Louise Allbritton Movies

Awakening in a strange bed and suffering from a terrible headache -- not to mention the mysterious bruises all over her body -- alcoholic Karen Stewart (Phyllis Thaxter) tries to piece together the events leading up to her present condition. All she can recall at first is her most recent promise to her boyfriend Jeff (Warren Stevens) that she will stop drinking, and stop drinking for good. But Jeff had heard that song many times before, and he was in no mood to put up with her subsequent drunken binge. From this point forward, Karen's mind is a blank...but the blank will soon be filled in a horrific fashion. In light of the serious nature of the story, host Alfred Hitchcock foregoes his usual humorous epilogue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Clifton Webb has the role of a lifetime as Lynn Belvedere, self-styled genius and expert on everything. Belvedere accepts the job of baby-sitting the troublesome children of Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara; he wins the job by calmly dumping a bowl of cold oatmeal on the head of the couple's most contentious offspring! At first the family chafes at Belvedere's imperiousness and unlimited resourcefulness, but gradually everyone--especially the children--grow quite fond of the man. The couple's snoopy neighbor (Richard Haydn), noting that Belvedere spends quite a lot of time in the house when the husband is away, begins spreading rumors of a clandestine affair. Belvedere only fuels the flames of innuendo by working on a "secret project" in his room. That project turns out to be a book about the community where he is staying, a revealing volume that exposes the pettiness and hypocrisy of several respectable citizens. Robert Young nearly loses his job over the ensuing scandal, but when the community becomes world famous and the object of increased business activity, Belvedere is the hero of the day. Clifton Webb made so vivid an impression as Mr. Belvedere that he repeated the role in two sequels, and played variations of Belvedere (with emphasis on his "child psychology" tactics) in such films as Cheaper by the Dozen and Mr. Scoutmaster. After numerous failed attempts at launching a TV series based on the Gwen Davenport-created character, Mr. Belvedere settled into a long video run in 1985, with Christopher Hewett in the title role and sportscaster Bob Uecker as Belvedere's nonplused employer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed almost entirely on location, Walk a Crooked Mile was Columbia Pictures' "answer" to 20th Century-Fox's late-1940s cycle of documentary-style crime dramas. FBI agent Dan O'Hara (Dennis O'Keefe) and Scotland Yard operative Philip Grayson (Louis Hayward) team up to investigate a security leak at a Southern California atomic plant. Their investigation takes them to San Francisco, where a communist spy ring flourishes under the auspices of Igor Braun (Onslow Stevens). With such actors as Raymond Burr and Philip Van Zandt playing the commie agents, it's a wonder that the whole lot of them weren't arrested on sight before the story even began! Louise Allbritton plays the nominal female lead, a suspicious atomic scientist named Toni Neva. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A rare black-and-white Maria Montez vehicle, Tangier can be described as a second-echelon Casablanca. Montez plays a Spanish dancer named Rita, who is determined to bring Nazi collaborator Colonel Jose Artiego (Preston Foster) to justice. Artiego is at presently working incognito, as military governor of the North African city of Tangier. Maria finds an unexpected ally in the form of Artiego's discarded mistress Dolores (Louise Allbritton). Dominating the film's hotel-lobby set is an old-fashioned "open" elevator, which will obviously figure prominently in the climax. A camp classic, Tangier is distinguished by supporting actor Sabu's offkey renditions of such American standards as "Polly Wolly Doodle" and "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain"! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this musical comedy, a young singer becomes so desperate to appear on Broadway that she goes to a prominent producer and tells him that she is the daughter who resulted from his day-long marriage to a young woman he knew years ago. The producer is delighted and soon puts his daughter up on stage. The trouble begins when the girl's "mother" suddenly pays a call. For her own reasons, the woman decides to play along with the girl's ruse. Fortunately, by the story's end, the truth is revealed, all differences are reconciled and happiness ensues. Songs include: "Once Upon a Dream" (Jack Brooks, Hans J. Salter), "Market Place," "Shadows," and "Largo al Factotum" (from Rossini's Barber of Seville). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this musical comedy, a soldier falls in love with a very young woman who in turn has a crush on an older, more sophisticated man. When the older gent goes to New York, she follows as does her younger suitor. While in the Big Apple, the soldier encounters the older man's ex-wife who is still in love with him. The soldier helps bring the couple back together and is rewarded by being united with his true love. The story was adapted from a Sinclair Lewis play. Songs include: "Gremlin Walk," "It's the Girl," "Yippee-I-Vot," "With a Song in My Heart," "All or Nothing at All," "You're a Lollapalooza," "At Sundown," and "L'Amour Toujours L'Amour." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Louise Allbritton, a talented but neglected film star of the 1940s, plays the oldest sister in a large motherless family. Papa (Edward Everett Horton) is an erstwhile inventor working on a collapsible life raft, which Allbritton tries to promote to a handsome financier (Jon Hall) who mistrusts women. It isn't hard to guess who will fall in love with who in this one, but the true appeal of this film lies in the performance of Louise Allbritton, who directly and indirectly encourages all with whom she comes in contact to break the shackles of tradition and normality and to follow the dictates of the Heart. The most famous sequence in San Diego I Love You concerns cynical bus driver Buster Keaton, who thanks to Allbritton's influence decides to break loose from his tiresome routine and takes his delighted passengers on an impromptu bus trip to the moonlit seashore. At the end of this enchanting vignette, Buster Keaton the actor drops his own deadpan "tradition" and breaks out in a warm smile! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this lively romantic farce, a Broadway producer's Girl Friday must make sure that her recent marriage is kept secret. If it gets out, she will lose her job. Unfortunately, her new hubby is tired of hiding the truth and creates all kinds of problems when he decides to spill the beans. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

It Comes Up Love was typical of teenaged songstress Gloria Jean's Universal vehicles: good songs and a strong cast squandered on a low-budget B effort. Jean and Mary Lou Harrington play Victoria and Constance, the precocious daughters of big-city businessman Tom Peabody (Ian Hunter). Long separated from his girls, who've been raised in the country, the widowed Peabody brings them to live with him in New York. Hopelessly out of step with her new "hep" friends, Victoria is introduced to the pleasures of swing music by brash Manhattanite Ricky (Donald O'Connor, teamed with Gloria Jean for the third time). Meanwhile, the girls try to expedite the romance between their father and pretty secretary Edo Ives (Louise Allbritton). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The three stars of Universal's The Spoilers -- Marlene Dietrich, John Wayne and Randolph Scott -- were reunited for the pageantlike adventure yarn Pittsburgh. As indicated by the title, this is a saga of the steel industry, with longtime buddies Pittsburgh Markham (Wayne) and Cash Evans (Scott) rising from the ranks of miners to run their own foundry. Ruthlessly devoted to his work, Pittsburgh eventually has a falling out with Cash and also jeopardizes his romantic relationship with beautiful Josie Winters (Dietrich). Thanks to his duplicitous business practices, Pittsburgh loses both Josie and his steel mill; but when America enters WW II, he redeems himself by signing on as a common workman with Cash's still-thriving organization. Well acted and directed, Pittsburgh nonetheless lacks the extra spark which transforms a good film into a great one. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

With only a minimal romantic subplot and no music whatsoever, Who Done It? is pure, undiluted Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, and a good mystery on its own to boot. Bud and Lou star as Chick Larkin and Mervyn Milgrim, a pair of soda jerks who aspire to become radio detective-show writers (their latest epic is "The Midget Gets the Chair-or, Small Fry"). Invited by their radio-scrivener pal Jimmy Turner (Patric Knowles) to attend a broadcast of the "Murder at Midnight" program, Chick and Mervyn are on hand when network president Colonel Andrews (Thomas Gomez) is murdered just before delivering a vital patriotic message. While waiting for the official police to show up, Chick and Mervyn decide to try to solve the case on their own, thereby securing their reputations as writers. The boys manage to convince everyone-even the real killer-that they're genuine gumshoes, only to be exposed when the real cops, Moran (William Gargan) and Brannigan (William Bendix) arrive on the scene. Ultimately, the murderer is revealed, leading to an exciting rooftop chase, with poor Mervyn suspended between two skyscrapers on a slender electrified wire. The comic highlights of Who Done It? are too numerous to mention here, but they include Mervyn's misadventures in the radio-transcription room, his confrontations with a wise-guy page boy (Walter Tetley), his "Not watts, volts!" exchange with the exasperated Chick, and an athletic interlude with those world-famous tumblers, the Flying Bordellos (sic!). Best bit: Upon winning a quiz program, the boys eagerly turn on their prize, a portable radio--only to turn it off in disgust when Abbott and Costello sign on the air ("Every time you hear those guys, it's 'Who's on First-What's On Second!'") ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi