Steven Geray Movies

A communist spy plots the abduction of an important American atomic scientist in this espionage drama. To do his evil deed, he coerces a notorious gangster to do the kidnapping. Meanwhile a G-man is hot on the spy's trail and is determined to protect the endangered scientist. Unfortunately, the spy is on to the detective and plans to bump him off first. The spy does not count on the fact that he has chosen a patriotic gangster to do his deeds and when the crook learns the spy's true alignment he takes action. Between him and the G-man, the world ends up safe for democracy once again. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Cesar Romero plays an outwardly tough bookie with the proverbial golden heart. Romero falls in love with Carole Landis, an art shop proprietor who introduces her raffish romeo into the world of fine art. Utilizing his gambling skills, he amasses an impressive collection of valuable paintings, only to discover that there are just as many crooks and phonies in the art world as there are at the race track. At first attempting to cash in on the clever forgeries of a duplicitous painter (J. Carroll Naish), Romero is redeemed by the love of Carole Landis and ends up scamming the scammers. Gentleman at Heart includes a brashly amusing performance by Milton Berle as Cesar Romero's chief flunky. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a talented singer is hired to dub the voice of a star who has lost his own. During the film's premiere, news that he sang the songs slips out and suddenly he finds that he himself has become a star. Unfortunately he soon encounters unanticipated problems. He is especially concerned about his girl friend who dumped him in favor of the voiceless star. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this romantic spy thriller, a nightclub performer plys her trade in her husband's Trinidad bar. He is murdered by a notorious spy. Soon afterward, the police ask the widow to try to get close to the killer and gather information. Her work is nearly thwarted when her bumbling brother-in-law appears, looking to bring the killer to justice himself. This film marked the return of bombshell Rita Hayworth who had retired from movies during her marriage to Prince Aly Khan. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on the story The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr, All About Eve is an elegantly bitchy backstage story revolving around aspiring actress Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter). Tattered and forlorn, Eve shows up in the dressing room of Broadway mega-star Margo Channing (Bette Davis), weaving a melancholy life story to Margo and her friends. Taking pity on the girl, Margo takes Eve as her personal assistant. Before long, it becomes apparent that naïve Eve is a Machiavellian conniver who cold-bloodedly uses Margo, her director Bill Sampson (Gary Merill), Lloyd's wife Karen (Celeste Holm), and waspish critic Addison De Witt (George Sanders) to rise to the top of the theatrical heap. Also appearing in All About Eve is Marilyn Monroe, introduced by Addison De Witt as "a graduate of the Copacabana school of dramatic art." This is but one of the hundreds of unforgettable lines penned by writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, the most famous of which is Margo Channing's lip-sneering admonition, "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night." All About Eve received 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It is easy to see why the US Army refused to cooperate in the production of Attack. Based on the Norman Brooks play The Fragile Fox, this searing war film is a powerful indictment against a military system which protects even its most incompetent of officers. Eddie Albert plays a posturing but hopelessly inept infantry captain, whose misdeeds are covered up by his colonel Lee Marvin. Albert has strong political connections in the US, and Marvin hopes to take advantage of this after the war. Lieutenant Jack Palance has sworn to kill Albert with his bare hands if the officer bungles another mission. Albert orders Palance and his men into an untenable position on the battlefields of Belgium--and then, true to character, is too cowardly to send backup troops, leaving Palance's men to their fate. By sheer strength of will, Palance, whose arm has been shattered by an enemy tank, drags himself to the cellar where Albert is billeted and attempts to rid the world of the terror-stricken captain. Palance dies before he can keep his promise, but when the craven Albert makes an effort to surrender himself and his men to the Germans, he is shot down by lieutenant William Smithers. The rest of the men conspire to cover up Smithers' "crime" by claiming that Albert died from enemy fire, but Smithers proves to be less willing to prevaricate than his fellow soldiers. Though most filmgoers are mesmerized by Eddie Albert's virtuoso performance as a snivelling yellow-belly, director Robert Aldrich claimed that Albert gave his best reading during rehearsals, and that what ended up on film was nowhere near as powerful as it might have been. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The famed Bal Tabarin cabaret in Paris is the gathering spot for this swiftly paced crime melodrama. It all begins when singer Judy Allen (Muriel Lawrence) scampers away to the City of Light to escape the clutches of the villains who murdered her boss. The bad guys not only want to silence Judy, but also want to retrieve the cache of jewels that she has hidden somewhere. She takes a singing job at the Bal Tabarin, where head crook Joe Goheen (Steve Brodie) inevitably comes calling one evening. Three new songs are performed in the course of events, as are several terpsichorean routines by the fetchingly underdressed "French Can Can Girls" (that's how they're billed). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Blondie Knows Best was writer/director Edward Bernds' first entry in the long-running "Blondie" series, and arguably his funniest. The story contrives to have Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) pose as his boss Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale) so that a big business deal can be consummated while Dithers avoids nearsighted process server Jim Gray (Shemp Howard). The upshot of all this is that Dagwood ends up in a lunatic asylum, forcing Blondie (Penny Singleton) to come to the rescue. Ed Bernds was a big fan of comedian Shemp Howard (whom he'd directed in several Columbia 2-reelers) and accordingly he gives Shemp free reign in his scenes, resulting in some hystericially funny moments. Blondie Knows Best represented Jonathan Hale's farewell to the series; in the next entry, Blondie's Big Moment, he would be replaced by Jerome Cowan as Mr. Radcliffe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Cartwrights take a hand in matters when bandits reportedly steal the $100,000 dowry intended for the wedding of Michele Dubois (Luciana Paluzzi), the daughter of self-proclaimed land baron Alexander Dubois (Steven Geray). While the Cartwright sons stand guard over the injured DuBois during his recuperation at the Ponderosa, Ben begins to wonder why the same outlaws repeatedly manage to track down DuBois and his money. Meanwhile, bride-to-be Michele deftly wraps Joe, Hoss, and Adam around her little finger. Lee Bergere costars as Ricardo Fernandez. First shown on April 29, 1962, "The Dowry" was written by Robert Vincent Wright. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This final entry in 20th Century-Fox's "Charlie Chan" series is set in a huge mansion, smack-dab in the middle of the Mojave desert. When snoopy weekend guest Professor Gleason (Lucien Littlefield) is murdered, every member of the household falls under suspicion-none more so than Mr. Manderly (Douglass Dumbrille), the surly and highly secretive master of the household. Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) and number two son Jimmy (Sen Yung) stumble into this nest of vipers and quickly get to work trying to unravel the mystery, which involves a collection of priceless artifacts and an old-fashioned torture chamber. An excellent series entry, Castle in the Desert would have been a worthy screen finale for the inscrutable Mr. Chan; alas, the character would be revived two years later in a much inferior series at Monogram. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This routine drama is helped by good acting and well-known stars like Rossano Brazzi as an unfaithful French husband, Deborah Kerr as his faithful English wife, and Maurice Chevalier as the uncle who goes to bat for his nephew's loosely held views of marriage. What does not help the story is the viewpoint that the husband is right and deserves to be forgiven. The setting starts out during World War II when Charles-Edouard (Brazzi), an air force pilot, falls in love with Grace (Kerr), the daughter of an English parliamentarian. The two marry and Grace gives birth to their son Sigi (Martin Stephens) nine months later. Nine years later, Grace discovers that her husband has cultivated a string of paramours when he was a war-zone pilot in Southeast Asia and North Africa. The two argue and split. And while Sigi at first appreciates the added attention he gets during the turmoil, he later has his doubts. Between his actions and Charles-Edouard's uncle, Grace does not stand a chance. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This last remake (thus far) of the Jean Webster novel Daddy Long Legs was extensively revised to accommodate the talents of Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron. Fragments of the basic plot remain: American millionaire Astaire is the unknown benefactor of French orphan girl Caron, financing the girl's education on the proviso that his identity never be revealed to her. Moved by Caron's letters of thanks, Astaire's secretary Thelma Ritter advises Astaire to go to France to visit the "child". When he arrives, he finds that his ward has grown up rather nicely, and the two fall in love--though Caron never knows until the very end who Astaire really is. The old story has been updated to allow for an elaborate "cowboy" number and a couple of Eisenhower jokes. Highlights include a solo ballet by Caron and a wonderful Astaire routine involving a set of drums. The score for Daddy Long Legs is unremarkable save for Johnny Mercer's hit "Something's Gotta Give". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Those wily Egyptians are once again selfishly attempting to keep the treasures of the Pharaohs to themselves in this rough-and-tumble melodrama from Universal. The wiliest of them all is one Abbadi (George Zucco), who leaves no stone unturned in his quest for possession of the fabulous "seven jewels of the seventh pharaoh," which American archeologist Professor Wyndham (Wright Kramer) obligingly has excavated. The elderly professor is easily gotten rid of, but Abbadi also faces Police Inspector Joachim (Rod LaRocque), a rather more formidable foe. Soon, knives are whizzing through the air, swarthy natives abduct pretty maidens, and a couple of All-American archeologists crack wise and perform daring stunts. Sigrid Gurie, Samuel Goldwyn's version of the "Edsel," is star-billed and The Dark Streets of Cairo also employs Ralph Byrd, Eddie Quillan, and, seething in the background, Katherine DeMille. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide