Spring Byington Movies

Spring Byington guest-stars as the formidable and much-feared Mother General. The plot complications begin when Sr. Bertrille contemplates taking to the air to prevent low-flying planes from interfering with an outdoor rededication ceremony at Convent San Tanco. Unfortunately, the guest of honor is the Mother General-and Sr. Bertrille had promised to remain grounded druing her visit. Originally telecast on December 19, 1968, "To Fly or Not to Fly" was written by John McGreevey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While Alice Wagner (Spring Byington) is leaving a movie late one night, her purse is stolen by an unseen assailant. Heading to the police station to report the crime, Alice thumbs through the mug book -- only to find the picture of a criminal who closely resembles her own son-in-law Leo (Harp McGuire). Worried that it was Leo who robbed her, Alice confronts her daughter Mabel (Bethel Leslie), thereby setting the stage for a shocking conclusion to this sordid little affair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The strangest aspect of the low-budget fantasy effort The Rocket Man is the fact that one of its screenwriters was Lenny Bruce. There's nothing scatalogical or even satirical in the film itself, however. Essentially an Andy Hardyesque comedy drama with a peripheral sci-fi slant, the story concerns a lonely orphan boy named Timmy (George "Foghorn" Winslow) who receives a toy ray gun for Christmas. Only it isn't a toy, but the genuine article, dropped off by a friendly spaceman. Whenever Timmy shoots the gun at someone, the rays cause the "victim" to speak nothing but the truth. The gun comes in handy when the villain of the piece (Emory Parnell) tries to evict the orphans. Timmy also uses the weapon to expedite the romance of nominal leads Anne Francis and John Agar. Also appearing in Rocket Man are Spring Byington and Charles Coburn, who'd previously been felicitously teamed in Louisa (1950). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Golden-throated Mario Lanza stars in Because You're Mine. Lanza plays opera singer Renaldo Rossano, who is drafted into the army. Much to the displeasure of topkick Sgt. Batterson (James Whitmore), Renaldo is given celebrity treatment even while in uniform. Even more problematic is the romance between Renaldo and Batterson's sister, Bridget (Doretta Morrow, fresh from her Broadway success as Tuptim in The King and I). Wait till you see the "dueling tenors" scene between Whitmore and Lanza! For the benefit of those not operatically inclined, Because You're Mine features a gratuitous dance solo by Bobby Van. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though not the most profitable baseball comedy ever made, Angels in the Outfield is one of the most likeable and enduring. Paul Douglas stars as Guffy McGovern, the combative, foul-mouthed manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. With his team in the basement once more, McGovern has plenty to complain about. All this changes when, while wandering through Forbes Field at night, Guffy is accosted by the voice of the Archangel Gabriel (courtesy of an unbilled James Whitmore). As the spokesman for the Heavenly Choir Nine, a celestial ballclub, Gabriel begins bestowing "miracles" upon the Pirates--but only on the condition that McGovern put a moratorium on swearing and fighting. With the help of the invisible ghosts of past baseball greats, the Pirates make it into the Pennant race. During one crucial game, orphan girl Bridget White (Donna Corcoran) insists that she can see the angels helping out the "live" ballplayers--understandably so, since it was Bridget's prayers that prompted Gabriel to visit McGovern in the first place. Newspaperwoman Jennifer Page (Janet Leigh) transforms Bridget's angelic visions into a nationwide news story, causing no end of trouble for McGovern. When Guffy himself confirms Bridget's claims, he falls right into the hands of vengeful sportscaster Fred Bayles (Keenan Wynn), who's been scheming all along to have McGovern thrown out of baseball. Complication piles upon complication until the Big Game, wherein Guffy is forced to rely exclusively upon the talents of his ballplayers--notably "over the hill" Saul Hellman (Bruce Bennett)--to win the pennant. Unlike the spell-it-all-out 1995 remake of Angels in the Outfield, the original film never shows the angels, permitting the audience to draw its own conclusions regarding Divine Intervention. The film is an unqualified delight, never descending into sloppy sentiment or boggy bathos. Understandably, Angels in the Outfield was Paul Douglas' favorite film (though he'd never admit it after President Dwight D. Eisenhower, hardly Douglas' favorite politician, insisted that it was his favorite as well). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

