BLACK WIDOW (1954)

BLACK WIDOW (1954). Writer/director: Nunnally Johnson.

Broadway producer Peter Denver (Van Heflin), who is married to actress Iris Denver (Gene Tierney), befriends a struggling young writer named Nanny (Peggy Ann Garner) and eventually wishes he hadn't. Ginger Rogers (Dreamboat) plays his star Carlotta Marin and Reginald Gardiner is her husband, Brian. Possibly attempting to approximate the success of All About Eve, Nunnally Johnson took a story by mystery writer Patrick Quentin (actually Hugh Wheeler) with a Broadway background and concocted another story of an aging affected actress and opportunistic young'n. There the resemblance to All About Eve ends as, to be fair, Black Widow goes in its own direction, but while the first quarter is unpredictable the rest is sadly familiar. Also, Black Widow is vastly inferior to All About Eve and Ginger Rogers is pretty inadequate doing a lower-case Bette Davis. Heflin is as good as ever, but the material is far beneath him, and Gardiner, usually at his best in comedies, is comically miscast in this. Gene Tierney is also good, but she, too, is pretty much wasted. Virginia Leith, Otto Kruger and an unrecognizable Cathleen Nesbitt are excellent in supporting parts. George Raft is simply an embarrassment as a police detective, but Peggy Ann Garner scores as Nanny. The main trouble with Johnson's script is that he hasn't created characters, only trotted out an assortment of types.

Verdict: Watch out for movies in which Reginald Gardiner plays a romantic figure. **.

RHAPSODY

Ericson, Taylor and Gassman

RHAPSODY (1954). Director: Charles Vidor.

"You have an almost neurotic need to be needed. And that man needs no one."

Hollywood always liked to hedge its bets when it came to movies with a classical music milieu, so they made sure in such pictures to include beautiful women, handsome men, and a dollop of sex -- or at least lots of romance. In Rhapsody the beautiful woman is Elizabeth Taylor, who never looked more luscious except perhaps in Elephant Walk, and she has two handsome co-stars, Vittorio Gassman and John Ericson. If that weren't enough, the movie is drenched in the music of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and others. Louise Durant (Taylor) is in love with an up and coming violinist, Paul Bronte (Gassman) and she follows him to Zurich where he needs to finish his studies. Louise is sensitive but a bit too superficial to be able to develop an interest in classical music, so she has no real joy in her lover's eventual success. 

Meanwhile, James Guest (Ericson) an upstairs neighbor studying piano at the same conservatory, is falling for Louise and is there for her when things temporarily fall apart between her and Paul. A love triangle develops, with Louise torn between the man she thinks she loves and the other man who desperately needs her ... La Liz gives one of her best performances in Rhapsody, a spoiled but loving minx who needs the affection withheld by her father (an excellent Louis Calhern) and will do just about anything to get it from the man she loves. Gassman is wonderful as an artistic devil-may-care, for whom Louise will always take second place, and Ericson, who later appeared on TV's Honey West, has probably the best role of his career and runs with it. Other notable cast members include Michael Chekhov as Professor Cahill, Celia Lovsky as a landlady, and Stuart Whitman as another student, among others.

Verdict: Feed your inner romantic! ***.

THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY

THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (1954). Director: William A. Wellman.

"The youth of man will never die unless he murders it."

NOTE: Some plot details are revealed in this review.This was a [near] disaster film made before the era of disaster films, based on a novel by the once-popular Ernest K. Gann. On a flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, various passengers share their stories, as some unspecified troubles begin, culminating in the loss of an engine and the possibility that they might not have enough fuel to make it to land --  which means they might wind up in the drink. No one can say with any certainty if the plane will float until help arrives, or break up and sink. On board we have a honeymoon couple, middle-aged couples, a woman who's in love with her boss, an aging gal, Sally (Jan Sterling), meeting her future, younger husband for the first time, and so on. One thing the plane doesn't have is any chivalrous men. When Sally explains how nervous she is about meeting her guy considering she's a bit older than the only picture he has of her, neither the pilot Sullivan (Robert Stack) or another male passenger ever tell her that she's still considerably attractive -- gee, what nice guys! When another woman, May (Claire Trevor), betrays her terror of aging -- "no one's whistled at me in years" -- her male companion offers no compliments, either, despite her own good looks. The younger women, including the pretty and efficient stewardess (Julie Bishop) and the darling Miss Chen (Joy Kim) fare a bit better. 

Sidney Blackmer of Rosemary's Baby is aboard for a little melodrama involving his wife and her alleged lover, David Brian, and there's also Paul Kelly as a disaffected scientist. Loraine Day is a wealthy woman disgusted with her husband's financial decisions, Phil Harris and Ann Doran are disappointed middle-aged tourists; all are fine. William Campbell [Dementia 13] has one of his best roles as an obnoxious younger pilot. The performances and the characterizations are actually pretty good, but The High and the Mighty is only sporadically entertaining and suspenseful, and at nearly two and half hours in length is much too long and in fact fairly tedious for long stretches. But the main problem is that the movie has no pay-off and no real climax. John Wayne -- did I forget to mention him? -- saves the day and that's that. You're happy for the characters but disappointed that there's so little life or death action. Wayne plays an older pilot who is haunted by the death of his wife and boy in a crash that he survived. When he thinks back on this event in a flashback, he furrows his brow to show that he's allegedly "haunted." He's better in scenes when he has to firmly and kindly reassure the passengers; in fact, for the most part he's not bad at all. Dimitri Tiomkin's Oscar-winning music score does most of the work in this movie, however.

