is nothing to write home about, but as the last TV appearance to date of Loretta Young it's worth an hour or so of your time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The eighth and final season of the popular dramatic anthology The Loretta Young Show opens with "The Long Night," an entertaining if undistinguished story of a housewife -- played, of course, by Loretta Young -- who begins to have second thoughts about her marriage. Far more intriguing are the series' social issue dramas, including "Switchblade," a highly regarded playlet about juvenile delinquency and small-town political pressure; "The Seducer," which tastefully but poignantly dwells upon the topic of suicide; and "The Subtle Danger," a cautionary tale about the perils of pain-killing drugs. The series final episode, again starring Loretta Young (who at age 49 still looks as though she has just graduated from high school!), is "Not in Our Stars," a seriocomedy about a woman addicted to horoscopes, written by onetime child actor Darryl Hickman and directed by Disney stalwart Norman Foster (who was also the husband of Loretta Young's sister Sally Blane). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season six of The Loretta Young Show opens with the titular star essaying a dual role in the episode "he Near Unknown." Exercising her prerogative as the series' hostess and producer, Young went on to appear in an exhausting variety of characterizations this season: a Brazilian lass in "A Visit to Sao Paulo," a Japanese girl in "Most Honorable Day," a Hindu maiden in "Incident in India," and a nun in "Sister Ann." Somewhat surprisingly, Young does not appear in one of the season's best episodes. Instead, Virginia Christine and Dean Jagger head the cast of "Seed From the East," the true story of the Holt family, who dedicated their lives to finding foster homes for thousands of Korean-American orphans. Other major actors showing up this season are Virginia Mayo, Nick Adams, Eddie Albert, Elizabeth Montgomery, Jack Lord, and Jackie Coogan. Also, several episodes were directed by John Newland, one of Loretta's favorite leading men. The Loretta Young Show not only sustained its wide and loyal fan base during its sixth season, but the series also earned another "best actress" Emmy award for its star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having been absent for nearly half of her own anthology series' third season, Loretta Young had made practically a full recovery from the surgery that had sidelined her, and had resumed her hosting chores on a permanent basis by the time The Loretta Young Show launched its fourth year on the air. As if to prove that she was operating with all cylinders clicking, the actress threw herself into some of her most challenging roles during this season: a deaf attorney in "Double Partners," an indefatigable psychologist in "The Question," the harried wife of a suspected Communist collaborator in "Saigon," and even an ancient Egyptian ruler in "Queen Nefertiti." Even so, Loretta occasionally took a breather, allowing other actresses to shine in certain episodes. Vanessa Brown, Viveca Lindfors, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and Maggie Mahoney (the mother of Sally Field) are among the talented performers who take the dramatic reins on those rare occasions that Young did not appear. The Loretta Young Show closed out its fourth season with two Emmy Awards, one for the titular star, and the other for cinematographer Norbert Brodine's work on the episode "The Pearl." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Big Jim is a 30-minute episode of the popular 1950s TV anthology The Loretta Young Show. After Young swirls through her famous door, dressed to the nines, she offers a brief introduction to this human interest saga. Playing the mother of a teenager (played by Bobby Driscoll), Loretta meets her son after a long absence, and tries to explain why she'll be leaving again soon. In flashback, we see the particulars of the mother-son relationship. A reconciliation between these two estranged souls is not necessarily a foregone conclusion, so the story should hold one's interest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Oscar-winning actress Loretta Young had been a movie star for nearly 25 years when, at age 41 (but looking at least ten years younger), she launched her own weekly, half-hour TV anthology series. Debuting September 20, 1953, the show was originally titled A Letter to Loretta, with each episode opening as the star-hostess swirled through a doorway in a stunning new gown, trading pleasantries with announcer and commercial spokesman John B. Kennedy, and then introducing the story of the week, ostensibly based on a letter sent to Young by one of her fans. This much-parodied opening sequence served a dual purpose, not only allowing the actress to show off her fabulous wardrobe, but also permitting her to demonstrate the full range of her versatility as she played everything from prim housewives to disheveled tramps, from Indian princesses to beleaguered secretaries, from millionairesses to paupers, and from nuns to alcoholics.
