Some more interesting careers ?

Another selection of thumbnail career portraits, in the style of one of our Sixties favourite magazines "Who's Who in Hollywood". 

Don Murray. In his late 80s now (born 1929), Murray started out in 1950, and got his big break co-starring with Marilyn Monroe in Logan’s BUS STOP in 1956 – he may have been fine, but it’s the character of the cowboy who is so annoying. He met his first wife Hope Lange here. He followed this with two I have not seen: BACHELOR PARTY and A HATFUL OF RAIN, and then two westerns which I liked as a kid: the engaging FROM HELL TO TEXAS in ’58, and the more sprawling THESE THOUSAND HILLS in 1959, with young Lee Remick, and that other 20^th Century Fox boy, Stuart Whitman. 
Gritty realism followed with THE HOODLUM PRIEST and the very Irish saga SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL in 1959. Maybe his last interesting role was as senator Brig Anderson in Otto’s ADVISE AND CONSENT in 1962, who commits suicide when his wartime gay affair is about to be exposed – and we get that first look at a gay bar in American film, as Brig reels back in horror, leaving his wartime buddy lying in the gutter. (review at Murray label).

He was back with Lee Remick in BABY THE RAIN MUST FALL in 1965, but now Steve McQueen was the lead, and it was the era of the new boys like Beatty and Redford. He did a rubbish British film in 1967: THE VIKING QUEEN – we avoided it at the time, but I have now ordered a copy as it seems delirious fun, a certified Trash Classic. Murray continued in a long career, in lesser films and lots of television (like KNOTS LANDING), but like many others had a good late Fifties era.

Richard Beymer, now in his late Seventies (born 1938) was a child actor – he was Jennifer Jones’ son in De Sica’s INDISCRETION OF AN AMERICAN WIFE in 1954, and then after a lot of television, came his run of 20^th Century Fox movies in the late Fifties and early Sixties: George Stevens’ THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK in 1959, WEST SIDE STORY, Fox comedies HIGH TIME and BACHELOR FLAT (which we liked at the time), THE STRIPPER with Joanne Woodward and Carol Lynley in 1963 (review at Woodward label) and the lead in HEMINGWAY’S ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG MAN in 1962, as per recent review, below), plus FIVE FINGER EXERCISE and THE LONGEST DAY in 1962. Perhaps Beymer wasn’t distinctive enough, and Fox already had the likes of Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter under contract …. He continued keeping busy, returning to the limelight in David Lynch’s TWIN PEAKS in 1990, and it was interesting seeing him ageing well in items like MURDER SHE WROTE.

Dean Stockwell. Another child actor, born 1936, has clocked up over 200 credits according to IMDB. He was in ANCHORS AWEIGH with Gene Kelly in 1945, Losey’s THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR in 1948, KIM with Errol Flynn, then came those “sensitive” roles in COMPULSION in 1959, SONS AND LOVERS in 1960, LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT in 1962, RAPTURE in 1965, as well as TV roles in the likes of WAGON TRAIN, DR KILDARE. Later films include that terrific thriller AIR FORCE ONE, PARIS TEXAS, DUNE, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A., BLUE VELVET, THE PLAYER and more.

Brandon De Wilde (1942-1972). Another child actor, but less fortunate, in that he was killed in a traffic accident when aged 30, after being a child actor on Broadway when aged 9 in THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING, which role he repeated in the 1953 film.. We have already covered his career in detail, at label, and those films we like, such as ALL FALL DOWN and HUD, and those westerns like SHANE and NIGHT PASSAGE where he has some nice scenes with James Stewart.

Pamela Tiffin. Pamela, born 1942, was the delightfully daffy and attractive alternative to those blondes like Sandra Dee or Carol Lynley, and had some good years in the early Sixties. She started as a model and came to attention in SUMMER AND SMOKE in 1961, when we loved her in Billy Wilder’s ONE TWO THREE. Some zany comedy roles followed in COME FLY WITH ME, THE PLEASURE SEEKERS, STATE FAIR, THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL and HARPER in 1966. She the decamped to European comedies in Italy, co-starring with the likes of Marcello Mastroianni, before giving up acting to concentrate on family life.

