Hollywood Stalwarts

Babyboomers know Hugh Beaumont as Ward Cleaver, the father in 284 episodes of Leave It to Beaver. Before that he had an impressive run in films, mostly B movies. When Money Madness (1948) came my way via a donation to the floating book shop, I was surprised that he was not only the star but that he played a sociopath (“But gee, dad…”). He was smooth, but the role lacked substance. The flick’s running time is only 73 minutes. There are several coincidences that keep the plot moving at a fast clip. I was also surprised to learn that Beaumont starred as detective Mike Shayne in six films of that series, taking over the role from Lloyd Nolan. He died in 1982 at 73. There are several other interesting aspects of Money Madness. The lovely Frances Rafferty was the co-star. I had no recollection of her. She too was relegated to B’s and went on to TV stardom, playing Spring Byington’s daughter in 156 episodes of December Bride, which was in syndication into the sixties, if I recall correctly. She was active from 1942-’77, and died in 2004 at 81. But the real story behind Money Madness is its creative team. NYC’s Sam Newfield may have been the most prolific director of full length features ever. He has 276 titles under his name at IMDb, including three TV series. He worked so much that he adopted at least two pseudonyms as cover. According to his bio, he had a gambling problem, and died in 1964 at 64. He worked from 1926 to the year of his passing. The screenwriter, Al Martin, has 112 titles beneath his name. His career spanned from 1920-’67. He died in ’71 at 74. I was unable to find any pics of him, but here are Beaumont and Rafferty in character:

And here is Sam Newfield:

The floating book shop got off to an inauspicious start today when a box of paperbacks tumbled out of my crammed trunk and into a puddle. Fortunately, they were my least marketable. My thanks to Mr. Conspiracy, aka Steve, who donated a bag of largely non-fiction; and also to the young man who bought one of those books, a charming, small, hardcover edition of Shakespeare’s Cymbelline, which I’ve never read or seen performed. My thanks also to the woman who selected two novels in Russian, one a translation of Sidney Sheldon; and to the B.S. Bob, who opted for Inside the Criminal Mind by Stanton Samenow for his granddaughter, who may choose a career in law enforcement; and to the gentleman who chose a collection of essays by novelists; and to the gentleman who went home with two CD Beatles’ collections and the aforementioned Money Madness. Special thanks to Alexander E. Poet, aka Taurus, who bought Five Cents at Amazon.

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