Milton Reid Movies
- 1957
Kay Callard plays Joan Foster, the title role, in the British quickie Undercover Girl. She works in a nightclub that serves as the front for a dope ring. When a reporter is murdered, Joan agrees to help the reporter's brother (Paul Carter) bust up the criminal gang. Naturally, this means putting her own life on the line, but you knew that when you saw the title. If nothing else, Undercover Girl affords ample opportunities to show off attractively undressed chorus girls. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
This curious African Queen derivation stars Curt Jurgens as Mark Conrad, an Austrian exile and Orson Welles as blustery ferry-boat captain Cecil Hart. Banned from both Hong Kong and Macao, Conrad is forced to spend his life on Hart's ferry, shuttling endlessly between the two countries and irritating everyone with whom he comes in contact. Conrad redeems himself when he rescues Hart and the passengers during a raging storm. Poor Welles is reduced to Gale Gordon-like bombast throughout the proceedings, while leading lady Sylvia Sims has practically no purpose in the film whatsoever. Ferry to Hong Kong was released in America through 20th Century-Fox along with several other like-vintage Rank Organisation films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Curd Jürgens, Orson Welles, (more)
- 1960
The first portion of this Walt Disney Presents episode is a behind-the-scenes preview of the upcoming Disney theatrical feature Swiss Family Robinson. Hosted by three of the film's stars, John Mills, Dorothy McGuire and Janet Munro, the segment details the difficulties encountered by the production crew while filming on location in the West Indies' island of Tobago -- an island so uninhabited that even the animals had to be shipped in from the States. The second half of the episode consists of the Oscar-winning "True Life Adventure" short subject Water Birds, previously telecast as part of the Disneyland installment "A Trip Through Adventureland and Water Birds." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, (more)
None of the many cinemadaptations of Johan Wyss' The Swiss Family Robinson are as relentlessly enjoyable as this 1960 Disney feature. The film wastes no time getting down to business, with the shipwreck of the Robinson family occurring as the credits flash across the screen. Fashioning a raft, the family heads to a lush tropical island. While the mother (Dorothy McGuire) isn't too happy about being a castaway, the father (John Mills) and the sons (James MacArthur, Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran) are thrilled at the prospect of carving out a new life for themselves. In short order, the industrious Robinsons have constructed a treehouse with all the creature comforts and "utilities" of their home in Switzerland. Later on, the little party is joined by Janet Munro, the daughter of a sea captain who has been captured by pirate Sessue Hayakawa and his band. After a series of adventures calculated to arouse the envy of every man, woman and child in the audience, the film comes to a rousing conclusion as the Robinsons resourcefully fend off Hayakawa and his pirates with a variety of jerry-built booby traps. A box-office winner to the tune of $30 million, The Swiss Family Robinson proved beyond doubt that Disney's decision to emphasize the humor and adventure of the Wyss original, while downplaying the sociopolitical undertones, was a sound one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, (more)
- 1961
Aladdin (Donald O'Connor) is a poor young man living in ancient Bagdad, who is given to flights of imagination, and taken with tales of the wealthy and powerful -- in many ways, he's still a boy, and so caught up in his daydreaming that he doesn't realize how his one-time childhood playmate Djalma (Noelle Adam), now a grown young woman, loves him (even if her merchant father thinks he's a worthless loafer). In a moment of indulgence, his mother buys Aladdin an old lamp so that he can have light at night "like a rich man." He accidentally discovers that the lamp contains a genie $Vittorio De Sica), who will grant him three wishes -- but he is so scatterbrained, that he can't figure out exactly how he called the genie in the first place. Aladdin and Djalma both end up headed for Basra and the wedding of the young Prince Malouk (Mario Girotti) to the princess (Michele Mercier), and both are caught up in the plans of the evil Grand Vizier (Fausto Tozzi) to kill the prince and marry the princess himself. Those plans, helped by a malevolent old magician (Raymond Bussieres), include the use of two full-size magical dolls, one a dancing wonder and the other with a deadly embrace. And only Aladdin and his genie, and the brave young prince, can stand in his way. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald O'Connor, Noëlle Adam, (more)
- 1961