MGM's The Reformer and the Redhead was the first directorial collaboration of longtime screenwriting partners Norman Panama and Melvin Frank. The reformer is Andrew Rockton Hale (Dick Powell), a mayoral candidate. Hale butts heads with a corrupt political machine, which has recently ordered the firings of several innocent city employees, including zookeeper Kevin Maguire (Cecil Kellaway). The redhead in the case is Maguire's daughter Kathleen (June Allyson), who joins Hale's election team, only to turn on him after a series of misunderstandings. The farcical proceedings culminate in a bit of Bringing Up Baby-style slapstick involving a ferocious lion. By the time Reformer and the Redhead was filmed, Dick Powell and June Allyson had been married for five years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Devil's Doorway was the first of many top-rank westerns directed by Anthony Mann. RobertTaylor is cast against type as a Native American named Lance Poole. Returning to his people's land after the Civil War, Poole discovers that the Indians are being victimized and persecuted--and, thanks to machinations of crooked lawyer Verne Coolan (Louis Calhern), it's all legal. Unable to turn to the Law to protect his tribesmen, Lance becomes what white men call a "renegade." Devil's Doorway was the vanguard of a new western cycle of the early 1950s, wherein the Indians were the good guys and the whites the villains. Had it been made 30 years later, it is likely that the star would have been a genuine Native American, rather than a white matinee idol in "redface." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joseph Cotten stars in Walk Softly, Stranger as Chris Hale, a fugitive criminal who decides to hide out in a small Midwestern town. Here, Hale makes the acquaintance of Elaine Corelli (Alida Valli), who has had a grudge against the world since being crippled in a skiing accident. While endeavoring to help Elaine come out of her shell, Hale falls in love with her, and vows to mend his own ways. Though not released until 1950, Walk Softly, Stranger was filmed in 1948, a year before Joseph Cotten and Alida Valli were teamed in the more celebrated The Third Man. Future talk-show host Jack Paar appears in a fascinating supporting role as a suburban hubby. Walk Softly, Stranger was the last co-production between RKO and David O. Selznick's Vanguard Films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In The Big Wheel, Mickey Rooney plays Billy Coy, a garage mechanic who matriculates into a champion race-car driver. On the way to the top, he steps on friends and foes alike. He even manages to briefly alienate his saintly mother (Spring Byington). The cocky Coy eventually kills another racer when he forgets that gas and alcohol don't mix. It takes some doing, but Billy finally redeems himself. The climax blends stock footage of the Indianapolis 500 with newly-lensed racing sequences. The Big Wheel lapsed into public domain in 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Barbara Stanwyck plays Polly Fulton, rebellious daughter of a wealthy industrialist (Charles Coburn). Polly marries a conservative economist professor (Richard Hart), but she chafes at his values and leaves him for socialist professor Van Heflin. Polly nearly ruins both her father's reputation and her own by embracing Heflin's radicalism. Based on a novel by J. P. Marquand, B.F.'s Daughter emerges as an unsubtle swipe at the policies of the late president Franklin Roosevelt; perhaps this was at the behest of MGM's arch-Republican head man Louis B. Mayer. In England, where the letters "B. F." comprise a euphemism for "bloody fool", the film was retitled Polly Fulton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Despite MGM's insistence that star Gene Kelly, just returning from military service in 1947, appear exclusively in big-budget Technicolor musicals, maverick director Gregory La Cava showcased Kelly in the modest black and white tunefest Living in a Big Way. Kelly is cast as an ex-GI who discovers that his wealthy war bride (Marie McDonald) is an insufferable snob. Flying in the face of his in-laws, Kelly insists upon using his wife's money to open a charity home for the families of those soldiers who didn't come back. Kelly's major musical number, which takes place during the building of his dream home, is a bizarre ballet utilizing such props as ladders and two-by-fours. Living In a Big Way turned out to be the flop that MGM had predicted, but the film was impressive enough to win La Cava the coveted directorial post for Mary Pickford Productions' One Touch of Venus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A precursor of sorts to the 1999 Julia Roberts vehicle The Runaway Bride, It Had to Be You stars Ginger Rogers as Victoria Stafford, a wealthy girl who has been engaged three times, and has three times chickened out at the altar just before saying "I do." Determined to wed her fourth fiancé, Oliver H.P. Harrington (Ron Randell), Victoria is on the verge of saying those two little words, when suddenly she sees the vision of her "dream lover," George (Cornel Wilde), whom she has envisioned since childhood. Ultimately our heroine meets an in-the-flesh lookalike for her imaginary sweetheart: a no-nonsense fireman named Johnny Blaine, who indeed was a childhood friend of Victoria's. So, do wedding bells finally ring? Not on your life. Though Victoria is ga-ga over Johnny, the feeling is far from mutual -- and besides, there are several reels to go before the end title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In later years, director Fred Zinneman seldom referred to My Brother Talks to Horses as one of his career highpoints. Even so, this leisurely period comedy has its moments, most of them delivered by precocious Jackie "Butch" Jenkins as the title character. Living with his family in Baltimore, 9-year-old Lewie Penrose (Jenkins) claims that he can converse with horses-and also pick the winners of upcoming races. When it appears as though Lewie is telling the truth, he attracts the interest of gambler Rich Roeder (Charles Ruggles), who needs a "sure thing" in the upcoming Preakness. Meanwhile, Lewie's older brother John (Peter Lawford) carries on a romance with the lovely Martha (Beverly Tyler). An unexpected tragedy slows down the film in the home stretch, but otherwise My Brother Talks to Horses is a pleasant second-echelon MGM production. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide