Ray Milland Movies

Lana Turner stars as an ambitious model who seeks her fortune in New York City. She is befriended by over-the-hill cover-girl Ann Dvorak, whose performance carries the story until she commits suicide twenty minutes into the film. Turner promises herself that she won't end up burned out like Dvorak, but as her fame grows, she is inexorably drawn into the hectic social whirl that sealed Dvorak's doom. Enjoying the favors of wealthy Ray Milland, Turner seeks out Milland's wife (Margaret Phillips), hoping to convince the woman to give up her husband. When she meets the crippled Mrs. Milland, Turner is made painfully aware of the length and breadth of the woman's love for her husband. Turner pulls out of the relationship, and we are encouraged to believe that hers will be a much happier and more fulfilling life than that of the unfortunate Ann Dvorak (ironically, in real life Ann Dvorak's final days were relatively contented ones, while Lana Turner spent her twilight years wondering where the looks, the men and the money had gone). Though not so noted in the credits, A Life of Her Own was inspired by The Abiding Vision, a novel by Rebecca West. Bronislau Kaper's musical score was later recycled for the 1951 MGM romantic drama Invitation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Woman of Distinction serves as a tailor-made vehicle for Rosalind Russell. The star is cast as Susan Middlecott, a highly respected college dean. As can be expected, Susan is too busy for romance -- at least until handsome professor Alec Stevenson (Ray Milland) enters the picture. At first, the dean and the prof are thrown together by the overzealous machinations of a press agent, and they're none too pleased about it. No matter how hard they try to keep their distance from each other, Susan and Alec constantly find themselves in embarrassing situations in full view of the public. It takes the behind-the-scenes maneuvers of Susan's puckish papa (Edmund Gwenn) to straighten things out. Appearing in unbilled cameos are Lucille Ball as herself, and Ball's future TV cohort Gale Gordon as a railroad ticket agent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Malcolm McDowell plays a World War I air ace, in charge of an elite squadron. Outwardly a bastion of courage, McDowell dies a little every time one of his boys is killed. To steel his nerves, he takes to drink, which has an adverse effect on his abilities. Christopher Plummer staunchly portrays McDowell's commanding officer. Aces High is a remake of Journey's End (1930), which in turn was based on a play by R.C. Sheriff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bill Harper (Will Rogers), a cattle baron turned diplomat, is assigned to the middle European country of Sylvania, which is in a nearly constant state of uproar ever since King Lothar (Ray Milland), who is convinced Queen Vania (Marguerite Churchill) was having an affair, left the country. Their young son Paul (Tad Alexander) is supposedly the leader, but it's really ruled by scheming Prince de Polikoff (Gustav Von Seyffertitz), who instantly dislikes the easygoing Bill, who makes friends with Paul and Vania. Lothar, who sneaked back into the country disguised as Bill's pilot, tries to reconcile with Vania, but to no avail. Thanks to de Polikoff's plans, Bill is arrested -- just as Lothar starts a revolution. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

A serious journalist is sent to France and forced to write fashion fluff pieces. Tiring of this, she decides to sneak off to find an elusive notorious rebel and write a hard-new first-hand-account of the Spanish Civil War. This lively romantic comedy chronicles her adventures after she finds him and saves him from prison by pretending he is her husband. After the break-out, they fly to France in a stolen plane. At first she only cares about her story and resists the advances of the amorous renegade. As soon as her tale hits the front page, she accepts an assignment in Berlin. She boards a train and takes off. She meets her "hubby" once again when the train accidentally runs into his car. At this point she realizes that she loves him. The two decide to hole up for a few days in a nearby French inn. While they tryst, WW II begins and she misses the scoop. That's okay, because all she and he care about now is each other. Their attitudes change dramatically when their New York-bound ship is torpedoed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In part one of Battlestar Galactica's pilot episode, the 12 colonies of humankind are poised to sign a peace treaty with the Cylons, a race of mechanical men with whom the colonies have waged war for the past millennium. In truth, however, the peace conference is a trap, arranged by traitorous human Baltar (John Colicos) for the purpose of wiping out humankind for good. Of all the colonies' battlestars, only the Galactica, helmed by Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) -- who, wisely, never completely trusted Baltar in the first place -- manages to escape the Cylon fleet. Led by Adama, his Viper-pilot son, Captain Apollo (Dirk Benedict), and Apollo's best friend, Lieutenant Starbuck (Dirk Benedict), the survivors of the Cylon ambush board Galactica and head for the long-lost 13th colony, which once bore the name of Earth. Originally telecast as a three-hour special, "Saga of a Star World" has since been divided into three separate episodes for syndication, and an edited 125-minute version has also been released theatrically. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This second of three movie versions of P.C. Wren's adventure novel Beau Geste is a virtual scene-for-scene remake of the 1927 silent version. We open on the now-famous scenes of a remote, burning desert fort, manned by the dead Foreign Legionnaires, then flash back to the early lives of the Geste brothers. As children, the Gestes swear eternal loyalty to one another and to their family. One of the boys, young Beau (played as a youth by Donald O'Connor), witnesses his beloved aunt (Heather Thatcher) apparently stealing a valuable family jewel in order to finance the Geste home; Beau chooses to remain silent rather than disgrace his aunt. Years later, the grown Beau (Gary Cooper) again protects his aunt by confessing to the theft and running off to join the Foreign Legion. He is joined in uniform by faithful brothers John (Ray Milland) and Digby (Robert Preston), who in turn are pursued by a slimy thief (J. Carroll Naish). The crook is in cahoots with sadistic Legion Sgt. Markov (Brian Donlevy, in one of the most hateful portrayals ever captured on celluloid), who is later put in charge of Fort Zinderneuf, where Beau and John are stationed. When the Arabs attack, Markov proves himself a valiant soldier; it is he who hits upon the idea of convincing the Arabs that the fort is still fully manned by propping up the corpses of the casualties at the guard posts. Beau is seriously wounded, and while the greedy Markov searches for the jewel supposedly hidden on Beau's person, he is held at bay by loyal John. The suddenly enervated Beau kills Markov, then dies himself--but not before entrusting two notes to John, one of which requests that John give Beau the "Viking funeral" he'd always wanted (this is why the fort is in flames at the beginning of the film). After the battle, Digby Geste, a bugler with the relief troops, comes upon Beau's dead body, and appropriates the notes. As it turns out, John Geste is the only one who survives to return to England. He gives his aunt Beau's letter, which explains why Beau had confessed and run off--"a 'beau geste', indeed" comments his tearful aunt. No one missed nominal leading lady Susan Hayward in this essentially all-male entertainment. For years available only in muddily processed or truncated versions, Beau Geste was restored to its pristine glory by the American Film Institute in the late 1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this above-average, exciting Canadian-made action thriller, four psychopaths, led by Christie (Robert Carradine) take over and vandalize a ritzy Manhattan apartment building during the New York power blackout. They move from apartment to apartment, victimizing the occupants until stopped by the police. This low-budget thriller has an exciting, well-written script by John C. Saxton, excellent photography by Jean-Jacques Tarbes and well-acted cameo performances by several well-known actors, including Jean-Pierre Aumont, Ray Milland and June Allyson. While highly derivative and predictable, this film is well worth watching if only to see James Mitchum give an unusually strong performance. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Bolero stars George Raft as Raoul de Barre, an arrogant dancer who rises to fame in the years prior to, during, and after WW I. Raoul is helped along the way by his promoter brother Mike (William Frawley) and scores of willing females, matriculating from two-bit gigolo to the greatest ballroom dancer in Paris. Determining that nothing will stand in his way to the top, he regularly fires any female dancing partner who has the misfortune to fall in love with him -- until the last of his partners, the beautiful Helen (Carole Lombard) beats him to the punch by walking out on him. His heart weakened during the war, Raoul aspires to open his own nightclub, despite warnings that if he ever dances again the consequences will be fatal. On opening night of his new establishment, Raoul dances Maurice Ravel's "Bolero" with Helen, now the wife of a British nobleman. Having reached his emotional and professional pinnacle, Raoul collapses and dies in his dressing room -- as the nightclub patrons, oblivious to his fate, loudly demand an encore. Surprisingly, George Raft and Carole Lombard's dancing is doubled by others, but the same cannot be said of the inimitable Sally Rand, whose famous fan dance is tastefully re-created here. Raft and Lombard later reteamed in 1935's Rumba. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

During the Civil War, Colonel Kern Shafter (played by Ray Milland) and Captain Edward Garnett (played by Hugh Marlowe) become embroiled in a conflict, the cause of which is somewhat cloudy. As a result, Shafter leaves the Eastern Cavlary and moves West, where he is able to re-enlist. Ten years later, Shafter is reassigned to an outpost in the Dakota Territory -- one that is commanded by his old nemesis Garnett. Garnett takes advantage of his authority to assign Shafter to the most dangerous missions, clearly hoping that he will not return from one of them. Things are not made any easier by the fact that both men fall in love with the same woman (played by Helena Carter). The situation comes to a climax during the Battle of Little Big Horn, when both men attempt to put an end to their personal war as hundreds of others are slaughtered around them. Victorious, Shafter manages to survive the massacre and return to claim the woman he loves. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

California began life as a remake of Paramount's silent western epic The Covered Wagon, but by the time it emerged on-screen in 1946, the project had metamorphosed into a standard Technicolor frontier "spectacular", concentrating more on star power than anything else. Set during the 1848 mass migration to California, the film stars Ray Milland as Army deserter Jonathan Trumbo and Barbara Stanwyck as "shady lady" Lily Bishop. Since it is clear from the outside that the purportedly disreputable Trumbo and Lily will emerge as the film's true hero and heroine, it is easy to ignore the melodramatic plot convolutions and concentrate on the outsized, well-directed wagon train sequences. George Coulouris has a few ripe moments as a sagebrush Hitler who intends to set up his own despotic empire in California, while Barry Fitzgerald does his usual Irish-blarney routine as an itinerant farmer. As a bonus, Barbara Stanwyck sings a couple of newly-minted "cowboy" songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

You'd think that Irwin Allen had exhausted the "disaster" genre by 1979. Think again: 1979 was the year that Allen put together the made-for-TV movie Cave-In. Once again, a diverse group is trapped in a perilous situation; this time they're caught in an underground cave-in in an anonymous national park. The dramatis personae includes park ranger Dennis Cole, Cole's ex-lover (and state senator) Susan Sullivan, and fugitive convict James Olson. Also ensconsed in the subterranean tomb are Leslie Nielsen, Julie Sommars and Ray Milland. Cave-In was shelved for nearly four years after its completion: it was finally given a network showing on June 19, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide