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Heaven With a Barbed Wire Fence (1939) 20th Century Fox
Director: Ricardo Cortez
Screenplay:Leonard Hoffman & Ben Grauman Kohn, from a novel by Dalton Trumbo
Cast: Jean Rogers, Raymond Walburn, Marjorie Rambeau,
Glenn Ford (Joe) Nicholas Conte, Ward Bond, Irving Bacon 
Glenn Ford's debut film was a spunky little road movie.
GF is a New York store clerk who joins a hobo (Conte) and an illegal Mexican immigrant (Rogers) heading for his newly bought land in Arizona.
Just after this film ,he signed a contract with Columbia. 
Convicted Woman (1940) Columbia
Director: Nick Grinde
Screenplay:
Joseph Carole from a story by Martin Mooney & Alex Gottlieb.
Cast: Frieda Inescort, Glenn Ford (reporter Jim Brent), Rochelle Hudson, Lola Lane, June Lang, 
Rampant melodrama set in a women's reformatory, intelligently scripted and ably directed, has GF as a reporter and Rochelle Hudson a victim of society railroaded into the reformatory
Men Without Souls (1940) Columbia
Director: Nick Grinde
Screenplay: Robert D. Andrews, Joseph Carole, Harvey Gates
(Story)
Cast: Glenn Ford (Johnny Adams) Cy Kendall,
Rochelle Hudson, John Litel, Barton MacLane, 
Glenn Ford, Barton MacLane Yet another melodrama with a prison Backdrop and a portentous title, it was just a filler With GF out to avenge his father's death. The killer was a prison guard, so Glenn has himself thrown in jail. The story had very little going for it. Not one of Glenn's best for sure!
So Ends Our Night (1941) United Artists
Director: John Cromwell
Screenplay: Talbot Jennings from the novel"Flotsam" by Erich Maria Remarque
Cast: Fredric March, Frances Dee, Margaret Sullavan, Anna Sten, Glenn Ford (Ludwig Kern) Erich von Stroheim, Sig Ruman 
After playing in minor films at Columbia, Glenn got a chance to demonstrate he could hold his own with the stars.
He was loaned out to Universal to appear as the idealistic young man in love with Jewish fugitive Sullavan in the superb filmization of Erich Maria Remarque's novel "Flotsam" who tell the story of those who had to flee Germany at the advent of the Nazi reign. The story was depressing but fascinating and the acting superior. |  |
My Son Is Guilty (1940) Columbia
Director: Charles Barton
Screenplay: Harry Shumate, Joseph Carole, from a story by Karl Brown
Cast: Harry Carey, Bruce Cabot, Jacqueline Wells, Bruce Bennett, Wynne Gibson, Edgar Buchanan, Glenn Ford (Barney) Bruce Bennett, Don Beddoe, Dick Curtis, Wynne Gibson, Bruce Cabot Humor and romance took back seats in this grim-visaged programmer that stars veteran Carey as a typically tough Hell's Kitchen by-the-book policeman, and Cabot as the jailbird son he unsuccessfully tries to reform. The film offered nothing new and was quite forgettable, GF has a small part in his debut at Columbia where he will appear in another five movies in his first year.
The Lady In Question (1940) Columbia
Director: Charles Vidor
Screenplay: Lewis Meltzer (adaptation from French film "Gribouille"
Cast: Rita Hayworth, Brian Aherne, Glenn Ford, Irene Rich, Evelyn Keyes, George Coulouris, 
Juror Aherne has girl accused of murder(Hayworth) acquitted, invites her to move in his house with his family, has doubts when his son (GF) and the girl fall in love, but all ends happily.
Even if the film seems indecided between comedy and drama, it is warm and winning, charmingly directed and acted.
It is the first of several screen romances between Ford and Hayworth, and they click together. It was a box office winner.
Blondie Plays Cupid (1940) Columbia "Blondie" series 7th episode)
Director: Frank Strayer
Cast: Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake,
Glenn Ford ( Charlie), Luana Walters, Irving Bacon The usual Bumstead routines were routinely aired as Blondie (Penny Singleton) assist in the elopement of a romantic young couple (GF & Luana Walters).
Babies for Sale (1940) Columbia
Director: Charles Barton
Screenplay: Robert D. Andrews from a story by Robert Chapin
Cast: Glenn Ford (Steve Burton) Rochelle Hudson, Miles Mander, Joseph Stefani, Isabel Jewell, Selmer Jackson, 
Glenn Ford, Miles Mander, Selmer Jackson, Rochelle Hudson, Isabel Jewell GH plays a reporter who investigates a crooked maternity-home doctor. A routine drama, it paired Glenn with Hudson,this time an abused wife, once more. |
