Julie London Films, 1957

Harold Lipstein - Cinematographer
Bill Thomas - Costume Designer
Henry Mancini, Herman Stein - Score
Leah Worth, Bobby Troup - Songwriters
Bud Westmore - Makeup

Cast:
José Ferrer - Joe Harris
Dean Jagger - Philip Carleton
Keenan Wynn - Sid Moore
Julie London - Carol Larson
Joanne Gilbert - Ginny
Ed Wynn - Paul Beesley
Jim Backus - Nick Cellantano
Russ Morgan - Eddie Brand
Edward Platt - Dr. O'Connor
Robert Foulk - Mike Jackson
Lyle Talbot - Harry Connors
Henny Backus - Mrs. Rieber

PLOT: Based on a novel by television producer Al Morgan, The Great Man is a Citizen Kane-style look at the private life of a public figure. The Great Man is a beloved radio and television personality who dies suddenly. Jose Ferrer (who also directed) plays a writer/commentator who has a chance to break into the Big Time by preparing a eulogistic broadcast concerning the deceased celebrity. As he interviews the various people who knew the Great Man on the way up (including Julie London and Ed and Keenan Wynn) he learns that the "idol of millions" was actually a conniving, duplicitous scoundrel who stepped on everyone in his path and who took credit for the hard work of others. Warned by his boss (Dean Jagger) that his career will be ruined if he tells the truth, Ferrer nonetheless takes to the airwaves with a "warts and all" biography--and the results are surprising only to those with no cynicism in their souls. The Great Man stirred up a sensation in 1956 because it was perceived to be an a clef study of the enormously popular (and ruthlessly powerful) media star Arthur Godfrey. Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jose Ferrer and Al Morgan have derived from the latter's book, "The Great Man," a smashingly brutal and generally absorbing expose of a piece of deception and hypocrisy within the radio industry. Written by them and directed and played by Mr. Ferrer, it is the New Year's first flash of cynicism. It opened at the Sutton yesterday.

Maybe you have some recollection of Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane." Well, this will remind you of it, especially as it begins. With a witheringly sharp-focus camera and a hard-boiled-reporter approach, cued by a personal narration that is laced with sophisticated slang, Mr. Ferrer, as a radio talker, takes out to "find the story behind" a phenomenally popular air artist, just killed in an accident. The information, gathered from "loved ones," associates and fans, is to be used to develop a mammoth, one-hour, nationwide memorial program.

This, you can see, is very similar to the beginning of "Citizen Kane." And so are initial developments, as the reporter detects that the deceased was not a saint. From the dead man's press agent, business manager, employer and ex-girl friend, he discovers that this nationally worshiped "idol" of the airwaves was strictly a heel. This verbally imparted exposition leaves our man mildly amazed.

But the thing that really disturbs him is the accumulating indication that his radio sponsors are cold-bloodedly determined to perpetuate the tawdry myth of the "great man." Knowing, as he does, the dark truth, they still mean to go ahead—and even fake a great deal—with a monstrously mawkish memorial program.

Whereas the latter was strictly concerned with the life of the deceased—a study made with numerous flash-backs upon the activities of the man—this one is actually concerned with the shrewd finagling of those who are alive. It becomes a study of the reporter's personal conflict with a gang of mercenary hypocrites.

As such, it is wickedly reflective of a commercial and social attitude that is sometimes held by cynics to be typical of "Madison Avenue." The principal exponent of it is the ex-manager of the "great man," an operator trying to get back into business. He is stingingly played by Keenan Wynn.

There is no let-up in the scheming and ruthlessness of this man. Mr. Wynn makes him a rascal without feeling, honesty or shame. He is almost unendurable in his brazen treachery. He is the key conniver, the reflection and extenuation of the "great man."

But Dean Jagger as the head of a broadcasting company is also a fine specimen of a cold fish, and Jim Backus, Russ Morgan and Vicki Dugan are good as assorted underlings. Mr. Ferrer is passive, for the most part, as the tired reporter through whom the information sifts, but Joanne Gilbert is pert and flip as his Girl Friday and Julie London is fine as the dead man's ex-girl friend.

Excellent, too, in a brief role is that grand old comedian, Ed Wynn. He is human and droll as the Babbitty owner of a small radio station who gave the deceased his first job.

Unfortunately, the climax of the whole thing is unlikely and illogical. It blunts the sharp point of the searching survey. But that sometimes happens with these movie exposes.

Arnold Belgard - Screenwriter
Carl Guthrie - Cinematographer
Sam E. Waxman - Editor
Hendrik Vollaerts - Short Story Author
Les Baxter - Score

Cast:
Judy Tyler - Jo Thomas
Bobby Troup - Robert Hilton
Margo Woode - Marion Hendricks
Lucien Littlefield - Professor Winthrop
George O'Hanlon - Barney
Jerry Barclay - Jerry
Judy Harriet - Young Girl Singer
Gene O'Donnell - Drunk
Eddie Kafafian - Taxi Driver

PLOT: Also known as Bop Girl, this diverting musical time capsule features several of the best Calypso performers of the late 1950s. Real-life jazz musician Bobby Troup stars as a college music student, writing a graduate thesis on rock 'n' roll. For research purposes, Troup persuades nightclub singer Judy Tyler to perform one of her numbers to a calypso beat. Before you can say "Harry Belafonte", a brand-new musical craze is born. The veteran supporting cast includes Lucien Littlefield as Bobby Troup's professor mentor, former 20th Century-Fox starlet Margo Woode as a eugenics expert, and George "Joe McDoakes" O'Hanlon as comedy relief. Among the musical acts are the Mary Kaye Trio, The Goofers, the Lord Flea Calypsonians, Nino Tempo, The Titans and The Cubanos. Bop Girl Goes Calypso was the final film appearance of up-and-coming actress Judy Tyler, who was killed in a particularly nasty car accident shortly after filming wrapped. Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

James Wong Howe - Cinematographer
Neva Bourne - Costume Designer
George C. VanMarter - Art Director
Elmer Bernstein - Score
Richard Chaney - Costume Designer

Morris Ankrum - Calder
Helen Wallace - Mrs. Allen
Walter Sande - Dr. Blair
Parley Baer - Randolph
Amzie Strickland - Mrs. Randolph
Charles Horvath - Ragan
Barney Phillips - Cameron
David Stollery - Jeb Bryant
Mimi Gibson - Ellen Bryant

PLOT: Union army major Drango (Jeff Chandler) is assigned to rebuild a ruined Georgian town in the aftermath of the Civil War. Despite his best intentions, Drango has trouble combatting the hatred and resentment of the townsfolk. In particular, Clay Allen (Ronald Howard), the hotheaded son of Judge Allen (Donald Crisp), does his utmost to sabotage Drango's efforts and foment a Confederate insurrection. It takes the conscience-stricken intervention of the Judge himself to prevent wholesale bloodshed. The film's low-key romantic interest is handled by Joanne Dru and Julie London, cast respectively as the daughter of a despised Union sympathizer and an "unreconstructed" female plantation owner. Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide


Click to see film photos.	Click to see 2 posters, lobby cards, and insert.


Click to see film photos.	Click to see 2 posters, 2 lobbies, an LP cover, and a UK ad.