Dave WillockFilmography

The Streets of San Francisco: Labyrinth

Synopsis: The scene is a high-rise hotel in midtown San Francisco. Confronted by mobsters who are angry because he refused to throw a fight, an aging boxer manages to beat up two of his assailants and throw the third out the window to his death! Arriving on the scene to investigate the killer, Stone (Karl Read More

Emperor of the North

Actors: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Keith Carradine, Charles Tyner, Malcolm Atterbury

Synopsis: In this gritty and violent period drama set in the depths of the Great Depression, Lee Marvin stars as "A No. 1", the acknowledged King of the Hoboes. A No. 1 is famous among his fellow tramps for his ability to catch a ride on any train, no matter how risky the hop or dangerous the guards. He Read More

Now You See Him, Now You Don't

Actors: Joyce Menges, Kurt Russell, Cesar Romero, Joe Flynn, Jim Backus, William Windom

Synopsis: If anyone is interested in seeing what Kurt Russell used to do before transforming into Snake Plissken in Escape From New York, they can look no further than this labored Disney slapstick marzipan sequel to The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. Kurt Russell, once again, is Dexter Riley, a science major Read More

The Grissom Gang

Actors: Kim Darby, Scott Wilson, Tony Musante, Irene Dailey, Robert Lansing

Synopsis: The Grissom Gang is a remake of the notorious 1949 British melodrama No Orchids for Miss Blandish. Kim Darby plays a 1920s-era debutante who is kidnapped and held for ransom. Her captors are the Grissoms, a family comprised of sadists and morons, and headed by Ma Barker clone Irene Dailey. One of Read More

The Barefoot Executive

Actors: Kurt Russell, Joe Flynn, Harry Morgan, Wally Cox, Heather North

Synopsis: At last the secret has been revealed! Prime-time network programming is determined by a chimpanzee! That's the premise of Disney's The Barefoot Executive, a highly amusing spoof of the TV bizz. Kurt Russell plays a page boy at a bottom-rated TV network. Stuck with his girl friend's (Heather North) Read More

Green Acres: Oliver Goes Broke

Actors: Victoria Meyerink, Dave Willock, Bob Gravage

Synopsis: Lisa (Eva Gabor) has been behaving strangely of late -- that is to say, she is behaving more strangely than usual. Witnesses have seen her searching about for a job, and even standing in welfare soup lines. The neighbors naturally jump to the logical conclusion: Lisa's husband Oliver (Eddie Read More

Adam-12: Log 35: Easy Bare Rider

Synopsis: Chasing down an erratic motorist, Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) end up issuing a citation to a driver who is blind drunk--and stark naked. Elsewhere, the two cops try to determine the source of $12,000 found by a youngster. And finally, Jim and Pete clean up the Read More

Hogan's Heroes: One Army at a Time

Actors: Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson

Synopsis: Disguised as a German soldier for an underground mission, Sgt. Carter is caught by an enemy Panzer division. At the behest of Hogan, Carter continues his masquerade in order to recover a cache of confiscated dynamite before the real Germans can find the explosives. Dave Willock appears as Read More

The Beverly Hillbillies: Honesty Is the Best Policy

Synopsis: In the conclusion of a two-part story arc, con man Shifty Shafer (Phil Silver) has inveigled Jed Clampett into yet another risky investment. This time, Shafer has convinced Jed to bankroll a drilling project, designed to siphon the smog from Los Angeles! In the course of events, both Shifty and Read More

Green Acres: Economy Flight to Washington

Actors: Dave Willock, Reed Hadley, Renie Riano, George Ives, Lennie Bremen

Synopsis: In the first episode of a two-part story, Kimball (Alvy Moore), Eb (Tom Lester), and Arnold the pig prepare to fly to Washington. To save money, the trio has chosen an extremely low-cost airline, complete with an over-the-hill pilot and a septuagenarian flight attendant. But the real fun begins Read More

Green Acres: The Road

Actors: Lyle Talbot, Dave Willock, Edwin Max

Synopsis: Gentleman farmer Oliver (Eddie Albert) is outraged that Hooterville's unpaved road continues to kick up a veritable dust storm, seriously endangering the local crops. On behalf of their fellow agrarians, Oliver and Lisa (Eva Gabor) head to the state capitol, there to demand that the road be paved. Read More

Green Acres: A Husband for Eleanor

Actors: Dave Willock

Synopsis: Oliver (Eddie Albert) is upset that his cow Eleanor refuses to give milk. Agriculture agent Mr. Kimball suggests that Eleanor is lonely, and needs an appropriate mate. Thus, Oliver (Eddie Albert) goes out and buys an eligible bull named Dudley -- all of which angers Lisa (Eva Gabor), who rightly Read More

Petticoat Junction: First Night Out

Synopsis: Despite her reluctance, new mother Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) agrees to out on the town with husband Steve (Mike Minor) for the first time since the birth of Kathy Jo. Self-appointed baby sitter Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) assures the couple that he'll never take his eyes off the baby. And, in Read More

The Legend of Lylah Clare

Actors: Kim Novak, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, Milton Selzer, Rossella Falk

Synopsis: Film star Lylah Clare is dead, but her legend lives on. Movie-producer Barney Sheean (Ernest Borgnine) hires Elsa Brinkmann (Kim Novak), the living image of the late Lylah, to star in a film based on Ms. Clare's life. Barney hires director Lewis Zarkan (Peter Finch), Lylah's former husband, to Read More

The Lucy Show: Lucy Gets Her Diploma

Actors: Doris Singleton, Robert Pine, Lucie Arnaz, Barbara Babcock, George E. Carey

Synopsis: Totally negating what we were told in the second-season episode "Lucy's College Reunion", Lucy (Lucille Ball) is in danger of losing her job at the bank because, way back in her teen years, she was one week shy of getting her high school diploma. Returning to school to make up for this gaffe, Lucy Read More

The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin

Actors: Roddy McDowall, Suzanne Pleshette, Karl Malden, Harry Guardino, Bryan Russell, Richard Haydn

Synopsis: This rambunctious Disney comedy was based on the novel By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman. Roddy McDowall plays Griffin, the very proper butler of Bostonian Bryan Russell. When Russell runs off to California during the 1849 gold rush, Griffin dutifully tags along. Master and butler team up Read More

Green Acres: Double Drick

Synopsis: Remember the great New York City power blackout of November 9, 1965? Ever wonder what caused all the lights to go out? Well, according to this episode of Green Acres, the source of the power fizzle can be traced back to Hooterville, where, after months and months of waiting for his farm to be Read More

Green Acres: The Ugly Duckling

Synopsis: As every loyal Green Acres fan knows, Hooterville carpenter Ralph Monroe is, despite her moniker, a bona fide female (played by Mary Grace Canfield). Of course, this fact is hard to ascertain, since Ralph is always dressed in men's overalls and seemingly goes out of her way to be unattractive. Read More

Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte

Actors: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway

Synopsis: An unusually long pre-credits sequence establishes the roots of faded Southern belle Charlotte's (Bette Davis) insanity; she'd been witness to the dismemberment murder of her fiance (Bruce Dern) and the suicide of the murderer, her own father (Victor Buono). Years later, Charlotte remains a Read More

Frankie and Johnny

Actors: Elvis Presley, Donna Douglas, Harry Morgan, Sue Ane Langdon, Nancy Kovack

Synopsis: Not a remake of the 1934 Helen Morgan vehicle of the same title, Frankie and Johnny stars Elvis Presley as Johnny, a Mississippi gambler, and Beverly Hillbillies regular Donna Douglas as his girl friend Frankie. In keeping with the old ballad, the romance of Frankie and Johnny is threatened by the Read More

The Beverly Hillbillies: That Old Black Magic

Synopsis: Mrs. Drysdale tries to interest Granny in astrology. but Granny declines, expressing terror over the notion of practicing "black magic." This plot situation is played to the hilt when Granny becomes convinced that Mrs. Drysdale has turned herself into a crow! Among the dependable character actors Read More

Green Acres: The Wedding Anniversary

Synopsis: Standard TV sitcom procedure dictates that the husband always forgets his wedding anniversary. Surprisingly, Oliver (Eddie Albert) has no trouble remembering the day he and Lisa (Eva Gabor) became man and wife -- he just doesn't recall the year it happened. This premise proves to be an excellent Read More

Perry Mason: The Case of the Duplicate Case

Synopsis: Luckless salesman Herbie Cornwall (Martin West) is envious of his wife Millie's success as a corporate secretary. Truth to tell, Millie (Susan Bay) is successful mainly because she is fooling around with several of the male executives. When Herbie finds out about his wife's peccadilloes, he has a Read More

The Munsters: A Man for Marilyn

Synopsis: When Marilyn (Pat Priest) fails to catch the bridal bouquet at a wedding party, the Munsters are more convinced than ever that their "homely" niece will never get a beau. Hoping to remedy this situation, Grandpa (Al Lewis) attempts to turn a frog into a handsome prince. The effort fails, but Read More

Petticoat Junction: A Doctor in the House

Synopsis: Ever on the lookout for new sources of income, Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) invites young doctor Matthew Bailey (Alan Reed Jr.) to set up his practice at the Shady Rest. Unfortunately, Joe forget to ask permission of hotel owner Kate (Bea Benaderet)--and she's dead set against turning her place into Read More

The Patsy

Actors: Jerry Lewis, Ina Balin, Everett Sloane, Phil Harris, Keenan Wynn

Synopsis: Toward the end of Jerry Lewis's Paramount studio period, Lewis slapped together this bitter comedy about Hollywood phoniness and fame that has to be the most rancid portrait of the Hollywood star system in the Rat Pack era this side of Clifford Odets. When a famous entertainer suddenly is killed Read More

Bonanza: Alias Joe Cartwright

Actors: Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker

Synopsis: A deft blend of comedy and suspense, "Alias Joe Cartwright" affords series regular Michael Landon the opportunity to play a dual role: His usual characterization of Joe Cartwright, and murderous Army deserter Angus Borden. Mistaken for Borden, Joe is sentenced to a firing squad by martinet Captain Read More

Send Me No Flowers

Actors: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall, Paul Lynde, Hal March

Synopsis: Light and laugh-filled, Send Me No Flowers is typical Rock Hudson and Doris Day fare. George (Hudson) is a hypochondriac married to Judy (Day) in this marital comedy. When George goes to visit the doctor, he overhears two doctors talking about a diagnosis of a terminally ill patient. George Read More

Bonanza: A Man to Admire

Actors: Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, James Gregory

Synopsis: Accused of murder, Hoss Cartwright puts his life in the hands of celebrated lawyer Whitney Parker (James Gregory). Unforunately, Parker's glory days are behind him: more to the point, he is now the town drunk. The Cartwrights struggle to keep Parker sober long enough to save Hoss from the gallows. Read More

Wives and Lovers

Actors: Janet Leigh, Van Johnson, Shelley Winters, Martha Hyer, Ray Walston

Synopsis: In this romantic comedy, Bill Austin (Van Johnson) is an unsuccessful writer who lives in a forlorn New York tenement while his wife Bertie (Janet Leigh) earns an income for both of them. Their lives change dramatically when Bill's first novel becomes a best-seller. Bill persuades Bertie to quit Read More

The Nutty Professor

Actors: Jerry Lewis, Stella Stevens, Del Moore, Kathleen Freeman, Med Flory, Howard Morris

Synopsis: Professor Julius F. Kelp (Jerry Lewis) is an addle-brained, absent-minded chemistry instructor always incurring the wrath of the university administration by continually blowing up the classroom laboratory. The shy guy has his eyes on the student body of Stella (Stella Stevens). When a Read More

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Actors: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Marjorie Bennett, Anna Lee, Maide Norman

Synopsis: As a child, "Baby Jane" Hudson was the toast of vaudeville. As an adult, however, Baby Jane was overshadowed by her more talented sister, Blanche, who became a top movie star. Then, one night in the early '30s, came the accident, which crippled Blanche for life and which was blamed on a drunken Read More

The Jack Benny Show: The Peter Lorre/Joanie Sommers Show

Bonanza: The Burma Rarity

Actors: Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Beatrice Kay

Synopsis: Con artists Morgan (Wally Brown) and Axe (Dave Willock) flimflam Clementine Hawkins (Beatrice Kay), a former dance-hall girl turned boarding-house keeper, with an elaborate scam involving "The Burma Rarity", a priceless emerald. Inasmuch as Ben Cartwright introduced Clementine to the crooks, he Read More

Perry Mason: The Case of the Envious Editor

Synopsis: Future film superstar James Coburn appears as slimy entrepreneur Donald Fletcher, who purchases a highly respected publishing house and converts its output to slezy tabloids and nudie magazines. Unable to legally prevent Fletcher from inflicting further damage, editor Edmond Aitken (Philip Read More

The Twilight Zone: The Trouble with Templeton

Actors: Brian Aherne, Pippa Scott, Charles S. Carlson, Sydney Pollack, Larry Blake

Synopsis: The past and present collide with poignant results in this handsomely mounted Twilight Zone episode. Brian Aherne stars as aging Broadway matinee idol Booth Templeton, who is unable to give his full attention to his latest play because of his obsession with the past in general and his late wife Read More

Ten Seconds to Hell

Actors: Jeff Chandler, Jack Palance, Martine Carol, Wesley Addy, Robert Cornthwaite, Dave Willock, Virginia Baker

Synopsis: This film is a 1959 WWII drama that focuses on members of a German bomb squad. The fatalistic soldiers pool part of their paychecks into a fund that the last surviving member of the squad will get to keep. One by one, the men meet their deaths until only two remain: Karl Wirtz (Jeff Chandler) and Read More

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Total Loss

Synopsis: Fashion expert Jan Manning (Nancy Olson) faces the loss of her department store when the bank turns down her loan request. She tells her troubles to her salesman boyfriend, Mel Reeves (Ralph Meeker), who suggests that she torch the store and collect a huge insurance settlement -- and to this end Read More

Queen of Outer Space

Actors: Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eric Fleming, Laurie Mitchell, Paul Birch, Patrick Waltz, Barbara Darrow

Synopsis: This legendarily campy sci-fi epic (shot in color and CinemaScope, and rather lavish for a sci-fi film of this period) concerns a team of astronauts (all men -- this was 1958, you know) who are drawn off course and land on the planet Venus, only to discover it's populated entirely by beautiful Read More

The Buster Keaton Story

Actors: Donald O'Connor, Ann Blyth, Rhonda Fleming, Peter Lorre, Larry Keating

Synopsis: The Buster Keaton Story is the sublimely inaccurate life story of immortal film comedian Buster Keaton, played by Donald O'Connor. The film begins with young Buster appearing in his parents' circus acrobatic act (the real Keatons never appeared in a circus, but were vaudevillians instead). After Buster Read More

The Delicate Delinquent

Actors: Jerry Lewis, Darren McGavin, Martha Hyer, Robert Ivers, Horace McMahon

Synopsis: Jerry Lewis' first solo effort was also his first headlong plunge into pathos. The Delicate Delinquent stars Jerry as mixed-up teenaged janitor Sidney Pythias, a nice kid on the verge of throwing in with a not-so-nice street gang. Sensing potential in Sidney, police officer Mike Damon (Darren McGavin Read More

Revenge of the Creature

Actors: Robert Hoy, John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield, Robert B. Williams, Nestor Paiva

Synopsis: Revenge of the Creature is, of course, the sequel to Universal's fabulously successful The Creature from the Black Lagoon--and like its predecessor, the film was lensed in 3-D (though released "flat" in most theatres). Though the audience had seen the Gill-Man shot full of holes in the first Read More

Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation

Actors: Marjorie Main, Percy Kilbride, Ray Collins, Bodil Miller, Sig Rumann

Synopsis: This fifth entry in Universal's "Ma and Pa Kettle" series finds the Kettle family taking a trip to Paris (courtesy of the Universal back lot). All the standard "innocents abroad" gags are in attendance, including Pa Kettle's (Percy Kilbride) efforts to extinguish a flaming serving of crepes Read More

Roar of the Crowd

Actors: Howard Duff, Helene Stanley, Dave Willock, Louise Arthur, Minor Watson

Synopsis: Attractively filmed in Cinecolor, Roar of the Crowd is a better-than-average actioner from Allied Artists. Howard Duff plays Johnny Tracy, scion of a racecar-driving family. Johnny wants a crack at the Indianapolis 500 above all else, but his girl friend Marcy Parker (Helene Stanley) wants him to Read More

Remains to Be Seen

Actors: June Allyson, Van Johnson, Louis Calhern, Angela Lansbury, John Beal

Synopsis: June Allyson plays a band singer working in New York City; Van Johnson is the manager of a fancy apartment house where a murder is committed. The victim is Allyson's wealthy uncle, and since she can't account for her actions at the time of the crime, Our Heroine is the principal suspect. The real Read More

It Came from Outer Space

Actors: Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, Russell Johnson, Kathleen Hughes

Synopsis: It Came From Outer Space is one of a handful of science fiction films from the 1950s that plays as well today as it did on its original release, this despite the fact that its original 3-D elements seem to be lost. It was also the first science fiction effort of director Jack Arnold, and one of Read More

Rodeo

Actors: Jane Nigh, John Archer, Wallace Ford, Gary Gray, Frances Rafferty

Synopsis: Hard-working leading lady Jane Nigh attains top billing in 1952's Rodeo. It's all about rough-and-ready gal Nancy Cartwright (Nigh) who takes over a travelling rodeo after the manager skips town with the payroll. Under her guidance, the show becomes a money-making proposition. Unfortunately, in Read More

Jet Job

Actors: Stanley Clements, Elena Verdugo, John Litel, Bob Nichols, Tom Powers

Synopsis: The perfunctorily titled Jet Job is an updated retelling of the old one about the hotshot test pilot who learns the value of being a team player. Stanley Clements stars as Joe Kovak, whose recklessness and refusal to follow orders causes no end of trouble for his superiors. Fired by boss Sam Read More

Battle Zone

Actors: John Hodiak, Linda Christian, Stephen McNally, Martin Milner, Dave Willock

Synopsis: In this exciting Korean War-era actioner, two Marine combat photographers risk their lives on the front to chronicle the battles. When not behaving heroically up there, they are competing for the affection of a pretty Red Cross nurse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Flat Top

Actors: Sterling Hayden, Richard Carlson, William Phipps, John Bromfield, Keith Larsen

Synopsis: In an obvious attempt to recreate some of the power and impact of Henry King's Twelve O'Clock High, Lesley Selander's Flat Top tells its story in flashback as Dan Collier (Sterling Hayden), a senior officer, recalls from the bridge of the carrier Princeton during the Korean War, the first squadron Read More

The Merry Widow

Actors: Lana Turner, Fernando Lamas, Una Merkel, Richard Haydn, Thomas Gomez

Synopsis: Based on an operetta by Franz Lehar, this remake of the 1934 original finds a wealthy widow (Lana Turner) returning to her husband's native land to dedicate a memorial to him. The king (Thomas Gomez) of the country, deep in debt, tries to convince her to stay by offering a young count (Fernando Lamas Read More

Let's Go Navy!

Actors: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Allen Jenkins, Tom Neal, Charlita

Synopsis: Through an incredible series of circumstances, the Bowery Boys sign up for a hitch in the Navy. While clumsily going about the shipboard duties, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the rest of the gang search high and low for a couple of crooks disguised in sailor suits who've stolen a large Read More

Darling, How Could You!

Actors: Joan Fontaine, John Lund, Mona Freeman, Peter Hanson, David Stollery

Synopsis: Darling, How Could You is an amiable adaptation of James M. Barrie's stage perennial Alice-Sit- By-the-Fire. Joan Fontaine and John Lund head the cast as Alice and Robert Grey, who return to London from a five-year sojourn at the Panama canal, where Robert, a doctor, has tended to the sick. Upon Read More

Roadblock

Actors: Charles McGraw, Joan Dixon, Lowell Gilmore, Louis Jean Heydt, Milburn Stone

Synopsis: An insurance investigator, a dame with a yen for the finer things in life and a mail robbery gone horribly wrong are the ingredients in this low-budget but highly engrossing film noir. Charles McGraw and Louis Jean Heydt are tough insurance agents but their partnership comes in for some rough Read More

Call Me Mister

Actors: Betty Grable, Dan Dailey, Danny Thomas, Dale Robertson, Benay Venuta, Richard Boone

Synopsis: The original Broadway musical Call Me Mister was a plotless revue. By the time the property made it to the screen, however, a storyline was grafted on and much of the revue's funnier (and dirtier) material was weeded out. Betty Grable stars as an American USO entertainer Kay Hudson, touring the Read More

Belle of Old Mexico

Actors: Estelita Rodriguez, Robert Rockwell, Dorothy Patrick, Thurston Hall, Florence Bates

Synopsis: After several supporting and guest appearances, Latino singer-actress Estelita Rodriguez was given her own Republic starring vehicle, Belle of Old Mexico. The plot wasn't new in 1950--for that matter it wasn't new in 1920. Wealthy Kip Artmitage III (Robert Rockwell) honors his late wartime Read More

Louisa

Actors: Spring Byington, Ronald Reagan, Charles Coburn, Edmund Gwenn, Ruth Hussey

Synopsis: Never mind the top-billed Ronald W. Reagan; the real stars of Louisa are sprightly seniors Charles Coburn, Spring Byington and Edmund Gwenn. Spring plays Reagan's widowed mother, who is outwardly satisfied with her lot but inwardly lonely. Enter Coburn and Gwenn, who vie for Spring's attentions. Read More

No Man of Her Own

Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, John Lund, Phyllis Thaxter, Lyle Bettger, Jane Cowl

Synopsis: A woman is torn between a comfortable lie and the painful truth in this drama. After she is abandoned by her unfaithful boyfriend Stephen Morely (Lyle Bettger), Helen Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) discovers that she's pregnant, and she has no choice but to go home to her family. Shortly after Read More

Chicago Deadline

Actors: Alan Ladd, Donna Reed, June Havoc, Irene Hervey, Arthur Kennedy

Synopsis: Tough reporter Ed Adams (Alan Ladd) wants to get the full story behind the apparent suicide of a young woman. It seems that the girl left behind a notebook with a list of seemingly unrelated names. Adams tracks down each one of the persons cited in the notebook, slowly but surely putting the Read More

So This Is New York

Actors: Henry Morgan, Rudy Vallee, Bill Goodwin, Leo Gorcey, Virginia Grey

Synopsis: Radio humorist Henry Morgan made his film debut in So This is New York. Based on The Big Town, a collection of stories by Ring Lardner, the film traces country bumpkin Morgan's progress as he uses an inheritance to take a trip with his wife (Virginia Grey) and sister-in-law (Dona Drake) to the New Read More

State of the Union

Actors: Florence Auer, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Irving Bacon, Art Baker, Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury, Adolphe Menjou, Tom Fadden

Synopsis: Frank Capra's only MGM film, State of the Union was adapted by Anthony Veiller and Myles Connolly from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. Spencer Tracy plays an aircraft tycoon who is coerced into seeking the Republican Presidential nomination by predatory Read More

The Fabulous Dorseys

Actors: Sara Allgood, William Bakewell, Charlie Barnet, Janet Blair

Synopsis: Based on the lives of big-band stars Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, this biographical chronicle begins with their childhood in an industrial Pennsylvania town. Encouraged in their musical talents by their father, the Dorsey brothers' sibling rivalry proves to be a stumbling block until the their father's Read More

The Searching Wind

Actors: Robert Young, Sylvia Sidney, Ann Richards, Dudley Digges, Douglas Dick, Albert Basserman

Synopsis: The troublesome years "between the wars" provide the backdrop for the romantic drama The Searching Wind. Adapted by Lillian Hellman from her own stage play, the film stars Robert Young as Alex Hazen, an idealistic but incredibly naïve US ambassador who fails to heed the warning signals when Read More

The Runaround

Actors: Rod Cameron, Ella Raines, Broderick Crawford, Frank McHugh, Samuel S. Hinds

Synopsis: The Runaround is a game attempt to return to the "screwball comedy" genre so popular in the 1930s. Rival detectives Kildane (Rod Cameron) and Prentice (Broderick Crawford) are hired simultaneously by millionaire Norman Hampton (Samuel J. Hinds). Their client informs the two gumshoes that he has a Read More

Pride of the Marines

Actors: John Garfield, Eleanor Parker, Dane Clark, Ann Doran, John Ridgely, Rosemary de Camp

Synopsis: John Garfield stars as Al Schmid, a true-life marine who served in World War II. Schmid becomes a hero at Guadalcanal, defending a machine gun post and killing 200 Japanese before he is permanently blinded by a grenade. Despite being awarded the Navy Cross, Schmid returns home embittered by his Read More

This Love of Ours

Actors: Merle Oberon, Charles Korvin, Claude Rains, Carl Esmond, Sue England

Synopsis: Doctor Charles Korvin walks out on his musician wife Merle Oberon when he suspects her of infidelity. Twelve years later their paths cross again; Oberon is now saddled with an abusive husband. Possessed of a protective instinct that he hadn't evinced in the first part of the film, Korvin rescues Read More

Spellbound

Actors: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Jean Acker, Rhonda Fleming, Leo G. Carroll, Donald Curtis, Norman Lloyd, Regis Toomey

Synopsis: As Alfred Hitchcock's classic psychothriller opens, the staff of a posh mental asylum eagerly awaits the arrival of the new director. When the man in question shows up, it turns out to be handsome psychiatrist John Ballantine (Gregory Peck). But something's wrong, here: Ballantine seems much too Read More

Four Jills in a Jeep

Actors: Kay Francis, Carole Landis, Martha Raye, Mitzi Mayfair

Synopsis: Four Jills in a Jeep is the (mostly) true story of a four-girl USO team, entertaining American troops overseas. Kay Francis, Martha Raye, Carole Landis and Mitzi Mayfair play "themselves," recreating their recent whirlwind tour of Europe and North Africa. This wisp of a plot takes a back seat to Read More

Pin-Up Girl

Actors: Betty Grable, John Harvey, Martha Raye, Joe E. Brown, Eugene Pallette

Synopsis: Despite the film's title, Pin-Up Girl offers surprisingly few glimpses of the famed Betty Grable "gams." This lively Technicolor musical casts Gable as Lorrie Jones, secretary at a USO canteen frequented by handsome servicemen. Falling in love with war hero Tommy Dooley (John Harvey), Lorrie Read More

A Wing and a Prayer

Actors: Don Ameche, Dana Andrews, William Eythe, Charles Bickford, Cedric Hardwicke

Synopsis: Former president Ronald Reagan may have genuinely believed that he was referring to a real-life act of selfless wartime bravery whenever repeating his "We'll bring this one down together" anecdote. In fact, he was merely quoting a scene from the above-average World War 2 drama A Wing and a Prayer. Read More

She's a Sweetheart

Actors: Jane Frazee, Larry Parks, Jane Darwell, Nina Foch, Ross Hunter

Synopsis: In this musical drama, a woman turns her mansion into a boarding house for soldiers on furlough, providing them with room, board, and musical entertainment. She also does a little matchmaking for the lonely fighters. The fun begins when one of the lodgers falls in love with a pretty singer. At Read More

Let's Face It

Actors: Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, ZaSu Pitts, Phyllis Povah, Eve Arden, Dave Willock

Synopsis: Let's Face It is adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the old Norma Mitchell/Russell G. Medcraft stage chestnut The Cradle Snatchers. The basic story of three neglected wives who hire a trio of young men as professional companions is updated for the World Read More

She Has What It Takes

Actors: Jinx Falkenburg, Tom Neal, Constance Worth, Douglas Leavitt

Synopsis: In this musical, a lovely and ambitious young woman masquerades as the daughter of a formerly beloved stage actress to help launch her Broadway career. She chooses one entertainment columnist in particular. But the starlet's carefully-made plans begin to unravel when a rival columnist learns of Read More

The Gang's All Here

Actors: Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, James Ellison, Charlotte Greenwood, Eugene Pallette, Edward Everett Horton, Phil Baker

Synopsis: Sgt. Andy Mason Jr. (James Ellison) is on the eve of shipping out from New York with his unit -- he's the son of Andrew Mason Sr. (Eugene Pallette), a wealthy, blustery Wall Street financier. While paying respects to his father and the latter's business partner, dithering fuss-budget Peyton Potter Read More

Princess O'Rourke

Actors: Olivia de Havilland, Robert Cummings, Charles Coburn, Jack Carson, Jane Wyman

Synopsis: A princess finds love with a regular American Joe in this patriotic romantic comedy. A European diplomat (Charles Coburn) is named an ambassador to the U.S., and when he relocates to Washington D.C., he's accompanied by his niece, Princess Maria (Olivia de Havilland). Maria's uncle hopes that Read More

The Male Animal

Actors: Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland, Joan Leslie, Jack Carson, Eugene Pallette

Synopsis: In this screen version of the James Thurber-Elliot Nugent Broadway play of the same name, Henry Fonda stars as bespectacled, bookish college professor Tommy Turner, who puts his career on the line by insisting upon standing up for his right to free speech. Determining to read a letter written by Read More

Sunday Punch

Actors: William Lundigan, Jean Rogers, Dan Dailey, Guy Kibbee, J. Carrol Naish

Synopsis: Another graduate of MGM's short-subject department, director David Miller proved he had what it took to helm a feature film for the studio in Sunday Punch. The harmless but diverting story concerns the rivalry, in and out of the ring, between prizefighters Ken Burke (William Lundigan) and Olaf Read More

Priorities on Parade

Actors: Ann Miller, Johnny Johnston, Jerry Colonna, Betty Jane Rhodes, Vera Vague

Synopsis: Very much a product of its times, Priorities on Parade was disliked by everyone but the public when it was first released in 1942. The story takes place in a wartime aircraft plant, where a group of entertainers secure jobs putting on shows for the workers during lunch and dinner breaks. The Read More

Lucky Jordan

Actors: Alan Ladd, Helen Walker, Sheldon Leonard, Mabel Paige, Marie McDonald

Synopsis: Lucky Jordan (Alan Ladd) is a tough but good-natured New York racketeer who tries to finagle his way out of Army service. Despite his efforts, Jordan is drafted, but soon goes AWOL, with a lovely USO worker (Helen Walker) dogging his heels. She tries to arouse Jordan's patriotism, but he is Read More

The Fleet's In

Actors: Dorothy Lamour, William Holden, Eddie Bracken, Betty Hutton, Cass Daley

Synopsis: In this, the third screen adaptation of the musical revue Sailor Beware, William Holden plays Casey Kirby, a shy sailor who through a series of misunderstandings develops a reputation as a world-class lady-killer. In order to save face, Casey has to persuade "The Countess of Swingland" (Dorothy Lamour Read More

Frisco Lil

Actors: Irene Hervey, Kent Taylor, Minor Watson, Jerome Cowan, Samuel S. Hinds

Synopsis: Universal contractee Irene Hervey, generally required to stand by the sidelines while the leading men did all the acting, was given a vehicle of her very own with Frisco Lil. Irene plays a law student whose father is framed for a crime he didn't commit. Going undercover as a gambling-joint Read More

Ice-Capades Revue

Actors: Ellen Drew, Richard Denning, Jerry Colonna, Barbara Jo Allen, Harold Huber

Synopsis: Republic's ongoing professional association with the celebrated "Ice-Capades" skating show yielded a number of flashy but forgettable musicals, including 1942's Ice-Capades Revue. Though a plot is hardly necessary, the story concerns New England farm gal Ann (Ellen Drew), whose already-mounting Read More

The Chocolate Soldier

Actors: Nelson Eddy, Rise Stevens, Nigel Bruce, Florence Bates, Dorothy Gilmore

Synopsis: This remake of Ferenc Molnar's play The Guardsmen focuses on an opera star (Nelson Eddy) who tests the fidelity of his wife (Rise Stephens) by wooing her in disguise. The film was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Sound and Best Score. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

Great Guns

Actors: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Sheila Ryan, Dick Nelson, Edmund MacDonald

Synopsis: In their first 20th Century-Fox vehicle, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are cast respectively as the butler and chauffeur of wealthy young Dan Forrester (Dick Nelson). Tired of being pampered and coddled by his overprotective aunts (Mae Marsh, Ethel Gryffies), Dan is delighted when he is drafted Read More

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

Actors: W.C. Fields, Gloria Jean, Margaret Dumont, Leon Errol, Susan Miller, Franklin Pangborn

Synopsis: W.C. Fields heads to Esoteric studios to pitch a story idea to producer Franklin Pangborn. The producer wants to make a conventional romantic musical starring Fields' niece, teen-aged soprano Gloria Jean, but "The Great Man" has other ideas. As Pangborn sits in dumbfounded silence, Fields unravels Read More

Louisiana Purchase

Actors: Bob Hope, Vera Zorina, Victor Moore, Irene Bordoni, Dona Drake

Synopsis: The Irving Berlin-Morrie Ryskind Broadway musical hit Louisiana Purchase came to the screen with surprisingly few emendations in 1941. Bob Hope replaces Broadway's William Gaxton in the role of innocent political flunkey Jim Taylor, set up to take the fall for wholesale graft by a group of corrupt Read More

The Monster and the Girl

Actors: Ellen Drew, Robert Paige, Paul Lukas, Joseph Calleia, Onslow Stevens

Synopsis: One of the most schizophrenic films ever to come out of the Paramount "B" mill, The Monster and the Girl starts out as a white-slavery melodrama and ends up as a horror picture! Emerging from the fog, heroine Susan Webster (Ellen Drew) tells her woeful tale to the audience. A young innocent from Read More

Playmates

Actors: John Barrymore, Lupe Velez, Ginny Simms, May Robson

Synopsis: The much-maligned Playmates callously offers the appalling spectacle of a thoroughly dissolute John Barrymore in his final screen performance, but the film isn't quite as bad as it's supposed to be. Barrymore plays himself, a washed-up ham actor up to his ears in debts. When the IRS demands Read More

Caught in the Draft

Actors: Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Lynne Overman, Eddie Bracken, Clarence Kolb

Synopsis: Bob Hope plays a famous movie star who does his best to avoid the pre-war draft, but ends up in uniform all the same. Hope marries Dorothy Lamour, the daughter of Army colonel Clarence Kolb, in hopes that this union will help him sidestep military service. Stuck in boot camp, Hope is a class-A Read More

Cracked Nuts

Synopsis: No relation to the Cracked Nuts he directed in 1931, this hokey sci-fi-comedy from director Edward F. Cline stars Stuart Erwin as Lawrence Trent, a country rube who wins a refrigerator-slogan contest and gets some money for his efforts. Meanwhile, mad scientist Boris Kabikoff (Mischa Auer) builds Read More

Too Many Husbands

Actors: Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, Melvyn Douglas, Harry Davenport, Dorothy Peterson

Synopsis: The W. Somerset Maugham play Home and Beauty was successful Americanized as Too Many Husbands (British title: My Two Husbands). Led to believe that her husband Fred MacMurray has drowned in a shipwreck, socialite Jean Arthur marries Melvyn Douglas. In time-honored Enoch Arden fashion, MacMurray Read More

Framed

Actors: Frank Albertson, Constance Moore, Jerome Cowan, Robert Armstrong, Sidney Blackmer

Synopsis: Reporter Albertson works to solve a murder case in order to clear his name and get a great story for his paper. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Three Texas Steers

Actors: John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Max "Alibi" Terhune, Carole Landis, Ralph Graves

Synopsis: Forever switching its time-frame from past to present, Republic's "Three Mesquiteers" series returned to a contemporary milieu for Three Texas Steers. The story revolves around a bankrupt circus, and the efforts made by Stony (John Wayne), Tucson (Ray Corrigan) and Lullaby (Max Terhune) to save Read More

Good Girls Go to Paris

Actors: Melvyn Douglas, Joan Blondell, Alan Curtis, Joan Perry, Isabel Jeans

Synopsis: Spunky Joan Blondell is practically the whole show in the diverting comedy Good Girls Go to Paris. Blondell is cast as ambitious college-campus waitress Jenny Swanson, who yearns to see the sights in Gay Paree. She gets her chance by latching onto British exchange professor Ronald Brooke (Melvyn Douglas Read More

Legion of Lost Flyers

Actors: Richard Arlen, Andy Devine, Anne Nagel, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams

Synopsis: Legion of Lost Flyers is a typically action-packed entry in Universal's Richard Arlen-Andy Devine series (if one can call a group of thematically unconnected B-pictures a "series"). This time, heroes Loop Gillian (Arlen) and Beff Brumley (Devine) are, respectively, a pilot and mechanic for an Read More

Little Accident

Actors: Hugh Herbert, Florence Rice, Richard Carlson, Ernest Truex, Joy Hodges

Synopsis: A remake of a 1930 Universal film, Little Accident was the third starring vehicle for androgynous juvenile star Baby Sandy. Hugh Herbert stars as Herbert Pearson, self-styled infant specialist on a big-city newspaper. When father Tabby Morgan (Ernest Truex) abandons his bundle of joy (Baby Sandy) Read More

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Actors: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Thomas Mitchell, Guy Kibbee, Eugene Pallette, Beulah Bondi, Harry Carey

Synopsis: Frank Capra's classic comedy-drama established James Stewart as a lead actor in one of his finest (and most archetypal) roles. The film opens as a succession of reporters shout into telephones announcing the death of Senator Samuel Foley. Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), the state's senior Read More

The Runaround

Actors: Geoffrey Kerr, Mary Brian, Johnny Hines, Marie Prevost, Joseph Cawthorn

Synopsis: Filmed in an early Technicolor process, The Runaround tells the story of Broadway dancer Mary Brian, who refuses to play the gold-digging games indulged in by her fellow chorines. Though she's sorely tempted to accept a $1000 bracelet from an elderly admirer, Brian turns down the gift when she Read More