A DISTANT TRUMPET

Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue

A DISTANT TRUMPET (1964). Director: Raoul Walsh.

"Burning while Rome fiddles?"

Lt. Matt Hazard (Troy Donahue) is sent from the graduating class at West Point to Fort Delivery in Arizona. Doing things by the book, he whips the soldiers into shape -- to their dissatisfaction. When a merchant, Seely Jones (Claude Akins), offering booze and women to the troops, shows up, Hazard contrives to get rid of him. Although he has a fiancee, Laura (Diane McBain), back east -- who eventually appears -- Hazard is romantically drawn to Kitty (Suzanne Pleshette), who is married to Captain Mainwaring (William Reynolds). In addition to a love triangle and resentful soldiers, Hazard has to deal with Indian troubles in the person of Chief War Eagle (uncredited) -- and the U.S. Army itself, which may go back on its promises to Native Americans.

When Ladies Meet: Pleshette with McBain

A Distant Trumpet, the last film for director Raoul Walsh, was excoriated by critics when it was released, and star Troy Donahue along with it. In truth, the picture, although certainly not a forgotten classic, is not terrible and neither is Donahue. Although still a bit stiff in quieter scenes, Donahue plays the lieutenant in an authoritative fashion and has a commanding presence. The two ladies give good performances if only on a soap opera level; McBain is stronger than expected, and Pleshette not as good as one might have hoped. (She was married to Donahue for a grand total of nine months!) All of the leads are a bit too contemporary in style. William Reynolds is good as Mainwaring but he disappears too quickly.

Donahue with James Gregory

Others in the cast are more memorable: Although a trifle too pompous at times, James Gregory scores as General Quaint, who goes to bat for Hazard when he confronts the Secretary of War (Kent Smith) over the treatment of the Indians. Claude Akins is flavorful as the ever-scheming Jones. Larry Ward is effective as the undisciplined Sgt. Krogur, as is Bobby Bare as the alleged deserter Crenshaw. Lane Bradford makes an impression as the nasty Indian-hating Major Miller, who gets a sock in the jaw from Hazard for his trouble. 

Hazard at West Point

A Distant Trumpet can be classified as one of those movies that is good enough that you wish it had been better. Walsh turns in an adept directorial job that keeps things moving and Max Steiner's score, especially the martial theme, is excellent, embellishing every sequence. William H. Clothier contributed the sweeping Panavision cinematography. But A Distant Trumpet is still unsatisfying, probably due to the weaknesses of the script, some unlikable characters (although Hazard is a bit redeemed at the end), and the lack of a dramatic climax. 

Verdict: Reasonably entertaining Western that looks good and has some interesting sequences. **3/4. 

INVENTING TROY DONAHUE: THE MAKING OF A MOVIE STAR A Biography

INVENTING TROY DONAHUE. A Biography. Michael Gregg Michaud. BearManor Media; 2023. 

As this interesting biography makes clear, Troy Donahue -- born Merle Johnson -- was a pure product of Hollywood. His agent, the voracious Henry Willson, changed his name and got him a studio contract. Thinking he could actually act, Donahue got big for his britches and pouted about the lousy assignments he was given. What really rankled him was that his studio, Warner Brothers -- he was one of the last of the contract players for that studio as well as many others -- kept putting him into TV series such as Hawaiian Eye when he felt he had already become a bona fide movie star in such films as A Summer Place and shouldn't have had to toil in TV. But his gorgeous good looks turned Donahue into a major star and a household name and the studio wanted to make as much off of him as they possibly could. (Ironically, Donahue claimed over and over again that he thought the TV scripts were terrible, but they were generally much better than the movies he made.) Working with Donahue in several pictures, the director Delmer Daves was able to get an adequate performance from him in certain movies but eventually even Daves got tired at having to impatiently guide him through every scene in every movie. Without Daves, Donahue floundered, giving absolutely wretched performances in such films as My Blood Runs Cold. The truth is, Donohue was simply not that talented.

