Rod Williams Movies
- 1992
Contrary to what outsider film-buffs and older people might think, for Australians a "garbo" is not someone with a resemblance to or an affiliation with the film star Greta Garbo. "Garbo" is short for "garbageman." This slapstick romp concerns the efforts of a pair of inept, clueless garbage-truck operators to compete with a far more efficient, modernized outfit. The two gents in question are the same two lads who performed in the "dills' school of comedy" (don't ask) as Los Trios Ringbarkus: Neill Gladwin and Stephen Kearney. Fans of this sort of humor won't quarrel with this film's lack of a coherent story line or witty lines, and fans of the two comedians will be especially pleased to run across it. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Kearney, Max Cullen, (more)
- 1984
The miners strike in the Australian coal fields during the 1930s provides a factual basis for this drama. The organized miners protest against the use of scab labor and the dreadful working conditions. But nothing is resolved and the tension climaxes with the miners, some of them members of the Communist Party, building a blockade and stranding themselves in a mine shaft. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Haywood, Carol Burns, (more)
Dance With Me, Henry was the screen swan song for the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Most of the action takes place in Kiddieland, an amusement park owned by soft-hearted Lou Henry (Costello). An inveterate collector of strays, Lou has adopted orphaned kids Shelley (Gigi Perreau) and Duffer (Rusty Hamer), and has also provided a safe harbor for chronic gambler Bud Flick (Abbott). Bud's enormous gambling debts bring Lou under the scrutiny of gangster Big Frank (Ted De Corsia), who in turn is being monitored by DA Proctor (Robert Shayne). When Proctor is murdered, Lou finds himself the number one suspect. The film concludes with a riotous chase through the carnival grounds, with Bud and Lou just a few steps ahead of the bad guys. Both Abbott and Costello seem tired and worn out in Dance With Me, Henry, but a few bright moments manage to seep through the malaise of moldy old jokes and half-hearted sight gags. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lou Costello, Bud Abbott, (more)
- 1955
Actor Abner Biberman specialized in unpleasant characters; when he turned director in the mid-1950s, he specialized in unpleasant subjects. The Looters is a marked-down variation of the Spencer Tracy film The Mountain. When a plane crashes on Pike's Peak, a group of mercenaries agree to search for survivors. The real motivation of some members of the rescue party is to strip the plane of all valuables, and to dispose of awkward witnesses. But a handful of the crash survivors also have looting on their minds, leading to a bloody clash in the snowy crags. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Julie Adams, (more)
