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.)

Seven Things to Know About Richard Long

1. In his film debut, Richard Long played the adult illegitimate son of Claudette Colbert and Orson Welles in the 1946 drama Tomorrow Is Forever. He was fifth-billed in the cast, which also included George Brent, Lucille Watson, and Natalie Wood as Orson's eight-year-old foster child in the movie. Incidentally, Long acted opposite Welles in his follow-up film The Stranger, which Orson also directed.

2. Richard Long's fourth film provided him with his most famous film role. In The Egg and I, he played Tom Kettle, the oldest son of the quirky country couple Ma and Pa Kettle (Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride). The Kettles stole the movie from stars Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray and earned their own film series. Starting with Ma and Pa Kettle (1949), Long appeared in four of the nine Kettles films as Tom, a bright young man who eventually attends Washington State University, gets married, and moves to New York City.

3. Richard Long's first significant television role was as Gentleman Jack Darby in four 1958-1959 episodes of Maverick. Darby was a fugitive wanted for embezzlement. Though he was innocent of that crime, Darby was a smooth con man, who sometimes teamed with his entertainer girlfriend Cindy Lou Brown (Arlene Howell). Long was cast as Darby after Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. became one of the stars of 77 Sunset Strip. Zimbalist had played a similar character named Dandy Jim Buckley. Incidentally, Long played Gentleman Jack along Zimbalist's Dandy Jim in "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres," James Garner's favorite Maverick episode.

The cast of Bourbon Street Beat.

4. Following their appearances together on Maverick, Warner Bros. cast Richard Long and Arlene Howell in the New Orleans-set detective TV series Bourbon Street Beat (1959-60). Long played private eye Rex Randolph with Andrew Duggan as his partner, a former police officer. Arlene Howell co-starred as their secretary and Van Williams played Kenny Madison, a law school graduate turned PI. Bourbon Street Beat did not fare as well as other Warner Bros. detective series and was cancelled after a single season. However, Richard Long's character, Rex Randolph, joined 77 Sunset Strip for a season and Van Williams returned as Kenny Madison the following year in a new series called Surfside 6.

Long as Jarrod Barkley.

5. In 1965, Richard Long signed on to play Jarrod Barkley, Victoria Barkley's (Barbara Stanwyck) oldest son in the popular Western TV series The Big Valley. Jarrod was an atypical Western TV character, having graduated from law school back East before returning to the Barkley ranch in Stockton, California. During the series' four-year run, Jarrod is the only family member to get married (in the third season episode "Day of Wrath"), though his young bride is quickly murdered. Long also directed two episodes of The Big Valley: "The 25 Graves of Midas" in season four and "Plunder!" in season two.

Juliet Mills and Richard Long.

6. In a 2020 interview with Jeremy Roberts, Linda Evans described her Big Valley co-star: "Richard was like a giant teddy bear. You just wanted to hug him. He was a joy. He was funny. He was smart. He was someone that you could sit down with and feel that you had known forever. You could trust him with your life." Juliet Mills, Long's co-star in the TV series Nanny and the Professor (1970-71) told Closer Weekly in 2019: "Richard was a wonderful light comedian, a lovely man, and all of his family became friends. He died when he was 47, but if he’d lived longer, he would have been more appreciated. Just a lovely, sweet guy."

7. Richard Long was married twice. His first wife, actress Suzan Ball, was a second cousin to Lucille Ball. She was diagnosed with cancer in 1953 and died at age 21 a year after she and Long married in 1954. Richard Long married actress Mara Corday in 1957. They had three children and, despite some volatile stretches, remained wed until his death in 1974. Richard Long experienced cardiac problems for much of his life and suffered his first heart attack in 1961. He checked into a hospital in 1974 for heart-related problems and died four weeks later at age 47.