The All-American and Yankee Pasha

Publicity still with Mamie Van Doren & Tony Curtis.

All American (1953). Tony Curtis headlines as Nick Bonelli, a star quarterback who transfers to a different university to pursue his interest in architecture after his parents die in a car crash. He faces various challenges and conflicts at his new school, both academically and romantically, and eventually decides to play football again--much to the delight of his new school. All American (aka The Winning Way) is a typical 1950s sports drama, with a predictable plot and stereotypical characters. That doesn't mean it's not an entertaining way to spend 83 minutes. It was clearly intended to provide acting experience for its young cast. Although Tony Curtis is the only one that became a big star, his fellow players include such familiar faces as Lori Nelson (Revenge of the Creature), Mamie Van Doren, Stuart Whitman, and Richard Long (who comes as close to playing an unlikable character as he ever did). Van Doren fares best as a bar waitress who is secretly involved with rich college student Long. It's nice to see her in an appealing role, as opposed to the sexpot types she later played (she also appeared with Tony Curtis in the earlier Forbidden). Sports fans may also spot cameos from real-life football stars Frank Gifford, Tom Harmon (Marks' father), and Jim Sears.

Yankee Pasha (1954). Set in New England in 1800, Yankee Pasha stars Jeff Chandler as Jason Starbuck, a fur trapper who falls in love with the beautiful Roxana (Rhonda Fleming). When Roxana sails to France to escape an unwanted marriage to another man, her ship is captured by pirates and she is sold as a slave in Morocco. Jason follows her across the ocean and infiltrates the royal palace, where he becomes a valued advisor to the sultan--all the while plotting to rescue Roxana. Based on Edison Marshall's 1947 novel, Yankee Pasha is a colorful, if modestly budgeted, adventure with a dash of humor. Chandler and Fleming are agreeable, photogenic leads who let their supporting stars deliver all the good lines. Lee J. Cobb seems to be having fun as the sultan, while Mamie Van Doren shows off her comedic skills as the only member of Starbuck's harem. The film's first two-thirds zip along nicely, but then it inexplicitly lumbers to its conclusion with a conventional, boring rescue. By then, though, Yankee Pasha has built enough goodwill so that you'll overlook its ending and remember it fondly. (You can watch Yankee Pasha for free on the Western Film Classics channel by clicking here.)

Jeff Chandler Plays a Make-Believe Parent in The Toy Tiger

Jeff Chandler as Rick.

Had a bad day at work? Relatives causing undue stress? If so, then perhaps you need to sit down and watch a mindless 1950s comedy. You know the kind. It's entertaining enough while you're watching it, but it won't linger in your brain. It's like cotton candy--light and tasty, but not filling and quickly forgotten. If that's what you're looking for, then The Toy Tiger (1956)--a remake of the earlier Mad About Music--is the movie for you.

Laraine Day plays Gwen Harkinson, a widowed advertising executive who has shuffled her son off to a private boarding school. Gwen's plan is to work hard, make a lot of money, and then "retire" to spend time raising son Timmy (Tim Hovey). She has no time for romance, which is a bummer for Rick Todd (Jeff Chandler), an art director at the agency who loves her. Rick is fed up with advertising, but agrees to go to a small upstate New York town to convince an ex-colleague to work on a new ad campaign. He is completely unaware that the town is also the home of Timmy's boarding school: The Meadows.

Meanwhile, Timmy is dealing with a bully at school, who suspects (quite rightly) that Timmy has created an imaginary father: a world-famous explorer who sends him letters about his quests. In reality, Timmy is writing the letters and mailing them to himself. When pressured by the bully, Timmy states his father is arriving in town that day on a bus. The other boys become excited to meet Timmy's dad and go to meet the bus. When Rick gets off the bus, Timmy identifies him as his father!

Laraine Day, Tim Hovey, and Jeff Chandler
in a publicity still from The Toy Tiger.

It's a lightweight premise that functions surprisingly well for most of the movie. As expected, Rick eventually decides to go along--not realizing Timmy is Gwen's son--and play the part of Timmy's "famous" father (good thing the Internet didn't exist back then). Jeff Chandler seems to be having a good time as Timmy's make-believe dad and he and young Tim Hovey create a believable father-son relationship. It also helps to have a couple of old pros, Cecil Kellaway and Richard Haydn, playing the brothers that run the boarding school. (Both deserve more screen time!)

The Toy Tiger gets bogged down, though, when Gwen shows up. She is just not a likable character. Granted, Laraine Day and the writers faced a tough challenge: the film hinges on peeling back the layers of Gwen's business-focused persona to reveal a caring mother and a woman who wants to be in a loving relationship. Laraine Day never quite gets there. Perhaps, a more accomplished actress like Doris Day could have pulled it off. Or the writers could have opted for a more realistic ending, in which Gwen finds a way to spend more time with her son, but rejects a relationship with Rick.

Of course, that would be a different movie altogether. And we've already established that you just want to watch The Toy Tiger and enjoy it for what is. There's nothing wrong with that. You'll be pleasantly amused for 88 minutes and then you'll forget it.

Jeff Chandler Wants to Rule Kansas in "The Jayhawkers"

This Cafe Special was written by Raccoon713.

In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a law which enabled territories west of Iowa and Missouri to vote on whether to be “free states” or “slave states.“ Missouri, which permitted slavery, wanted to extend the practice westward. So, wave after wave of Missourians galloped into Kansas to stuff ballot boxes, intimidate local voters, and raise a lot of hell. These Missourians were known as "border ruffians" and "redlegs." There were also other bands of raiders and murderers on the roam, unaffiliated with the slave movement. These marauders were generally known as "jayhawkers," named for the vicious bird that kills for pleasure. The territory became so violent that it was called "bleeding Kansas."

This historical prologue brings us to The Jayhawkers, an offbeat Western starring Jeff Chandler as Luke Darcy, a man who wants to enslave Kansas under his rule. Darcy "captures" towns by employing an ingenious strategy. First, he sends some of his soldiers dressed as Missouri Redlegs to terrorize a town. Then, Darcy and his Jayhawkers enter the same town and promise protection from the evil Redlegs.

"Some of you may not know me. My name is Luke Darcy. I've just taken your town," he tells the local residents. "Be not alarmed, my friends, for I've come not to rob, but to protect. Not to burn, but to build. Not to hurt, but to help. While others are destroying themselves, we will build our lands strong and beautiful--safe and beautiful. I will build hospitals for your sick, schools for your children. New roads, new churches. A new way of life!"

However, the territorial governor (Herbert Rudley) isn't too keen on losing Kansas to Darcy. He convinces a prisoner, Cam Bleeker (Fess Parker), to join the Jayhawkers and deliver Darcy to the hangman. Cam's real motivation, though, has to do with Darcy’s role in the death of Cam’s wife.

To his surprise, Cam finds Darcy an intriguing and complex man. He comes to realize that Darcy lives by his own standards, which include the following:

Rule No. 1: Whenever you meet a person, Darcian etiquette demands impromptu politeness--even though you might shoot that person in the next minute. For example, Darcy calls everyone "friend"--when he first meets Cam, when he addresses the townspeople in Abilene, and when he faces Cam in the final showdown.

Rule No. 2: Life is today. "That's all any of us have, friend--a little time. Most of it lonely, it goes so fast. A man sings, loves, fights and then he's nothing. Dust. Like a leaf that falls and then it's gone."

Rule No. 3: Man must die with dignity. Cam asks: "What's the difference? Dead's dead." But Darcy explains: "There are a thousand ways to die and each man finds his own. To strangle at the end of a rope with your eyes bulging, your feet kicking and your tongue hanging out--that's for a clown or an animal. Not a man!"

Rule No. 4: You are what you are. When confronted about Cam's wife, Darcy explains: "I make no excuses for what I am or what I did. I ask no forgiveness. Accept your wife [and me] as a human being with all the weaknesses and fallibilities of a human being."

Rule No. 5: The future is the same for everyone. Hours before Darcy meets his doom, he asks Cam's new girlfriend to tell his fortune. She answers: "Love. Death." Darcy replies: "That's everyone's fortune, friend."

It's easy to understand how Cam finds himself caught up in Darcy's world. Darcy is the swift, ambitious mastermind; Cam is the lunkering country boy sent to do a distasteful chore. The relationship between the two men resembles the one between George and Lenny in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Darcy parallels the crafty George Milton, while Cam Bleeker is a shade of Lennie Small. George dreamed of his own farm and used others, including Lennie, in his soft pursuit of it. Luke Darcy dreamed of his own Kansas and used everyone, including Cam, to try and gain it. But in The Jayhawkers, it's the slower of the two men who has to spare his friend from the mob.

A decidedly different Western with two actors who rarely got juicy roles, The Jayhawkers is a film that rewards discerning viewers.

(If you liked this post, check out Take the Spiral Road Upward by Raccoon713.)