DESTINATION MOON

John Archer and Warner Anderson

DESTINATION MOON (1950). Director: Irving Pichel. Produced by George Pal.  In Technicolor.

General Thayer (Tom Powers), recognizing that the government is reluctant to spend on space travel during peacetime and after one of their rockets exploded, appeals to the private sector in the form of industrialist Jim Barnes (John Archer) for help. Barnes and a select committee of businessmen employ Dr. Charles Cargraves (Warner Anderson of The Star) to build a new rocket that will fly them to the moon. Thayer is afraid that a foreign power will beat them into space and be able to fire missiles from the moon. Learning that the authorities will block them from performing certain tests, causing delays, Thayer, Cargraves and Barnes -- plus technician Joe Sweeney (Dick Wesson of Starlift) -- take off in their rocket, "Spaceship Luna," in a hurry. They encounter some complications in space, and on the moon come to realize that one of them may have to be left behind ... 

pulling away from earth's gravity

Destination Moon, based on a novel by Robert Heinlein (who co-scripted), was one of the very first big-screen sci fi movies of the fifties. Unlike Rocketship X-M , which debuted the same year, it is generally serious and intelligently told. A scene when one of the men, making repairs, floats away from the ship, is suspenseful, as is the ending, when a fateful decision must be made, and the actors are all satisfactory and credible. The FX, including the fairly elaborate moon set, are quite good for the period, and pretty much hold up well today. The movie is low-key but effective, greatly bolstered by Leith Steven's [Julie] excellent and majestic scoring. A very odd moment occurs when the men argue about who should be left behind and Cargraves never even mentions his wife! Director Irving Pichel also appeared as an actor in many movies. 

Verdict: Absorbing George Pal production that generally avoids melodrama -- and giant spiders. ***.  

EMERGENCY HOSPITAL

John Archer and Margaret Lindsay

EMERGENCY HOSPITAL (1956). Director: Lee Sholem.

Dr. Janet Carey (Margaret Lindsay of Club Havana) is a very busy doctor at a state-run hospital during the night shift. Ben Caldwell (Byron Palmer of Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki) is a race car driver and playboy who wants Janet to give it all up and marry him, while Dr. Herb Ellis (John Archer) seems to be carrying a torch for Janet as well. Sgt. Paul Arnold (Walter Reed) is the police liaison with the hospital and he is on hand when his son, Jimmy (James Noah), is brought in after an accident and nearly winds up in a nasty incident between father and son. There are other assorted crises and patients during one long night.

James Noah and Walter Reed

Emergency Hospital looks like an especially gritty TV production, and in truth it's the kind of stuff that later wound up in many episodes of assorted medical shows -- life, death, accidents, diseases, assorted mini-dramas with some life lessons passed out by the staff. Lindsay is puffy-looking but gives a good performance, and Reed has some very good moments in the sequences with his son. Archer makes a positive impression as a decent guy who may just have to take a back seat to the flashier Caldwell, who is well-played by Palmer. Rita Johnson [Forty Little Mothers] scores as head nurse Norma Mullen.

The large cast also includes Rhodes Reason and William Boyett as traffic cops; Vera Francis as a lovely African-American nurse also named Vera; and Mary Carver, Maxine Gates, and Jan Englund as semi-hysterical patients.

Verdict: Too bad Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare don't put in an appearance. **3/4. 

WHITE HEAT

Margaret Wycherly and James Cagney

WHITE HEAT (1949). Director: Raoul Walsh.

Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) is head of a gang that robs a train, a robbery in which four people are murdered. Hiding out with his cronies, as well as his devoted mother, Ma Jarrett (Margaret Wycherly) -- who is nearly as tough as he is --  and not-so-devoted wife, Verna (Virginia Mayo), Cody conceives of a plot to keep him from being sent to death row by copping to a comparatively minor robbery that he didn't commit. In stir for two years, Cody meets a fellow prisoner, Vic Pardo (Edmond O'Brien), who is actually undercover cop Hank Fallon, and learns from his beloved Ma that Verna has run off with Big Ed Somers (Steve Cochran), who wants to take over Cody's gang. Cody makes up his mind to get out and take care of Big Ed and everyone else ... White Heat is a slick, well-directed, and fast-paced crime thriller that features excellent performances across the board, with Cagney charismatically playing a mentally-deranged killer who suffers debilitating attacks from time to time (these sequences are handled very well by Cagney). Wycherly [Keeper of the Flame] manages to etch a highly effective portrait of Cody's mother without descending into caricature, and Mayo offers one of her best performances as the duplicitous if clever Verna; Cochran also makes an impression as her easily-discarded lover. There's also nice work from John Archer [No Man's Woman] as the head cop on the case, and Fred Clark [Back from Eternity] as one of Cody's confederates. Sid Hickox' cinematography is first-rate, and Max Steiner, whose genius wasn't limited to romantic pictures, offers a memorably tense and very exciting score for the picture. This has a classic ending with Cagney hollering "Top of the World, Ma!" at the top of a refinery.

Verdict: Brisk, tense, entertaining crime picture with a powerful Cagney performance. ***.

NO MAN'S WOMAN

Richard Crane and Marie Windsor

NO MAN'S WOMAN (1955). Director: Franklin Adreon.

Harlow Grant (John Archer) wants a divorce from his hateful wife, Carolyn (Marie Windsor), so that he can marry his sweetheart, Louise (Nancy Gates of World Without End). But everyone seems to hate Carolyn, including her father-in-law, Philip (Douglas Wood); her assistant, Betty (Jil Jarmyn), whose sexy boyfriend she tries to steal; said boyfriend, Dick Sawyer (Richard Crane), who owns his own fishing boat; and even Carolyn's own boyfriend, Wayne Vincent (Patric Knowles of Five Came Back), who is in the art business with her. Then the movie turns into a lesser Perry Mason episode without Perry Mason when one person is murdered, as expected. No Man's Woman is well acted and entertaining -- Windsor [Swamp Women] is as much fun to watch doing her slimy "bad girl" act as ever -- but the solution to this mystery holds absolutely no surprises. John Gallaudet, who later played a judge on the aforementioned Perry Mason, and Morris Ankrum are police officers, and Great Old Movies favorite Percy Helton is a caretaker. From Republic studios.

Verdict: A good role but not a great vehicle for Windsor. **1/2.