Another problem was that Donahue had an addictive personality and couldn't get through a day -- especially when he had to face the cameras -- without alcohol and drugs. This may explain why he seems so utterly wooden in so many movies -- he was virtually anesthetized -- but one suspects the raw ability just wasn't there to begin with. He was able to trade on his sensitive good looks in such films as Parrish, but he was always out-acted by virtually everyone else in the cast. Donahue got engaged to Swedish actress Lili Kardell, who wound up suing him for a beating she alleged he gave her while drunk; Donahue, of course, denied it, and the studio paid her off but her own career was finished. Donahue had a brief marriage to Suzanne Pleshette, who starred with him in Rome Adventure, then had several more wives, some of whom he essentially lived off until they got sick of his ways or he had no more use for them. 

Donahue in later years

Donahue claimed to have lived in a bush in Central Park for a time when he was homeless, and hitting rock bottom, decided to try sobriety for a change. Apparently this worked, and Donahue managed to get various jobs in films, most of which went direct-to-video. He had a small role in Godfather Part 2 as Talia Shire's husband. Although Donahue still acted as his own press agent, giving out with the unlikely story that he made more money off the direct-to-video movies than he did in his Warner Brothers days, he also could be quite honest about his circumstances. He seems to have managed to make his peace with the fact that his days of Hollywood stardom were forever over, and he turned to theater, where he got mixed reviews. Inventing Troy Donahue is an interesting and informative book, with loads of info about the actor, although I think there may have been too much of a reliance on published interviews he gave where he tends to repeat the same things ad infinitum. 

Verdict: An entertaining look at the dark side of the Hollywood dream. ***. 

WALL OF NOISE

Ty Hardin and Suzanne Pleshette

WALL OF NOISE (1963). Director: Richard Wilson.

Horse trainer Joel Tarrant (Ty Hardin) goes to work for Matt Rubio (Ralph Meeker) who wants to get involved in racing. Angered when Joel's girlfriend, Ann (Dorothy Provine), whom he treated like crap, goes off with his friend and jockey, Bud (Jimmy Murphy), Joel takes up with Rubio's sophisticated and neglected wife, Laura (Suzanne Pleshette). Will their horse win the big race? Will Joel wind up with Ann or Laura? Is there any way that anyone could possibly care? Wall of Noise is an incredibly dull picture that is bolstered strictly by the talents of its supporting case, especially Meeker [Jeopardy], Murphy, Simon Oakland, Murray Matheson, and George Petrie. Hardin [Berserk] is only adequate, one of these lesser-talented hunks who plays everything in a key of anger because it's easier to do than real emoting -- he is always grimacing as if he's smelling something bad -- and Pleshette offers one of her rare lousy performances. The dialogue is often cliched and terrible, but it isn't helped by its delivery: Hardin and Pleshette [A Rage to Live] set off  as much passionate sparks as a wet firecracker. Even the racing scenes are dull, and after awhile you're just impatiently waiting until this bomb is over. Richard Wilson also directed the equally awful Raw Wind in Eden, which at least had a better title.

Verdict: Not enough noise to drown out this stinker, but the horses are nice. *1/2.

YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE

YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE (1964). Writer/director: Delmer Daves. Based on the novel by Herman Wouk.

Arthur "Youngblood" Hawke (James Franciscus) is living with his mother (Mildred Dunnock) in a cabin in Kentucky when he learns that Jason Prince (Lee Bowman) wants to publish his novel. Arthur goes to New York where he becomes the toast of the town and promptly begins an affair with actors' agent Freida Winter (Genevieve Page), who is married with children. Meanwhile Arthur's editor, Jeanne (Suzanne Pleshette), is falling in love with him as well. Youngblood Hawke is entertaining and not quite a soap opera, but something about it just doesn't jell. First, while Franciscus isn't bad, he never comes off like a reader, let alone a writer who wins a Pulitzer Prize, and there's nothing remotely poor-Southern-Kentuckian about him (despite Franciscus' coming from Missouri). Then there's the screenplay, which doesn't even seem to make much of an effort to seriously delineate a writer's life or career -- everything is subordinate to his love troubles. It comes across that Youngblood's chief appeal is his sex appeal and not the literary quality of his novels, but the movie misses most opportunities to explore this with depth. Pleshette is okay if unspectacular, but hers is a small secondary role compared to Genevieve Page, who gives a sensitive and outstanding performance as Freida. Eva Gabor [It Started with a Kiss] is a party hostess; John Emery an aging actor; Don Porter [The Norliss Tapes] Arthur's agent; Mary Astor an actress who importunes Arthur to write the play version of his first novel for her; and Kent Smith, Freida's husband. All of these are quite good, but perhaps the best impression is made by Edward Andrews as the acerbic critic Quentin Judd, who rips apart Hawke's latest novel in front of a large gathering. Young Pat Cardi [Let's Kill Uncle] is also effective in the role of Freida's tragic son.

Verdict: Entertaining and fast-moving, but only Hollywood's idea of a writer's life. ***.

ROME ADVENTURE

Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue

ROME ADVENTURE (1962). Director: Delmer Daves.

"What if something happened to you?" -- Mrs. Bell

"Mother -- what if nothing did?" -- Prudence

Prudence Bell (Suzanne Pleshette of A Rage to Live) decides to resign from her position in a fashionable girls school because she gave a student a too lustily "romantic" novel to read and the old hen board disapprove. Looking for romance herself, she travels to Italy and gets a room in a pensione, where she meets Don (Troy Donahue), who's just been jilted by the wealthy Lyda Kent (Angie Dickinson). On the rebound, Don travels all over Italy with Prudence, as the two fall in love to the strains of Max Steiner's pretty score and all the attractive scenery. But then, who pops back up but Lyda ... Rome Adventure has a few good moments and performances but it's not a very good movie. Pleshette is a good actress, but there's something so unpleasantly aggressive, almost tough, about her that you can understand how she managed to get that tom cat Donahue to the alter (albeit it took two years and the marriage only lasted eight months); she hasn't a trace of vulnerability. As for Donahue, he's slightly better in this than, say, My Blood Runs Cold, perhaps because he was developing some romantic feelings for Pleshette, but anyway you look at it he's no actor. Rosanno Brazzi is the handsome older man whose kisses don't bring out bells in Prudence; Constance Ford -- in a typical Constance Ford movie role -- is the wise older woman who employs Prudence in a book shop; Hampton Fancher is the charmingly shy Albert, an American boy who has a big crush on Prudence; Pamela Austin is a young lady who has a brief flirtation with Albert; Gertrude Flynn is her chaperone; and even Al Hirt shows up playing himself at one point, only to have his haughty model-like date wind up making out with a sexy Italian stallion; all of them are fine. The two best scenes have Prudence and Lyda sparring with each other during dinner with Don and Albert; and a very nice scene between Albert and Prudence on a train. A singer who comes out with "Al di la" in a restaurant deserves his applause, but it's ridiculous when dozens of people start clapping after Don -- remember this is Troy Donahue -- finishes up a poorly delivered speech from Romeo and Juliet [admittedly, Don is no more an actor than Troy is]. As for Brazzi, he had more time to romance Katharine Hepburn (in Venice) in Summertime. Chad Everett is listed in the cast and in the opening credits, but his scenes must have been left on the cutting room floor.

Verdict: Pretty things to look at and listen to but don't expect more. **1/2.

FATE IS THE HUNTER

FATE IS THE HUNTER (1964). Director: Ralph Nelson.

When a plane crashes killing all aboard except a stewardess (Suzanne Pleshette), an investigator for the airline, Sam McBane (Glenn Ford), tries to determine what went wrong. You'd think this would make for a compelling film, but most of the running time has McBane delving into the character of the pilot [and old friend] Jack Savage (Rod Taylor), whose irresponsibility is being blamed for the tragedy, with lots of flashbacks. McBane discovers that there was much more to Savage than met the eye. Nancy Kwan and Dorothy Malone are two of the many ladies in Savage's life, and Wally Cox and Mark Stevens [in a fine turn] are pals of his whom he's helped over the years. Mary Wickes has an interesting cameo as a landlady. Constance Towers is McBane's secretary, Nehemiah Persoff is his rival, and Jane Russell appears as herself in a flashback scene entertaining the troops. This culminates in a fairly ridiculous courtroom sequence, and then in a climax in which McBane and others try to recreate the circumstances of the crash up in the air. The picture is contrived and illogical, has little tension or suspense, and is more talky and dull than anything else. Ernest K. Gann, who wrote the novel upon which the film is based, reportedly disavowed the whole production. Ford gives a fine performance but is saddled with the screwiness of his character; the rest of the cast is very good, and Pleshette is excellent although she has only a few lines.

