Herman Rudin Movies

Thanks to an unexpected loophole, the men of F Troop discover that they're not legally enlisted in the Army. Thus it is that every man in Fort Courage takes a powder, leaving Captain Parmenter (Ken Berry) alone to guard the fort. The situation gets dicier when the hositle Shug Indian tribe decides to mount an attack, forcing Parmenter to do some quick improvising to convince the invaders that the fort is fully manned. Former "Great Gildersleeve" Willard Waterman appears as ex-commander "Cannonball" McCormick. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One year before her Oscar-winning performance in Hud, Patricia Neal guest-starred in this Untouchables episode as torch singer Maggie Storm (and never mind that we never hear her sing a note at any time). Maggie is the featured entertainer at the 808 Club, a night spot mentioned by dying drug peddler Benny Rivas (Herman Rudin) after a shootout with the Untouchables. Following this clue, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) pays a visit to the club, thereby renewing an old acquaintance with Maggie (they'd been "friendly enemies" during Probibition). Ness would like to believe that Maggie isn't involved in the blatant drug trafficking that goes on at the club, but the evidence is stacked against her. Even so, she isn't the real villain of the piece: that honor is reserved for an unsavory character named Vince Shyre (Vic Morrow). Joseph Ruskin makes his first series appearance as the infamous Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Once a big shot in the criminal world, Tommy Karpeles (Harold J. Stones) cuts quite a pathetic figure as a jury convicts him on a mail-theft charge. Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) is convinced that Tommy is innocent, and that he is taking the fall for a trio of clever hoodlums named Mendoza (Joseph Wiseman), Collier (Vic Morrow) and Herling (Murray Hamilton). The only person who can provide Karpeles with an air-tight alibi is his embittered daughter Sally (Madlyn Rhue)--but she refuses to lift a finger for the old man. In the end, it is up to Tommy himself to win back both his daughter's love and his self-respect...but at a terrible cost. Featured in the cast is future director Leo Penn, the father of film stars Sean Penn and Christopher Penn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The only Rodgers and Hammerstein cinemadaptation to be produced by Universal Pictures, Flower Drum Song was, alas, also the only Rogers and Hammerstein film to lose money at the box office. It looks far better now than it did back in 1961, if only because of the paucity of musical films in the 1990s. Essentially a comedy about the culture clash between old-world Chinese and assimilated Chinese-Americans, the film begins when Mei Li (Miyoshi Umeki) and her grandfather (Kam Tong) smuggle themselves into San Francisco. It seems that Mei Li has arrived to honor an arranged marriage between herself and Runyonesque nightclub owner Sammy Fong (the incomparable Jack Soo). This might prove delicate, since Sammy is in love with flashy cabaret entertainer Linda Low (Nancy Kwan). Meanwhile, Linda is romancing Wang Ta (James Shigeta), the son of a wealthy Chinatown merchant (Benson Fong). Soon, however, Mei Li and Wang Ta have fallen in love.......It's a complex plot, to be sure, but comedy and music manage to predominate. The songs include "I Enjoy Being a Girl" (a tour de force for the special effects department, and for Nancy Kwan), "A Hundred Million Miracles," "The Other Generation," "Love Look Away," "I Am Going to Like It Here," "Don't Marry Me," "You Are Beautiful," "Grant Avenue" and "Chop Suey." Flower Drum Song is attractively produced and consummately acted; while no classic along the lines of King and I or Sound of Music, it deserves a second look. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Much to her astonishment, Eva Martell (played by Maggie Mahoney, the mother of Oscar-winning actress Sally Field) is paid $100 a day and installed in a luxurious apartment: all she has to do is impersonate another woman named Helen Reynolds (Paula Raymond). Eva and her Aunt Agnes (Sheila Bromley) begin to smell a rat when they notice that the apartment is being watched day and night by seedy private eye Melvin Slater (Joe De Santis). Investigating of Eva's behalf, Perry (Raymond Burr) is assured by the real Helen Reynolds that everything is on the up-and-up, though she won't reveal the reasons for the deception. Things take a really sinister turn when Slater is murdered and Aunt Agnes is arrested for the crime. This episode is based on a 1946 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The 1962 theatrical release of The Scarface Mob was created from the first two episodes of the famously popular 1959 TV series, The Untouchables. It stars Robert Stack as the courageous agent whose job is to corral the powerful mobster Al Capone. Nevill Brand plays Capone and Walter Winchell adds flavor as the Dragnet-style narrator. ~ Rovi

In this crime drama, three teens are sorely tempted when they stumble across two pounds of pure heroine. They think about the consequences of selling the dope and then try doing it anyway in the hope that they will become wealthy. Unfortunately, none of them are experienced in the dangers of drug dealing and mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi