Eleanor Parker

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Pride of the Marines is a stirring, powerful, hard-hitting World War II drama. Actually, it’s probably more accurate to say it’s a post-War drama, as the real meat of the picture concerns a wounded soldier’s return to civilian life. While Pride is undeniably patriotic, it also is not afraid to ask some serious, hard questions or to present war as less than a grand adventure. It really features only one battle sequence, which lasts some ten minutes; it’s an amazing, gripping sequence, but it doesn’t glorify battle as many similar films do. The men involved are fighting for their lives, and they react exactly as people really do react in such a situation. Similarly, the discussion about what life will be like when they return home dares to present the possibility that things will not be all roses, a rather bold suggestion for a 1945 film. Finally, the anguish, torment, and bitterness that the lead character experiences is striking and affecting. Read More »

Synopsis:
In 1930’s Austria, a young woman named Maria is failing miserably in her attempts to become a nun. When the Navy captain Georg Von Trapp writes to the convent asking for a governess that can handle his seven mischievous children, Maria is given the job. The Captain’s wife is dead, and he is often away, and runs the household as strictly as he does the ships he sails on. The children are unhappy and resentful of the governesses that their father keeps hiring, and have managed to run each of them off one by one. When Maria arrives, she is initially met with the same hostility, but her kindness, understanding, and sense of fun soon draws them to her and brings some much-needed joy into all their lives — including the Captain’s.Read More »

Synopsis:
Pregnant nineteen-year old Marie Allen (Eleanor Parker) is sentenced to prison as an accessory to robbery. The warden, Ruth Benton (Agnes Moorehead), dedicated to reforming even the most hardened of the prisoners, deals fairly with Marie, even upon learning of her condition. The naïve Marie comes up against tough block matron Evelyn Harper (Hope Emerson) and must decide whether accepting the friendship of the toughest prisoners will rub off on her and affect the future of her unborn child.Read More »

Synopsis:
Former World War II flying ace Matt Brennan (Humphrey Bogart) takes a position as a test pilot for a commercial aircraft corporation and bumps into his old girlfriend, Jo Holloway (Eleanor Parker), who now works as a receptionist for the company. As daredevil Matt tries to rekindle his once passionate romance with Jo, he courageously takes the most dangerous assignment of his career when he consents to use an unorthodox, unproven ejector seat while flying at death-defying speeds.Read More »

This hilarious screwball comedy gave Fred MacMurray a chance to show his brilliant comedic chops as Peter, a radio personality who is told he’s just inherited two million dollars by a gold-digging secretary (Eleanor Parker as Christy) who is determined to snag him for herself. Though he never quite believes she’s telling the truth about his inheritance, circumstances continue to bring Peter together with Christy, infuriating both his fiancée, June (Kay Buckley), and his pal, Dr. Cook (Richard Carlson), who secretly loves June himself. It’s not long before Christy and Dr. Cook join forces and cook up some shenanigans to help them win the lovers they want.Read More »

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A young painter stumbles upon an assortment of odd characters at an English estate where he has been hired to give art lessons to beautiful Laura Fairlie. Among them are Anne Catherick, a strange young woman dressed in white whom he meets in the forest and who bears a striking resemblance to Laura; cunning Count Fosco, who hopes to obtain an inheritance for nobleman Sir Percival Glyde, whom he plans to have Laura marry; Mr. Fairlie, a hypochondriac who can’t stand to have anyone make the slightest noise; and eccentric Countess Fosco who has her own dark secret. The artist also finds himself drawn to Marion Halcomb, a distant relation to Laura whom the Count also has plans for.Read More »

Synopsis:
A police lieutenant sets out to break up a ring of tire bootleggers–criminals who sell defective tires to customers who can’t get new ones because of the rubber shortage brought about by the war. His task is complicated by the fact that his brother is mixed up in the racket and that they are both in love with the same girl.Read More »

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Frankie Machine returns to his down-and-out neighborhood after a stint in rehab for heroin addiction. His wheelchair-bound wife, Zosh, doesn’t support Frankie’s dream to become a professional drummer now that he’s clean; old habits are hard to break when your support system wants you to keep feeding the monkey on your back. Graphic and unsettling, Elmer Bernstein’s jazz score is truly evocative.Read More »

Plot:
The story of Colonel Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay, the bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Although unaware of the full potential of this new weapon, he knows that it is capable of doing tremendously more damage than any other weapon used before, and that the death toll resulting from it will be enormous. He is reluctant to be the person who will end so many lives, but if using it may bring an end to the war, then not doing so may result in even more lives being lost in continued ground assaults as the fighting goes on. At the same time, the intense secrecy surrounding this mission leaves him with no one he can express his thoughts and doubts to, not even his wife. As time goes on, the pressure upon him only increase. Written by Jean-Marc RocherRead More »