In this drama, an ex-WW II pilot leads a quiet life in Hong Kong when suddenly the US government asks him to do some spying. Reluctantly he accepts the request and begins helping a Chinese woman find her missing son, also a pilot. The American, assisted by a Russian pal, finds the boy, but then gets romantically entangled with an American agent trying to sell a secret formula. As he helps her escape, she is killed and he returns to Hong Kong where he refuses to do anymore work for American intelligence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Terror of the Tongs is a gory, garishly colored melodrama written by Jimmy Sangster in the tradition of the Fu Manchu films. The villain is "Fu" himself, Christopher Lee, here eminently hissable as the leader of a vicious Chinese Tong operating in 1910 Hong Kong. Proper London merchant Geoffrey Toone is drawn into this netherworld when his daughter is murdered by Lee's minions. Conducting a one-man war against the Tongs, Toone eventually flushes out every member of the faction...leaving only Lee to vanquish at fade-out time. Though the crimson-dominated color photography of Terror of the Tongs is the film's prime asset, the picture was originally released theatrically in black and white. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geoffrey Toone, Christopher Lee, (more)
- 1961
Skimming the surface of characterization, this romance-tragedy by François Villiers is based on a novel by Jean-Jacques Gautier and concerns the relationship between Laurent (Jean-Claude Brialy), a painter, and Renée (Michele Morgan) and her daughter Daniele (Catherine Spaak). Just when Renée and Laurent are ready to make their love affair official, Renée's daughter shows up and there are immediate sparks of attraction that fly between her and the painter. Sure enough, the fickle artist drops the mom and marries the daughter -- and then they make the mistake of moving in with Renée. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michèle Morgan, Jean-Claude Brialy, (more)
- 1962
In this engaging costume melodrama of skulduggery on the low seas set back in the 18th-century, the swamps of a small seaside town and the nocturnal activities of the towns' men provide the atmosphere and action. The Royal Crown suspects a bit of smuggling is going on in this locale, and they send Captain Collier (Patrick Allen) and his crew to check it out. As the Captain gets into his investigation, mysterious swamp phantoms cloud up the real issue which seems plain enough to see. Captain Collier suspects that the odd village vicar (Peter Cushing) might be hiding something, and what better way to do that than by fortuitous ghosts to scare away the curious -- or by posing as someone he is not? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cushing, Yvonne Romain, (more)
- 1966
In this crime melodrama, a Swiss woman finds herself unwittingly involved in a plot to steal from her employer, a London diamond merchant. Her boyfriend is behind the scheme. First he sends two accomplices disguised as German jewelers to see the boss. He is not fooled by their ruse and is killed while the woman is knocked unconscious. She awakens with amnesia and begins aimlessly wandering the London streets. Thinking that his girl has squealed to the police, her boy friend begins scouring the town to find her. Meanwhile, she is taken in by a boxer who returns to the ring to win the money needed to get her out of the country. Trouble ensues when her lover finally finds her after the match and begins beating on the exhausted fighter. To stop him, the woman shoots the villainous lover. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1967
One of the lower points of Joan Crawford's latter-day career curve (though nothing to compare with the later embarrassment of Trog!), this lurid, low-rent thriller nevertheless gives Crawford the opportunity to chew acres of scenery in a campy Marlene Dietrich-style get-up. She portrays the ringmaster of a cheesy traveling circus troupe whose stars are being whacked in a variety of flamboyant ways (many of which are depicted in the garish trailer, particularly Michael Gough's spike-in-the-head scene). Despite the exploitation potential in this lurid Grand Guignol scenario, this film is fairly light on scares or gore -- and far too heavy on circus stock footage. A sequel of sorts to producer Herman Cohen's Horrors of the Black Museum, this one is a slight improvement, thanks to Crawford's outrageous, over-the-top performance. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Ty Hardin, (more)
In this 1967 drama, resourceful British agent Bulldog Drummond, who appeared onscreen in a series of spy stories between 1929 and 1951, returned to duty in the wake of James Bond. Here, Drummond (Richard Johnson) is on the trail of Carl Petersen (Nigel Green), a corrupt industrialist who has a bad habit of stealing the ideas of others and then killing them so he can reap their profits. The nefarious Petersen has a team of female assistants willing to kill on command, led by Irma (Elke Sommer) and Penelope (Sylva Koscina). One more Bulldog Drummond vehicle, Some Girls Do, followed in 1969 before the series was retired again. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Johnson, Elke Sommer, (more)
- 1968
Mae West was never permitted to make a film version of her bawdy historical romp Catherine Was Great, yet this British adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Great Catherine made it to the screen. Where is the justice in this? Anyway, Jeanne Moreau braves it through the nearly unplayable role of Catherine, mother of All the Russias, while Peter O'Toole and Zero Mostel struggle manfully to breathe life into the proceedings. The plot has something to do with Prince Patiomkin's efforts to splice Catherine with Captain Edstaston, thus assuring that the queen's reign will be a happy one. The Captain would rather dally with Claire (Angela Scoular) and spends the rest of the running time escaping the queen's wrath. Throughout Great Catherine, Shavian wit is given short shrift in favor of 2-reeler slapstick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Zero Mostel, (more)
- 1969
- R
Set up like a version of the Maltese Falcon, this routine detective yarn by Roger Corman features Vic Morrow as Harry Black, a hard-living, tough-skinned American in trouble. Two dangerous factions want to get their hands on some engraving plates stolen from the British mint, and Harry is trapped in the middle. The staged car chases, the seductive woman (Suzanne Pleshette) who wants Harry for her own reasons, Monte Carlo and Istanbul locations, the dramatic musical score, and all the earmarks of a low-grade James Bond spy thriller date this drama to the 1960s. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vic Morrow, Suzanne Pleshette, (more)
Director John Frankenheimer, extrapolating from his earlier films The Gypsy Moths and Grand Prix, examines machismo and how men test themselves to the limits of endurance in The Horsemen. The film takes place in modern day Afghanistan. Uraz (Omar Sharif), the son of Tursen (Jack Palance), the stable master for a feudal lord, is a master horseman who lives by a primitive code of honor. Uruz's family honor is damaged when he breaks his leg playing the game which is the Afghani equivalent of polo. His father, who lost a lot of money betting on his son, will barely speak to him. To regain the family honor (and wealth) he must somehow re-learn how to ride -- after his injuries cost him his leg below the knee. In the face of great obstacles, and despite the derision and treachery of others, he gains the chance to play in the games given by the king of Afghanistan. The footage of the horsemanship in these dangerous and anarchic games is one of the real highlights of this film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omar Sharif, Leigh Taylor-Young, (more)
This sequel to the stylish 1971 melodrama The Abominable Dr. Phibes once more stars Vincent Price in the title role. Long believed dead, Phibes arises from a state of suspended animation, in search of the means to bring his deceased wife back to the land of the living. Phibes also wears a rubber mask to disguise his own horribly disfigured countenance. (The giveaway: he never moves his mouth when speaking, and eats by applying his fork to his neck!) With the aid of the enigmatic, never-speaking Vulnavia (Valli Kemp), Phibes follows an Egyptian expedition, seeking out an ancient elixir of life and killing everyone who gets in his way. In the original film, all of the doctor's grisly but ingenious murders were motivated, and all were linked by a Seven Deadly Plagues throughline. In the sequel, Phibes kills whenever he feels like it, and utilizes an impressive array of death-dealing contraptions (one victim literally has his skin blown off his body by a high-powered electric fan). This marks one of the only films ever made to wrap with Vincent Price singing "Somewhere, Over the Rainbow." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Robert Quarry, (more)
- 1973
Val Guest, veteran director of many interesting British films covering a multitude of subjects, joined the nudie-cutie bandwagon of the 1970s with The Au Pair Girls. Anyone who's taken first-year French will probably know that the title refers to young foreign girls living in England who perform domestic chores in exchange for room and board and the opportunity to learn the English language. In this film, the girls' "services" range far beyond mere light dusting. It's the 1972 equivalent to those old stag reels of the 1950s with titles like Lucky Pierre Goes Fishing. Among the au pair girls in this R-rated effort are Gabrielle Drake, Astrid Frank, and Me Me Lai. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Astrid Frank, Gabrielle Drake, (more)
- 1975
- G
- Add The Return of the Pink Panther to QueueAdd The Return of the Pink Panther to top of Queue
After several years at loggerheads with one another, director Blake Edwards and star Peter Sellers reteamed for the slapstick fiesta The Return of the Pink Panther. It looks as though wizard cat-burglar Sir Charles Litton, played by David Niven in the original 1964 Pink Panther but here essayed by Christopher Plummer, is back in business. Dispatched to the Swiss resort town of Gstaad by his long-suffering superior Inspector Dreyfuss (Herbert Lom), Clouseau adopts a series of easily penetrable (and hilarious) disguises to get the goods on Sir Charles and his wife Claudine (Catherine Schell). If you remember A Shot in the Dark, you'll recall that Clouseau's ineptitude turned Inspector Dreyfuss into a twitching homicidal maniac. The same thing happens here, paving the way for the sequel, The Pink Panther Strikes Again. And, as with all the "Panther" movies, we are treated to the insinuating theme music by Henry Mancini, and the animated opening and closing titles. Return of the Pink Panther earned $17 million on its initial release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Christopher Plummer, (more)
- 1977
The British "Adventures Of..." series can be described as a dirtier "Carry On" (if such a thing is possible). Christopher Neil plays the title character in 1987's Adventures of a Private Eye. Neil's life is plunged into peril when he agrees to deal with a blackmailer. To achieve his purposes, our hero is obliged to make love to every beautiful girl he meets; it's meant to be satirical, but the laughs often take second place to the heavy breathing. If nothing else, Adventures of a Private Eye treats us to a performance by the delectable 1960s leading lady Suzy Kendall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- PG
In this fantasy adventure tale based on a novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne) sets out to find Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure), a fellow explorer who was lost during an expedition to the island of Caprone, a tropical oasis in the midst of the arctic. McBride arrives at Caprone to discover that Tyler is fending off tribes of savage cavemen, doing battle with strange prehistoric beasts, and contending with frequent volcanic erruptions. Of course, life on Caprone isn't all bad, as a glimpse of Tyler's significant other Ajor (Dana Gillespie) would suggest, but the men still face many significant challenges as they try to get off the island and back to civilization. The People That Time Forgot was Doug McClure's third go-round in an Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure vehicle, following adaptations of The Land That Time Forgot and At the Earth's Core. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Wayne, Doug McClure, (more)
Though not Ian Fleming's most famous James Bond novel, 1962's The Spy Who Loved Me was distinguished by the unique device of telling the story from the heroine's point of view; in fact, Bond doesn't make an appearance until the book is two-thirds over. This would hardly work in the film world's Bond franchise, so the original austere plotline of the novel was eschewed altogether in favor of a labyrinthine story involving outer-space extortion. The leading lady, a "hard-luck kid" in the original, is now sexy Russian secret agent Barbara Bach, who joins forces with Bond (Roger Moore, making his third appearance as 007) to foil yet another megalomaniac villain (Curt Jurgens), who plans to threaten New York City with nuclear weaponry. Beyond the eye-popping opening ski-jump sequence, the film's best scenes involve seven-foot-two Richard Kiel as steel-toothed henchman Jaws. Fifteen scriptwriters worked on The Spy Who Loved Me; only two were credited, including Bond-film veteran Richard Maibaum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, (more)
- 1978
When a brilliant doctor fathers 837 genius sons through an artificial insemination program, it seems like every woman on the planet wants to birth one of the exhausted medico's super smart babies. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A valiant prince battles an evil sorcerer to rescue his true love in this colorful fantasy, which features high adventure and plenty of special effects. The hero must overcome a number of dangers, along the way receiving help from a beautiful street urchin and a magical rose. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lee, Milo O'Shea, (more)
- 1979
- R
This horror feature should entertain fans of the blood and guts but ultimately fails to live up to its title. Royal ancestors feel the wrath of the curse of the condemned witch Mad Dolly L.E. Mack, who spews forth her prophetic venom while she is burned at the stake. The victims suffer death by having their heads removed in various fashions, getting their limbs caught in animal traps, knife wounds, and other methods of popular medieval torture. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Nolan, Carolyn Courage, (more)
