Something I missed catching in May was that Allene Roberts has passed away. Allene’s life began and ended in Alabama, but for almost ten years, starting as a teenager, she was in Hollywood.
I was very young the first time I saw Allene, in one of the early episodes of The Adventures of Superman. When I watched “The Haunted Lighthouse” as a kid, Allene was already in her 30’s and had left the business.
As a devoted fan of the TV series, I enjoyed spotting Allene’s appearances in other episodes. She could play a sad and lonely part, as seen in “The Haunted Lighthouse,” and the start of the feature film The Red House, but Allene could also shine, as she does in the second half of the picture. “Girls don’t come prettier anyplace,” the narrator says when Allene’s character is introduced.
The Red House is an outstanding film. The contrast between Allene and co-star Julie London is developed very skillfully, as each of them blossoms in her own way, becoming more assured of themselves but doubtful of some others. This publicity shot with Julie shows that Allene could hold her own as a glamour girl.
“The Red House” is available on YouTube in very good quality.
In The Hoodlum, Allene’s sweet innocence is robbed by her fiancée’s crooked brother. The shocking pivotal scene with Allene is cut so short it’s hard to tell what she did. Perhaps this was done as censorship for TV. The print that TCM shows, presumably the best available, has the same abrupt fade-out.