CODE TWO

Ralph Meeker, Jeff Richards, Robert Horton

CODE TWO (1953). Director: Fred M. Wilcox.

Three young men -- Chuck (Ralph Meeker), Russ (Robert Horton) and Harry (Jeff Richards of Born Reckless) -- join the police academy in Los Angeles and eventually ask to be assigned to the motor(cycle) squad. Chuck is a cocky if likable lug who goes after Russ' sister-in-law, Jane (Elaine Stewart of The Tattered Dress) but her focus is more on the shy-but-sexy Harry. Russ at first keeps the news about his assignment from his wife (Sally Forrest) because she fears for his safety, but tragedy is in store for one of the other men, with his two friends doing their best to avenge him. It all leads to an exciting climax in a warehouse with a boiling lime pit and a host of bad guys trying to make mincemeat of our heroes.

The three leads all give solid performances with fine support from the ladies and from Keenan Wynn as Police Sergeant "Jumbo" Culdane. William Campbell [The Young Racers] is also notable as a nasty, murderous trucker. Also on hand in smaller roles are Chuck Connors as a cop and James Craig as a police lieutenant. As for Meeker, he struts through the film with great charisma and authority.

Verdict: Well-done if minor cop melodrama. **1/2. 

GOOD MORNING, MISS DOVE

Prune-face: Jennifer Jones as Miss Dove

GOOD-MORNING, MISS DOVE (1955). Director: Henry Koster.

55-year-old geography teacher Miss Dove (Jennifer Jones) has to go into the hospital for tests, and uses the time to reflect upon her life and her influence upon her students. Known as "the terrible Miss Dove" by certain townspeople, she is a rather grim and completely humorless, outwardly unemotional old maid, but despite her demeanor she can be kind to her pupils, especially a young boy named William who grows up to become a cop (Chuck Connors). Both her nurse (Peggy Knudsen) and doctor (Robert Stack) and his wife (Kipp Hamilton of War of the Gargantuas), as well as the town priest (Biff Elliot) are also former students.

Chuck Connors with Jones

There are several moving sequences in Good Morning, Miss Dove, but while I generally admire sentiment in old movies, this picture becomes a bit too unrealistic. With her unpleasant personality it's hard to believe that that many townspeople would care that much about this persnickety, disapproving and prune-faced spinster, giving this an ending that is pure Hollywood. Jones, who realistically ages from about twenty to middle-age, gives a very good performance, but there are huge gaps that fail to explain exactly why she's become the way she is. An early sequence shows her regretfully turning down a suitor's (Marshall Thompson) proposal as she has a family obligation that forces her to work and repay a debt, but we never learn why there were apparently no other suitors during her youth. There is also some bad sitcom-like nonsense about a student who grows up to become a petty crook and escapes from jail.

Priest and doctor: Biff Elliot and Robert Stack

In addition to Jones, most of the cast members (including some marvelous child actors) acquit themselves nicely, with Thompson notable in his one sequence with Jones, and there's also good work from Connors [South Sea Woman] , Stack, etc. and especially Peggy Knudsen [Hilda Crane] as the nurse Billie Jean, who had a child out of wedlock. Leigh Harline has contributed a pleasant and soapy score that is effective for the picture. Good Morning, Miss Dove is quite similar to the 1941 movie Cheers for Miss Bishop, which also examines a small town and the life of a teacher, but is a much, much better movie.

Verdict: Good night, Miss Dove. **1/2. 

THE BIG COUNTRY

That's a mighty bigggg country, all right!

THE BIG COUNTRY (1958). Director: William Wyler. Produced by Wyler and Gregory Peck.

