Henry King

Billy Bigelow has been dead for fifteen years, and now outside the pearly gates, he long waived his right to go back to Earth for a day. But he has heard that there is a problem with his family, namely his wife Julie Bigelow née Jordan and the child he never met, that problem with which he would now like to head back to Earth to assist in rectifying. Before he is allowed back to Earth, he has to get the OK from the gatekeeper, to who he tells his story… Immediately attracted to each other, he and Julie met when he worked as a carousel barker. Both stated to the other that they did not believe in love or marriage, but they did get married. Because the shrewish carousel owner, Mrs. Mullin, was attracted to Billy herself, and since she believed he was only of use as a barker if he was single to attract the young women to the carousel, she fired him. With no other job skills and unwilling to take just any job, Billy did not provide for Julie but rather lived off Julie’s Aunt Nettie. But Billy figured he could be the breadwinner through his association with a criminal lowlife named Jigger Craigin, which led to his death. In going back to Earth, Billy not only hopes to help his child, but “tell” Julie of his true feeling for her.Read More »

Quote:
Most actors, especially established stars, yearn for roles that allow them to stretch their performance muscles and play against type. Most big stars who attained their status in the heyday of the studio system often found themselves stifled by typecasting, especially if they enjoyed overwhelming success in any given role. Studio executives weren’t about to risk placing an established property in something unexpected, and if the paying public had shown their approval by lining up at the box office for, say, Tyrone Power as a swashbuckling hero, then Tyrone Power as a swashbuckling hero is exactly what the public would be offered. Read More »

Synopsis: Charlotte Danfield (Fay Bainter), a member of an old Maryland family with horse breeding in its blood, orders her entire stable sold after her husband meets his death in a hunting accident. She also forbids her son Lee (John Payne) to ride again, but when the boy remains friendly with Charlotte’s old horse trainer, William Stewart (Walter Brennan), and his granddaugther Linda (Brenda Joyce), Charlotte ships him off to school in Europe to remove him from Maryland’s horse-oriented environment. Horses are in Lee’s blood, however, so when he returns home a grown man and learns that “Uncle Bill” is grooming “Cavalier” for the Maryland Cup, he eagerly offers to ride the steed. Later, after acquiescing to Charlotte’s wish that he not ride, Lee, out of a sense of loyalty to Uncle Bill, defies his mother’s will. Read More »

From anttialanenfilmdiary.blogspot.com
Ben Halper sets up his barber’s shop at the turn of the century in Sevillinois and watches the town grow around him. Thinking it is for the best, he tries to shield his wife Nellie from the worries of the world. She finally rebels while he is away at war and takes a fateful trip to Chicago. This turns out to be the first of a number of critical family crises for Ben.Read More »

Quote:
Notorious gunfighter Jimmy Ringo rides into town to find his true love, who doesn’t want to see him. He hasn’t come looking for trouble, but trouble finds him around every corner.Read More »

Tyrone Power pursues Betty Grable and becomes A YANK IN THE R.A.F., in this romantic drama set in the early days of WWII. For smooth-talking daredevil pilot Tim Baker (Power), flying is a game and the war is simply an opportunity to make some quick money. When a high-paying job ferrying bombers across the Atlantic lands him in London, he runs into Carol (Grable), an old flame, and joins the R.A.F. just to be near her. But problems arise when Carol is pursued by another pilot (John Sutton), who treats her better and happens to be Baker’s superior officer! When both men start flying bombing missions over Europe, Carol finds that choosing between them is suprisingly hard, and Baker learns that not everyone takes life as lightly as he does.Read More »

ArtsEmerson writes:
Hemingway’s crestfallen tale of American expatriates in Europe is faithfully refashioned for the screen in Henry King’s 1957 drama. The Lost Generation’s carousing lifestyles and misguided behavior are depicted much like in the original text, with performances rich in contradiction and nostalgic sentimentality. Leo Tover’s Cinemascope cinematography, elegantly reserved and yet aptly illustrative, imbues a lively atmosphere into the film’s famous Pamplona bullfighting scene, and the screenplay retains much of the distinct syntax and rhythm of Hemingway’s printed dialogue.Read More »

In the late 1860s, newspaperman Henry M. Stanley agrees to go to Africa to find Dr. David Livingston. The good doctor has been reported dead but Stanley’s employer, James Gordon Bennet, publisher of the New York Herald doesn’t believe. As he is fond of saying, he likes to make the news while others wait for it to happen. Stanley goes first to Zanzibar to organize his safari deep into uncharted Africa. There he becomes enamored with the beautiful Eve Kingsley. He sets off with his sidekick Jeff Slocum and they face many hazards along the way including illness and irate tribesmen.Read More »

Quote:
In the 1800s, American inventor Robert Fulton (Richard Greene) travels from Europe to New York intent on building a steamboat that will revolutionize river travel between waterfront boroughs, but instead gets a rude welcome from a vicious shipyard boss at a local tavern owned by salty beauty Pat O’Day (Alice Faye). Pat takes a shine to Fulton and offers to help him out, but her jealous boyfriend — sailor Charles Brownne (Fred MacMurray) — fears the new vessel will put him out of work.Read More »