ABANDONED

Gale Storm and Dennis O'Keefe

ABANDONED (1949). Director: Joseph M. Newman. Colorized. 

Newspaper man Mark Sitko (Dennis O'Keefe) teams up with Paula Considine (Gale Storm) when the latter discovers that her sister is dead and her baby has disappeared. Meanwhile Paula is constantly followed by a corrupt private eye named Kerric (Raymond Burr). Kerric reports to a woman named Donner (Marjorie Rambeau) who is sort of in business with the nasty Decola (Will Kuluva) as babies are sold through illegal means. Now that Mark and Paula are learning more about this operation -- and have come to the conclusion that the sister was murdered -- their lives are definitely in danger, especially when they go undercover to get evidence to bring to Police Chief McRae (Jeff Chandler). 

Marjorie Rambeau and Raymond Burr

Abandoned certainly has an interesting cast. Playing a more or less serious part, Storm gives a good accounting of herself while O'Keefe displays his customary charm. As bad guys, Burr, Kuluva [Solo] and Rambeau adroitly emit varying levels of evil. Chandler is also adept, although he has little to do in the picture. Others in the cast include Jeannette Nolan as Major Ross of the Salvation Army, Mike Mazurki as a thug, Frank Cady as the city editor, David Clarke as itchy gunsel Harry, and Sid Tomack [The Kettles in the Ozarks] as a cop-bureaucrat. Clifton Young makes an impression in a brief bit as bartender Eddie. 

Storm and O'Keefe with Jeff Chandler in the background

Despite this cast, Abandoned didn't work for me at all. Maybe it needed more dynamic stars, a better script, or something, because the film seems to get duller just when it should be at its most exciting. There are certainly plenty of lively scenes -- for instance Burr and Mazurki getting into a deadly tussle -- but the movie just never becomes remotely riveting. Five years later Joseph M. Newman directed the much more entertaining science fiction film This Island Earth. The picture is generally well-colorized despite some glitches, such as O'Keefe's red nose on the left! 

Verdict: Just never gets out of the starting gate. **. 

THE KETTLES IN THE OZARKS

Ma Kettle reads Pa's letter to one of their children

THE KETTLES IN THE OZARKS (1956). Director: Charles Lamont. 

Ma Kettle (Marjorie Main) packs up all of her brood and takes off to the Ozarks, where she plans to help her brother-in-law, Sedgwick (Arthur Hunnicutt) with his farm. Sedge has been affianced to gal pal Bedelia (Una Merkel) for twenty years, and Ma hopes to do something about that situation as well. Some shady men rent the barn from Sedge, but they turn out to be bootleggers trying to avoid "revenuers." 

Una Merkel, Richard Eyer and Arthur Hunnicutt

By this time Percy Kilbride had had enough of playing Pa Kettle and neither he nor the character appear in this film. Most of the humor has to do with the interplay between the bootleggers and the very mischievous children, with a little reserved for the not-very-romantic romance between Sedge and Bedelia. There's also a goose named Gertie who walks around wearing galoshes on her feet. Otherwise, this entry in the Kettle series is pretty weak.

Gertie the Goose goes out for a walk

The supporting cast includes child actor Richard Eyer [The 7th Voyage of Sinbad] as one of the Kettle children; Richard Deacon ("Mel Cooley" on The Dick Van Dyke Show) as an Indian; Joe Sawyer as a neighbor; and Sid Tomack and Ted de Corsia as two of the bootleggers. Bonnie Franklin, who plays one of town children, later became a sitcom star with her show One Day at a Time. Main, Hunnicutt, and Merkel give very good performances. 

Verdict: Some amusing moments but not enough. **.