Frank Ross Movies

A.C. Smith (David Janssen) is a Las Vegas casino operator whose son visits during his summer vacation from Princeton. His son Andy (Robert Drivas) would rather go to Europe, but daddy dearest wants him to learn the ropes of the gambling business. Pappy approves of and pays for a showgirl to teach his son an extracurricular lesson in erotica. Molly (Brenda Vaccaro) is A.C.'s worldly secretary who watches the office, and Don Rickles has a small role as a crooked blackjack dealer who is caught with his fingers in the pie. Andy catches on quickly and acquires two-thirds of the controlling interest in the casino. He'll have the best story about how he spent his summer vacation when he returns (if he does) to the hallowed halls of Princeton and Ivy League living. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

A scam artist is forced to pose as a miracle worker in this adventure tale with comic touches. Joe Moses (Robert Mitchum) is a confidence man and jewel smuggler from America who somehow finds himself in Africa, attempting to pull a fast one on some natives who quickly prove to be sharper than he expected. Tossed into the river for his troubles, Joe floats downstream, where he's eventually rescued by Julie Anderson (Carroll Baker), the daughter of Rev. Anderson (Alexander Knox), a missionary doing the Lord's work in a small village. The village is to be flooded when a new dam becomes operational in a few days, but while government functionary Robert (Ian Bannen) attempts to relocate the villagers, most of them refuse to budge. Robert has told them that they cannot bring their animals with them, and since they consider their animals members of the family, they would prefer to stay and face the inevitable. Hoping to amuse the people who helped save his life, Joe performs a few sleight-of-hand tricks for the natives and sets a bush on fire. Soon they believe that Joe is the Moses that they've heard about from the Holy Bible, and that he's come to lead the people of the village to safety. Joe's not so sure that he's the right man for the job, but when Julie hears of Joe's criminal past, she gives him the option of helping to save the villages, or being turned in to the police. However, Ubi (Raymond St. Jacques), a native who was educated in the U.S., has the feeling that Joe is up to no good, and doesn't appreciate the way he's been preying on the naiveté of his people, even if it is supposedly for their own good. This was Carroll Baker's last film before her massively-hyped title role in the biopic Harlow, whose box office failure proved disastrous to her career. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Adapted by Merle Miller from the novel by Joe David Brown, Kings Go Forth stars Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis as, respectively, a tough army lieutenant and a cocky radio operator. Serving in Southern France during World War II, Sinatra and Curtis vie for the affections of mademoiselle Natalie Wood. Upon learning that Wood's father was black, both men succumb to their inbred prejudices. Sinatra manages to overcome his latent bigotry, but Curtis does not. In fact, he's so vocal in his race hatred that audiences are virtually cheering for his inevitable demise. After the war, Sinatra, who has lost an arm in combat, relocates Wood. The film ends ambiguously, possibly because miscegenation was still a touchy topic amongst Hollywood censors. Kings Go Forth was universally popular - except, perhaps, with those ex-GIs who were still resentful that Frank Sinatra had in real life been spared wartime service due to a questionable physical ailment. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Demetrius and the Gladiators was the sequel to The Robe, and though they were released several months apart, the films were shot at the same time. Based on characters originally conceived by Lloyd C. Douglas, the film stars Victor Mature as the title character, an ex-slave who embraced Christianity after being present at the Crucifixion. Thrown in jail for defending an elderly merchant from a sadistic Roman legionnaire, Demetrius is forced to attend gladiator school and fight in the arena for the amusement of the mad, debauched emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson, likewise repeating his performance in The Robe). The well-proportioned Demetrius attracts the attention of Messalina (Susan Hayward), the nymphomaniac wife of Caligula's would-be successor Claudius (Barry Jones). Briefly losing faith in Christ, Demetrius is saved from himself by the apostle Peter (Michael Rennie). Because of contractual complications, Demetrius and the Gladiators was released to television seven years before The Robe. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The lady of the title is author Dorinda Hatch (Joan Caulfield), who writes a scathing best-seller in which she trashes all men. Photographer Bill Shelby (David Niven) vows to make Dorinda eat her words, thereby proving the superiority of the male of the species. Suffice to say that he doesn't succeed--at least until the very, very end. The middle portion of The Lady Says No consists of a surrealistic dream sequence in which Dorinda realizes that she loves Bill despite his rampant chauvinism. This film is not a likely candidate for screening at the next N.O.W. meeting. Lady Says No was produced and directed by Frank Ross, who at the time was married to star Joan Caulfield. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Manhattan working girl Jean Arthur bids goodbye to her three erstwhile suitors (Grant Withers, Hans Conried and Grady Sutton) to take a bus tour of the west. En route, she meets handsome rodeo-star John Wayne, whose bucking bronco hurls him directly into her lap. Stranded in a tank town with Wayne and his sidekick Charles Winninger, Arthur is introduced to the sort of frontier activities not covered by the tour books: gambling, boozing and brawling. Not surprisingly, Arthur wants to hightail it back to the East, but by now Wayne has fallen in love with her. Lady Takes a Chance was produced for RKO by Jean Arthur's then-husband, Frank Ross. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This 1939 film version of John Steinbeck's classic novel was a surprising choice for comedy producer Hal Roach; in fact, Roach had no intention of filming the property until forced to do so as a result of a lawsuit brought by director Lewis Milestone. Burgess Meredith stars as itinerant farm worker George, who travels in with his cousin and best friend Lennie (Lon Chaney, Jr.). George dreams of saving enough money for a farm of his own, a dream shared by the retarded giant Lennie, who merely wants to "tend the rabbits." Unfortunately, George has never been able to stay at a job very long, thanks to the trouble often caused by Lennie's feeble-mindedness. Still, George is fiercely loyal to Lennie and would never think of deserting him. Hired by rancher Oscar O'Shea, George and Lennie run afoul of the boss' belligerent son Curley (Bob Steele); his bored wife Mae (Betty Field) starts flirting with poor Lennie, who, not knowing his own strength, accidentally strangles the girl, leading to even more tragic consequences. Despite being endlessly parodied in Warner Bros. and MGM cartoons ("Which way did he, go George? Which way did he go?") Of Mice and Men retains its raw dramatic power. On its initial release, however, it proved a bit too powerful for many filmgoers, and it lost money. The highly acclaimed American composer Aaron Copland wrote the musical score. The 1981 TV remake of Of Mice and Men starring Robert Blake and Randy Quaid, was a virtual scene-for-scene remake of the 1939 version. The 1993 theatrical remake, starring Gary Sinise (who also directed) and John Malkovich, is perhaps closer to the source than its predecessors, but only time will tell if it attains the classic status of the Lewis Milestone version. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Clara Bow and her sister Jean Arthur are wisecracking department store employees with ever-roaming eyes for eligible bachelors--particularly those with fat bank accounts. Both girls fall for the same wealthy man (James Hall) but Bow temporarily loses out to Arthur, who is just a tad craftier and a whole lot nastier. On the occasion of a wild costume party, the truth of Arthur's gold-digging duplicity comes out, and true-blue Bow wins the hero. Saturday Night Kid is a remake of the 1926 silent film Love 'Em and Leave 'Em, in which the female leads were played by Evelyn Brent and Louise Brooks. Both films were based on a stage play by George Abbott--which, in turn, was adapted from a verse novel by Townsend Martin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi