Yvonne De Carlo Movies

In this comedy, the head of a United Nations department suddenly becomes a father when he stumbles across an abandoned baby in one of the halls. He tries to find a home for the darling and suddenly finds himself surrounded by assorted exotic beauties all trying to win the baby for their country. In the end, though, the bachelor takes the babe for his own. Songs include: "So Wide the World," "Fais Do Do," and "A Global Affair." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This eccentric, amusingly sick Canadian production involves a group of annoying yuppies who charter a plane for a camping getaway, only to find themselves making an emergency landing on an isolated, forest-covered island. They are taken in by the only inhabitants, the rabidly-religious "Ma & Pa" (Yvonne De Carlo and Rod Steiger), who seem trapped in a Norman Rockwellian time-warp and are invited to stay the night. This proves to be every bit as unpleasant as it seems -- especially after the hapless campers are introduced to the psychotic, middle-aged "children" (Michael J. Pollard and Janet Wright) -- who appear to be pushing 50. Before long, it's crazed crackers 1, campers 0 and counting, as the warped, scripture-spouting yokels take sharp objects in hand... until one of the campers (Sarah Torgov) reveals her own homicidal potential and goes completely berserk. Despite delightfully weird performances from a top-drawer cast, this campy romp is slightly spoiled by a poorly-scripted climax that suggests a sudden loss of creative inspiration. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

This breezy compilation highlights the great villainesses, trollops and femme fatales of the American cinema. Special attention is given the film noir genre, as typified by Gloria Grahame, Lizabeth Scott, and Jane Greer. There are also generous dollops from the "women's prison" flicks of the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The vignettes from more recent films are decidedly steamy, so you might want to preview this film before letting the kids watch. David Carradine, Gene Autry, and Yvonne DeCarlo appear in bridging sequences, offering their reminiscences of the good old days of the bad old gals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Worthless from a historical aspect, Black Bart is nonetheless an enjoyable fabrication about the fabled Western outlaw. Rescued from a "necktie party," outlaws Charles E. Boles (Dan Duryea) and Lance Hardeen (Jeffrey Lynn) decide that it would be best to part as friends and go their separate ways. When next seen, Boles is a prosperous rancher who supplements his income by robbing the Wells Fargo gold shipments under the alias of Black Bart. Upon learning this, Hardeen rides back into Boles' life demanding a piece of the action. Both of the hero-villains are foiled when they succumb to the charms of the bewitching international courtesan Lola Montez (Yvonne DeCarlo). The story is related in flashback-from a jail cell by the outlaws' erstwhile partner Jersey Brady (Percy Kilbride). Obviously forgotten or ignored by the screenwriters was the fact that the actual Black Bart was really black, an ex-slave who "made bad" in the Wild West . Black Bart was remade in 1967 as Ride to Hangman's Tree. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 14-season run of Bonanza began with this introductory episode, originally aired on September 12, 1959, entitled "A Rose for Lotta." Guest star Yvonne DeCarlo) plays renowned entertainer Lotta Crabtree, who finds herself duped into a plot against the Cartwright family and their ranch, the Ponderosa, located outside of Virginia City, Nevada. A cartel of businessmen led by Alpheus Troy (George Macready), Aaron Hopper (Barry Kelley) and George Garvey (Willis Bouchey), have been pressuring patriarch Ben Cartwright (Lorne Green) to sign over all the timber on the Ponderosa, to provide lumber that is essential for the continued operation of their mines; but Ben is equally adamant in his opposition, as the trees are essential to the future of the ranch and the land. Troy decides to use Lotta Crabtree as bait, to entice one of the Cartwright sons into Virginia City, where he plans to take them hostage and force Ben Cartwright to deal. Hot-headed youngest son Joe Cartwright (Michael Landon) falls the hardest for Lotta, goes to call on her, and finds himself trapped. But Troy hasn't reckoned with how the Cartwrights stick together, how far Ben and older sons Adam (Pernell Roberts) and Hoss (Dan Blocker) will go to protect one of their own -- even facing down a hired killer -- or just how resourceful Joe can be, even on the run, unarmed, from a pair of thugs who don't seem bright enough to know that they need him alive, or to avoid wrecking half the town. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this high-spirited musical comedy, J. Newport Bates (Eddie Bracken) is a millionaire who finds women are only interested in him for his money. When he becomes infatuated with Teddy Collins (Veronica Lake), a cigarette girl, he tries to hide his true identity from her, hoping she'll be interested in him for himself rather than his bank account. However, once Teddy figures out who he is, Bates drops her, and he is about to give up on women entirely when he meets Sue Thomas (Marjorie Reynolds), a nice girl who isn't interested in his money (or at least not yet). Musical satirists Spike Jones and his City Slickers also appear, though most prints are missing a bit from one of their musical numbers: a verse from a song that made fun of Eleanor Roosevelt was clipped after the film's initial engagements. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Buccaneer's Girl of the title, played by Yvonne de Carlo, is Deborah McCoy, an entertainer who's been around a bit. While visiting New Orleans, Deborah falls in love with aristocratic Frederick Baptiste (Philip Friend), who turns out to be a pirate. Baptiste is basically a decent fellow: his piracy is aimed exclusively at the crooked shipowner who destroyed his father. Deborah is a bit more mercenary, hoping to marry into wealth by posing as a high-born lady. By the seventh reel, however, she's perfectly content to settle down with the raffish Baptiste. Though played tongue-in-cheek, Buccaneer's Girl never resorts to "camp": it invites the audience to laugh with the film, rather than at it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Casbah is a musical remake of the 1938 film Algiers, which was itself a remake of the French film Pepe Le Moko. Tony Martin stars in the old Jean Gabin/Charles Boyer role as Pepe Le Moko, a master thief who lives in the Casbah section of Algiers. A French police inspector (Peter Lorre) would love to capture Pepe, but realizes that as long as the thief remains in the Casbah he is protected by his vast network of criminals. When Pepe falls in love with a beautiful tourist (Marta Toren), he schemes for the first time to leave his little "empire". Betrayed by a former lover (Yvonne De Carlo), Pepe is shot down by the police as he emerges from his sanctuary. Casbah lacks the atmosphere of the earlier non-musical versions of the story, but Tony Martin is reasonably convincing as Pepe Le Moko, even when bursting into song. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) returns home after a few years of knocking around the country following his divorce from good-time girl Anna (Yvonne De Carlo). Getting his old job back driving an armored car, and not even convincing himself that he's making a new start, he also wants his old wife back. When he finds Anna, he quickly learns that she is involved with gangster Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea). Nonetheless, they carry on a clandestine affair, with Steve foolishly believing that Anna will return to him. Even after she marries Slim, Steve, with her encouragement, masochistically clings to this doomed obsession. So when Slim catches them together, Steve ad libs plans for an armored car robbery that includes Slim. The two rivals form an uneasy and untrusting collaboration, but Steve and Anna plan to double cross Slim. However, the title of Robert Siodmak's film noir gem is, not incidentally, Criss Cross. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide

After gathering dust for nearly a year, the independently produced The Deerslayer attained a national release through Republic. A bottom-budget adaptation of the James Fenimore Cooper classic, the film stars Bruce Kellogg as Deerslayer, an intrepid Indian scout-hunter in the 18th century Hudson Valley. He spends most of the film escaping from hostile Indians and helping white settlers protect themselves against the savage hordes. Most of the film is amateurishly shot, with the actors fighting a losing battle against an uninspired, illogical script (in one scene, an Indian brave receives a wound in a portion of the body that was out of the range of gunfire!) In later years, Deerslayer would gain reissue value by virtue of supporting actors Larry Parks and Yvonne De Carlo, who'd gone on to achieve full-fledged stardom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Yvonne de Carlo is at her most smokily exotic in the Republic "special" Flame of the Islands. Filmed on location in the Bahamas, the story focuses on Rosalind Dee (Ms. DeCarlo), a cabaret singer who aspires to enter High Society. To this end, she comes into possession of a great deal of money through rather underhanded means. Rosalind forms a partnership with gambling-club owners Wade Evans (Zachary Scott) and Cyril Mace (Kurt Kasner), building the establishment into a gathering place for the Elite. Along the way, she attempts to rekindle a romance with randy playboy Doug Duryea (Howard Duff), but it is true-blue Kelly Rand (James Arness) who rescues Rosalind from gangland intrusion in the final reel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls is a romantic drama set against the turbulent tapestry of the Spanish Civil War. Gary Cooper plays Robert Jordan, an idealistic American fighting with a Spanish guerilla band. He is assigned to blow up a crucial bridge in order to halt the enemy's progress. He falls in love with Maria (Ingrid Bergman), a young peasant girl who's joined the fight after being ill-used by enemy troops. Pablo (Akim Tamiroff), the eternally drunken leader of the guerillas, resents Jordan's attentions toward Maria, and he refuses to help Jordan in his sabotage work. Pablo's wife Pilar (Oscar-winner Katina Paxinou) takes over command of the guerillas and helps Jordan by arranging horses for the band's departure after their job is done. The man supplying the horses (Joseph Calleia) is killed, and Jordan is left to finish his task minus a means to escape. For Whom the Bell Tolls was a long, faithful adaptation of the Hemingway novel, with excellent performances, torrid love scenes, and first-rate Technicolor photography. Available for many years only in the 130-minute reissue version, it was restored to nearly its full original length of 168 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Johnny Hart (Rod Cameron) is on the run from the law after killing one of the men who shot his partner. He passes through a town and stops at a saloon owned by singer Lorena Dumont (Yvonne de Carlo). The two seem a good, albeit tempestuous match, although Johnny has no plans to marry -- Lorena has other ideas and a shotgun wedding ensues. Blackie (Sheldon Leonard), an outlaw who is jealous of the marriage, informs Lorena of Johnny's wanted status, and he ends up getting caught by the law after their wedding night. He serves six years and returns to find that he and Lorena don't get along any better than they did before, and that he's also the father of a five-year-old girl (Beverly Simmons). Also lurking about is Blackie, whom he recognizes as one of the men who killed his partner, and Blackie wants Johnny out of the way so he can marry Lorena. Johnny and Lorena fight over custody of their daughter and Blackie nearly gets them each killed at one point or another. He kidnaps their daughter before Johnny dispatches him. He finally realizes that the only way he can win Lorena is to meet her cup for cup and blow for blow, until she understands that he loves her. The film, a sort of Western Taming of the Shrew, ends on a note of romance and reconciliation. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide