Reviews

Devil's Doorway is an indescribably sad movie. It is directed by Anthony Mann and photographed in Caravaggesque black and white by cinematographer John Alton. The film is a story about war, peace, love and bigotry. At the end of the Civil War, a veteran of the Union Army, Lance Poole, returns to his home in Wyoming. Poole, (Robert Taylor), a Shoshone Indian, has had his fill of fighting and simply wants to live in peace on his family's ancestral acres.

The West, however, is changing. Wyoming has become a territory and the railroad is spreading westward. Immigration from the drought ridden states of the Midwest is filling Wyoming with sheepherders who need land and water to survive. New territorial laws are Draconian in respect to Indians—they are not American citizens, but wards of the government. Land that has been in their families for generations is now open to anyone who wants to homestead there.

A lawyer named Vern Coolan (Louis Calhern) has moved West for his health. He hates Indians, especially Lance Poole, or Broken Lance, a "rich Indian." Coolan stirs up trouble by encouraging the sheep men to homestead Poole's land. Poole goes to the only lawyer in town other than Coolan, one A. Masters (Paula Raymond). At first horrified that she is a woman, Poole does hire her to help him.

Coolan is successful in mobilizing the sheep men. The Indians, led by Broken Lance, must fight to survive. Masters involves the army in a misguided attempt to save the man she now loves. A final battle ensues with the predictable outcome. Broken Lance, a holder of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his war service, surrenders to the cavalry.

A sub-theme of the film is the confinement of Indians to the reservations. Their men dead, a small group of women and children is forced to return to a reservation from their shelter on Poole's land. Watching them trudge away to a life of confinement is heart breaking. There are no happy endings here.

Robert Taylor is superb as Broken Lance Poole. When offered the role, Mr. Taylor was happy to act in a film that, for once, saw things from the Indian point of view. It is the same year he made another film, Ambush, that saw Indians as villains. Lance Poole gradually morphs into Broken Lance as Taylor is forced to accept that the world only sees the color of his "hide." His manner of dress changes as does his personality. Lance Poole was a happy man looking forward to the future. Broken Lance sees that there is no future for him.

The supporting cast of Marshall Thomson, James Mitchell, Edgar Buchanan, Spring Byington and Fritz Lieber, are first rate. The music by Daniele Amfithreatrof is muted and sorrowful, except for the battle scenes.

Broken Arrow, with James Stewart and Jeff Chandler, was made after Devil's Doorway but released first. It was a more upbeat and successful take on Indians. Devil's Doorway did make money but, according to the studio, only a net profit of $25,000. Today the film is highly regarded for its hard edged honesty, first-rate acting, subtle direction and superb photography.

"There's Always Tomorrow" is an old-fashioned story of love, romance and responsibility. Frank Morgan is the under-appreciated father of five children. Despite the fact that all but one are grown they are all referred to as children. His role in the family is doormat. Morgan's wife (Lois Wilson) is obsessed with the children and barely notices her husband. The children (Robert Taylor, Louise Latimer, Maurice Murphy, Dick Winslow and Helen Parrish) are spoiled rotten. Ella the maid (Margaret Hamilton) is the only one who pays any attention to him.

The film begins with a jubilant Morgan on his his way home from work on his wedding anniversary with a surprise for his wife--flowers, dinner and a musical show. His happiness is deflated as he walks in the door and discovers that his wife won't go because "the children" are having a party and would he please shovel coal into the furnace.

Ignored by his offspring and unable to find a place to sit down in his own house, Morgan ends up trying to read the paper on the front porch. A roadster pulls up and a beautiful woman (Binnie Barnes) climbs the step to the porch. She turns out to be a former employee of his whom he hasn't seen in years. Ms. Barnes is the star of the movie. She is graceful, elegant and has an extraordinarily expressive face.

The neglected Morgan and the glamorous Ms. Barnes rekindle an old relationship that eventually forces everyone to take a good look at themselves and try to put things right.

The world of "There's Always Tomorrow" seems older than 1934. The original novel was written by Ursula Parrott in the same year but the ambiance is Victorian. One of the delights of the film is the vehicles—huge, sleek, glossy cars and a giant streetcar. The costumes are sumptuous, mainly party clothes and some masquerade apparel. This is Robert Taylor's first appearance as a Medieval knight, a role he will play with great success later.

"There's Always Tomorrow" was Mr. Taylor's second film, after Handy Andy starring Will Rogers. The film has three acts. In act one he smiles maniacally while participating in the "children's" revels. Act two actually lets him do some acting as he is devastated by his father's seeming infidelity. In the third act he just sulks. It is hard to believe that in one year Robert Taylor will give a splendid performance in "Magnificent Obsession" and in two years hold his own with Garbo in "Camille." Taylor and Ms. Barnes worked together twice more, in "Broadway Melody of 1938" (1937) and "Where Angels Go Trouble Follows" (1968).

There's Always Tomorrow was directed by Edward Sloman and produced by Carl Leammle for Universal Studios. It was remade in 1956 with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray.

"A Wicked Woman" hit the screens in 1934. It is a melodrama with a solid core of morality. Nono Trice (Mady Christians) is a young woman living in extreme poverty with her moonshiner husband. On the run from the sheriff, the husband is going to dump Nono and take the eldest boy with him. She can't allow this and ends up shooting the drunken husband and dumping his body in the bayou. The next day she gives birth to her fourth child, a boy with a deformed leg.

The young mother leaves town with the children and begins to turn herself into a different woman through education. She is an extremely strict disciplinarian--so harsh that a modern viewer would disapprove. She changes her name to Naomi Stroud and eventually becomes a high end dressmaker.

When the children grow up, Naomi cannot let go of them, trying to hold them in childhood for their own protection. They, naturally, rebel-- discovering alcohol, dancing and dating. Naomi herself acquires a boyfriend in the person of a local newspaper editor (Charles Bickford). The youngest girl (Jean Peters) is dating a young, sleek and villainous Robert Taylor. Taylor is a louse who ends up injuring Curt (William Henry), the oldest boy. Naomi bargains with God (for the second time) that if Curt lives she will go back and turn herself in for murder.

Naomi's defense is that she was protecting her children but she produces no children in court and is about to be convicted. At the last moment her whole family arrives, with her boyfriend, and she goes free and marries the boyfriend. The cast also includes Betty Furness as the older daughter and Sterling Holloway as her boyfriend.

So why is this more than a soap opera? Because Naomi is self-sacrificing (perhaps a bit much so) but she is determined to better herself and bring her children up to be responsible citizens. In our current era of anything goes, this message probably seems laughable to many viewers. Education, honesty, propriety and courage may seem out of date, but they are not.

Note: At this point MGM did not know what to do with Robert Taylor. No one anticipated that he would eventually earn the studio well over $150,000,000.

"Billy the Kid" (1941) is an early example of the use of Technicolor. The film is visually outstanding. Cinematographers Leonard V. Skall and Leonard Smith received an Oscar nomination for their work on the film and should have won. From close-ups to panoramic views of Monument Valley, Kanab, Utah and other locations they used color, composition and especially light masterfully. Some scenes evoke the stillness of a Vermeer and others the chiaroscuro of Rembrandt. Near the end of the movie Billy is standing near the window of a tumbledown shack. The viewer is outside and can see his body fading into the shadows except for the upper part of his face, especially the intense blue eyes. There is a Caravaggio-like spotlight on the hand and gun the outlaw is pointing out the window.

Historically, there is little resemblance between the film and the actual life of Billy the Kid. The general details of his background is correct but the names have all been changed, perhaps to head off the complaints of purists. There is no Pat Garrett, but rather a Jim Sherman (Brian Donlevy), no William Tunstall but an Eric Keating (Ian Hunter). The filmmakers obviously wanted to tell a good story without regard to historical accuracy.

Robert Taylor was 30 when Billy the Kid was filmed. He's too old for the part but not by as much as some have made out. To seem younger, Taylor plays Billy as uncouth, uneducated and probably illiterate. The outlaw is incapable of understanding the consequences of his actions. He's always being bombarded by new ideas and new customs. There is a lighthearted scene where Billy is handed a teacup and saucer, objects obviously new to him. He picks the cup up as though it were a glass until he sees what Keating is doing. Billy holds the cup awkwardly by the handle until Keating turns away then he gulps the tea with his original hold.

This was Robert Taylor in his element. He was a superb rider and did all of his own riding in this film, even in the long shots. Taylor also had the western swagger down pat and seems very comfortable in his cowboy costumes. In private life, he often wore jeans, boots and a Stetson. In the first and last parts of the film, Billy dresses all in black. In the middle he wears a blue shirt to indicate his changed lifestyle. Robert Taylor practiced left-handed drawing and shooting for weeks before the film and used the skill again in the film "Ride Vaquero" in 1953.

Taylor and Donlevy are comfortable with one another, having worked together before in "This Is My Affair" in 1937. The easiness of their relationship makes Billy's (temporary) transformation into an honest cowboy believable. Mary Howard has a small role as Eric Keating's sister and makes the most of it. Ian Hunter is believable as rancher Keating.

The villains, especially Hickey (Gene Lockhart) are suitably nasty. Henry O'Neill, a leading character actor, throws himself with gusto into the role of a newspaper publisher whose press is constantly being sabotaged.

So whether you like a good story, a series of beautiful visuals or just like to look at Robert Taylor, this film is for you.

"Common Clay," a play by Cleves Kincaid, opened in August of 1915 on Broadway. It was relatively successful and ran for 316 performances. In 1919 a silent film of the stage play was released starring Fannie Ward as Ellen and W. E. Lawrence as Hugh. "Common Clay" was filmed again as a talkie in 1930, starring Constance Bennett and Lew Ayres. Both films were well reviewed with the New York Times commenting on the 1919 film as "the amazing adventures of 'that common clay girl' are still amazing, and Miss Ward and her company first wring and then cheer the hearts of their spectators." (March 3, 1919).

The 1930 version of the film was pre-code and had a number of racy elements. The 1936 version, retitled "Private Number," was cleaned up, slimmed down and simplified. Some of the character names were changed. (The new title is a complete mystery since telephones don't enter into the story at all.) Although Robert Taylor received top billing, the film actually belongs to Loretta Young. Ms. Young portrays a young girl, down on her luck and penniless who becomes a maid for a wealthy family. Basil Rathbone is delightfully slimy as the lecherous and crooked butler for whom Ms. Young works.

Of course, Ms. Young (Ellen) and Mr. Taylor (Dick, the Winfield's son) fall in love. The progress of their romance at the family's summer house in Maine is photographed beautifully. Ms. Young looks gorgeous in a bathing suit, a long gown and her maid's outfit. Mr. Taylor, wearing far too much makeup as he did in those days, is nonetheless affecting as the love-struck college boy. Both stars combine physical beauty with polished performances. Patsy Kelly is always good and she is very good here as Ms. Young's fellow maid and friend. Marjorie Gateson and Paul Harvey are stuffy but sympathetic as Mr. and Mrs. Winfield, Dick's parents. Prince, a Great Dane, is excellent as Hamlet, a Great Dane.

In the earlier versions, Hugh, now Dick, loves Ellen and leaves her high and dry (and pregnant) when he goes back to college. In Private Number they marry and she makes him go back to finish his degree. Although the acting continues to be first rate, as is the direction and cinematography, the script creaks along from one implausibility to another. Probably the worst one is when Ellen is thrown out of the Winfield's home and fetches up immediately in a lovely farmhouse that someone (never specified) has lent her.

It all comes to a climax in a totally unbelievable but nonetheless absorbing trial where evildoers are unmasked and justice triumphs. At the end of the film Ms. Young forgives Mr. Taylor for not trusting her and they go into a final clinch.

Private Number shouldn't be a good movie but it is. The creaky script is more than made up for by the direction by Roy del Ruth, the extraordinary visuals and the thoroughly professional acting.

The Hangman was Robert Taylor's first independent film after leaving MGM. In later years, he would describe it as one of his failures. Like many Taylor movies, it's an unusual twist on a familiar subject. Mackenzie Bovard, a Deputy Marshal, is famous for his ability to catch criminals who are later hanged. Bovard is cynical and world weary with a poor opinion of his fellow humans. Pursuing a robbery suspect, he meets the young and lovely Tina Louise. Through his relationship with her Bovard gradually regains his faith in humanity and becomes a much warmer and more likable person. This is far from a typical western--no fight scenes, no gorgeous scenery, no evil villains. As another reviewer noted, it's a drama set in the old West. It's about responsibility, right and wrong and personal development and growth. Taylor is excellent, as always, in his understated way. Tina Louise is good as a young woman who changes from a drab loser to a confident woman. Mabel Albertson is wonderful as a middle-aged woman who has the hots for Taylor (who can blame her?). Fess Parker, post Davy Crockett is effective as a town Sheriff and his laid back persona makes a good contrast to the driven, more intense Taylor. Perhaps not a classic but definitely worth watching and owning.

"Cop on Trial" has Captain Matt Holbrook falsely accused of police brutality. A fleeing crook fell through a glass door and was badly cut and he's claiming Holbrook pushed him. The crook was collecting protection money from the drugstore where the incident occurred. In a lengthy trial sequence two lawyers battle with the defense lawyer staging what he claims is a reenactment of the "crime." Holbrook's lawyer brings in several character witnesses to contract the claim that he is habitually violent. A witness to everything, the drugstore clerk, originally refuses to cooperate as does her cowardly boss. After a one-on-one talk with Holbrook at the drugstore, she relents and fingers the crook. Holbrook is exonerated. Lisa Bonay, his girlfriend and a reporter keeps trying to get an exclusive interview but he'll only talk about how beautiful her eyes are. This episode allows Robert Taylor to make Holbrook much more vulnerable than usual. Especially after the so-called reenactment he looks defeated. This is one of the best episodes of the series.

Viewers who want an all out action war movie with guns blazing and corpse strewn landscapes should avoid D-Day the Sixth of June. Released in 1956, the film looks back somewhat nostalgically at a war that was already beginning to fade into history. The world depicted seems remote as few people today have actually experienced total war. Today War World II has taken its place in history as the necessary war, the unquestioned war, unlike most of what has happened since—Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The movie explores large issues on a small scale. We follow a few individuals and how their lives were impacted by the events preceding the Normandy invasion. There is an elderly British Brigadier who has been left behind by modern warfare, a car salesman from Minneapolis who wants to be a general, a publisher's son-in-law invalided into a desk job, a British career soldier and a young woman from a sheltered background doing her part in the conflict.

The movie covers a number of themes including British American relations in the last year of the war, the dislocation of normal morality in wartime, the war-weariness of the British population as they hold out for yet another year of suffering. Behind all of it is the war, huge, bloodthirsty and seemingly endless. Everything is impacted—steaks are horse meat, cigarettes are a rarity, nights are pitch black with all light forbidden, sirens blare day and night.

The protagonists are Captain Brad Parker (Robert Taylor), an American who broke his leg on a parachute jump and has been relegated to desk work, Major John Wynter, a heroic British commando (actual war hero Richard Todd) and Valerie Russell (Dana Wynter), the young woman who comes to love them both. Supporting characters include Major Timmons a volatile car salesman (Edmund O'Brien) and Brigadier Russell (John Williams), Valerie's father who is filled with bitterness over the end of his career.

Parker is a married man from New England who has been away from his wife for over three years. Wynter and Valerie Russell are friends but not quite lovers. When Wynter is posted to Africa, Parker and Russell remain in London and become friends and then lovers. She is torn between her feelings of friendship and obligation towards Wynter and her exciting new American lover.

Eventually both Parker and Wynter become part of the Normandy invasion. The last fifteen minutes or so of the movie concern the battle itself which seems tame by modern standards. The lives of both men are changed forever by the events of June 6, 1944. There is no happy ending for most of the characters, no neat solutions to the complications of human life against the background of death.

There are overtones of Waterloo Bridge (1940) in D-Day the Sixth of June. A romance between two very different people against the backdrop of war is central in both films. Robert Taylor is the male lead in both, wearing his signature trench coat each time. Neither has a happy ending. But there is an innocence to the earlier film that has been replaced by a kind of exhaustion in the latter. Most of the main characters spend most of their time living in a phony world where hedonism is the rule. A character at one point speculates about what they'll all be doing after the war. "Going back to our husbands and wives," another replies.

D-Day the Sixth of June is well acted and has good production values. Robert Taylor and Dana Wynter are compatible and their clinches are convincing. Most of the time Taylor convinces us that he is younger than his actual years. His movements are those of a man more youthful than 45. Richard Todd is the good guy, loyal and self-sacrificing. Edmund O'Brien is outstanding as the volatile Col. Timmons. The supporting cast is first rate.

D-Day the Sixth of June is a thoughtful film, looking back at a crucial part of what was then recent history. Even at a distance of almost 60 years, the human dilemmas portrayed here are relevant and timely.

MGM studios released two films with Robert Taylor early in 1935. "Society Doctor", starring Chester Morris, Virginia Bruce and Robert Taylor premiered in January. "Times Square Lady" followed in March, starring Robert Taylor. Virginia Bruce and Pinky Tomlin. Lady is a solid gangster film, with a strong cast backing Taylor and Bruce. Isabel Jewell is Bruce's wise-cracking sidekick, Nat Pendleton is his valet, Helen Twelvetrees his girl. The rest of the cast consists mostly of a wonderfully slimy bunch of crooks played by Jack Kramer, Henry Kolker, Raymond Hatton, Russell Hopton, Fred Kohler and Robert Elliott.

The plot is fairly straightforward. A wealthy promoter dies and his shady underlings assume they will take over his considerable holdings. To their surprise, the deceased had a daughter (Bruce) who is his sole heir. With a paternalism bordering on contempt, they plan to report to her that there is no money for her to inherit but they will take his properties off her hands for a fraction of their worth.

To convince her to sell, the crooks stage some incidents to demonstrate how bad it all is. Gang member Robert Taylor is assigned to charm the lady out of her holdings. Taylor manages a nightclub and this introduces a subplot involving singer/songwriter Pinky Tomlin, creator of such songs as "The Object of My Affection" and "What's the Reason (I'm Not Pleasin' You?).

Taylor frequently played dubious characters who find redemption in such films as "Rogue Cop" and "Johnny Eager." Here he is saved by his love for Miss Bruce's character. As happened not infrequently they were also a couple off screen.

The last quarter of the film is filled with action, car chases, fights, shootings and a lot of double crossing. The film moves quickly and benefits from comic relief by Tomlin, Pendleton and a cow named either Daisy or Bossy.

Robert Taylor is very young and very thin. The physical differences between the Taylor of "Times Square Lady" (filmed late 1934) and "His Brother's Wife" (filmed in 1936) are striking. Nonetheless he is effective here, combining toughness with energy and humor. Bruce and Taylor have good chemistry together. The film was generally well received in its day, with the New York Times calling it "a bit of light divertissement."

George Dean (Robert Taylor) is an angry and defeated man. He has been fired from his job as a college professor and is forced to take a job as a teacher of Seminole Indian children on an Everglades reservation. He is broke and angry when he arrives at his reservation with his three children.

At the same time, Chief Sam Tiger (Ford Rainey) of the local Seminole tribe is dying. He has seen his death coming soon and is desperate to get his grandson, Johnny Tiger (Chad Everett), to replace him. His son, Johnny's father, left the tribe and died of alcoholism in the white world.

Johnny himself is living in two worlds. A self-proclaimed half-breed, he is a hard partying man who seems to be on course to follow his father's fate. As the movie progresses, Johnny becomes a pawn in the battle between the school teacher and his grandfather. Dean wants Johnny to go to college on a scholarship—the first of his tribe to do so. He isn't entirely selfless about this. He thinks Johnny is a good subject for publishing a book that would bring him recognition in the academic world. Chief Sam, however, is equally desperate for Johnny to abandon the white man's world and settle down to running the tribe.

In the meantime, there are two romantic relationships going on. Johnny is attracted to George's daughter, Barbara (Brenda Scott) and the local doctor (Geraldine Brooks) falls for George.

In a dramatic twist, Randy, George's youngest child (Steven Wheeler) is trapped in a forest fire. His frantic father plows around in the woods looking for him but it is Sam who decides his fate.

The premise of this film is interesting—extremists of very different points of view thrown against one another with no hope of compromise. The endless battle between old and new raging on in an unusual setting.

Ford Rainey and Marc Lawrence are excellent as the tribal chief and medicine man. Chad Everett is muscular and energetic as Johnny. Geraldine Brooks is intelligent and sultry as the doctor. Brenda Scott is innocent and lovely as George's eldest daughter. The editing has a number of highlights; George is contemptuous of the tribe as "savages." As he says the word, the film cuts to a group of 1960s young people gyrating to rock music.

The women in Johnny Tiger aren't treated well. George seems completely uninterested in Barbara except for helping him get close to Johnny. He doesn't protect her early in the film when Johnny is frightening her with his horse and blatantly uses her later to win Johnny over. Johnny also has a slutty girlfriend. The wonderful Geraldine Brooks waggles her butt at the camera when she is first seen. Later she asks George to hand her the bottoms of her pajamas.

Nonetheless, the interplay between George and the doctor is good. There is a wonderful scene where she grabs George and throws him down on the bed, kissing him enthusiastically. When they surface he splutters and acts indignant. She concludes that he has no feelings. By the end of the film she has decided that he "shows promise."

The problem is the usually wonderful Robert Taylor. Still handsome in his mid fifties, Taylor just isn't convincing as a pompous, arrogant, defeated twit. George is totally self-centered and completely oblivious to the needs of others. Robert Taylor's persona has almost always been larger than life. He is believable as a dedicated doctor, a strong and handsome lover, a soldier, a Roman commander, a knight, a tough cop, a gangster. We believe him when he's saving lives, fighting off armies, taking on Nero, rescuing maidens, taming the West, saving herds of horses and so on. Taylor is not believable as a wimp. In one scene he is called upon to cry and does so unconvincingly. Men of his day did not cry. It is also hard to believe he would be so passive in his interactions with the sexy doctor.

This is not to say that he doesn't have good scenes. His anger against Sam Tiger is convincing, especially when they're head to head. George's belief that the "only purity in this world is knowledge" rings true.

Robert Taylor wanted "Johnny Tiger" to be the beginning of his transition into character roles. He was tired of being the "beautiful lover," as Ava Gardner put it. He told an interviewer that his days in the boudoir were over and then hastily corrected himself--"on film." However, Universal Studios abandoned this picture, not promoting it at all and eventually reducing it to second billing to "The Munsters."

Tip on a Dead Jockey looks at the plight of a veteran pilot who is suffering from what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder. Lloyd Tredman (Robert Taylor) has decided to drift along in life, hiding away from family and friends in Madrid. His wife (Dorothy Malone) was about to divorce him, at his request, but changes her mind and goes after her man. Taylor is living on the fringes of Madrid society, giving rowdy parties and avoiding work. He is also carrying on a mild flirtation with his neighbor (Gia Scala) wife of his service buddy (Jack Lord). After losing his shirt when a jockey is killed during a race, Taylor is handed an offer by Martin Gabel--a simple matter of flying some currency from one point to another--illegal but not dangerous. He at first refuses then accepts the offer to save Lord from doing it and becoming a criminal. Taylor has to overcome his terror of flying to help his friend. Marcel Dalio provides some comic relief as does Joyce Jameson as a drunken lady who doesn't know how she ended up in Taylor's bed. Nothing goes smoothly, of course. Drugs enter the picture and Taylor has to decide what he will or will not do. The film was originally scheduled to be directed by Orson Welles but he dropped out and Richard Thorpe took over. Not a great film but solid entertainment done professionally by a very good cast.

Rogue Cop is a movie about sin, redemption and forgiveness. The story is told through the life of Det. Sgt. Chris Kelvaney (Robert Taylor), a crooked cop. Kelvaney is living high off his contacts in the underworld, dressing beautifully and throwing money around as no honest cop could. He has a younger brother Eddie (Steve Forrest), a uniformed cop on the beat. One night Eddie sees a murderer escaping from the crime scene and subsequently identifies the crook from mug shots.

The murderer, it seems, has friends in high (or low) places in the underworld, Beaumont (George Raft) and Ackerman (Robert F. Simon). They tell Chris to call off Eddie unless he wants his brother killed. Eddie, being a straight arrow, refuses to cooperate and suffers the consequences. The rest of the movie concerns Chris Kelvaney's quest to avenge his brother while avoiding disgrace from his superiors.

Chris Kelvaney is played by Robert Taylor in an Oscar worthy performance as a man who is, at first, satisfied with himself but who comes to realize what a mess he's made of things. Gradually he becomes disgusted with himself and begins to understand that he needs forgiveness for his past. Taylor is utterly convincing in the role, first as the self-satisfied crook and later as the devastated man looking to make amends by turning informer and closing down Raft's crime empire.

Steve Forrest's role is underwritten but he makes the best of it. Unusually for a gangster film, Rogue Cop has two female characters who actually do something. Janet Leigh is Karen, a former mobster's moll whose escape from the world of crime inspires Chris. There is a wonderful scene where Chris is bullying Karen to get her to help his brother. He grabs her roughly and kisses her. She resists and then gradually responds to the kiss. Leigh's face eloquently portrays the change. Anne Francis plays Beaumont's drunken mistress Nancy. Kelvaney is the only person who treats her kindly when her paramour throws her out. His gentleness is a step on his way to redemption.

Robert Ellenstein is especially good as an honest cop who turns on Kelvaney for his dishonesty then supports him at the end. A wounded and possibly dying Kelvaney asks him for forgiveness but the reply is ambiguous.

Rogue Cop's John F. Seitz was nominated for a best black and white cinematography Oscar for 1954. The movie was based on a novel of the same name by mystery writer and screen writer William P. McGivern.

House of the Seven Hawks was released in December 1959, when its star, Robert Taylor, was forty-eight years old. It is a mystery based on Victor Canning's best selling book, House of the Seven Flies. The plot concerns John Nordley, an American ex-pat who lives in Britain and runs a charter boat. Captain Nordley is flung into a convoluted situation involving dead policemen, ex-Nazis, scheming women, creepy crooks and innocent daughters.

The New York Times called the movie "a satisfying labyrinthine plot and carefully placed direction and underplaying that adds up to a modest but truly taut and absorbing diversion." The director is Richard Thorpe, who had worked with Taylor before in six other movies, including The Crowd Roars, Ivanhoe and Knights of the Round Table.

Despite being basically a suspense film House of the Seven Hawks has a considerable comic undertone. Robert Taylor plays Nordley as the only sane man in a nest of loonies. No one is what they are supposed to be, with people assuming false identities and numerous double-crosses.

Other than Taylor, the cast is European. Nicole Maurey plays the love interest. Linda Christian is a one of the double-crossers. Donald Wolfitt and Gerard Heinz are policemen. David Kossoff, Eric Pohlmann and Philo Hauser are villains. The story ends with a diving expedition to recover stolen treasure and a satisfying shoot-out.

I'm not sure Robert Taylor took this movie terribly seriously. He wears the same costume throughout the film, including an Eisenhower jacket that he had made for himself. He does a little mugging, especially when Nordley is being asked to believe one fantastic lie after another. Far from being wooden, he displays considerable facial flexibility. Mr. Taylor does look as though he's having fun.

MGM seems to be insisting that Mr. Taylor is much younger than his actual age. Nicole Maurey is too young for him. He is referred to in one scene as a young man. As in so many films the story gets him out of his clothes. The Taylor body is in good shape for a 48 year old, but it's not the body he had twenty years earlier. Nonetheless this film provides good, undemanding and ultimately satisfying entertainment.

Greer Garson was a rising star in 1939 and this film was her follow up to "Goodbye Mr. Chips." She had proved unexpectedly popular and the studio hurried this into production. Robert Taylor was in a slump after "Lady of the Tropics" and before "Waterloo Bridge." Robert Osborne, on TCM, commented that the screenwriters were either extremely clever or drunk. I tend to the latter interpretation.

The plot involves a love triangle consisting of Taylor, Garson and Lew Ayres. Taylor steals Garson from his old friend Ayres and the two marry. Subsequently Taylor neglects Garson by concentrating on his career. When he misses the boat for their honeymoon, she leaves him and they begin a divorce.

Ayres, either to get Garson back or to help the couple, slips each of them an amnesia drug, so that they forget the last six months. It works and, in a manner reminiscent of "Groundhog Day," they repeat their initial meeting and fall in love again, marry again and leave poor Ayres in the dust.

The entire cast is very smooth and professional, with Taylor and Ayres both outshining the still new Garson. Supporting actors include Billie Burke and Reginald Owen, both of them doing their signature type of character. Sara Haden is excellent as Taylor's secretary.

There is a lot of good dialog, some genuinely funny situations and the usual MGM high gloss. "Remember?" is like a good dessert: rich, tasty but not substantial.

Return of the Gunfighter" was not Robert Taylor's last film. He did a couple of B productions in Europe, working into 1968. In October of 1968 he had a lung removed and did not work again. Nonetheless, "Gunfighter" is a suitable farewell. Taylor plays a reformed gunfighter, recently released from prison after serving 5 years for a bogus murder conviction. The character, Ben Wyatt, seeks only to live in peace but events make this impossible. When a friend and his wife are murdered, Wyatt must see that justice prevails.

The meat of the story is the relationship between Wyatt and young gunslinger Lee Sutton, played by Chad Everett. A secondary motif is Wyatt's love for his "niece," Anisa, played by Ana Martin. It isn't a love triangle at all but a passing of the flame to the younger generation. Everett, a happy-go-lucky young man, learns to be a responsible adult by confronting the villain, Clay Sutton (Lyle Bettger), his older brother. Under Wyatt's influence, he faces evil and wins the young girl's love.

Everett is charming and handsome as Lee Sutton. His self-centered playfulness is gradually replaced by a sense of morality and accountability. Ana Martin's acceptance of him as a suitor comes only as he matures. Martin had a better role than women usually do in westerns and handles it satisfactorily although not memorably. The supporting cast is uniformly professional and effective.

The picture, however, belongs to Taylor. He is still handsome and his lined face conveys emotion with quiet authority. As others have said, no one rode a horse the way he did--his straight yet graceful posture, his easy control, his oneness with the animal. The pretty boy of the thirties has become a superb actor without ever being showy or "going Hollywood." It is disturbing, however, to watch his labored breathing, knowing what caused it. The last scene, where he walks away from the camera, alone in the street, is very moving.

"A Yank at Oxford" is one of several films intended to "toughen up" Robert Taylor's image after his success in a number of boudoir romances. Taylor plays Lee Sheridan, a college boy who has been spoiled rotten by his newspaper owner father, played by Lionel Barrymore. Father Sheridan's habit of holding the presses for Lee's latest athletic triumph has only contributed to the boy's swollen head.

Despite his lack of academic focus, Taylor is offered a place at Oxford. Upon his arrival, he immediately encounters a group of his fellow students, who begin a campaign to humiliate him. He also meets the leading lady, Maureen O'Sullivan.

The rest of the delightful and humorous picture focuses on the relationships among three people: Taylor and O'Sullivan, boyfriend and girlfriend; Taylor and Griffith Jones, his leading tormentor; O'Sullivan and Jones, brother and sister. A nymphomaniac Vivien Leigh adds spice to the mix.

"A Yank at Oxford" allows Robert Taylor to show that he is not only a fine actor but also a fine athlete. Granted that the script specified that he would always win, Taylor is believable as a runner and as a rower. He can also swim.

O'Sullivan is a charming coed torn between her boyfriend and her loyalty to her brother. Jones and Taylor cover up for one other for different peccadilloes. They evolve from antagonists to teammates to friends. A remarkable scene that deserves special mention concerns the venerable English tradition of "debagging."

The cast is uniformly good. Taylor looks and acts younger than his twenty-seven years. Jones is one of a fine contingent of British actors including Edmund Gwenn, Robert Coote and Edward Rigby. Lionel Barrymore shines as the older Sheridan. A pre-Scarlett Vivien Leigh is lovely and engaging.

"A Yank at Oxford" was MGM's first British-made film. Jack Conway, the American director keeps things moving at a brisk pace. Harold Rosson's photography has a newsreel-like immediacy. And Oxford, of course, looks wonderful.