Verdict: This is by no means a classic. **1/2.

PHFFFT

Judy Holliday and Luella Gear

PHFFT (1954). Director: Mark Robson.

Their eight-year marriage having grown stale, Nina and Robert Tracey (Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon) decide to call it quits. Nina gets advice from her mother, Edith (Luella Gear of Carefree), while Robert moves in with and is sort of adopted by his best buddy, playboy Charlie Nelson (Jack Carson of The Groom Wore Spurs). Charlie importunes Robert to date the beautiful but intellectually-challenged Janis (Kim Novak). Although they both seem happy to be divorced and on their own, the truth is that Nina and Robert are having trouble moving on -- maybe they're still in love with each other? 

Jack Lemmon and Jack Carson

That same year Holliday and Lemmon, in his first picture, teamed up for the truly dreadful It Should Happen to You. Fortunately Lemmon survived that debacle and teamed again with Holliday and this time the results were more felicitous. Based on an early play by George Axelrod, Phffft hardly has the most original premise or situations -- the problems of divorced couples having trouble moving on because they're still in love were a staple of movies of the golden age -- but there is enough humor in the film to make it palatable, and the performances by the entire cast really put it over. Highlights include a scene when Nina and Robert, both with their own dates, wind up dancing the mambo together on the dance floor, and especially the hilarious climax, when Nina and Charlie Nelson have a disastrous date. These are three fine actors working at the top of their form, with good support from Novak and an excellent Luella Gear helping add to the fun. 

Verdict: A great cast makes this work. ***.

ULYSSES (1954)

ULYSSES (aka Ulisse/1954). Director: Mario Camerini. 

"There's part of me that's always homesick for the unknown." 

Penelope (Silvana Mangano) rebuffs a horde of boorish suitors while she waits for Ulysses (Kirk Douglas) to come home to her, unaware that he has his hands full with bewitching sirens, the cyclops Polyphemus, and Circe, a temptress who has made herself look just like Penelope (also played by Mangano). Anthony Quinn is cast as the most bold and virile of Penelope's suitors. This is a fair-to-middling version of Homer's great epic, including many of the incidents of the story without being completely faithful to its source material. The special effects are definitely low-tech, but Douglas -- who looks great in his beard -- gives a fine performance, and Mangano and Quinn are also creditable. Ulysses manages to put the cyclops to sleep by giving him -- grape juice? (It takes some time for crushed grapes to turn into wine.)

Verdict: Not especially memorable as adventure or fantasy, but not devoid of interest. **1/2.

NEW FACES

Robert Clary stinks up another number

NEW FACES (1954).  Director: Harry Horner.

Making CinemaScope productions of Broadway revues was certainly a rare occurrence in the 1950's, but New Faces was quite successful and it was supposed that it would transfer well to the screen. Well ... the trouble is the material and some of the players. The two performers who get the most screen time are Eartha Kitt and Robert Clary.  Kitt (of Anna Lucasta) was a very talented actress, but her voice was not always exactly euphonic. Clary, best-known for a supporting role on the sitcom Hogan's Heroes, must have had an uncle or somebody else who backed the show, for his appearance in this is inexplicable. He does number after number but betrays no great singing talent nor comedic ability. You'll be reaching for the fast forward button!

"Love is a Simple Thing" dance routine

Fortunately there are a few more talented people in the movie. Paul Lynde (of Bye Bye Birdie) does a hilarious routine on going on a disastrous vacation in Africa. Singers Virginia Wilson and June Carroll do a couple of numbers each. Carol Lawrence [A View from the Bridge] and Alice Ghostly [Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella] also appear, the latter doing a forgettable skit with Lynde. The rest is decidedly a mixed bag. "Penny Candy" is an awful number that seems to go on forever; Kitt is at least given a fairy decent song with "Santa Baby," and "Love is a Simple Thing" is the most memorable tune; the dancers excel during this number. "You Can't Chop Your Papa Up in Massachusetts" -- about Lizzie Borden -- is meant to be cute and whimsical but is simply an exercise in bad taste. In the barely existing backstage plot, Ronny Graham tries to get Virginia's father to fork over the money for the show. Harry Horner also directed Vicki, a murder mystery set in the theater world. 

Verdict: Too much tedium but Paul Lynde helps a lot. **. 

A STAR IS BORN (1954)

Judy Garland and James Mason

A STAR IS BORN (1954). Director: George Cukor.

Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland) ignites the interest of movie star Norman Maine (James Mason) when he drunkenly stumbles upon the stage where she is performing a number for a Hollywood "Night of Stars" benefit. Esther is by no means a star, but rather a vocalist with a popular band. Norman is so impressed by Esther that he arranges a screen test for her and is instrumental in her taking over the lead role of a new musical production. Eventually Esther -- rechristened "Vicki Lester" by the studio -- and Norman marry, but as her career hits the heights and she does become a certified star, Norman's heavy drinking and bad behavior pay a toll ... 

The Man That Got Away

I've seen this version of the venerable story more than once in the past few years and my opinion of it waxes and wanes. I have now come to the conclusion that it is a very good and very entertaining classic motion picture, and the best version ever of this bit of Hollywood folklore. In previous years I may have been reacting negatively to the obsessive, near-hysterical reaction among some Garland fans who may have ruined many a screening of the picture. I first saw the film on television decades ago, chopped up by commercial interruptions and missing scenes that had even made the final theatrical cut. Color and cinemascope were lost. Now the film can be seen in its original three hour length in widescreen technicolor and stereophonic sound -- boy what a difference!

