Alec C. Snowden Movies

One of the many "B"-grade British comedies meant to fill the lower half of a double-billing, Over the Odds is about bookkeeper George Summers (Glenn Melvyn), who has opted to marry one more time after his first wife left him. Unfortunately, his ex-wife's harridan mother-in-law (Marjorie Rhodes) did not leave with her daughter. Now the new wife and the old mother-in-law are at loggerheads -- not a recipe for the beginning of a successful marriage. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This British comedy is set in 1945 Ireland and tells the story of a small town that plans to erect a monument to honor an IRA rebel during the 1920s. The son of the British colonel responsible for the killing strongly objects. After the statue has been unveiled, the rebel's mischievous son destroys the tribute and tries to frame the colonel's son. Just as the enraged townsfolk are preparing to lynch the young Englishman, the rebel's son confesses his crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When a movie star dies mysteriously, insurance investigator Jeff Keenan (Rod Cameron) is put on the case. It seems that the dead man was attending a private psychiatric clinic on the Riviera. Keenan learns that one of the staff doctors has been tinkering with an experimental "dream machine," designed to soothe his more disturbed patients. But Paul Zakon (Peter Illing), the ex-Nazi owner of the clinic, has been using the machine for brainwashing purposes. There's really no "monster" to speak of, but there's plenty of Frankenstein-style electric bolts and sparks in the climactic melee. Charles Eric Mayne adapted the gimmicky screenplay from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in England, The Counterfeit Plan was distributed in the US by Warner Bros. Zachary Scott is right in his element as Max, a sociopathic killer who sets up a counterfeiting ring in the home of country squire Louie (Mervyn Johns). Max forces Louie to participate in his racket by threatening to expose the latter's previous life as a forger. When Louie's daughter Carol (Peggie Castle) arrives for a visit, it's the beginning of the end for the coldly conniving Max. Halfway down the cast list of Counterfeit Plan is Lee Patterson, later a regular on the TV soaper One Life to Live. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A noted expatriate filmmaker's hard work to reestablish himself in Britain is nearly undone when a woman who claims to be his one-time mistress begins writing him threatening letters. This sudden revelation threatens not only his marriage but also his career. It doesn't help that the director doesn't know the blackmailer's identity. He finds out that her letters are coming from Newcastle, and so he and his wife head off to learn the truth. They meet her and his wife is so convinced that she leaves. Unfortunately, the director still doesn't recognize this woman who seems to have such intimate knowledge of him, and he begins to question his own sanity. The rest of the mystery centers on his attempts to learn the truth about the woman and her true motives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a story by prolific if uninspired sci-fi writer Charles Eric Maine, The Atomic Man stars Peter Arne in the title role. Fished out of the Thames with a bullet in his back, Arne is discovered to be highly radioactive. He turns out to be a missing atomic scientist, whose exposure to radioactive substances, coupled with his brush with death, has endowed him with remarkable prognostic powers (the script explains that he's living 7 1/2 seconds into the future!) With the help of snoopy reporter Gene Nelson, Arne exposes a plot hatched by evil tungsten magnate Vic Perry. Atomic Man was released in Great Britain as Timeslip. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A vicious murderer suffers amnesia and his psychiatrist finds his brain waves indicative of violent tendencies. After he escapes and kidnaps the doctor, police follow and soon uncover evidence of gangsters and drug smuggling. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

In this drama, the host of a radio crime show finds himself mixed up with real gangsters after he re-creates a notorious murder on the air. He uses his knowledge of criminology to foil the gang's wicked scheme. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this silent crime drama, a police detective masquerades as a convict to befriend a young prison inmate who knows the location of the loot from a major robbery. It is there he learns that the boy doesn't know where it is. He does, however, know the name of the one who does. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Blond Helen Foster, who was 22 at the time, played the title role in this moralistic silent drama about teenaged Cynthia Perry, who despite warnings from older sister Patricia (Gertrude Olmstead) falls madly in love with handsome scoundrel Howard de Hart (Gladden James). To save her sister, the demure Patricia risks her own reputation in the bounder's apartment but is saved in the nick of time from a fate worse than death by her sweetheart (Reginald Sheffield). A 1929 WAMPAS Baby Star, Helen Foster later starred in both silent and sound versions of the exploitation melodrama The Road to Ruin. She later became an extra. Co-star Gertrude Olmstead became the second wife of director Robert Z. Leonard and retired. Grandly released as an "Imperial Photoplay," Sweet Sixteen bore all the trademarks of bargain-basement company Trem Carr Productions. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Frank Craven's hit Broadway comedy The First Year was gracefully adapted for the screen by Oscar-winning wordsmith Frances Marion. Matt Moore and Kathryn Perry star as young married couple Tom and Grace, who do their best to cope with the million-and-one crises facing them during their first year together. At the film's midpoint, it looks as though the couple is headed for the divorce courts when a dinner party designed to improve Tom's business chances goes horribly awry. Happily, things straighten out in time for Grace to inform her hubby that a "little stranger" is on the way. The sensitive direction of Frank Borzage helped lift The First Year several notches above the usual domestic-comedy syndrome. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This silent adaptation of Franz Lehar's famous operetta (in which precious little of the original story was retained) was a rare event in Erich Von Stroheim's directorial career -- a critical and commercial success that the director was also able to complete according to his wishes (though in the latter years of his life, he would claim that the film's final moments were forced upon him by studio brass intent on a happier ending). Prince Danilo (John Gilbert) and Crown Prince Mirko (Roy D'Arcy) are two brothers in the Ruritanian royal family who are notorious womanizers, frequently finding themselves competing for the same woman. When Sally O'Hara (Mae Murray), a dancer from America, stops in Ruritania on a performance tour, both Danilo and Mirko are both strongly attracted to her, as is the older Baron Sadoja (Tully Marshall). Each begins making plans to seduce her; however, during Sally's performance, the differences between the three men become apparent -- Danilo is attracted to the beauty of Sally's eyes and face, while Mirko is strictly interested in her body, and Sadoja's intense focus is upon her feet. Danilo introduces himself to Sally after a performance as "Danilo Petrovich," claiming to be a wealthy commoner rather than royalty. He invites her to dine at his estate after her performance, and when he "mistakenly" spills soup on her dress, it's the first step in his successful efforts to lead her to his bed. Danilo asks Sally to marry him, and she agrees. To his surprise, Danilo finds that he is eager to settle down with the American dancer, but King Nikita (George Fawcett) and Queen Milena (Josephine Crowell) forbid him to marry a woman who does not carry a royal title, and Danilo is forced to leave Sally waiting at the altar. Seizing an opportunity, the aging Sadoja asks Sally for her hand in marriage, and she grudgingly accepts; he dies on their wedding night while ecstatically rummaging through her collection of shoes. Sally inherits Sadoja's estate and retains the title of Baroness, and a year later she encounters Danilo, who is still deeply in love with Sally and wants another chance to win her heart -- although since she never learned the truth about why he never arrived for their wedding, she is not eager to be wooed by him again. Mirko also re-enters the picture in a new effort to win Sally's affections, but while Danilo is motivated by true love, Mirko's efforts are fueled by lust, both for her body and her newly-gained wealth. The Merry Widow was a lavishly-staged production shot on a long schedule (19 weeks, very unusual for the time) with a large cast of extras. If you look carefully, you can spot Clark Gable and Myrna Loy among the bit players, several years before either would become a star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide