Robert Carson Movies
The third remake of the 1932 drama What Price Hollywood?, this adaptation of A Star Is Born moved the story into the mid-1970's and changed the milieu from the movie business to pop music. John Norman Howard (Kris Kristofferson) is a rock star whose career has peaked; he is numbed by booze and cocaine, his music has lost its edge, and his performances have become painfully haphazard. One night, after a concert, he stumbles into a club where he sees a singing group fronted by Esther Hoffman (Barbra Streisand). John likes what he hears and loves what he sees; he tries picking her up, but soon realizes if he wants to see her, he'll have to ask her out on an actual date. He does, and before long the two become involved, although Esther has trouble with John's rock star lifestyle. One night, a typically burned-out John lets Esther sing a few songs at one of his shows; before long she's the talk of the record business. While Esther's star begins to rise, John's continues to sink, and while she desperately tries get John to clean up and focus on his music, it may be too late to save him. The song "Evergreen" earned this film an Academy Award for Best Song; the credits contain the amusing notice, "Ms. Streisand's Clothes from ... Her Closet." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson, (more)
A Star is Born came into being when producer David O. Selznick decided to tell a "true behind-the-scenes" story of Hollywood. The truth, of course, was filtered a bit for box-office purposes, although Selznick and an army of screenwriters based much of their script on actual people and events. Janet Gaynor stars as Esther Blodgett, the small-town girl who dreams of Hollywood stardom, a role later played by both Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand in the 1954 and 1976 remakes. Jeered at by most of her family, Esther finds an ally in her crusty old grandma (May Robson), who admires the girl's "pioneer spirit" and bankrolls Esther's trip to Tinseltown. On arrival, Esther heads straight to Central Casting, where a world-weary receptionist (Peggy Wood), trying to let the girl down gently, tells her that her chances for stardom are about one in a thousand. "Maybe I'll be that one!" replies Esther defiantly. Months pass: through the intervention of her best friend, assistant director Danny McGuire (Andy Devine), Esther gets a waitressing job at an upscale Hollywood party. Her efforts to "audition" for the guests are met with quizzical stares, but she manages to impress Norman Maine (Fredric March), the alcoholic matinee idol later played by James Mason and Kris Kristofferson. Esther gets her first big break in Norman's next picture and a marriage proposal from the smitten Mr. Maine. It's a hit, but as Esther (now named Vicki)'s star ascends, Norman's popularity plummets due to a string of lousy pictures and an ongoing alcohol problem. The film won Academy Awards for director William Wellman and Robert Carson in the "original story" category and for W. Howard Greene's glistening Technicolor cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, (more)
- 1954
- PG
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
- Starring:
- Judy Garland, James Mason, (more)
- 1942
- NR
A lively espionage drama that reunited the stars and director of the previous year's The Maltese Falcon, Across the Pacific was originally envisioned as the story of a Japanese invasion of Hawaii. Real-life events of December of 1941, however, precluded such a scenario and the location was changed to the Panama Canal. For reasons known only to Warner Bros., the title was retained despite the fact that none of the action takes place in the Pacific. Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Leland, a disgraced ex-army man, who, after being turned down by the Canadian military, jumps a Japanese steamer bound for the Panama Canal Zone. Also onboard are Alberta Marlow (Mary Astor), a small-town girl claiming to be en route to Los Angeles; Dr. Lorenz (Sydney Greenstreet), a corpulent sociologist with a suspiciously friendly regard for all things Japanese; and Joe Totsuiko (Victor Sen Yung), a happy-go-lucky second generation Japanese-American on his way to visit the old country. But no one is exactly who he or she claims to be and the voyage from Halifax via New York City to Panama becomes a matter of life and death for the passengers in general, and for the future of the United States in particular. Director John Huston was forced to leave the film three weeks into the four-week shooting schedule when summoned to report to the Department of Special Services. According to Huston, he purposefully placed Humphrey Bogart's character in a highly precarious situation and left it up to his replacement, Vincent Sherman, to come up with the solution -- which Sherman did in an especially fiery climax. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, (more)
- 1957
In one of her few English-speaking appearances, French leading lady Martine Carol plays Tracy, the daughter of a political prisoner. Tracy hires soldier-of-fortune Carson (Van Johnson) to smuggle her into Albania by way of Greece. Once behind the Iron Curtain, Tracy and Carson enlist the aid of a group of freedom-loving Albanian outlaws, led by Trifon (Herbert Lom). The final third of the film details the desperate escape attempt involving Tracy, her father and Carson. Filmed in Spain and released in the U.S. by Van Johnson's home studio of MGM, Action of the Tiger was based on a novel by James Wellard. Watch for Sean Connery in a barroom-brawl sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Johnson, Martine Carol, (more)
- 1952
At least half of the two-part Actors and Sin is well worth having. Part One, "Actor's Blood", is based on a Ben Hecht tale of theatrical intrigue. Edward G. Robinson plays a Barrymoresque Shakespearean actor whose obsessive control of the life and career of his actress-daughter Marsha Hunt results in disaster. Part Two, "Woman of Sin", is another Ben Hecht yarn, this one satirical in nature. Eddie Albert stars as a Hollywood agent who'd sell his Grandmother to represent the author of a sensationally sexy screenplay titled, yes, Woman of Sin. Much to Albert's surprise (but not ours), the author turns out to be a precocious 9-year-old girl, played by Hecht's own daughter Jenny. Of the two playlets, "Actor's Blood", though ripely melodramatic, scores best in the acting department. "Woman of Sin" is too arch and smug to be consistently funny, while Jenny Hecht is perhaps the greatest argument against nepotism in film history. Ostensibly directed by Ben Hecht (who also produced), Actors and Sin was largely helmed by cinematographer Lee Garmes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Marsha Hunt, (more)
- 1964
Union Colonel Brackenby (Melvyn Douglas) and his second-in-command, Captain Heath (Glenn Ford), attempt to command a rather inept cavalry unit during the Civil War. General Willoughby (Jim Backus) heads them out West on assignment rather than allowing them to foul things up where it counts. They soon get involved with Martha Lou, a confederate spy (Stella Stevens) posing as a prostitute, and her boss, Jenny (Joan Blondell) as well as a group of renegades and an Indian chief. In spite of their ridiculous slapstick antics, they manage to carry out their mission. This comedy was based on Company of Cowards, a novel by Jack Schaefer. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens, (more)
- 1955
In this lively musical a chorine hooks a successful businessman and becomes the snob she thinks he expects her to be. This is a problem, because he fell in love with her because she was so earthy and fun. Now that she has become refined and aloof, he is bored. Fortunately, just as he is leaving, the plucky girl sees the error of her ways and marital bliss ensues. Songs include: "Ain't Misbehavin'", "The Dixie Mambo", "I Love That Rickey, Tickey, Tickey", and "A Little Love Can Go a Long Way". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Piper Laurie, (more)
- 1960
Condemned for a murder he didn't commit, embittered death-row inmate Prof. Herbert Morrison (Brian Keith) has not only given up all hopes of a reprieve, but has informed his lawyer not to even bother getting him released. As his last hours tick away, Morrison is more annoyed than usual by the obnoxious ebullience of prison guard Pops Lafferty (James Westerfield). Figuring that he can only be put to death once, Morrison vows that his last act on Earth will be to shut Pops' mouth permanently! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Paroled after serving 20 years for robbery, Harry Beggs (Crahan Denton) returns to his hometown, hoping to patch things up with his wife, Edith (Jeanette Nolan). Harry has managed to save 1,636 dollars during his sentence, and with this he hopes to jump-start his life. Unfortunately, he meets a sexy young girl (Susan Silo) at a bar -- and by the time he leaves, his money is gone. This is disturbing enough, but not nearly so disturbing as what happens when Harry finally arrives at Edith's doorstep. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
This episode is clearly inspired by the famous "Bridey Murphy" affair of the mid-'50s. During a party, Lucy Pryor (Phyllis Thaxter) allows herself to be hypnotized by Professor Miles Farham (Tom Helmore). While in a trance, she regresses to the year 1853 and assumes the personality of a Quaker woman named Dora Evans -- and then, just as Dora Evans had done over 100 years earlier, Lucy promptly murders her husband. During her subsequent trial, Lucy undergoes hypnosis a second time to prove that she had had no control over herself when committing the murder...and the results are astonishing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Working the late shift at the neighborhood cop shop, beleaguered Captain Shaw (John Larch) finds himself saddled with a pair of lost souls: an old man (Claude Rains) suffering from amnesia and a little boy (Bill Mumy) abandoned by his parents. Instinctively, Shaw is persuaded that the oldster and the youngster belong together -- and in his efforts to expedite this bonding, the lieutenant is in for a surprise. This episode reunites John Larch and Bill Mumy, previously cast as father and son in the chilling Twilight Zone entry "It's a Good Life." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Hotel waitress Thelma Tompkins (Olive Deering) is surprised to learn that wealthy Mrs. Mannerheim (Celia Lovsky) has named Thelma in her will. Relating this news to her lazy musician boyfriend, Arthur (Rick Jason), in hopes that he will propose to her, Thelma is disappointed when Arthur replies that marriage is out of the question until Mrs. Mannerheim dies. Giving this set of circumstances, Thelma and Arthur have no alternative than to "help" Mrs. Mannerheim shuffle off her mortal coil -- a scheme ultimately foiled by the usual ironic twist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Third-rate escape artist Joe Ferlini (Keenan Wynn) hopes to make the big time with a particularly dangerous stunt, in which he will be manacled hand and foot and locked into a submerged trunk. Both Joe's wife Wanda (Jan Sterling) and his manager Phil (Dennis Patrick) try to talk Joe out of this stunt, but only Phil is sincere; the faithless Wanda intends to use Joe's big escape as a cover for her plan to murder him. As things turn out, Wanda "wins" -- at least until the day of Joe's funeral, that is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
On the eve of his execution for a crime he didn't commit, Gerald Daniels (Harry Guardino) makes one last request: a typewriter. Angrily, Daniels pounds out a damning critique of D.A. Bernard Butler (Hugh Marlowe), the man who had sent him to death row. Daniels reveals that, not only did Butler prosecute him unfairly, but that the D.A. had previously condemned an innocent man for a murder that Butler had actually committed! "Is this the sort of man you want for governor?" Daniels asks at the conclusion of his embittered harangue -- just before an ironic twist caps this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Lumber tycoon Bill Fleming (Paul Douglas) knows that his wife, Laura (Dody Heath), is unfaithful, but he draws the line at killing Laura's love, Philip Baxter (Hugh Marlowe). However, Fleming changes his mind when a young acquaintance named Sandy (Robert Morse) cites an archaic but still viable law, which declares that Fleming cannot be prosecuted if he kills his rival in a duel. What Sandy doesn't tell Fleming is that this law has its own peculiar conditions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1946
One of four western films made for PRC by bantam-weight Bob Steele, Ambush Trail stars Steele as cowpoke Curley Thompson. The villain of the piece intends to bankrupt all the local ranchers and grab up the surrounding property for himself. But with Curley involved, the bad guy and his minions don't have a chance. The screenplay, by D. W. Griffith alumnus Elmer Clifton, is a medley of western cliches, pausing every so often for a first-rate action sequence. Perennial sagebrush sidekick Sid Saylor provides negligible comedy relief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Budd Buster, Edward Cassidy, (more)
This second of three movie versions of P.C. Wren's adventure novel Beau Geste is a virtual scene-for-scene remake of the 1927 silent version. We open on the now-famous scenes of a remote, burning desert fort, manned by the dead Foreign Legionnaires, then flash back to the early lives of the Geste brothers. As children, the Gestes swear eternal loyalty to one another and to their family. One of the boys, young Beau (played as a youth by Donald O'Connor), witnesses his beloved aunt (Heather Thatcher) apparently stealing a valuable family jewel in order to finance the Geste home; Beau chooses to remain silent rather than disgrace his aunt. Years later, the grown Beau (Gary Cooper) again protects his aunt by confessing to the theft and running off to join the Foreign Legion. He is joined in uniform by faithful brothers John (Ray Milland) and Digby (Robert Preston), who in turn are pursued by a slimy thief (J. Carroll Naish). The crook is in cahoots with sadistic Legion Sgt. Markov (Brian Donlevy, in one of the most hateful portrayals ever captured on celluloid), who is later put in charge of Fort Zinderneuf, where Beau and John are stationed. When the Arabs attack, Markov proves himself a valiant soldier; it is he who hits upon the idea of convincing the Arabs that the fort is still fully manned by propping up the corpses of the casualties at the guard posts. Beau is seriously wounded, and while the greedy Markov searches for the jewel supposedly hidden on Beau's person, he is held at bay by loyal John. The suddenly enervated Beau kills Markov, then dies himself--but not before entrusting two notes to John, one of which requests that John give Beau the "Viking funeral" he'd always wanted (this is why the fort is in flames at the beginning of the film). After the battle, Digby Geste, a bugler with the relief troops, comes upon Beau's dead body, and appropriates the notes. As it turns out, John Geste is the only one who survives to return to England. He gives his aunt Beau's letter, which explains why Beau had confessed and run off--"a 'beau geste', indeed" comments his tearful aunt. No one missed nominal leading lady Susan Hayward in this essentially all-male entertainment. For years available only in muddily processed or truncated versions, Beau Geste was restored to its pristine glory by the American Film Institute in the late 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1956
This musicalized remake of the 1939 comedy Bachelor Mother stars Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher (then Mr. and Mrs.) in the roles originated by Ginger Rogers and David Niven. Reynolds plays a department store salesgirl whose life is turned topsy-turvy when she finds an abandoned baby. Despite her protestations, everyone assumes that she's the mother of the child, including Fisher, the son of store owner Adolphe Menjou. Meanwhile, Menjou convinced that his son is the baby's father, is determined that his boy will "do right" by the innocent Reynolds. Much of the comic zest of the original film is diluted by the lackluster performance of Eddie Fisher, though Debbie Reynolds and the rest of the cast are in fine form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, (more)
- 1953
Also known as City on a Hunt, No Escape stars Lew Ayres and Marjorie Steele as mixed-up victims of circumstance. John Tracy (Ayres), a drunken songwriter, has reason to believe that he's murdered artist Peter Hayden (James Griffith). So does Pat Peterson (Steele), a blue-collar girl whom Hayden had tried to seduce. Both John and Pat take it on the lam, with her boyfriend, police detective Simon Shayne (Sonny Tufts), in hot pursuit. The twist ending isn't much of a surprise, but it's still crammed with suspense. No Escape represents a rare directorial effort by screenwriter Charles Bennett, whose previous scripting credits include several Alfred Hitchcock thrillers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lew Ayres, Marjorie Steele, (more)
- 1950
County Fair is an amiable racetrack drama starring Rory Calhoun. A veteran horse trainer, Calhoun has developed a somewhat unsavory reputation. He redeems himself by arranging for near-impoverished matron Florence Bates to win an important race. It's all for the love of a good woman--in this case, Bates' niece Jane Nigh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Jane Nigh, (more)
Deep in My Heart is the MGM-ified biography of composer Sigmund Romberg, here played by José Ferrer. Evidently the scripters didn't feel that the life of Romberg (as set down by author Elliott Arnold, whose book was used as the film's basis) had enough drama to fill out two hours and ten minutes. As a result, the film is overstocked with guest stars, performing such Romberg standards as "One Alone," "Lover Come Back to Me," "When I Grow Too Old to Dream," "Will You Remember," and "Stout-Hearted Men." Among these celebrities are Ann Miller, Vic Damone, Jane Powell, Tony Martin, Cyd Charisse, Rosemary Clooney, and Gene Kelly, the latter performing a dance duet with his seldom-seen brother, Fred. For all the heady competition, it is José Ferrer who renders the most memorable production number: a one-man presentation of the Romberg musical comedy Jazzboat, in which Ferrer assumes all the roles, from star Al Jolson's to the entire female chorus! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- José Ferrer, Helen Traubel, (more)
- 1939
Dick Tracy's G-Men is the second of three Republic serials starring Ralph Byrd as Chester Gould's granite-jawed comic strip plainclothesman. Tracy's foe in this one is notorious international spy Zarnoff (Irving Pichel), who will stop at nothing to sabotage America's military defense system. Not even death can stay Zarnoff from his appointed rounds: after being "killed" by Tracy and the G-Men, the villain is revived by miracle drugs. At one point, Zarnoff masterminds the explosion of a dirigible, permitting Republic to blithely (and tastelessly) insert newsreel footage of the "Hindenburg" disaster. After 15 pulse-pounded chapters, Tracy finally catches up with Zarnoff in the middle of the desert for a grim denoument. Having literally nothing to do as the nominal heroine is young Phyllis Isley, who went on to a rather more rewarding screen career as Jennifer Jones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Byrd, Irving Pichel, (more)
Cameron Hawley's novel Executive Suite appeared around the same time as two other tales of big-business intrigue, the 1954 film A Woman's World and the 1955 Rod Serling teleplay Patterns. Elements of all three properties inevitably overlap. In Executive Suite, a furniture-store executive dies suddenly, resulting in a power play between five of his vice presidents. Julia O. Tredway (Barbara Stanwyck), daughter of the company founder and mistress of the president, must choose between solid family man McDonald Walling (William Holden), blackmail-prone Josiah Walter Dudley (Paul Douglas), ruthless Loren Phineas Shaw (Fredric March), duplicitous George Nyle Caswell (Louis Calhern), and eternal corporate bridesmaid Frederick Y. Alderson (Walter Pidgeon). Only Walling, the most honest of the bunch, refuses to campaign for the presidential chair. Despite the presence of the A-list leads and of supporting actors Shelley Winters, Dean Jagger, and Nina Foch, Executive Suite is a true ensemble effort, with everyone carrying like weight onscreen. The property was later adapted into a TV series, which owed more to Dallas than it did to the Hawley novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, June Allyson, (more)
- 1940
Having struck pay dirt with its Blondie films, Columbia Pictures launched another "domestic" film series, based on Margaret Sidney's "Five Little Peppers" stories. The third and last entry in the series was The Five Little Peppers in Trouble, neither the best nor worst of this negligible project. Once more, Dorothy Peterson plays the widowed Mrs. Pepper, while her five precocious and resourceful offspring are portrayed by Edith Fellows, Dorothy Ann Seese, Charles Beck, Tommy Bond (best remembered as "Butch" in the Our Gang comedies) and Bobby Larson (replacing Jimmy Leake, who appeared in the first Pepper outing in 1939). Unable to watch over her kids and go to work at the same time, Mrs. Pepper bundles the little Peppers off to boarding school. The Five Little Peppers in Trouble is describable only as "cute"; you take it from there. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Fellows, Dorothy Ann Seese, (more)
