John Litel Filmography

The Sons of Katie Elder

Actors: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Martha Hyer, Michael Anderson, Jr., Earl Holliman

Synopsis: Henry Hathaway directs the 1965 psychological Western The Sons of Katie Elder. Four sons reunite in their Texas hometown to attend their mother's funeral. John (John Wayne) is the gunfighter, Tom (Dean Martin) is the gambler, Matt (Earl Holliman) is the quiet one, and Bud (Michael Anderson Jr.) is Read More

Branded: The Vindicator

Synopsis: New York newspaperman Ned Travis (Claude Akins) tracks down Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) in hopes of getting the "real story" of what happened at Bitter Creek. Under normal circumstances, McCord would like nothing better than to reveal the truth and clear himself of the charge of cowardice. But Read More

The Gun Hawk

Actors: Rory Calhoun, Rod Cameron, Ruta Lee, Rod Lauren, Morgan Woodward

Synopsis: Allied Artists' Gun Hawk puts Rory Calhoun through his usual paces as an aging gunman. Calhoun has pretty much retired from shoot outs, and now runs a small town populated by outlaws. He befriends hotheaded fast gun Rod Lauren, who behaves as impulsively as Calhoun had in his earlier days. When Read More

Perry Mason: The Case of the Poison Pen Pal

Synopsis: Wilma Gregson (Kathryn Givney), imperious owner of the Gregson Cannery Company, is outraged when details of a secret merger with Super Brand Foods is made public. It turns out that the information was accidentally leaked by Wilma's little granddaughter Sandra (Chrystine Jordan) while corresponding Read More

Lover Come Back

Actors: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall, Edie Adams, Jack Oakie

Synopsis: Although not as well known as Pillow Talk (1959), this romantic-comedy pairing of stars Rock Hudson and Doris Day earned an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. Hudson stars as Jerry Webster, a Madison Avenue advertising executive who has achieved success not through hard work or intelligence but Read More

Pocketful of Miracles

Actors: Glenn Ford, Bette Davis, Hope Lange, Arthur O'Connell, Peter Falk

Synopsis: Director Frank Capra's last feature film, Pocketful of Miracles is a Technicolor remake of his 1933 film Lady for a Day. A barely recognizable Bette Davis plays Apple Annie, the besotted, unkempt, rag-clad street vendor who controls the activities of all the beggars on Broadway. Apple Annie is the Read More

Have Gun, Will Travel: Ben Jalisco

Synopsis: In his second fifth-season Have Gun, Will Travel guest appearance, Charles Bronson is cast as vicious murderer Ben Jalisco. Escaping from custody, Jalisco vows to wreak vengeance against his treacherous wife Lucy (Coleen Gray)--and against Paladin (Richard Boone), the man who brought him in for Read More

Bonanza: The Tin Badge

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

Synopsis: To show up his teasing brothers, Joe Cartwright accepts the position of sheriff in the little town of Rubicon. Little does Joe know that the men behind his nomination, gunslinger Ab Brock (Vic Morrow) and crooked Mayor Goshen (John Litel), intend to use the youngest Cartwright boy as the fall guy Read More

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Actors: Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, Peter Lorre, Robert Sterling, Michael Ansara

Synopsis: Walter Pidgeon is the nominal star of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, portraying Admiral Harriman Nelson, the designer of the submarine Seaview, a glass-nosed research submarine. The sub embarks on her shakedown cruise under the polar ice cap as the movie begins. Upon surfacing, however, the crew Read More

Maverick: The People's Friend

Synopsis: Anticipating the real-life political career of Maverick star Jack Kelly, who would serve two terms as mayor of Huntington Beach, California, in the 1980s, this episode finds Bart Maverick (Kelly) running for a State Senate seat on the Reform Party ticket. He has agreed to throw his hat in the ring Read More

Bonanza: Enter Mark Twain

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

Synopsis: Howard Duff guest-stars as Sam Clemens, who in the days before his fame and fortune as "Mark Twain" could be found working as a reporter on the Virginia City Enterprise. The Cartwrights come to Clemens' assistance when the young journalist endeavors to expose an illegal collusion between Judge Read More

Houseboat

Actors: Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Martha Hyer, Harry Guardino, Eduardo Ciannelli

Synopsis: Cary Grant scored still another box-office smash with his 1958 vehicle Houseboat. Grant plays a widowed father who packs himself and his spoiled kiddies off to a ramshackle houseboat. Enter Sophia Loren, who is attempting to break loose from her tyrannical father's (Eduardo Cianelli) iron grip. Read More

Maverick: The 39th Star

Synopsis: In the midst of his campaign to bring statehood to his territory, Judge Somervell (John Litel) loses a suitcase which contains some rather volatile documents. The Judge is convinced that Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly) stole the suitcase--and so, apparently, is everyone else in the territory, including Read More

Runaway Daughters

Actors: Marla English, Anna Sten, John Litel, Lance Fuller, Adele Jergens

Synopsis: Another American-International opus which managed to attain top bookings on the strength of an exploitational titles, Runaway Daughters concentrates on the misadventures of a trio of teenaged girls. Audrey Barton (Marla English) wants something more out of life than her parents' money can buy; Read More

Decision at Sundown

Actors: Randolph Scott, John Carroll, Karen Steele, Valerie French, Noah Beery, Jr.

Synopsis: Decision at Sundown was one of several felicitous collaborations between star Randolph Scott and director Budd Boetticher. Scott plays a flint-eyed gunman who rides into a sleepy town to drive out local tough guy John Carroll by sundown. Scott is motivated not by justice but by revenge; years Read More

The Hired Gun

Actors: Rory Calhoun, Anne Francis, Vince Edwards, John Litel, Chuck Connors

Synopsis: Rory Calhoun is the star of this minor oater, playing a roving gunman for hire. His latest mission is to track down a murderer and bring the killer back dead or alive. Calhoun's quarry turns out to be the alluring Anne Francis, who insists she didn't murder her husband as charged. After the usual Read More

Maverick: War of the Silver Kings

Synopsis: The premiere episode of Maverick opens with a characteristic grace-note from director Budd Boetticher, in which Bret Maverick (James Garner) rides into the town of Echo Springs, caked with trail dust and dressed in seedy "cowboy" clothes--only to re-emerge a few moments later as the well-groomed Read More

Texas Lady

Actors: Claudette Colbert, Barry Sullivan, Ray Collins, John Litel, James Bell, Horace McMahon

Synopsis: Claudette Colbert makes a long-overdue entree into the Western genre in Texas Lady. Looking at least a decade younger than her 50 years, Ms. Colbert plays Prudence Webb, who arrives in the wide-open town of Fort Ralston, Texas, to assume control of her late father's newspaper. Her first major Read More

Comanche

Actors: Dana Andrews, Kent Smith, Linda Cristal, Lowell Gilmore, Nestor Paiva

Synopsis: Comanche is one of several 1950s westerns sympathetic to the Indian point of view. Dana Andrews stars as a frontier scout who hopes to shield his Native American friends from the genocidal machinations of bigoted Cavalry officer John Litel. Comanche chief Kent Smith likewise wants to keep the Read More

The Wild Dakotas

Synopsis: The fraternal filmmaking team of produced Sigmund Neufeld and director Sam Newfield once again joined forces on The Wild Dakotas. Made some two years after the "official" demise of the "B" western, the film attempts to revive the genre with a new cowboy star, one Will Williams. In keeping with the Read More

The Kentuckian

Actors: Burt Lancaster, Dianne Foster, Diana Lynn, John McIntire, Una Merkel, Walter Matthau

Synopsis: Produced and directed by star Burt Lancaster, The Kentuckian is a leisurely western occasionally punctuated by spurts of startling brutality. The recently widowed Lancaster heads towards Texas with his son Donald McDonald. Most of the folks he meets, notably winsome schoolmarm Diana Lynn Read More

Sitting Bull

Actors: Dale Robertson, Mary Murphy, J. Carrol Naish, Iron Eyes Cody, John Litel

Synopsis: This western offers one of Hollywood's more historically accurate accounts of the Battle of Little Big Horn. The story centers on a major in the cavalry who believes the Indians have the same rights as other Americans. Despite his efforts to stop Custer from embarking on his ill-fated mission, the Read More

I Love Lucy: Mr. and Mrs. TV Show

Actors: John Litel, Lee Millar

Synopsis: Ricky (Desi Arnaz) has always wanted to star in his own TV show, but he is less than enthused when an important department-store sponsor insists upon a "husband and wife" show, with Lucy (Lucille Ball) as part of the package. When Lucy finds out that Ricky hadn't wanted her to appear on "Breakfast Read More

Jack Slade

Actors: Mark Stevens, Barton MacLane, John Litel, Paul Langton

Synopsis: The psychological makeup of a dangerous gunman is probed in Jack Slade. Beginning with his childhood, Slade (Mark Stevens) is shown to be extremely unbalanced; in fact, he kills his first man at age 13. Growing up in the West, Slade comes to the conclusion that his gun is his only friend. At Read More

Scaramouche

Actors: Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh, Mel Ferrer, Henry Wilcoxon

Synopsis: This delightful adaptation of Rafael Sabatini's swashbuckling novel stars Stewart Granger as Andre Moreau, an 18th-century French nobleman who is publicly humiliated by the Marquis de Maynes (Mel Ferrer). Challenged to a sword duel by the Marquis, Andre, who knows nothing about fencing, runs away 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

Montana Belle

Actors: Jane Russell, George Brent, Scott Brady, Forrest Tucker, Andy Devine

Synopsis: Originally filmed at Republic in 1948, Montana Belle was purchased by producer Howard R. Hughes, who'd loaned the services of the film's star, Jane Russell. After laying on the shelf for three years, Montana Belle was finally released by Hughes' RKO Radio Pictures in October of 1952. Russell plays Read More

My Hero [TV Series]

Actors: Robert Cummings, John Litel, Julie Bishop

The Texas Rangers

Actors: George Montgomery, Gale Storm, Jerome Courtland, Noah Beery, Jr., William Bishop

Synopsis: Not a remake of the 1936 film of the same name, The Texas Rangers is an enjoyable second-echelon western from the Columbia Pictures mill. George Montgomery stars as Johnny Carver, a former outlaw serving a life sentence in prison. Carver is given a second chance by the Texas government. Here's the Read More

The Groom Wore Spurs

Actors: Ginger Rogers, Jack Carson, Joan Davis, Stanley Ridges, James Brown

Synopsis: Since someone had already used the title The Bride Wore Boots, it follows that there'd eventually be a film called The Groom Wore Spurs. Jack Carson stars as movie cowboy hero Ben Castle, who in "real life" is exactly the opposite of his screen image. When Castle gets into a scrape in Las Vegas Read More

Little Egypt

Actors: Mark Stevens, Rhonda Fleming, Nancy Guild, Charles Drake, Tom D'Andrea

Synopsis: Little Egypt is a lighthearted "biopic" all about the hootchie-kootchie dancer who created a sensation at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. An incongruously redheaded Rhonda Fleming plays Izora, a cabaret dancer in old Cairo. American impresario Cyrus Graydon (Minor Watson) hopes to re-create an Read More

Take Care of My Little Girl

Actors: Jeanne Crain, Dale Robertson, Mitzi Gaynor, Jean Peters, Jeffrey Hunter

Synopsis: Take Care of My Little Girl is a genteel "expose" of college-sorority snobbery. Jeanne Crain stars as Liz Erickson a perky coed who is pledged to an old, established sorority. At first amused by such rituals as "rushing" and "Hell week," Liz eventually feels threatened by the tyranny of the Read More

Two Dollar Bettor

Actors: John Litel, Marie Windsor, Steve Brodie, Barbara Logan, Robert Sherwood

Synopsis: Dependable supporting actor John Litel is top-billed in the independently produced Two Dollar Bettor. Litel plays John Hewitt, a respectable widower who takes the first step on the road to depravation when he makes his first-ever bet at the race track. Consumed by gambling fever, Hewitt is reduced Read More

Flight to Mars

Actors: Marguerite Chapman, Cameron Mitchell, Arthur Franz, Virginia Huston, John Litel

Synopsis: Flight to Mars is the second American film of the postwar era (after the previous year's Rocketship X-M) to depict a manned space trip to the Red Planet. Leading-man responsibilities are evenly divided between Arthur Franz as brilliant scientist Dr. Jim Barker and Cameron Mitchell as two-fisted Read More

Cuban Fireball

Actors: Estelita Rodriguez, Warren Douglas, Mimi Aguglia, Leon Belasco, Donald MacBride

Synopsis: Cuban Fireball is a vehicle for the combustible talents of Estelita Rodriguez, here cast as "herself." The plot finds Estelita arriving in Los Angeles to claim a multimillion-dollar inheritance. To fend off fortune hunters, she disguises herself as a meek little old lady. The rest of the story Read More

The Sundowners

Actors: Robert Preston, Robert Sterling, Chill Wills, John Litel, Cathy Downs

Synopsis: Filmed in a two-tone process called Cinecolor, The Sundowners is a compact little western making good use of an old Hollywood chestnut. Robert Preston and Robert Sterling play two brothers who find themselves on opposite sides of the legal fence. Since Sterling rather than Preston has the mustache Read More

The Fuller Brush Girl

Actors: Lucille Ball, Eddie Albert, Carl Benton Reid, Gale Robbins, Jeff Donnell

Synopsis: Hot on the heels of such Red Skelton slapstick comedies as The Fuller Brush Man and The Yellow Cab Man came The Fuller Brush Girl, starring Lucille Ball in a fascinating dry run for her wacky "Lucy Ricardo" TV character. Unable to hold a job because of her tendency to get into trouble, Sally Read More

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

Actors: James Cagney, Barbara Payton, Helena Carter, Ward Bond, Luther Adler

Synopsis: Based on a novel by Horace McCoy (They Shoot Horses, Don't They), Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye offers James Cagney at his nastiest. The star plays career criminal Ralph Cotter, who gets things started by violently busting out of jail, then murdering his partner in crime. Seeking out female companionship Read More

Shamrock Hill

Actors: Peggy Ryan, Ray McDonald, Trudy Marshall, Rick Vallin, John Litel

Synopsis: Though no longer employed by Universal in 1949, pert Peggy Ryan continued to show up in movie musicals for a variety of studios. Produced by up-and-coming Eagle Lion studios, Shamrock Hill features Ryan as feisty Irish-American colleen Eileen Rogan. The girl's steadfast belief in the existence of Read More

Mary Ryan, Detective

Actors: Marsha Hunt, John Litel, June Vincent, Harry Shannon

Synopsis: Marsha Hunt seems far too mature and intelligent for the pulpish goings-on in Mary Ryan, Detective. Still, Hunt was a pro (for that matter, she still is), and she managed to survive this Columbia "B" without egg on her face. Assigned to get the goods on a notorious fence, detective Mary Ryan Read More

Rusty's Birthday

Actors: Ted Donaldson, John Litel, Ann Doran, Jimmy Hunt, Mark Dennis

Synopsis: Columbia's heartwarming "Rusty" series came to a close with Rusty's Birthday. As in previous series entries, the doggie hero is played by "Flame", while his human master Danny Mitchell is portrayed by Ted Donaldson. This time, Rusty is taken to parts unknown by a group of tourists who think Read More

Outpost in Morocco

Actors: George Raft, Marie Windsor, Akim Tamiroff, John Litel, Eduard Franz

Synopsis: While under contract to Warner Bros., George Raft turned down picture after picture as being "unimportant" and thus unworthy of his talents. Among his turned-down projects were such minor items as High Sierra and Casablanca. By 1949, however, Raft's star had eclipsed, and he was obliged to accept Read More

Rusty Saves a Life

Actors: Ted Donaldson, Gloria Henry, Stephen Dunne, John Litel, Ann Doran

Synopsis: Columbia's "Rusty" series was entering the homestretch with 1949's Rusty Saves a Life. The eponymous doggie hero, portrayed by a very busy canine thespian named Flame, does exactly what the film's title says he does. But before this prophecy can be fulfilled, the story spends a great deal of time Read More

The Gal Who Took the West

Actors: Yvonne De Carlo, John Russell, Scott Brady, Myrna Dell

Synopsis: For some reason, whenever Universal used the word "Gal" in a film's title, Yvonne de Carlo usually headed the cast. In Gal Who Took the West, de Carlo plays Lillian Marlowe, an New York songstress who heads Thataway. She becomes the romantic bone of contention between the feuding O'Hara cousins Read More

Woman in Hiding

Actors: Ida Lupino, Howard Duff, Stephen McNally, John Litel, Taylor Holmes

Synopsis: So far as the rest of the world is concerned, Deborah Chandler Clark (Ida Lupino) is dead, killed in a freak auto accident. But Deborah is alive, if not too well. Having discovered a horrible truth about her new husband (Stephen McNally), Deborah had intended to commit suicide. Now she is the Read More

Rusty Leads the Way

Actors: Ted Donaldson, Sharyn Moffett, John Litel, Ann Doran, Paula Raymond

Synopsis: Columbia's dog-and-boy "Rusty" series galloped ever forward with Rusty Leads the Way. This time, young Danny Mitchell (Ted Donaldson) and his canine pal Rusty (played by "Flash") befriend blind girl Penny Moffatt (Penny Waters). Feeling cheated by life, Penny resists all efforts to cope with her Read More

Pitfall

Actors: Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr, Jimmy Hunt

Synopsis: The darker side of the American dream is explored in the fascinating film noir Pitfall. Dick Powell stars as John Forbes, a successful insurance man with a trophy wife named Sue (Jane Wyatt) and a model child named Tommy (Jimmy Hunt). Despite all that he's achieved in life, Forbes feels somehow Read More

Triple Threat

Actors: Richard Crane, Gloria Henry, Mary Stuart, John Litel, Pat Phelan

Synopsis: Two future TV favorites--Rocky Jones' Richard Crane and Dennis the Menace's Gloria Henry-head the cast of Columbia's Triple Threat. Crane plays Don Whitney, an egocentric college football hero who receives a good strong dose of reality when he joins a professional team. Whitney's game really Read More

My Dog Rusty

Actors: Ted Donaldson, John Litel, Ann Doran, Mona Barrie, Whitford Kane

Synopsis: Another entry in Columbia's bucolic "Rusty" series, My Dog Rusty again pairs apple-cheeked Ted Donaldson with Flame the Dog. This time around, Hugh Mitchell (John Litel), father of mischievous Danny Mitchell (Donaldson) is running for mayor. Thanks to Danny's propensity for lying, the elder Read More

The Valiant Hombre

Actors: Leo Carrillo, John Litel, Stanley Andrews, John James

Synopsis: The Cisco Kid and Pancho set off to find the missing owner of a devoted little dog in this western adventure. From the vanished man's sister, the heroes learn that her brother disappeared soon after striking a major gold vein in his mine. In the end Cisco accosts the villain, saves the kidnapped Read More

I, Jane Doe

Actors: Ruth Hussey, John Carroll, Vera Ralston, John Howard, Gene Lockhart

Synopsis: In this courtroom drama, a French girl stands trial for murder. Flashbacks tell the grim story of how, during the Great War she got involved with a wealthy soldier and married him. He disappeared after the war. She then came to the U.S. There she finds him married to another woman. To cover Read More

Smart Woman

Actors: Iris Adrian, Brian Aherne, Constance Bennett, Willie Best, Lee Bonnell

Synopsis: In this courtroom drama, two opposing lawyers lead a double life. In the courtroom they are ruthless toward each other, but once the day is over they become passionate lovers. Unfortunately their newest case may well threaten their relationship as the defense attorney is defending a corrupt Read More

Easy Come, Easy Go

Actors: Barry Fitzgerald, Diana Lynn, Sonny Tufts, Dick Foran, Frank McHugh

Synopsis: Barry Fitzgerald's distinctive brand of Irish blarney, which was wonderful in small doses, leaned towards the precious and boring when he was given a leading role. In Easy Come, Easy Go, Fitzgerald portrays an inveterate horse player who refuses to allow his grown daughter (Diana Lynn) to get Read More

The Beginning or the End

Actors: Warner Anderson, Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Art Baker, Trevor Bardette, Tom Drake, Audrey Totter, James Bush, Joseph Calleia, Hume Cronyn

Synopsis: Filmed not long after the actual events, The Beginning or the End is a sober, intelligent account of the development and deployment of the Atom Bomb. Step by step, the film details the progress of The Manhattan Project, from its inception in the early stages of the war through the dawn of the Read More

Lighthouse

Synopsis: A romantic triangle develops between 2 lighthouse keepers and their love interest. When the woman gets mad at one of the men she marries the other and trouble ensues until the rejected suitor leaves. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Christmas Eve

Actors: George Raft, George Brent, Randolph Scott, Joan Blondell, Virginia Field

Synopsis: This episodic holiday film centers around a rich spinster aunt whose greedy nephew is attempting legal action to take her estate. Before he makes a final decision, a caring judge tells the spinster that she can rally together the three foster children she raised to help her keep the estate, he Read More

Heaven Only Knows

Actors: Robert Cummings, Brian Donlevy, Marjorie Reynolds, Jorja Curtright, Bill Goodwin

Synopsis: Also released as Montana Mike, Heaven Only Knows is an offbeat western with fantasy overtones. Hard-bitten gambling boss Brian Donlevy rules his frontier community with brawn and bullets. To his dismay, Donlevy discovers that he has a guardian angel (Robert Cummings), who shows up in the guise of Read More

The Guilty

Synopsis: In this murder mystery, a man goes into a bar and begins telling his story to the bartender. His tale is depicted in flashback. It all began while he was romancing a young woman. The trouble began when her twin sister was killed and stuffed into an incinerator. The three prime suspects were the Read More