1942 Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan, Ann Sheridan, Claude Raines 127 minutes
"A Good Town. A Good Clean Town. A Good Town to Live In and a Good Place to Raise Your Children." So proclaims the billboard on the edge of King's Row, a small Midwest town in the late nineteenth century. We quickly find out, however, that, as is often the case, things are definitely not what they appear.
Serious Parris Mitchell (Cummings), orphaned and reared by his grandmother, wants to be a doctor, while his best friend, Drake McHugh (Reagan) just wants to have fun living off his trust fund. Reclusive Dr. Tower (Raines), father of Parris's childhood friend Cassie, agrees to let Parris study under him, and opens Parris's eyes to the still-new practice of psychiatry. Drake, meanwhile, is busily courting Louise Gordon, daughter of King's Row's other, more revered doctor. Dr. Gordon doesn't think Drake is good enough for his daughter, however, and will not let her marry him. Drake quickly moves on, and starts seeing old friend Randy Monaghan (Sheridan), a girl from the wrong side of the tracks.
With Parris away in Vienna studying medicine, Drake, alone except for Randy, has to deal with many personal tragedies that some of the "better" people in town think he deserves as punishment for his carefree lifestyle. When one townsman goes so far as to decide how severe that punishment should be, Drake has to face up to what kind of man he really is. Can Parris, a fledgling psychiatrist, make it back to King's Row in time to help his best friend through the toughest challenge either one of them has had to deal with?
The story of King's Row and its inhabitants were inspired by author Henry Bellamann's hometown of Fulton, Missouri, where the book is still considered scandalous by some. Ronald Reagan rarely gets the recognition he deserved as an actor, and this role, widely considered his best (even by Reagan himself) showcases his talent at its finest. Drake's cry of "Where's the rest of me?" is one of Reagan's most well-known movie quotes and the title of his 1965 autobiography. "King's Row" was nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Director, Picture and Black-and-White Cinematography), but in a tough year up against the likes of "Wake Island," "Pride of the Yankees," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," and "Mrs. Miniver," lost in all three categories to "Mrs. Miniver."
Check out this and other movies at Free Movies & Music Unlimited and Movies Capital
1960 Judy Holliday, Dean Martin, Jean Stapleton, Eddie Foy, Jr., Frank Gorshin 2 hours, 7 min.
Ella Peterson (Holliday) works as a switchboard operator for her cousin Sue's (Stapleton) answering service, Susanswerphone. Ella takes an active interest in the lives of her customers, going so far as to adopt different characters for different clients. One such customer is Jeffrey Moss (Martin), a playwright with writers' block who thinks she's an old woman and calls her "Mom." Sue warns Ella to stay out of the customers' lives, but when she finds out Jeff is in danger of missing a meeting with an important producer, Ella, who's in love with his voice, rushes to his apartment to help. The mysterious, seemingly psychic, Melisande Scott (the name Ella gives him) is just the inspiration Jeff needs to finish his play in time for his meeting. In her off hours, Ella tips off two other clients, a dentist who composes on the air hose, and a beatnik actor (Gorshin), to the opportunities open to them with Jeff's play. Jeff quickly falls in love with "Melisande" but she disappears from a party he takes her to, convinced that as soon as she tells him she lied about herself, "The Party's Over." But will Jeff, without her real name or address, be able to find her before she leaves town?
Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote this play especially for Judy Holliday in 1956 to cheer her up during a rough personal time, and they based the character of Ella on Judy herself. She played the part on Broadway for two years (924 performances) and won a Tony award. This was Judy's last movie; she died of cancer in 1965 at the age of 43.
Watch for Hal Linden (TV's Barney Miller) singing "The Midas Touch" in his first movie role. Donna Douglas ("The Beverly Hillbillies") is one of the party guests, and Ella's blind date at the beginning of the movie was Gerry Mulligan, a jazz musician and infrequent actor, and Judy's new real-life boyfriend.
Check out this and other movies at Free Movies & Music Unlimited and Movies Capital
1948 Alan Ladd, Robert Preston, Brenda Marshall, Donald Crisp, William Demarest 88 minutes
Trying to solve a rash of train robberies, railroad detective Luke "Whispering" Smith (Ladd) finds himself back in town with his best friend, Murray Sinclair (Preston) and his old girlfriend, Marian (Marshall), now Murray's wife. Before long, Luke sees that Murray has developed questionable taste in friends, especially Barney Rebstock (Crisp). When Murray is fired from his job with the railroad, he goes to work for Rebstock robbing trains. Luke, loyal to his best friend, tries to help Murray, but his help is unwelcome, making Luke choose between his loyalty to Murray and what he knows is right.
The novel this movie is based on was written by Frank Spearman, who loosely based the title character on Joe Lefors, a real-life lawman. Some speculate that the character of Murray is also based on another real person, Butch Cassidy. "Whispering Smith" was Ladd's first starring role in both a western (he'd been in small parts in "B" westerns early in his career) and a Technicolor movie (he had a bit part in the Disney sepiatone/color movie "The Reluctant Dragon" in 1941). The "Whispering Smith" set would later be seen in the "Bonanza" TV series, as well as other series and movies.
Check out this and other movies at Free Movies & Music Unlimited and Movies Capital
1947 June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Joan McCracken, Patricia Marshall 93 min.
Connie Lane (Allyson) is a student and librarian at fictional Tait College in the Roaring Twenties. She, like all the girls, has a crush on football captain Tommy Marlowe. Tommy, however, only has eyes for Connie's new sorority sister, Pat McClellan (Marshall). Unimpressed with Tommy's clowning at a sorority party, Pat sets her sights on someone with more wealth--of culture, that is. Pat's insult, in French, sends Tommy to the school library in search of the definition, where he meets Connie and gets an impromptu French lesson. All of Tommy's subsequent efforts to woo Pat with his French fail, so he asks Connie to go to the prom with him.
Things get complicated when Connie's friend Babe Doolittle (McCracken) steps in. Babe, in order to improve Tommy's state of mind in time for the big football game, convinces Pat that he's richer than her current boyfriend. Gold-digger Pat wheedles a prom invitation from Tommy, who has temporarily forgotten about Connie. Meanwhile, Babe finds out too late that Connie has fallen hard for the football star.
Tommy's grades slip after he begins dating Pat, and soon, a failing grade in French threatens his spot on the team. Connie is pressed into service as his tutor, knowing that when he passes his exam, and helps Tait win the next football game, he and Pat will announce their engagement.
June Allyson and Peter Lawford didn't have the singing or dancing chops of Judy Garland and Howard Keel, Vera-Ellen or Donald O'Connor, but they do a good job, and stay on key. This movie is a happy, light-hearted escape from real life; it's unfair to expect much more from that in any musical. The score is filled with catchy songs, and "Pass that Peace Pipe" was nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar. The screenplay is by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, probably best known for 1952's Singin' In the Rain.
Check out this and other movies at Free Movies & Music Unlimited and Movies Capital
