Mary Germaine Movies

The Devil's Harbor is a second-string British melodrama starring American film vet Richard Arlen. Arlen is the captain of a small boat that is commandeered by narcotics smugglers. Though he himself is ignorant of the drug traffic, Arlen is hounded by an insurance investigator (Donald Huston). The skipper and the detective team up to track down the crooks who, much to the investigator's discomfort, turn out to have powerful allies in his own insurance company. Devil's Harbor was issued in the states by 20th Century-Fox, in order to free up some of the studio's "frozen funds" in England. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The title is explained during the course of the British Flannelfoot. We'll just say here that the film stars Jack Watling as a crime reporter, hot on the trail of a jewel thief. When his informant is murdered, Watling goes after the crook himself. He proves a thorn in the side to investigating detective Ronald Adam, but together the two men bring the criminal to heel. B-flick stalwart Maclean Rogers keeps the incidents in Flannelfoot moving at a satisfyingly fast clip. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Floating Dutchman was an early product of Merton Park Productions, a British firm best known for its "Edgar Wallace" series of the 1960s. Dermot Walsh stars as a detective who goes undercover to smash a jewel-smuggling ring. The head man is played by Victor Tafler, heretofore "untouchable" because of his connections in high places. The title refers to one of the smugglers' victims, an unfortunate Dutch gem specialist. As the film rushes to its conclusion, it appears as though the detective, too, is headed for a watery grave. The Floating Dutchman is based on a novel by Nicholas Bentley. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Night Won't Talk is a short but not too sweet British second feature. A beautiful model is murdered; John Bailey, the girl's fiance, is the principal suspect. Later on, suspicion shifts to Bailey's current girl friend. Actress Hy Hazell, playing a seductive sculptress, gets top billing for a seemingly subordinate role. We all know what that means in a murder mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Where's Charley?, Frank Loesser's hit Broadway musical version of Brandon Thomas' evergreen stage farce Charley's Aunt, was brought to the screen in 1952 with most of its original cast intact -- including, thank heaven, star Ray Bolger. In the original Brandon Thomas version, Oxford undergrad Lord Fancourt Babberly was coerced into disguising himself as "Charley's Aunt, from Brazil, where the nuts come from" so that his roommates Charley Wyckeham and Jack Chesney would have a proper escort for their visiting sweethearts Amy Spettigue and Kitty Verdun. In the musical version, Lord Fancourt is eliminated, and Charley plays his own aunt, making innumerable quickie costume changes throughout the proceedings. Complications ensue when three older characters show up: Jack's father Sir Francis Chesney, Amy and Kitty's irascible guardian Stephen Spettigue, and Charley's real aunt Donna Lucia D'Alvadorez. It goes without saying that Ray Bolger plays both Charley and the faux aunt, brilliantly recreating the sidesplitting comic turns that brought down the house on Broadway. Less successful is his re-creation of the audience-participation song "Once in Love With Amy," simply because it's difficult for a film actor to come "out" of the picture and encourage the audience to sing along. The other Loesser songs -- "Make a Miracle," "My Darling" and "New Ashmoleon Marching Society" are more satisfactorily rendered. For the record, the rest of the cast includes Allyn McLerie and Mary Germaine as Amy and Kitty, Robert Shackleton as Jack, Horace Cooper as Spettigue, Howard Marion Crawford as Chesney, and Margaretta Scott as Donna Lucia. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Teeny-tiny Hammer pictures built its reputation on second-feature melodramas before graduating to gore-encrusted horror epics. Cloudburst is a low-key thriller starring American actor Robert Preston, whose casting assured a certain degree of business in the States. Preston plays a code expert, resettled in England after the war and working at the British Foreign Office. One morning, Preston's wife is struck down and killed by a car driven by escaping criminals. Preston bypasses the efforts of Scotland Yard and pursues the criminals himself, using his codebreaking skills to track down the "big boys" in charge. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi