Lillie Hayward Movies

This sentimental children's film is based on the true adventures of author Albert Payson Terhune's collie dog, as immortalized in Terhune's early 1920's novel. The story about the dog Lad's saving graces is very much directed toward the youngest moppets whose love of animals has yet to be jaded by ruined carpets, chewed-up books, or all-night barking. Lad comes to the rescue again and again, implying in more than one instance that dogs can be smarter than at least a few people. The canine saves his little mistress Angela (a nine-year-old Angela Cartwright just before her role in TV's Lost in Space) from a poisonous snake bite and is mistakenly ill-treated as a consequence, his actions help cure her need for a wheelchair, and furthermore, the dog prevents a local troublemaker from torching the family's barn. A younger Carroll O'Connor of redneck Archie Bunker TV fame, plays a crotchety neighbor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Child star Kevin "Moochie" Cocoran shares his top billing with a chimp, Mr. Stubbs, in this story about a forlorn lad who runs away from his foster parents believing he is unloved. Little Toby and his pet chimp leave home and end up at the circus as an oily yet comic Harry Tupper (Bob Sweeney), in charge of a concessions stand, takes them under his wing. Between the circus acts and friendly performers, as well as the antics of Mr. Stubbs and Harry himself, there is plenty to amuse viewers of any age. Sure enough, Toby manages to come to the rescue of the circus when it most needs help, and because this is a Disney film, those foster parents are certain to discover his whereabouts. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A gentler but no less resourceful Alan Ladd stars in The Proud Rebel. Ladd is cast as civil war veteran John Chandler, while the star's son David (who grew up to become a powerful Hollywood producer) plays Chandler's emotionally disturbed son David. Since suffering a traumatic shock during the war, David has not spoken a single word. With his son in tow, John wanders the frontier in search of a doctor who might cure David's muteness. Along the way, he runs afoul of sheep baron Harry Burleigh (Dean Jagger), and for a brief period is forced into indentured servitude to pay a debt to farm woman Linnet Moore (Olivia de Havilland). Falling in love with Linnet, John vows to protect her land from the covetous machinations of Burleigh and his brood. It is during the climactic set-to between good guys and bad that David at long last finds his voice again. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tarzan and the Lost Safari is the first MGM-released Tarzan picture since 1942, and the first of the series to be lensed in color. Gordon Scott plays the Lord of the Jungle, herein guiding a group of high-society types through the jungle after their plane has crashed. Since there's no Jane in the film, old Tarz is permitted to extend every courtesy to heroines Gamage Dean (Yolande Donlan) and Diana Penrod (Betta St. John). The villain of the piece is white hunter Tusker Hawkins (Robert Beatty), who intends to turn over two of the safari members to tribal chief Ogonooro (Orlando Martins) in exchange for a fortune in ivory. Unlike earlier Tarzan epics, Tarzan and the Lost Safari was lensed in its entirety in Africa. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It's always a pleasure to see ace western director Leslie Selander in action, and Riders of Vengeance is no exception. Originally released as The Raiders, this Universal programmer stars Richard Conte as a miner who leads an expedition of his compatriots to the California Gold Rush. Crooked Morris Ankrum sets about to cheat Conte and his friends out of their claims. The good guys stage a counteroffensive with the help of Mexican miner Richard Martin. Viveca Lindfors once more brings intelligence and charm to a two-dimensional role. Watch for future Gunsmoke star Dennis Weaver as "Logan". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cattle Drive stars Joel McCrea as boss drover Dana Mathews. It is Mathews' task to make a man out of Chester Graham Jr. (Dean Stockwell), the spoiled-rotten son of railroad executive Chester Graham Sr. (Leon Ames). Accidentally left behind when his dad's train pulls out of a small cow town, Chester Jr. resents being forced to work side by side with Mathews and his drovers, but soon proves to be every bit as virile and capable as his co-workers (shades of Captains Courageous). Reportedly, much of the cattle utilized in Cattle Drive came from Joel McCrea's own ranch. Though the film has no leading lady, a photograph is briefly shown, revealing that Dana Mathews' sweetheart is none other than McCrea's real-life wife Frances Dee. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lieutenant Harry Grant (William Lundigan) and Sgt. Art Collins (Jeff Corey) have been handed the unenviable assignment of tracking down "The Judge," a mysterious serial murderer responsible for seven deaths over the past few months. The police have plenty of clues and forensic evidence, but no solid leads to who this highly resourceful strangler is. Complicating Grant's work is the presence of Ann Gorman (Dorothy Patrick), an ambitious reporter for a sensationalistic crime magazine, who keeps sticking her nose into this case and into his work. In exasperation over The Judge's latest victim, a newspaper editor named McGill (Frank Ferguson), Grant decides to take a novel approach to catching the killer -- he prepares a life-size blank-faced dummy using all the clues the police have, as to height, weight, physique, preferred way of dressing etc., in order to give his officers a clearer picture of who and what they're looking for. The result is creepy but effective, and soon Grant is getting closer to the killer -- but The Judge is insane, and agitated by all manner of outside stimuli, and he might prove too much even for a police detective to deal with in a direct confrontation. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

One of the best "psychological" westerns of the 1940s, RKO Radio's Blood on the Moon stars Robert Mitchum as itinerant cowboy Jim Garry. Riding into a Texas Indian reservation, Garry finds himself embroiled in a deadly feud between cattle ranchers and homesteaders. He befriends both Amy Lufton (Barbara Bel Geddes), daughter of wealthy cattle man John Lufton (Tom Tully), and smooth-talking mercenary Tate Rilling (Robert Preston). What neither Garry nor Amy realize is that Rilling is a snake, conspiring with crooked Indian agent Jake Pindalest (Frank Faylen) to make off with Lufton's cattle. At first aligning himself with Rilling, Garry finally figures out that his so-called friend is up to no good and casts his lot with Lufton, leading to a bloody showdown. Based on the novel by Luke Short, Blood on the Moon was given top-grade treatment by director Robert Wise, an alumnus of RKO Radio's editing department. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A remake of 1934's Wednesday's Child (itself based on a play by Leopold L. Atlas) RKO's Child of Divorce stars 11-year-old Sharyn Moffett in the title role. When her parents (Regis Toomey and Madge Meredith) break up, Sharyn finds herself in the middle of a bitter custody battle. It soom becomes obvious that her mother and father really aren't all that interested in her welfare, but are merely using her as a pawn for their own selfishness. Unlike most other Hollywood divorce dramas, this one ends on a downbeat note, which undoubtedly adversely affected its box-office appeal. Made on a shoestring, Child of Divorce was probably not intended to be a hit, but instead a "prestige" picture for the studio. The production represented the feature-film directorial debut of Richard O. Fleischer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Black Beauty, Anna Sewell's classic tale of a beautiful horse is adapted in a disappointingly flat fashion by independent producer Edward L. Alperson. Unlike the novel, which is told from the horse's point of view, the film concentrates on the animal's first owner, a young English girl (Mona Freeman). Raising the horse into a prize-winner called "Black Beauty," the motherless girl is thrown into a panic when Beauty disappears. She locates the horse in a barn that is about to catch fire; knocked unconscious, the girl is saved by the valiant Beauty. The film's script utilizes only one of the many episodes in Sewell's 1879 novel, and not the most fascinating one at that. Had Black Beauty been produced by 20th Century-Fox instead of merely being released by the studio, the film might have had the saving grace of Technicolor photography. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this adventure the young lively daughter of wealthy Virginia parents bridles under the stern tutelage of her new English nanny who insists she forego her tomboy ways and act like a perfectly lady. This nanny runs the household with an iron hand and the little girl is terribly unhappy until she finds a lost German shepherd. While following the wanderer, the girl tumbles into a well. The dog gets help. The girl names him "Wolf" and is delighted to have a new best friend. Naturally, the nanny is terribly upset because the dog is terribly disruptive. One day, the nanny finds out that Wolf is an AWOL Army dog and sees that he is returned. Brokenhearted, the girl runs away to Washington, DC to have a private audience with the secretary of war. Tearfully she tells how her parents neglect her and how lonely she is without wolf. The secretary is moved but explains that Wolf has a more patriotic role to play. The girl understands and returns home filled with pride for Wolf. Things get better at home when her relieved parents fire the hated nanny and start spending more time with her. As an added bonus, the secretary sends the girl a brand new puppy that looks just like wolf. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

An utterly enchanting Technicolor filmization of Mary O'Hara's novel, My Friend Flicka is the story of a beautiful colt and the boy (Roddy McDowell) who loves her. The boy's rancher father (Preston S. Foster) isn't keen on the horse that his son chooses to train: Flicka, the offspring of a tempestuous mare that has shown traces of madness. The training of Flicka is an arduous process for both boy and horse, and there are times that it appears that father was right. But by applying both love and perseverance, the boy raises the colt into a magnificent specimen. My Friend Flicka was filmed in the Rocky Mountains on a near-epic scale by director Harold Schuster and cinematographer Dewey Wrigley. The film was popular enough to spawn two theatrical sequels and a 1956 weekly TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi