Robert Surtees Movies

James Hilton's beloved fantasy novel about the land of Shangri-La was given an awkward musical treatment in this extravagantly produced flop. Larry Kramer's screenplay stays close to the 1937 Frank Capra original, as a plane fleeing China crashes in the Himalayas and a mixed group of survivors discovers the magical, peaceful land of Shangri-La. Here the film becomes a full-fledged musical, with songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David illustrating the distant realm's nature and the conflict that happiness causes amongst the survivors. Curiosity-seekers may be intrigued by the film's reputation as a notorious dud, but fans of the story would be better served by the classic original, despite a cast of well-respected names, including Peter Finch (in the Ronald Colman role), John Gielgud, Liv Ullmann, and Charles Boyer. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Kirk Douglas has an extreme case of mid-life crisis in Elia Kazan's turgid melodrama (adapted from his best-selling novel). Douglas plays successful advertising executive Eddie Anderson, who cracks under the strain of the morning rush hour in Los Angeles and plows his sports car into a truck. Landing in a convalescent home, Eddie remains mute to everyone except his boss Finnegan (Charles Drake). In his recovery room, Eddie dreams about co-worker Gwen (Faye Dunaway), a sexy research assistant at his agency. Meanwhile, the psychiatrist Dr. Liebman (Harold Gould) talks to Eddie's wife, Florence (Deborah Kerr), who reveals that at one time Eddie and Gwen had an affair, but they broke it off. Unfortunately, after that escapade, Eddie's interest in sex vanished completely.

Then after the interview with Dr. Liebman, following a terrible nightmare, Eddie breaks out of his self-imposed silence and declares to Florence that he is tired of his unfulfilling life of "arrangements." Eddie returns to work, but the return is marked by Eddie insulting a major client, alienating his co-workers, and then taking off in a private plane in which he flies madly over the skies of L.A. His lawyer Arthur (Hume Cronyn) keeps Eddie from being thrown in jail and also talks Eddie into giving Florence the power of attorney. Eddie proceeds to travel to New York, where he runs into Gwen, who now has a child. Eddie is in New York to visit his senile father, Sam (Richard Boone), but when his family attempts to put Sam in a nursing home, Eddie takes him away with him to their old family estate on Long Island. Eddie calls up Gwen, and she travels to Long Island to resume their affair. Meanwhile, Eddie's loved ones search for Sam, and they are closing in on Eddie's Long Island sanctuary. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This quirky melodrama opens with an automobile crash. The driver, Steve Mallory (George Peppard), comes out of unconsciousness with amnesia. As his memory slowly returns, he learns that he is a wealthy manufacturer of table china. His wife Alexandria (Elizabeth Ashley) wants to leave him, and his cousin Oliver Parsons (Roddy McDowall) wants Steve to sell him the family business. He also learns that the passenger in his car, a cocktail waitress named Holly Mitchell (Sally Kellerman), was killed in the accident. Her husband Lester (Arte Johnson) joins forces with Parsons to frame Steve and blame him for the accident, and Steve is arrested. Lester then kidnaps Alexandria and threatens to kill her in revenge for Holly's death. The film is based on a novel by Joseph Hayes. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Behind every great woman, there's a man who isn't so sure he's happy to be there -- or at least that's the state of affairs in this gender-switch comedy. Leslie McCloud (Polly Bergen) makes history when she becomes the first woman elected to the office of President of the United States. However, while Leslie's achievement is a great step forward for women, her husband Thad McCloud is less enthusiastic about his own role in closing the gender gap. Thad soon finds his daily schedule is filled with meeting women from garden clubs, his official quarters are still filled with pink and frilly furniture from the previous resident, and Leslie's extremely busy schedule is putting a severe crimp in their love life. While Thad stews over his lowly status as a male "First Lady," Leslie is attempting to avoid an international incident by negotiating with Latin dictator Valdez (Eli Walach), who develops a less-than-diplomatic interest in the Leader of the Free World. Kisses For My President also features Arlene Dahl, Edward Andrews, and Ana Capri. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This colorful remake of the 1935 version again concerns the crew and treatment of the HMS Bounty by a cold hearted sadistic captain. Captain Bligh (Trevor Howard) boards the ship in Portsmouth, England, to embark on a mission to bring tropical breadfruit trees to Jamaica. Fletcher Christian (Marlon Brando) is the aristocratic second mate who welcomes the new captain aboard. Christian's view of the captain sours with the cruel treatment of the crew and the dangerous decision to round Cape Horn. The Bounty sails into the teeth of a ferocious winter storm which is another in a long line of indignities suffered on the journey. John Mills (Richard Harris) is punished for stealing cheese. A sailor is ordered to stay aloft in the crow's nest, nearly resulting in death. The crew finds temporary paradise in Tahiti before Bligh's behavior becomes intolerable for the once faithful Christian. The crew revolts and sends the captain on his way in a small rowboat. Settling on Pitcairn Island, the crew soon realizes they may never see England again. Mills burns the ship to insure the trip is never made. Christian attempts to save the only means of transportation of their new island home. Lewis Milestone directed the film which was plagued by constant cost overruns to the tune of 18 million dollars. Brando's legendary ego clashed with results as turbulent as the fictitious trip around stormy Cape Horn. The movie retained slightly over half the cost of the production price tag in its initial release. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

With top stars Clark Gable as the American Michael Hamilton and Sophia Loren as the very Italian Lucia Curcio, this comedy by director Michael Shavelson already has a lot going for it. Michael is a lawyer who arrives in Naples to wrap up the estate of his dead brother, killed in an automobile accident. At issue is not so much his material possessions as the ten-year-old son Nando (Marietto) that he left behind. Nando's mother also died in the accident and her unmarried sister Lucia has claimed him as her own. As Michael and Lucia clash over legal custody of the young orphan, romantic sparks start to fly from all that friction, making the situation of Nando's custody just a little more complicated. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Although reformed and a town marshal Jake Wade (Robert Taylor) has one thing more to do before he can settle down and marry Peggy Carter (Patricia Owens): spring former comrade-in-arms Clint Hollister (Richard Widmark) from jail. Clint had done the same for Jake way back and the latter now considers the score settled. But Clint wants the loot from the gang's final heist, which the reformed Wade had buried before leaving for good, and to make sure that the marshal doesn't lead everyone on a wild goose chase, he brings Peggy along as leverage. An Indian raid complicates matters but all scores are settled in the end in this fine western originally lensed in Cinemascope. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Conceived as a Gone With the Wind for the CinemaScope generation, Raintree County wasn't quite as successful as its role model, but it still proved a moneyspinner for MGM. Elizabeth Taylor stars as a spoiled Southern belle who falls in love with pacifistic Indiana youth Montgomery Clift. Though Clift is engaged to Eva Marie Saint, what Taylor wants, Taylor gets, and she isn't above using the dirtiest of deceptions to win Clift's affections. When the Civil War break out, Clift, a staunch abolitionist, joins the Union, much to the dismay of true-to-Dixie Taylor. While Clift is off fighting the war, Taylor descends into a depression that deepens into insanity. At war's end, Clift tries to come to terms with Taylor's lunacy for the sake of their child. But the strain proves too much for both of them, leading to an operatic climax which curiously segues into a happy ending (happy for some of the characters, anyway). If Montgomery Clift's performance--and appearance--seems to fluctuate wildly throughout the film, it is because he was involved in a serious auto accident during shooting, one that left both physical and emotional scars from which he never completely recovered. The 187-minute Raintree Country (reduced to 168 minutes after its initial roadshow engagements) was adapted by Millard Kaufman from the best-selling novel by Ross Lockridge, Jr. (whose own life story was infinitely more tragic than anything in his book). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frances Howard starred as Princess Alexandria in the 1925 silent version of Ferenc Molnar's play The Swan; Lillian Gish assumed the role in the 1930 talkie version. The third and final adaptation starred Grace Kelly, who had one slight advantage over her predecessors; she would soon become a real princess instead of a make-believe one. And don't think that MGM, knowing full well that Grace would retire from moviemaking upon ascending the throne of Monaco, didn't carefully select the timeworn Molnar play for the express purpose of extra publicity. Outside of its mercenary considerations, The Swan is an enjoyable bittersweet tale of a princess who falls in love with her handsome tutor (Louis Jourdan), only to be required to give him up in favor of an arranged marriage of state. The nicest element of the story is that the prince to whom Kelly is engaged, as played by Alec Guinness, is a decent sort, who voluntarily asks for the princess' hand instead of forcing the issue. Of course, the issue has been forced upon him when he realizes the depth of the love Kelly harbors for her tutor. It may well be that this version of The Swan will be the last; on the other hand, who'd a' thunk that someone would want to make Sabrina again in 1995? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted by Don M. Mankiewicz from his own novel, Trial is a surprisingly timely story of how justice can sometimes be compromised by "special interests". It all begins when Mexican youth Angelo Chavez (Rafael Campos) is placed on trial for the murder of a white teenaged girl. Battling the lynch-mob mentality in and out of the courtroom is relatively inexperienced defense attorney David Blake (Glenn Ford). Believing that anything done on behalf of his client is for the common good, Blake approves the organization of an "Angelo Chavez Society" to pay the boy's court costs and ostensibly see that justice is done in the face of small-town prejudice. Soon, however, Blake discovers that both he and his client are being used as dupes by a Communist lawyer, who hopes that Chavez will be found guilty and executed, thereby creating a martyr for the Red cause. Much was made in 1955 of the fact that the presiding judge is a black man, played by Juano Hernandez. A bit creaky at times, Trial nonetheless still packs a wallop when shown today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Using the dry historical tome Gods, Graves and Scholars as its source, MGM came up with the rip-roaring adventure film Valley of the Kings. Robert Taylor plays Mark Brandon, an Indiana Jones-style archaeologist who embarks upon an expedition to Egypt. Brandon has agreed to help Ann Mercedes (Eleanor Parker) to locate the tomb of the Pharoah Ra-Hotep, thereby proving the validity of her late father's theories about Egyptian history. Along for the ride is Ann's seemingly affable husband Philip (Carlos Thompson), while the sinister Hamed Bachkour (Kurt Kasnar), who seems to be a criminal of some sort, dogs the expedition's trail. Upon arriving at the tomb, all heck breaks loose as the film's true heroes and villains are revealed. Valley of the Kings combines location-filmed footage in glorious Eastmancolor with a few moderately convincing studio mockups. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in the southernmost regions of Texas, Ride, Vaquero stars Robert Taylor as a steely-eyed gunman named Rio. In league with Mexican bandit Jose Esqueda (Anthony Quinn), Rio participates in the sacking of Brownsville. Only one man seems to have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to the villains: homesteader King Cameron (Howard Keel), who's already been burned out of one home by Esqueda and doesn't intend to allow it to happen again. Cameron's wife Cordelia (Ava Gardner) stands by her husband, which of course puts her in harm's way when Rio sets his romantic sights upon her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide