Diane McBain Movies

A woman who casts spells of love discovers they don't always work as planned in this independent romantic comedy-drama. Holly (Holly Angell Hardman) is a sorceress who arrives in an oceanside community on Cape Cod with the intent of bringing lovers together. However, Holly soon discovers it is not as easy a task as she imagined, as the village has more than its share of broken hearts and dashed hopes. Vicky (Susan Gibney), a rough but good-hearted woman who drives a lobster boat, is infatuated with Damien (Liam Waite), a college student who is working with her over the summer. Damien, however, is more interested in the college girls who are vacationing in town, while Vicky has instead attracted the attentions of Shep (Jim Chiros), the town drunk. With the help of Nicole (Cole Murray), a local woman with a passion for magic, and Mona (Amy Wright), an aspiring herbalist, Holly attempts to pair off the town's lonely people with their soul mates, but she learns that her interference may be hurting more than it's helping. Besotted was the first feature film from writer and director Holly Angell Hardman, who also plays the sorceress Holly. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A delightfully horribly sci-fi horror outing, Monster is the story of young people whose lives are placed in jeopardy by the presence of a gigantic prehistoric lake monster created from toxic waste. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this adventure, a trapper ventures into a terrible blizzard to search for a young couple who had been swept away from their children during an avalanche. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Set on a coastal resort in California, the thrills in this mystery begin as a strange killer chops up three blonde beauties forcing the house detective to work overtime to figure out that the killer is right under his nose. The film was shot in "Duo-Vision," a technique that splits the screen and allows two different images to be projected simultaneously. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this action movie, based on a Mickey Spillane novel, a globe-trotting adventurer finds himself framed for a $40 million dollar robbery. He is convicted, but manages to escape. He is quickly caught. The authorities give him a choice of options: he can return to the joint, or he can help the CIA free a captive scientist being held hostage on a Caribbean island. He helps the CIA. To get to the dictator-run island, he is forced to marry another CIA agent and impersonate a drug dealer. He must then break into the dictator's fortress where the political prisoners are held. Meanwhile his "wife" is kidnapped by the old Army buddy that framed him. The hero succeeds at both tasks. He then goes looking for the cash so he can prove his innocence. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

It's silliness on the high seas as two sneaky sailors race across the South Pacific in this fast-paced and campy comedy. The fun begins when one bets the other $20,000 that he, with an all girl crew, be the first to Tahiti in a sailboat race. The other, not to be outdone, has a few monkeyshines up his sleeve and actually wins the race. The beaten bettor then makes the claim, that he can beat the victor to the mainland using a crew comprised of baboons. That is too much to resist for the other and the race is on. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Diane McBain, who'd been a sort of star at Warner Bros. in the early 1960s, is the leading lady of The Mini-Skirt Mob. She's in charge of a fearsome (and toothsome) gang of biker chicks, even though she herself looks as though she'd go into conniptions over a broken nail. McBain's mob gets its kicks terrorizing a sweet young married couple. The film is a veritable roll-call of fading TV icons, including Jeremy Slate and Sherry Jackson; only cycle-flick veterans Ross Hagen and Harry Dean Stanton seem truly comfortable in these low-octane surroundings. The Mini-Skirt Mob is the sort of picture that used to be described as "ideal drive-in fare" back in Days of Old when there were drive-ins. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Man from UNCLE comes to the big screen in this spy thriller comprised of episodes from the popular television series. The story centers around the attempts of evil THRUSH operatives who endeavor to abduct a professor who has developed a formula for turning salt water into gold. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Troy Donahue stars in this drive-in quality "B"-Western from the Warner Brothers backlot, directed by veteran director Raoul Walsh. Donahue is U.S. Cavalry Lieutenant Matt Hazard, who arrives at Fort Delivery on the Mexican border of Arizona for a new assignment. Kitty Mainwaring (Suzanne Pleshette), the wife of the commanding officer, greets Hazard upon his arrival. The next day, when he takes some of his men outside of the fort to gather wood, Hazard and his men find themselves attacked by Indians. Hazard survives and later saves Kitty from another Indian attack. A terrible storm forces the two to spend a night in a cave as they make their way back to the fort. Meanwhile, the new commander, General Quait (James Gregory), arrives at the fort and takes command -- his first order of business to launch an all-out war on the Indians. He tries to capture the belligerent Indian Chief War Eagle but fails. When Hazard arrives back at the fort, Quait orders Hazard into Mexico to convince War Eagle to surrender. Hazard has War Eagle agree to return with him on the promise that the Indians can have a safe haven at an Arizona reservation. But, on their way back to the fort, they are met by Major Miller (Lane Bradford), who, instead, orders the Indians to be sent to Florida. Hazard and Quaint end up traveling to Washington to try to convince the United States government to reverse their decision against the Indians. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

A "bad movie" with a fervent fan following, The Caretakers is set in a bleak mental institution. Joan Crawford plays the hard-bitten head nurse (we first see her taking a karate lesson!) who is dead set against the progressive theories of new doctor Robert Stack. After a few minutes' exposure to the inmates, half the audience has sided with Crawford. The most disturbed individual in the place is Polly Bergen, who never speaks when screaming will do. But thanks to the compassionate treatment of Dr. Stack, it is Bergen who saves the day by preventing fellow inmate Barbara Barrie from burning the institution to the ground. Virtually every scene in The Caretakers is a gem of glorious excess, including the obligatory shock-treatment vignette. The film strives to avoid subtlety, but its fans wouldn't have it any other way. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A scenic, tobacco-road soap opera by director Delmar Daves, known more for his westerns, Parrish features Troy Donahue in the eponymous title role. Parrish's mother Ellen (Claudette Colbert in her last movie role) happens to marry one of two competing tobacco growers in the Connecticut River Valley. Her new husband and Parrish's stepfather Judd Raike (a snarling Karl Malden) drums the tobacco business into Parrish, alienating him in the bargain. The lad is soon romancing three different women: Judd's daughter Paige (Sharon Hugeny), the daughter of Judd's arch-rival, and a wanton woman of the tobacco fields. Now all that remains is for the romance and the rivalry to shake down into the winners and losers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Based on the Edna Ferber novel, this engrossing period piece covers the triumphs, tragedies, loves, and sorrows of a few generations of Alaskan settlers between the first World War and the granting of statehood in 1959. Zeb (Richard Burton) is a local despot whose tough personality dominates the region. He is openly bigoted against the Inuit, and his greedy nature has led him to reject the woman he really loves to marry another with plenty of money. Thor (Robert Ryan) starts out as Zeb's ally and friend, but due to their diametrically opposed natures, that friendship turns into an entrenched hatred. In this unpredictable, harsh wilderness Zeb discovers that he ultimately cannot control his daughter and irony of ironies, he and Thor end up connected through the marriage of a son and daughter. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Arlene Howell makes her last series appearance as Southern-fried sharpster Cindy Lou Brown in this episode, in which Bret Maverick (James Garner) hires on as guide for a stagecoach line. En route to the far-flung outpost of Fort Doom, Bret discovers that among his passengers is the redoubtable Cindy Lou, who happens to be harboring a secret. Likewise keeping certain vital facts to herself--such as her plan to kill her husband--is another attractive passenger, Mrs. Chapman (Nancy Gates). The plot intrigues begin to breed like rabbits when the stagecoach is attacked by marauders. (Trivia alert: Diane McBain, appearing in this episode as Charlotte, later starred on the Warner Bros. TV cop show Surfside Six, which had been designed as a replacement for the same studio's Bourbon Street Beat...which, in turn, costarred Arlene Howell). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi