Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956). The film, considered film noir, was the last American film directed by Lang.

Newspaper publisher Austin Spencer, who is against capital punishment, invites, novelist Tom Garrett, to witness an execution. Later, Austin explains to Tom, that he believes that Thompson, is using circumstantial evidence to win death sentences, because he wants to be the next governor.

Tom proposes to Austin's daughter Susan, and she wants to announce the wedding date, but Tom editor wants him finish his novel first. Austin, wants to find an unsolved crime, plant evidence that will point at a innocent man, then reveal at last minute that the evidence was planted.

Soon after, Austin reads in the newspaper that an exotic dancer, Patty Gray, has been strangled. Austin learns from a police detective, that Patty's friends, Sally Moore and Terry LaRue, saw her drive away with a man.

Tom meets Sally, after spilling a drink on her on purpose and later visits her at the club to offer to pay for cleaning her dress. Sally, is so thrilled to have a wealthy boyfriend that she does not notice when Tom takes her body makeup. Susan sees a picture of Tom and Sally, in the newspaper and questions him about the picture, then breaks off their engagement.

Tom and Austin, go to the scene of the crime, where Austin takes a picture of Tom leaving his cigarette case as a false clue. That night at the club, Terry worries that Tom may be Patty's killer, she decides to call police lieutenant Kennedy, to inform him about her upcoming date with Tom.

Austin, takes pictures of all his activities as proof of his innocence, Tom cleans his car of all fingerprints, applies body makeup to the car seats and leaves a stocking in his glove compartment. When Tom picks up Sally for their date, the police arrest him. The police interrogate Tom, who answers their questions truthfully. When he is indicted for murder, Susan wants Austin to intervene, and wonders why her father does not seem concerned.

Thompson is ready to try the case in court, but his assistant, Bob Hale, is in love with Susan and wants to help her prove Tom's innocence. At the trial, Thompson tells the court that Tom, proposed to Susan just five days before Patty's murder, and killed the dancer to hide his affair with her.

As "evidence," he talks about a large cash withdrawal Tom made from his bank on the same day that Patty went to work with a lot of cash, as well as pipe ashes found in Tom's garbage, even though Tom does not smoke.

As the jury deliberates, Austin heads over to Thompson's to reveal their plot, but.. along the way is hit by a car and all the evidence is burned. After Austin's death, Tom tells the true story to his lawyer, Jonathan Wilson, who tells the judge, but the judge cannot stop the trial. Susan and Jonathan, search Austin's safe for the pictures, but find none. When the police go through the burned photographs, Susan is convinced of Tom's innocence, and tries to convince the newspaper editors to sway public opinion in Tom's favor.

No pardon is granted and the night before Tom's execution, Susan begs Bob to investigate further. He learns that Patty, stole money from her boyfriend who then threatened to kill her. Unfortunately, the boyfriend died years earlier. A lawyer arrives at Thompson's office, with a just-discovered note that Austin left in his safe-deposit vault, which clears him of all guilt. But.. is he really Innocent?

I thought this was a very interesting film that it gets you thinking about how someone really could be killed for something they didn't do. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, also has one of the best final twists which comes as a complete surprise.

Please click here to read Patti's review on the film Beyond Reasonable Doubt.

Barbara Nichols (December 10, 1928 – October 5, 1976), began modeling for pinup magazines in the early-1950s. In the mid-1950s, she moved to Hollywood and began performing as second leads in films: Miracle in the Rain (1956), The King and Four Queens (1956), The Naked and the Dead (1958), The Pajama Game (1957), Pal Joey (1957), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), That Kind of Woman (1958), Where the Boys Are (1960).

Nichols was considered a minor rival to Marilyn Monroe, along with Jayne Mansfield, Mamie Van Doren, Cleo Moore, Greta Thyssen, Diana Dors and Sheree North. One of her few starring roles was in the 1965 science fiction film, The Human Duplicators.

Nichols was also a frequent guest star on many television series including: It's a Great Life, The Jack Benny Television Show, The Twilight Zone, The Untouchables, Batman, and The Beverly Hillbillies. Her last film was Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood in 1976.

The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)

Watched The Best Years Of Our Lives a few weeks ago. W-O-W. It was just wonderful in every aspect. The direction was great (from none other than my main man, William Wyler) and all the performances were so touching. Weep-worthy for sure :'-(

This picture is perfect. Completely. This is William Wyler on a bike/scooter thing. Best picture. Ever.


The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946) Dir. William Wyler

Cast:

Myrna Loy as Milly Stephenson Fredric March as Technical Sergeant Al Stephenson Dana Andrews as Captain Fred Derry Teresa Wright as Peggy Stephenson Virginia Mayo as Marie Derry Cathy O'Donnell as Wilma Cameron Hoagy Carmichael as Uncle Butch Harold Russell as Petty Officer 2nd Class Homer Parish

Plot Summary:

Three WWII veterans return home after the end of the war on a plane together to the same town, all to very different lives. Technical Sergeant Al Stephenson is returning home to his wife of 20 years, Milly and his two children, Peggy and Rob. As soon as he returns it is evident that he needs to take time to gell back in with them all, but they love him none the less. He was a banker before the war.

Captain Fred Derry returns home to his house to find out from his parents, who are living there, that his wife of only a few months had moved out and was working in a nightclub, last time they heard from her. He goes out searching for her and finally finds her in a new, considerably smaller apartment. She wishes he was still his "Glamourous Army Self" and their marriage is drifting d-o-w-n h-i-l-l... (first pic is of him and wife, the other is Al's daughter with him...)

Petty Officer 2nd Class, Homer Parish lost both of his hands in an incident whilst in the navy and now has special hooks that he has been trained to use as his hands. When he gets home, his girlfriend Wilma and Homer's own family find it hard to accept the fact that he has no hands and cannot adjust to the way he uses the hooks. Wilmer really does love Homer, but he finds it hard to believe that she would ever want him now that he has these hooks. {Just thought I'd mention that... HIS UNCLE IS HOAGY CARMICHAEL AND HE EVEN PLAYS "LAZY RIVER" ON THE PIANO IN HIS BAR!!!! OMG!}

Their lives become intertwined though, and they all soon come to realize that they have come back to a world very different from the one they were living in for the past few years...


The Verdict:
I have only ever seen Myrna Loy in The Thin Man and I completely thought that she was just amazing! The whole film was constructed very well and I always enjoy films like this where the whole family of the characters is brought in and introduced. And (to please my drama student-ness), it's such a great ensemble! I really love watching, and being, in ensemble pieces. It means that the whole cast has to work really hard together to make a winning combo and everyone in this cast certainly did! Yay!

Harold Russel who played Homer Parish is amazing too! He really was a war veteran and he used those hooks as hands always. He wasn't actually a professionally trained actor, and he became the only actor ever to win two academy awards for the same performance. How about that! But after the academy award buzz, William Wyler told him to go back to school and get an education because there, "weren't many roles for actors without hands." It seems he had a bit of a turbulent personal life, with his son ending up with a life sentence in jail.

The two other men in the movie, Frederic March and Dana Andrews are very good too. Particularly Frederic March, whose speech scene with Myrna Loy where he tells his bank that he wants to give out as much help to war veterans as possible was so amazing :'-). Yes. Happy tears. Dana Andrews was great too, but I think Frederic March and Teresa Wright upstaged him just a little.

Hoagy Carmichael. "Up a Lazy River". He can act too?!?! His album is played weekly (just on my iPod, not including my parents playing it, which happens a lot). How much cooler could Hoagy be? Really?

The camera guy who filmed the movie did the filming for Orson Welles' Citizen Kane too! How cool is that?

This is a definite must see for everybody. Particularly war movie-phobes. This could be a great intro to them, without all the war-talk. So glad we ordered it! Made a super-great evening family watch :-)

~Bette

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).

Samuel Goldwyn was inspired to produce a film about veterans after reading an August 7, 1944 article in Time magazine about the difficulties experienced by men returning home to civilian life. Goldwyn hired war correspondent MacKinlay Kantor to write the screenplay.

The film was directed by William Wyler, with cinematography by Gregg Toland. The film won seven Academy Awards, including those for best picture, director, actor, supporting actor, editing, screenplay, and original score. Cast:Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, and Hoagy Carmichael. It also features Harold Russell, a U.S. paratrooper who had lost both hands in a training accident.

At the end of World War II, three servicemen meet on a flight to Boone City, their hometown. The men, Air Force Captain Fred Derry, sailor Homer Parrish, and Army Sergeant Al Stephenson, quickly become friends, even though they come from different backgrounds. Al is a banker with a wife and two children. Fred is a former soda jerk from the wrong side of the tracks, and Homer, who has lost both hands in the war. As they share a taxi from the airport, they talk about many favorite places they used to hang out at, including a tavern run by Homer's uncle, Butch Engle. Each share their concerns about the future and how they will adapt to civilian life. Just as they expected, each of the veterans faces a crisis on their first day home. I thought this was a very powerful movie, one you will not soon forget..

I posted one of my favorite scenes from the movie.

Fun facts:

Director William Wyler was furious when he learned that Samuel Goldwyn had sent Harold Russell for acting lessons; he preferred Russell's untrained, natural acting.

William Wyler wanted a completely unglamorous look, requiring all costumes to be bought off the rack and worn by the cast before filming, and making sure all sets were built smaller than life-size. In order to give the film a documentary-style realism, the director drew each member of the crew - props, grips, mixers, etc. - from the ranks of WWII veterans.

This was the first time Myrna Loy had worked with William Wyler and she was wary of his reputation as "90-Take Willy". As it turned out, the two got along very well.

In 1946 this became the most successful film at the box office since Gone with the Wind (1939) which was released 7 years earlier.

Myrna Loy receives top billing as she was the most successful female star at the time.

During the wedding scene at the end, Harold Russell fluffed his lines during his vows. Rather that calling cut and ordering a re-take, William Wyler liked how natural it sounded and this was the take used.

Virgina Mayo, worked as a dancer, then signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn and performed in several movies with Danny Kaye. She played the dream-girl heroine in: Wonder Man (1945), The Kid from Brooklyn (1946) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947). In her Hollywood heyday, Mayo was known as the voluptuous beauty in the film, The Girl from Jones Beach.

In 1949's White Heat she played the unsympathetic role of "Verna Jarrett", opposite James Cagney. She was also cast against type as a gold digger in, The Best Years of Our Lives. Her film career continued through the 1950s and 1960s, frequently in B-movie westerns and adventure films. While she also appeared in musicals, Mayo's singing voice was always dubbed.

Virginia and her husband, actor Michael O'Shea (of Jack London film fame) co-starred in: Tunnel of Love, Fiorello, and George Washington Slept Here. She has also starred in Cactus Flower, How the Other Half Loves, and the musical comedy, Good News.

Zero Hour!(1957)

Zero Hour!(1957). Written by Arthur Hailey. Cast: Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Sterling Hayden. Zero Hour! was the basis for the movie Airplane! Zero Hour! was also the remake of Hailey's Canadian Broadcasting Corporation play Flight into Danger(1956). Hailey co-wrote a novel with John Castle based on the same idea titled Flight Into Danger: Runway Zero-Eight (1958). The rights to the movie were purchased by the makers of the 1980 film Airplane! and they were able to use the screenplay almost verbatim. In later years, the film was bought by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Pilot Ted Stryker, in the final weeks of World War II, leads a raid on Wiesbaden, Germany. The target area is covered by fog, Ted does not cancel the mission and six of his pilots crash into countryside. Wounded Ted, is the only man to survive the mission and blames himself for the death of his men.

Eleven years later, Ted applies for a job in the Canadian Jet Research division of the Mid-Canadian Aircraft Co. Ted's old friend Frank Graham hires him and Ted returns home to celebrate the good news with his family. When he gets there he finds a note written by his wife Ellen, saying that she is leaving him. Ted rushes to the airport just in time to board her plane to Vancouver, even though he is still afraid of flying. Once on the the plane, Ted asks Ellen to give him another chance, but she refuses because he has never stopped punishing himself from his mistakes. Midway through the flight, some of the passengers become deathly ill, the stewardess, asks a physician who happens to be on the plane to help them. Baird tells Capt. Bill Wilson to land the plane, so the sick passengers can be taken to the hospital. Only to learn that they are going to run into bad weather and they can not land the plane. Soon, co-pilot Stewart passes out and Baird now believes that the problem is food poisoning. Soon, Bill is also sick with food poisoning. Although he is able to put the plane on autopilot before collapsing.

Baird tells Janet he is not even sure he can save the sick passengers lives unless they receive medical attention soon. In the cockpit, Baird tells Ted that he is the only person aboard who can of land the plane. Ted then takes the pilot's seat and contacts Canadian air traffic control, asking for guidance in flying the plane. Will Ted manage to get over his past and land the plane safely?

I really enjoyed this film even though some moments are impossible to watch without being reminded of their parody versions.




Sterling Hayden, For most of his career performed as a leading man, in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became known as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). He also played the Irish policeman, Captain McCluskey, in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather in 1972. Standing 6-feet, 5-inches tall, he is one of the tallest leading actors of all time.

FALLEN ANGEL (1945)

FALLEN ANGEL (1945). Romance/drama. Director: Otto Preminger. Cinematography: Joseph LaShelle, who also worked with Preminger on the film Laura. Cast: Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, Charles Bickford. The film is the last film Faye made as a major Hollywood star.

Eric Stanton a former New York press agent, who becomes a drifter and con man, who gets pulled off the bus because he doesn't have the fair to get to San Francisco, about 150 miles short of where he is going. Stanton, in the town of Walton, Ca. walks over to a small diner where he runs into a group of men who are talking about the disappearance of waitress, Stella, who later shows up.

Stanton cons his way into Professor Madley's room, where Stanton promises to help him get his seance show publicized. Through Madley, he meets Clara and June Mills. Madley needs to attend Madley performance and talks the two girls into going with him. The next day, Madley puts on a seance, bringing up the finances of, Clara and June's father, the late Abraham Mills . The two leave the seance very upset. Soon, Stanton falls in love with Stella. After a quick romance, Stanton purposes marriage. But Stella being a gold-digger refuses to marry him. Eric comes up with a plan to marry wealthy, June Mills, and divorce her as soon as he can. Clara knows he is up to no good and tries to stop the marriage. Stanton stays with Stella even on his wedding night. The next day Stella turns up dead.

Mark Judd, a cop-turned-detective, is investigating the murder, and his first suspect is Dave Atkins, Stella’s ex-boyfriend, until he learns about Stanton and Stella's relationship. Stanton flees to San Francisco, with June, only long enough to take her money. But.. he returns when he hears that June has been charged with Stella’s murder.

I thought Fallen Angel, was a dramatic change for Alice Faye. Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell, were both wonderful in this film.


FUN FACT:
Linda Darnell, spent a week working as a waitress in the Fox Commissary to prepare for her role.