Al Zimbalist Movies
- 1963
Spliced together with plentiful strips of old footage from previous films set in Africa, this routine romantic drama takes place on the east, equatorial region of the so-called "dark continent," in 1897. The story features Mariette Hartley as Ruth Knight and Lloyd Bochner as David, an engineer and Ruth's romantic interest during a safari. Frankie Avalon plays another safari member. Aside from the spliced-in scenery and animals, and the romance between Ruth and David, there is a dash of adventure here and there as slave traders enter into the action. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Avalon, Mariette Hartley, (more)
- 1959
This remake of the 1932 version of the popular jungle adventure features UCLA basketball ace Denny Miller in the title role. His Jane is played by Joanna Barnes. An all-around low-budget effort from MGM, the film is largely comprised of footage from King Solomon's Mines. The film also recycle's the famed Tarzan yell made famous in Johnny Weissmuller's films. This is by and large considered the worst of the Tarzan films. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denny Miller, Robert Douglas, (more)
- 1959
This flawed sequel uses footage that was cut from its precursor, King Solomon's Mines, along with repeats of a few scenes from that film, to construct a story about a return to Africa to look for the fabled mines. Harry Quartermain (George Montgomery) is the son of the man who first set out on the quest for the source of Solomon's wealth, and he is determined to succeed where his father failed. He goes to Africa with his good friend Rick Cobb (David Farrar) and as they continue on their journey, Erica Neuler (Taina Elg) joins them. She is the daughter of a missionary who has been killed by a local tribe. As the trio fight off deadly snakes, crocodiles, and similar denizens of the jungle, Harry cannot hide his antagonism toward Erica. She is German, and Harry's mother was killed at sea by Germans in World War I. Only the determination to find the mines and a certain ambivalence in Harry's feelings toward Erica, and vice-versa, keep the trio united in their goal. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Montgomery, Taina Elg, (more)
The American government inexplicably tries to send a box of wasps into space, but the mission ends when the rocket crashes in Africa. While on an expedition to recover the insects, an adventurer (Jimmy Lynn Davis) and his team finds the wasps have grown to immense proportions due to accidental radiation treatments. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Fittingly directed by Illinois native and bad-guy filmmaker Don Siegel, this action-packed film stars Mickey Rooney as the unflinching, trigger-happy member of the infamous Dillinger gang that besieged the Midwest circa 1933. Rooney is Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis and Carolyn Jones his gun moll, Sue, in this fictionalized tale of a scrawny street tough turned psychotic gangster. After being released from prison, Nelson goes to work for mob boss Rocca (Ted De Corsia), who eventually recognizes that a madman is in his service and turns him in to the cops. Managing to elude capture, Nelson kills Rocca and takes Sue with him. He then joins Dillinger's gang in a series of savage robberies, obliterating anyone who gets in his way. Inevitably, FBI agents ambush and injure Nelson, who finally admits his own ruthlessness to himself and Sue, conceding that he would even murder children if necessary. He orders Sue to kill him before he commits any more savage acts. This is a coarse and deliberately aggressive film, distinguished by Rooney's frenzied performance as an unruly and deranged criminal. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Carolyn Jones, (more)
- 1955
From the title on down, King Dinosaur consistently promises more than it delivers. Filmed in three days by quickie king Bert I. Gordon, the story is predicated on the notion that a new solar system has set up shop "a half-year's rocket flight away" from our own. A group of intrepid space travellers blast off (via stock footage of Germany's V-2 rocket) to explore the earth's new neighbors. Upon landing on one of the planets (actually the mountains surrounding Los Angeles) the astronauts confront all manner of outsized reptiles (courtesy of clips from One Million BC). They are also "attacked" by a harmless-looking kinkajou. When the planet's dinosaurs threaten our heroes, the huge lizards are dissipated by an atomic-bomb blast (more library footage). Having made the planet safe for colonization (?), the space travellers return to Earth. Finding nice things to say about King Dinosaur is about as easy as swallowing lighter fluid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wanda Curtis, Douglas Henderson, (more)
Cat Women of the Moon tells the tale of a group of American space travellers who confront a hostile tribe of females on the border between the light and dark side of the moon. The expedition is led by Laird Grainger (Sonny Tufts), whose polyglot crew--including co-pilot Kip Reissner (Victor Jory) and navigator Helen Salinger (Marie Windsor)--land on the lunar surface, where they soon discover that there's an atmosphere and water and everything. After a few minutes of wandering, the travellers come upon a huge modernistic city, populated by leotard-clad "cat women". The ruler, Alpha (Carol Brewster), reveals that she has telepathically brought the earthlings to her city, using Salinger as her unsuspecting go-between. The cat women perform a kinky dance to the tune of "Stranger in Paradise," while the shifty copilot Reissner tries to steal the city's cache of gold. Alpha enslaves the visitors via mind control, leaving only cat-woman Lambda (Susan Morrow), who has fallen in love with crewman Douglas Smith (Bill Phipps), to save the day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sonny Tufts, Victor Jory, (more)
A young boy named Johnny (Gregory Moffett) is on a picnic with his widowed mother (Selena Royle) and sister (Claudia Barrett, ($Pamela Paulsen), when he meets a pair of archeologists (John Mylong, George Nader) exploring a nearby cave. Later, while napping, he has a dream -- that the Earth has been attacked by an alien named Ro-Man (played by George Barrows in a gorilla suit with a diving helmet), using the "calcinator death ray," and that he and his family (with Mylong and his mother now married) and scientist Nader are the only survivors. They try to elude capture by Ro-Man, who turns out to have some very human failings despite his mechanized mentality, including a desire to experience human emotions, which greatly complicates his efforts to destroy the family. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Nader, Claudia Barrett, (more)
