Harry Reynolds Movies

This episode of Walt Disney Presents pays homage to the illustations of artist Heinrich Kley, who specialized in pictures of elephants. Host Walt Disney explains that it was Kley's genius that inspired such animated sequences as the "Dance of the Hours" segment (with its ballet-dancing pachyderms) in the 1940 animated feature Fantasia and the "Pink Elephants on Parade" number in 1941's Dumbo. The remainder of the episode consists of Niok, a "People and Places" short subject originally released theatrically in 1957. Filmed in the jungles of Cambodia, this segment details the relationship between Chinese village boy Ayot Van Koen and his beloved pet, a 6-month-old Indian elephant named Niok. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Disneyland episode concentrates on two groups of desert dwellers, the Navajo Indians of the American Southwest and the Blue Men of Morocco. Although the two groups are as different as night and day, they have several things in common, including a love of solitude, independence and the wide open spaces. The first half of the episode would be released theatrically later in 1957 as the "People and Places" short subject Navajo Adventure; the second half had already been seen in theaters as Blue Men of Morocco. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lippert's Fingerprints Don't Lie stars Richard Travis as fingerprint expert James Stover. At the moment, Stover is attempting to solve the murder of a small-town mayor. When the most likely suspect has been collared, Stover determines that the fingerprints found at the scene of the crime have been forged. Thus it is that the actual murderer is still around and about. In fact, he's much closer to Our Hero than anyone might have suspected. Fingerprints Don't Lie co-stars Sheila Ryan (in one of her last film appearances before becoming Mrs. Pat Buttram) and Lippert's resident utility player Sid Melton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This film features two mystery stories featuring Hugh "the Beaver's TV Dad" Beaumont. First, he is hired to go to an auction and buy a particular saxophone. Unfortunately, soon after he obtains it he is knocked unconscious and loses the instrument to the bidder he beat. Later he discovers that the horn is filled with valuable stolen jewels. He also learns that a murder is involved and so launches an investigation to solve it all. In the second tale, Beaumont is paid to escort a beautiful woman to a yacht party. Once he gets there, he discovers that he is the only guest and she is out to seduce him. During their lovemaking, a sleazy detective is busy photographing their every move. The gumshoe was working for the woman's jealous husband who is later found slain, causing the hapless Beaumont to stand accused. Fortunately, he is able to prove his innocence and solve the crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Once again comedian Arthur Lucan dons an old woman's togs to become the tart-tongued Irish washerwoman. This time Mother Riley somehow is appointed the headmistress of a girl's school. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Written by John Gilling, The Man From Yesterday is an other-worldly melodrama in the same vein as J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls. The lion's share of the footage goes to Henry Oscar, playing an Indian mystic. Oscar arrives at the home of Marie Burke, who wants to contact the spirit of her dead fiance. When Marie subsequently dies herself, Oscar accuses jealous John Stuart of arranging both deaths, whereupon Stuart kills Oscar. That's when we find out the whole film has been a dream, and everyone in the household is still alive--but Oscar has died while en route to the house. Future film star Laurence Harvey shows up in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For their first independently-produced vehicle, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello chose to appear in a remake of the 1939 Universal programmer For Love or Money. Bud and Lou are cast as Ted and Tommy, two bumbling window washers hired by gangster Mike Craig (Joseph Calleila) to collect a $50,000 gambling debt. The boys manage to pick up the money, only to deliver it to the wrong person, a pretty private secretary named Carol (Cathy Downs). Ordered to retrieve the money within 24 hours "or else," Ted and Tommy trace the cash to Carol, who has mistakenly distributed it amongst the entries in a mailing list. As our heroes desperately concoct methods of escaping Craig's wrath, eccentric gambler Julius Caesar McBride (Leon Errol), the man who "never loses," comes to the rescue. Despite its seeming complexity, the plot exists merely as a peg on which to hang several of Abbott and Costello's best routines, including "Bet you 10 dollars you're not here," "Hole in the Wall," "Packing and unpacking," "Getting Arrested," and, best of all, "Mudder and Fodder." Beyond the seven credited actors, the huge unbilled supporting cast includes such reliable laugh-getters as Benny Rubin, Murray Leonard, Elvia Allman, Herb Vigran, Fred Kelsey, James Flavin, Lyle Latell, Isabel Randolph and Paul Maxey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this psychological thriller, an avaricious man covets his stepbrother's home. The greedy fellow knows that his stepbrother has a heart condition and so sets off a fatal attack by smashing a beloved violin. He then throws his wife and his other step-brother out of the house. But his actions do not come without a terrible price, and soon he begins to go mad. Thinking that he hears the plaintive songs of the broken violin, he runs to the piano and begins to loudly play hoping drown out the hellish sounds. A wild fear overtakes the man as the violin plays on and on until at last he crumples, face down upon the keyboard, a victim of a massive, fatal heart attack. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Robert Lowery stars as Paul Kimberly, a former newspaperman who takes on a particularly noxious form of corruption. The villains are crooked housing administrators who prey upon returning GIs and their families. Just when it appears that one of the administrators is going to tell all to Kimberly, the man is murdered at the behest of "top man" Vincent Arnold (Charles Evans). It helps Kimberly's objectivity not at all when he himself falls in love with Arnold's innocent daughter Anne (Anabel Shaw). With the advantage of a topical storyline, Killer at Large is one of the better PRC releases from this period. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Raymond Chandler's famed detective Philip Marlowe (George Montgomery) is hired by a rich, eccentric widow, Mrs. Murdock (Florence Bates) to find and return a stolen gold coin. Marlowe quickly finds himself involved an a case which includes robbery, blackmail and murder. Just as Marlowe begins to solve the mystery, he is savagely beaten by Vannier (Fritz Kortner). Marlowe finally puts all the pieces of the puzzle together when he discovers a blackmail scheme involving Murdock's mentally-ill secretary, Merle Davis (Nancy Guild) which leads him to suspect his employer. The Brasher Doubloon, adapted from Chandler's novel, The High Window, and beautifully photographed by Lloyd Ahern captures a proper film noir sensibility with its moody, low-key images and dense, dark background shots, while failing to capture the complexity of the novel. Director John Brahm, who also directed the excellent films The Lodger and Hangover Square, is disappointing, failing to create the depth of characterization and plot which he showed in these films. The Brasher Doubloon remains bland, with undistinguished acting by the entire cast. The only exception is Fritz Kortner, a veteran character actor molded in the expressionist cinema of pre-war Berlin, who creates the grotesque character of Vannier, bringing a sense of evil vitality to an otherwise bland production. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Otto Preminger directed this stylish film noir exercise, intended as a follow-up to his surprise hit Laura. Kicked off a bus traveling cross-country for not being able to come up with the fare, down-and-out press agent Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) ends up in Walton, a small coastal town in California. Stanton fast-talks Joe Ellis (Olin Howland) into giving him a place to stay for the night in exchange for promoting Professor Madley (John Carradine), a "mentalist" whose show Ellis manages. While in Walton, Stanton makes the acquaintance of June Mills (Alice Faye), a wealthy but reclusive young woman, and has his eye on Stella (Linda Darnell), a good-looking waitress working at the local diner. Thanks to Madley, Stanton learns a few things about June, and when Ellis and the professor pull up stakes after a successful engagement, Stanton opts to stay behind, hoping to win Stella's heart. Gold digger Stella makes it known that she has no interest in Stanton unless he comes into a lot of money, but June has made her interest in Stanton quite clear. Stanton hatches a plan: he'll marry June, take her money, divorce her, and then take up with Stella. Stanton and June do in fact marry, but just as he's about to give her the brush-off, Stella turns up dead. Mark Judd (Charles Bickford), a retired cop-turned-detective, is investigating the murder, and while the initial suspect is Dave Atkins (Bruce Cabot), Stella's ne'er-do-well ex-boyfriend, Judd's focus eventually falls on Stanton. Stanton flees Walton for San Francisco, with ever-loyal June at his side; he quickly abandons her after taking her money, but he returns to her side when word reaches him that June has been charged with Stella's murder. Fallen Angel marked a dramatic change of pace for Alice Faye; however, she was very unhappy with how Preminger edited her performance, convinced that much of her best work ended up on the cutting-room floor. Faye was so angry that she quit the movie business altogether and didn't appear in another film until State Fair in 1962. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this prison drama, a stern hanging judge is assigned to take over a chaotic prison. There he imposes an almost inhumanly strict regimen of discipline on the inmates. He is similarly rigid and harsh with his own two children. Later his compassionate daughter befriends a wrongfully convicted model prisoner who works as the warden's chauffeur. His son becomes a hardened criminal and ends up incarcerated in his father's prison. There he and several other inmates conspire to bust out. Later he sees inmates threatening his father and sacrifices his life to save him. The enraged judge then shoots the convict who killed his son. In the end, the experience changes the judge who becomes a more humane warden in favor of prison reform. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide