Conrad Nagel
- 1961
Framed for setting fire to a warehouse containing the famous Nathan Claver art collection, Claude Demay (Robert H. Harris) is released from prison after six years. With vengenace on his mind, Claude plans to use a forgery of a "lost" Panamaker tapestry to prove that Leonard Voss (John Holland) is the real culprit, and that the Claver collection, allegedly destroyed in the fire, still exists. Unfortunately, Voss is murdered, and it looks like Claude is going to be railroaded back behind bars for keeps unless Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) can prove him innocent. Veteran movie leading man Conrad Nagel appears as a dapper art connoisseur, who may know more than he is letting on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Though billed fifth, Mary Astor is the one to watch in the Ross Hunter-produced soapera Stranger in My Arms. Astor portrays a neurotically possessive mother who'll stop at nothing to win a posthumous medal of honor for her son. But air force major Jeff Chandler knows that the dead boy was a coward who actually despised his mother. June Allyson, the boy's widow, suspects the truth, but would rather not hear it. Called to testify on behalf of the boy, Chandler is bribed by Ms. Astor to lie on the stand. The painful truth is eventually revealed, but there's some compensation for Ms. Allyson, who falls in love with Chandler. Stranger in My Arms was adapted from Robert Wilder's novel And Ride a Tiger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Allyson, Jeff Chandler, (more)
- 1959
After making Man Who Understood Women and seeing that the result was an ill-realized, uneven combination of Hollywood satire and tear-jerking melodrama, star Henry Fonda did not make another film until almost three years later. The story centers on a Hollywood producer who becomes so obsessed with turning his wife Leslie Caron into the sexiest star in Hollywood that he neglects her real needs. Feeling lonely and tired of Tinseltown, Caron returns to her native France and finds herself attracted to the handsome and very attentive pilot Cesare Danova. When Fonda hears about the budding affair, he flies into a rage and hires assassins to kill his rival. Unfortunately for him, the killers are romantics and decide that Caron and Danova are so in love that both must die so they can be together always. When Fonda finds out, he rushes over to France to try and save his wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Caron, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1957
Filmed on location in Copenhagen, Hidden Fear stars John Payne as an American lawman whose Denmark-based sister Natalie Norwick is in big, big, trouble. Arrested for the murder of her music hall partner, Natalie hopes that Payne can clear her name. Following the evidence trail, the detective meets the murder victim's girlfriend Anne Neyland, who in turn leads our hero to a vicious counterfeiting gang, headed by ex-Nazi Alexander Knox. Conrad Nagel, who evidently went along for the ride to get a free vacation, appears briefly as Neyland's American sugar daddy. Given only a limited release, Hidden Fear hid from view until it was picked up for an ABC network telecast in 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Payne, Alexander Knox, (more)
One of director Douglas Sirk's best and most successful romantic soapers of the 1950s, All That Heaven Allows is predicated on a May-December romance. The difference here is that the woman, attractive widow Cary Scott (Jane Wyman), is considerably older than the man, handsome gardener-landscaper Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson). Sirk builds up sympathy for Cary by showing how empty her life has been since her husband's death, even suggesting that the marriage itself was no picnic. Throwing conventionial behavior to the winds and facing social ostracism, Cary pursues her romance with Ron, who is unjustly perceived as a fortune-hunter by Cary's friends and family--especially her priggish son Ned (William Reynolds). Amusingly, Conrad Nagel was to have had a much larger part as Harvey, an elderly widower who carries a torch for Cary, but his role was trimmed down during previews when audiences disapproved of an implicit romance between a sixtyish man and a fortysomething woman! All That Heaven Allows was remade by unabashed Douglas Sirk admirer Rainer Werner Fassbinder as Ali--Fear Eats the Soul (1974), in which the age gap between hero and heroine was even wider. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, (more)
- 1948
The positive public response to such productions as Crossfire and Gentleman's Agreement led to a mini-cycle of postwar anti-prejudice films. One of these was The Vicious Circle, based on a true incident which had previously been dramatized in G. W. Pabst's The Trial. In the late-19th century, an anti-Semitic Hungarian baron (Reinhold Schunzel) foments a pogrom against his country's Jews when a 14-year-old servant girl commits suicide. Falsely accused of subjecting the girl to a ritualistic murder, five Jewish farmers are put on trial for murder. Defying the slings and arrows of public condemnation, defense attorney Karl Nemensch (Conrad Nagel) intends to prove the farmers' innocence -- and to expose anti-Semitism for the poisonous scourge that it truly is. The Vicious Circle was based on The Burning Bush, a play by Herald and Geza Herczeg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Alexander, Sam Bernard, (more)
- 1948
Though it is not so frankly identified in the film, an insidious white-slavery racket motivates the plotline of Monogram's Stage Struck. Double-dyed villain Nick Mantee (Kane Richmond) manages to make a good living by preying on young girls who've come to the Big City in hopes of becoming actresses. Mantee has built up a stable of disillusioned females who are forced to accommodate libidinous customers at a seedy nightclub. When one of the girls is murdered, the police, represented by Lt. Williams (Conrad Nagel), swing into action. Williams is aided in his racket-busting efforts by Nancy Howard (Audrey Long), sister of the murder victim. Onetime silent star Evelyn Brent is wasted in a tiny supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kane Richmond, Audrey Long, (more)
- 1945
Just when it didn't seem possible that Columbia had any room left for another B-picture series, along came The Adventures of Rusty. The title character is a German police dog, trained to be a vicious killer. Lonlely little Danny Mitchell (Ted Donaldson) believes that there's still some kindness left in Rusty, and tries to retrain the dog. In a parallel development, Danny's new stepmother (Margaret Lindsay) attempts to befriend the sullen youngster. The part of Rusty is played by Ace the Wonder Dog, who made the rounds of the B-picture mills throughout the late 1940s. The Adventures of Rusty proved popular enough to warrant several sequels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Donaldson, Margaret Lindsay, (more)
- 1944
Originally titled They Shall Have Faith, Forever Yours was designed as Monogram's "prestige" release for 1945. Musical favorite Gale Storm goes dramatic as Joan Randall, a young debutante who is confined to a wheelchair after contracting infantile paralysis. Neither her doctor father (Conrad Nagel) nor her physician grandfather (C. Aubrey Smith) can offer much help to the courageous but disconsolate Joan. But Army medico Tex (Johnny Mack Brown, in a break from his western roles) may have developed a revolutionary new means of curing the girl. Over the protests of her family, Tex applies his theories to the heroine, falling in love with her along the way. The old-fashioned plotting and archaic dialogue of Forever Yours is redeemed somewhat by an early song-and-dance number featuring Gale Storm and Johnny Downs-the sort of escapist fare that Monogram did far better than lachrymose melodramas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gale Storm, C. Aubrey Smith, (more)
- 1944
Released by 20th Century-Fox, Dangerous Journey is a feature-length documentary of the famed Armand Denis-Leila Roosevelt expedition of the mid-1930s. Much of the footage was culled from such previously released short subjects as Wheels Across Africa and Wheels Across India, originally distributed in 1937. The Armand-Denis troupe made its way through Africa, Burma, India and Ceylon, long before the war made such expeditions impossible-not to mention impractical. Conrad Nagel narrates the footage, lending a note of calm authenticity to the proceedings. Dangerous Journey represented a tentative movie comeback attempt by George Schaefer, the recently ousted president of RKO Radio Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel
- 1940
In this melodramatic historical drama, the lives of Mexico's Maximilian and Carlotta are chronicled. The story follows their brief reign as figureheads for Napoleon III. The two doomed rulers were terribly naive and had no idea that they were universally despised by the native population. Upon her return to Europe, Carlotta goes mad with grief when she realizes that her beleaguered husband, trapped by a rebel uprising in Mexico City, will receive no aid from their backers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lionel Atwill, Conrad Nagel, (more)
- 1940
Ironically, the marriage between Dick Powell and Joan Blondell was beginning to fall apart at the time they co-starred in Paramount's I Want a Divorce. The film manages to sustain two plotlines, with newlyweds Alan and Geraldine MacNally (Powell and Blondell) beginning to have second thoughts about their union, while David and Wanda Holland (Conrad Nagel and Gloria Dickson) are in the last stages of their divorce proceedings. It so happens that Alan is the struggling attorney handling the Holland case, much to his wife's chagrin. As the hearings proceed, Alan and Geraldine drift further and further apart, only to abruptly reunite when Wanda Holland's suicide after losing custody of her son forces Alan to rethink his own priorities. Often written off as a mere comedy, I Want a Divorce has a surprising amount of meat on its bones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, (more)
