Reginald Denham Movies

In this horror tale, Ellen Hardy (Stella Stevens) shares a home with widow Gladys Armstrong (Shelley Winters). Ellen is engaged to marry Gladys' stepson, Sam Aller (Skip Ward). Ellen receives word that her brother and sister are soon to be released from a mental institution and need a place to stay; Ellen asks Gladys if they can live with them, and Gladys agrees. But Ellen hasn't told Gladys the whole truth. It seems that the siblings were institutionalized because their parents were murdered, and it was widely believed that they were responsible (though their guilt in the crime could not be proven). Not long after the now-teenage brother and sister move in with Ellen and Gladys, Gladys finds out about their secret -- and she is soon discovered brutally murdered. The kids, however, both claim that they had nothing to do with Gladys' death, and that the other must have done it. In the meantime, Ellen has to dispose of the body without raising suspicion, but after Ellen buries the corpse in the garden, the dog digs up a severed hand, and now Ellen must make sure the dog doesn't give away her family's ugly secret. The original version of The Mad Room included two songs by the pop group Nazz, which included songwriter, guitarist, and producer Todd Rundgren several years before he reached stardom as a solo artist; due to licensing restrictions, the songs do not appear on all video releases of the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Anna may be from Brooklyn, but this medium-budget domestic drama was filmed and financed in Italy. The title character, played by Gina Lollobrigida, returns from Flatbush to her small village in Italy in search of a husband. Among her suitors are Dale Robertson and Vittorio DeSica, indicating that the producers were hoping to "click" in box-offices on both sides of the Atlantic. Anna finally chooses the Right Man, with plenty of time for "sampling" along the way. The English-language scenes in Anna of Brooklyn were directed by Reginald Denham, while the Italian sequences were helmed by Carlo Lasticati. The film was distributed in the US by Columbia (who bought the picture from RKO) under the title Fast and Sexy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this taut, creepy melodrama, a housemaid works as the companion of an aging, retired British actress. One day the maid (Ida Lupino) is visited by her two looney half sisters. The actress finds the slightly mad sisters intolerable and demands that they leave. Unfortunately, the maid realizes that if the sisters are sent away they will end up involuntarily committed to an insane asylum and so the maid kills the actress and lets the sisters stay. Things go well until a suspicious relative shows up and starts to investigate. Nominated for Oscars for Best Interior Decoration and Best Score, Ladies in Retirement is based upon a stage play that was in turn based upon the true story from 1886. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

There's no folly like a Blind Folly, as scripters H.F. Maltby and John Hunter strive to prove in this British comedy. Gus McNaughton plays the head of a criminal gang who heads to the spot where they had long before hidden their stolen loot. Alas, the cache of cash is now sequestered somewhere in a roadhouse that has been built on the site of the hiding place. Now the criminals are forced to steal what they've already stolen--and to keep Clifford Mollison, the inn's current owner, in the dark. Lilli Palmer provides decoration as Mollison's girlfriend. Blind Folly was distributed in the United Kingdom by RKO British. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a police inspector pursues a Lord's secretary suspected of stealing his gold bullion. She is the prime suspect because she is the leader of an infamous gang of thieves. The cops do not realize that the gang acted on their own accord. The secretary and the inspector then team up and board a train to try and stop their getaway cars. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A "silly ass" saves the day in this adventure set in an old English house. The trouble begins when the ass, a mild-mannered clerk, accidently finds out that his boss is a Spanish revolutionary and leader of a ring of counterfeiters. The clerk soon finds himself abducted by the revolutionaries and taken to Spain. There his boss's daughter helps him to escape. Upon breaking free, he then returns to save the girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Dreams Come True for Ilona Ratkay (Frances Day), a popular opera singer who falls in love with gangly farm boy Anton (Nelson Keys). Not so lucky is Anton's father Albert (Hugh Wakefield), who is left all alone when his son runs off to the Big City with Ilona. Things really get sticky when Albert becomes obsessed with the notion that Ilona is actually his own illegitimate daughter! The more censurable aspects of the story are neatly skirted and circumvented with liberal doses of music and comedy. Dreams Come True is a remake of the German operetta Liebesmelodie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A winning lottery ticket is left in an antique desk which was recently sold and the rightful owner spends the remainder of the film chasing after the desk. ~ All Movie Guide

Originally released in 1934 as Death at Broadcasting House, this musty British whodunit was distributed in the US in 1941 to cash in on the Hollywood-engendered popularity of its star, Ian Hunter. Set in a BBC radio studio, the story gets under way when a much-despised airwaves personality is murdered in the middle of a live broadcast. Scotland Yard inspector Gregory (Ian Hunter) shows up to piece together the clues and sift through the suspects. The solution of the mystery hinges on the fact that the victim insisted upon broadcasting in a private room, far removed from his fellow actors. Inspector Gregory provides this solution by coming up with a transcription of the fatal broadcast (this at a time when few radio programs were recorded for posterity). Elements of Death at a Broadcast resurfaced in the 1942 Abbott & Costello comedy Who Done It? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romance, a doctor and his wife encounter rough seas when they embark upon a cruise. The trouble begins when the good doctor finds himself falling for a pretty author, and the author's partner falls in love with the physician's daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide