Bradbury Foote Movies
- 1951
An all-supporting-player cast graces the Republic actioner Million Dollar Pursuit. Top billing goes to Penny Edwards as nightclub chanteuse Bonnie Laverne, but the film's leading character is small-time crook Monte Norris, played by Norman Budd. Planning a major heist, Norris gets in over his head when he enlists the aid of more experienced criminals, headed by cabaret owner Carlo Petrov (Grant Withers). So fascinating are the villainous characters in Million Dollar Pursuit that nominal good guy Lt. Whitcomb (Steve Flagg) seems downright intrusive. The film was an early TV arrival, where it has shown up with startling frequency on the nation's many Late Late Shows. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Edwards, Grant Withers, (more)
- 1950
Prisoners in Petticoats is a misleadingly innocuous title for this girls-behind-bars melodrama. It all begins when innocent cocktail pianist Joan Grey (Valentine Perkins) is implicated in a crime committed by her gangster boss (Anthony Caruso). Rather than reveal her true identity, thereby humiliating her highly respected father (Alex Gerry), Joan tells the police nothing, and is sent to prison as a consequence. Oddly, the most exploitable angle of this film, i.e. Joan's misadventures behind bars, is downplayed in the second half of the film, which is primarily devoted to the investigation conducted by special investigator Mark Hampton (Robert Rockwell). Veteran musical comedy performer Queenie Smith steals the show as an elderly convict. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valentine Perkins, Robert Rockwell, (more)
- 1948
In this thriller, a young couple gets married while the groom is on a weekend furlough with the Navy. The newlyweds have only thirty-six hours to honeymoon and they have no place to stay. A mysterious stranger on her way to elope, offers them her apartment. Unfortunately, the suite had been let by three show girls who had sent a gang of mobsters to jail. The gangsters are now out and are looking to exact their revenge. They head straight for the apartment. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audrey Long, Warren Douglas, (more)
- 1948
An honest football player single-handedly takes on a professional gambler and the crooked publisher of a sports magazine to bust up their game-fixing scheme. Unfortunately, his efforts get him killed. This crime drama chronicles the efforts of a different player and an earnest D.A. to bring the killers to justice. Matters are not helped by the fact that the attorney is publisher's stepson. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Martin, William Wright, (more)
- 1947
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
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter, (more)
- 1946
This drama is an updated version of Ulmer's 1944 film Bluebeard. It is set in New York and follows the exploits of an eccentric Parisian painter who has come to New York to escape a controversy surrounding his work. The trouble stems when the model he has used in all his work is found floating dead in the Seine. Later, his New York model is also found dead. When a second model is also found dead, her sister impersonates a model to prove his guilt. Instead she falls in love with him and helps to clear his name. (Interestingly, in the original, he was the killer.) ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis Lederer, Gail Patrick, (more)
- 1944
Singing, dancing, and ice skating are featured in this musical that focuses on ice-skating sensation Belita. The story begins as she travels to a California resort where she has been hired as a replacement for a dance team. The resort is run by a handsome fellow. As a result of the gig, the skater becomes a national star while the resort manager gets fired and becomes a drifter until he ends up in the Army. The Oscar nominated score includes the following songs: "Silver Shadows and Golden Dreams", "Dream of Dreams", "Rio", "In the Days of Beau Brummel", "Lady, Let's Dance", "Happy Hearts", "Ten Million Men and a Girl", and the rhumba standard "Esperanza". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Belita, James Ellison, (more)
- 1941
The famous outlaw rides again in this fictionalized western that chronicles Billy's turn from criminal to fine upstanding citizen. The film received an Oscar nomination for its color cinematography. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Brian Donlevy, (more)
- 1940
- NR
This film follows the teenage years of brilliant inventor Thomas Alva Edison (Mickey Rooney) as the young man troubles his family and his school teachers with his great quest for knowledge. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Fay Bainter, (more)
- 1940
- NR
In 1940, MGM turned out two films on the life of Thomas Alva Edison.The first, Young Tom Edison, starred Mickey Rooney and trotted out all the old Edison folklore, including the now-discredited incident in which Tom loses his hearing by being yanked onto a train by his ears. Edison the Man, starring Spencer Tracy in the title role, downplays certain inconvenient facts (including Edison's strong-arm tactics to protect his patents), but adheres more closely to actual events than its predecessor. The story concentrates on Edison's most productive years, from 1872 to 1882 (surprisingly ignoring his role in the development of the motion picture!) The inventions invented herein include the ticker-tape machine, the phonograph, the Dictaphone, and of course the electric light. Gene Lockhart is on hand to once more perform his movie specialty of the blinkered financier who can see no future in Edison's crazy schemes. The film tries to stir up suspense by giving Edison only six months to complete his dream of illuminating the streets of New York, lest he lose the contract--and, by extension, his credibility. While Young Tom Edison had unexpectedly lost money, Edison the Man was a success; as for Spencer Tracy, he was a versatile enough actor to escape the fate of poor Don Ameche, who was forever and inextricably associated with his portrayal of Alexander Graham Bell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Rita Johnson, (more)
- 1938
Clarence Brown directed this heart-tugging piece of Americana, set during the Civil War era. Walter Huston plays a stern family patriarch, a preacher who thrusts his family into poverty in order to set an example for his parishioners. As a result, his son (James Stewart) grows up to resent him. He looks to travel East and go to medical school, but his father's iron-fisted vow of poverty holds him back from education. Defying the father, his mother (Beulah Bondi) sells off part of her dowry to finance her son's education. The young man travels East and becomes so embroiled in his studies he neglects to stay in contact with his family, returning only when he receives news of his father's death. After father's passing, he goes off to war as a doctor, leaving his mother abandoned back home. Having heard nothing from her son since his departure for the Civil War, mother thinks he may have died and contacts President Lincoln (John Carradine) to investigate his whereabouts. Surprisingly, Lincoln responds to the mother's pleas and seeks to find out about the status of her son. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, James Stewart, (more)
- 1937
Based on The Bride from Trieste by Ferenc Molnar, The Bride Wore Red stars Joan Crawford as the eponymous heroine. A singer in a seedy Budapest dive, Anni (Crawford) is mistaken for a socialite thanks to a practical joke perpetrated by the cynical Count Armalia (George Zucco). Though a bit confused about her new favored status, Anni happily hobnobs with the "best people" on the Tyrol, including handsome Rudi Pal (Robert Young), who falls in love with her. She manages to pull off her charade for two full weeks, at which time the Count callously reveals the truth. Rudi Pal gallantly offers to marry Anni anyway, but she settles for a happier -- if less financially advantageous -- union with humble village postman Guilio (Franchot Tone, Crawford's husband at the time). When all is said and done, The Bride Wore Red is essentially a showcase for MGM's wardrobe department, with Joan Crawford garbed in a variety of gorgeous gowns, each one more dazzling than the last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, (more)
