Henry Mancini Movies
American composer Henry Mancini was introduced to music by his Italian immigrant father, who tutored young Mancini on piano and flute. After World War II service, Mancini attended Carnegie Tech and Juilliard, played piano with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and ultimately became a staff composer at Universal, writing snatches of music for everything from the studio's newsreels to the Abbott and Costello comedies. In 1954, he was given the opportunity to arrange the music for a film that might well have qualified as a labor of love: The Glenn Miller Story. The Academy Award nomination he received for this effort elevated Mancini's industry status, as did his long association with producer/director Blake Edwards.When Mancini wrote the jazzy theme music for Edwards' TV series Peter Gunn and Mr. Lucky, Mancini was so proud and protective of his work that he had a clause in his contract prohibiting the networks from running spoken "plugs" for upcoming programs over the closing-credit music. Mancini went on to win Oscars for his contributions to the Blake Edwards-directed films Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), for which he wrote "Moon River"; Days of Wine and Roses (1962); and Victor/Victoria (1982). He also composed the theme to the popular television series Newhart (1982-90). The composer managed to put 20 Grammies on his shelf before his death in 1994. Though arguably the best-known film composer of his time, Henry Mancini was still modest enough in 1989 to title his autobiography Did They Mention the Music? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1953
All I Desire an early exercise in Douglas Sirk Baroque, is set at the turn of the century. Long divorced from her husband Richard Carlson, itinerant actress Barbara Stanwyck returns to her home town to watch her daughter perform in a high school play. Stanwyck decides to turn over a new leaf and devote herself to the daughter she's never known. This she finds next to impossible, thanks to ugly small-town gossip attending her return. The film was obviously building up to an unhappy ending, but producer Ross Hunter intervened, tacking on an unbelievably upbeat denouement. This artistic outrage evidently didn't hurt Hunter's relationship with director Douglas Sirk, inasmuch as the two would continue to successfully collaborate in the future. All I Desire is based on a novel by Carol Brink. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Carlson, (more)
- 1953
Excluding a brace of 1980s TV-movie appearances, It Happens Every Thursday was the final feature film appearance of Loretta Young. As radiantly beautiful at 40 as she'd been as a teen-aged ingenue, Young plays Jane McAvoy, the pregnant wife of big-city newspaper reporter Bob McAvoy (John Forsythe). Tired of the urban rat race, Bob moves to a small California town and assumes ownership of a just-getting-by weekly paper. It's a hand-to-mouth existence for the first few editions, and the situation isn't remedied by the cloistered, resentful behavior of the local citizenry. The outcome of the plot hinges on a publicity stunt engineered by Bob: an attempt to artificially create rain for the drought-ridden community. The well-chosen supporting cast of It Happens Every Thursday includes Edgar Buchanan, Jimmy Conlin, Willard Waterman, and in her last film, Gladys George. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, John Forsythe, (more)
- 1953
The motivating factor behind City Beneath the Sea is an underwater treasure hunt. In 1692, an underwater earthquake sends the Jamaica city of Port Royal to the bottom of the Caribbean. Three-hundred-fifty years later, deep-sea divers Brad Carlton (Robert Ryan) and Tony Bartlett (Anthony Quinn) take the plunge near Port Royal, in hopes of recovering a million dollars in gold bullion that was lost in a modern-day quake. What Brad and Tony don't know is that their employer, steamship magnate Dwight Trevor (Karel Stepanek), doesn't really want the divers to find the gold. Trevor hopes to pull off a major insurance fraud, and has no qualms about killing his divers to get what he wants. Mala Powers and Suzan Ball provide the love interest, while plump Hawaiian entertainer Hilo Hattie offers some welcome comedy relief. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Ryan, Mala Powers, (more)
- 1953
Several genuine Native Americans dot the cast of Universal's The Great Sioux Uprising. The scene is the frontier outpost of Laramie Junction, where livery stable owner Joan Britton (Faith Domergue) and rancher Stephen Cook (Lyle Bettger) carry on a friendly rivalry while trading horses with the cavalry. On friendly terms with the local Sioux, Joan hopes to persuade the tribe to sell some of its ponies to the military. Cook's method is more direct: he and his men steal the horses, then sell them for a 100% profit. Into this situation rides ex-Union medical officer Jonathan Westgate (Jeff Chandler), who promises Apache chief Red Cloud (John War Eagle) that he'll track down the rustlers. Westgate also organizes the local ranchers to sell their horses to the military, thereby undercutting the duplicitous Cook. Complications arise when Stand Waite, an Apache officer in the Confederate army, tries to persuade his tribesmen to join the Southern cause. All the various plotlines converge in the climactic uprising, which is shown to be the by-product of white greed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeff Chandler, Faith Domergue, (more)
- 1953
Walking My Baby Back Home is a bubbly musical of no significance whatsoever, but this doesn't diminish its enjoyability factor. The film wastes no time in showing off the singing and dancing skills of star Donald O'Connor, who is seen cavorting about during the opening credits. O'Connor plays war veteran Jigger Millard, who forms a band with several other musically inclined ex-GIs. Unfortunately, Jigger's music isn't what the public craves, so he's forced to join a minstrel show headed by Colonel Wallace (George Cleveland), the uncle of pretty Chris Hall (Janet Leigh). As he performs the old "down in Dixie" numbers required of him, Jigger is inspired to reorganize his band into a Dixieland aggregation, with the considerable input of black musician Smiley (Scatman Crothers). Buddy Hackett is on hand as comedy relief Blimp Edwards. A tantalizing excerpt from Walking My Baby Back Home was seen in an ironic context during a 1970s Columbo TV episode, guest-starring Janet Leigh as the murderer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Donald O'Connor, Janet Leigh, (more)
- 1953
Juvenile delinquency is the subject of the misleadingly titled Universal-International potboiler Girls in the Night. Patricia Hardy plays Hannah Haynes, the sister of good-boy-gone-bad Chuck Haynes (Harvey Lembeck). When Chuck ends up facing a murder charge, Hannah takes decisive action. She goes after crime boss Irv Kelleher (Don Gordon), risking life and limb in the process. Top-billed Joyce Holden plays Hannah's best friend, who helps cook up a scheme to entrap Kelleher. Glenda Farrell delivers the film's best performance as Chuck and Hannah's careworn mother. Ironically, Girls in the Night co-star Harvey Lembeck would go on to play one of the most lovable "j.d."s in screen history: Eric Von Zipper in the "Beach Party" series of the 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joyce Holden, Glenda Farrell, (more)
- 1953
Audie Murphy is suitably cast as cavalry lieutenant Jed Sayre in Universal's Column South. Stationed in Navajo country, Sayre has a pretty good understanding of, and rapport with, the local Indians, but his new CO Lee Whitlock (Robert Sterling) is of the "only good Indian is a dead Indian" school of thought. Eventually Sayre is able to make Whitlock see the light -- and, as a bonus, he gets to romance Whitlock's sister Marcy (Joan Evans). Further complications arise when Confederate General Storey (Ray Collins) hatches an underhanded scheme -- one that will potentially cost many innocent lives -- to force the cavalry troops to join the Southern cause when the Civil War commences. Of interest to modern viewers is the presence of Dennis Weaver, here cast as Navajo chief Menguito. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Audie Murphy, Joan Evans, (more)
The first film version of W.R. Burnett's novel Saint Johnson was filmed as Law and Order in 1932. Essentially an all-names-changed retelling of the Wyatt Earp legend, the film scored on its humanity and restraint. The 1953 remake eschewed the shadings and subtleties of the original in favor of a traditional shoot-em-up, replete with gratuitous violence. Ronald Reagan stars as the Earp counterpart this time, who has sworn to bring criminal Preston S. Foster to justice. The original Law and Order had no love interest at all; the Reagan version pairs up the star with beautiful Dorothy Malone, and offers a second leading lady in the form of Ruth Hampton. The original had a hanging sequence which was treated as business as usual; the remake turns this sequence into a brutal lynching. Common to both films was the final showdown between Reagan and Foster, given added melodrama in the later version by the fact that Reagan had previously sworn to give up his guns for the love of his lady. Like most of Ronald Reagan's 1950s vehicles, Law and Order paid its way and was then forgotten. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ronald Reagan, Dorothy Malone, (more)
- 1952
One reviewer of Abbott & Costello's Lost in Alaska summed up the proceeding in three pithy words: "Lost is right." While not A&C's worst film, it's several miles removed from their best. Cast as firemen in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, Bud and Lou rescue would-be suicide Tom Ewell. It turns out that Ewell is mooning over his former girl friend, saloon chanteuse Mitzi Green. It also transpires that Ewell has just come from Alaska, where he's been searching for $2 million in gold. Abbott and Costello accompany their new friend back to Alaska, where they're forced to dodge the bullets of Ewell's old enemies; foremost among these is plug-ugly Bruce Cabot. They find the gold, only to lose it all over again. The film's best scene occurs at the beginning, when Abbott, Costello and Ewell take turns saving one another from drowning. Otherwise, Lost in Alaska looks like a 2-reel comedy, clumsily stretched into an 8-reel feature. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, (more)
- 1952
Douglas Sirk directed this frothy musical comedy set in the 1920s starring Charles Coburn as Samuel Fulton, an elderly man with a multi-million dollar fortune. With no family of his own to whom he can leave his money, Fulton is pondering what to do with his estate. Years ago, he was in love with a woman named Harriet, whom he asked to marry. She turned him down and married another someone else, but he's still fond of her and considers leaving his millions to her family. However, Fulton decides to first give them a test. Posing as an eccentric and threadbare artist, he rents a room from Harriet (Lynn Bari) and her husband Charles (Larry Gates). He then arranges for an anonymous gift of $100,000 to be presented to them so that he can watch their reactions. Sadly, things don't go well; Harriet browbeats the rest of the family into moving into a mansion and tries to convince her daughter Millicent (Piper Laurie) to break up with her boyfriend, poor but good-hearted soda jerk Dan (Rock Hudson), in favor of a wealthier and more socially prominent man. Songs include "Tiger Rag," "When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin' Along," "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More," and "Gimme a Little Kiss, Will Ya, Huh?" James Dean has a tiny part as a customer at the soda fountain; it was his first appearance onscreen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, (more)
- 1952
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
- Starring:
- Richard Conte, Viveca Lindfors, (more)
- 1952
Set in the years following the Civil War, Horizons West stars Robert Ryan as Dan Hammond, one of three Texans who decide to return home after the cessation of hostilities. While his brother Neal (Rock Hudson) and his friend Tiny (James Arness) decide to become ranchers, Dan opts for a more adventurous life out West. Through means both fair and foul (mostly foul), he builds up a veritable empire, defending his turf with legions of hired gunmen. Eventually, the honest Neal is forced to face down his brother Dan, whose megalomania has reached dictatorial dimensions. Julie Adams, still billed as "Julia," plays a self-reliant widow who sets her cap for Dan, who in an earlier scene had gunned down the woman's husband (Raymond Burr)--a characteristically ironic grace-note from director Budd Boetticher. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Ryan, Julie Adams, (more)
- 1952
Despite its ebullient title and the presence of lightweight dancing star Dan Dailey, Meet Me at the Fair has a lot more meat on its bones than most musicals of the early 1950s. Dailey plays an early-1900s medicine show huckster who finds himself the reluctant guardian of orphanage escapee Chet Allen. As he grows fond of the boy, Dailey becomes determined to thwart the corrupt system that allows substandard orphan asylums to operate while political hacks get rich on government funding. Dailey wins the confidence (and love) of orphan committee member Diana Lynn, who helps to foil the machinations of crooked district attorney Hugh O'Brien. The darker aspects of Meet Me at the Fair are lightened by director Douglas Sirk's marvelous recreations of backstage life at the turn of the century. The film is also a special treat for fans of Scatman Crothers, who is never less than terrific as Dan Dailey's sidekick. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dan Dailey, Diana Lynn, (more)
- 1952
Back at the Front is the second of two film comedies based on the wartime cartoons of Bill Mauldin. As in Up Front, the principal characters are woebegone GIs Willie and Joe: Tom Ewell is back as Willie, but Harvey Lembeck replaces David Wayne as Joe. The original purpose of Mauldin's newspaper cartoons--to give enlisted men a surreptitious means of blowing off steam concerning the iniquities of war and the occasional idiocies of their officers--is completely ignored in Back at the Front. Instead, we are offered a very standard spy plot set in postwar Tokyo, involving femme fatale Mari Blanchard and a shipment of booby-trapped food tins. Back at the Front could have been done just as well with Abbott and Costello--better, in fact. Watch in the closing scenes for David Janssen, playing a one-line bit as a rookie soldier. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Ewell, Harvey Lembeck, (more)
This musical release from beloved TV entertainer Andy Williams offers a unique collection of the star's favorite musical performances from The Andy Williams Show, which Williams personally introduces. Some of the songs include "Dear Heart", "The Face I Love", "Moon River", "The Shadow of Your Smile", and more. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andy Williams, Henry Mancini, (more)
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