Carol Lynley. Another young model, also born 1942, had a longer career, starting with Walt Disney in THE LIGHT IN THE FOREST in 1958, and then at Fox in that favourite, HOUND DOG MAN with Fabian and Stuart Whitman, THE STRIPPER, HOLIDAY FOR LOVERS, BLUE DENIM with Brandon De Wilde, RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE, THE LAST SUNSET. I did not want to see UNDER THE YUM YUM TREE where she co-stars with Jack Lemmon, and she was also in Otto’s THE CARDINAL in 1963, and the lead in his BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING in 1965, with Olivier (right) and Keir Dullea (also featured here, see label). She was later in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE in 1972 in hotpants, and was a long time companion of David Frost’s. She kept busy in lesser films (THE SHUTTERED ROOM wasn’t too bad), but then there was that 1965 cheapo version of HARLOW … reviews of some of these at Lynley label.

Vera Miles. Now in her late 80s and retired for years, Vera Miles is probably the biggest name featured here – it was a long if fairly ordinary career but her two each for John Ford and Hitchcock will ensure she is long remembered, as THE SEARCHERS, THE WRONG MAN, PSYCHO and THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALLANCE will always be screened somewhere. She began in 1950 and early roles included some routine westerns, ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS television shows (he had her under personal contract – like he had Tippi Hedren – and was building VERTIGO for Miles, but she had got pregnant by husband Gordon Scott – she had done one of his TARZAN pictures. She wears that unflattering wig in PSYCHO as she had done a downbeat war movie FIVE BRANDED WOMEN for Martin Ritt in Italy and had her head shaved for it. She is glamorous though in A TOUCH OF LARCENCY in 1960, and suitably nasty in AUTUMN LEAVES with Crawford in 1956, and BACK STREET in ‘61. Other leads included 23 PACES TO BAKER STREET, HELLFIGHTERS with Wayne in 1968, and lots more television.  

Next lot to include Tuesday Weld, Carolyn Jones, Paula Prentiss, Barry Coe, Farley Granger, Earl Holliman,  and some Europeans and British ....

Vacation time: Holiday for Lovers / Bon Voyage!

HOLIDAY FOR LOVERS. Like Disney’s BON VOYAGE (below) this 1959 20^th Century Fox family comedy  (which I remember seeing as a child) starts out fun but soon gets tedious and one ends up begging for it to stop as it seems far too over-long and we lose patience with most of the characters. Jane Wyman coasts in both films, as the understanding wife and mother, but gets nothing much to do. Here, father is Clifton Webb, a consulting psychologist in Boston, whose older daughter Meg (Jill St John) a promising sculptor if you please, goes to Sao Paulo in Brazil to study with famous architect, Paul Henreid. She seems to be getting involved so parents and other daughter Carol Lynley are soon South America bound – cue endless airplane interiors, and lots of location shooting as our cast stand in front of lots of back projections of Sao Paulo, as it is obvious they never left the back-lot. Jill indeed seems smitten with the suave Henreid, but it turns out to be his boorish, beatnik son (Nico Minardos) she is romantically involved with, while Carol inexplicably falls for army fellow Gary Crosby. After trekking around Sao Paulo endlessly, the family head off to Rio and we see some of the carnival (maybe the same one used for the film BLACK ORPHEUS, also that year), and if that wasn’t enough local colour (all that’s missing is Carmen Miranda!), then it is off to Lima in Peru for a bull-fight. Then everything stops for a flamenco number or two from Jose Greco and the misunderstandings get sorted out, as we wind up in Trinidad – don’t ask! Directed by Fox reliable Henry Levin; at least Clifton gets to do a few South American dance steps. Fascinating though to luxuriate in air travel as it was over 50 years ago, and Sao Paulo certainly looks great, if not as teeming as it is these days. We like Clifton Webb a lot here at The Projector - see label, and Jane was certainly engrossing in that Sirk classic ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS. she was third choice here after Gene Tierney and then Joan Fontaine both had to drop out due to health reasons (or maybe they realised they really had nothing much to do here) - it would have been nice though to have seen Gene's LAURA re-teamed with her Waldo Lydecker! while Joan could raise those eyebrows and be more acerbic than bland Jane. 

