#The case of the madcap modiste full#
#The case of the madcap modiste series#
#The case of the madcap modiste tv#

She has a lazy, good-for-nothing husband, Sam Starr (Ric Roman), and berates him constantly.

#The case of the madcap modiste series#

Windsor later played famous outlaw Belle Starr in the premiere episode of “ Stories of the Century” (1954-56), a western series produced by Republic Pictures and directed by William Witney, which featured railroad detectives Matt Clark (Jim Davis) and Frankie Adams (Mary Castle) as they roamed the west pursuing the most wanted outlaws.Īs Belle, Windsor cuts quite a striking figure in the episode, dressed in buckskin, leather pants, a feathered hat and dual holsters for matching six-guns. But as an acting showcase, it’s clearly Marie Windsor’s show all the way as she propels the action and provides the emotional core (and heart-wrenching finale). He puts himself in a difficult position in trying to gain her trust, but also risks becoming a wanted man himself as he aids Doll in her flight from justice.Įlliott was pretty wooden as an actor, although he looks and sounds the part just perfectly, but his low-key performance plays well off the standard Republic western histrionics of the rest of the cast (Tucker, Davis, Fix, Grant Withers, Denver Pyle, etc.). He even admits to her that his initial goal was to turn her in for the reward so he can fulfill the late preacher’s dream of building a church. The plot follows the efforts of Zeb to get Doll to change her ways as he joins her on her mission to locate her long-lost sister. Femme fatale extraordinaire Marie Windsor plays Doll Brown, a bitter, unrepentant female outlaw in men’s clothes who hooks up with Zeb as she tries to outrun Marshal Bucky McLean (Forrest Tucker) and the vengeful Stoner brothers, a motley trio that includes western regulars Jim Davis and Paul Fix. William (Wild Bill) Elliott stars as Zeb Smith, a dishonest gambler who takes the high road after an old preacher takes a bullet for him. Here’s what I wrote in my IMDB review of the film, which was directed by R.G. Windsor was quite a formidable presence in the 1949 Trucolor western from Republic Pictures, entitled HELLFIRE, in which she plays the notorious Doll Brown, whose outlaw ways gunman-turned-religious convert William Elliott tries to tame. Few lady heavies could stand alongside Jack Elam or Neville Brand Marie Windsor is the exception. Such a small proportion of screen heavies are female that one finds anomalies like Barbara Stanwyck tackling a large number of sympathetic parts for which she is manifestly unsuited. One of the reasons that our previous volume did not contain any women was that type-cast heaviness seems to be a male prerogative. Marie Windsor was one of the most memorable of the minor stars of the ‘fifties, and had a screen personality that was quite unique….She was the best of the female heavies. In their book, Broads (re-titled Dames when published in the U.S.), a collection of short tributes to actresses who specialized in playing bad girls, British film historians Ian & Elisabeth Cameron, authors of the previous volume, Heavies, describe Windsor like this:

She did play a crew member on a voyage to the moon in the otherwise execrable CAT-WOMEN OF THE MOON (1953), but even there, the “Cat-women” were no match for her. I know she played good girls from time to time, but I have trouble remembering which films they were in.

#The case of the madcap modiste tv#

When Windsor turned up in a film or TV show, you knew she had a secret or two or wasn’t what she seemed. Her voice could turn from a purr to a snarl at a moment’s notice.

#The case of the madcap modiste full#

She had striking features, including high cheekbones, full lips, and large, luminous eyes, and a smooth, velvety voice that often masked a duplicitous nature. She also guest-starred in numerous TV shows, including four episodes of “Perry Mason.”

Her most memorable roles for me were in THE NARROW MARGIN (1952) and THE KILLING (1956) and the westerns, HELLFIRE and DAKOTA LIL. She’s best known for playing femmes fatale in crime movies and film noir and outlaw women in westerns throughout the 1940s and ’50s. She was an unforgettable character actress who had a 50-year career in movies and television (1941-1991) and died in 2000 at the age of 80. Marie Windsor would have turned 100 today, December 11, 2019.