Hugo Haas Movies
Czech-born movie "renaissance man" Hugo Haas is usually excluded from the more scholarly works on film directors, which in a way is a crime: if ever there was an auteur who placed his personal signature on every one of his films, it was the redoubtable Mr. Haas. His film career began in Czechoslovakian comedies, many of which he also scripted. Fleeing his native country when Hitler's armies marched in (a perilous incident he later created on an episode of TV's Screen Director's Playhouse), Haas came to the U.S., where he narrated short-wave broadcasts to the Czech underground. In 1944, Haas resumed his acting career in Hollywood, specializing in oily European villains. Once he'd saved up enough capital from his acting jobs, Haas set up shop as an independent producer/director, turning out a dozen low-budget melodramas between 1951 and 1959. Bearing titles like Pickup (1951), Bait (1953), and Thy Neighbor's Wife (1954), the bulk of Haas' films told the same story over and over: A lonely middle-aged man (always played by Haas) is lured into a ill-advised sexual relationship with a blonde trollop (nearly always played by Haas' protégée Cleo Moore), with fatal results. Amazingly, Haas managed to turn out one "quality" film, the multiple-personality drama Lizzie (1957). Hugo Haas' final cinematic efforts eschewed melodrama for syrupy sentiment: in his last film, Paradise Alley (filmed in 1959 and released in 1962), Haas plays a washed-up movie director who tries to prove that people are basically good at heart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1945
Director Henry King's adaptation of John Hersey's novel is a faithful telling of the story of Major Joppolo (John Hodiak), who is assigned to administrate the Sicilian town of Adano after World War II and attempts to return it to its pre-war tranquility. His initial actions include feeding and clothing the villagers, who have been left starved and destitute by the ravages of the war, and preventing the hanging of its former mayor, a Mussolini supporter, although he makes clear that any hints of Fascism will not be tolerated. Suspicious at first, the villagers finally come to trust Joppolo when he works to reclaim the town bell, stolen from the city hall and a symbol of its identity. Gene Tierney plays the fisherman's daughter that Joppolo falls for, while William Bendix is his compassionate orderly and assistant. A Bell For Adano is a low-key look at the effects of war that builds to a quietly powerful conclusion. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luis Alberni, Gene Tierney, (more)
- 1954
Bait starts out with a cunning pre-credits sequence, wherein a dapper, erudite gentlemen (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), after signing a series of autographs for his admiring fans, introduces himself as the Devil. Addressing the viewer, His Satanic Majesty introduces a cautionary tale of sex and greed--which turns out to be yet another steamy Hugo Haas-directed melodrama, this one titled Bait. Once more, Haas casts himself as a truculent middle-aged man who succumbs to the charms of trashy young blonde Cleo Moore. The plot concerns a lost gold mine, which Haas has been seeking out for nearly 20 years. All he needs is a bright young man to share expenses and responsibilities for a prospecting expedition. Enter John Agar, whose avarice is exceeded only by his lust for Haas' buxom wife Moore. It turns out that Haas has intended all along to use Moore as bait to lure in Agar, as the first step in an elaborate murder and robbery scheme. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, (more)
- 1960
Considered to be a witch, gypsy girl Tirza (Susan Harrison) has been condemned to death by her own tribe. Taking refuge on the Ponderosa, Tirza falls in love with Joe Cartwright, who is determined to prove to one and all that the girl is not the sorceress she appears to be. Cult film director Hugo Haas appears as tribal leader Zirka, with Arthur Batanides as Spiro and Lily Valenty as Bruja. Originally broadcast on April 23, 1960, "Dark Star" was written by Anthony Lawrence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1959
Director Hugo Haas reprises the theme of romantic love in this routine yet innocent story of matchmaking. The setting is an overcrowded tenement building in which the residents seem to live beyond the reach of muggers or drug dealers or trigger-happy gangs because they mingle and mix in the halls as they energetically interact with each other. Prof. Brauer (Haas) is a music teacher whose neighbor Dorothy (Carol Morris, a former Miss Universe) is a single woman, a seamstress by trade. Prof. Brauer sees a potentially ideal match for her in his student Eddie (Dick Kallman). While he is promoting that concept, Dorothy is busy introducing him to her friend Mrs. Hoffmann (Vera Vague), a rich widow. Cupid's arrows dart right and left as these two possible couples meet. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Morris, Vera Vague, (more)
- 1948
Casbah is a musical remake of the 1938 film Algiers, which was itself a remake of the French film Pepe Le Moko. Tony Martin stars in the old Jean Gabin/Charles Boyer role as Pepe Le Moko, a master thief who lives in the Casbah section of Algiers. A French police inspector (Peter Lorre) would love to capture Pepe, but realizes that as long as the thief remains in the Casbah he is protected by his vast network of criminals. When Pepe falls in love with a beautiful tourist (Marta Toren), he schemes for the first time to leave his little "empire". Betrayed by a former lover (Yvonne De Carlo), Pepe is shot down by the police as he emerges from his sanctuary. Casbah lacks the atmosphere of the earlier non-musical versions of the story, but Tony Martin is reasonably convincing as Pepe Le Moko, even when bursting into song. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvonne De Carlo, Tony Martin, (more)
According to Hollywood lore, both John Wayne and director Frank Borzage refused to work with Vera Hruba Ralston, the Czech-born inamorata (and future wife) of Republic Pictures owner Herbert I. Yates. Yates somehow managed to convince Wayne to change his mind, but Borzage was replaced by contract director Joseph Kane. The result was Dakota, the company's major release of 1945, a potentially sprawling empire-building Western. Wayne and Ralston play newlyweds heading for Fargo, North Dakota, where they plan to buy land in anticipation of the coming of the railroad. They are opposed by saloon owner Jim Bender (Ward Bond), who also knows about the expansion and is coercing the homesteaders into selling their land to him and his chief lieutenant, Collins (Mike Mazurki). The latter has been elected president of the Wheat Growers Association, and soon the farmers find themselves indebted to Bender. But Wayne, with his wife's help, beats Bender and his henchman at their own game, making certain that the farmers are well compensated for selling their land to the railroad company owned by Ralston's father (Hugo Haas). Contrary to popular belief, Vera Hruba Ralston was not Dakota's chief liability. For some reason, Republic Pictures, normally a leader in action-oriented melodrama, chose to employ an inordinate amount of rear projection footage this time around, making for rather dull viewing. The Western only leaves the confines of the studio back lot for the climactic prairie fire scenes, filmed by a second unit under the direction of stunt expert Yakima Canutt. Apparently a better figure skater than an actress, Ralston actually shows a bit of spirit in some of her scenes but is rather obviously upstaged by the veteran Ona Munson as a kind-hearted saloon entertainer. Munson was borrowed from Warner Bros. and her singing of "Coax Me" by Andrew B. Sterling and Harry Von Tilzer remains one of Dakota's main pleasures despite editor Fred Allen's endless cross-cutting to Ralston's reactions. The latter was reportedly a very pleasant person devoid of a prima donna ego and would be cast opposite John Wayne again in The Fighting Kentuckian (1949). Republic serial heroines Linda Stirling and Adrian Booth can be spotted among Munson's dancing girls. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Vera Ralston, (more)
- 1944
Like Song of Russia and Mission to Moscow before it, Days of Glory is a paean to the courage and resourcefulness of the Soviet Union during WW2 (this was long before the Russians became the stock villains in Hollywood films!) Producer Casey Robinson took a gamble with the project, casting the leading roles with movie newcomers. Heading the cast is Broadway actor Gregory Peck as Vladimir, the leader of a band of Soviet guerilla fighters. Tamara Toumanova, former premier ballerina of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, costars as Nina, whose love for Vladimir is surpassed by her love for Mother Russia (Toumanova was at the time the wife of producer Robinson). The actors speak in long, lyrical monologues about freedom, sacrifice and the indomitability of the human spirit: fascinating at first, the excess verbiage begins to wear on the viewer after three or four reels. In traditional underground-movie fashion, hero and heroine are obliged to give up their own lives for the sake of their countrymen, in a reasonably spectacular climactic battle sequence. Budgeted at nearly a million dollars, Days of Glory lost heavily at the box-office, though critics and audiences alike were in agreement that Gregory Peck had some potential as a screen presence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tamara Toumanova, Gregory Peck, (more)
- 1954
In this heart-warming drama, a beggar and his performing dog, Flip, struggle to eke out a living upon the cruel streets. He is hired to perform at a rich kid's birthday party. There, the beggar is offered $500 for his beloved dog. He refuses and again hits the streets. Soon he becomes so impoverished that he can no longer provide food for his four-legged friend; he sells him for $20. The beggar is then beaten and robbed. Later he learns that Flip died. The man soon follows the dog to heaven where they begin performing for God. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1947
Esther Williams moves from the swimming pool to the bull ring in this musical drama. Antonio Morales (Fortunio Bonanova) was once a champion bullfighter; now in retirement, Antonio and his wife (Mary Astor) have high hopes that their son Mario (Ricardo Montalban) will follow in his father's footsteps as a matador. However, Mario's great passion is music, and he longs to pursue a career as a composer. But there is a budding toreador in the family: Mario's sister Maria (Esther Williams), who has learned the basics of bullfighting from her sibling. Not wanting to be thought a coward, but with no desire to enter the ring, Mario allows Maria to disguise herself as him and take his place in the bullring, allowing her to compete in a traditionally male sport while Mario devotes his time to his music. Fiesta gave Ricardo Montalban his first English-speaking role, with Cyd Charisse appearing as Conchita, his love interest and dancing partner. Classical music buffs might notice that Mario's composition "Fantasia Mexican" is actually Aaron Copland's "El Salon Mexico." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Esther Williams, Akim Tamiroff, (more)
- 1948
Deanna Durbin's career was clearly on the downswing when she starred in For the Love of Mary. Durbin plays a switchboard operator at the White House, whose hiccuping spells throw several incoming special-interest callers into a tizzy. The President himself cures Durbin of her hiccups, thereby becoming entangled with the girl's various romances. She, in turn, finds herself neck-deep in numerous political intrigues. A forgettable comedy with disposable songs, For the Love of Mary turned out to be Deanna Durbin's last picture. The onetime mortgage-lifter of Universal Pictures was tired of the Hollywood grind and of fighting a losing battle with her fluctuating weight; thus she retired to France with her director-husband Charles David. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deanna Durbin, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1957
In this thriller, a middle-aged husband is insanely jealous of his trophy wife, a showgirl. The young bride soon becomes romantically involved with one of her husband's employees. Together they conspire to kill the old goat. The treacherous wife then leaves her late husband's estate to his twin brother, an ex-con recently released from prison. In an interesting plot twist, it is discovered that the lovers actually murdered the twin brother, not the husband. The husband then begins exacting his revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, (more)
- 1955
In this bizarre drama, an inmate on death row has one final request before his impending hanging: he wants to spend the night with a woman. The police bring him a suicidal prostitute. After a night of lovemaking, the two decide they are in love and are married by the prison chaplain. This eases his torment about going to the gallows. Just before he is to be killed, he describes a dream he had where the rope breaks during the hanging, the death bell rings, and he is freed. As he prays for his miracle the death bell tolls and the film fades to black. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cleo Moore, John Agar, (more)
- 1946
Too long by at least two reels, Holiday in Mexico is nevertheless one of the more enjoyable MGM Technicolor musicals of the 1940s. Walter Pigeon is top billed as Jeffrey Evans, American ambassador to Mexico. Captivated by the charms of her adopted homeland, Evans' impulsive daughter Christine falls in love with the decidedly mature piano virtuoso Jose Iturbi (cast as himself). Amused by Christine's ardor, Iturbi agrees with Evans that the girl would be far better off with someone closer to her own age-namely, British ambassador's son Stanley Owen (Roddy McDowell). Meanwhile, Christine plays matchmaker between her widowed father and glamorous Hungarian Toni Karpathy (Ilona Massey). Holiday in Mexico was Jane Powell's first MGM effort, and it is clear that producer Joe Pasternak intended to transform the teenaged soprano into the "new Deanna Durbin", though of course Powell eventually developed her own distinctive style. In addition to the musical contributions of stars Powell and Iturbi, the film costars the inimitable Xavier Cugat, doing his Xavier Cugat thing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Christian, Ann Codee, (more)
- 1945
A bit "artier" than most Republic melodramas, Jealousy was directed by Gustav Machaty, the Czech expatriate famous for the 1933 exercise in erotica Extase. Nils Asther plays failed novelist Peter Urban, who is married to gorgeous Janet Urban (Jane Randolph). While trying to replenish the family coffers by working as a cab driver, Janet meets and befriends handsome physician David Brent (John Loder). Shortly afterward, a murder occurs, which is made to look like a suicide. Without tipping off too much of the plot, it's worth noting that Brent's associate is the bewitching Dr. Monica Anderson (Karen Morley) , and that such mysterious types as Hugo Haas and Mauritz Hugo are also in the picture. Jealousy was based on a story by Dalton Trumbo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Loder, Jane Randolph, (more)
MGM's expensive remake of the 1937 British adventure film King Solomon's Mines stars Stewart Granger as fearless-explorer Alan Quartermaine, and Deborah Kerr as the spunky Irish lass who hires him on to locate her husband. Kerr's spouse has disappeared somewhere in Africa while attempting to unearth the long-lost diamond mines of King Solomon. Quartermaine wants no part of so risky an undertaking until Kerr waves 5000 pounds of sterling under his nose. Coming upon a Watusi tribe, the explorers discover that their taciturn native bearer (Siriaque) is actually a deposed Watusi king, who intends to wrest the throne back from his usurpers. Quartermaine uses his wits to quell the natives and keep his party from being killed on the spot. The group finally reaches King Solomon's Mines, where rests the bones of Kerr's late husband. The ending of this version of King Solomon's Mines doesn't pack the same ironic punch as the climax of the 1937 version, but this MGMization is more concerned with the blossoming romance between the leading man and leading lady than with full fidelity to the H. Rider Haggard novel on which it is based. King Solomon's Mines was filmed on location in Africa, which proved an excellent decision in the long run: for several years afterward, MGM adventure films like Watusi (1959) and Trader Horn (1973) were able to economically lift huge chunks of Technicolor stock footage from King Solomon's Mines. The property would be remade once more in 1985, this time as an Indiana Jones rip-off starring Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, (more)
- 1957
Though his staunchest supporters may disagree, Lizzie is arguably director Hugo Haas' best film. Adapted from Shirley Jackson's The Bird's Nest, the film is a tour de force for Eleanor Parker, who plays the schizophrenic title character. Depending on the circumstances, Lizzie adopts one of three distinct personalities--one is good, one is bad and the third is hopelessly neurotic. Psychiatrist Neal Wright (Richard Boone) tries his best to help Lizzie, but he is undercut by the abusive behavior of the girl's drunken floozy of an aunt (Joan Blondell). Financed by Kirk Douglas' Bryna Productions, Lizzie was overshadowed by the box-office success of the similarly-themed Three Faces of Eve, which was released shortly afterward. Pop crooner Johnny Mathis made his debut as a lounge singer in this film, performing "It's Not for Me To Say." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eleanor Parker, Richard Boone, (more)
- 1947
The George S. Kaufman-Marc Connelly play Merton of the Movies was previously filmed in 1923 with Glenn Hunter, and in 1932 (as Make Me a Star) with Stu Erwin. This time around, Red Skelton plays Merton, the small-town rube who aspires to become a dramatic actor in silent pictures. Bumbling his way into Hollywood, he lays waste to several movie sets before he finally lands a screen test. When his histrionic efforts are greeted with derisive laughter, Merton slinks away disappointed and disillusioned-only to re-emerge triumphant as moviedom's newest comedy sensation! In one of her few non-musical appearances, deadpan comedienne Virginia O'Brien plays Phyllis "Flips" Montague, the warmhearted Hollywood stunt girl who befriends and eventually falls in love with the hapless Merton. Reportedly, Buster Keaton supplied a few of the film's sight gags, but apparently not enough to permit Merton of the Movies to rise above mediocrity and predictability. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Red Skelton, Virginia O'Brien, (more)
- 1948
Adapted by Allen Boretz from Lucille S. Plumbs and Sara B. Smith's stage play Ever the Beginning, My Girl Tisa is set in New York at the turn of the century. Tisa Kepes (Lilli Palmer) is a newly arrived immigrant girl who hopes to bring her father to America. She is fleeced by travel-agent Hugo Haas, browbeaten by sweatshop-owner Akim Tamiroff, and offered sagacious but ineffectual legal advice by Sam Wanamaker. It takes a "deus ex machina" appearance by Theodore Roosevelt (Sidney Blackmer) to solve Tisa's dilemma. When asked about My Girl Tisa, director Elliot Nugent was proudest of his ability to cut down on the budget by filming several of his street scenes from an overhead vantage point, thereby economizing on sets and extras. The film was produced independently by Milton Sperling's United States Pictures, and released by Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lilli Palmer, Sam Wanamaker, (more)
- 1959
Scripted in another era, the premise for this interesting though conventional drama defending a partially mixed marriage would not be as convincing a few decades later. Chuck Nelson (John Drew Barrymore) is a wealthy young man who travels South of the border and meets and then marries Ginny (Julie London). His new bride is a wonderful woman until Chuck's socialite mother (Agnes Moorehead) discovers that one of Ginny's grandparents was of African ancestry. The imperious mother-in-law lands the new couple in an embittered court battle as she makes every attempt to annul their marriage. Nat "King" Cole plays Ginny's uncle, and Anna Kashfi is Maria, her cousin. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie London, John Drew Barrymore, (more)
- 1947
Backed by the "American GI Chorus", Nelson Eddy made his final screen appearance in the unusually elaborate Republic musical Northwest Outpost. The story is set in the 1830s, when a good portion of California was owned by Russia. US cavalry officer James Laurence (Nelson Eddy) arrives at one of the Russian colonies to pave the way for the eventual American takeover of the territory. He faces resistance in the form of Prince Nikolai Balinin (Hugo Haas), who has no intention of weakening his despotic hold over the local peasants. The plot thickens when Laurence falls in love with Natalie Alanova (Ilona Massey), the wife of disgraced nobleman Count Igor Savin (Joseph Schildkraut). The script draws several unsubtle parallels between Russian California of 1830 and Communist Russia of 1947, but this can be chalked up to the political tenor of the times. Rudolf Friml's soaring musical score evokes fond memories of Friml's earlier Rose Marie, which of course also starred Nelson Eddy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nelson Eddy, Ilona Massey, (more)
- 1953
Filmmaker Hugo Haas unfolds his usual cautionary "old man-young woman" story in One Girl's Confession. Perennial Haas leading lady Cleo Moore stars as Mary Adams, whose first step on the road to ruin is a $25,000 robbery. Mary hides the money, then confesses to the crime, secure in the belief that she can dig up the loot upon her release from prison. A few years later, Mary is placed on probation, whereupon she takes a waitressing job at the seaside eatery run by Dragomie Damitrof (Haas). A chronic gambler, Damitrof is on the verge of losing his café when Mary offers to loan him money. When Damitrof begins spending cash like a sailor, Mary is convinced that he's located her hidden loot, whereupon she hits him on the noggin and leaves him for dead. Deciding that the money is too much trouble, Mary donates the rest of the loot to an orphanage and confesses to Damitrof's murder. But that's not the end of the story .... ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, (more)
- 1961
Stars in the Back Yard is an alternate title for filmmaker Hugo Haas' valedictory feature Paradise Alley. Taking a breather from his usual plot (a dirty old man victimized by a sluttish young wife), Haas casts himself as a washed-up Hollywood director. Hoping to prove that people are basically decent at heart, he pretends to film the comings and goings of the residents of a run-down boarding house. Though he has no film in his camera, his subjects don't know that, and their behavior bears out his thesis. A happy ending is brought about when a major movie studio offers to finance Haas' project-and, incidentally, to give him some film to work with. Among the participants in Haas' faux production are veterans Corinne Griffith, Margaret Hamilton, Billy Gilbert, Chester Conklin and Almira Sessions. Completed in 1958, Paradise Alley didn't attain a release until 1962, when it went directly to television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1951
Pickup was the first self-financed directorial effort by the redoubtable Hugo Haas. The film falls neatly into the pattern followed by virtually all future Haas extravaganzas: A romantic triangle involving a susceptible middle-aged man, a scheming blonde wench, and a handsome hunk. Haas himself plays railroad dispatcher Jan Horak, who succumbs to the charms of zaftig doxy Betty (Beverly Michaels). Upon hearing that Horak has a few thousand dollars salted away, Betty inveigles him into marriage. Soon bored by her new husband, Betty inaugurates an affair with Horak's studdish assistant Steve (Allan Nixon). Because Horak is going deaf, Betty and Steve freely discusses their plans to bump off the old man and abscond with his dough. But Horak isn't quite as hearing-impaired as they think he is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugo Haas, Beverly Michaels, (more)
- 1940
This morbidly titled Czechoslovakian film was based on The White Diamond, a play by Karel Capek. Set in a mythical country, the story concerns a dedicated doctor (Hugo Haas) who discovers a cure for a dread disease that has decimated a goodly portion of the populace. The doctor refuses to reveal the secret of his miracle serum unless the country's despotic dictator promises to cease his warlike behavior and press for peace. Alas, the dictator refuses to listen, the country goes to war, and the doctor and his cure are lost to the Ages. Obviously designed as an allegorical statement against Fascism, Skeleton on Horseback was filmed in 1937, just before the German takeover of Czechoslovakia. Realizing that the film was tantamount to his own death warrant, star/director Hugo Haas fled to the United States, where his career continued unabated (albeit on a less lofty level). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bedrich Karen, Vaclav Vydra, (more)