BON VOYAGE!, 1962. Comic adventure awaits the Williard family from Terre Haute, Indiana, when Harry packs up the wife and kids and sets sail on a long-awaited “dream” vacation to romantic France. However, their trip includes some unforeseen adventures: his wife Katie is pursued by a Hungarian admirer, his daughter Amy meets a brash young playboy, and Harry himself gets hopelessly lost on a tour of the Paris sewer system (he is a plumbing contractor)! Join the Williards for a hilarious, whirlwind trip they’ll never forget!

So says the blurb, but this is Disney corn which at 132 minutes is way overlong, with terrible pacing from Disney hack James Neilson, but it looks like they really went to France on a transatlantic liner which takes up most of the first half of the film. Fred McMurray and Jane Wyman coast on autopilot, Deborah Walley (wasn’t she a GIDGET?) is a pallid daughter, while Disney kids Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran reprise their usual roles. Its all an over-long travelogue around Paris – Francoise Prevost has a good moment as the coded  working girl who tries to pick up Fred, and then his son; Ivan Desny pursues Jane, Michael Callan gets to dance a bit and finally Jessie Royce Landis has some fun as his overbearing snooty society mother (above), while British Richard Wattis also pops up, as it all finishes up on the Riviera. 

'60s trash classic: The Pleasure Seekers

No, not THE PLEASURE GIRLS - thats a 1965 British  drama of (3 or is it 4?) dippy girls sharing an apartment in Kensington, London and dipping their toes into the Swinging City, along with the gay guy downstairs - see 1965 label for more on that! This is THE PLEASURE SEEKERS: Three American lovelies room together in Madrid and all manage to get themselves into seemingly unhappy relationships with fellows, and is basically a re-boot of THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN by the same same director - Jean Negulesco - of his 1954 classic set in Rome. Now its Madrid and slightly more risque (well, as you could be for 1964 - though it was 1965 when it played in London, the last time I saw it, when 19, so its a pleasant memory - its now another great Spanish dvd with a good Scope transfer and bright, vivid colours that jump out at you).

TAKE THREE GIRLS - that was the later BBC series circa late 60s, early 70s about another 3 girls  - and show their amorous adventures in a glamorous city. It was the 20th Century Fox formula from as far back as LADIES IN LOVE in 1936 (Loretta Young label), and popular in the fifties with those girls in Rome, those women in WOMAN'S WORLD, THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, and of course HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE - all by Negulesco. Universal gave us FOUR GIRLS IN TOWN in 1957, another delirious treat now. Then there was Mark Robson's over-the-top VALLEY OF THE DOLLS! (Trash label). MGM tried the formula too with their 3 air hostesses in COME FLY WITH ME in 1963 (which had the odd sight of Sister Dolores Hart teaming up with PEEPING TOM Carl Boehm!). One of those girls was delightful Pamela Tiffin - whom we enjoyed ever since Billy Wilder's ONE TWO THREE, and here she is again in Madrid, along with sensible Carol Lynley and stupendous Ann-Margret. Its a travelogue of Madrid too then as we whiz around art galleries and check out some art, like those Velasquez and El Greco items at the Prado. Other pleasures are those outfits: Carol's pink suit with the red pvc handbag, or Ann in that yellow skirt, shoes and bag combo ...

Negulesco throws in an old timer or two as well - Gene Tierney, that 40s beauty (LAURA, LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN etc) and reliable Brian Keith. The three American honeys prowl for lovers in Madrid, getting entangled with Tony Franciosa (a bit too mature for this nonsense after his 50s roles) and hunky Gardner McKay,   Like THE BEST OF EVERYTHING the girls have to learn some lessons, but what with all the glamour and hunkiness on show here this is certainly a gay interest title as well as a Trash Classic, up there with those Lana and Susan epics. Ditzy Pamela Tiffin has a cult following too, as does Carol Lynley (once the poor man's Sandra Dee). The early '60s vibe is deliciously caught too, with all that bossa nova, tinkly lounge music, all-girl apartments, as Ann-Margret in her prime stirs up a storm, singing and flamenco dancing, particularly in that slinky pink dress with that mane of hair - up there with her THE SWINGER and KITTEN WITH A WHIP! More on Ann at label ... and those Negulesco classics too at Negulesco label!  Its a shock to realise this Guilty Pleasure is 50 years old!

Be sure to click on to '3/4 girls' label to bring up kitsch classics like FOUR GIRLS IN TOWN, THE PLEASURE GIRLS, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, WOMAN'S WORLD, THE BEST OF EVERYTHING etc.

Wild in the country / you ain't nothing but a hound dog! - more teen heart-throbs ...

HOUND DOG MAN in ’59 may not be a western at all but is an amiable, pleasing backwoods comedy drama by Don Siegel set in rural America showcasing Fox’s new talent: singer Fabian as the confused teen, Stuart Whitman as his ne’er-do-well pal who takes the kids on a weekend of hunting with their hound-dogs, Carol Lynley and Dodie Stevens are the girls - Carol wants to tame Whitman, while Dodie and Fabian seem fated to be mated, after that barn-dance. 

Arthur O’Connell and Betty Field are the nice understanding parents, and there are old timers like Jane Darwell and Royal Dano, and its all perfectly delightful. Siegel also scored next year in 1960 putting Elvis out west in the stirring FLAMING STAR. HOUND DOG MAN is the kind of thing 20th Century Fox did well, their charming version of rural Americana ... usually those Jerry Wald productions like the pretty but vapid HEMINGWAY'S ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG MAN in 1962.

Teen heart-throbs:
Fabian was the ideal idol for a while then - an Italian-American teenager discovered and made a singer, he looked the part and filled a pair of jeans nicely. Good too with comic timing in NORTH TO ALASKA (rave for this favourite 1960 western at Fabian label) and other Fox movies like HIGH TIME, FIVE WEEKS IN A BALOON, and MR HOBBS TAKES A VACATION, amother other acting roles. 
He posed (tastefully) for "Playgirl" and aged quite well.  Pat Boone and Ricky Nelson (and even Tommy Sands) all went into the movies too, scoring while Elvis was away in the army - Ricky being a delight in Hawks' RIO BRAVO - and of course Bobby Darin in COME SEPTEMBER, not to mention the Elvis films - his big hit G I BLUES after his return from Germany, and those Fox dramas WILD IN THE COUNTRY and FLAMING STAR before all those lesser-quality items ... while serious actors like Tab Hunter and Tony Perkins tried their hand at singing - successfully too ! Then came the blondes: Troy Donahue, Tab Hunter, James Franciscus, and another striking brunette: Kerwin Matthews ... as per labels. Soon: more Guy Madison ! Kerwin Matthews ! George Maharis ! and those new 60s boys Warren Beatty, Christopher Jones ("the new James Dean"), Georges Peppard and Hamilton, Jean Sorel and some French guys ...

Blue jean baby ...

BLUE DENIM (BLUE JEANS). A rarity from 1959, this drama from a play by James Leo Herlihy (ALL FALL DOWN, MIDNIGHT COWBOY) plays out in an idealised suburban American home, complete with picket fence and bench swinging on the porch as ideal teens Brandon De Wilde and Carol Lynley confront their unwanted pregnancy. They are such a vanilla couple that the idea of heavy petting seems a bit much let alone going all the way …. 

Macdonald Carey is the army father who has the family dog put to sleep while the son is at school, to spare him saying goodbye to the pet. Mother is pert and busy Marsha Hunt, busy with their daughter’s wedding. No one seems to listen to Brandon when he wants to finally tell them his problem. Carol’s father Professor Williard is that busy character actor Vaughn Taylor. 

These are no rebels without a cause though, but nice normal teens. Warren Berlinger is good as their friend, and Roberta Shore sings up a storm at that ideal hop. When they need a “doctor” they have to go to the “other side of town” (cue sleazy sax) …. Will they go through with the operation or will the parents come to the rescue? It is all nicely worked out, and Herlihy again captures that suburban life perfectly. Director Philip Dunne also captures small town life, as he did in HILDA CRANE (Jean Simmons label) and others. Perfectly late '50s too - another 1959 treat then. De Wilde was of course already a veteran child actor (SHANE and the others as per my profile on him - De Wilde label) and Lynley that charming new ingenue, a rival to Sandra Dee - in favourites like HOUND DOG MAN or RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE.  Her later hits included BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING and THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, De Wilde was killed in a road accident in 1972 when he was 30 - but had good roles in ALL FALL DOWN and HUD, and we like him in NIGHT PASSAGE and others. If he had lived he would be 70 this year ...

London, 1965: Bunny Lake is missing

Ann Lake has just moved to London with her daughter, Bunny. When she goes to retrieve her daughter after the girl's first day at school, no one has any record of Bunny having been registered. When even the police can find no trace that the girl ever existed, they wonder if the child was only a fantasy of Ann's. When Ann's brother backs up the police's suspicions, she appears to be a mentally-disturbed individual. Are they right? 

Missing children stories crop up regularly - there is a current one here in England. Otto Preminger's 1965 thriller is an interesting variation on this newspaper staple - is there really a missing child? Who is making it appear as if the mother is mentally unbalanced?  The solution here is rather too obvious and we spend too long with one of our leads in mad mode ... but its a great cast and has some good London locations. Just like John Ford used London for his GIDEON OF SCOTLAND YARD thriller 1958, now Otto choose Hampstead - the posh part - and another great cast of British regulars for his thriller. Spot them all here:  Anna Massey, Finlay Currie, Richard Wattis - even the smallest parts are filled by the likes of Fred Emney, Victor Maddern, Delphi Lawrence, Suzanne Neve, Lucie Mannheim, Megs Jenkins etc. 

Carol Lynley is the distraught mother after not being able to find her daughter at the school where nobody seems to know anything about the child, Keir Dullea is her concerned brother, whizzing around London is his sports car. They are Americans new in London. The selling point here is Laurence Olivier as the police detective, looking more or less like himself (this was the era when he was blacking up for OTHELLO, KHARTOUM etc) and its a role he plays perfectly as he begins to doubt if there really is a child, as all her belongings and passport have also vanished and there is nobody who has actually seen Bunny. 

There are some interesting red herrings too: Martita Hunt (Miss Havisham, that was) is the retired head of the school with her tape recordings of childrens' bad dreams, while Noel Coward potters around as the rather decadent landlord. Interesting seeing old pals Olivier and Coward here, and Larry's scene with Richard Wattis reminds one of their scenes in THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL ... That 60s pop group The Zombies are seen on a pub television. The ending is rather protracted but of course the police arrive in the nick of time, and yes there really is a Bunny, but I can't reveal more.

Lee Remick & Keir Dullea BUS STOP, 1976

Carol Lynley probably has her best role, and this was the movie where Coward made that witty comment: "Keir Dullea, gone tomorrow". Keir though had a rather good career - in several offbeat movies including that 1969 piece of trash DE SADE (review Trash label), and of course 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY will play forever (its his co-star there Gary Lockwood who has disappeared). I saw him on stage too as that annoying cowboy (above) opposite Lee Remick's Cherie in BUS STOP here in London in 1976 (Lee Remick label). BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING though is quite a good thriller, as scripted by John and Penelope Mortimer. Otto went on to HURRY SUNDOWN next - we will have to re-see that at some stage too.

People We Like: Mary Astor

One of the pleasures of watching old movies is catching up with a Mary Astor performance one had missed – as recently with A STRANGER IN MY ARMS and RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE, or re-visiting a favourite like THE MALTESE FALCON or THE GREAT LIE.

Mary (1906-1987) began in the silents, doing two films with John Barrymore (with whom she had an affair) and then she successfully graduated to talkies with roles opposite Gable in RED DUST in ’32 (Grace Kelly played it in the ’53 remake) where she is tremendous as the wife falling for the hunter, other roles included DODSWORTH. In 1941 she won the best supporting actress award for THE GREAT LIE, and also starred in Huston’s MALTESE FALCON as the duplicitous Brigid O'Shaughnessy . Other hits included MIDNIGHT and THE PALM BEACH STORY. Soon though she was relegated to playing those saintly mothers in MEET ME IN ST LOUIS in ’44 and in the ’49 version of LITTLE WOMEN. I have already written about how wonderful the 1947 DESERT FURY is, that delirious noir in blazing colour, as per Mary Astor label, where she is Fritzi the casino owner and the mother of Lizabeth Scott.



The ‘50s saw a tougher series of mothers – Robert Wagner’s in A KISS BEFORE DYING, and Sandra Dee’s in A STRANGER IN MY ARMS where she is the queen bee determined everyone shall obey her. Then there was the chilling Robert Carter in RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE in 1961. 1964 provided a return match with Bette in the small but pivotal role of Jewel Mayhew in HUSH HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE, her final role. Mary had a racy private life and kept a diary which featured in a sensational court case. Her two books “My Story” and “A Life in Film” were best-sellers in which she discussed her various marriages, lovers and screen work.

THE GREAT LIE - A superior ‘40s soap, as directed by Edmund Goulding. Bette’s Maggie and Mary’s Sandra Kovac are in love with the same man George Brent. Sandra is a talented but temperamental concert pianist. The convoluted plot sees Brent and Astor getting married but it is invalid as her previous divorce is not final, they separate and he marries Davis, and then goes missing when his plane goes down on a secret mission. Meanwhile, Sandra discovers she is pregnant but cannot let a baby get in the way of her career, so rich girl Bette convinces her to have the baby which she will then have so the infant can inherit Brent’s wealth. Some delicious scenes then follow with the women holed up out in the desert awaiting the birth, as Bette strides around in her jodhpurs and Sandra demands steaks and cigarettes …. THEN, Brent is found and comes back and thinks the baby is his and Bette's. Sandra soon decides she wants Brent back and the baby too and is determined to tell him the truth, so Bette invites her to stay … as the truth comes out. To add to the delirium there is also Hattie McDaniel looking after them down on the plantation. It remains a favourite Bette Davis film and Astor’s Sandra is a tremendous performance full of variety. Bette plays "nice" here while Astor is the bitch. Terrific stuff.



A STRANGER IN MY ARMS – a rather unknown Ross Hunter production from 1959, this widescreen black and white melodrama teams June Allyson and Jeff Chandler, with Hunter regular Sandra Dee (my crush at the time, in my early teens) but the real star here is Mary Astor firing on all cylinders as the queen bee who dominates them all. June is the widow of a supposed war hero living with his dominating mother (Astor) who is seeking the highest military award for her late son whom she ruthlessly dominated and kept close to her. Chandler is the air force pilot who knows how her son really died as the family (Charles Coburn is also involved) try to bend him to their will so he will falsify the truth – we get flashbacks to him and the son (Peter Graves) surviving at sea on their raft. Allyson had only been married to the son for all of 6 weeks but now Astor (who really hates her) steamrolls her every attempt at independence. Naturally June and Jeff are attracted, Astor will not stand for it, as daughter Sandra tries to help the lovers who finally manage to stand up to Mary in a rather good climax. Directed by one Helmut Kautner (a German, but no Sirk), its all rather turgid but fun, Allyson’s last of the ‘50s and she is her usual self here with those buttoned-up blouses, peter pan collars, gloves and little hats. This though is Mary Astor’s show all the way.

RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE – Jose Ferrer’s 1961 film for 20th Century Fox (his wife Rosemary Clooney sings the theme song over the nice credits depicting New England in all its seasonal glory) would seem a follow-up to the sensational PEYTON PLACE of 1957 – but the original seems to be set back in the 40s and this is a very early 60s looking movie. New cast all round too: Carol Lynley is Allyson who writes the sensational book, Tuesday Weld is now Selina Cross and Eleanor Parker steps in to Lana Turner’s shoes as Constance. We spend a lot of time though in New York as Alison meets her publisher (Jeff Chandler, again) and is groomed for literary stardom. Back in Peyton Place the real star of the show is Mary Astor (again) as Roberta Carter, whose son Brett Halsey is returning home – but he turns up with his new wife Rafaella (Luciana Paluzzi) but he is too spineless to stand up to his domineering mother so the stage is set for melodramatics. Then the book is published and Roberta is outraged and tries to get it removed from the library, bringing in conflict with Constance’s husband Mike Rossi, the school head. Meanwhile Selina gets involved with the new ski instructor … It is all movie-making by numbers but Fox did this kind of stuff well, and Astor again has the plum role. There must have been some changes though: in the trailer on the disk we see the bedroom of Halsey and Paluzzi going up in flames but this is not in the movie where we do not see Paluzzi after her ski accident, as the film climaxes at the town hall where Roberta is trying to get the book banned. All very odd – but a good trashy wallow nonetheless, with that nice early 60s cast.

50s/60s westerns

The ‘50s really was the heyday of the western – not only several classics [starting with HIGH NOON] but also all those routine oaters and programmers, 1954 being a particularly good year. JOHNNY GUITAR the first film I ever saw aged 8 was an incredibly vivid experience: the woman in the white dress going to be hanged, and the other woman in black shooting down the lamps setting the casino on fire… My father was taking me to see other westerns: SHANE which I did not care for, but certainly liked DRUM BEAT (Alan Ladd), THE COMMAND (Guy Madison) and SITTING BULL with Dale Robertson, who was also THE GAMBLER FROM NATCHEZ. Tyrone Power was THE MISSISSIPPI GAMBLER, Rock Hudson was in lots of westerns like SEMINOLE and as Taza in Sirk’s TAZA SON OF COCHISE. Jeff Chandler was COCHISE in ’54 and again in THE BATTLE AT APACHE PASS in ’52. Charles Bronson the apache leader in Delmar Daves’ DRUM BEAT. Generally any western with Indians and covered wagons was a must see. Hathaway’s GARDEN OF EVIL from '54 was a nice discovery recently, great Scope compositions and a rousing Herrmann score with Cooper, Hayward and Widmark top-lining. Maybe not really westerns as such but Wyler’s two, FRIENDLY PERSUASION in 1956 and THE BIG COUNTRY in 1958 are dramas with western backgrounds – both have been firm favourites over the years. A rather droll late 50s western was THUNDER IN THE SUN with French Basques taking their vines to California and being attacked by Indians. Susan Hayward as the widow and Jeff Chandler as the scout were in their element here. Daves wrote WHITE FEATHER with Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Wagner, who were also leads in Nick Ray’s THE TRUE STORY OF JESSE JAMES in ’57. Two excellent Gary Cooper westerns are Anthony Mann’s MAN OF THE WEST in ’58 with great widescreen vistas, where he opposes Lee J Cobb and his gang, with Julie London in nice support; and Delmar Daves THE HANGING TREE in ’59 where Karl Malden runs riot and Maria Schell is the woman doctor Cooper is nursing back to health. Then they strike gold….

Mann of course also had that series of westerns with James Stewart, starting with WINCHESTER 73 in '50 and including titles likes THE NAKED SPUR and THE MAN FROM LARAMIE.

Later in the 50s came those taut westerns like THE LAW AND JAKE WADE [Robert Taylor –v- Widmark], 3.10 TO YUMA [Glenn Ford –v- Van Heflin], LAST TRAIN FROM GUNHILL [Kirk Douglas –v- Anthony Quinn] and the Budd Boetticher ones with Randolph Scott – SEVEN MEN FROM NOW being particularly right, with Lee Marvin in his element. NIGHT PASSAGE remains a favourite, with James Stewart, Audie Murphy and young Brandon de Wilde. DAKOTA STATION was memorable too in ’56 with that stagecoach of survivors including Linda Darnell and Dale Robertson fighting off the redskins. Audie Murphy turned out all those programmers, and was in Huston’s excellent THE UNFORGIVEN in 1960, where Lillian Gish exemplified the old west, Jack Lemmon was out west in COWBOY and Glenn Ford was THE SHEEPMAN (both '58). Then of course Ford’s now immortal THE SEARCHERS, which one never tires of. That moment when John Wayne picks up Natalie Wood remains a screen epiphany which can still reduce grown men to tears. Hawks’ RIO BRAVO in 1959 is another milestone (I liked Angie Dickinson as Feathers and Ricky Nelson as Colorado) and I particularly liked those other Wayne horse operas like THE COMMANCHEROS and NORTH TO ALASKA. Dmytryk’s WARLOCK was good too, as was THESE THOUSAND HILLS (with Lee Remick excellent as ever, as the ‘saloon girl’ not good enough for ambitious Don Murray, who marries that nice Patricia Owens instead), and Aldrich’s THE LAST SUNSET (Hudson –v- Kirk Douglas). Westerns didn’t look right in the ’60s – they were too jokey or modern like CAT BALLOU – Brooks’ THE PROFESSIONALS was ace though and of course the Cinerama HOW THE WEST WAS WON re-uniting all the western greats one more time in '62, and Ford came back with THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, with James Stewart and Vera Miles out west again and Lee Marvin coming into his own; then Peckinpah finished the decade with THE WILD BUNCH, and then there was Butch and Sundance…

JOHNNY GUITAR in 1954 is still astounding to see and re-see how. Nick Ray makes it all so vivid, Sterling Hayden is, well, sterling and Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge are both iconic here. The showdown at the end is electric and Mercedes and her crew whipping up the mob to lynch Vienna and torch her establishment still engrossing. The sexual politics are weird, perhaps Mercedes’ Emma cannot admit it is Vienna she wants and not the Dancin’ Kid … Vienna sitting at her own piano in her own place waiting for the railroad to come and facing down the mob, and her dialogues with the laconic Johnny are timelessly classic for me. Nice to see Scorsese enthusing about it on the dvd.

Barbara Stanwyck was out west several times too: Mann’s THE FURIES, Sam Fuller’s 40 GUNS, Dwan’s CATTLE QUEEN OF MONTANA, are all terrific – I just watched her as Kit Bannion helping another Butch and Sundance in THE MAVERICK QUEEN (’56) where Barry Sullivan and Scott Brady are sterling support. Best though is a very forgotten 1957 one TROOPER HOOK, a small black and white western, following on from THE SEARCHERS, where Barbara is the white woman rescued from the Indians and has a young child by the Apache chief, Rodolpho Acosta. Joel McCrea is the cavalry officer Trooper Hook assigned to take her home, but her husband will accept her but not the child, whose father is also in pursuit to claim his son. Its totally gripping and Stanwyck plays it very quiet and still as the woman getting used to being back among white people. Others on the stagecoach are Susan Kohner and regulars Royal Dano as the driver, John Dehner and Edward Andrews. Stanwyck of course went on to THE BIG VALLEY, and even Bette Davis went west in WAGON TRAIN, THE VIRGINIAN and GUNSMOKE.

HOUND DOG MAN in ’59 may not be a western at all but is an amiable, pleasing backwoods comedy drama by Don Siegel set in rural Americana showcasing Fox’s new talent: singer Fabian as the confused teen, Stuart Whitman as his ne’er-do-well pal who takes the kids on a weekend of hunting, Carol Lynley and Dodie Stevens are the girls, Arthur O’Connell and Betty Field the parents, and its all perfectly delightful. Siegel also scored next year putting Elvis out west in the stirring FLAMING STAR.

NORTH TO ALASKA is Hathaway’s rousing 1960 sprawling comedy western with Wayne and Stewart Granger having lots of fun guying their images as the prospectors who strike gold, Fabian as the kid brother and Capucine as the woman drafted in to replace the girlfriend of Granger who could not wait any longer. Its handsomely mounted with nice detail, like the (superfluous) early scenes at the logging camp. Capucine shows her flair for haughty comedy, Ernie Kovaks is the schemer trying to get his hands on the mine. Set in Alaska it captures the frontier town just as well as Altman does with his McCABE & MRS MILLER, and is a pleasure to see any time.