Verdict: This kind of movie should not be a snooze-fest. **.

THE POWER

THE POWER (1968). Director: Byron Haskin. 

Professor Jim Tanner (George Hamilton) is part of a scientific committee that is studying pain thresholds in human beings to help determine just what astronauts and others can endure in difficult situations. It turns out that someone either on or associated with this committee is an advanced kind of "super-human" with incredible mind-control and telekinetic type powers. This person, once known as "Adam Hart", tries to kill Tanner and the other members to safeguard his identity and keep them from interfering with his plans. Tanner discovers that his past has been wiped out; he is fired from the university and goes on the run, trying to uncover which of his associates is Hart before his secret, unseen antagonist can kill him. While nowhere near as good as Frank M. Robinson's chilling novel of the same name, The Power has many good, suspenseful scenes and is quite entertaining. Although generally they are good actors, neither Hamilton nor Suzanne Pleshette as his girlfriend really get across the fear, paranoia and desperation they should be feeling in this situation. Yvonne De Carlo is fine in a supporting role, as are Earl Holliman, Arthur O'Connell, Richard Carlson and Nehemiah Persoff as fellow committee members. Barbara Nichols has a nice bit as a lonely waitress in an isolated gas station coffee shop, and Aldo Ray scores as her sinister husband. The very pretty Miiko Taka has a brief scene as Carlson's wife, and Michael Rennie is more than competent as a general who is a liaison to the committee. Miss Beverly Hills is at least vivid as "Sylvia," a swinger at a party attended by the principals. This was produced by George Pal. John Gay's script does not improve upon the novel. 

Verdict: Certainly not all it could have been, but creditable. ***. `

THE SHAGGY D.A.

THE SHAGGY D.A. (1976). Director: Robert Stevenson.

In this sequel to The Shaggy Dog, Wilby Daniels -- the young man who turned into a sheepdog in the first film -- has grown up and is now played by Dean Jones. Running for office, he finds himself turning into a dog at very inopportune moments. Although Fred MacMurray is sorely missed, this has a great cast that includes Suzanne Pleshette, Keenan Wynn, Hans Conreid, Iris Adrian, and especially Tim Conway as an ice cream vendor whose dog is the one that switches places and brains with Wilby. This is a cute picture, if no world-beater, and the best sequence has a bunch of dogs in a pound who all talk with the voices of such famous actors as Peter Lorre, Mae West, Bogart, and Edward G. Robinson!

Verdict: If you liked the original you might get a minor kick out of this. **1/2.

THE INVADERS (1967)

THE INVADERS (ABC Television 1967.) 

One night driving while he's tired, architect David Vincent (Roy Thinnes) stops for a moment and sees a spaceship in the distance. From that moment forward his life is never the same, as he learns that an alien race from a dying world has secretly come to Earth and is working to take it over and change the environment to make it more favorable for them. The aliens have changed into human form (without our internal organs, however) and some of them have a "mutated" fourth finger that makes their pinkie stick out. Otherwise they are indistinguishable from us. They even have special academies that train them in being able to mimic human emotions. Whenever an invader dies, his body disintegrates, making it even more difficult for Vincent to convince others of the invasion. (The aliens die very easily. Wounds that might merely put a human being into a hospital kill them instantly.) Vincent devotes his life to tracking down every lead he can to the aliens' presence, and manages to outwit several of their dastardly schemes. (One episode acknowledged that Vincent still had a living to make and had him take on an architectural assignment. Fans probably wondered if he were independently wealthy!) Eventually Vincent gained some important allies in his fight, and there was a group of alien-hunters actively working against the inhuman antagonists. (Kent Smith became a regular in the second season.) An early episode suggested that any alien with emotions or a heart was a mutation, but later episodes suggested some aliens had almost "human" feelings, or at least were learning to understand the human viewpoint and could even be sympathetic – to a point. 

Out of 43 episodes, only two or three were mediocre. Most were quite good and a few were outstanding, including: “Quantity Unknown,” in which James Whitmore gives an excellent performance as a victim of the aliens; “The Innocent,” in which Michael Rennie, equally good, plays an alien who takes Vincent into one of their spaceships; “The Betrayed,” in which Ed Begley hires Vincent to design a plant and Vincent’s girlfriend, Susan (Laura Devon), is killed off; “Moonshot,” which features the substitution of a lookalike alien for an astronaut (Peter Graves); “Wall of Crystal,” which features Vincent’s brother and sister-in-law; and “The Condemned,” with Ralph Bellamy. 

Season two also had its share of memorable episodes: “The Saucer," with a couple on the run coming across an abandoned saucer; “The Watchers,” with Shirley Knight as the blind niece of a wealthy man (Kevin McCarthy of Invasion of the Body Snatchers); “The Trial,” focusing on the alleged murder of an alien; “The Prophet,’ with Pat Hingle as a phony alien evangelist; the very suspenseful “Labryinth,” with quirky Sally Kellerman in a story of a struggle to hold onto alien X-rays; “The Believers,” in which Vincent has a whole group to work with; “Task Force,” with Linden Chiles and Nancy Kovack; “Counter-Attack,” in which things get very tough for Vincent; “The Pit,” with Joanne Linville; “The Organization,” with hoodlums working for and against the aliens; “Light Seekers,” which features friendly aliens who are working against the invasion scheme; and “The Pursued,” with Suzanne Pleshette as an alien who can’t control homicidal impulses. 

In addition to the aforementioned guest stars, other actors who appeared on the series included: Diane Baker; Roddy McDowell; Zena Bethune; Virginia Christine; Fritz Weaver; Dana Wynter; Gene Hackman; Carol Lynley, Karen Black; Phyllis Thaxter; Barbara Hershey; Ed Asner; Arthur Franz; Burgess Meredith; Anne Francis; Dabney Coleman; Jason Evers; Charles Drake; Jack Warden; Roscoe Lee Brown; Barbara Luna; Robert Walker; John Ericson; Susan Oliver: Anthony Eisley; and many others. The Invaders was created by Larry Cohen and was highly influential on The X-Files, V and other programs. Domimic Frontiere’s theme music was suitably ominous and memorable. The science was not always consistent or well thought out, but in many ways The Invaders was more of a drama than a science fiction series. Star Roy Thinnes was perfect for the role of Vincent, getting across the character’s haunted, intense, obsessed state-of-mind in virtually every episode. The acting of the guest-stars was generally of a high order as well. The show engendered a series of paperback books and a TV mini-series many years later. 

Verdict: The ultimate paranoia program.***½.

A RAGE TO LIVE

A RAGE TO LIVE (1965). Director: Walter Grauman.

Grace Caldwell (Suzanne Pleshette) has a strong sexual drive and won't apologize for it. She gets a bad reputation in the neighborhood and worries her mother and brother. Grace marries dignified Sidney Tate (Bradford Dillman), but when Roger Bannon (Ben Gazzara), an old acquaintance who's working on their barn, tells her how much he's longed for her for years, well Grace just can't help herself and she and hunky Bannon embark on an electric affair. This all leads to a lot of melodramatic but highly entertaining developments and confrontations, especially when one frustrated wife (Bethel Leslie) believes that Grace is carrying on with her husband (Peter Graves). The movie, constricted by the weakening production code, is, alas, of the "sin and suffer" variety, and Grace must pay for actions that many husbands indulge in without guilt or punishment. Still, the movie sort of thumbs its nose at the censors as well. Pleshette and Gazzara make a very sexy pair in and out of the sack. The performances are all good and the picture moves at a brisk pace. Far, far more entertaining than the British study of amorality, Darling, which was released the same year and won a few Oscars. Loosely based on a novel by John O'Hara.

Verdict: Great popcorn movie. ***.