As Young herself explained at the time, "After the audience has seen me well-groomed, I can wear horrible clothes, ugly makeup, or even a false nose during the show, without anyone wondering whether I've aged overnight or something." Beginning with the series' 20th episode on February 7, 1954, the title was changed to The Loretta Young Show, though the "letter" format would be maintained until the end of its second season. Story material on the series covered a wide range, from frothy romantic comedies to grim contemporary social dramas, with a few historical playlets spotted along the way. Young starred in all of the episodes seen during the first two seasons, generally cast opposite young, handsome leading men. Although a few of these performers were "name" actors, the majority were talented unknowns, hired mainly for their looks and because they worked cheap. Quite a few of Loretta's leading men would go on to substantial starring careers, notably George Nader, Hugh O'Brian, James Daly, and Craig Stevens. Interestingly, the two actors who made the most appearances on the show were well established before their initial appearances -- John Newland, who also directed several episodes, and Ricardo Montalban, who happened to be Loretta's real-life brother-in-law. Undergoing a serious operation in the summer of 1955, Young was unable to appear as either hostess or star during the first several months of the series' third season. In her stead, a number of prominent guest hosts were seen, including Rosalind Russell, Irene Dunne, Joseph Cotten, and Claudette Colbert. Though there was talk that the ailing Loretta would be permanently replaced by her close friend Anita Louise, Young had recovered sufficiently by the winter of 1955 to resume her TV hosting duties, though henceforth she would star in only about half of the episodes. Earning high ratings and several industry awards throughout its eight-season run, The Loretta Young Show encouraged several other top actresses to launch their own TV anthologies, among them Jane Wyman, June Allyson, and Barbara Stanwyck. From 1953 through 1958, The Loretta Young Show was produced by the star's then-husband Tom Lewis; their acrimonious divorce in 1958 almost brought the show to a close in a maelstrom of suits and countersuits, but the series managed to remain on the NBC Sunday-night schedule until September 10, 1961. It was also rebroadcast by the same network in a Monday-through-Friday early afternoon strip from 1960 through 1964. And in 1962, Young appeared in a short-lived dramedy, The New Loretta Young Show, in which she played a widowed author with seven children. This series would later be folded into the syndicated Loretta Young Show package -- which, as it turns out, was not widely shown until the '80s, due to Young's efforts to prevent its distribution on the grounds that the fashions she wore in the introductions had become outdated. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Loretta Young plays a guilt-ridden hit-and-run driver in Paula. After leaving the scene of an accident, Paula (Young) discovers that her victim, a young boy named David Larson (Tommy Rettig), may have permanently lost the power of speech. Her maternal instinct overcoming her desire for self-preservation, Paula makes it her mission in life to teach David how to talk again. Still, she never reveals to the boy that it was she who was responsible for his condition. Inevitably, however, he finds out, setting the stage for the film's tear-stained denouement. Paula strains credibility quite a bit, though Loretta Young's strong performance makes the whole thing more believable than it sounds. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even at age 38, Loretta Young could successfully pull off her ingenue duties in the innocuous comedy Half Angel. Young plays Nora, a prim and proper nurse, engaged to the stuffy Tim (John Ridgely). Unbeknownst to both, Nora is a sleepwalker; during her nocturnal forays, the less-inhibited side of her personality takes over. While somnambulizing one evening, she heads to the home of her former boyfriend John (Joseph Cotten) and makes amorous advances towards him. Fascinated, John tries to get Nora to behave the same way while she's awake, but it takes eight reels to accomplish that formidable feat. Half Angel bears no resemblance to the 1936 Claire Trevor vehicle of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

George Sidney directs this pleasant romantic comedy concerning mayoral love. During a convention of mayors in San Francisco, Clarissa Standish (Loretta Young), the mayor of a small town in Maine, meets Steve Fisk (Clark Gable), the down-to-earth leader of a tiny northern California community. During the rowdy proceedings of the convention, the two find themselves pushed together frequently, with the typical result -- they fall in love. After the convention, the two head back to Steve's town, where crooked local politician Les Taggart (Raymond Burr) is squaring off against Fisk in a mayoral election. With the help of Clarissa, Steve gears up for his reelection bid. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The same studio that brought forth Father Was a Fullback was responsible for Mother is a Freshman. Loretta Young stars as Abbigail Abbott, the widowed mother of coed Susan Abbott (Betty Lynn). In order to legally validate Susan's scholarship fund (a legacy of her late grandmother), Abigail enrolls in the university as a freshman. Here she is wooed by Professor Richard Michaels (Van Johnson)--much to Susan's dismay, since she'd set her cap for the professor herself. Rudy Vallee reprises the "stuffy middle-aged suitor" characterization he'd essayed in such previous comedies as The Palm Beach Story and Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer. Mother is a Freshman afforded audiences the opportunity of glimpsing 20th Century-Fox's familiar "college campus" sets in full Technicolor (these standing sets were also seen in black & white in such 1949 releases as Mr. Belvedere Goes to College and It Happens Every Spring). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Accused is a mystery melodrama with a predictable plot involving blackmail, attempted rape and murder. Loretta Young stars as Wilma Tuttle, a prim and proper college professor who unwittingly arouses the libido of student Bill Perry (Douglas Dick). When Perry tries to rape Wilma under cover of darkness, she beats him to death with a tire iron. Appalled by her own rash behavior, she tries to cover up her crime by making it seem as though Perry was killed while diving into the sea from a precipitous cliff. But as she follows the police investigation of Perry's death, Wilma realizes that she'll never be able to escape the prison of her own conscience -- especially when she falls in love with Warren Ford (Robert Cummings), the dead boy's guardian. Wendell Corey delivers the film's best performance as a quietly efficient homicide lieutenant who suspects that Wilma knows more than she's letting on. The Accused was adapted by Ketti Frings from the novel by June Truesdell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Episcopalian bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven) prays for divine guidance in his efforts to raise the necessary funds for a new cathedral, his prayers are answered in the form of a handsome, personable guardian angel named Dudley (Cary Grant). Establishing himself as a Yuletide guest in the Brougham home, Dudley arouses the ire of Henry, who, unaware that his visitor is from Up Above, assumes that Dudley has designs on the bishop's wife Julia (Loretta Young). Eventually, the lives of both Henry and Julia are agreeably altered by the presence of the affable angel: He regains the "common touch" he'd almost lost, while she realizes anew how much she truly loves her husband. Adapted by Robert E. Sherwood and Robert Bercovicci from a novel by Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife was remade in 1996 as The Preacher's Wife, with Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston and Courtney B. Vance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide