Robert Carson Movies

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

Movie producer John Addison (Robert Ellenstein) ends up in deep trouble when he picks up an attractive female hitchhiker (Carol Leigh), who proceeds to shake him down for money. Addison turns to Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) for help when he is accused of murdering Edgar Ferrell (Paul Cavanaugh)--and the only witness to the crime happens to be the blackmailing girl. This episode is based on The Case of the Vagabond Virgin, a 1940 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner (the title was, of course, altered to satisfy the CBS censors!) In 1965, the same novel would be refilmed, with variations, as "The Case of the Golden Bears." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the radio series of the same name, Gang Busters was an episodic documentary-style tale of criminals brought to justice. Veteran screen baddie Myron Healey plays John Omar Pinson, a real-life criminal once rated Public Enemy #4. The film recounts the many prison breaks staged by Pinson, all of which resulted in his recapture. Gangbusters was comprised of three half-hour episodes from the Gangbusters TV series (53), stitched together into an ersatz feature film. This pastiche approach proved successful enough to spawn two subsequent films, again culled from Gang Busters TV footage: Guns Don't Argue (57) and Ma Barker's Killer Brood (60). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

You're Never Too Young is a slapstick-with-songs remake of the 1944 Ray Milland/Ginger Rogers vehicle The Major and the Minor. Dean Martin plays the Milland part, while Ginger's shoes are filled by...Jerry Lewis? Lewis plays an apprentice barber who inadvertently crosses a homicidal jewel thief (Raymond Burr), and equally inadvertently hightails it out of town with the crook's jewels in his possession. Desperate to escape the crook's clutches, and lacking the necessary funds for a train ticket, Lewis disguises himself as a 12-year-old boy so he can travel half fare. He latches onto Dean, a music teacher heading for an all-girls school. After innumerable routines sparked by Lewis's adolescent disguise, the jewel thief catches up with him, leading to a rollicking climactic speedboat chase. Dean Martin has plenty of opportunities to serenade leading lady Diana Lynn (who'd played a supporting role in The Major and the Minor), while Jerry Lewis is in peak form doing his usual "waah-waah-waah" schtick. The original Billy Wilder/Charles Brackett script for The Major and the Minor was reshaped into You're Never Too Young by future bestselling novelist Sidney Sheldon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two bank robbers get away with 250,000 dollars in unmarked, unrecorded bills, murdering a guard in the process. The police know the leader was Harry Wheeler (Paul E. Richards) and turn their attention to his girlfriend, Leona McLane (Kim Novak), detective Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) arranging to pick her up in a "chance" meeting at a movie and spend some time with her. After one day, he knows what he needs to -- that she's not in touch with Wheeler, but expects to be -- but he keeps things going between them for three more days. By the time the department has a full surveillance team in place, he can't get her off his mind, and when she discovers that he's a cop and raises the notion of letting events take their course with Wheeler (i.e., him ending up dead) and the two of them keeping the money, he's hooked. Sheridan is fast on his feet and a quick thinker and sees how he might pull this off and get the two of them away clean. But he doesn't bargain for the alcoholism of one of the detectives (Allen Nourse) on the surveillance team, the inquisitive nature of his squad commander (E.G. Marshall), or the attachment that his younger associate (Philip Carey) develops for a nurse (Dorothy Malone) living in the building they're observing. Kim Novak had previously appeared in small roles in some films at RKO, but The Pushover marked her formal introduction to audiences as a star, and she more than lives up to the billing and the buildup she received, her acting ability and her physique easily carrying her end of the picture (she's onscreen alone for long minutes under observation, and is convincingly seductive), while MacMurray gives one of the best performances of his career, rivaling his work in Double Indemnity, The Caine Mutiny, and The Apartment. ~ Bruce Eder, 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

Though it isn't obvious at first glance, Three Sailors and a Girl is the fourth screen version of the George S. Kaufman stage comedy The Butter and Egg Man. The titular gobs are Jones, Twitch, and Parky, played respectively by Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, and Jack E. Leonard. On leave in New York with their pockets full of money, our trio of heroes are convinced by wheeler-dealer Joe Woods (Sam Levene) to invest their money in a musical show. It soon becomes obvious that the boys have backed a turkey, but with the help of pert leading-lady Penny (Jane Powell), a potential disaster is converted into a smashing success. The Sammy Cahn-Sammy Fain musical score is tuneful if forgettable, while LeRoy Prinz' choreography is first-rate. A cute celebrity cameo appearance caps this happy little film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Craig Stevens offers a seminal version of his "Peter Gunn" TV characterization in Allied Artists' Murder Without Tears. Stevens plays homicide detective Steve O'Malley, who doesn't buy Warren Richards' (Eddie Norris) alibi that he killed Mrs. Norris while suffering an alcoholic blackout. If Richards is able to persuade the jury that he wasn't responsible for his actions, he'll get off, and under the "double jeopardy" law will not be forced to stand trial again. O'Malley intends to see that Richards is duly punished -- even if he has to take matters in his own hands. Joyce Holden co-stars as the woman torn between her love for O'Malley and her obligation to Richards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

Also known as The Tall Lie, For Men Only was a hard-hitting if somewhat gratuitous expose of college fraternity "hazing." A young man is rushed by a popular and well-established frat, only to discover that part of the initiation ceremony requires him to kill a puppy. He drops out of the fraternity and tells the world its "secrets". The fraternity leader, played by Russell Johnson, organizes a campaign to drive the pledge off the campus--which results in the pledge's death. Professor Paul Henried investigates, and learns that the fraternity's ties to the business community are so strong that he can do nothing to stop the cruelty of the hazing process. Henried's only recourse is to expose arrogant frat leader Johnson as a coward with feet of clay--which he does, in a breast-beating scene that will surprise those who know Russell Johnson only as the mild-mannered "Professor" on Gilligan's Island. Made inexpensively, For Men Only is competently directed by star Paul Henried. The only question is: Why should the non-collegiates in the audience care anything about the iniquities of fraternity life? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Using elements of two earlier films, The Fleet's In and Lady Be Careful, Paramount came up with the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis vehicle Sailor Beware. As usual, Jerry Lewis is the helpless goof and Dean Martin the suave ladies' man; this time Lewis is a navy recruit while Martin is his submarine-officer buddy. The film skips from one comic setpiece to another (the best is a parody of radio audience participation shows) until it reaches the slapstick climax: A boxing match pitting Lewis against the navy champion. After a few very funny moments in which Lewis pretends to be a punch drunk pug, the match commences, much to the dismay of Lewis and the delight of his fervent fan following. Martin makes good use of his screen time by romancing an "ice princess" movie star (Corinne Calvert), who of course melts once Dino turns on the charm. Betty Hutton, star of Sailor Beware's precursor The Fleet's In, pops up at the beginning and end of the Martin/Lewis epic as "Hetty Button." And watch for an unbilled James Dean as one of the team's shipmates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Columbia's final release for 1950 was the Gene Autry western Indian Territory. Set during the Reconstruction Era, the story finds Autry working as an undercover agent for the U.S. cavalry. His mission: to neutralize a former Austrian army officer named Curt Raidler (Phil Van Zandt), who is leading a group of renegade Indians on a series of destructive raids. A subplot concerns the friendly rivalry between Autry and Union lieutenant Randolph Mason (played by Kirby Grant, later famous as TV's Sky King). Like most of Gene Autry's films from this era, Indian Territory co-stars Pat Buttram and Gail "Annie Oakley" Davis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

MGM's The Reformer and the Redhead was the first directorial collaboration of longtime screenwriting partners Norman Panama and Melvin Frank. The reformer is Andrew Rockton Hale (Dick Powell), a mayoral candidate. Hale butts heads with a corrupt political machine, which has recently ordered the firings of several innocent city employees, including zookeeper Kevin Maguire (Cecil Kellaway). The redhead in the case is Maguire's daughter Kathleen (June Allyson), who joins Hale's election team, only to turn on him after a series of misunderstandings. The farcical proceedings culminate in a bit of Bringing Up Baby-style slapstick involving a ferocious lion. By the time Reformer and the Redhead was filmed, Dick Powell and June Allyson had been married for five years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide