FILMS MAIN

The Films of Julie London

1950 to 1951

Return of the Frontiersman       The Fat Man

Return of the Frontiersman

1950. Warner Brothers.  74 mins. Not available on VHS or DVD.

Saul Elkins - Producer

Richard L. Bare - Director
Edna Anhalt - Screenwriter

J. Peverell Marley - Cinematographer
Frank Magee - Editor
Charles M. Clarke - Art Director
David Buttolph - Score

Cast:

Gordon MacRae - Logan Barrett
Julie London - Janie Martin
Rory Calhoun - Larrabee
Jack Holt - Sam Barrett
Fred Clark - Ryan
Edwin Rand - Kearney
Raymond Bond - Dr. Martin
Britt Wood - Barney

Matt McHugh - Harvey

PLOT: With Return of the Frontiersman, Warner Bros. continued to test the acting abilities of their singing star Gordon MacRae. While he does get to warble two songs, MacRae plays it straight for the most part in his role as Logan Barrett, the son of hard-bitten sheriff Sam Barrett (Jack Holt). Villain Larrabee (Rory Calhoun) frames Logan for a series of robberies, forcing the sheriff to lead a posse after his own son. Our Hero is aided and abetted by the daughter (Julie London, who surprisingly doesn't get to sing) of the town sawbones. With the exceptions of Jack Holt and Rory Calhoun, most of the supporting cast -- Fred Clark, Matt McHugh et. al. -- seem slightly out of place in western garb. Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

New York Times review by Bosley Crowther  (June 10, 1950)

Blame that honest, square-jawed and typically tough arm of the law, Jack Holt, for most of the synthetic shooting in "Return of the Frontiersman," one of the season's sorriest sagebrush sagas, which came to the Strand yesterday. For Laramie, once the rip-roaringest cow country crossroads of the Old West, had been slowed to a sleepy walk only because Sheriff Holt had cleared that bailiwick of a varied collection of range rats. But in so doing he had left the unsuspecting and lethargic burghers easy prey for that suave, conniving dastard, Rory Calhoun, to rob the bank and fix the blame on none other than Gordon MacRae, Holt's handsome son. He's a true blue lad who would sooner croon a couple of cowboy tunes than be chased by a posse.

As the victim of the most transparent case of mistaken identity since nickelodeon days, MacRae is in there pitching with juvenile abandon as he breaks jail and stalks the outlaws all over the Technicolored landscape. And similar sentiments can be set down for Calhoun with whom he engages in an unintentionally hilarious donny-brook. Julie London, the lady of the piece, seems to have come along only for several rides she takes with our stalwart hero. They are, as a matter of fact, no better than the film's cliché-ridden script. On second thought, let's blame the director and producers, for they seem to be no better than their hired hands in this limp adventure.

The Fat Man

1951. Universal-International.  77 mins. Available on VHS.

Aubrey Schenk - Producer

William Castle - Director

Harry J. Essex, Leonard Lee - Screenwriters

Edward A. Curtiss - Editor

Irving Glassberg - Cinematographer
Rosemary Odell - Costume Designer
Bernard Green - Score

Based on a character by Dashiell Hammett

Cast:

J. Scott Smart - Brad Runyan
Julie London - Pat Boyd
Rock Hudson - Roy Clark
Clinton Sundberg - Bill Norton
Jayne Meadows - Jane Adams
John Russell - Gene Gordon
Jerome Cowan - Lieut. Stark
Emmett Kelly - Ed Deets
Lucille Barkley - Lola Gordon
Robert Osterloh - 'Fletch' Fletcher
Harry Lewis - Happy Stevens
Teddy Hart - Shifty
Cheerio Meredith - Scrubwoman

New York times review  (anonymous)  (May 25, 1951)

Although he has been intriguing listeners ever since February, 1947, when "The Fat Man" began his sleuthing on the radio, J. Scott Smart has been eminently successful but obviously unseen. Yesterday that corpulent detective was put on view at the Palace in Universal-International's film version of "The Fat Man," and while this whodunit is sometimes as ponderous as its titular gumshoe, it proves that its heavyweight hero is a man who should be seen as well as heard.

Since our hero is not equipped to move too fast, The Fat Man and his varied associates do a lot of talking before he unmasks the killer of an innocent dentist and his nurse, but he also manages to make the proceedings mysterious and interesting, too.

As introduced here, The Fat Man is an unhurried gent fond of food, but not so much of a gourmet as to ignore the plea of the distressed nurse who believes her boss was not killed accidently. The meager clues lead our men from New York to Beverly Hills and a motley crew of suspects, including several gangsters, a circus clown and another sinister and non-sinister characters. Via flashbacks, the pattern of the crime takes shape as a $500,000 robbery is revealed as the cause for dissension among the thieves, as well as the murder of one of them. As to the identity of the killer—that is, naturally, Mr. Smart's secret.

Mr. Smart takes the business in hand seriously, but not seriously enough not to be cheerful about matters generally. Figuratively living up to his nickname he is, at least, a novelty among screen hawkshaws. And he is rendered a few capable assists by Julie London, as the wife of one of the ill-fated gangsters; Rock Hudson, as her handsome husband; Jayne Meadows, as the nurse; Teddy Hart, as an informer; Marvin Miller, in an unbilled bit, and Emmett Kelly, the noted clown, who is making his film debut. As the ex-convict clown, Mr. Kelly herein demonstrates that circus rings needn't be his sole field.

1947 - 1949        1950 - 1951       1955 - 1956