Born in a Trunk

There are times when you do get the impression that this is strictly A Judy Garland Extravaganza with the woman taking centerstage in one musical number after another and to hell with the story. But in the final quarter the film does get back to the central romantic relationship between Esther and Norman, and as for all of the musical numbers -- well, A Star is Born is a musical, after all, and the production numbers, featuring a luminescent and ultra-talented Garland at the top of her form, are extremely well-done and give the film its vitality. The long Born in a Trunk sequence is also quite stylish and memorable. 

Norman Maine overhears that he's washed up forever

Garland gives a terrific performance, and those who claim the Oscar was stolen from her may be correct. This time around I didn't find her overly mannered or too neurotic but pretty much on-target in her portrayal. Let's not forget James Mason, who is near-superb as the charming, dissipated Norman, who can be a pretty mean drunk when he wants to be. There is a lot we don't learn about Norman, unfortunately, which might have made him a bit more sympathetic, although when we see Mason as Maine in his bed listening to the studio boss tell Esther how washed up her husband is, you can't help but feel a stab of pity. 

Garland with Charles Bickford

Charles Bickford makes his mark as the studio boss, and he has two wonderful scenes with Mason in the Maine home and at the sanitorium where Norman is hopefully drying out. Bickford also figures in a especially well-written dressing room sequence when Esther tells of how helpless she feels trying to succor Norman and how there are times when she actually hates him due to his failure to control his drinking and all of his broken promises. Jack Carson also scores as the long-suffering publicity man who has had to put up with Norman's drunken antics for too long a time. Tommy Noonan is fine as Esther's friend, the band leader Danny, who gives her a needed pep talk, and there are bits from Irving Bacon as Norman's butler, Percy Helton as a drunk, Arthur Space as a court clerk, Frank Ferguson as a judge, Tristram Coffin as an assistant director, Grady Sutton as a reporter, and Richard Webb as a winner at the Oscar ceremony, and many, many other familiar names who show up only briefly. 

Get That Long Face Lost

In addition to Born in a Trunk, which includes a rendition of Swanee, the other song numbers include It's a New World, What am I here for? and Get That Long Face Lost which features two cute black children. Arguably the best number is The Man That Got Away, superbly delivered by Garland. One might wonder why she smiles during this torchiest of torch songs, but it may reflect a sheer joy in singing, and in this excellent Harold Arlen-Ira Gershwin song. (Arlen and Gershwin did the other numbers, aside from Born in a Trunk and Swanee). I confess that I've always found the number Garland does for Norman in her living room to be a little tiresome, but you can't win 'em all. In any case, Sam Leavitt's cinematography is first-class, as is Cukor's direction. 

Norman accidentally smacks Esther at the Oscar ceremony

Some things you just have to take with a grain of salt. Why would Norman Maine insist that Esther have a screen test when he's never actually seen her act, just sing? Sure her interpretive singing skills are impressive, but that doesn't mean she can act. Still, this is Hollywood. Based on the initial reviews and audience reaction, everyone expected A Star is Born to be a tremendous hit, but the studio cut forty minutes out of it so there could be more showings. I'm not certain if that really would have hurt the box office, but in any case the movie lost money and Garland only made two more pictures. Her big comeback was both a triumph and a failure. 

Verdict: A hell of a lot of work went into this picture and it shows! ***1/2.  

THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA

Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner

THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA (1954). Written, produced, and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. 

Spanish dancer Maria Vargas is turned into a movie star by spoiled wealthy producer Kirk Edwards (Warren Stevens of The Price of Fear), famous director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart), who has been on the wagon for several months, and ass-licking public relations man Oscar Muldoon (Edmond O'Brien). The beautiful Maria is desired by a great many men, including the South American millionaire Alberto Bravano (Marius Goring), and Italian Count Torlato-Favrini (Rossano Brazzi), but she has other dalliances with men not quite as rich. One of these dalliances will lead to tragedy ... 

The Barefoot Contessa opens with Maria's funeral, so you know her fate from the first, and the movie's flashbacks show how she got there. There isn't much about the picture-making process, and Maria -- although she stars in three films in a row -- is never shown on a set, nor do we see Dawes working his magic on his star. One of the most interesting sequences purports to show Maria dancing in a nightclub, although we never actually see Maria, only the varying reactions from the people in the audience, an audacious touch. (Later on Maria is shown dancing with a gypsy in the forest.) A lot about Maria's character is given away in drips and drabs. Gardner is really required only to be beautiful and sensual and a bit enigmatic, and she carries this off quite well, although it could not be called great acting. On the other hand, Bogart gives one of his best performances in this. O'Brien won an Oscar for his supporting performance, although it's well within his rather wide range. Stevens and especially Goring are both fine as dueling millionaires, and their sallies at one another at a party makes for one of the most arresting sequences in the movie. Edwards seems to derive no joy from his money, while Bravano enjoys life to the fullest. Rossano Brazzi is certainly a very handsome fellow, but in this film his performance lacks passion, although one could argue that he is playing a highly depressed character who probably has trouble getting excited about anything, except perhaps Maria, from whom he keeps a terrible secret.

Warren Stevens and Ava Gardner

There are some solid supporting performances in the picture: Mari Aldon as Myrna, who is badly mistreated by Edwards; Diana Decker [Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?] as a drunken blonde at a party who gets into it with Maria; Elizabeth Sellars [The Chalk Garden] as Jerry, a script girl who is Dawes' girlfriend; Valentina Cortese as Brazzi's sister; young Enzo Staiola [The Bicycle Thief] as a busboy with an eye for the ladies; Franco Interlenghi as Maria's brother, Pedro; Carlo Dale in a sexy, insinuating silent performance as Brazzi's chauffeur and Maria's lover; and former silent star Bessie Love as a patron at what is probably meant to be the casino at Monte Carlo. 

The Barefoot Contessa is an entertaining and absorbing picture, but there may be less here than meets the eye. Mankiewicz' targets are pretty familiar: wealthy movie producers who never worked a day in their lives and have no real taste; glamorous movie stars who seem to have no appreciation of their careers and what it's given them: oily publicists; the idle rich and the European jet set; and so on. Still, there are some amusing and trenchant observations scattered throughout the picture, along with some great dialogue. The situation with Maria and the count is a pathetic and intriguing one as well. The ending, in which Bogart is saddened by Maria's death but displays no anger at her killer is odd, but may be indicative of the production code's edict that adulterers must be punished. It's a major weakness in the movie. Marlon Brando was originally sought for the part played by Bogart, but I can't imagine Brando in the role. 

Verdict: Colorful picture that is not exactly about the picture business. ***.

CLIMAX! -- CASINO ROYALE

Barry Nelson with Michael Pate

CLIMAX! Season One; episode 3. "Casino Royale" by Ian Fleming.  1954. Director: William H. Brown Jr. Colorized. 

Nearly ten years before the film Dr., No, the character of James Bond was unveiled for the viewing public for the first time on an hour-long episode of the anthology series, Climax! Based on Ian Fleming's very first Bond novel, it follows the story rather closely: Bond -- now an American agent with "Combined Intelligence" -- must prevent the Soviet agent, Le Chiffre (Peter Lorre) -- or The Cipher -- from winning a bundle at baccarat as he has amassed huge debts which will hopefully end his effectiveness as an agent. Bullets nearly take out Bond at the very opening, and later he is subjected to torture (although nowhere near as horrific as in the novel) in a bathtub. 

Linda Christian and Peter Lorre

Although not English, Nelson makes a very adept Bond (although it's disconcerting to have him referred to as "Jimmy".) He exudes competence and class in equal measure. Matching him is Linda Christian (of The Happy Time), as French agent Valerie (a variation on the British agent Vesper Lynn). She has to deliver some romantic dialogue during a very difficult moment and comes through with flying colors. Michael Pate also scores as another agent, Clarence (as opposed to Felix) Leiter. The one disappointing cast member is, surprisingly, Peter Lorre, who fails to make Le Chiffre menacing even when he is employing pliers on Bond in a fiendish manner. By this time the actor had become too avuncular -- he simply is too perfunctory and weak as the villain. 

Roth, Lorre, Nelson, Christian

"Casino Royale" was presented LIVE, and there are no slip-ups that I could see throughout the production. Telewriters Antony Ellis and Charles Bennett intelligently adapt the source material, cutting out some of the more gruesome moments (such as a bomb meant for Bond killing two Soviet agents). The novel was an excellent introduction to 007, who is much more dimensional than he ever was in most of the films, and this TV version is quite well-done. The show is hosted by William Lundigan and Gene Roth plays one of Le Chiffre's hoodlums. Linda Christian was married to Tyrone Power for several years; after their divorce she married Edmund Purdom and that union only lasted a year.

Verdict: Very interesting Bond piece is more than just a curio. ***. 

RED GARTERS

Rosemary Clooney

RED GARTERS (1954). Director: George Marshall.

The citizens of Limbo County are holding a barbecue to celebrate the death of a hated individual, when said individual's brother, Reb (Guy Mitchell), shows up wanting revenge on whoever murdered him. It doesn't make any difference that Red also hated his brother, it's "the code of the West." Someone who is sick of this code and all of the fighting and killing is saloon singer Calaveras Kate (Rosemary Clooney of White Christmas), who is inexplicably in love with the fat Jason Carberry (Jack Carson), the unofficial leader of the town. She refers to the bloodthirsty townspeople as "Modern-day Romans." While Reb draws closer to Jason's ward, Susan (Pat Crowley), another romance develops between bandit Rafael (Gene Barry) and newcomer-from-Boston Sheila (Joanne Gilbert). Reb and Rafael have also become fast friends, but what will happen when Red learns that it was his buddy who shot and killed his brother?

Guy Mitchell and Pat Crowley

Red Garters is easily both the weirdest musical and western that I have ever seen. For one thing, the movie is so highly-stylized that it often seems like a cartoon. In some westerns there is some attempt to make sets on a soundstage resemble the real thing, but the town in Red Garters is completely artificial. That pretty much matches the farcical absurdity of the screenplay. However, without putting to fine a point on it, the film has a subtext of using logic to reduce violence, personified in the character of the quite sensible Kate (aside from her infatuation for Jason). Similarly Clooney dominates the movie, and gives a terrific performance. Not only is she surprisingly sexy doing such numbers as the title tune, "Code of the West" and especially the splendid "Bad News," but she delivers her songs with more assurance and professionalism than I've ever quite seen from her before. 

