Classic Films with Female Sidekicks
This list is dedicated to ladies from the classic era that step in to help save the day! These aren't your typical Smiley Burnett type of sidekicks. Mostly they are women who are encountered by a troubled protagonist who brings out their female sidekick instincts!
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- DirectorBudd BoetticherStarsLucille BremerRichard CarlsonDouglas FowleyA well-known judge has become a fugitive from the police, with a large reward on his head. A reporter believes that the judge is hiding in a private sanitarium, so she seeks out a private investigator and asks him to pretend to be insane, so that he can get inside the sanitarium and look for the judge. The investigator is admitted to the asylum, and encounters many dangers while trying to prove that the judge is there.Lucille Bremer plays a reporter who hires detective Richard Carlson to go undercover as a mental patient in a sanitarium that she suspects to be the hide-out of a former judge with a reward on his head. She is seemingly indifferent to the detective's safety until things appear to go awry, then she springs into action!
- DirectorJames V. KernStarsRobert YoungBetsy DrakeJohn SuttonIn flashback from a 'Rebecca'-style beginning: Ellen Foster, visiting her aunt on the California coast, meets neighbor Jeff Cohalan and his ultramodern clifftop house.While visiting relatives on vacation, Betsy Drake begins to wonder why disturbed neighbor Robert Young is having an extended streak of terrible luck. She becomes determined to find the answer in this atmospheric drama set on the coast of California.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissStarsJames MasonWilfrid LawsonMary ClareA pair of young teachers look into the disappearance of their friend in the Yorkshire Moors. They soon run across the man they suspect is the murderer, and have to sit out a storm with him.The lovely and seemingly forgotten Joyce Howard is an ideal female sidekick in this criminally underrated British mystery. She hopes to find what happened to her friend who disappeared and whose body was never found. While searching the boggy Yorkshire moors for clues, she and a friend get caught in a storm and end up at the desolate home of a very mysterious, troubled James Mason. He objects to their presence, but as Joyce grows increasingly attracted to him, nothing, including him, will stop her from lending a helping hand with his problems.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsGary CooperRobert AldaLilli PalmerIn WW2, the Allies race against time to persuade two nuclear scientists working for the Germans to switch sides.Fritz Lang's WWII thriller finds Gary Cooper in Italy posing as a German doctor in an attempt to rescue a scientist being forced to develop nuclear bombs by the Nazis. He and his comrades must work quietly and stay out of sight to avoid suspicion and arrest. The enticing presence and assistance of spirited underground courier Lilli Palmer makes hiding out a lot more pleasant than it would otherwise be!
- DirectorGordon DouglasHenry LevinStarsGlenn FordEvelyn KeyesJohn IrelandWhen he learns that a gangster has taken over his nightclub and murdered his partner, returning WW2 hero Joe Miracle steals the money from the club's safe and hides in a settlement home, while the mob is on his tail.Glenn Ford has just stolen a lot of money that was rightfully his and is being relentlessly hunted by the hoodlums from which he took it. He has a determined woman on his side, though, in the form of Evelyn Keyes, who runs a settlement house.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsRex HarrisonPeggy CumminsWilliam HartnellA convict sentenced to three years for killing a detective escapes from a prison and goes on the run aided by a local girl.Most fans of film-noir remember Peggy Cummins for her brilliant performance as the female half of a fugitive couple in the classic "Gun Crazy." Here, she is of a more wholesome variety. After a confrontation involving a prostitute leads to the accidental death of a cop, Rex Harrison is charged and sentenced for killing him and, as the title suggests, he escapes prison. With the law closing in on him, he sure could use a female sidekick, and finds one in Peggy.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsRay MillandJane WymanPhillip TerryThe desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.Ray Milland and Jane Wyman give excellent performances respectively in this well-known Best Picture winner. Milland plays an alcoholic whose drinking habits are becoming increasingly troublesome with each day. The only thing good in his life is the constant support of girlfriend Jane Wyman.
- DirectorPhil KarlsonStarsJohn PayneEvelyn KeyesBrad DexterA former boxer turned cab driver has to hide from the police when his badgering wife is murdered by the jewel thief she was having an affair with.John Payne is in for a bad night when he discovers his unfaithful wife's body in the back seat of his own taxi cab. Not only that, the law is already after him for an assault charge. Fortunately, though, Evelyn Keyes has done the female sidekick thing a couple of times before and has experience at this type of thing.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsJohn MillsJoan GreenwoodEdward ChapmanWhen the murder of a young woman happens, her next-door neighbor is under suspicion due to his previous stay in a mental hospital.In this British thriller/noir, John Mills is having lapses of memory following a bus wreck. So when a girl who lives at the same boarding house turns up dead, he becomes the prime suspect to the police and himself. Joan Greenwood sees things differently and sets out to help him.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsNova PilbeamDerrick De MarneyPercy MarmontA man on the run from a murder charge enlists the help of a beautiful stranger who must put herself at risk for his cause.Derrick De Marney must escape custody and go on the run to prove his innocence when a film actress turns up murdered. One thing is for sure, though, when the chief constable's own daughter puts everything at risk to help you, she is one determined female sidekick. Lucky for him, Nova Pilbeam is willing to do just that.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsIngrid BergmanGregory PeckMichael ChekhovA psychiatrist protects the identity of an amnesia patient accused of murder while attempting to recover his memory.Gregory Peck has two problems - He can't remember who he is, and he is wanted for murder. It's a good thing he has Ingrid Bergman around who will stop at nothing to help him. Forget "sidekick," Ingrid is more like the all-out hero in this superb Alfred Hitchcock thriller.
- DirectorHerman ShumlinStarsCharles BoyerLauren BacallKatina PaxinouIn 1937, agents from the opposing sides of the Spanish Civil War travel to the neutral UK to secure coal contracts and to undermine each other's efforts.As the Spanish civil war rages in 1937, Republican 'confidential agent' Charles Boyer arrives in London in an attempt to buy up cole before the enemy fascists get their hands on it. He is met with one problem after another right from the start, however. He is beaten and robbed by enemy spies, and then betrayed by the agents who were supposed to help him. But worst of all, after his letter of credit is stolen, Lord Benditch refuses to sell the cole he was sent to buy. This man needs a female sidekick and bad! He gets even better than that with Lauren Bacall, Lord Benditch's cynical but good-hearted daughter.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsViveca LindforsDane ClarkVirginia MayoWhile recuperating from wartime back injuries at a hospital, veteran Bob Corey is visited on Christmas Eve by a beautiful stranger with an even stranger message.Gordon MacRae is recovering from spinal injuries he suffered during WWII. He plans to start a ranch with his best friend, but upon his release, he finds that his friend has mysteriously vanished. The search for his friend leads straight to trouble. Luckily, though, beautiful nurse Virginia Mayo has fallen in love with him and is willing to go a long way to help his cause.
- DirectorRobert MontgomeryStarsRobert MontgomeryThomas GomezWanda HendrixWW2 veteran Lucky Gagin arrives in a New Mexico border-town intent on revenging against mobster Frank Hugo but FBI agent Bill Retz, who also wants Hugo, tries to keep Gagin out of trouble.Robert Montgomery arrives in San Pablo in search of a rich racketeer who killed his friend. He attempts to blackmail the man but soon finds himself in over his head with both the criminals and a cop on his tail. Still, he has something they don't, a very helpful female sidekick in Wanda Hendrix.
- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsRobert TaylorAudrey TotterHerbert MarshallAfter a brain-damaged man confesses to murder and is committed, Dr. Ann Lorrison tries to prove his innocence.Audrey Totter played her share of first-rate evil women. Here, however, she is a first-rate female sidekick. And it's sure a good thing for Robert Taylor that she is, as he seems to only have two options - Be committed to an asylum for insanity or be convicted for the murder of his own wife.
- DirectorHarry HornerStarsJeanne CrainJean PetersElliott ReidThe untimely murder of a New York glamor-girl sparks an investigation with an emotionally driven detective at the helm.A vastly inferior remake of "I Wake Up Screaming" that features Jeanne Crain taking on the role previously played by Betty Grable. If you must see this one, see the original first!
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCary GrantJean ArthurRonald ColmanAn escaped prisoner has to prove his innocence to a stuffy law professor with the help of a spirited school teacher.Cary Grant is wanted for burning down the factory at which he was employed and killing the foreman. He attempts to evade the authorities on only one good leg. Boy, could he use a top female sidekick right about now, that's where Jean Arthur comes in.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsFred MacMurrayHelen WalkerMarjorie MainProfessional pollster Pete Marshall gets more than he bargained for when he heads deep into the Ozarks to investigate the disappearances of several of his colleagues.In this morbidly hilarious comedy, pollster Fred MacMurray arrives in the small town of "Plainville" to inquire about a colleague who disappeared in that area and comes upon the house of a sadistic backwoods family. He has a hellish time trying to escape with his life, but he also meets female sidekick Helen Walker. Sounds like an even trade to me!
- DirectorHarold ClurmanWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsSusan HaywardPaul LukasBill WilliamsAfter a woman he meets is murdered, a soon-to-ship-out sailor has until dawn to find the killer, aided by a weary dance hall girl.The luck of sailor Bill Williams can't seem to make up its mind. In a single night in New York City, he experiences a drunken blackout and finds that the woman he spent the evening with has been murdered, making him the suspect. Then, he finds aid in stunning nightclub worker Susan Hayward.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsLucille BallClifton WebbWilliam BendixA secretary tries to help her boss who's been framed for murder.After being released from prison, Mark Stevens just wants to stay clean and become a private detective. But his past may not let him alone and he is quickly caught in a web of blackmail, infidelity and murder. But when one has a determined female sidekick like Lucille Ball, all is not lost.
- DirectorH. Bruce HumberstoneStarsBetty GrableVictor MatureCarole LandisWhy is Inspector Ed Cornell trying to railroad Frankie Christopher for the murder of model Vicky Lynn?Publicity man Victor Mature has just lost one of his clients who has been murdered. Even worse, a police inspector is maliciously trying to pin the murder on him. But if you think that all Betty Grable can do is show her legs and sing, think again. Victor's trouble brings out her inner female sidekick!
- DirectorDelmer DavesStarsHumphrey BogartLauren BacallBruce BennettA man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try to prove his innocence.Humphrey Bogart, convicted of killing his wife, escapes prison looking to prove his innocence. He has plastic surgery to render him unrecognizable, but needs somewhere to hide out while he recovers. It's only right that Lauren Bacall would play female sidekick to Bogey at least once in their careers, and he never needed one more than here!
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsPriscilla LaneRobert CummingsOtto KrugerA young man accused of sabotage goes on the run to prove his innocence.Yet another Hitchcock thriller which sees an innocent man on the run from the cops. This time it's Robert Cummings' turn to have his life turned upside down after he is accused of sabotage. But if you're lucky enough to have Priscilla Lane as a female sidekick, then you're lucky, period.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsRichard WidmarkJean PetersThelma RitterA pickpocket unwittingly lifts a message destined for enemy agents and becomes a target for a Communist spy ring.Pickpocket Richard Widmark is being harassed from all directions after snatching some hot classified information from the purse of Jean Peters. Despite his distrust and poor treatment of her, she is attracted to him and you know what that means, she abandons all else and turns female sidekick!
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsGeorge BrentMarguerite ChapmanRaymond HuntleyThe married owner of a bookstore is attracted to his sexy blonde clerk. He finally gives in to temptation and makes a pass at her, but that only results in him getting enmeshed in blackmail and murder.Bookstore manager George Brent is being blackmailed by a young female clerk at the store, who is being influenced by a ruthless criminal. As the situation unfolds, things go from bad to worse and the need for a female sidekick grows. And, as luck would have it, the lovely, ethereal beauty Marguerite Chapman is up to the part.