Easterner James McKay (Gregory Peck) goes west to meet the family of his fiancee, Patricia (Carroll Baker). There he discovers that her father, Henry Terrill (Charles Bickford), has been embroiled for years in a feud with the Hannassey family, which is led by grizzled but proud Rufus (Burl Ives). James also finds he has a rival in foreman Steve (Charlton Heston), who doesn't believe he makes a fit mate for Patricia. While Steve needs to impress Pat and flaunt his machismo on a regular basis, the more secure James wants to be loved for other reasons than his ability to fight (at which he happens to be quite good). As the feud that James wants no part of heats up, he is drawn to a lovely friend of Pat's named Julie (Jean Simmons), who owns the land where both families send their cattle for water, and who has the unwanted eye of Rufus' crude son, Buck (Chuck Connors). Eventually all the intense rivalries boil over ... Franz Planer's widescreen photography gets across the vastness and beauty of the countryside in panoramic style, and even the comparatively "petty" quarrels are set against the hugeness of the "big" country. A major fight scene between James and Steve is photographed mostly in long and medium shot, where their struggle is contrasted with the epic majesty of their impressive surroundings. Other memorable scenes include James trying to tame a spirited horse that pulls the blanket off its back with its teeth [although you sort of wish he would just let the horse retain its independent spirit]; James and Julie trying to outdo one another with gross and grisly stories of sharks and red ants; a pistol duel between two characters late in the movie; and a  moving climactic scene between Rufus and his son, Buck. Gregory Peck, although a little too cool at times, gives an excellent performance in a role that was made for him. Heston also gives one of his best performances and Baker [The Carpetbaggers] and Simmons [Angel Face] are similarly perfect. As the blustering patriarchs who hate each other Bickford and Ives nearly walk off with the movie; the latter is especially effective in his entrance scene when he comes to a party at the Terrill estate to tell off Henry in no uncertain terms. Although he's saddled with a stereotypical role, Mexican actor Alfonso Bedoya scores as the Terrill servant, Ramon. And Chuck Connors offers an outstanding turn as the nasty but somehow likable Buck, who seems as lonely as he is horny. The Big Country has a fairly predictable plot but somehow it doesn't matter, as you are anxious to see the confrontations and developments that you know are coming, and Wyler's expert direction not only adds an artistic sheen to the production but insures that you're never bored for the nearly three hour running time. [It might have been more interesting if James weren't quite so adept at fighting and everything else.] Jerome Moross' theme music is wonderful and I believe was later re-used for a western TV show. It's very strange that this movie -- considering its major stars and director -- seems to have been almost completely forgotten. It's arguably more successful than Peck's other big western, Duel in the Sun.

Verdict: Rousing, absorbing, Grand Old Western with superior direction and some fine performances. ***1/2.

NAKED ALIBI

Gloria Grahame and Sterling Hayden

NAKED ALIBI (1954). Director: Jerry Hopper. Produced by Ross Hunter.

Police Chief Joe Conroy (Sterling Hayden of Crime of Passion) is convinced that baker and family man, Al Willis (Gene Barry of The Girls of Pleasure Island), is responsible for the deaths of several police officers. When he confronts him in his bakery, someone takes a photo of Conroy about to hit Willis and the chief loses his job. That doesn't stop Conroy from following Willis to Mexico on one of his "business trips," where he discovers he has a girlfriend, a singer named Marianna (Gloria Grahame of The Big Heat), who doesn't know that her lover boy is married. If the two of them team up, can they find proof that Willis is a killer? Hayden is just right for the role of the cop; he doesn't get across any character nuances, but the script doesn't do much to make him more dimensional anyway. Gene Barry offers one of his most memorable portrayals as Willis, who is smooth and lovable one minute, and raw and sociopathic the next -- in this Barry is quite different than he is as Amos Burke. Grahame offers another credible and sympathetic portrait of a good girl who's fallen for the wrong guy, yet again. Naked Alibi is a fairly standard crime thriller but it does have some suspenseful moments. One incredible sequence early in the picture has Hayden letting Willis simply walk out of the police station after he's assaulted one of his officers! Yeah -- that would really happen. Chuck Connors, Billy Chapin, and Michael Fox have small roles.

Verdict: Acceptable borderline film noir. **1/2.

WALK THE DARK STREET

Chuck Connors and Don Ross

WALK THE DARK STREET (1956). Written, directed and produced by Wyatt Ordung.

Two years after directing and appearing in The Monster from the Ocean Floor, Wyatt Ordung came out with this melodrama with a good performance from lead Chuck Connors. Connors plays Frank Garrick, whose brother Tommy (Eddie Kafafian) is killed in the war, but not before sending Frank a letter in which he says that if he dies it will be the fault of his lieutenant, Dan Lawton (Don Ross). Frank doesn't realize that Tommy was jealous of Lawton because the latter got the promotion he felt he, Tommy, deserved. Garrick decides to play a cat and mouse game with Lawton, telling him he'll give him $10,000 if he can tag him in a competition where the men will use so-called "photo guns" instead of the real things, and shoot each other with film instead of bullets. Fat chance. What happens after that is fairly predictable. Ordung's direction is self-conscious, and the downbeat, moody musical score is a little off-putting. Vonne Godfrey and Regina Gleason are two ladies involved in the storyline. Talented tenor Fred Darien/Darian appears in a nightclub sequence. Don Ross later amassed many credits, especially on television, as did Gleason; this was Godfrey's only credit.

Verdict: Despite interesting things and some good performances, the movie isn't memorable. **.