Preston S. Foster Filmography

Chubasco

Actors: Richard Egan, Christopher Jones, Susan Strasberg, Simon Oakland

Synopsis: Chubasco (Christopher Jones) is a wayward youth who is given a choice by the presiding judge. His choices are go to jail or take an honest job on a fishing boat. He chooses to set sail, leaving behind his girl Bunny (Susan Strasberg) and her father Sebastian (Richard Egan), who obviously has it Read More

You've Got to Be Smart

Synopsis: A manipulative self-serving promoter attempts to exploit a yokel trio comprised of a singing minister and his musical brothers in this tuneful drama. The fast-talking, charming promoter manages to romance a wealthy woman into providing financial backing for the group. But eventually she learns the Read More

The Time Travelers

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Philip Carey, Merry Anders, John Hoyt, Dennis Patrick

Synopsis: After a nuclear holocaust, a group of scientists travel to the future and find a world in tatters, where the human survivors must constantly defend themselves against mutated beasts. Upon seeing the future of the earth, the men would like to return to 1964, but find it may not be possible. Read More

Advance to the Rear

Actors: Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens, Melvyn Douglas, Jim Backus, Joan Blondell

Synopsis: Union Colonel Brackenby (Melvyn Douglas) and his second-in-command, Captain Heath (Glenn Ford), attempt to command a rather inept cavalry unit during the Civil War. General Willoughby (Jim Backus) heads them out West on assignment rather than allowing them to foul things up where it counts. They Read More

The Man from Galveston

Actors: Jeffrey Hunter, Preston S. Foster, James Coburn, Joanna Moore, Edward Andrews

Synopsis: This western served as the pilot film for Warner Bros.' Temple Houston television series. It is the tale of a young, brash attorney (Jeffrey Hunter) in the Texas circuit court system. His old flame (Joanna Moore) is accused of murder. The case is resolved when Hunter reveals the real killer in Read More

Destination 60,000

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Patrick Conway, Jeff Donnell, Coleen Gray, Bobby Clark

Synopsis: Destination 60,000 was one of a cycle of late-1950s films dealing with the exploits of supersonic-jet test pilots. Though plane manufacturer Colonel Ed Buckley (Preston S. Foster) relies heavily upon the daring of his ace pilot Jeff Connors (Pat Conway), Buckley has trouble coming to terms with Read More

The Amazing Colossal Man

Actors: Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs, William Hudson, James Seay, Larry Thor

Synopsis: A "Shock Theater" perennial since it was first released to television in the early 1960s (stretch-framed to pad out its running time), The Amazing Colossal Man is firmly in the "So Bad It's Good" category. While overseeing the atomic tests in the Nevada desert, Army colonel Glenn Langan is exposed Read More

Mystery and Espionage

Synopsis: This video features two television shows representative of '50s Cold War paranoia and xenophobia at its best. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Waterfront and Heart of the City

The Marshal's Daughter

Actors: Laurie Anders, Hoot Gibson, Ken Murray, Harry Lauter

Synopsis: To fully appreciate the western comedy The Marshal's Daughter, one must be aware that its star, a zaftig, wide-eyed lass named Laurie Anders, was in 1953 a popular TV personality. A regular on The Ken Murray Show, Anders had risen to fame with the Southern-fried catchphrase "Ah love the wi-i-i-ide Read More

I, the Jury

Actors: Jack Stang, Biff Elliot, Preston S. Foster, Peggie Castle, Margaret Sheridan, Alan Reed, Sr.

Synopsis: Mike Hammer, author Mickey Spillane's brutal-but-eloquent private eye, made his screen debut in this cleaned-up cinemadaptation of the Mickey Spillane best-seller I, the Jury. Galvanized into action by the murder of a friend, Hammer (Biff Elliot) barges into the rarefied worlds of art collecting Read More

Law and Order

Actors: Ronald Reagan, Dorothy Malone, Preston S. Foster, Alex Nicol, Ruth Hampton

Synopsis: The first film version of W.R. Burnett's novel Saint Johnson was filmed as Law and Order in 1932. Essentially an all-names-changed retelling of the Wyatt Earp legend, the film scored on its humanity and restraint. The 1953 remake eschewed the shadings and subtleties of the original in favor of a Read More

Montana Territory

Actors: Lon McCallister, Wanda Hendrix, Preston S. Foster, Hugh Sanders

Synopsis: Lon McCallister stars in the Columbia "B-plus" western Montana Territory. McCallister plays deputy John Malvin, whose loyalty to sheriff Plummer (Preston S. Foster) knows no bounds. What John doesn't know (but the audience does) is that Plummer is a bandit leader, using his sheriff's badge as a Read More

Kansas City Confidential

Actors: John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston S. Foster, Lee Van Cleef, Neville Brand

Synopsis: Kansas City Confidential, Phil Karlson's low (low) budget, B-grade film noir, opens on a Kansas City armored-car robbery perpetrated by cynical, corrupt ex-policeman Timothy Foster (Preston S. Foster). Foster devises an outrageous scheme: he will recruit three of the most vicious and Read More

Face to Face

Actors: James Mason, Gene Lockhart, Michael Pate, Robert Preston, Albert Sharpe, Marjorie Steele, Sean McClory

Synopsis: RKO's Face to Face joined the "multistoried film" bandwagon set in motion by the Somerset Maugham omnibus films of the late 1940s. Produced by Huntington Hartford, Face to Face consists of two classic American short stories, each running approximately 45 minutes. Directed by John Brahm, "The Read More

The Big Gusher

Actors: Wayne Morris, Preston S. Foster, Dorothy Patrick, Paul E. Burns, Emmett Vogan

Synopsis: Wayne Morris and Preston S. Foster go through their patented he-man paces in Columbia's The Big Gusher. Cast as oil-field workers Kenny Blake and Hank Mason, our heroes try their luck as wildcatters. Against their better judgment, they rely upon grizzled Cappy Groves (Paul E. Burns) to locate Read More

Tomahawk

Actors: Van Heflin, Yvonne De Carlo, Alex Nicol, Preston S. Foster, Jack Oakie

Synopsis: Tomahawk takes place during the Great Sioux Uprising of the 1860s. Van Heflin stars as famed frontier scout Jim Bridger, who labors valiantly and vainly to orchestrate peace between Indians and whites. Much of the action takes place at Fort Phil Kearney, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles Read More

The Big Night

Actors: John Drew Barrymore, Preston S. Foster, Joan Lorring, Howard St. John, Dorothy Comingore

Synopsis: Awkward teenager George LeMain (John Drew Barrymore, credited as John Barrymore Jr.) is given a small birthday party by his widowed father Andy (Preston Foster) at his bar. He is puzzled that his father's longtime girlfriend, Frances, is not there, but neither Andy nor Flanagan (Howland Chamberlain Read More

3 Desperate Men

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Ross Latimer, William Haade, Monte Blue

Synopsis: Lippert Studio's first 1951 release was the compact western 3 Desperate Men. The title characters are the Denton Brothers, played by Preston S. Foster, Jim Davis and Ross Latimer. Accused of crimes they didn't commit, the Dentons are obliged to become outlaws to survive. So long as they stay away Read More

The Tougher They Come

Actors: Wayne Morris, Preston S. Foster, Kay Buckley, William Bishop, Frank McHugh

Synopsis: Set in a rugged Northwest logging camp, this drama follows the exploits of the lumberjack who inherits the camp. For a long time, he has been courting a pretty young thing, and now that she believes him wealthy, she decides to finally accept his proposal. When she finds out that the company has Read More

The Big Cat

Actors: Lon McCallister, Peggy Ann Garner, Preston S. Foster, Forrest Tucker

Synopsis: A frequent cable-TV attraction since lapsing into public domain in 1976, The Big Cat is an excellent outdoor drama, beautifully lensed in Technicolor (though most current prints are printed in a washed-out 2-color process). Set in Utah in the darkest days of the Depression, the film stars Lon McCallister Read More

I Shot Jesse James

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Barbara Britton, John Ireland, Reed Hadley, J. Edward Bromberg

Synopsis: This dark, gloomy Western chronicles the shame and self-destruction of Bob Ford, the real-life James Gang member that murdered Jesse James for the reward money. In this fictionalized account, James (Reed Hadley) tends to Ford (John Ireland) after he is wounded during a heist. When Ford's longtime Read More

Thunderhoof

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Mary Stuart, William Bishop

Synopsis: In this off-beat western, a middle-aged rancher endeavors to realize his dreams of starting up a horse ranch in Texas. His much younger wife, is opposed to the idea and begins questioning her love for her husband. The would-be rancher's adopted son doesn't help matters by trying to seduce his Read More

The Hunted

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Belita, Pierre Watkin, Edna Holland, Russell Hicks

Synopsis: In this detective story, a private eye must send his fiancee to prison as he truly believes that she was involved in a bank robbery. Unfortunately, she is innocent. Still she serves her time. Upon her release someone frames her for murder. The detective is in quite a quandary until the real Read More

King of the Wild Horses

Synopsis: The deep unbreakable bond between a wild stallion and the boy he rescues is chronicled in this children's adventure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Ramrod

Actors: Veronica Lake, Joel McCrea, Preston S. Foster, Lloyd Bridges, Jeff Corey, Charlie Ruggles, Donald Crisp

Synopsis: This cowboy drama from Hungarian director Andre De Toth was the first of several films based on the stories of Western author Luke Short. Veronica Lake stars as Connie Dickason, strong-willed daughter of Ben Dickason (Charles Ruggles), a ranch owner who has become the toady of a powerful local Read More

Tangier

Actors: Maria Montez, Preston S. Foster, Robert Paige, Louise Allbritton, Kent Taylor

Synopsis: A rare black-and-white Maria Montez vehicle, Tangier can be described as a second-echelon Casablanca. Montez plays a Spanish dancer named Rita, who is determined to bring Nazi collaborator Colonel Jose Artiego (Preston Foster) to justice. Artiego is at presently working incognito, as military Read More

The Harvey Girls

Actors: Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Ray Bolger, Angela Lansbury, Marjorie Main, Preston S. Foster

Synopsis: This glorified Technicolor commercial for the Fred Harvey restaurants stars Judy Garland as a 19th-century mail-order bride. Upon arriving in New Mexico, Garland discovers that her husband-to-be is the town drunk. She cuts her losses and takes a job at the local Harvey restaurant, an establishment Read More

Inside Job

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Alan Curtis, Ann Rutherford, Joe Sawyer

Synopsis: In this crime drama, two ex-hoods find their attempts to straighten up and fly right are foiled by a blackmailing gangster who threatens to expose their past who forces them to rob the department store they work at. Outwardly, the crooks go along with the scam, but they have also devised a scam of Read More

Strange Triangle

Actors: Signe Hasso, Preston S. Foster, Anabel Shaw, Roy Roberts

Synopsis: In this drama, a seductive woman uses her wiles upon both a traveling bank examiner and a manager to whom she is married. This woman has expensive taste and ends up spending all of her husband's money. She then begins trying to seduce the bank examiner, who doesn't know she is married to the Read More

Thunderhead, Son of Flicka

Actors: Roddy McDowall, Preston S. Foster, Rita Johnson, Diana Hale, James Bell

Synopsis: This sequel to 1943's My Friend Flicka stars Roddy McDowell, recreating his role in the earlier film. The son of a horse rancher (Preston S. Foster), McDowell takes it upon himself to train Thunderhead, a white colt with the same rebellious streak that distinguished its mother (Flicka). Read More

The Valley of Decision

Actors: Greer Garson, Gregory Peck, Donald Crisp, Lionel Barrymore, Preston S. Foster

Synopsis: Based on Marcia Davenport's novel and set in 1870, Valley of Decision details the romance between a housemaid named Mary Rafferty (Greer Garson) and her employer's son, Paul Scott (Gregory Peck). Paul's father, William (Donald Crisp), owns a Pittsburgh steel mill where Mary's father, Pat (Lionel Barrymore Read More

Twice Blessed

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Gail Patrick, Lee Wilde, Lynn Wilde, Richard Gaines

Synopsis: The little-known Twice Blessed was an MGM vehicle for the Wilde Twins, who were first introduced in Andy Hardy's Double Trouble. Not surprisingly, the film is predicated on a mistaken-identity gimmick, with "typical" teenage girl Terry Turner (Lee Wilde) trading places with her high-IQ look-alike Read More

Abbott and Costello in Hollywood

Actors: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Frances Rafferty, Robert Stanton, Jean Porter

Synopsis: The last of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's three MGM features, Abbott & Costello in Hollywood is a loose remake of Buster Keaton's Free and Easy. Bud and Lou play a pair of Tinseltown barbers who dream of becoming high-priced showbiz agents. Their first clients are Frances Rafferty and Robert Stanton Read More

Roger Touhy, Gangster!

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Victor McLaglen, Lois Andrews, Kent Taylor, Anthony Quinn

Synopsis: Melodramatic gangster action characterizes this tough and freely fictionalized biography of notorious, murderous Chicago mobster Roger Touhy. Set during Prohibition, it centers on Touhy's rise from small time thug to the city's most powerful bootlegger whose empire is rivaled only by that of Al Read More

Bermuda Mystery

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Ann Rutherford, Charles Butterworth, Jean Howard

Synopsis: This 20th Century-Fox programmer stars Preston Foster as breezy detective Steve Carromond. When a man dies of a suspicious heart attack, the victim's niece, Constance Martin (Ann Rutherford), hires Steve to investigate. The solution to the mystery lies in a tontine-like arrangement, wherein six Read More

Guadalcanal Diary

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Lloyd Nolan, William Bendix, Richard Conte, Anthony Quinn

Synopsis: 20th Century-Fox's 1943 filmization of Richard Tregaskis' best-selling book Guadalcanal Diary does full justice to the spare, lean prose of Tregaskis' eyewitness account. The incidents in the "diary" are tied together by an off-screen narrator into a cohesive storyline. The principal characters Read More

My Friend Flicka

Actors: Roddy McDowall, Preston S. Foster, Rita Johnson, Jeff Corey, James Bell

Synopsis: An utterly enchanting Technicolor filmization of Mary O'Hara's novel, My Friend Flicka is the story of a beautiful colt and the boy (Roddy McDowell) who loves her. The boy's rancher father (Preston S. Foster) isn't keen on the horse that his son chooses to train: Flicka, the offspring of a Read More

A Gentleman After Dark

Actors: Brian Donlevy, Miriam Hopkins, Preston S. Foster, Harold Huber, Phillip Reed

Synopsis: In this crime drama, a remake of Forgotten Faces (1936), a convict busts out of prison to protect his daughter from her conniving mother so that the girl will be able to marry a decent guy in the future. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Little Tokyo, USA

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Brenda Joyce, Harold Huber, Donald Douglas, June Duprez

Synopsis: Filmed in the months immediately following Pearl Harbor, 20th Century-Fox's Little Tokyo USA is 63 minutes' worth of speculation about prewar Japanese espionage activities. Los Angeles cop Preston Foster suspects that there's dirty work afoot in the city's Japanese community, but no one will Read More

A Night in New Orleans

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Patricia Morison, Albert Dekker, Charles Butterworth, Dooley Wilson

Synopsis: A solid Jonathan Latimer screenplay is one of the "plusses" of the medium-budget mystery A Night in New Orleans. Preston S. Foster plays police lieutenant Steve Abbott, at present engrossed in a baffling murder case. As he pieces the clues together, Abbott comes to the sobering conclusion that his Read More

Thunder Birds

Actors: Gene Tierney, Preston S. Foster, John Sutton, Jack Holt, Dame May Whitty

Synopsis: On a secluded base in Arizona, veteran World War One pilot Steve Britt (Preston Foster) trains flyers to fight in World War Two. One of his trainees, Englishman Peter Stackhouse (John Sutton), competes with Britt for the affections of Kay Saunders (Gene Tierney), the daughter of a local rancher. Read More

American Empire

Actors: Leo Carrillo, Preston S. Foster, Frances Gifford, Robert H. Barrat

Synopsis: Originally slated for release through Paramount Pictures but ultimately distributed by United Artists, American Empire is a western "special" from Hopalong Cassidy producer Harry "Pop" Sherman. Set during the Reconstruction period, the film stars Richard Dix and Preston S. Foster as Dan Taylor and Read More

Secret Agent of Japan

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Lynn Bari, Noel Madison, Janis Carter

Synopsis: Secret Agent of Japan sometimes looks like a B-grade "answer" to Warner Bros.' Casablanca, except that the answer was released several months before the question. The principal character is Roy Bonnell (Preston Foster), the cynical American owner of Shanghai nightclub. On the lam from a criminal Read More

The Roundup

Actors: Richard Dix, Patricia Morison, Preston S. Foster, Don Wilson, Ruth Donnelly

Synopsis: Originally written as a stage vehicle for corpulent character actor Macklyn Arbuckle, Ernest Day's The Roundup was first filmed in 1920 with Fatty Arbuckle (no relation) in the lead. By the time the film was remade in 1941, Arbuckle's character, a roly-poly frontier sheriff named Slim (!), was Read More

Unfinished Business

Actors: Irene Dunne, Robert Montgomery, Preston S. Foster, Eugene Pallette, Dick Foran

Synopsis: The Hollywood "establishment" had been waiting a long time for maverick director Gregory La Cava to fall from grace, and when his Unfinished Business failed to live up to its expectations, La Cava's enemies swooped down like vultures. Seen today, the film is hardly one of the director's best Read More

Cafe Hostess

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Ann Dvorak, Douglas Fowley, Wynne Gibson, Arthur Loft

Northwest Mounted Police

Actors: Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, Preston S. Foster, Paulette Goddard, Robert Preston

Synopsis: Cecil B. De Mille directed this lavish all-star spectacular paying tribute to America's neighbors to the North. In 1885, as Louis Riel (Francis J. McDonald) tries to organize Indians and French settlers into a fighting force that will battle against the ruling British, Texas Ranger Dusty Rivers (Gary Cooper Read More

Moon over Burma

Actors: Dorothy Lamour, Robert Preston, Preston S. Foster, Doris Nolan, Albert Basserman

Synopsis: Dorothy Lamour once again wraps a variety of alluring costumes around her hourglass frame in the Paramount bread-and-butter feature Moon Over Burma. Lamour is cast as Aria Dean, an American showgirl stranded in Rangoon. It doesn't take long before Aria becomes the romantic bone of contention Read More

Geronimo

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Ellen Drew, Andy Devine, Gene Lockhart, William Henry

Synopsis: The late cinema historian William K. Everson once wrote an article titled "Movies Out of Thin Air", referring to films that were comprised almost exclusively of stock footage from earlier productions. A prime example of this sort of patchwork entertainment is the 1939 Paramount production Read More

News Is Made at Night

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Lynn Bari, Russell Gleason, George Barbier, Eddie Collins

Synopsis: Newspaper editor Steve Drum (Preston Foster) is willing to pull any dirty trick in the book to boost his rag's circulation. Drums's latest escapade is to blame a former criminal, now a respected politician, for a series of murders. Once the damage has been done, Drum puts on his "crusader" hat and Read More

Missing Evidence

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Irene Hervey, Inez Courtney, Chick Chandler, Noel Madison

Synopsis: G-Man Bill Collins (Preston Foster) swings into action when a crooked sweepstakes racket begins insinuating itself upon the honest citizenry of the US. The crooks have flooded the market with counterfeit lottery tickets, reducing many an unwary speculator to poverty. When he's not tracking down Read More

Society Smugglers

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Irene Hervey, Walter Woolf King, Frank Jenks, Fred Keating

Synopsis: When German director Joe May was working on such silent classics as The Indian Tomb and Asphalt, he probably never imagine that he'd one day wind up at Universal turning out something called Society Smugglers. Preston Foster stars as Treasury agent Sully, at present trying to break up a vicious Read More

Chasing Danger

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Lynn Bari, Wally Vernon, Henry Wilcoxon, Joan Woodbury

Synopsis: Trouble follows an American photojournalist in Paris when he meets an exotic woman in Marseille. Initially he had come to France to chronicle an Arab rebellion masterminded by a jewel thief who was supposed to have died. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Street of Missing Men

Actors: Charles Bickford, Harry Carey, Tommy Ryan, Mabel Todd, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams

Synopsis: Sad-eyed Ann Dvorak plays Jo, the "café hostess" of the title. Poor put-upon Jo doesn't know it, but she's being used by her gangster boyfriend Eddie Morgan (Douglas Fowley), who relies upon her as an alibi to cover up his recent crimes. Likeable sailor Budge (Bruce Bennett) is in love with Jo Read More

20,000 Men a Year

Actors: Randolph Scott, Preston S. Foster, Margaret Lindsay, Mary Healy

Synopsis: A transport pilot is ordered to fly a risky mission. The pilot, Scott, refuses the dangerous mission and is fired from his job. Scott starts up a pilot school which struggles to stay in business. As an inspector for the government, Foster gives Scott trouble about his school, Scott hopes a new Read More

Army Girl

Actors: Madge Evans, Preston S. Foster, James Gleason, H.B. Warner, Ruth Donnelly

Synopsis: The trials faced by the US Army when it first attempted to trade horses for tanks provides the basis of this actioner. The tale centers upon the love affair between an Army post commander's daughter and a young tank specialist who is trying to prove that the new technology is better than horses. Read More

Everybody's Doing It

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Sally Eilers, Cecil Kellaway, Lorraine Krueger, William Brisbane

Synopsis: In this comedy, designed to exploit the then current national craze for picture puzzles, an alcoholic advertising exec becomes addicted to inventing puzzles. Trouble ensues when he goes off on a major drunk and forgets to leave the answers to a national breakfast cereal contest. His colleague is Read More

The Lady in the Morgue