Mona Knox Movies

In Roman Polanski's first American film, adapted from Ira Levin's horror bestseller, a young wife comes to believe that her offspring is not of this world. Waifish Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her struggling actor husband, Guy (John Cassavetes), move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and only elderly residents. Neighbors Roman and Minnie Castevet (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon) soon come nosing around to welcome the Woodhouses to the building; despite Rosemary's reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, Guy starts spending time with the Castevets. Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Minnie starts showing up with homemade chocolate mousse for Rosemary. When Rosemary becomes pregnant after a mousse-provoked nightmare of being raped by a beast, the Castevets take a special interest in her welfare. As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castevets' circle is not what it seems. The diabolical truth is revealed only after Rosemary gives birth, and the baby is taken away from her. Polanski's camerawork and Richard Sylbert's production design transform the realistic setting (shot on-location in Manhattan's Dakota apartment building) into a sinister projection of Rosemary's fears, chillingly locating supernatural horror in the familiar by leaving the most grotesque frights to the viewer's imagination. This apocalyptic yet darkly comic paranoia about the hallowed institution of childbirth touched a nerve with late-'60s audiences feeling uneasy about traditional norms. Produced by B-horror maestro William Castle, Rosemary's Baby became a critically praised hit, winning Gordon an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Inspiring a wave of satanic horror from The Exorcist (1973) to The Omen (1976), Rosemary's Baby helped usher in the genre's modern era by combining a supernatural story with Alfred Hitchcock's propensity for finding normality horrific. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) breathing down his neck, Mig Torrance (Mike Kellin), head of With a large and thriving prostitution racket, moves his base of operations south of the Mexican border. Though Mig refuses to dirty his hands with firearms, he has no qualms about dispatching his minions to gun down anyone who threatens his business; as a result, the hookers victimized by Torrance are unwilling to cooperate with the Feds. In the end, Ness must bank upon the courage of feisty retired madam Mrs. B (Betty Field)--and the cowardice of Torrance's sniveling kid brother Ernie (a decidedly pre-Bewitched Dick York). "The White Slavers" boasts a higher dead-body count than any other Untouchables episode...and also features the single most brutal act of violence in the series' history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jalopy represents the first Bowery Boys film to be released by Allied Artists, though in essence it's still a Monogram "B"-picture. It all begins when Sach Jones (Huntz Hall) develops a new fuel formula that will enable a racing car to go around the track in 11 seconds! Sach's pal Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) uses the formula to win several jalopy races, thereby allowing sweet-shop owner Louie (Bernard Gorcey) to pay his debts. Gamblers try to muscle in on the Bowery Boys' winning streak, but to no avail. On the day of the obligatory Big Race, Slip is forced to enter his jalopy without the precious fuel. At the last minute, Sach arrives with a new batch--which only works when the car is shifted in reverse! Heavily reliant upon stock footage from the concurrently produced Allied Artists feature Roar of the Crowd, Jalopy is a typically nonsensical Bowery Boys entry, right down to the surreal climactic gag. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth is a lavish tribute to circuses, featuring three intertwining plotlines concerning romance and rivalry beneath the big top. DeMille's film includes spectacular action sequences, including a show-stopping train wreck. The Greatest Show on Earth won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Story. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In the words of its star Leonard Nimoy, Kid Monk Baroni was the sort of film that "made unknowns out of celebrities." The young Nimoy is actually quite good as the title character, a boxer whose misshapen face has earned him the unwelcome nickname "Monk." Formerly an unregenerate street punk, Baroni is set on the proper path by parish priest Father Callahan (Richard Rober). Unfortunately, a run-in with his old gang forces Baroni to skip town. He becomes a professional pugilist under the aegis of manager Hellman (Bruce Cabot), taking out his pent-up frustrations in the ring. Able to afford plastic surgery, Baroni buys himself a handsome new face--and, with it, a dangerously oversized ego. Hoping to protect his new face from harm, Baroni washes out in the boxing ring, but redemption--and a lasting romance with Emily Brooks (Allene Roberts)--await just around the corner. Kid Monk Baroni was well-directed by Harold Schuster, whose previous efforts included My Friend Flicka and So Dear to My Heart. A flop at the box office, the film did nothing for the career of Leonard Nimoy, who was obliged to spend the next 15 years in relative obscurity before attaining a second chance at big-time stardom with TV's Star Trek. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Bowery Boys go to college in Hold That Line. Things haven't changed much since the Marx Bros. went to college in Horse Feathers: academic achievement still takes second place to football. The story shifts into gear when Sach (Huntz Hall) swallows a chemical-lab mixture which turns him into a super-athlete. Sach's pal Slip (Leo Gorcey) parlays this metamorphosis into an unbroken winning streak for the university's gridiron team. Football star Biff Wallace (John Bromfield), who has bet heavily on the opposing team, arranges for Sach to be kidnapped just before the Big Game, but eventually sees the error of his ways and tells Slip where to locate his pal. The climax is right out of Harold Lloyd's The Freshman, but if one must steal, steal from the best. Most of Hold That Line was filmed on location at Los Angeles City College, not far from the Bowery Boys' headquarters at Monogram Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Back in the 1930s, '40s and '50s, artist George Petty was famous for his "Petty Girl" illustrations; lovingly detailed renderings of ripe young damsels wearing next to nothing, and sometimes not even that. In The Petty Girl, George Petty is portrayed by Robert Cummings, while Joan Caulfield co-stars as strait-laced college professor Victoria Braymore. The plot contrives to have Petty abandon his nubile creations in favor of avant-garde art, all because he's been told to do so by his new patroness (Audrey Long). Somewhere along the way, Petty and the prim Miss Braymore find themselves in a compromising situation at a Greenwich Village nightclub. Thus it is only a matter of time before Petty goes back to the sort of artwork he does best, and Miss Braymore loosens her inhibitions -- and everything else -- to serve as Petty's latest model. Incredibly, this amusing exercise in old-fashioned male chauvinism was based on a story by novelist Mary McCarthy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide