Ralph Bellamy

  • Stuart Heisler – Straight from the Shoulder (1936)

    Stuart Heisler1931-1940CrimeDramaUSA
    Straight from the Shoulder (1936)
    Straight from the Shoulder (1936)

    Curt Hayden (Ralph Bellamy), a witness from the mob, is hidden away in a remote mountain cabin for his own safety. Accompanying Hayden is his young son Johnny (David Holt), who resents his father for planning to remarry. But Johnny loyally rushes to his dad’s defense when a pair of gunmen invade the cabin during Hayden’s absence. As the assassins await Hayden’s return, Johnny concocts a deucedly clever scheme to disarm them. This tension-laden climax is the best part of the picture, which otherwise is a traditional crime melodrama with romantic undertones. Plot Synopsis by Hal EricksonRead More »

  • Charles Vidor – Blind Alley (1939)

    Charles Vidor1931-1940Film NoirUSA
    Blind Alley (1939)
    Blind Alley (1939)

    One of the very first Hollywood films that could be described as a noir, this brisk psychological thriller stars Chester Morris as an inmate who escapes from prison and hides out in the home of a famed psychiatrist (Ralph Bellamy). As the hostage doctor begins analyzing his captor and dredges up the secrets of his troubled past, the tables gradually turn. With its striking cinematography by Lucien Ballard and Freudian themes, BLIND ALLEY is an intriguing early expression of film noir.Read More »

  • Andrew V. McLaglen – The Log of the Black Pearl (1975)

    1971-1980AdventureAndrew V. McLaglenUSA

    A young stockbroker, Christopher Sand, inherits an old ship named ‘Black Pearl’ along with a medallion that is the key to a sunken nazi treasure. But there are people also looking for the sunken treasure, people that will stop at nothing to gain access to the medallion.Read More »

  • George McCowan – Murder on Flight 502 (1975)

    1971-1980DramaGeorge McCowanMysteryUSA

    A jumbo jet leaves New York. After the plane has departed, a note is found in the first class lounge with an ominous message left by a passenger threatening to kill some of the passengers. At first it is thought to be a sick joke, but soon a man posing as a priest and a stewardess are killed. It is up to the captain to find the killer before the body count increases.Read More »

  • George Waggner – The Wolf Man [+Commentary] (1941)

    1941-1950ClassicsGeorge WaggnerHorrorUSA

    Upon the death of his brother, Larry Talbot returns from America to his ancestral home in Wales. He visits a gypsy camp with village girl Jenny Williams, who is attacked by Bela, a gypsy who has turned into a werewolf. Larry kills the werewolf but is bitten during the fight. Bela’s mother tells him that this will cause him to become a werewolf at each full moon. Larry confesses his plight to his unbelieving father, Sir John, who then joins the villagers in a hunt for the wolf. Transformed by the full moon, Larry heads for the forest and a fateful meeting with both Sir John and Gwen Conliffe.Read More »

  • Kurt Neumann – Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940)

    1931-1940Kurt NeumannMysteryUSA

    Ralph Bellamy made the first of four appearances as fictional sleuth Ellery Queen in Columbia’s “Ellery Queen, Master Detective”. For reasons that defy logic, the studio elected to transform the brilliant, analytical Queen into a hopeless bumbler, who seems incapable of tying his own shoes, much less solving a murder. Set at a posh health resort, the story gets under way when wealthy physical culturalist John Braun (played by former director Fred Niblo) is killed after threatening to cut all his heirs out of his will. Read More »

  • King Vidor – The Wedding Night (1935)

    1931-1940ClassicsDramaKing VidorUSA

    Because his finances are low and he is seeking background for a new book, author Tony Barratt and his wife Dora return to his country home in Conneecticut. While he is finding a theme for his book on the lives and customs of the local, immigrant tobacco farmers, his wife returns to New York and, alas, his Japanese servant deserts him. He meets a neighboring farm girl, Manya Novak, and hires her to cook his meals and clean his house. They soon fall in love. But, following the customs of the old country, her father has entered a ‘marriage bargain’ for her to wed a man, Fredrik Sobieski, not of her choosing.
    —Les AdamsRead More »

  • Otto Preminger – The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)

    1951-1960ClassicsOtto PremingerUSAWar

    Synopsis:
    The true story of General Billy Mitchell, a pioneering crusader for the Army’s fledgling air corp. In spite of an impressive performance during the First World War, the commanders of America’s armed forces still think of the airplane as little more then a carnival attraction. Even after sinking an “unsinkable” captured German battleship from the air, Mitchell sees funds dry up and friends die due to poor equipment. He is court-martialed after questioning the loyalty of his superiors for allowing the air corp to deteriorate.Read More »

  • Mark Sandrich – Carefree (1938)

    1931-1940ComedyMark SandrichMusicalUSA

    Synopsis:
    Stephen Arden (Ralph Bellamy) benefits so much from his psychiatrist pal Tony Flagg’s drinking cure that he sends his fiancée Amanda Cooper to see Tony in hopes that she can be ‘cured’ of her reluctance to get married. Tony falls fast in love with Amanda but has a tough pursuit when she overhears him on a voice recording calling all females idiots. Tony’s hypnosis treatments gets out of hand when Amanda repeatedly leaves the sessions in an unconscious Ego-at-the-wheel state. The first time out she enjoys a destructive rampage on the city streets. Read More »

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