Laszlo Vadnay Movies

Comical chaos erupts when milquetoast astronaut Peter Mattemore (Jerry Lewis) and his bride-of-convenience and fellow astronaut (the government forced them to marry to avoid scandal) Eileen Forbes (Connie Stevens) are sent to a lunar space station, which they will share with a Russian couple, to monitor the weather and replace their two predecessors, both of whom have gone bonkers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Dime with a Halo was designed in part as a showcase for MGM's new child actor Manuel Padilla, who was featured shortly afterward in the studio's The Young and the Brave (63) and as a regular on the Tarzan TV series. Director Boris Sagal transcends the cold-cash motives of Dime by fashioning a touching Mexican-based comedy centering around five street urchins. The oldest (Roger Mobley) leads the kids in stealing a dime from a church collection box; they bet this "windfall" on a horse race, using the winnings to jointly purchase a sweepstakes ticket. All their dreams of sudden luxury are dashed when they find they're too young to cash the ticket when it hits the jackpot. Manuel Padilla manages to steal focus from his formidable kiddie opposition, but Dime with a Halo didn't quite establish Padilla as the Mickey Rooney of the 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dean Martin's first solo film after his split with Jerry Lewis was very nearly his last. Dino plays Ray Hunter, a Conrad Hiltonesque playboy hotelier at large in Rome. Taking charge of his latest acquisition -- a huge hotel with the titular 10,000 bedrooms -- Hunter finds himself being pursued by the daughters of wealthy Vittori Martelli (Walter Slezak). For a while, it looks as though the youngest daughter Nina (Anna Maria Alberghetti) has the inside track, but big-hearted Ray, realizing that Nina would be happier with a boy her own age, settles for older sister Maria (Eva Bartok). The poor box-office take for this old-fashioned musical comedy seemed at the time to foretell the end of Dean Martin's film career, but he was rescued by his well-received appearance in The Young Lions. The funniest aspect of Ten Thousand Bedrooms was its promotional trailer, narrated by Teddi Thurman, then famous as the sultry weather girl on the weekend radio series Monitor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

MGM was never quite sure what to do with their resident funster Red Skelton, and The Great Diamond Robbery betrays this uncertainty. Skelton plays Ambrose C. Park, a diamond cutter who is led to believe that he's the long-lost heir to a fortune. Actually, Ambrose has been duped by shyster lawyer Remlick (James Whitmore), who is in cahoots with criminal mastermind Louie (Kurt Kaznar). Convinced that he's being a dutiful nephew, Ambrose helps the crooks steal a valuable diamond, then agrees to cut the jewel himself. There's way too much plot and not enough Skelton in this 69-minute programmer, but Red manages to collect a few loose chuckles along the way. Great Diamond Robbery leading lady Cara Williams was later more memorably teamed with Skelton in the 1962 TV special "Freddie and the Yuletide Doll." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Basically a low-budget reworking of Ninotchka, this romantic comedy drama contains a strong anti-communist message as it tells the story of a Czechoslovakian secretary and the government official she works for. Both are loyal party members, particularly the secretary. One day, her boss, having just returned from a visit to the US is assigned to test his secretary to insure that she is immune to the lure of capitalism and materialism. At first, when her boss begins to shower her with such decadent gifts as make-up and a beautiful evening gown, she is shocked and afraid that he has become a traitor. Still he continues to give her such luxuries as bubble bath and even nylon stockings. Much to her chagrin, the woman begins to like these things and sure enough her party values crumble. By this time, her boss has fallen in love with her and rather than turn her in for treachery, he decides to defect to Austria with her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

South Sea Sinner is a remake of 1940's Seven Sinners, with Shelley Winters in the Marlene Dietrich role and MacDonald Carey as the John Wayne counterpart. Winters plays cabaret singer Coral, who manages to spark a riot wherever she goes. Carey co-stars as Jake Davis, who has been wandering aimlessly throughout the South Seas ever since he was framed on a gun-smuggling charge. These two volatile personalities become embroiled in the crooked schemes concocted by all-around villain Cognac (Luther Adler). Featured in the cast are Frank Lovejoy as Jake's best friend, and Helena Carter as the "right" girl for Our Hero. But the film's main attraction for modern audiences is the one and only Liberace, making his film debut as Coral's sardonic accompanist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Arthur Lake took time off from his Blondie duties at Columbia to star in Republic's The Big Show-Off. Lake plays an obnoxious pianist who has eyes for beautiful Dale Evans (the same), but she is put off by his ceaseless boasting. Only when Lake is taken down a peg or two in a wrestling match does Evans exhibit any affection for the poor sap. This film looks suspiciously like a Joe E. Brown vehicle that was deferred to Lake when Brown either proved unavailable or too expensive. Dale Evans gets to sing twice in The Big Show-Off. Thankfully, Arthur Lake does not. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Uncertain Glory finds Errol Flynn atypically cast as French criminal Jean Picard, a craven coward whose many misdeeds have earned him a date with the guillotine. Detective Marcel Bonet (Paul Lukas) intends to see that Picard keeps his appointment with the executioner, despite the fact that there's a war on. When the Nazis capture 100 French hostages to force a resistance saboteur to surrender himself, Picard offers to pose as the saboteur and thereby save the lives of the innocent villagers. In truth, he plans to escape once he's turned himself over to the Nazis, leaving the villagers in the lurch, but at the last moment his latent patriotism overcomes his sense of self-preservation. Errol Flynn's character is almost as inconsistent as the script, but war films invariably made money in 1944. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tales of Manhattan is a sumptuous multipart film centered around a formal tailcoat. The coat is specially designed for stage actor Charles Boyer, who wears it during a rendezvous with his lady friend (Rita Hayworth). The lady's husband (Thomas Mitchell) shoots Boyer, thus the tailcoat is damaged merchandise and sold at a discount to a bridegroom (Cesar Romero). When the groom's peccadillos catch up to him, the bride (Ginger Rogers) chooses to marry the best man (Henry Fonda) instead, and the coat is shipped off to a second hand store. It is purchased by a would-be composer (Charles Laughton), who wears it the night that he is to conduct his first symphony; alas, the coat is too tight and tears apart, nearly ruining the conductor's debut. Stitched back together, the coat is donated to a skid row mission, wherein the kindly proprietor gives the coat to a down and out drunkard (Edward G. Robinson) so that the shabby gentleman can attend his 25th college reunion. Later on, the coat is stolen by a crook (J. Carroll Naish) in order to gain entrance to a fancy charity ball. The crook holds up the ball and stuffs the loot in the pockets of the coat, but while escaping in an airplane he loses the outer garment. The coat floats down to an impoverished African American shanty community; a farmer (Paul Robeson) decides to distribute the "money from heaven" amongst his needy neighbors. At the end, the tattered coat adorns the shoulders of a scarecrow. Tales of Manhattan is one of the best "portmanteau" dramas turned out by Hollywood; it was directed by French expatriate Julien Duvivier, a past master of the multi-story technique. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical comedy of errors, David Brassard, Sr. (William Collier, Sr.) has his heart stolen from him by a conniving, gold-digging nightclub singer named Josette (Tala Birell). Brassard's two sons, Pierre (Robert Young) and David Junior (Don Ameche) are both horrified and vow to lure the temptress away from their dad. However, they somehow become convinced that the woman in question is Renee LaBlanc (Simone Simon), who is merely posing as a chanteuse in order to help out her friend Barney Barnaby (Bert Lahr), whose nightspot is in trouble. In time, Pierre and David Junior both realize that they've been chasing the wrong woman -- but they also realize that they've both fallen in love with her. The supporting cast includes William Demarest and Lon Chaney, Jr., the latter only a year before One Million B.C. would reshape his career and make him a star of horror and science fiction films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Billed as "A Budapest Fairy Tale," Pesti Mese is the story of an ugly-duckling gamine named Pigtail (Ida Turay) and her best friend, errand boy Kubik (Antal Pager). An apprentice at the millinery shop of Mme. Annie (Annie Dobos), Pigtails is victimized by Annie's no-good brother Feri (Istvan Bekassy), who in addition to his other character flaws is robbing his sister blind. When Pigtail inherits $500,000, Feri schemes to marry the girl and steal her legacy. Figuring out that something's amiss, Kubik gallantly steps in and stops the wedding, claiming Pigtail for himself even though he knows nothing about her financial windfall. As always, Hungarian character comedian Julius Kabos effortlessly steals the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paul Javor, touted by publicity flacks as "The Clark Gable of Hungary," is among the stars of Havi 200 Fix (Two Hundred a Month). The story is the usual melange about a young couple who can't get married until the boy gets a job. Accidently, our hero manages to insult a big-time manufacturer who'd been on the verge of hiring the poor sap. Still hoping to land the job, the would-be employee talks his best friend into impersonating him during the interview with the manufacturer. And that's how it goes for the next 85 minutes or so. Havi 200 Fix was released in the U.S. as Polon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide