Angela Lansbury and Raymond Burr in Please Murder Me! (1956)

Angela Lansbury has been synonymous with Disney and Jessica Fletcher for so long that it's hard to remember that she was an actress long before she ever jumped on the Disney bandwagon. It's even harder to realize that she played some pretty unpleasant characters. She was the "other" woman opposite Judy Garland and John Hodiak in Harvey Girls which I love and reviewed HERE. She was also absurdly cast as Elvis Presley's mother in Blue Hawaii and even as Queen Anne in The Three Musketeers that starred Gene Kelley as D'Artagnan.

And now I've seen her in an even more startling deviation, as accused murderess in the 1956 black and white film noir Please Murder Me! opposite Raymond Burr.

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Movie Review: The Harvey Girls (1946) starring Judy Garland and John Hodiak

The Harvey Girls (1946)

starring Judy Garland, John Hodiak, and Angela Lansbury

co-starring Ray Bolger, Marjorie Main, Chill Wills, Kenny Baker, and Cyd Charisse

I remember LOVING The Harvey Girls the first time I saw it, so naturally I was curious to see if that emotion had staying power since I hadn't seen the movie in over a decade. As it happens, yes, I still love it, and with good reason.

I've never minded mail-order bride stories, and that's how this one begins, with young Susan Bradley (Judy Garland) headed west to marry a man who she's only corresponded with, but never met. Full of hope and light, a tad bit hungry, she encounters a group of young women also headed west, known as the Harvey Girls. They are employed by Fred Harvey to open a Harvey House restaurant that brings culture and refinement to western towns. Enthralled with the young ladies in this group, Susan immediately befriends them, especially since her stop and theirs is the same one.

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