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• Director
• George Marshall
• Writers
• Walter Doniger(screenplay)
• C. William Harrison(story)
• Stars
• Audie Murphy
• Kathryn Grant
• Hope Emerson

In this western, a cavalryman disobeys his officer's command to massacre Indians at Sand Creek, goes AWOL and heads for his home in Texas where he wants to protect the women who will soon bear the brunt of the Indians' revenge. Because he defected from the cavalry, his friends and neighbors consider him a traitor, but the young man disregards them. With his expert advice, the women become crack shots. He trains them at an abandoned mission. One of the women is a real smart aleck and it is she whom he falls in love with. When the angry Indians arrive, the ladies defeat them. Later, the young deserter is found not-guilty during court-martial proceedings. His C.O. is not so lucky and is charged with the Sand Creek slaughter.

• Director
• Ry Russo-Young
• Writers
• Maria Maggenti(screenplay by)
• Lauren Oliver(based on the novel by)
• Stars
• Zoey Deutch
• Halston Sage
• Cynthy Wu

A popular, selfish high schooler (Zoey Deutch) keeps reliving the same day over and over again, which ends with her and her friends getting into a fatal car accident. In time, she must learn how to prevent the accident while becoming a better, kinder person to those around her. Halston Sage, Logan Miller, Kian Lawley, Elena Kampouris, and Jennifer Beals co-star. Directed by Ry Russo-Young, this drama was based on the YA novel of the same name by Lauren Oliver.

• Director
• Terence Fisher
• Writers
• Jimmy Sangster(screenplay by)
• Bram Stoker(based on the novel by)
• Stars
• Peter Cushing
• Christopher Lee
• Michael Gough

This Hammer Studios classic is far closer to the letter (and spirit) of the Bram Stoker novel than the Bela Lugosi version of Dracula. The premise finds the infamous count journeying from his native Transylvania to England, where he takes a headfirst plunge into the London nightlife, and begins to rack up victim after victim. In the process, Dracula also runs into his arch-nemesis, Van Helsing (Peter Cushing), which ignites a battle of wills between the two. Heavily censored in Britain when released (with the goriest moments truncated), this outing was restored by the BFI in the mid-late 2000s. It put Lee and Cushing on the map and paved the way for many sequels starring the two, and for many non-Dracula follow-ups with these actors as well.

• Director
• Amir Muhammad
• Writer
• Amir Muhammad
• Stars
• Amir Muhammad
• Ghafir Akbar
• Soh Boon Tat

Malay filmmaker Amir Muhammad directs the black-and-white documentary The Big Durian. The title refers to the durian, a fruit of Southeast Asia with a bad smell but a good taste. One day in 1987, the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur was under attack by a crazed armed soldier. The city was in chaos and many rumors began to circulate. In order to make sense of these events, Muhammad employs eye-witness interviews, reenactments, and various stylistic elements. The Big Durian was shown at the Sundance Film Festival as part of the World Documentaries program.

• Director
• Dick Powell
• Writers
• Wendell Mayes(screenplay)
• James Salter(novel)
• Stars
• Robert Mitchum
• Robert Wagner
• Richard Egan

Directed with crisp efficiency by Dick Powell, The Hunters is a romantic melodrama with an aviation angle. Robert Mitchum plays veteran Air Force pilot Maj. Cleve Saville, in charge of a group of young flyboys in 1952 Korea. Among the men under Saville's command are cocksure Lt. Ed Peil (Robert Wagner) and timorous Lt. Abbott (Lee Phillips). Much against his better judgment, Saville falls in love with Abbott's gorgeous wife Kris (Mai Britt). When Abbott crashes behind enemy lines, Saville and Peil are sent out to rescue the downed pilot-and Peil has an inkling of the Major's feelings towards Mrs. Abbott. During their grueling journey back to their own lines, both Peil and Abbott benefit from the military expertise of the no-nonsense Saville, who knows where and when to separate his private life from his responsibilities. Distinguished by excellent aerial sequences, The Hunters is adapted from the novel by James Salter.

A charismatic black woman at the University of Alabama runs for Homecoming Queen, going up against a century of ingrained racial segregation, internal black politics, and a secret association of all-white fraternities.

• Director
• Ingmar Bergman
• Writer
• Ingmar Bergman
• Stars
• Eva Dahlbeck
• Harriet Andersson
• Gunnar Björnstrand

Not even Ingmar Bergman was prone to discuss his obscure 1955 production Dreams. While on vacation, photo agency owner Susanne (Eva Dahlbeck) hopes to rendezvous with her married lover. The man's wife puts the kibosh on this, whereupon Susanne enters into an affair with diplomat Sanderby Gunnar Bjornstrand. This liaison ends unhappily, leaving her sadder and wiser at vacation's end. So annoyingly confusing is Dreams that at times it resembles a Woody Allen parody of Bergman, rather than the genuine article.

• Director
• Charles Walters
• Writers
• William Brinkley(novel)
• Dorothy Kingsley
• George Wells
• Stars
• Glenn Ford
• Gia Scala
• Earl Holliman

Obviously inspired by such service comedies as Mister Roberts and Operation Mad Ball, Don't Go Near the Water is a tribute to those "unsung heroes" of WW2: the men and women of the Navy's Public Relations Department. Thousands of miles away from the shooting war, Lt. Max Siegel (Glenn Ford) and the rest of the PR staff spend their time issuing colorful reports of Naval heroism and sucking up to visiting US dignitaries on a tiny South Sea island. Siegel and company also battle the anal-rententive pettiness of such superior officers as Lt. Cmdr. Clinton T. Nash (Fred Clark) and such potential foes as abrasive war correspondent Gordon Ripwell (Keenan Wynn). The feminine angle is provided by Gia Scala as Melora, a European-educated local girl, Anne Francis as by-the-book nurse Lt. Alice Tomlen, and Eva Gabor as women's magazine writer Deborah Aldrich. Particularly amusing is Mickey Shaughnessy as foul-mouthed seaman Farragut Jones, whose periodic barrages of profanity are invariably drowned out by the sound of a ratchet-horn (this was, after all, 1957). Don't Go Near the Water was based on the comic novel by ex-PR man William Brinkley.

• Director
• Norman Foster
• Writer
• Thomas W. Blackburn
• Stars
• Fess Parker(archive footage)
• Buddy Ebsen(archive footage)
• Basil Ruysdael(archive footage)

Cashing in on the surprise success of his 1954 Davy Crockett TV miniseries (first presented on the weekly anthology Disneyland), Walt Disney assembled the three hour-long "Crockett" episodes into a 93 minute theatrical feature. While the re-editing process has created a few noticeable continuity gaps, the results are by and large satisfying: certainly audiences in 1955 were satisfied, if box office returns are any indication (and, of course, they are). Fess Parker plays Davy Crockett, Tennessee-born frontiersman, while Buddy Ebsen (Disney's original choice for Crockett) co-stars as Davy's sidekick George Russell. The film is divided into three long episodes, each separated by a title card. Part one shows Crockett the Indian fighter (politically correct? Of course not!); part two finds Davy winning a seat in the Nashville legislature, where his heroism is rather cynically exploited by presidential candidate Andrew Jackson (Basil Ruysdael); and part three concludes at the Alamo, with a discreet cutaway just before Davy meets his doom at the hands of Mexican general Santa Anna. Also appearing in this jerry-built film are Hans Conried as Thimblerig and Helene Stanley as Davy's wife Polly. And who could forget "The Ballad of Davy Crockett"--not to mention those neato coonskin caps? Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier was followed in 1956 by a "prequel" (likewise cobbled together from three Disneyland episodes), Davy Crockett and the River Pirates.

• Director
• George Cukor
• Writers
• Charles Dickens(novel)
• Hugh Walpole(adaptation)
• Howard Estabrook(screenplay)
• Stars
• Freddie Bartholomew
• Frank Lawton
• Edna May Oliver

David Copperfield was MGM's major Christmas release for its 1934-1935 season and also the first of producer David O. Selznick's major "literary" films for that studio. While a great deal of editing and streamlining was necessary to distill Charles Dickens' massive novel into 133 minutes of screen time, the end result was so successful that only the nittiest of nitpickers complained about the excised characters and events. Freddie Bartholomew plays the young Copperfield, who, after the death of his mother (Elizabeth Allan), is cruelly mistreated by his stepfather, Mr. Murdstone (Basil Rathbone). David's life brightens when he meets the ever-in-debt Mr. Micawber (W.C. Fields), and he is sheltered by Micawber's large and loving family until Micawber is carted off to debtor's prison. Forced once more to seek a home, David makes his way to the Dover estate of his Aunt Betsey (Edna May Oliver), where he meets another colorful cast of characters, none more so than the childlike Mr. Dick (Lennox Pawle). When Murdstone arrives, insisting that David be returned to him, Aunt Betsey and Mr. Dick form a united front to protect the boy. Flash-forward several years: the grown David (now played by Frank Lawton) is attending school, where he meets the lovely Agnes Wickfield (Madge Evans). David discovers that Agnes' businessman father (Lewis Stone) is under the thumb of the "'umble" prevaricator Uriah Heep (Roland Young) and the equally disreputable Steerforth (Hugh Williams). With the help of Mr. Micawber-who in a weak moment has taken a job working side-by-side with Heep-David proves Heep's treachery and rescues the Wickfields. By rights, he should marry Agnes, but David impulsively weds the empty-headed Dora (Maureen O'Sullivan). Only after Dora's death does David come to his senses, realizing that Agnes is the true love of his life. Originally, Charles Laughton was slated to play Micawber, but he pulled out of the production, worried that he wouldn't be funny enough. The casting of W.C. Fields was an inspired choice: although he injects his own established screen personality at every opportunity, Fields was born to play Micawber. Likewise, second-billed Lionel Barrymore fits his portrayal of crusty old Dan Peggoty like a glove. In fact, there isn't a false bit of casting in the whole production, and this, as much as Selznick's sumptuous production values, is the key to David Copperfield's enormous success.