Joanne Gilbert and Gene Barry

As for Guy Mitchell, who was essentially a singer, he gives a good performance in Garters, but his lack of good looks probably didn't help him and he made only two movies, this and Those Redheads from Seattle. Joanne Gilbert, also a good singer, was introduced in this film and she is notable as well, but she did mostly television work and her career petered out in the sixties. Gene Barry's turn as a Mexican bandit may be on the stereotypical side, but he is nevertheless excellent. Buddy Ebsen is only given one number but he dances up a storm as expected. Buck-toothed Cass Daley plays an Indian squaw. Reginald Owen and Frank Faylen score as respectively, Sheila's father, the judge, and a cowardly if highly vocal townsperson. Crowley and Carson do their turns professionally. The songs by Livingstone and Evans [Somebody Loves Me] are a mixed bag, some quite forgettable and others rather pleasant.  

Verdict: Like a Western animated movie with flesh and blood players. **3/4.

CAPTAIN KIDD AND THE SLAVE GIRL

Anthony Dexter and Eva Gabor

CAPTAIN KIDD AND THE SLAVE GIRL (1954). Director: Lew Landers. 

Captain William Kidd (Anthony Dexter) is convicted of piracy and sentenced to hang (as he was in real life). In this completely fictionalized story, Kidd's death is faked with the complicity of Lord Bellomont (James Seay), who hopes to eventually learn where Kidd's treasure is buried. To that end Kidd is given a new name and put on board a ship helmed by Captain Pace (the ever-uninteresting Lyle Talbot). Also on board is Judith Duvall (Eva Gabor) who was put there to report back to Bellomont. After an adversarial relationship, the two eventually become lovers, possibly because Kidd walks around with his shirt off through much of the movie. Eventually the two encounter Blackbeard (Michael Ross) and lady pirate Ann Bonney (Sonia Sorel). It's a question who will wind up with the treasure and if Kidd and Judith will ever make it back to England. 

Alan Hale Jr. with Dexter

Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl is fast-paced and amusing, with a dashing and adept performance by Dexter, who'd previously played Valentino and appeared in the trash-classic Fire Maidens of Outer Space. Gabor is better than expected, Ross [Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman] makes a blustering Blackbeard, and Sorel is quite effective as Bonney. It's fun watching Kidd turn Gabor into a galley slave early in their relationship, and even more fun watching Gabor and Sorel having a zesty "cat-fight." A hilarious scene has Kidd telling Judith to pretend to be his slave when she is wearing a fancy gown. Someone in the make up department had the lousy idea of painting a beard and mustache on Dexter's face instead of letting him grow one or using a fake beard with spirit gum -- in some shots it looks very strange. Alan Hale Jr. is excellent as Jay Simpson, a good friend of Kidd's who sticks with him to the bitter end. William Tannen also makes an impression as Steve Castle, a decided enemy of Kidd's, and smaller roles are played by William Schallert, Harry Lauter, Ken Terrell, and others who appeared in numerous B movies and serials. Although this movie was released in color, the only print I could find was black and white. 

Verdict: A sexy Kidd never hurts! ***. 

CATTLE QUEEN OF MONTANA

Ronald Reagan and Barbara Stanwyck

CATTLE QUEEN OF MONTANA (1954). Director: Allan Dwan. 

Sierra Nevada Jones (Barbara Stanwyck), her father, "Pop" (Morris Ankrum), and their friend Nat (Chubby Johnson) are about to stake their claim to the land when a stampede sends all of their cattle running amok, killing the old man and nearly killing the others. A loathsome polecat named McCord (Gene Evans) is in cahoots with an Indian named Natchakoa (Anthony Caruso), who started the stampede. Natchakoa hopes to take control of a tribe of Blackfoot Indians away from his father Red Lance and hated brother, Colorados (Lance Fuller), who is too sympathetic to whites, including Sierra, whom he tries to help. Then there's the mysterious Farrell (Ronald Reagan), who works for McCord but seems to be looking out for Sierra. Rounding out the cast of characters is Starfire (Yvette Duquay), an Indian maiden who is jealous of Colorados' attentions to Sierra. Naturally nothing good can come of all this. 

Stanwyck, Lance Fuller, Chubby Johnson

Barbara Stanwyck was in the final stages of her career when she made this film, essentially a B western with a certified B movie cast, including Ronald Reagan as her sort-of leading man (although Lance Fuller gets more screen time). Stanwyck had done other westerns before and after this one -- and of course did several seasons of The Big Valley on TV -- but Cattle Queen is far below the level of, say, Anthony Mann's The Furies. The cliches don't matter so much because they're almost part of the genre, and Cattle Queen has a workable story, but the movie never really comes alive the way it ought to, and after awhile you just sit there and wait impatiently for it to finally be over. Stanwyck is fine, Reagan is Reagan, the others are all professional, including Myron Healey as an associate of McCord's who gets in a tussle with her, but this is just plain mediocre. It's very odd to see Stanwyck interacting with so many B movie stalwarts, including -- at this point -- Reagan, who would be hosting Death Valley Days in about a decade. Louis Forbes has contributed an arresting score and John Alton's technicolor cinematography is often striking. 

Verdict: Babs in the saddle -- sore. **1/4. 

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT

Highly punchable: David Niven

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT (aka Happy Ever After/1954). Director: Mario Zampi.

"We could be very happy in an unhappy sort of way." -- Jasper.

Aged General O'Leary of Rathbonie Ireland is determined to make a dangerous jump on his horse as he does every year, but this time he has an accident and eventually dies. His estate goes to relative Jasper O'Leary (David Niven of Death on the Nile), who sets the entire town against himself by refusing  to honor his uncle's death bed bequests and the old man's forgiving of certain debts. Meanwhile the recently widowed Serena (Yvonne De Carlo), who had hoped to snare handsome former fiance Dr. Michael Flynn (Robert Urquhart of The Curse of Frankenstein) against her sister Kathy's (Noelle Middleton) wishes, deides that it might be better to set her cap for the obviously interested new Squire, Jasper. But now all of Jasper's many enemies decide the only thing to do is to assassinate Jasper ...

Barry Fitzgerald and David Niven

Black comedies can work --witness the wonderful The Wrong Box -- but Tonight's the Night is an appalling concoction and only has three solid laughs throughout its ninety minutes running time. For one thing the two lead characters, the  heartless priss Jasper and the gold-digging Serena, are too loathsome to be amusing. Character flaws can make people funny, but these two, Jasper in particular, are utterly worthless individuals. One feels sympathy for the wronged townspeople -- Jasper wants to evict one elderly man out of the home he's lived in for decades -- until they start indulging in IRA tactics including bombs and the like. One plan to kill Jasper has to do with tying a rope across the road in the hopes that Jasper will be beheaded when he drives by in his motorcar! Such lovely people!

Robert Urquhart and Yvonne De Carlo

Much of the second half of the film is taken up with the town folks' bumbling attempts at murder, which makes them resemble especially malevolent variations on the Bowery Boys but with even less laughs. Niven, although playing someone whose face you want to punch almost from the first, gives a good performance (nobody could be more obnoxious than Niven when playing a detestable prig); De Carlo is snappy and has an okay Irish brogue; the supporting cast does its best; and Barry Fitzgerald nearly steals the picture -- not that he would necessarily want it -- in his portrayal of Thady, the tippling butler. Niven and De Carlo don't have that much chemistry, and the characters of Kathy and the doctor are never sufficiently developed. A highlight of the film is when a talented Irish tenor sings the lovely ballad "My Heart is Irish." Mario Zampi also directed The Naked Truth, another dark comedy that was much, much better than this..

Verdict: Essentially unfunny and atrocious but for Fitzgerald and the tenor. *1/2. 

MA AND PA KETTLE AT HOME

Marjorie Main and Brett Halsey

MA AND PA KETTLE AT HOME (1954). Director: Charles Lamont.

Ma (Marjorie Main) and Pa (Percy Kilbride) Kettle learn that a New York magazine is offering a scholarship to college as a prize, and that their son, Elwin (Brett Halsey), entered the contest, but in his essay has made their farm sound much more ideal than it is. Complicating matters is that Elwin's girlfriend, Sally (Alice Kelley), has also entered the contest, even though her grumpy, penny-pinching father, John (Irving Bacon), could afford to send her on his own. Two judges (Alan Mowbray of Becky Sharp and Ross Elliott of Tarantula) come out to the farms to inspect each applicant and their way of life, and Ma and Pa hurry to fix up their old farm, although there's really no reason they couldn't have just used their new-fangled house. As usual Pa gets his Indian friends to do all of the work. Much of the humor in the film is centered around Alan Mowbray as a persnickety city fellow who has to use out-dated plumbing and finds a frog in his bath (courtesy of little Billy Kettle, played by Richard Eyer), among other atrocities.

Christmas with the Kettles

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home is not the best of the series but it's an improvement over Ma and Pa Kettle in Waikiki. Lori Nelson and Richard Long as the two oldest Kettle children are nowhere in evidence and are never mentioned. Although he had bit parts before this and appeared on TV, this was Brett Halsey's first credited role in a motion picture and most of the time he just seems scared. Emory Parnell returns as store owner Billy Reed, and Mary Wickes again receives short shrift as a librarian who develops an interest in Mowbray. Kilbride and Main are as wonderful as ever, and Main is given a great bit in which she recites a funny poem at a Christmas party. Pa not only treats his Indian friends like unpaid slaves, but at one point has them dress up in warpaint and go on the warpath so he can "rescue" Mowbray from them and be seen as a hero. At least the Native Americans are pretty disgruntled at doing this.

There were two more Kettle films made without Kilbride in the fifties (who did not pass away until 1964). In one film, The Kettles in the Ozarks, Pa was left out and an uncle was substituted, and in the final Kettle movie, The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm, Pa was portrayed by Parker Fennelly.

Verdict: Can't keep those Kettles from coming! **3/4. 

SUSAN SLEPT HERE

Dick Powell

SUSAN SLEPT HERE (1954). Director: Frank Tashlin.

Screenwriter and bachelor Mark Christopher (Dick Powell of Pitfall) finds himself with an unusual Christmas "present." Two cops of his acquaintance want him to babysit a 17-year-old girl, Susan (Debbie Reynolds), over the holiday so they won't have to actually book her for some minor offense on Christmas Day. Mark reluctantly agrees but this causes problems for his sort of fiancee Isabella (Anne Francis), and upsets his household, which consists of secretary Maude (Glenda Farrell) and his old Navy buddy, Virgil (Alvy Moore). But is the middle-aged author more drawn to lovely, very young Susan than he would care to admit?

Farrell, Moore and Reynolds

One thing this comedy has going for it is some excellent performances. Debbie Reynolds, who was actually twenty-two at the time, is simply outstanding. Powell --fifty playing thirty-five but not getting away with it -- is no slouch, either. Farrell uses all she learned about acting since the thirties to make a distinct impression, and Moore manages to emerge an almost poignant figure, although his chief function is to get more laughs. Anne Francis also scores in the thankless role of the fiancee who is treated rather badly but whom Mark apparently never took seriously to begin with. Maidie Norman [What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?] and Les Tremayne [The Monolith Monsters] are also good as, respectively, Mark's maid and lawyer.

The characters at least seem a little more dimensional than in most comedies of this type, but that may be due to the performances. The picture goes on about twenty minutes too long, and there is a very tedious dream sequence in which Susan imagines Annabella literally snaring Mark in her web. (You would think that Powell and Reynolds would actually dance together, but they never really do.) Red Skelton has a funny cameo. This was Dick Powell's last theatrical film; he appeared strictly on television thereafter.

Verdict: Strangely appealing May-December romantic comedy that shouldn't work but does. ***. 

THE SHADOW TV PILOT

Tom Helmore as Lamont Cranston

THE SHADOW (1954 TV pilot). Director: Charles F. Haas. "The Case of the Cotton Kimono."

Lamont Cranston (Tom Helmore of Let's Do It Again) and his girlfriend and assistant Margo Lane (Paula Raymond of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) investigate when Commissioner Weston (Frank M. Thomas of Arkansas Judge) asks them to look into the shooting murder of a young woman, Cissy Chadwick (Peggy Lobbin). Detective Harris (Norman Shelly) is convinced that the killer is Cissy's boyfriend, Alex (William Smithers), and even goes so far as to frame him. Another suspect is Cissy's vocal coach. Rollo Grimbauer (Alexander Scourby), who refuses to let Cranston ask him any questions. Then there are more murders ...

Norman Shelly

This failed pilot had the potential to become an interesting series. Although Helmore's British accent is at first disconcerting, he doesn't make a bad Lamont Cranston. He doesn't run around in a mask and cape, but he can "cloud men's minds," possibly seeming to become invisible, and throw his evil laugh around a room in true Shadow fashion. Paula Raymond makes an elegant and adept Margo Lane, far more suitable than the character as portrayed by Barbara Read in the dreadful Monogram features. This half hour program doesn't have a bad script, although there are a few holes in its plot. Smithers, Scourby and Shelly all give very good performances, and Leona Powers also scores as a talkative landlady. Charles F. Haas also directed Girls Town.

Verdict: Interesting curiosity found on youtube. **1/2. 

THE BELLES OF ST TRINIAN'S

Alistair Sim

THE BELLES OF ST TRINIAN'S (1954). Director: Frank Launder.

Millicent Fritton (Alistair Sim of The Millionairess), the clueless headmistress of the St. Trinian's School for Girls, is in a quandary. The school's bank account has only $400 but it is in debt for ten times that much. The students are incorrigible monsters who ignore their teachers when they aren't blowing each other up with bombs. The teachers are a weird lot consisting of inebriates and felons. Both the Ministry of Education and the police are investigating the school, although representatives from the Ministry never seem to return from their visits there. Policewoman Ruby Gates (Joyce Grenfell of Stage Fright)  is directed to infiltrate the school as a new professor, where she discovers that there is an active gin-making business among half the students while the other half are trying to manipulate a horse race -- by stealing a horse -- in order to make some cash (an idea that after some outrage appeals to Ms. Fritton). Someone else who wants to make money on the race is Millicent's brother, Clarence (also played by Sim) and his daughter, Jackie (Diana Day), a nearly middle-aged women who should have been out of school years before. Inspired by the cartoons of Ronald Searle, The Belles of St. Trinian's is a very clever and consistently amusing black comedy that gets high marks for utter originality. The casting of Alistair Sim as the headmistress is absolutely inspired, as Sims does a dead-on impression -- if you can even call if a mere "impression" -- of a dowager who will maintain her dignity no matter what vulgar or appalling shenanigans are going on all around her. There's also a terrific and fun score by Malcolm Arnold [Stolen Face], and a host of wonderful supporting performances. The soccer match is hilarious, and the ending is a pip! Followed by several sequels and an inferior remake.

Verdict: This picture is not a drag. ***1/2.

NOTE: This post is part of the Gender Bending the Rules Blogathon co-hosted by Angelman's Place and The Midnite Drive-In. 

THIS IS MY LOVE

Linda Darnell and Rick Jason

THIS IS MY LOVE (1954). Director: Stuart Heisler.

Vida Dove (Linda Darnell) lives with her sister, Evelyn (Fatih Domergue) and brother-in-law, Murray (Dan Duryea), and their two small and adorable children.  Vida was originally Murray's girlfriend, but he married Evelyn instead and the two formed a dance team until Murray was in a car crash. Now a bitter and often nasty paraplegic, Murray owns a coffee shop where the two sisters are waitresses. Vida has been engaged for several years to a likable lunkhead named Eddie (Hal Baylor), but one day Eddie brings a handsome friend, Glenn (Rick Jason) into the restaurant with him. Suddenly all of Vida's romantic fantasies center on Glenn, but she may have to contend with her own sister's desires just as she had once before, all leading up to one unspeakable act ... The fascinating and unfairly forgotten This Is My Love combines seriously dysfunctional families, unrequited love triangles, sibling rivalry, twisted passions, extreme loneliness and jealousy, and even cold-blooded murder into an absorbing and unpredictable 90 minutes of melodrama. The movie and the performances are on occasion more overwrought than they need to be, but given the situations and the raw emotions they engender that can certainly be forgiven. Linda Darnell gives an excellent performance, and a highlight is an absolute meltdown she has when she realizes she may again have to take a back seat to her sister. Although comparatively inexperienced next to Darnell, Rick Jason (of TV's Combat) not only looks swell but is right up there with his more famous co-star in the scenes they have together. (I confess that while |I watched this movie, I was convinced that Glenn was being played by serial star Judd Holdren, who is also in the movie, and who greatly resembles Rick Jason. Apparently Holdren has the very small role of a doctor; I blinked and missed him.)  Domergue [Young Widow] is also very effective as the not necessarily bad but clueless sister, and Dan Duryea almost walks off with the movie as the crippled man who loves his wife desperately but is also so terrified of losing her that he takes it out on everyone around him. Hal Baylor makes the most of his role as nice guy Eddie, whose only crime is that he's just not the romantic figure of Vida's dreams. William Hopper of Perry Mason fame shows up briefly as a district attorney, and the little boy is played by Jerry Mathers of Leave It to Beaver fame. Franz Waxman's score features an excellent opening theme that underscores Vida's romantic thoughts and is nicely warbled at one point by Connie Russell [Nightmare].

Verdict: While many things are left unsaid and unexplored -- let's not forget there are children involved -- and this is not exactly Clifford Odets, it is still a highly interesting and worthwhile picture. ***. 

THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS

Van Johnson and Elizabeth Taylor

THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS (1954). Director: Richard Brooks. Very loosely based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

In post-WW2 Paris, war correspondent Charles Wills (Van Johnson) meets beautiful Helen Ellswirth (Elizabeth Taylor). Initially attracted to Helen's sister, Marion (Donna Reed), he makes a date with her that is intercepted by Helen, leading to a major romance and marriage. Although the couple discover oil on property they own and have plenty of money, the marriage is threatened by Charles' inability to sell his novels to any publisher, the drinking and carousing that results from it, and Helen's reaction to this as well as his flirtatious relationship with the much-married divorcee, Lorraine (Eva Gabor). It all leads up to an unexpected tragedy ... The main strength of The Last Time I Saw Paris are the lead performances, which are better than the movie deserves. Taylor  plays the somewhat spoiled woman-child very well, but Johnson is especially outstanding, doing some of the very best work of his career. The trouble with the movie is not so much the basic plot but the screenplay by Julius and Philip Epstein, which indulges in one cliche after another and rarely delves into the situations with any depth. The final quarter of the film is the most memorable, as it finally deals with Charles' apparent rejection of Marion, as well as with his relationship with his young daughter,  Vicky (a charming Sandy Descher of Them!); these sequences are moving and very well-played. (Cast as Marion, Donna Reed truly has a thankless part.) Four years earlier Johnson and Taylor were teamed for a comedy entitled The Big Hangover, and there are times when the light soap opera tone of Paris threatens to just collapse into giggles; you get the sense the tragedy that occurs is meant to add some sobering substance to the proceedings, even if it doesn't quite work. Eva Gabor [The Mad Magician], who was always more talented than her sister Zsa Zsa (although hardly an acting genius) is fun as Lorraine; as Helen and Marion's rather irresponsible father, Walter Pidgeon is Walter Pidgeon. Roger Moore [A View to a Kill] shows up and is as smooth as ever as a playboy who dallies with Helen. Of all people, the corpulent Bruno VeSota [Attack of the Giant Leeches] shows up in a party scene clad in a tuxedo!

Verdict: Some tender and amusing moments, but Paris -- and Fitzgerald -- deserve better. **1/2. 

PRINCESS OF THE NILE

Debra Paget and Jeffrey Hunter

PRINCESS OF THE NILE (1954). Director: Harmon Jones.

Egypt 1249 A.D. Princess Shalimar (Debra Paget of The River's Edge) is supposedly confined to the palace, but she sneaks out at night via an underwater passageway and becomes the super-sensual dancer, Taura. It is in the tavern where she dances that Shalimar first encounters equally gorgeous Prince Haidi (Jeffrey Hunter of Man-Trap) of Bagdad, as well as the nasty Bedouin, Rana Khan (Michael Rennie). Shalimar's weak father is under the thumb of his shaman (Edgar Barrier), who is in league with Rama Khan and would also like Haidi out of the picture. After all sorts of palace intrigue, Khan tells Shalimar he will spare her loved ones if she will marry him, a fate truly worse than death ... Princess of the Nile offers a starring role for Paget, who gives an authoritative and sexy performance; a hot love couple in Paget and Hunter (who is equally good and quite romantic); two "bodies beautiful" for the price of one; and also boasts solid work from Rennie, Barrier, and Wally Cassell as the good-humored slave, Goghi. Dona Drake [Beyond the Forest] is also on hand as a helpful handmaiden and good friend to Shalimar. (Other handmaidens include Merry Anders and Honey Bruce Friedman of Dance Hall Racket). Billy Curtis plays the lovable little guy, Tut. Princess of the Nile is a minor film, but it is fast-paced and entertaining (and quite short at 70 minutes) and both the locales and attractive leads are very nice to look at in Technicolor. Six years later Paget was cast as Cleopatra's Daughter. Harmon Jones also directed Gorilla at Large. 

Verdict: Two sexy lead actors never hurt. **1/2.