Movie Love #14

Judge Samuel Coulter enlists Lucy Duncan to administer the finances of the wealthy but wildly spendthrift Mark MacLean, hoping her disciplined approach will straighten out the young man's reckless spending. When Lucy clamps down hard—canceling accounts, freezing assets, and cutting his allowance to fifty dollars a week—Mark discovers that charm won't get him out of this particular jam. As Lucy pursues her mission with ruthless efficiency and Mark finds unexpected ways to stay in her life, the two begin to see each other in a very different light.

Lizbeth Scott's climb from understudy to Broadway performer and beyond follows her refusal to abandon her acting dreams despite her family's ultimatum and years of struggle in New York. When a chance to perform finally arrives—and then slips away repeatedly—she perseveres through modeling and screen tests until producer Hal Wallis recognizes her potential and brings her to Paramount, where she becomes one of the nation's outstanding young actresses. This 1952 biography charts how determination and the right opportunity transformed an understudy's persistence into stardom.

When Don Lockwood's movie premiere goes sideways and he literally crashes into stage actress Kathy Selden, neither expects to see the other again—but producer R.F. Simpson has other plans. As Don and Kathy grow closer, their studio is scrambling to save "The Dueling Cavalier," a talkie that's testing terribly, thanks to co-star Lina Lamont's grating voice. A daring scheme emerges: use Kathy's voice to dub over Lina's on screen, transforming the picture into "The Dancing Cavalier"—if they can keep it secret long enough.

Tony Curtis overcame a Navy injury to pursue acting, training at the Dramatic Workshop and earning his first break in a stage production of Golden Boy. After signing with Universal and working his way through small roles, he starred opposite Piper Laurie in The Prince Who Was a Thief, and soon after married Janet Leigh in 1951—now he's set to co-star with Piper Laurie again in Son of Ali Baba as his career takes flight.