• Director
• Burt P. Lynwood
• Writers
• Louis E. Heifetz(story)
• Charles F. Royal(adaptation and screenplay)
• Stars
• Esther Ralston
• Regis Toomey
• J. Farrell MacDonald

Released by Monogram in 1937, Shadows of the Orient was actually produced independently several years earlier by Larry Darmour. Arrested in a raid on a Chinese gambling joint, judge's daughter Viola Avery (Esther Ralston) is rescued from disgrace by King Moss (Sidney Blackmer), owner of the establishment. In return, Moss expects Viola to string along with him romantically, and to help him with his busy alien-smuggling racket. But stalwart immigration inspector Baxter (Regis Toomey), himself in love with Viola, puts an end to Moss' activities for good. The fact that Shadows of the Orient was three to four years old when it came off the shelf was obvious in its tatty production values and antiquated costumes.

• Director
• Norman Walker
• Writer
• Dion Titheradge
• Stars
• Hugh Wakefield
• Joan Wyndham
• Jack Raine

A wealthy author, looking for material, 'adopts' an incorrigible thief he finds in the streets, together with an attractive typist who is down on her luck.

• Directors
• Basil Dearden
• Michael Relph
• Writers
• Sewell Stokes(based on a book by)
• Jack Whittingham(screenplay)
• Michael Relph(screenplay)
• Stars
• Cecil Parker
• Celia Johnson
• Harry Fowler

Inspired by the recent success of The Blue Lamp, I Believe in You is a multiplotted British drama about parole officers. Several short character vignettes pass our way as the film studies the various methods employed by the officers in dealing with their charges. The film settles upon Cecil Parker, a compassionate official who takes special interest in the parolees. Parker tries simultaneously to reform a hardened criminal, and to dissuade a budding juvenile delinquent from a life of perdition. The semi-documentary approach established early in I Believe in You gives way to sentiment as the film winds down.

• Director
• Marcel Carné
• Writer
• Jacques Prévert(scenario and dialogue)
• Stars
• Arletty
• Jean-Louis Barrault
• Pierre Brasseur



Even in 1945, Marcel Carné's Children of Paradise was regarded as an old-fashioned film. Set in the Parisian theatrical world of the 1840s, Jacques Prévert's screenplay concerns four men in love with the mysterious Garance (Arletty). Each loves Garance in his own fashion, but only the intentions of sensitive mime-actor Deburau (Jean-Louis Barrault) are entirely honorable; as a result, it is he who suffers most, hurdling one obstacle after another in pursuit of an evidently unattainable goal. In the stylized fashion of 19th-century French drama, many grand passions are spent during the film's totally absorbing 195 minutes. The film was produced under overwhelmingly difficult circumstances during the Nazi occupation of France, and many of the participants/creators were members of the Maquis, so the movie's existence itself is somewhat miraculous. Children of Paradise has gone on to become one of the great romantic classics of international cinema.

• Director
• Elliot Silverstein
• Writers
• Walter Newman(screenplay)
• Frank Pierson(screenplay)
• Roy Chanslor(based on a novel by)
• Stars
• Jane Fonda
• Lee Marvin
• Michael Callan

This musical spoof of Westerns featured Lee Marvin in dual roles that won him a Best Actor Oscar. Jane Fonda stars as the title character, a prim schoolmarm returning to her hometown of Wolf City, Wyoming, after receiving an Eastern education. On the train ride, Cat meets up with a pair of friendly, charming crooks, Clay Boone (Michael Callan) and his uncle, Jed (Dwayne Hickman), the former becoming hopelessly smitten with the naive but tough Cat. Upon arriving home, Cat discovers that her eccentric father, Frankie (John Marley), is being threatened with bodily harm by a development company that desperately wants his land. When Frankie is murdered by ruthless, noseless killer Tim Strawn (Marvin), Cat straps on a pair of six-shooters and persuades Clay, Jed, and her father's loyal Native American hand Jackson Two-Bears (Tom Nardini) to sign on as her posse. In her quest for revenge, Cat also recruits Kid Shelleen (also played by Marvin), a one-time fearsome gunslinger who's now a hopeless alcoholic. Cat Ballou (1965) is interspersed throughout the narrative with appearances by Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole as a pair of balladeers who comment on the action musically in Greek chorus style.

• Director
• Henry Hathaway
• Writers
• Louis Bromfield
• Lamar Trotti(screenplay)
• Stars
• Tyrone Power
• Linda Darnell
• Dean Jagger

Inspired by the true story of the leader of the Mormon Church, this film features Dean Jagger in the title role. The members of the Church of Latter Day Saints are subjected to religious persecution by the people of Nauvoo, Illinois, where they've settled; so under the leadership of Brigham Young, the Mormons head west, facing tremendous adversity along the way. However, a gravely ill Young has a prophetic dream in which he sees what he believes is his people's promised land, where they will be allowed to live and worship as they see fit. Soon they discover the land Young saw in his dream -- Salt Lake City, Utah. Young and his followers settle there, but their hardship does not end soon. The first winter in Utah is cruel, and while the spring brings the promises of a bountiful planting season, soon a plague of locusts appears, threatening to devour the crops the settlers have just planted. A huge flock of seagulls arrives to save the day by consuming the insects. Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell play a pair of settlers who fall in love in the course of the journey. Brigham Young downplays the more controversial aspects of the Mormon church (particularly polygamy) in favor of portraying Young as a trail-blazing man of the land; in some markets, the film was shown as Brigham Young, Frontiersman.

• Director
• Tom DiCillo
• Writer
• Tom DiCillo
• Stars
• John Turturro
• Sam Rockwell
• Catherine Keener

In this whimsically absurd comedy, Al Fountain (John Turturro) is an rigidly self-controlled electrical engineer who has discovered his first gray hair and has begun seeing things (bicycles running backwards, coffee pouring from the cup into the pot). To Al's shock, he's fired without notice from his job and told to go home. Instead, he rents a car and heads out in search of Splatchee Lake, a vacation spot he remembers visiting as a child (and one of the few places where he ever felt truly content). Al discovers that the lake is too polluted to swim in, but he finds The Kid (Sam Rockwell), a genial eccentric who wears a coonskin cap and lives in the woods with a large collection of junk scavenged from trash heaps. The Kid encourages Al to be spontaneous and take some chances in his life; an opportunity to do so presents itself when Dupree sisters Floatie (Catherine Keener) and Purlene (Lisa Blount) appear, and love (or a reasonable facsimile) is in the air. Writer/director Tom DiCillo had originally intended this project to follow his debut feature, the hipster comedy Johnny Suede, but problems with financing and production delays led him to make the indie film satire Living in Oblivion first.

• Director
• Michael Relph
• Writer
• William Rose(an original story by)
• Stars
• Harry Secombe
• Ron Randell
• George Relph

Corpulent "Goon Show" regular Harry Secombe plays the title role in the British comedy Davy. Set in the rarefied world of the British music halls, the film focuses in on the Mad Morgans, a family song-and-dance act. It is clear that Davy Morgan is the star of the act, but he loyally remains with his family, even though he seems destined to spend the rest of his life in the Small Time. At long last, Davy gets a chance to perform at the Covent Garden--but only as a solo. Will ambition win out over family solidarity, or vice versa? A stellar supporting cast enables Davy to overcome its occasional banalities and cliches.

• Director
• William Wyler
• Writers
• Lew Wallace(A Tale of Christ)
• Karl Tunberg(screen play by)
• Gore Vidal(contributing writer)
• Stars
• Charlton Heston
• Jack Hawkins
• Stephen Boyd

This 1959 version of Lew Wallace's best-selling novel, which had already seen screen versions in 1907 and 1926, went on to win 11 Academy Awards. Adapted by Karl Tunberg and a raft of uncredited writers including Gore Vidal and Maxwell Anderson, the film once more recounts the tale of Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), who lives in Judea with his family during the time that Jesus Christ was becoming known for his "radical" teachings. Ben-Hur's childhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd) is now an ambitious Roman tribune; when Ben-Hur refuses to help Messala round up local dissidents on behalf of the emperor, Messala pounces on the first opportunity to exact revenge on his onetime friend. Tried on a trumped-up charge of attempting to kill the provincial governor (whose head was accidentally hit by a falling tile), Ben-Hur is condemned to the Roman galleys, while his mother (Martha Scott) and sister (Cathy O'Donnell) are imprisoned. But during a sea battle, Ben-Hur saves the life of commander Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), who, in gratitude, adopts Ben-Hur as his son and gives him full control over his stable of racing horses. Ben-Hur never gives up trying to find his family or exact revenge on Messala. At crucial junctures in his life, he also crosses the path of Jesus, and each time he benefits from it. The highlight of the film's 212 minutes is its now-legendary chariot race, staged largely by stunt expert Yakima Canutt. Ben-Hur's Oscar haul included Best Picture, Best Director for the legendary William Wyler, Best Actor for Heston, and Best Supporting Actor for Welsh actor Hugh Griffith as an Arab sheik.

• Director
• John D. Hancock
• Writer
• Mark Harris(novel)
• Stars
• Michael Moriarty
• Robert De Niro
• Vincent Gardenia

A guaranteed tear-jerker, Bang the Drum Slowly centers on professional baseball player Bruce Pearson (Robert DeNiro) and his team mate Henry Wiggen (Michael Moriarty), who supported Bruce to the bitter end after learning that the young catcher was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and would soon die. When hayseed Pearson first joined the team, he and Wiggen, the team's red-hot pitcher were oil and water. The other team members were none to thrilled to have Pearson on their team. Wiggen changes his attitude when he learns of Pearson's illness, and when the other team members find out, they too become more helpful until the inevitably teary ending. Look for popular character actor Danny Aiello in his feature film debut. The story is based on a novel by screenwriter Mark Harris and was first filmed for television.

• Directors
• Charles Frend
• Robert Hamer(uncredited)
• Writers
• Sheila Kaye Smith(novel "Joanna Godden")
• H.E. Bates(screenplay)
• Angus MacPhail(adaptation)
• Stars
• Googie Withers
• Jean Kent
• John McCallum

Set in the early 20th century, The Loves of Joanna Godden stars Googie Withers in the title role. The heir to a prosperous farm in the Romney Marshes, the headstrong Joanna shocks and outrages her tradition-bound neighbors by running the farm herself, refusing to enter into an arranged marriage with neighboring farmer Arthur Alee (John McCallum). She also "defies nature" by performing then-revolutionary crossbreeding experiments with her stock. All this she does to provide a steady income for her beloved, convent-educated younger sister Ellen (Jean Kent). Joanna is therefore understandably put out when Ellen turns out to be an ungrateful strumpet, who herself sets her cap for the wealthy Alee. It is only through this plot twist, coupled with Joanna's own unhappy romantic affairs, that Joanna and Alee discover that they truly love each other after all. Based on a novel by Sheila Kaye-Smith, The Loves of Joanna Godden is decked out with an impressive musical score by Vaughan Williams.

• Director
• George Nichols Jr.
• Writers
• Sam Mintz(screen play)
• Lucy Maud Montgomery(from the book "Anne of Green Gables")
• Stars
• Anne Shirley
• Tom Brown
• O.P. Heggie

Former child actress Dawn O'Day changed her professional name for Anne of Green Gables, assuming the moniker of her character in the film, Anne Shirley. This first of three RKO films based on the novels of L. M. Montgomery finds young, orphaned, hoydenish Anne arriving at a Canadian household. Though it's an uphill climb, Anne eventually melts the hearts of her truculent foster parents O.P. Heggie and Helen Westley. Despite the unwarranted scrutiny of local gossip Sara Haden, Anne finds true love with stalwart Tom Brown. Anne of Green Gables proved successful enough to warrant a sequel, produced six years later and also starring Anne Shirley: 1940's Anne of Windy Poplars.

• Director
• Edward L. Cahn
• Writers
• George H. Plympton(story)
• Bernard Gordon(screenplay)
• Stars
• Gregg Palmer
• Allison Hayes
• Autumn Russell

Quickie king Sam Katzman's Zombies of Mora Tau is a game attempt to imitate what Roger Corman was doing so well over at American-International. The story takes place on the coast of Africa, where a race of white zombies jealously guards an ancient, jewel-encrusted African Idol. The treasure rests somewhere under the sea, and adventurers Jeff Clark (Gregg Palmer) and George Harrison (Joel Ashley) intend to get their hands on it. Before long, Jeff and George are in danger of being zombified themselves. Jeff's solution to this dilemma is surprisingly bland, bringing this otherwise rousing melodrama to a flat conclusion. Allison Hayes, of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman fame, is decorative as George's wife, who has the misfortunate to fall under the spell of the "living dead". Zombies of Mora Tau was originally released on a double bill with Katzman's The Man Who Turned to Stone.

• Director
• Milton Rosmer
• Writers
• Charles Bennett
• Billie Bristow
• Arthur Conan Doyle(story "The Lost World")
• Stars
• Seymour Hicks
• Nancy O'Neil
• Gibson Gowland

This fairly amusing British monster movie concerns a professor (Seymour Hicks) and a young reporter (Frederick Peisley) searching for the Loch Ness monster. There's romance between Peisley and the professor's charming daughter Maggie (Rosamund John), a good deal of comedy, and a final confrontation with the creature itself. Some sources claim that the monster was really an iguana or even a plucked chicken. Future filmmaker David Lean edited this obscure but entertaining oddity.

• Director
• Howard Morris
• Writers
• Gwen Bagni(screenplay)
• Paul Dubov(screenplay)
• Harvey Bullock(screenplay)
• Stars
• Doris Day
• Brian Keith
• Pat Carroll

A young widow with three children and a sheepdog marries a widowed man with a young daughter and a French poodle in this amusing comedy. Abby (Doris Day) is the owner of a lumberyard who falls for Jake (Brian Keith) when her sister Maxine (Pat Carroll) introduce the two at a party. The couple is initially reluctant and somewhat embarrassed over the blatant matchmaking attempt but meet later at an all-night store. The two marry and deal with constant canine and sassy sibling rivalries. Jake falls out of the family trailer on vacation, leading Abby to recruit a group of hippies to find her lost husband. Jamie Farr is the far out hippie, Barbara Hershey is Jake's daughter Stacey, comedian George Carlin plays Herbie Fleck, owner of a local hamburger stand, and Alice Ghostley is the harried housekeeper in this engaging romp. The Grass Roots provide some of the music in this feature.

• Director
• Philip Dunne
• Writers
• Clifford Odets(screenplay)
• J.R. Salamanca(novel "The Lost Country")
• Stars
• Elvis Presley
• Hope Lange
• Tuesday Weld

Rock 'n roll king Elvis Presley stars as Glenn Talbot, a country boy with a problem temper and a yen for literary greatness in this typical Presley vehicle directed by Philip Dunne. After Glenn is sent packing by his father for mixing it up one too many times with his brother, the court makes him a ward of his uncle. His inner turmoil leads him into therapy with the older and very attractive Irene (Hope Lange), a patient-doctor relationship that is misconstrued by their small town. The two spend a platonic night in the same room in a motel, but no one is believing it was innocent. Glenn's romantic interests include Noreen (Tuesday Weld), with whom he shares a drink or two or more, and a song, and Betty Lee (Millie Perkins). Between the singing and carousing and fist fights, it still looks like a happy resolution looms large on the horizon.

• Director
• Walter Forde
• Writers
• Edgar Wallace(from the novel by)
• Angus MacPhail(screen play)
• Sergei Nolbandov(screen play)
• Stars
• Hugh Sinclair
• Griffith Jones
• Francis L. Sullivan

The eponymous Four Just Men of this film are British World War I comrades, who reunite in peacetime to bring disaster to their country's enemies. The quartet is not above murder and sabotage to achieve their ends, but their patriotism is never in question. The goal of the heroes is to thwart a megalomaniac who plans to destroy the Suez Canal, then devastate the British empire in order to create his own world dictatorship. Francis L. Sullivan, Hugh Sinclair, Griffith Jones and Frank Lawton play the Four Just Men, though Lawton's early death reduces the ranks to three. The villainy is in the hands of Basil Sydney, who is every bit as ruthless and resourceful as the heroes. Four Just Men is based on a series of adventure novels by British "writing machine" Edgar Wallace--which also formed the basis of a 1959 TV series of the same name, starring Dan Dailey, Richard Conte, Jack Hawkins and Vittorio De Sica.

Collection of episodes from classic TV westerns such as: The Lone Ranger, Cisco Kid, Roy Rodgers, Annie Oakley, Kit Carson, Judge Roy Bean and Cowboy G-Men.

• Director
• Harry Watt
• Writers
• Max Catto(screenplay)
• Jack Whittingham(screenplay)
• Harry Watt(story)
• Stars
• Anthony Steel
• Sheila Sim
• William Simons

No relation to the 1928 Lon Chaney vehicle of the same name, the British West of Zanzibar was filmed on location in East Africa. Game ranger Bob Payton (Anthony Steel) makes it his mission in life to capture the head of a vicious ivory-smuggling racket. Payton tracks his quarry through some of the most treacherous passages of the Zanzibar territory. Despite such obstacles as crocodiles and rhinos, Steel finally corners the villain, who turns out to be. . . Well, the ending needn't be spoiled here. The most fascinating aspect of West of Zanzibar is its accuracy in depicting native customs and values.

• Director
• Lesley Selander
• Writers
• John C. Champion
• José Antonio de la Loma(screenplay: Spanish version)
• Stars
• Audie Murphy
• Broderick Crawford
• Diana Lorys

A former Texas sheriff, living in Mexico, goes to Arizona to investigate the murky circumstances under which his brother, a peaceful newspaperman, was killed.

• Director
• Michael Cacoyannis
• Writer
• Ernest Kinoy
• Stars
• Keith Michell
• Tony Lo Bianco
• Colleen Dewhurst

The made-for-television movie The Story of Jacob and Joseph tells the Biblical tale of Jacob (Keith Michell) and Esau (Julian Glover), who spend 20 years fighting over their birthright. They eventually reconcile and sell their younger brother, Joseph (Victor LoBianco) into slavery. Joseph is taken to Egypt, where he becomes the Pharoah's chief advisor, yet he still resents his family for selling him into slavery. Alan Bates narrates the film, which is expertly adapted by screenwriter Ernest Kinoy and director Michael Cacoyannis.

• Director
• Basil Dean
• Writers
• Basil Dean(scenario)
• John Galsworthy(dialogue)
• Stars
• Gerald du Maurier
• Edna Best
• Gordon Harker

In this early talkie, Capt. Matt Denant (Gerald du Maurier) is a former war hero who intervenes when he sees a crooked detective threatening a woman on the street. Denant and the detective soon fall into a brawl, and the detective is accidentally killed. Sentenced to five years in prison at hard labor, Denant finds that he cannot stand the indignities of life behind bars and escapes. A number of friends and compassionate strangers help him hide from the law, but when Denant goes into hiding in a church, he puts the pastor in the difficult position of having to lie about him in order to protect his safety. Escape was the first production for RKO Radio Pictures' British branch; leading man Gerald du Maurier is the father of famed novelist Daphne du Maurier.

Stars

• Carrie Ann Inaba
• Bruno Tonioli
• Tom Bergeron



U.S. reality show based on the British series "Strictly Come Dancing," where celebrities partner up with professional dancers and compete against each other in weekly elimination rounds to determine a winner.

• Directors
• David Lowell Rich
• Alex Segal
• Writer
• Ernest Kinoy
• Stars
• Timothy Bottoms
• Anthony Quayle
• Norman Rodway

Filmed in Israel and Spain, the four-hour made-for-TV The Story of David stars Timothy Bottoms as the Biblical king. The "David and Goliath" legend is presented as credibly as possible, while David's later disastrous romance with Bathsheba (Jane Seymour) is handled with taste and decorum. Also in the cast are Anthony Quayle as King Saul, and Terence Hardiman as Bathsheba's unfortunate warrior husband Uriah. Ernest Kinoy's teleplay does justice to the Biblical text, without lapsing into wearisome "thees", "thous" and other such archaic dialogue. The Story of David premiered in two parts on April 9 and 11, 1976.

• Directors
• Thomas Bentley(supervising director)
• Alexander Esway(uncredited)
• Walter Summers(uncredited)
• Writers
• Jack Davies(additional dialogue)
• L. du Garde Peach(screenplay)
• Courtney Terrett(uncredited)
• Stars
• Henry Hall
• W.H. Berry
• Carol Goodner

This musical features the BBC bandleader trying to deal with his musicians in the recording studio. Meanwhile, outside the studio, his music helps save a band in the jungle from cannibals, helps a group of mountain climbers get out of a foggy area, and starts and ends relationships.

• Director
• Henry Hathaway
• Writers
• Jo Swerling(screenplay)
• Robert Presnell Sr.(screenplay)
• Charles L. Clifford(from the novel by)
• Stars
• Gary Cooper
• David Niven
• Andrea Leeds

Set during the turn-of-the-century Moro uprising in the Philippines, The Real Glory stars Gary Cooper as an American Marine doctor and David Niven and Broderick Crawford as a pair of rowdy mercenaries. While staving off the insurgent Moros, Cooper must also combat a cholera outbreak. Once this matter is disposed of, Cooper joins Niven and Crawford in attempting to blow up a dam built by the Moros to cut off the American fort's water supply. After all this activity, it's small wonder that Cooper elects to return to private practice in the States with his new bride Andrea Leeds. While The Real Glory never skimps in the action department, the film is somewhat lacking in historical accuracy: the Moros were hardly the bloodthirsty savages depicted herein.

• Director
• Roger Corman
• Writers
• Edgar Allan Poe(poem)
• Richard Matheson(screenplay)
• Stars
• Vincent Price
• Peter Lorre
• Boris Karloff

Although Roger Corman narrowly managed to avoid self-mockery in his pulpy, flamboyant adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales, it appears that the director chose this opportunity to let loose with outright parody; the result is a wonderfully entertaining romp with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The first screen teaming of legendary horror stars Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre -- later billed as "The Triumvirate of Terror" -- this so-called "adaptation" uses Poe's most famous poem as a springboard for Grand Guignol comedy from scriptwriter Richard Matheson. Melancholy magician Erasmus Craven (Price), having recently relinquished his membership in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers after the apparent death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court), is paid a visit by a foul-mouthed talking raven, claiming to be small-time wizard Adolphus Bedlo (Lorre). After some persuasion, Craven returns Bedlo to human form, reversing a spell placed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Karloff), Craven's chief rival. After learning that a woman bearing a strong likeness to Lenore was seen in the Doctor's company, Craven accompanies Bedlo to Scarabus' castle, where the resulting battle of wills escalates into all-out magical warfare between the two embittered sorcerers. Corman and company relished the opportunity to poke fun at the staid Poe series, and the distinguished leads contribute to the spirit of fun by lampooning their own cinematic reputations. Fans of Jack Nicholson (who cut his acting teeth on this and other AIP productions) should enjoy his melodramatic performance here as Bedlo's straight-arrow son; Nicholson would later co-star with Karloff in Corman's The Terror, which was shot in two days using the same sets!

• Director
• Thomas Bentley
• Writers
• Randall Faye(dialogue)
• Frank Launder(uncredited)
• Arthur Wimperis(dialogue)
• Stars
• Polly Ward
• Stuart Hall
• Trilby Clark

The tale of a young songwriter, the actress who helps him find success, and the vamp who sets her sights on him.

