Owen Crump Movies

Julie Andrews made a bid to change her squeaky clean image with this elaborately mounted World War I musical. Lili Smith (Andrews) is a popular British music hall singer who is regarded as a femme fatale and has been known to throw a bit of striptease into her act. However, Lili has a secret: she's actually a German spy, and the uncle she dotes upon is really Von Ruger (Jeremy Kemp), a fellow espionage agent and her contact for the Huns. In hopes of gaining valuable information, Lili begins using her feminine wiles on Maj. William Larrabee (Rock Hudson), a top American pilot. However, Lili soon discovers that she's falling in love with Larrabee and can't find the courage to betray him; Larrabee discovers Lili's secret, but he refuses to turn her in. Darling Lili was a notorious box-office disappointment, grossing a mere $5 million on a budget that rose to $25 million due to a variety of production mishaps. Director Blake Edwards (Andrews' husband) was stung by the poor reception, and he later trimmed the 136-minute film to 114 minutes, downplaying its comic elements in favor of a more serious tone. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this service comedy set during World War II, Capt. Cash (Dick Shawn) and Lt. Christian (James Coburn) are given orders to invade a small but strategically important village in Sicily. To their surprise, none of the natives offer the slightest resistance to the Americans taking over their town, who present only one stipulation -- the main event on the town's annual social calendar, a football match followed by a wine festival, is scheduled to happen in a few days. If the Americans would be kind enough to let them have their party, they'll hand over the town without a fight. Cash and Christian think that this plan sounds reasonable enough, and a few days later they and their men are drunkenly whooping it up with the townspeople when both German and U.S. surveillance planes spot the festivities. Thinking the wild party looks more like some sort of battle, both the Germans and Americans make plans to send in troops. Screenwriter William Peter Blatty would enjoy greater success a few years down the line with The Exorcist, a novel about a different sort of conflict. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Originally intended as a 4-reel followup to the 1957 "docudrama" short subject The Amazon Trader, Manhunt in the Jungle was extended to feature length in hopes of better bookings. The story is based on the 1928 search for explorer Col. P. H. Fawcett, who disappeared somewhere in the Amazon. Robin Hughes stars as Cmdr. George M. Dyott, the man who organized the searching party for the missing Fawcett (James Wilson). The Warnercolor exterior shots of Peru and the Amazon regions are the highlights of the film. Less successful are the dramatic passages, which look like something out of a junior-high production of Stanley and Livingstone. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Owen Crump, the documentary filmmaker whose short subjects on the Korean conflict earned a great deal of critical praise, served as producer/director for the fictional anti-Red melodrama The River Changes. The scene is a peaceful village in a mythical European country. When the nearby river changes course, the villagers suddenly find themselves under communist rule. Unable to tolerate the despotism of their new "people's government" rulers, the villagers make plans to escape across the heavily-guarded river. A subplot involves the Romeo-Juliet romance between Eastern-Bloc border guard Kurus (Harald Marsech) and lovely village lass Mayram (Rosanna Rory). During the 1960s, The River Changes was a mainstay of American television; today, it has apparently completely disappeared. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in 1947, Warner Bros. Night Unto Night wasn't released until 1949. Based on a novel by Philip Wylie, the film stars Ronald Reagan as John, a young scientist suffering from epilepsy (In 1951, Reagan would play another epileptic, baseball star Grover Cleveland Alexander, in The Winning Team). Viveca Lindfors co-stars as Ann, who is recovering from the loss of her husband. Both John and Ann head to the coast of Florida for rest and relaxation, and it is here that they fall in love. While John and Ann contend with their individual afflictions and private demons, their mutual friend Shawn (Broderick Crawford) dispenses philosophical advice. The psychological aspect of Night Unto Night seems dated and simplistic when seen today; even so, Reagan and especially Lindfors are convincing in their difficult roles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Warner Bros. 3-reeler was produced to commemorate the 12th anniversary of Hollywood's Academy Awards ceremony. With fine impartiality, the film offers clips provided by several studios, though emphasis is placed upon Warners' only Oscar-winning feature, 1937's Life of Emile Zola. At least half of the film is devoted to the 1939-40 Oscar presentations; that was year in which Gone with the Wind copped most of the major awards, with the notable exception of the "Best Actor" prize (which went to Robert Donat for Goodbye Mr. Chips). Cavalcade of Academy Awards was assembled under the supervision of Frank Capra, whose 1939 release Mr. Smith Goes to Washington also picked up a few statuettes. Plans to turn the "Cavalcade" films into an annual event were curtailed by the arrival of WWII. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi