John Carradine Movies
Though best known to modern filmgoers as a horror star, cadaverous John Carradine was, in his prime, one of the most versatile character actors on the silver screen. The son of a journalist father and physician mother, Carradine was given an expensive education in Philadelphia and New York. Upon graduating from the Graphic Arts School, he intended to make his living as a painter and sculptor, but in 1923 he was sidetracked into acting. Working for a series of low-paying stock companies throughout the 1920s, he made ends meet as a quick-sketch portrait painter and scenic designer. He came to Hollywood in 1930, where his extensive talents and eccentric behavior almost immediately brought him to the attention of casting directors. He played a dizzying variety of distinctive bit parts -- a huntsman in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), a crowd agitator in Les Miserables (1935) -- before he was signed to a 20th Century Fox contract in 1936. His first major role was the sadistic prison guard in John Ford's Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), which launched a long and fruitful association with Ford, culminating in such memorable screen characterizations as the gentleman gambler in Stagecoach (1939) and Preacher Casy ("I lost the callin'!") in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Usually typecast as a villain, Carradine occasionally surprised his followers with non-villainous roles like the philosophical cab driver in Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) and Abraham Lincoln in Of Human Hearts (1938). Throughout his Hollywood years, Carradine's first love remained the theater; to fund his various stage projects (which included his own Shakespearean troupe), he had no qualms about accepting film work in the lowest of low-budget productions. Ironically, it was in one of these Poverty Row cheapies, PRC's Bluebeard (1944), that the actor delivered what many consider his finest performance. Though he occasionally appeared in an A-picture in the 1950s and 1960s (The Ten Commandments, Cheyenne Autumn), Carradine was pretty much consigned to cheapies during those decades, including such horror epics as The Black Sleep (1956), The Unearthly (1957), and the notorious Billy the Kid Meets Dracula (1966). He also appeared in innumerable television programs, among them Twilight Zone, The Munsters, Thriller, and The Red Skelton Show, and from 1962 to 1964 enjoyed a long Broadway run as courtesan-procurer Lycus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Though painfully crippled by arthritis in his last years, Carradine never stopped working, showing up in films ranging from Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) to Peggy Sue Got Married (1984). Married four times, John Carradine was the father of actors David, Keith, Robert, and Bruce Carradine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Released theatrically as The Wizard of Mars, this incredibly strange (and cheap) science fiction spin on The Wizard of Oz involves the journey of a stranded rocketship crew (in the far-off future of 1975), which includes an astronaut named Dorothy (Eve Bernhardt). Low on oxygen and desperate to find their missing booster rocket, they stumble upon the ruins of an ancient civilization, through which winds a paved road... constructed of strangely-familiar yellow bricks. The road leads them to the central Martian (Emerald) city, in which they are greeted with a projected message from the Wizard himself (the ubiquitous John Carradine), who tells a melancholy tale of the Martian people's fate, brought upon them by their foolish manipulations of time itself. As his visage fades, he leaves them with a small piece of this time-altering technology, which allows them to return to their ship at a point in time before the accident. Though this may seem like a novel concept in print, this is not the film to carry it off -- writer-producer-director David Hewitt's reach far exceeds his grasp, thanks to the film's abysmally tiny budget of $33,000. Famous Monsters magazine founder Forrest J. Ackerman served as a technical advisor. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Diane Wilson (Barbara Wilson) experiences an extraterrestrial visit one night while sleeping, awakening to a horrible, ear-splitting sound that only she can hear. Overcome by confusion, panic, and pain, she runs outside in her nightgown and sees weird lights in the sky. By the time paramedics take her to the hospital, she is catatonic, no longer able to explain what she has experienced. Doctors cannot explain this mystery seizure, since Diane has never shown any signs of insanity before. Could it have something to do with the UFO sightings that were reported the same night as her attack? Before it can be determined, Diane recovers suddenly and completely from her coma, then decides to follow her dream of becoming an Olympic figure skating champion. She moves to Sweden, where she meets up with her uncle, famous geologist Dr. Vance Wilson (Robert Burton), who has ventured there to help investigate a recent meteor landing. Diane is courted by her uncle's associate, the handsome Dr. Erik Engstrom (Sten Gester), though she aggressively plays hard to get. Their romance is interrupted by the discovery of a herd of mutilated reindeer, and the scientists decide to immediately fly to the site of the meteor crash, far north in the Arctic mountains of Lapland. Much to the irritation of the men, Diane stows away aboard their plane, though when it is determined that the meteor is actually an alien spaceship, she realizes just how dangerous a decision she has made. Soon an enormous hairy creature with powerful jaws and massive feet is menacing the scientists and the native Lapland villagers. The beast destroys the airplane, tears houses apart with its bare hands, and causes avalanches. But when this extraterrestrial monster catches up with Diane, it begins displaying tender feelings for the terrified figure skater, and even the elusive pilots of the spacecraft show her kindness. Invasion of the Animal People consists mostly of footage from a Swedish sci-fi film called Rymdinvasion i Lappland that director Jerry Warren bought and edited together with new scenes, plus narration by the distinguished John Carradine. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- 1962
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Like Pontius Pilate, director John Ford asks "What is truth?" in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance--but unlike Pilate, Ford waits for an answer. The film opens in 1910, with distinguished and influential U.S. senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) and his wife Hallie (Vera Miles) returning to the dusty little frontier town where they met and married twenty-five years earlier. They have come back to attend the funeral of impoverished "nobody" Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). When a reporter asks why, Stoddard relates a film-long flashback. He recalls how, as a greenhorn lawyer, he had run afoul of notorious gunman Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), who worked for a powerful cartel which had the territory in its clutches. Time and again, "pilgrim" Stoddard had his hide saved by the much-feared but essentially decent Doniphon. It wasn't that Doniphon was particularly fond of Stoddard; it was simply that Hallie was in love with Stoddard, and Doniphon was in love with Hallie and would do anything to assure her happiness, even if it meant giving her up to a greenhorn. When Liberty Valance challenged Stoddard to a showdown, everyone in town was certain that the greenhorn didn't stand a chance. Still, when the smoke cleared, Stoddard was still standing, and Liberty Valance lay dead. On the strength of his reputation as the man who shot Valance, Stoddard was railroaded into a political career, in the hope that he'd rid the territory of corruption. Stoddard balked at the notion of winning an election simply because he killed a man-until Doniphon, in strictest confidence, told Stoddard the truth: It was Doniphon, not Stoddard, who shot down Valance. Stoddard was about to reveal this to the world, but Doniphon told him not to. It was far more important in Doniphon's eyes that a decent, honest man like Stoddard become a major political figure; Stoddard represented the "new" civilized west, while Doniphon knew that he and the West he represented were already anachronisms. Thus Stoddard went on to a spectacular political career, bringing extensive reforms to the state, while Doniphon faded into the woodwork. His story finished, the aged Stoddard asks the reporter if he plans to print the truth. The reporter responds by tearing up his notes. "This is the West, sir, " the reporter explains quietly. "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Dismissed as just another cowboy opus at the time of its release, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance has since taken its proper place as one of the great Western classics. It questions the role of myth in forging the legends of the West, while setting this theme in the elegiac atmosphere of the West itself, set off by the aging Stewart and Wayne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, James Stewart, (more)
- 1961
Seeking shelter from a particularly brutal Montana winter, Beau finds himself in a cave which is being used as a bank robbers' hideout. Overhearing the gang planning another heist, Beau realizes that his life isn't worth a plug nickel if he's found out. Thus, he poses as the notorious outlaw Red Dog, and agrees to accompany the outlaws on their next caper--all the while trying to work out a strategy to escape the crooks and save the cash. The ingenue on this occasion is played by Sherry Jackson, the daughter-in-law of scriptwriter Montgomery Pittman; also in the cast is Mike Road, who would later show up in the recurring Maverick role of con artist Pearly Gates, and even later supplied the voice of Race Bannon on the animated TV series Jonny Quest. This episode marks the final appearance of Roger Moore as Beau Maverick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
The Cartwright boys' fraternal horseplay takes a painful turn when they accidentally injure their hired hand Jebediah Milbank (John Carradine). As Milbank recovers in Ben Cartwright's bedroom, Ben orders his rambunctious sons to tend to Jeb's unfinished responsibilities-and to that end, he dispatches Adam, Hoss and Joe to three different directions. Also appearing are Jena Engstrom as Ann, Claude Johnson as Paul, Denver Pyle as Theodore and John Qualen as Parley. First telecast October 1, 1961, "Springtime" was written by John Furia Jr.. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
Often tagged "The Incredible Petrified Movie," this science-fiction mistake was created by one of the more unsung "heroes" of bad moviemaking, Jerry Warren, a Hollywood "auteur" comparable to the legendary Edward D. Woods, Jr.. This time, Jerry depicts a group of divers "stranded" in some underwater caverns when their diving bell malfunctions. While the intrepid little group of two men and an equal number of women (including erstwhile "Lois Lane," Phyllis Coates) scamper about beneath the surface, Professor Millard Wyman (John Carradine) works feverishly on solid ground to find a new diving apparatus that may reach them before an underwater source of oxygen runs out. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Gordon Scott's fifth and last appearance as Tarzan came in this 1960 installment of the long-running movie series featuring the adventures of the legendary ape man. Neither Jane nor son Boy appear in the film. Tarzan is hired to escort a hardened criminal, Coy Banton (Jock Mahoney), through the jungle so that he can be turned over to the police. Also in the party are a group of British visitors including Ames (Lionel Jeffries), whose wife Fay (Betta St. John) falls in love with the prisoner Banton. Tarzan must stop the jungle party from fighting amongst themselves. After this film, Mahoney replaced Scott as Tarzan in subsequent movies, while Scott made several Italian movies playing the role of Hercules. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gordon Scott, Betta St. John, (more)
- 1960
Adapted by Charles Beaumont from his own short story, this is one of a handful of Twilight Zone episodes that can truly be described as terrifying. Told in flashback, it's the story of David Ellington (H.M. Wynant), who, while on a walking tour of Europe in the 1930s, is forced to take shelter in a non-religious monastery. Despite the warnings of Brother Jerome (John Carradine), Ellington takes pity on the bearded, wild-eyed "howling man" (Robin Hughes) who is locked in a basement cell. All hell breaks loose (literally!) when the foolhardy Ellington releases the prisoner. The episode's finale was designed to deliberately invoke memories of a similar sequence in the 1935 theatrical feature Werewolf of London. "The Howling Man" originally aired November 4, 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- H.M. Wynant, John Carradine, (more)
- 1960
Curvaceous Mamie Van Doren plays a super-genius who finds herself in charge of a college science department. Mamie would like to be appreciated for her intellect alone, but her male students (and most of the faculty) are preoccupied by her monumental breasts. The science department is virtually controlled by a huge robot called Thinko, which plays bets on horses. Gangsters Mickey Shaughnessy and Allan Drake try to neutralize Thinko, who's been right once too often. Strongarming their way on campus, the two crooks recognize Mamie as a former striptease artist. Forced to resign, she marries professor Martin Milner, who has loved her pure and chaste from afar. One expects to see such people as Jackie Coogan, John Carradine and Louis Nye in garbage like this-but how did Tuesday Weld get talked into participating? And wait till you see that nightclub number performed by Conway Twitty. Beauty and the Robot played in many markets under the step-right-up-folks title Sex Kittens Go to College. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
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MGM's all-star 1960 filmization of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn surgically removes the sociological subtext of Mark Twain's novel in the interests of "entertainment for the whole family." The emphasis is on the adventuresome escapades of Huck (Eddie Hodges) and fugitive slave Jim (played by boxing champ Archie Moore), and on the comic elements inherent in the characters of the King (Tony Randall) and the Duke (Mickey Shaughnessy). In the manner of Around the World in 80 Days, every role is filled by a "name" actor: featured in the cast are Judy Canova, Andy Devine, Buster Keaton, Sterling Holloway, Finlay Currie, Josephine Hutchinson and John Carradine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Randall, Eddie Hodges, (more)
- 1959
The Earth is attacked by mysterious invaders from outer space, who plan on destroying humankind. The invaders are invisible in our atmosphere, but are able to inhabit and reanimate the bodies of the dead. The armies of rotting corpses march on the cities, and it seems as though there is no defense. Major Bruce Jay (John Agar) is put in charge of a small, secret research center with a group of scientists, who must find a way of combating the invaders. Personality conflicts develop as Jay's hard-nosed, by-the-book approach to his job -- which requires him to kill anyone who might jeopardize the mission -- put him in opposition to the scientists (played by Jean Byron, Philip Tonge, and Robert Hutton). They develop an ultra-sonic gun that has the combined effect of rendering the aliens visible and killing them, but first they must test it, by capturing an alien, an action that forces them to run the risk of being discovered. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Agar, Jean Byron, (more)
The Cosmic Man is a moralistic sci-fi tale that does not quite live up to the pretensions of its title. Everything starts when a strange sphere settles down in a California canyon, causing both the scientific and military communities to gather around in an instant. The object appears to have one figure inside but no clear way of penetrating the sphere. As the military brass argue for a destructive course of action, scientist Karl Sorensen (Bruce Bennett) defends the sphere and its passenger, advocating a reasoned approach to the enigma. In the meantime, a ghostly entity wanders around town and a man nearly hidden underneath heavy clothing checks into the lodge where the antagonistic investigators are staying. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Bennett, John Carradine, (more)
- 1959
As the Oregon Territory prepares to welcome settlers in 1846, wagons traveling the Oregon trail face increasing hostility from the Native Americans who have vowed to protect their land. Dispatched to investigate rumors that President Polk is sending troops to the Oregon Territory disguised as pioneers, New York Herold reporter Neal Harris (Fred MacMurray) is captured by angry natives as he makes his way back to the city. Enlisting the help of a comely Native American maiden to make a daring escape, Harris makes it out just in time to warn the trrops of a potentially devistating attack. Subsequently resigning from his position as a reporter, Harris decides to make a home for himself and his faithful maiden in the new territory. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred MacMurray, William Bishop, (more)
- 1959
John Carradine and Michael Landon guest star in this early episode of The Rifleman. The only one in town to own a shotgun, young Billy Mathis (Landon) becomes the obvious suspect when Hallager (Robert Bice) is shot in the back. Especially when Sheriff Torrance (Paul Fix) learns that the victim had refused young Billy to court his daughter Lucy (Sue Randall). But both the sheriff and Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) remain unconvinced and the latter finally agrees to let traveling mind reader James Barrow McBride (Carradine) add his two cents. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Carradine
- 1958
Another example of a fairly interesting Japanese monster film rendered nearly incomprehensible by ham-fisted editing and substandard English dubbing, the original Yeti epic Jû Jin Yuki Otoko was shorn of nearly half its 100-plus-minute length, then crudely spliced back together with additional English scenes (shot by Kenneth G. Crane) and stodgy narration by John Carradine. The original film's scenario involved a pair of father-and-son Neanderthals living in a remote cave, the villagers who worship the beast-men, and the big-city circus promoters who try to capture them for a public exhibit. When the younger monster is accidentally killed, the father goes on a violent rampage, culminating in a volcano-set climax. Directed by Godzilla guru Inoshiro Honda, this film's original edit was marginally more interesting, though Honda would soon fare better with monsters of the scaly, radioactive variety. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1958
A pre-superstardom Charles Bronson plays a US marshal in Showdown at Boot Hill. Tracking down a wanted murderer to a small town, Bronson kills him in a shootout. It develops that the dead man, whose criminal past was unknown to his fellow townsfolk, was a popular and highly respected member of the community. The decedent's friends refuse to identify the body, thereby denying Bronson the opportunity of collecting the reward money. At first angered by this, Bronson is gradually won over to the townspeoples' point of view. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, Robert Hutton, (more)
Spencer Tracy stars in John Ford's sentimental adaptation of Edwin O'Connor's novel about the final campaign of a big city mayor, loosely based upon the life of Boston politician James Curley. Tracy is Frank Skeffington, the political boss of an Eastern city dominated by Irish-Americans. Skeffington tries to assist the people of the city and avoids cutting political deals with the power elite. But despite his concern for the people, Skeffington has no friends, just flunkies. The Mayor is greatly admired by his idealistic nephew Adam Caulfield (Jeffrey Hunter), who writes for an opposition newspaper run by Amos Force (John Carradine). When Skeffington needs money for a loan, he asks the powerful banker Norman Cass (Basil Rathbone), but Cass steadfastly refuses. In retaliation, Skeffington appoints Cass's retarded son as an interim fire commissioner. To prevent his son from disgracing the family, Cass agrees to the bank loan. But Cass uses his deep pockets to finance the opposition's candidate for mayor. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Jeffrey Hunter, (more)
- 1958
In the town of San Sebastian, Paladin (Richard Boone) is hired by wealthy Scotsman Ian Crown (Judson Pratt) to track down Sancho Fernandez (Simon Oakland), a bandit who has been terrorizing the countryside. It soon becomes obvious that there is more to this situation than a simple manhunt: at the center of the intrigue is a valuable religious relic that has allegedly been stolen by Fernandez--and is highly coveted by the tight-fisted Mr. Crown. This is the final episode of Have Gun--Will Travel's first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A gentler but no less resourceful Alan Ladd stars in The Proud Rebel. Ladd is cast as civil war veteran John Chandler, while the star's son David (who grew up to become a powerful Hollywood producer) plays Chandler's emotionally disturbed son David. Since suffering a traumatic shock during the war, David has not spoken a single word. With his son in tow, John wanders the frontier in search of a doctor who might cure David's muteness. Along the way, he runs afoul of sheep baron Harry Burleigh (Dean Jagger), and for a brief period is forced into indentured servitude to pay a debt to farm woman Linnet Moore (Olivia de Havilland). Falling in love with Linnet, John vows to protect her land from the covetous machinations of Burleigh and his brood. It is during the climactic set-to between good guys and bad that David at long last finds his voice again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Ladd, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
Republic's The Unearthly was originally released on a double bill with The Beginning of the End. John Carradine chews the scenery as Professor Conway, who claims to have discovered a gland which enables his patients to live forever. Alas, most of Conway's human experiments are failures, left to scream and gibber in the doctor's cellar. His latest "volunteer", a beautiful neurotic named Grace (Allison Hayes), arouses Conway's libido, and as a result he is hesitant to operate upon her; the same does not apply to another patient (Sally Todd), whom Conway inadvertently transforms into a nonagenarian. Fortunately, a police officer (Myron Healey) posing as an escaped convict manages to put an end to Conway's unearthly experiments. Harry Thomas' makeup work on Dr. Conway's hideously deformed human guinea pigs is the only worthwhile aspect of The Unearthly. Tor Johnson makes another of his appearances as mute monstrosity Lobo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Carradine, Allison Hayes, (more)
Actually, this retelling of the life of outlaw Jesse James is only as true as its predecessor, the highly fanciful 1939 Tyrone Power-Henry Fonda starrer Jesse James. Generous chunks of stock footage from the earlier film are reused here, albeit reframed to accommodate the CinemaScope process. Robert Wagner makes an interesting James, though he is upstaged throughout by Jeffrey Hunter as his brother Frank. Adhering to the Canon, the film insists that the James boys were forced into a life of crime by greedy railroad men -- hence, their ongoing vendetta against trains. Director Nicholas Ray adds a few psychological nuances not found in the more prosaic 1939 film. John Carradine, who played "dirty little coward" Bob Ford in the original Jesse James, appears in the remake as Rev. Jethro Bailey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, (more)
- 1957
Future "Master of Disaster" Irwin Allen produced this curious but inarguably fascinating adaptation of Henrik Willem Van Loon's best- selling historical volume. A Celestial Tribunal has been convened to decide the fate of the Earth after the invention of nuclear weapons, with The Devil (Vincent Price) and The Spirit of Man (Ronald Colman) debating if humankind should be allowed to continue or be exterminated once and for all. Both men present examples of human behavior at its best and worst, including Dennis Hopper as Napoleon, Hedy Lamarr as Joan of Arc, Virginia Mayo as Cleopatra, Peter Lorre as Nero, Edward Everett Horton as Sir Walter Raleigh, and Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, and Chico Marx as, respectively, Peter Minuit, Sir Isaac Newton, and a monk (yes, the producers had the daring and vision to cast the Marx Brothers without having them play any scenes together). The Story of Mankind proved to be the last film for both Ronald Colman and Hedy Lamarr; it was also the last time the three Marx Brothers appeared in the same film, though the individual Marxes appeared in a few films following this. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Hedy Lamarr, (more)
In this South Seas adventure, a sea captain teams up with lovely island princess help her vanquish the brutal smugglers who are forcing her people to dive for pearls. There are French colonialists on the island and a judge is there to ensure justice. Unfortunately, he is crooked, and after the smugglers are captured he gives them a choice: they can help him retrieve a sunken treasure or they can go to prison. They choose the former, but afterward, they double-cross the judge. Fortunately, the sea captain is still around to see that justice is served. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
This second presentation of the classic dramatic anthology Du Pont Show of the Month is a lavishly mounted adaptation of Mark Twain's historical novel The Prince and the Pauper. Although virtually every film version of this work has either cast twin boys in the roles of young Prince Edward and his ragamuffin lookalike Tom Canty, or has employed split-screen photography to convey the impression that one child actor is actually two different people, this production aired live and was unable to recruit twins at such short notice. Thus, Rex Thompson, best known for his portrayal of Prince Chulanlongkorn in The King and I, plays Edward, while the remarkably similar-looking Johnny Washbrook, previously the star of the TV series My Friend Flicka, plays Tom. Twain's familiar plot remains intact, with the royal Edward and the peasant Tom trading places, leading to all manner of complications for the high- and lowborn citizens of 16th century England. Heading what was advertised as "a cast of 60" is Christopher Plummer as Sir Miles Herndon, who while seeking revenge against the brother who betrayed him befriends the incognito Prince Edward; Hurd Hatfield as that evil sibling, Sir John; Rosemary Harris as the brothers' mutual sweetheart Lady Edith; and Sir Cedric Hardwycke as the scheming Earl of Hartford, who knows that the youngster claiming to be the Prince of England isn't anything of the kind. Also seen is a very young Patty Duke as Edward's sister Princess Elizabeth. "he Prince and the Pauper" was adapted for television by Leslie Slote, who spent much of the 1950s fronting for fellow writers who had been blacklisted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, Rosemary Harris, (more)