• Director
• Robert D. Webb
• Writers
• Edmund H. North(screenplay)
• Joseph Petracca(screenplay)
• Verne Athanas(novel)
• Stars
• Robert Ryan
• Virginia Mayo
• Jeffrey Hunter

A small Kansas town braces itself for the arrival of the first Texas trail herd. The marshal (Robert Ryan) expects trouble from the herd drivers, who'll be thirsty and lascivious after months on the trail. The town's saloon owner (Robert Middleton), anticipating a business boom, wants to remove the marshal and thus leave the town wide open. The marshal can expect little help from his deputy (Jeffrey Hunter), whose father was killed by the lawman. The Proud Ones builds slowly to an explosive climax, in which the deputy chooses the right side and Law & Order is maintained.

• Director
• Blake Edwards
• Writers
• Blake Edwards(screenplay)
• Tom Waldman(screenplay)
• Frank Waldman(screenplay)
• Stars
• Peter Sellers
• Claudine Longet
• Natalia Borisova

Peter Sellers plays a bumbling foreigner once again (but this time he's not from France) in this cult-favorite comedy. Hrundi V. Bakshi (Peter Sellers) is an accident-prone actor from India who has come to California, hoping to make a name for himself in Hollywood movies. However, Bakshi quickly makes the wrong impression on producer C.S. Divot (Gavin MacLeod) and studio chief Fred Clutterbuck (J. Edward McKinley) when he accidentally blows up the set for his first film. Clutterbuck jots down Bakshi's name to remind himself to have the actor blacklisted, but he doesn't realize that he's put the name on the guest list for an upcoming party at his home. Bakshi sees the social event as an opportunity to get back in Clutterbuck's good graces, but from the moment he arrives, one thing after another goes wrong, with increasing effect; it doesn't help that he finds himself infatuated with Michele Monet (Claudine Longet), Divot's latest starlet discovery. Director Blake Edwards shot The Party with a minimal script to allow Peter Sellers and the other comic actors greater room for slapstick improvisation, which helps explain why many of the film's most memorable scenes feature little or no dialogue.

• Director
• Roger Corman
• Writers
• Charles Beaumont(screenplay)
• R. Wright Campbell(screenplay)
• Edgar Allan Poe(from a story by)
• Stars
• Vincent Price
• Hazel Court
• Jane Asher

Though based on two Edgar Allen Poe stories, Masque of the Red Death relies more upon its mood and atmosphere than its story values for its success. During a devastating 12th-century plague called "The Red Death," the decadent, devil-worshipping Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) holds court over a bizarre masked ball. Already established as a sadistic torturer, Prospero insists that his "guests" indulge in numerous depraved games, most of them ending with someone's death. Only two innocents are permitted to escape intact, but they go through the torments of the Damned to do so. Hazel Court is on hand as a Satanist who brands her breast for Price's bored amusement, while Patrick Magee is horribly burned to death by "Hop Frog" (Skip Martin), Price's demonic flunkey. The literally diabolical performance of Vincent Price is superbly complemented throughout by the crimson-dominated cinematography of Nicholas Roeg. Unlike many of Roger Corman's economical Price/Poe projects, The Masque of the Red Death boasts a generous budget, which the canny filmmaker exploits to the utmost.

• Director
• Vincente Minnelli
• Writers
• Albert Hackett(screen play)
• Frances Goodrich(screen play)
• Clinton Twiss(novel)
• Stars
• Lucille Ball
• Desi Arnaz
• Marjorie Main

At the height of their TV fame, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were contracted by MGM to make two theatrical films. The first of these, The Long, Long Trailer, stars Lucy and Desi as an upwardly mobile couple who decide to buy a trailer so they can live together while his job takes him around the country. Thanks to their naivete in such matters, they end up with a huge, bulky RV that costs five times what they planned. Their "seeing America" trip turns out to be a slapstick disaster, topped by Lucy's foolish decision to hide a heavy rock collection in the trailer; as Desi tries to maneuver a treacherous mountain road, the weighted-down home-on-wheels nearly loses its balance and almost tumbles off a cliff. The story is told in flashback, as Desi 'splains the breakup of his marriage to a motel court manager. Happily, Lucy shows up, goes "Waaaaah" a little, and all is forgiven. Despite the fact that audiences were getting Ball and Arnaz for free each week on television, The Long, Long Trailer was a big hit at the box-office. The film was adapted by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich from a novel by Clinton Twiss, with uncredited assistance from the I Love Lucy writing staff.

• Director
• Graham Cutts
• Writers
• Hugh Brooke(screenplay)
• Stanley Lupino(play)
• Elizabeth Meehan(screenplay)
• Stars
• Stanley Lupino
• Claire Luce
• Gina Malo
• Stanley Lupino, a member in good standing of the ancient British performing family which also produced comedian Lupino Lane and actress Ida Lupino (Stanley's daughter), is the author and one of the stars of Over She Goes. John Wood portrays an ex-musical hall performer who becomes a British lord. He finds it difficult to properly enter society, especially when threatened with blackmail by a woman from his past. Wood calls upon his old vaudeville cronies to get him out of his jam. Over She Goes is enlivened by comic turns from such veteran British stage clowns as Laddie Cliff, Syd Walker and (of course) Stanley Lupino.