Alfred E. Green Movies

Paris Model is quickie producer Albert Zugsmith's answer to such multistoried films as Tales of Manhattan. Linking the four stories presented herein is a Paris-original gown, "Nude at Midnight." The gown is first purchased by "good bad girl" Gogo Montaine (Eva Gabor), who hopes to impress her date for the evening, the Maharajah of Kim-Kepore (Tom Conway, who happened to be Gabor's brother-in-law at the time, a fact that wasn't ignored in the film's publicity). Next, the gown is illegally copied in the U.S., leading to a major social gaffe involving secretary Betty Barnes (Paulette Goddard), her boss Edgar Blevins (Leif Erickson) and Blevins' wife Cora (Gloria Christian). Next, Marion Parmelee (Marilyn Maxwell) wears the gown to coerce her husband's boss (Cecil Kellaway) into giving hubby a promotion. And finally, Marta Jensen (Barbara Lawrence) dons the gown in hopes that her erstwhile beau Charlie Johnson (Robert Hutton) will pop the question. Tom Conway makes a return appearance in this final sequence, as does 1930s comedy favorite El Brendel and Hollywood restaurateur Prince Michael Romanoff. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A handful of strangers are suddenly thrown together as America goes face-to-face against the Communist threat in this curious example of Cold War exploitation. A few people are enjoying drinks in a Manhattan cocktail lounge - television reporter Vince Potter (Gerald Mohr), vacationing tractor tycoon George Sylvester (Robert Bice), cattle baron Ed Mulfory (Erik Blythe), Congressman Arthur Harroway) (Wade Crosby), aimless party girl Carla Sandford (Peggie Castle), and cheerfully dunderheaded bartender Tim (Tom Kennedy). As they discuss the state of the world and their disinterest with U.S. defense and paying taxes, one Mr. Ohman (Dan O'Herlihy) begins swirling his brandy snifter, and before long the other patrons are lulled into a hypnotic state, where they're given a sneak preview of what to expect when an unnamed Communist nation invades the West Coast. Mulfory is able to return home just in time to see his ranch flooded by enemy sabotage, armed troops take over Sylvester's factory, the Congressman watches as Reds seize power, and the suddenly patriotic Carla falls in love with Vince as he covers the brave but futile resistance dished out by our ill-equipped and poorly-prepared military forces. Spectacularly paranoid and loaded with often tattered stock footage, Invasion USA was shot in a mere seven days on a budget of $127,000, and ended up earning its producers well over a million dollars upon its initial release in 1952. Superman fans take note: Phyllis Coates and Noel Neill, both of whom played Lois Lane in the 50's television series The Adventures of Superman, appear in Invasion USA's supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Audie Murphy and Wanda Hendrix were husband and wife when they co-starred in the Technicolor western Sierra. Murphy plays Ring Hassard, the son of outlaw Jeff Hassard (Dean Jagger), who despite his dad's reputation is basically a good kid. Hendrix portrays Riley Martin, a lady lawyer who hopes to clear Ring's name -- and, eventually, to march him to the altar. The plot hinges on whether or not Ring's father is the ruthless desperado he's cracked up to be. The film's highlight is an extended wild-horse roundup sequence, which helps the audience forget Wanda Hendrix's miscasting as a female legal eagle. Sierra was based on a novel by Stuart Hardy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cover-Up transfers the metropolitan "film noir" milieu to a small Midwestern town. Dennis O'Keefe plays Sam Donovan, an insurance detective, investigating the suicide of a policy holder. All signs point to murder, but no one in the victim's hometown is willing to cooperate with Donovan, least of all sheriff Larry Beat (William Bendix). Local girl Anita (Barbara Britton) breaks through the wall of silence and helps Donovan solve the mystery. Intriguingly, the action of Cover-Up takes place at Christmastime, with the tinselly Yuletide atmosphere providing stark contrast to the sordid murder story. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Girl From Manhattan is a minor but watchable variation on the old "mortgage-on-the-farm" plot device. The girl of the title is Carol Maynard (Dorothy Lamour), who after several years in the Big Apple returns to her home town, where her uncle, boarding-house manager Homer Purdy (Ernest Truex) faces eviction. The villain of the piece at first seems to be brash young minister Tom Walker (Robert Montgomery), who wants to build a church on Truex's property. But after reviewing the sitaution, Carol and Tom figure out that they have a common enemy: dishonest financier Sam Griffin (Howard Freeman), who intends to use the old church property for his own crooked purposes. Saving the film from wallowing in its own bathos is the timely arrival of Charles Laughton as a cherubic Bishop. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on the lives of big-band stars Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, this biographical chronicle begins with their childhood in an industrial Pennsylvania town. Encouraged in their musical talents by their father, the Dorsey brothers' sibling rivalry proves to be a stumbling block until the their father's death gives them the momentum they need to rise to fame, and they are eventually considered to be among the best bandleaders of the swing era. Appearances by Charlie Barnet, Art Tatum, and Bob Eberly jazz up the musical numbers, featuring such songs as "Green Eyes," "Everybody's Doin' It", "Marie," and "I'll Never Say Never Again." ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

Though legendary entertainer Al Jolson was a highly visible presence on the U.S.O. circuit during World War II, he was generally regarded as a relic of an earlier time until his movie comeback in 1945's Rhapsody in Blue. Showing up 30 minutes into this biopic of George Gershwin, Jolson literally stopped the show with his robust rendition of "Swanee." Suddenly, every Hollywood studio was negotiating with Jolson to film his life story. Warner Bros., the studio that skyrocketed to the top ranks via the 1927 part-talkie Jolson vehicle The Jazz Singer, seemed to have the inside track, but it was Columbia's Harry Cohn who made the deal that Jolson couldn't refuse. An attractively appointed fabrication, the Technicolor The Jolson Story distorts and glosses over the particulars of Jolson's life, but the results are so darned entertaining that nobody really paid attention to its inaccuracies. The story begins in turn-of-the-century Washington, D.C., where young Asa Yoelson (Scotty Beckett), son of an immigrant cantor (Ludwig Donath), ignores his religious studies in favor of popular music. Asa is hired as an "extra added attraction" boy tenor by a vaudevillian; when his voice breaks, the boy wins over the audience with his whistling ability. Growing into manhood, Asa Yoelson -- now "Al Jolson," and now played by Larry Parks -- becomes fascinated with African-American jazz music. He breaks away from his initial vaudeville assignment by joining Lew Dockstader's (John Alexander) blackface minstrel troupe, then goes on to success as a "single." Ascending to Broadway, Jolson establishes a reputation as an inveterate ad-libber, as well as an indefatigable singing performer, frequently holding an audience in thrall until the wee hours of the morning. Along the way, he falls in love with singer Julie Benson (Evelyn Keyes), a character based on Jolson's third wife Ruby Keeler, who refused permission to have her name used on screen. As Jolson attains superstardom, his ego assumes gargantuan proportions, alienating many of those around him, including his wife Julie. Anxious not to lose Julie, Jolson promises to change his ways. He even goes into retirement so as to spend more time with his wife. But when coerced into performing before a nightclub audience, Jolson is "hooked"once more -- whereupon the understanding Julie walks out of his life, realizing that she can never compete with Jolson's love for his audience. Like its subject, The Jolson Story delivered exactly what the audience wanted to hear. Faithful Columbia contractee Larry Parks was catapulted to stardom as Jolson, though in retrospect he seems a curious casting choice: his miming of Jolson's style is painstakingly accurate, but he seems too boyish and unwordly for the role. Jolson, then well into his sixties, had wanted to play himself on screen, but was talked out of it after a rather embarrassing screen test. He consoled himself by personally coaching Parks in the role (his attitude toward the young performer alternated between avuncular and adversarial through the shooting), and by providing his own voice in the musical sequences. Jolson also appears in long-shot during the "Swanee" number, which like all the film's musical highlights was directed by cult favorite Joseph H. Lewis (whose "dry run" for this assignment was the 1945 PRC production Minstrel Man). A wealth of Jolson standards are heard in The Jolson Story, including "You Made Me Love You," "I'm Sitting on Top of the World," "My Mammy," "There's a Rainbow Round My Shoulder," "Toot Toot Tootsie," "The Anniversary Waltz," "Rock-a-bye Your Baby," and "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy." The film was nominated for several Oscars, winning in the "best sound" and "best score" categories. A fantastic box-office success, The Jolson Story spawned a 1949 sequel, Jolson Sings Again. Ironically, despite Larry Parks' contributions to the film, it did little for that actor and instead reignited Jolson's celebrity during the last several years of his life. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this mystery, the artist behind a detective cartoon strip solves real police cases on the side. The police are rather irritated by him because he is better at it than they are. He does it again when the chairman of a fund-raiser suddenly dies during a benefit. The police report claims the man died of heart failure, but the cartoonist proves that he was poisoned. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This flag-waving Columbia programmer concentrates on five young Officer's Candidate School applicants. Each of the protagonists aspires to an officer's commission in the Anti-Artillery Aircraft Command. All the clichéd characterizations are in attendance, from the brash show-off (Tom Neal) to the seen-it-all veteran (Bruce Bennett). Evelyn Keyes is the obligatory romantic lead, while future "Ward Cleaver" Hugh Beaumont shows up as a hard-nosed lieutenant. There's Something About a Soldier was largely filmed on location at the OCS training headquarters of Camp Davis, North Carolina. Excerpts from the film were later reused in Columbia's The Racket Man, which also starred Tom Neal. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, an ex-vaudevillian dancer opens up a dance band agency and help street kids at the same time by hiring them to help out. Unfortunately, the local gang of hood's leader resists his attempts. More trouble ensues when the dancer helps a convict gain parole by hiring him. It later turns out that the ex-con is only interested in trying to use the agency as a front for extortion. Songs include the Oscar nominated "When There's a Breeze on Lake Louise," "Your Face Looks Familiar," "Heavenly, Isn't He?" "Let's Forget It," "You're Bad For Me," and "A Million Miles From Manhattan." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A minor heart-tugger filmed on leftover Mr. Smith Goes to Washington sets, this Columbia production stars the very British Herbert Marshall as US senator John Coleridge. Befriending young Marty Driscoll (Gene Reynolds), a tough kid from the proverbial wrong side of the tracks, Senator Coleridge tries to put Marty on the right track by installing him as a Senate page boy. When Marty sells top-secret information to the press, Coleridge refuses to punish the boy himself: instead, Marty is tried before a jury of his peers-the rest of the pages, who've been anxious to show what they've learned while observing the senators at work. Virginia Bruce does what she can with the thankless role of a DC newspaper sob sister. The link between Adventure in Washington and Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is strengthened by the presence in the cast of Dickie Jones and Pierre Watkin, both of whom had appeared in similar roles in the Capra film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, set in New York City, two brothers fight it out over a girl. The boys were raised by their Italian mother. The younger brother is adopted and they grow up to pursue very different life directions. The adopted brother goes to college, but the older brother gets involved with crime and ends up going to San Quentin. He is released from prison just as the younger brother graduates. Later the older brother returns home with his girlfriend. It is not long before he is in trouble with the local syndicate. Meanwhile, the girl and the other brother fall in love and decide to marry. The older brother is not amused. Still, when the mob bursts in at the wedding, it is the older brother who keeps them at bay until the ceremony is completed. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi