Lawrence Weingarten Movies

In this suspenseful thriller, a man is sentenced to ten years in a mental institution for the criminally insane after murdering his wife. In the hospital, the man's doctor slyly tells him about an esoteric law that will allow the patient a new trial if he can escape and stay out of the hospital for two full weeks. Naturally, the patient promptly escapes and ends up staying in the home of a woman whose husband is out of town. She is unhappily married and begins feeling drawn to the fugitive killer. Later the man begins to get suspicious when he discovers a corpse near the house. He trips and tumbles down a flight of stairs. When he regains consciousness, the body has vanished. The police eventually find it, and the woman blames the death on the fugitive. Fortunately, the pressure is too much and the woman finally admits that she and the doctor have been having a passionate affair and that they engineered the whole set up to frame the patient for the death of her husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This was the first feature-length film directed by the very successful George Roy Hill. Based on a Tennessee Williams' novel, this standard comedy-drama focuses on two married couples who are both having a hard time of it, at least for now. The first couple, Isabel and George Haverstick (Jane Fonda in an early role, and Jim Hutton), are in trouble because George has bouts of intense fear ultimately brought on by his need to appear to be as macho as he can -- basically his problem is performance anxiety. The second couple, Ralph and Dorothea Baitz (Tony Franciosa and Lois Nettleton) have their problems centering on the fact that he married her for her money -- and she knows it. What she may not realize is that after six years of marriage he has fallen in love with her. Added to that difficulty is the problem of meddlesome in-laws. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Just a few years before The Great Escape would catapult Steve McQueen to stardom, the charismatic actor played the lead, Lt. Fergie Howard, in this light romantic farce involving the computers on a Navy ship. Lt. Howard is playing poker on the good ship El Mira when he gets a brilliant idea. Why not use the ship's computer "Max" to figure out where the ball will land on a roulette wheel? After the ship docks near Venice, he and Ensign Beau Gillaim (Jack Mullaney), along with navy scientist Jason Eldridge (Jim Hutton) check out the casino there. Then they set up the ship's computer to receive incoming signals from the results at the roulette wheel, planning on it to predict which numbers will come up next. Trouble lies ahead when Admiral Fitch (Dean Jagger) intercepts the signals and assumes that the fleet is about to be attacked. While the subsequent chaos reigns, the women (Paula Prentiss and Brigid Bazlen) in these men's lives get involved. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This dynamic and commanding adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning play focuses on a troubled Southern family and the discord over their dying father's millions. Wealthy plantation owner Big Daddy Pollitt (Burl Ives), celebrating his 65th birthday, is visited by his sons, Brick (Paul Newman) and Gooper (Jack Carson). He has cancer, but a doctor has deliberately and falsely declared it in remission. Seemingly perfect son Gooper and his wife, Mae (Madeleine Sherwood), have several children and are anxiously expecting to inherit Daddy's millions. By contrast, Big Daddy's "favorite," Brick, is a has-been football star who's taken to drinking his days away since the suicide of his "best friend" a year earlier. He resents his wife, Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor), because he believes that she had an affair with his deceased friend. As a result, he refuses to sleep with her, although she remains devoted to him. Since Brick and Maggie have failed to produce any grandchildren, Big Daddy is inclined to leave his estate to Gooper, but Maggie attempts to prevent that by telling him that she is pregnant. Big Daddy knows better, yet he recognizes that Maggie loves Brick so much that she would be willing to do anything for him. Although Brick is self-destructive and resentful, unable to come to terms with his losses, it takes Big Daddy's recognition of his own mortality to make Brick change his perspective. Brick's struggle with his sexual identity, and the nature of his relationship with his "friend," had to be toned down for mass consumption, although this intelligently written and acted film covers such topics as infertility, adultery, and alcoholism that were still considered taboo in the 1950s. Newman brings depth and feeling to the role as Brick, while Taylor succeeds brilliantly in portraying Maggie as a passionate and understanding woman despite her own real-life emotional turmoil over the death of her husband at the time, producer Mike Todd. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith's Broadway hit The Tender Trap is transformed into a beguiling Frank Sinatra film vehicle. Sinatra plays a Manhattan showbiz agent, Charlie Y. Reader, who enjoys the attentions of several willing young ladies. At an audition, Charlie meets aspiring actress Julie Gillis (Debbie Reynolds), who is so determined to land a husband that she's already set the date. She goes out with Charlie for a short while, then announces that she won't marry him until he gives up all his other girls. Charlie, who hasn't said word one about marriage and who'd been preparing to give Julie the brush-off, is startled by her ultimatum -- so much so that he genuinely falls in love with her, which (we can safely assume) was her intention all along. A complication involving Charlie's former amour Sylvia Crewes (Celeste Holm) and his best friend Joe McCall (David Wayne) paves the way for the film's slightly offbeat denouement. In addition to scoring at the box office, The Tender Trap yielded a hit song (written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen), which would remain a part of Frank Sinatra's repertoire for the rest of his life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rhapsody is high-gloss soap opera in the grand MGM manner. Elizabeth Taylor stars as Louise Durant, the beautiful but spoiled daughter of millionaire Nicholas Durant (Louis Calhern). Accustomed to getting whatever she wants, Louise sets her sights on violin student Paul Bronte (Vittorio Gassman). Before long, however, she tires of Paul's all-consuming devotion to his music. Pianist James Guest (John Ericson) is the next moth drawn to Louise's flame. He is willing to put his career on the back burner for her sake -- and becomes an irresponsible drunk in the process. Anxious to win back Paul, who is now a famed concert violinist, Louise tries to rehabilitate James so he will be able to resume his concert activities -- thereby allowing Louise free rein to chase after Paul. Someone's going to have to eat humble pie before all this is over, and that someone has black hair and violet eyes. Rhapsody was adapted from Maurice Guest, a novel by Henry Handel Richardson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bronislau Kaper's haunting musical score for A Life of Her Own (1951) was recycled in the romantic melodrama Invitation. Dorothy McGuire stars as Ellen Bowker, a wealthy young woman with a rare heart condition. Knowing that his daughter may have only a year or so to live, Ellen's father Simon Bowker (Louis Calhern) wants to make certain that her last months on earth will be happy ones. To that end, he arranges for Dan Pierce (Van Johnson) to marry the girl. More interested in Ellen's millions than in Ellen herself, Dan agrees. Eventually, of course, he genuinely falls in love with the girl. But trouble looms on the horizon when Ellen discovers the real reason behind Dan's whirlwind courtship. How can a happy ending possibly result from all this? It's best to reveal no more at this point. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, Adam's Rib is a peerless comedy predicated on the double standard. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn play Adam and Amanda Bonner, a husband-and-wife attorney team, both drawn to a case of attempted murder. The defendant (Judy Holliday) had tearfully attempted to shoot her husband (Tom Ewell) and his mistress (Jean Hagen). Adam argues that the case is open and shut, but Amanda points out that, if the defendant were a man, he'd be set free on the basis of "the unwritten law." Thus it is that Adam works on behalf of the prosecution, while Amanda defends the accused woman. The trial turns into a media circus, while the Bonners' home life suffers. Adam's Rib represented the film debuts of New York-based actors Jean Hagen, Tom Ewell, and David Wayne (as Hepburn's erstwhile songwriting suitor), and the return to Hollywood of Judy Holliday after her Born Yesterday triumph. One of the best of the Tracy-Hepburn efforts, it inspired a brief 1973 TV series starring Ken Howard and Blythe Danner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This soapy drama stars Hedy Lamarr as a would be model who meets a research doctor en route to the US from Europe. They meet when Dr. Spencer Tracy prevents her from taking a suicidal plunge from the upper decks of the ocean liner. It seems that Lamarr had been involved with married man Kent Taylor. When he reneged on his promise to divorce his wife Mona Barrie, she decided to end it all. Finding her extraordinarily beautiful, the doctor suggests she join him in his research. The two end up at a slum clinic and it doesn't take long for the doctor to fall completely in love with her. He convinces her to marry him and soon after the wedding, he exchanges life in the clinic for an upscale practice uptown. Servicing the rich is lucrative and soon he has provided his high maintenance wife with a luxurious life. Unfortunately for him, she appreciates his work and sacrifices not a whit, and as soon as she can attempts to respark a romance with Taylor whom she has never stopped loving. Fortunately for the doctor, Lamarr eventually comes to her senses and marital bliss ensues. This film had a troubled history with all of it due to Louis B. Mayer's obsession with making Lamarr the brightest star in the MGM galaxy. Originally the film was directed by Joseph von Sternberg, but he grew frustrated and tired by Mayer's constant interference and quit the film as did the next director, Frank Borzage. As a result an enormous amount of footage was discarded. Finally reliable W.S. Van Dyke was placed on the production and it was completed. Unfortunately, despite all that effort, the film bombed at the box office. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this romantic musical, a Russian prince sees a lovely singer in a town cafe and falls head-over-heels. Realizing that he cannot be seen with her in royal garb, he masquerades as a worker. Later he secretly arranges for her to sing at the Imperial Opera. Unfortunately, his father the emperor is wounded that night by the wicked Reds. The girl's father is among the would-be assassins. Years pass. Just before the dawn of WWII, the girl and her family are exiled to Siberia while the former prince heads for Paris to become a famous nightcub singer. When revolution erupts in Russia, the girl is freed and the lovers are eventually reunited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a popular drawing-room drama by Frederick Lonsdale, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney stars Joan Crawford as a jewel thief who poses as an aristocrat. It is Crawford's intention to pilfer a valuable pearl necklace while attending a society party in the company of partner-in-crime William Powell. Here she attracts the attention of Robert Montgomery, a young nobleman who is amused by Crawford's wittiness in the face of the haughty bitchery of Benita Hume. When Montgomery turns out to be a bounder and Powell and Crawford are revealed to be criminals, Crawford does some quick thinking that not only gets her off the hook but puts the two-faced Montgomery in his place as well. Previously filmed in 1929 with Norma Shearer in the lead, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney would itself be remade in 1951 as The Law and the Lady, with Greer Garson as the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Unguarded Hour opens with prosecutor Sir Alan Deardon (Franchot Tone) in the midst of a murder trial. He gets his conviction, while his wife, Lady Helen (Loretta Young), sits furrow-browed on the sidelines. Helen had witnessed the murder and thus can prove that the condemned man (Dudley Digges) is innocent. But she cannot come forth with this information without revealing a past indiscretion in her husband's life, for which she is being blackmailed. To make a long story short, which MGM didn't, Sir Alan ends the film not as a prosecutor in a murder case, but as the prosecuted. Based on a play by Ladislas Fodor and Bernard Merivale, The Unguarded Hour represented the Hollywood debut of that splendidly satanic villain Henry Daniell, cast to type as the blackmailer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide