Paul E. Burns Movies

Charles Underhill (John McIntire) and his niece Anne (Suzanne Pleshette) offer a ride to Len (Robert Morse), the nice young man who helped Charles repair his stalled car. Shortly thereafter, Underhill learns that Len has spent several years in a reform school. Now in fear of his life, Underhill wonders how he can rid himself of the youthful hitchhiker -- but as it turns out, Len is the least of his worries. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 1959 episode is set in "the future" -- precisely, July 13, 1980. Worn to a frazzle by his domineering old mother-in-law, John Treadwell (Henry Jones) joins the Society of Gerontology, an organization dedicated to eliminating those people who have lived too long to suit the younger members. Unfortunately, Treadwell learns from another member named Bunce (Dick York) that his worries won't end with his mother-in-law's demise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this provocative drama, a stern hard-liner judge commits euthanasia to save his terminally ill wife from further suffering. He decides to kill her by driving the both of them off a cliff. He succeeds in ending her pain, but unfortunately he survives and ends up turning himself in with a full confession. Now it is up to his brilliant lawyer to defend him. He not only justifies the old judge's actions, he also proves that the wife took a fatal dose of poison before getting in the car; therefore she committed suicide. The judge is freed and returns to his courtroom where he oversees his cases with considerably more sympathy and understanding than he did before. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Actor/writer Mikel Conrad appeared in several films with an Alaskan setting in the late 1940s--early 1950s, the most famous of which was the 1951 sci-fier The Flying Saucer. In Arctic Manhunt, Conrad portrays an ex-con who heads to Alaska to get his hands on the money from an armored car heist. He is trailed northward by insurance investigators who've been on to him since his prison days. Carol Thurston is the woman with whom Conrad rubs noses while en route to the loot. Arctic Manhunt was written and directed by Ewing Scott, who like Mikel Conrad was an habituee of Alaska-based B pictures (Red Snow). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A con artist heads for the gold fields of Nevada during the 1880s after he is tossed off of San Francisco's Barbary Coast. Once in the state, he poses as an important banker. When he actually does find a gold mine, he is forcibly compelled to divvy up the take with the townsfolk. He doesn't mind going straight until his former buddies (still crooks) show up and try to steal the town payroll. To save the town and the mine, the phony financier becomes a crook himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

20th Century-Fox mixed together elements of its own Jesse James and Selznick's Gone with the Wind, and the resultant brew was Belle Starr. Looking precisely nothing like the real Belle, Gene Tierney plays the title role, whom the screenplay suggests was the daughter of a Southern aristocrat. When those Damn Yankees march in and appropriate Belle's land, she heads to Missouri and joins forces with a Confederate guerilla fighter (Randolph Scott). Belle marries the man, and together they become outlaws, hoping to avenge the fallen South. For reasons best known to the studio, Belle Starr is overloaded with offensive African American stereotypes, including the faithful old ex-slave (George Reed) who narrates the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Chester Morris plays a mystery writer who bears a grudge against his publisher. Morris is mad enough to get blind drunk, but is he mad enough to kill? When the publisher is indeed murdered, Morris tops the suspect list. To clear himself, he uses his own skills as a writer of whodunits to ascertain the identity of the real killer. Trouble is, all the clues Morris comes up with point right back to him -- and frankly, he can't remember what happened the night of the murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Henry Fonda plays Chad Hanna, a New York country bumpkin of the mid-nineteenth century who joins a travelling circus. He falls in love with beauteous bareback rider Dorothy Lamour, but she spurns him. Chad Hanna then finds himself attracted to another runaway, country girl Linda Darnell. Though everybody assumes that the boy is slow on the uptake, Chad Hanna manages to save the circus from financial ruin. He also secures the services of a trained elephant; when asked how he acquired such a prize, Chad laconically responds "I gave him half interest in the circus." A lightweight period piece, Chad Hanna is visually impressive, and best viewed in its original pristine Technicolor state. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

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

Adapted from a Saturday Evening Post serial by Frank and Marian Cockrell, Dark Waters stars Merle Oberon as heiress Leslie Calvin, a woman with a neurotic aversion to water. This stems from the fact that in her childhood, Leslie was one of four survivors of a torpedoed steamship. Preying upon Leslie's fears, conniving Mr. Sydney (Thomas Mitchell), a guest at the Calvin family's Louisiana plantation, concocts a campaign of terror designed to drive the poor girl crazy so that he can claim her vast inheritance. Sydney and his cohorts also have the presence of mind to murder all of Leslie's closest relatives, leaving her utterly helpless. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With 1947's Desperate, a disturbing, noirish twist on traditional moral values, responsibility, and guilt, director Anthony Mann entered the ranks of class-A directors, though he'd still have to spend a few more years in "B" pictures. In his first important role, Steve Brodie plays newlywed trucker Steve Randall, who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time during a fur robbery. Kidnapping Steve, the criminals, led by Walt Radak (Raymond Burr), threaten to mutilate Mrs. Randall (Audrey Long) unless Steve confesses to a murder committed by Radak's brother during the theft. Pretending to play along with the villains, Steve manages to escape with his wife in tow. The rest of the film is a prolonged chase, with the Randalls pursued by both the crooks and the cops. A surprise ending caps this film noir mini-classic, which is best appreciated when not seen in its computer-colorized version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide