Ross FordFilmography

Reform School Girl

Actors: Gloria Castillo, Ross Ford, Edward Byrnes, Ralph Reed, Jan Englund

Synopsis: The inherent trashiness of Reform School Girl is redeemed by the sincere performance of Gloria Castillo and the matter-of-fact direction of Edward Bernds. Castillo plays mixed-up teenager Donna Price, who is shipped off to a girl's reformatory when she is involved in a fatal car crash. Actually Read More

Gunsmoke: Spring Term

Synopsis: One of Dodge's finest citizens is shot down in cold blood on Front Street. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) soon discovers that he himself was the intended target, and that the killing was masterminded by an old enemy. But as the story unfolds, it turns out that there's a third man involved in Read More

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Back for Christmas

Synopsis: Domineering Hermione Carpenter (Isobel Elsom) wants to take a trip to America and then return home to home to England for Christmas, but her henpecked husband Herbert (John Williams) has other ideas. Murdering Hermione, Herbert buries her in the cellar and heads to America on his own. He is smugly Read More

Project Moon Base

Actors: Donna Martell, Hayden Rorke, Ross Ford, Larry Johns, Herb Jacobs

Synopsis: Project Moonbase is a "feature film" cobbled together from several episodes of the unsold TV science fiction series "Ring Around the Moon." Set in the future -- 1970, that is -- the film takes place on a huge space station, where a group of pilots and scientists draw up plans to establish a U.S. Read More

Meet Millie

Synopsis: These two episodes from the '50s TV series ("Vacation Plans," "Texas Ranch") include the commercials shown during their original broadcast. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

Blue Canadian Rockies

Synopsis: In this musical western, a rancher sends a man to prevent the marriage of his daughter. When the man arrives he finds a dude ranch and several murders which require solving. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Rainbow 'round My Shoulder

Actors: Frankie Laine, Billy Daniels, Charlotte Austin, Arthur Franz, Ida Moore

Synopsis: In this musical, a determined young woman with stars in her eyes defies her auntie and heads for Hollywood where she gets a messenger job at a major studio in hope of being discovered. Her dreams are soon realized and she is signed to appear in an upcoming film. Her snooty aunt is appalled and Read More

Street Bandits

Actors: Penny Edwards, Robert Clarke, Ross Ford, Roy Barcroft, John Eldredge

Synopsis: The title Street Bandits refers to the crooked slot machines peddled by racketeer Monk Walter (Roy Barcroft). Struggling attorney Fred Palmer (Robert Clarke), in need of ready money, aligns himself with Walter. This sits not at all well with Palmer's partner Tom Reagan (Ross Ford), nor with his Read More

Rough Riders of Durango

Actors: Allan Lane, Walter S. Baldwin, Aline Towne, Steven Darrell

Synopsis: Allan "Rocky" Lane takes on a crooked landowner in Republic's Rough Riders of Durango. The villain intends to drive several ranchers into bankruptcy so he can snatch up their property at dirt-cheap prices. The ranchers fight back by scraping up $40,000 to clear all their debts. When the money is Read More

Force of Arms

Actors: William Holden, Nancy Olson, Frank Lovejoy, Gene Evans, Dick Wesson

Synopsis: A Girl for Joe was the reissue title for the 1951 WWII romantic drama Force of Arms. William Holden and Nancy Olson, previously teamed in Sunset Boulevard and Union Station, co-star once more as, respectively, an Army sergeant and a WAC officer. While on leave, Holden and Olson fall in love, but Read More

The Flying Missile

Actors: Viveca Lindfors, Henry O'Neill, Carl Benton Reid, Joe Sawyer

Synopsis: A submarine commander is determined to use guided missiles on his sub in this war drama. To do so, he defies the edict of the navel bureaucracy and begins testing the prototypes. This results in personal injury and the death of a crewman. So guilty does the commander feel, that he begins to suffer Read More

Frisco Tornado

Actors: Allan Lane, Eddy Waller, Martha Hyer, Stephen Chase, Ross Ford

Synopsis: Frisco Tornado stars Allan "Rocky" Lane in his usual guise as a U.S. marshal. The lawman's target this time is a dishonest insurance company which offers protection against bandit raids. Thing of it is, the insurance folks are themselves orchestrating these raids. Eddy Waller once again supplies Read More

He's a Cockeyed Wonder

Actors: Mickey Rooney, Terry Moore, William Demarest, Charles Arnt, Ross Ford

Synopsis: He's a Cockeyed Wonder stars Mickey Rooney as the title character. Try as he might, Freddy Frisby (Rooney) can't succeed at anything. Things take an upward turn when Freddy inherits the estate of his uncle, a famed magician. Armed with all sorts of legerdemain, Freddy begins giving shows at local Read More

Girls' School

Actors: Joyce Reynolds, Ross Ford, Laura Elliot, Julia Dean, Thurston Hall

Synopsis: Peggy Donovan (Joyce Reynolds) inherits a tidy sum of ill-gotten gains from her gambler father. Fearing that her late father's partner means to do her harm to claim the money for himself, Peggy takes the loot and hides out in an exclusive girl's school. Here she decides that her money would be put Read More

Law of the Barbary Coast

Actors: Gloria Henry, Stephen Dunne, Adele Jergens, Robert Shayne, Stefan Schnabel

Synopsis: Gloria Henry, best known to modern viewers as Alice Mitchell in TV's Dennis the Menace, was the winsome leading lady of Law of the Barbary Coast. As Julie Adams, Henry assists D.A. Michael Lodge (played by Robert Shayne, the future Inspector Henderson of Superman) in his efforts to clean up the Read More

Challenge to Lassie

Actors: Edmund Gwenn, Donald Crisp, Geraldine Brooks, Reginald Owen, Alan Webb

Synopsis: A "new" Lassie (once again, a male collie in drag) starred in A Challenge to Lassie, MGM's fourth entry in their series based on characters created by Eric Knight. This time, Lassie is plunked into the plotline of William Ludwig's novel Greyfriars Bobby (remade by Disney under its original title Read More

Night Unto Night

Actors: Ronald Reagan, Viveca Lindfors, Broderick Crawford, Rosemary de Camp, Osa Massen

Synopsis: Filmed in 1947, Warner Bros. Night Unto Night wasn't released until 1949. Based on a novel by Philip Wylie, the film stars Ronald Reagan as John, a young scientist suffering from epilepsy (In 1951, Reagan would play another epileptic, baseball star Grover Cleveland Alexander, in The Winning Team). Viveca Lindfors Read More

Air Hostess

Actors: Gloria Henry, Ross Ford, Audrey Long, Marjorie Lord, William Wright

Synopsis: The upsurge in commercial air travel in the postwar years resulted in several films dealing with the trials and tribulations of airline stewardesses. Gloria Henry, who'd later star as Alice Mitchell in TV's Dennis the Menace, is teamed with Danny Thomas' future TV wife Marjorie Lord and Audrey Long Read More

Barbary Pirate

Actors: Donald Woods, Trudy Marshall, Lenore Aubert, Stefan Schnabel, Ross Ford

Synopsis: Quickie king Sam Katzman was responsible for the 64-minute swashbuckler Barbary Pirate. Set mostly in the bay of Tripoli in the early 19th century, the film stars Donald Woods as American army officer Tom Blake. Hoping to trap the titular pirates, Blake gains the confidence of Yussef, the ruler of Read More

Manhattan Angel

Actors: Gloria Jean, Ross Ford, Thurston Hall

Synopsis: A rapidly maturing Gloria Jean is the star of the Columbia musical Manhattan Angel. She's cast at Madison Avenue copywriter Gloria Cole, at present striving to save a youth center for underprivileged children from being demolished to make way for a factory. Complications arise when Everett H. Read More

Blondie's Reward

Actors: Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, Marjorie Kent

Synopsis: The long-running "Blondie" series was slowly heading into the homestretch when Blondie's Reward came out in 1948. After bungling a real-estate transaction, Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) is demoted to office boy by his flustered boss Radcliffe (Jerome Cowan). Nor does Dagwood improve the situation Read More

The Sign of the Ram

Actors: Susan Peters, Alexander Knox, Phyllis Thaxter, Peggy Ann Garner, Ron Randell

Synopsis: Susan Peters, a fine actress of the 1940s whose career was curtailed by an accident which left her wheelchair-bound, utilizes her handicap to her advantage in Sign of the Ram. Peters plays an invalid wife and mother who exercises dictatorial control over all around her. Peters' loved ones are Read More

The Gallant Blade

Actors: Larry Parks, Marguerite Chapman, Victor Jory, George Macready, Edith King

Synopsis: Columbia kept insisting upon placing its hottest new star Larry Parks in swashbucklers, and though Parks wasn't really suited to the genre, he always strived to please. Set in 17th-century France, the film stars Parks as Lt. David Picard, a peace-loving officer who is nevertheless handy with his Read More

Silver River

Actors: Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Thomas Mitchell, Bruce Bennett, Tom D'Andrea

Synopsis: Love leads a man to his most evil deeds and forces him to change his ways in this Western. After being handed a dishonorable discharge during the Civil War, Mike McComb (Errol Flynn) becomes a professional gambler and follows a path of ruthless action to get what he wants. After moving out West Read More

Jungle Patrol

Actors: Kristine Miller, Arthur Franz, Ross Ford, Tommy Noonan, Gene Reynolds

Synopsis: In this war drama, set in New Guinea circa 1943, a squadron of fliers, stationed near Port Moresby must keep the Japanese at bay until a permanent air base can be built. They successfully shoot down 100 Japanese planes without losing one of their own. The men, realizing that they cannot beat the Read More

The Voice of the Turtle

Actors: Ronald Reagan, Eleanor Parker, Eve Arden, Wayne Morris, Kent Smith

Synopsis: John Van Druten's Broadway hit The Voice of the Turtle was purchased by Warner Bros. as a vehicle for...well, in all likelihood, stars Eleanor Parker and Ronald Reagan were both second choices. Reagan is a returning GI who falls in love with Parker, an ingenuous young actress. Circumstances Read More

Dark Passage

Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett, Agnes Moorehead, Tom D'Andrea

Synopsis: Robert Montgomery's 1946 film Lady in the Lake attempted to tell the entire story with a "subjective camera": shooting the film from the point of view of the main character, with the camera acting as his "eyes". The first hour or so of Dark Passage does the same thing--and the results are far more Read More

The Unsuspected

Actors: Joan Caulfield, Claude Rains, Audrey Totter, Constance Bennett, Fred Clark, Hurd Hatfield

Synopsis: Director Michael Curtiz masterfully tells the fictional story of radio host Alexander Grandison (Claude Rains) as derived from a novel by Charlotte Armstrong. Grandison spookily recites murder mysteries on his radio show, with intimate and excruciating details. The reason he's so good and popular Read More

The Unfaithful

Actors: Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden

Synopsis: Though not readily apparent at first, The Unfaithful is a remake of the 1940 Bette Davis vehicle The Letter, which in turn was adapted from the play by W. Somerset Maugham. The locale of the Maugham original has been shifted from the jungles of Malaya to the cozy confines of a middle-sized Read More

Nora Prentiss

Actors: Ann Sheridan, Kent Smith, Bruce Bennett, Robert Alda, Rosemary de Camp

Synopsis: In this slick melodrama, a sort of film-noir for women, a nightclub singer has an affair with an unhappily married San Francisco doctor. Though the physician desperately wants to leave his wife, he lacks the courage to ask for a divorce. In retaliation, the singer accepts an offer to move East and Read More

Deep Valley

Actors: Ida Lupino, Dane Clark, Wayne Morris, Fay Bainter, Henry Hull

Synopsis: Just as she had in High Sierra (1941), Ida Lupino enjoys a brief moment of bliss with a man on the run in this highly emotional drama from Warner Bros. She plays Libby, a mountain girl nearly deprived of speech due to her rather hostile environment in general and repressive home life in Read More

My Wild Irish Rose

Actors: Sara Allgood, Ben Blue, George Cleveland, Arlene Dahl, Ruby Dandridge, Andrea King, Dennis Morgan

Synopsis: The Warner Bros. musical My Wild Irish Rose purports to tell the life story of popular 19th century balladeer Chauncey Olcott-or at least, the version set down by Olcott's daughter Rita. Starting his career in minstrel shows, Olcott (Dennis Morgan) is given his first break by stage luminary Read More

The Fuller Brush Man

Actors: Red Skelton, Janet Blair, Don McGuire, Hillary Brooke, Adele Jergens

Synopsis: MGM knew it had a valuable property in Red Skelton, but the studio never really knew how to handle his unique talents -- until he was loaned out to Columbia for the hilarious, money-spinning slapstick comedy The Fuller Brush Man. The star plays Red Jones, a born screw-up who can't seem to hold Read More

Cloak and Dagger

Actors: Gary Cooper, Lilli Palmer, Robert Alda, Vladimir Sokoloff, J. Edward Bromberg, Marjorie Hoshelle

Synopsis: Inspired by actual events, Cloak and Dagger was first major "atomic power" melodrama of the postwar era. Gary Cooper stars as bookish physics professor Alvah Jesper, a character obviously based on A-bomb codeveloper J. Robert Oppenheimer. Pressed into service by the OSS in the last months of WW2 Read More

Deception

Actors: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, John Abbott, Benson Fong

Synopsis: Deception is an operatic rehash of the 1929 film Jealousy. Music teacher Bette Davis--who evidently has a large student pool, judging by the size of her penthouse apartment--is reunited with her cellist lover Paul Henreid, whom she believed to have been killed in the war. Henreid wants to marry Read More

The Last Ride

Actors: Richard Travis, Charles Lang, Eleanor Parker, Jack LaRue

Synopsis: The Last Ride was also the last production to emanate from Warner Bros.' B-picture division. The plot involves the illicit wartime market in stolen tires (rubber was, of course, a priority), with Richard Travis and Charles Lang as Pat and Mike Harrigan, brothers on the opposite sides of the law. Read More

Air Force

Actors: John Ridgely, Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy, Harry Carey, Charles Drake

Synopsis: On December 6, 1941, a squadron of nine B-17 bombers takes off for Hickam Field, HI. The crew of the Mary Ann, including two new men, assistant radio man Private Chester (Ray Montgomery) and gunner Sergeant Joe Winocki (John Garfield), assembles for the flight, and in the first 20 minutes, the Read More

This Is the Army

Actors: George Murphy, Joan Leslie, Ronald Reagan, George Tobias, Alan Hale, Julie Oshins, Charles Butterworth

Synopsis: The splashy, star-studded This is the Army is based on the Irving Berlin Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was a reworking of Berlin's WW1 "barracks musical" Yip Yip Yaphank. In both instances, the cast was largely comprised of genuine servicemen, many of them either recently Read More

Mission to Moscow

Actors: Walter Huston, Ann Harding, Oscar Homolka, Gene Lockhart, George Tobias, Eleanor Parker

Synopsis: More so than most wartime films, Mission to Moscow must be viewed within the context of its times. Requested by President Roosevelt to make a film supportive of America's Russian allies, Warner Bros. turned to the memoirs of Ambassador Joseph H. Davies, who spent several years prior to WWII in the Read More

Murder on the Waterfront

Actors: Warren Douglas, John Loder, Ruth Ford

Synopsis: At 49 minutes, Murder on the Waterfront was the shortest-ever Warner Bros. B picture. Alas, brevity is not the soul of wit in this updated remake of 1938's The Invisible Menace. Warren Douglas plays sailor Joe Davis, who while on leave in California gets mixed up with an enemy spy ring. The head Read More