- 1940
Even taking into consideration Of Mice and Men, One Million BC was inarguably the most ambitious feature-film project ever undertaken by producer Hal Roach. Told in flashback, this is the highly fanciful tale of the prehistoric feud between the Rock Tribe and Shell People. Tumak (Victor Mature), son of Rock leader Akhoba (Lon Chaney Jr.), defies tradition by falling in love with Shell person Loana (Carole Landis). At first intending to "have his way" with Loana, the rough-hewn Tumak is taught such niceties as moderation and table manners by the girl and her gentle brethren. Any possibility for a permanant detente between the Rocks and the Shells is swept away by a spectacular volcano, which wipes out everyone except the people we really care about. Exercising the usual Hollywood prerogative of suggesting that cavemen and dinosaurs coexisted, One Million BC offers a vast array of awesome dinos, which at closer glance are actually normal-sized lizards going about their business on miniaturized sets; even so, the special effects were considered pretty impressive back in 1940, and still pass muster today despite Ray Harryhausen's slick "dynamation" remake in 1967. In fact, stock footage from One Million BC would be redeployed countless times in the future to enhance the production values of otherwise inexpensive horror films. Though it has since been disproven, rumors still persist that the great D. W. Griffith participated in the direction of One Million BC (it is true, however, that he aided Hal Roach in the casting process, selecting Carole Landis as the heroine because she was the only auditionee who could run properly!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Carole Landis, (more)
Bank Alarm was one of four low-budget but high-entertainment crime melodramas starring Conrad Nagel and Eleanor Hunt as Federal agents Alan O'Connor and Bobbie Reynolds. On this occasion, the two G-people are on the trail of a gang of desperate bank robbers. Making their job slightly easier is the fact that the crooks are leaving behind a trail of counterfeit money. Unfortunately, they're also leaving a trail of corpses, meaning that Alan and Bobbie had better get a move on before someone else gets bumped off. Bank Alarm was the last of the Nagel-Hunt crime series, all of which were produced by the financially canny George A. Hirliman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Eleanor Hunt, (more)
- 1937
Though he would later dismiss it as "just a ten-day job," actor Conrad Nagel made a remarkably smooth directorial debut with Grand National's Love Takes Flight. Bruce Cabot stars as Neil Bradshaw, an egotistical commercial pilot in love with stewardess Joan Lawson (Beatrice Roberts). Somewhat incredibly, Neil becomes a movie star, jilting Joan in the process to taking up with vampish actress Diane Audre (Astrid Allwyn). Joan takes small comfort in the fact that she is also offered a Hollywood contract; to show up the swell-headed Neil, she matriculates into a champion aviatrix, breaking airborne records left and right. Before the inevitable reunion between Neil and Joan, the audience is treated to dozens of "product placement" plugs for American Airlines. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Cabot, Beatrice Roberts, (more)
Two government agents are assigned to bust up a gold smuggling ring located on the Mexican border. One of the agents, a beautiful, talented singer, goes undercover as a singer in one of the Mexican clubs. Using her considerable wiles she then begins trying to seduce the ring leader. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Eleanor Hunt, (more)
- 1936
In this newspaper farce, an editor loses his voice and his job after he tires of being tormented by the practical jokes of one of two reporters. The joker ends up the new editor. Soon after taking the job, his personality changes dramatically and soon he has become a pompous and excessively harsh taskmaster. His former partner is so disgusted that she decides to leave and marry a stodgy writer of inspirational books. The new editor loves his partner and tries to get her back. When he fails, he begins drinking heavily and wondering what kind of wedding gift he should get her. Knowing that she likes the excitement of police and fire calls, he insures that her wedding will be unforgettable by having fire engines, police cars, and hearses show up to the nuptials. In the end, the editor drives a wagon from the local loony bin into the ceremony and kidnaps her. Romance ensues and eventually the two are married. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Bennett, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1936
Hollywood's Conrad Nagel heads cast of the British Ball at Savoy. The tux-garbed Nagel plays a baron who, while vacationing in Cannes, falls in love with opera star Marta Labarr. The prideful Labarr will have nothing to do with Nagel because of his wealth, so he poses as a waiter. When he's accused of being a thief, Nagel learns that there's two sets of justice, one for the rich, another for the poor. This 1936 remake of an earlier German film, was based on a novel by Alfred Grunwald and Fritz Lohner-Beda. Distribution of Ball at Savoy was handled in Britain and the US by RKO Radio Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Marta Labarr, (more)
- 1936
Having peaked as a big-studio leading man, Conrad Nagel accepted a brief contract at cost-conscious Pacific Pictures in 1936. Yellow Cargo is the first of the quartet, with Nagel costarring with Eleanor Hunt as a dog-and-cat team of government agents. Their job is to halt the activities of a gang of smugglers specializing in Chinese aliens (catch that bad-taste title!), which operates under the cover of a movie studio. The film provides intriguing backstage glimpses at Grand National Studios (formerly Educational Pictures), with a few picturesque side trips to Catalina Island. The remaining pictures in the Conrad Nagel/Eleanor Hunt "G Man" series were Navy Spy, The Gold Racket and Bank Alarm (all 1937). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Eleanor Hunt, (more)
- 1936
The ambitious Republic melodrama The Girl From Mandalay was based on Tiger Valley, a novel by Reginald Campbell. The title character is Mandalay resort entertainer Jeanie, played by Kay Linaker. When his aristocratic sweetheart gives him the air, Britisher John Foster (Conrad Nagel) marries Jeanie on the rebound. This sparks a minor scandal when Foster's best friend Kenneth Grainger (Donald Cook) assumes that Jeanie is Foster's mistress instead of his wife and treats her accordingly. It takes the invention of a fever epidemic and a marauding tiger to wash away all misunderstandings and hurt feelings, though the audience is left with the feeling that Jeanie would be better off if both Foster and Grainger got out of her life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Kay Linaker, (more)
- 1935
Adapted from a typically tricky J. B. Priestley stage play, Dangerous Corner is a cautionary fable about the damage caused by telling the unvarnished truth. A burned-out radio tube is the catalyst for a series of painful and potentially dangerous revelations during a weekend party. The upshot of all this is the suicide of party guest Ian Keith and the mysterious theft of a large sum of money. Through an ingenious last-act plot twist (of the kind so beloved by Priestley and his ilk), the audience is treated to both a happy and a tragic denouement. Long ignored by film historians, Dangerous Corner was rediscovered when it popped up repeatedly on the American Movie Classics cable service in the mid-1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginia Bruce, Conrad Nagel, (more)
- 1935
As a father prepares to remarry, his son's bitterness increases. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1935
Radio baritone Joe Morrison was being groomed for stardom by Paramount when he was top-billed in One Hour Late. Morrison is cast as shipping clerk Eddie Blake, whose girlfriend Betty Dunn (Helen Twelvetrees) is secretary to big boss Stephen Barclay (Conrad Nagel). A trusting soul, Betty sees nothing wrong in accepting Barclay's invitation to visit his home for the weekend. But Eddie suspects the worst and tags along to make sure that Betty's virtue remains intact. As it happens, Eddie's fears are groundless -- as are those of Barclay's wife Ellen (Gail Patrick), who was poised to walk out on her husband at the first sign of extramarital hanky-panky. The script contrives to have a radio station located in the building where Eddie works, permitting Joe Morrison to croon a medley of his hit "The Last Roundup." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Morrison, Helen Twelvetrees, (more)
- 1935
Two of Hollywood's duller actors, Conrad Nagel and Florence Rice, star in this overly complicated melodrama from Columbia Pictures. The latter plays Evelyn Vail, a nurse convicted of poisoning a patient. Out on parole, Evelyn decides to fly to Sing-Sing and confront death row inmate Carl Peters, the man who accused her of the deed in the first place. On board the airliner, Evelyn makes the acquaintance of John Robinson Gordon (Nagel), who is transporting a revolutionary munitions formula to Washington, D.C. Another passenger, Baker (Robert Allen), complains of having been poisoned and leaves the plane during a stopover in Dallas. Back in the air, Gordon's bodyguard, Lieutenant O'Brien (Fred Kelsey), suffers the same fate, but this time the poison proves fatal. The plane returns to Dallas, where Police Captain Barrie (William B. Davidson) accused poor Evelyn of the crime. Happily, Gordon can prove otherwise and the real culprit is unmasked. Back in Sing-Sing, Peters has made a last-minute confession and Evelyn is cleared of all charges. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Florence Rice, (more)
