Patricia Manning Movies
The Hideous Sun Demon was a typically awful really low budget 1959 sci-fi monster movie which B-movie actor Robert Clarke produced, directed, and starred in. The current feature simply takes the original film and dubs in hip, funny, self-mocking dialogue to replace the old, stiff, self-conscious original dialogue, much in the manner of Woody Allen's creative redubbing of What's Up Tiger Lily?. Among the uncredited voices is that of comic Jay Leno. A small amount of new footage, carefully shot to match the original, has been added to fill out the story. In the original, a research scientist (Clarke) has been exposed to a radioactive substance which makes him turn into a reptile monster whenever he's exposed to sunlight. After this, he falls in love with a beautiful nightclub singer, but a series of mishaps result in his being killed while his love remains unconsummated. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Clarke, Patricia Manning, (more)
- 1964
This drama tells the true story of one of Broadway's most successful madams in the 1920s. It is loosely based on the autobiography of Polly Adler. The story begins when young Polly is seduced and raped at her job by the sweatshop foreman. When her uncle, with whom she lived, learns of the act, he blames her and tosses her out. She then moves into an apartment owned by a racketeer. It is he who encourages her into her "helping" profession when he gives her money for bringing her pals to a gangster party. Soon she is beginning to build up her own clientele. As her business prospers, she begins to choose nicer locations. Her tiny cathouse becomes a haven for sleazy politicos, mobsters, and businessmen. The madame herself has a passionate romance with a young songwriter and she helps his career. He does not know of her vocation and she eventually breaks up with him to keep his reputation intact. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shelley Winters, Robert Taylor, (more)
- 1963
This is the second of four consecutive episodes in which Perry Mason appears only briefly, while a "guest" lawyer handles the case at hand (Raymond Burr was at the time recovering from minor surgery). Michael Rennie stars as erudite law professor Edward Lindley, one of Perry's best friends and severest critics. Though he has never handled a murder case--and indeed, regards most defense attorneys with the utmost disdain--Lindley agrees to help one of his students, Janice Norland (Patricia Manning), who claims to have killed blackmailing dance instructor Raul Perez (Carlos Romero). But when Lindley accompanies Janice to the scene of the crime, the body has disappeared! Ultimately, however, Janice is charged with Perez' murder, with circumstantial evidence provided by a candid camera which the dead man used for his extortion racket. Making things even dicier is the possibility that Janice's own mother Maureen (played by Patrice Wymore, former wife of movie superstar Errol Flynn), is the guilty party!. Excluded from the original Perry Mason syndicated rerun package in 1966, this episode remained unseen until it was telecast on cable TV in the mid-1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
A teenage girl cannot make up her mind and tragedy ensues in this drama. The decision involves a pair of men; one of them is her steady, whom she believes takes her for granted, the other is a handsome, grown-up college student. Unfortunately, before she makes her final choice, her jealous boyfriend kills the child the girl has been baby-sitting. The college student is disgusted by it all and leaves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
A cynical wanderer convinces a skeptical young girl that marriage is a flawed institution in this pretentious adaptation of William Norton's stage play. To prove his point the wanderer randomly chooses a married couple and proceeds to destroy their union by seducing the other man's wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Leder, Rue McClanahan, (more)
Sunblock can't save you from the solar-powered monster in this sci-fi cult item. Dr. Gilbert McKenna (Robert Clarke) is a research scientist who is exposed to dangerously radioactive materials during a visit to an atomic power plant. The radiation causes McKenna to mutate into a strange and murderous half-man, half-reptile when he comes into contact with the rays of the sun. The isotopes also have another effect on him; he begins to forget about his loyal girlfriend Ann Russell (Patricia Manning) and starts taking up with blonde bombshell Trudy Osborne (Nan Peterson), who brings out the beast in him as surely as the sun. The Hideous Sun Demon was co-produced, co-written, and co-directed by leading man Robert Clarke; it was his first and last effort as a writer and director, though he was to remain active as an actor for another 30 years. In 1983, a group of comedians re-edited the film and dubbed in a new soundtrack; the results were released as What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
