Charles Calvert Movies
- 1960
Marianne Darelle (Norma Crane) wants to spend her vacation at the ocean resort of Woodmere, but for some curious reason the travel agent sells her a ticket to the town of Seaside instead. Even after Marianne exchanges the ticket, she ends up in Seaside all the same. Also in the same resort is a married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Bromley (Charles Aidman, Louise Lorimer), who have likewise been redirected to Seaside despite their desire to go to Woodmere. Just what exactly is going on here--and more specifically, what does fate have in store for Miss Darelle and Mr. Bromley? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
This is a routine, low-budget drama by Bernard Ray, his last film in a career that started in 1933. At the center of attention is a husband with an obvious desire to get away from his nagging wife. His other obvious desires -- for sexual action -- are not exactly fulfilled by his marriage either. And so he lapses into an affair with a prostitute in order to make up for the deficiencies in his marriage. As this story evolves in its complexity, it is simultaneously heading for a surprise ending that is certain to give the protagonist food for thought. The storyline notwithstanding, Bernard Ray dedicated this film to his late wife and half of the proceeds to a cancer charity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lindsay Workman, Merry Anders, (more)
- 1953
An unofficial remake of The Champ, The Clown concerns Dodo Delwyn (Red Skelton), a down-and-out performer with abundant and obvious talent, but also a self-destructive tendency to overindulge his drinking and gambling habits. Once a Ziegfeld headliner, Dodo is now lucky to get jobs playing a clown at cheap amusement parks and even cheaper burlesque. Dodo's addictions cost him his marriage, but he somehow is able to maintain custody of his son Dink (Tim Considine), whose love for and faith in his father knows no bounds. Dink and Dodo's desperate need for each other is threatened when Dink's mother -- married again and capable of providing him with a better life -- reappears and explains that she wants to take care of the boy herself. Dink goes behind his father's back to locate his old agent, and begs him to help Dodo; but the agent cannot do anything. Dink goes away with his mother, but is miserable and runs back to his father. The agent, meanwhile, has managed to wrangle a TV show for Dodo -- and now that his son is back and needs him, Dodo resolves to find the courage to take up this offer and make a success of it. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Red Skelton, Tim Considine, (more)
Love Nest is a thoroughly likeable formula comedy with a most engaging cast. William Lundigan plays Jim Scott, an aspiring writer who, together with his wife Connie (June Haver), moves into the basement of an apartment building that they've bought. Scott's hopes to keep financially solvent are thwarted by the everyday travails of maintaining the building and ministering to the needs of the tenants. The episodic plotline settles on the activities of charming con artist Charley Patterson (Frank Fay), who targets tenant Eadie Gaynor (Leatrice Joy) as his latest victim. When Patterson is finally arrested, he generously offers to tell his life story to Scott, thereby launching the latter's writing career in earnest. Love Nest was frequently revived throughout the 1950s and 1960s because of the supporting-cast presence of future sex symbol Marilyn Monroe and TV talk host Jack Paar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Haver, William Lundigan, (more)
- 1946
Peter Cookson, Monogram's answer to Jimmy Stewart, stars in Fear, also known as Black Tower Cookson plays a medical student who becomes involved in a murder. Anne Gwynne is the girl who doesn't completely trust Cookson, but helps him out anyway. Also appearing as one of those oh-too-helpful types is Warren William, who died in 1948, suggested that perhaps Black Tower was lensed a few years before its official 1950 release date. Some sources list Black Tower as a PRC production; this is possible, though PRC was defunct by 1950. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cookson, Warren William, (more)
- 1944
In this musical, two young people inherit their foster father's nightclub. The joint teeters on the brink of bankruptcy until they bring in exciting jazz music and entertaining acts ranging from comedy to cartoonists. Songs include: "Shoo-Shoo Baby," "The Music Goes 'Round and Around," "Roundabout Way," "Bullfrog Jump," "How Could You Do That to Me," "The King Was Doing the Rhumba," "Trying to Forget" and "Can't Take the Place of You." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosemary Lane, Johnny Downs, (more)
- 1941
This fourth entry in MGM's Thin Man series could just as well have been titled "Nick and Nora Charles Go to the Races". Officially retired from sleuthing, Nick Charles (William Powell) does his best to be a dutiful husband to his lovely wife Nora (Myrna Loy) and a good father to his young son Nick Jr. (Dickie Hall). But when murder rears its ugly head at the local race track, Nick is called in by Major Jason I. Sculley (Henry O'Neill), head of the New York athletic commission, to help solve the case. As usual, there is no shortage of suspects: This time the "rogue's gallery" includes high-rolling gamblers Link Stevens (Loring Smith) and Fred Macy (Joseph Anthony); Link's hoity-toity girlfriend Claire Porter (played by legendary acting teacher Stella Adler); two-bit tout "Rainbow" Benny Loomis (Lou Lubin); reporters Whitey Barrow (Paul Kelly) and Paul Clarke (Barry Nelson); and Clarke's sweetheart Molly Ford (Donna Reed). Highlights include a zany episode on a department-store merry-go-round, an outsized brawl at a fancy sea-food restaurant, and the inevitable gathering together of suspects in the offices of police lieutenant Abrams (Sam Levene). The flippant nature of Shadow of the Thin Man can be attributed to screenwriters Irving Brecher and Harry Kurnitz, both longtime friends and associates of comedian Groucho Marx. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Myrna Loy, (more)
- 1915
Produced in England by Apex, the four-reel The Secret Seven is a crime melodrama involving a sinister society of thieves. The crooks make themselves known by stealing a valuable necklace, then by stealing the equally valuable Lady Evelyn and holding her for ransom. The hero, a detective, swears to retrieve both necklace and heroine, and to bring the "Secret Seven" to justice. The film's final reel is taken up by a spectacular aerial chase, with the villains making their escape via dirigible while the detective pursues them in his trusty airplane. Charles Vane and Lionel D'Aragon were cast respectively as hero and villain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
