Allene Roberts’ first screen appearance, in the outstanding film The Red House, presented with the full TCM Noir Alley treatment.
Tag: allene roberts
Why Do Good Girls Fall for Bad Boys?
Don’t do it, Allene! He’s trouble!
Note: In Knock on Any Door Allene Roberts plays Emma, which was her actual first name.
The Dream Girl
Like Henry Mancini’s Peter Gunn soundtrack I posted earlier, The Dream Girl by Ray Anthony and his orchestra is also from 1958, but it’s available only in mono.
"In every man's mind there exists a wonderful creature of fantasy - the Dream Girl. She is young and exciting. She is warm and gentle."
The “dream girl” label has fallen out of favor, along with beauty pageants, but if I were to nominate someone as my ideal fantasy dream girl, it would be Allene Roberts.
As a kid I first knew of Allene from her appearances in episodes of the old TV series The Adventures of Superman. She was so pretty, sweet and nice. Of course, I had no idea she was actually as old as my mother!
Allene’s first and best movie is The Red House, with Edward G. Robinson, whose physician and friend happened to be my father’s uncle, Dr. Lawrence Pratt.
From that still, and this brief scene with Lon McAllister and Allene, it’s obvious that cinematographer Bert Glennon had experience in silent movies.
A dream girl to melt the heart of any boy, even one who is gay, as Lon was. Although there could be no real-life romance between them, Allene and Lon became lifelong friends.
An amazing discovery is this newspaper clipping, about Allene winning the contest that led to her start in Hollywood. Note the Rondo Hatton byline.
If you don’t know Rondo’s name, you may know his face. Allene was a beauty, but journalist turned movie monster Hatton was no beast.
Everything there is to know about Emma Allene Roberts is at this link.
A Real Trouper Caught in the Webb
Today’s Google Doodle features a famous song that was written by Bobby Troup.
Originally treated as a Jazz tune, “Route 66” was made famous by Nat King Cole, who was an unknown studio musician playing piano before he was known as a singer.
Route 66 was the inspiration for a TV series with Martin Milner and George Maharis.
Milner later got behind the wheel again, as co-star of Webb’s series Adam-12. He had first worked with Webb in the original 1950’s Dragnet TV series.
With Milner in the above picture is Allene Roberts, who passed away a few years ago.
The Rolling Stones turned “Route 66” into a Rock and Roll number.
Bobby Troup also wrote the title tune to the Rock and Roll movie The Girl Can’t Help It, that Little Richard made famous. The movie was directed by Frank Tashlin, who was known as Tish Tash when he was a Warner Brothers cartoon director.
For Troup, Route 66 doubled-back to Jack Webb. Bobby married Jack’s ex-wife, singer and actress Julie London. No hard feelings, Webb hired Bobby and Julie to appear in his Adam-12 follow-up, Emergency! With Troup’s songwriting royalties, I wonder if he really needed the work?
If you look at the link above to my post about Allene, you will see Julie is there as well. And finally, let’s give a nod to Boss Radio 66, which you will always find over in the Links section.
What a crazy Tish Tash mish-mash of a post this is, inspired by a Google Doodle.
A Sweet Southern Belle
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.