Mark Stevens Movies
After studying to become a painter, Mark Stevens became active in Canadian theatrical work. He then launched a radio career as an announcer at a small station in Akron, Ohio. In 1944, Stevens was brought to Hollywood by Warner Bros., where he was billed as Stephen Richards. He graduated to top billing in RKO's From This Day Forward (1945), playing a returning war hero making an uneasy adjustment to civilian life. Critics panned the film but praised Stevens, who was then snatched up by 20th Century-Fox for a series of plum starring roles, including songwriter Joe E. Howard in the 1947 musical biopic I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now? and the husband of mental patient Olivia De Havilland in The Snake Pit (1949). When it seemed as though his film career had ground to a halt, Stevens moved to television, where in 1953 he became the fourth actor to essay the role of detective Martin Kane. The following year, he succeeded Pat McVey in the part of crusading journalist Steve Wilson on the weekly TVer Big Town. During both of his TV-series stints, Stevens publicly derided the quality of the material he'd been handed, demanding full script control and the opportunity to direct. Upon returning to the Big Screen, Stevens produced and directed a brace of serviceable programmers: Cry Vengeance (1954) and Timetable (1956). After closing out his Hollywood career in 1964, Mark Stevens repaired to Europe, where he directed his last film to date, the German-Spanish co-production Sunscorched (1966). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Director Michael Ritchie spoofs survivalists in this rambling black comedy. Donald Quinelle (Robin Williams) is a successful young executive who is called to his boss' office one morning and is fired by a parrot sitting in the CEO's chair -- a method the company uses to axe high-powered execs. Donald meets Sonny Paluso (Walter Matthau), a former gas station owner who is out of work because his business was blown up. At a diner, the two newfound friends witness a robbery and catch sight of the perpetrator, Jerry Reed (Jack Locke). Reed is a mob hit man who swears to kill the two men who saw him commit the crime. Donald, formerly afraid of weapons, becomes obsessed with guns as a way to protect himself from the mob. He enrolls in a survivalist training school in the mountains of Vermont. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Robin Williams, (more)
- 1970
The fifth appearance of Paul Naschy's burly werewolf character Waldemar Daninsky (following Frankenstein's Bloody Terror), this film finds Waldemar returning home from Tibet, where he was first afflicted with his beastly curse. After making cutlets of his cheating wife and her lover, he is accidentally killed, then brought back to life by a sadistic lady scientist (Perla Cristal) who likes to beat him savagely and keeps her less fortunate subjects' severed body parts strewn about the house. Waldemar eventually escapes the laboratory to slay a few local kids before coming face-to-face with his late wife, who has also been transformed into a werewolf by Cristal. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
David (Mark Stevens) is a physician who returns to Spain 30 years after his involvement in the Spanish Civil War. Now a member of a medical convention, he looks up old friends and finds his former lover, now a married woman with a flamenco-dancing daughter. He and the daughter (Manuela Vargas) have an immediate and mutual attraction to each other. He considers running away with the exotic beauty before asking his wife to join him for an extended vacation after the convention . ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Manuela Vargas, Mark Stevens, (more)
- 1965
Veteran movie tough guy Mark Stevens both starred and directed in Escape from Hell Island. He plays the skipper of a Florida merchant boat who smuggles in Cuban refugees as a sideline. When a woman is killed while escaping, Stevens loses his license. He then becomes involved with Linda Scott, wife of the violently jealous Jack Donner. Donner charters Stevens' boat, intending to murder him--but it's Donner who winds up in Davy Jones' locker. Escape from Hell Island was also released as (surprise!) Man in the Water. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1965
When the town sheriff backs down from outlaws, he is branded a coward. This melodramatic western follows his efforts to restore his good name, even though he himself was a former member of the gang. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
In this sci-fi murder mystery, a scientist uses himself as a subject in an experiment with cryogenic suspended animation and ends up accused of murdering his ex-wife. Fortunately, his girl friend is around to prove that he was on ice when the murder occurred. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1964
Suspense builds around the investigation of a plane crash that caused 53 deaths in this dramatic adaption of Ernest K. Gann's novel. Authorities systematically eliminate probable causes, finally placing blame on the pilot, who was seen drinking before the flight. The airline's director of flight operations, Sam McBane (Glenn Ford), knowing the pilot's excellent WW II record, refuses to accept the authorities' conclusions and begins his own investigation. With the help of the only survivor, a stewardess (Suzanne Pleshette), McBane re-creates the events leading to the crash in an attempt to discover the true cause. The character of the incriminated pilot, Captain Jack Savage (Rod Taylor), is revealed through a series of flashbacks, from a wartime army camp (with a cameo by Jane Russell) to the climactic moment of the thrilling crash. Milton Krasner's crisp cinematography earned him an Oscar nomination. ~ Lucinda Ramsey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Nancy Kwan, (more)
- 1963
In this actioner, a charterboat captain in Key West gets into trouble when he smuggles a group of Cuban refugees into the States. He is on the way back from the island when he is fired on by Cuban gunboats. Someone is killed and he ends up losing his boat and license to US authorities. The captain then gets involved with a married woman. It is her husband that has him charter his sloop to Bermuda where he tries to kill him. Instead, the captain prevails and the husband is killed. He then returns to the new widow and picks up where he left off. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1960
In this standard adventure yarn shown in 3-D, four people on a "borrowed" boat -- three men and a woman -- take off looking for sunken gold worth millions. A young, handsome man (Asher Dann) works on the yacht of a Parisian tycoon who happens to be away at the moment. Two nautical layabouts (Mark Stevens and Robert Strauss) convince the man to take them out looking for the sunken treasure, so the three of them set off on their adventure with a beautiful New York model (Joanne Dru) on board. There is some underwater diving and chasing after the model, and as the title indicates, the violent storm that shakes everyone up and makes this run for gold a dangerous proposition. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joanne Dru, Mark Stevens, (more)
- 1958
Mark Stevens doubles as star and director of the compact western Gun Fever. Lucas (Stevens) and his partner Simon (John Lupton) set about to capture the renegade white man who caused the deaths of Lucas' parents in an Indian raid. The villain turns out to be Simon's own father Trench (Aaron Saxon), setting the stage for reams of quasi-Freudian dialogue. Larry Storch does a nice semicomic turn as a laconic Mexican, while Jana Davi supplies the love interest. The European prints of Gun Fever were augmented with several steamy sex scenes, with Jana Davi displaying far more than her acting skills. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, John Lupton, (more)
- 1958
In this western, the battle between ranchers and farmers provides the background for a battle between two disparate brothers. One is the outlaw gangleader of the Blue Chip gang; the other is a hard-bitten lawman. The outlaw is only too happy to witness the land conflicts as he plans on stealing the lands of the dead on both sides. Fortunately, his good brother causes him to change his bad-guy ways, side with the farmers and go straight. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Forrest Tucker, (more)
- 1957
In this western, the trouble begins when a ruthless outlaw impersonates a mine owner. When the sheriff begins to suspect him, the badguy kills him. A government agent, working undercover replaces the sheriff, exposes the crook and wins the love of a purty gal in the process. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joel McCrea, Mark Stevens, (more)
- 1956
In this suspenseful detective yarn, an insurance investigator finds himself unbearably bored by his routine life and decides to become a criminal. Following the robbery he engineers, he begins to investigate the theft himself. Unfortunately, he is trailed by a determined railroad cop, a dear friend who remains professional despite the mixed emotions he feels. The film is the feature debut of TV actor Jack Klugman. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, King Calder, (more)
- 1954
Vic Barron (Mark Stevens) is an ex-detective from San Francisco whose career is ruined and family is destroyed because of his dedication to his job. Three years before, he'd been close to breaking a gang with ties to some very powerful people. Then they tried to kill him by bombing his car; he was permanently disfigured, and his wife and child died in the blast, and then he was set up with planted money and sentenced to prison. Now he's out, and he's no longer a cop, but that won't stop him from finishing his last case or finding the man who planted the bomb. Neither his former friends on the force (who know he was innocent) nor the "persuasive" efforts of Roxey (Skip Homeier), a psychopathic strong-arm man, can get him to change his mind or his plans. Vic thinks he knows one of the men responsible, Tino Morelli (Douglas Kennedy), but it turns out that Morelli's been hiding out in Alaska, just as desperate in his desire not to be found as Vic has been to get revenge, and hiding from the same man. No sooner does the ex-cop come to appreciate this fact then he is set up for another fall -- this time for murder. But in the process, he finally figures out who was behind the destruction of his family; and he finds some things in life worth living for, if he can manage to stay alive to enjoy them. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Martha Hyer, (more)
- 1953
Mark Stevens stars as a Navy pilot named Bingham in this paean to the modern-day submarine service. Covering the years 1941 to 1952, Torpedo Alley details Bingham's training as a sub commander. Feeling guilty for the deaths of several of his fellow pilots, he signs up for submarine service at the end of WW II. He proves equal to his task, though it takes a great deal of soul searching, coupled with the tender ministrations of his lady friend Susan (Dorothy Malone), before Bingham is able to overcome his guilt complex and assume a command position again. Torpedo Alley was co-written by Sam Roeca (who later supervised such above-average children's programs as Valley of the Dinosaurs and Land of the Lost) and actor Warren Douglas. The film was intended as the vanguard of "quality filmmaking" from Allied Artists, which in 1952 finally shed itself of its earlier existence as low-budget Monogram Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Dorothy Malone, (more)
- 1953
The Anglo-American melodrama The Big Frame was released in Britain as Count the Hours. Mark Stevens stars as a Texas-born test pilot who heads to England to marry his wartime sweetheart Jean Kent. At a reunion party with his air force chums, Stevens gets into a boozy brawl with one of the celebrants. When the man turns up dead, Stevens is Suspect Number One. While scurrying about London to clear himself, Our Hero unearths a smuggling ring. The moral of The Big Frame seems to be "auld acquaintances should be forgot." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Jean Kent, (more)
- 1953
The psychological makeup of a dangerous gunman is probed in Jack Slade. Beginning with his childhood, Slade (Mark Stevens) is shown to be extremely unbalanced; in fact, he kills his first man at age 13. Growing up in the West, Slade comes to the conclusion that his gun is his only friend. At first, he is regarded as a hero because he does his killings on the side of the law; eventually, however, his homicidal tendencies overwhelm him, and he shoots without discretion or even reason. It is a tribute to actor Mark Stevens that he is able to make this character fascinating, rather than totally repellant. The only fault that can be found in Jack Slade is its length; the film would be twice as effective if shorn by 15 minutes or so. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Barton MacLane, (more)
Director Edward Dmytryk returned from a few unhappy years on the Blacklist in the early 1950s, to direct a handful of programmers before being restored to "A" pictures. Dmytrk's Mutiny is set during the War of 1812. Mark Stevens, captain of the American ship Concord, finds himself at the mercy of mutineer Patric Knowles, who is supposedly loyal to Britain. Actually all Knowles is concerned with is the gold bullion carried by the Concord, which he plans to squander in the company of treacherous femme fatale Angela Lansbury. Stevens recaptures the ship and torpedoes the British fleet, with the aid of a pioneering submarine-like vessel. Mutiny was produced by the estimable King Brothers who allegedly trafficked in illegal gambling devices before hitting upon the more lucrative arena of independent motion pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Angela Lansbury, (more)
- 1951
Columbia and Universal were the leading purveyors of well-crafted "little" pictures in the 1950s. It was Universal who put together Reunion in Reno, which opens with little Maggie (Gigi Perreau) walking into the offices of divorce-attorney Norman (Mark Stevens), demanding a divorce from her parents! It seems that Maggie is an adoptee, who fears that she'll be left in the lurch when mom (Frances Dee) and dad (Leif Erickson) become natural parents, which will happen very soon. As Norman strives to solve his youthful "client"'s problems, problems, he decides at long last to wed his own fiancee Laura (Peggy Dow) -- though if ever there was a strong argument against marriage and parenthood, it is the precocious Maggie. Elements of Reunion in Reno were later reworked into the 1984 comedy Irreconcilable Differences. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Peggy Dow, (more)
- 1951
Katherine "Katie" Standish (Ann Blyth) has been raised in a restrictive small town by her prudish Aunt Priscilla (Elizabeth Patterson). When Katie heads to New York to help out her improvident Uncle Nathaniel (Cecil Kellaway), she experiences an emotional and romantic awakening. The catalyst for all this is Greenwich Village artist Peter Van Arden (Mark Stevens), much to the dismay of Katie's nerdish hometown fiancé Stuart Grumby (Craig Stevens). The film's finale would be repeated with variations in 1967's The Graduate. Katie Did It was amusingly assembled by Frederick De Cordova, Universal's resident all-purpose director, who went on to produce and direct The Tonight Show during the Johnny Carson years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ann Blyth, Mark Stevens, (more)
- 1951
Set during WW II, Target Unknown follows the exploits of a group of American flyers who crash behind enemy lines. Captured by the Germans, the flyers are interrogated separately. The Nazi higher-ups are eventually convinced that they've gleaned enough information to know where and when the next Allied bombing will occur, but the Americans prove to be a step ahead of them. Mark Stevens stars as Air Force captain Jerome Stevens, while Robert Douglas is Col. Von Brock, Steven's German opposite number. The feminine angle is handled by Suzanne Dalbert and Malu Gatica, cast respectively as a loyal Frenchwoman and Nazi sympathizer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Alex Nicol, (more)
- 1951
Little Egypt is a lighthearted "biopic" all about the hootchie-kootchie dancer who created a sensation at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. An incongruously redheaded Rhonda Fleming plays Izora, a cabaret dancer in old Cairo. American impresario Cyrus Graydon (Minor Watson) hopes to re-create an authentic Cairo street at the World's Fair, and to that end he ties up with fast-buck promoter Wayne Cravat (Mark Stevens) and a self-styled Pasha (Steven Geray). Graydon's plan is fulfilled, with one slight alteration; along for the ride is Izora, posing as an Egyptian princess. At Cravat's behest, Izora performs a belly dance at the World's Fair to draw in customers, resulting in a tempest of outrage stirred up by local blue-noses. Amusingly, while Little Egypt--aka Izora--is arrested for indecent exposure, by 1990s standards she is most modestly garbed; in fact, the audience never sees her famous bejeweled belly button. Perhaps realizing that no one could take this concoction seriously, the producers of Little Egypt wisely opted to play for laughs--and got them. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Rhonda Fleming, (more)
- 1950
Producer Val Lewton abandoned the "psychological horror" efforts of his RKO days when he moved to MGM in 1950. Lewton's Please Believe Me is a simple, sometimes simplistic romantic comedy, designed principally as a showcase for Deborah Kerr. The star plays Alison Kirbe, an English girl who inherits a Texas ranch. Once word gets out that Alison is in town, she is pursued by three bachelors. Terence Keath (Robert Walker) hopes to marry Alison so that he can square his gambling debts. Jeremy Taylor (Peter Lawford) is too wealthy to consider marriage, but he hopes to have a no-strings-attached good time with Alison. And Matthew Kinston (Mark Stevens) is Alison's all-business attorney, ever on the alert for any fortune hunters who might prey on his client. Guess who she winds up with in the end. As it turned out, Please Believe Me was Val Lewton's cinematic swan song; he died not long after the film's release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Deborah Kerr, Robert Walker, (more)
- 1950
Between Midnight and Dawn is a solid, no-frills detective drama from the Columbia studio mills. Mark Stevens and Edmond O'Brien star as police officers Barnes and Purvis, who tool around in their prowl car in the wee hours of the morning. Vengeful gangster Ritchie Garris (Donald Buka) would like nothing better than to get Barnes and Purvis out of his hair, especially after breaking out of jail. In a thrill-packed climax, Garris makes a desperate escape using a little kid as a shield, while Purvis tries to second-guess the homicidal gangster. As Kate Mallory, Gale Storm has little to do except serve as the bone of romantic contention between the two male protagonists. Curiously, Storm doesn't get to sing, though supporting actress Gale Robbins does--three times, in fact. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
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