Vernon P. Downing Movies
Million Dollar Mermaid
1952
Who else but Esther Williams could star in a romantic drama (with musical numbers) bearing a title like this? In Million Dollar Mermaid, Williams plays Annette Kellerman,...
Homecoming
1948
When Homecoming was first released in 1948, some observers felt that Clark Gable's unusually sensitive performance was based on his own memories of losing his wife Carole...
The Macomber Affair
1947
When a man dies under suspicious circumstances, the law must decide if it was murder or an accident. Francis Macomber (Robert Preston) is a wealthy, carefree gentleman who...
Forever Amber
1947
They said it couldn't be done, but they did it: Kathleen Winsor's "notorious", bestselling bodice-ripper Forever Amber actually made it to the screen in 1947 with full...
Golden Earrings
1947
Based on a novel by Yolanda Foldes, this confusing romantic adventure concerns a love affair and international espionage. Told in flashback, British officer Ralph Denistoun...
The Time of Their Lives
1946
While perhaps not Abbott & Costello's best film, The Time of Their Lives is certainly their most unusual. Lou Costello plays a Revolutionary War-era tinker, whose prized...
Cloak and Dagger
1946
Inspired by actual events, Cloak and Dagger was first major "atomic power" melodrama of the postwar era. Gary Cooper stars as bookish physics professor Alvah Jesper, a...
Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman
1944
Someone in London has driven several prominent men to madness and suicide. Normally, Scotland Yard would call in Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) to help solve the case, but...
A Guy Named Joe
1944
Opening in England during the middle of World War II, A Guy Named Joe tells the story of Pete Sandidge (Spencer Tracy), a tough, devil-may-care bomber pilot who's amassed...
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
1943
There are those who consider Sherlock Holmes Faces Death to be the best of Universal's Holmes series, though others hold out for 1944's The Scarlet Claw. Based loosely...
The Wife Takes a Flyer
1942
In this WW II spy comedy, an American pilot stationed in England is flying a routine mission when the Nazis shoot down his plane. He ends up seeking shelter in the home of an...
Suspicion
NR 1941
Wealthy, sheltered Joan Fontaine is swept off her feet by charming ne'er-do-well Cary Grant. Though warned that Grant is little more than a fortune-hunter, Fontaine marries...
Pride and Prejudice
NR 1940
Long before 19th-century novelist Jane Austen became a hot property in Hollywood, MGM produced this opulent and entertaining adaptation of one of Austen's best-known...
Wuthering Heights
1939
William Wyler's Wuthering Heights is one of the earliest screen adaptations of the classic Emily Brontë novel. A traveler named Lockwood (Miles Mander) is caught in...
The Emperor's Candlesticks
1937
Baroness Orczy, author of The Scarlet Pimpernel, came up with the story upon which The Emperor's Candlesticks was based. As in Pimpernel, the theme is international...
Romeo and Juliet
1936
Director George Cukor and producer Irving G. Thalberg's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, a lavish production of Shakespeare's tale about two star-crossed lovers, is...
Mutiny on the Bounty
NR 1935
The 1932 publication of Charles Nordhoff and James Norton Hall's Mutiny on the Bounty sparked a revival of interest in the titular 1789 ship mutiny, and this 1935 MGM...
I Found Stella Parish
1935
Kay Francis stars as Stella Parish, a London stage favorite who suddenly disappears without a trace. British news correspondent Keith Lockridge (Ian Hunter) girdles the...
Les Miserables
1935
Richard Boleslawski directed this lavish adaptation of Victor Hugo's oft-filmed epic novel. Fredric March stars as Jean Valjean, who is hauled into prison for stealing a...
Clive of India
1935
Ronald Colman plays Robert Clive, a true-life 18th century Britisher who works up the ranks to become leader of Britain's military forces in India. Though produced on a...