William Schorr Movies
- 1985
- R
Writer-director Richard Brooks' final film features a weak script and poor acting but high energy direction in a tale of compulsive gambling in Las Vegas. Ryan O'Neal stars as Taggart, a sports reporter obsessed with gambling. As Taggart gets deeper and deeper into debt, he compounds his problems with assorted loansharks and gambling operators. Taggart has already lost his wife because of his compulsive gambling, but he takes up with big-timer Charley (Giancarlo Giannini), hoping to make a killing and settle the score. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ryan O'Neal, Catherine Hicks, (more)
The contrasting acting styles of Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster serve to increase the already high tension level of the WW2 drama Run Silent, Run Deep. Gable plays submarine commander "Rich" Richardson, who assumes command of the USS Nerka. Because his previous sub was sunk by the Japanese under highly suspect circumstances, Richardson inspires nothing but animosity from his new crew. Particularly hostile is executive officer Lt. Jim Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster), who'd assumed that he was next in line to command the Nerka. Obsessed with tracking down the Japanese destroyer that sank his old sub, Richardson drives his crew mercilessly, and even disobeys direct orders from his own higher-ups. The Nerka manages to blast the Japanese vessel out of the waters, but in so doing the sub is placed in dire peril in enemy waters. In his desperate efforts to save the Nerka, Richardson at long last wins the respect of Bledsoe and the rest of the crew. Featured in the cast of Run Silent, Run Deep are Burt Lancaster's old circus partner Nick Cravat, and, in his unbilled movie debut, Don Rickles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, (more)
The Indian Fighter is trail guide Kirk Douglas, who agrees to shepherd a wagon train through Sioux territory. Douglas tries to convince the Sioux to leave his charges alone, but such hotheads as drunken white trader Walter Matthau and embittered Indian brave Harry Landers escalate the tensions. Douglas is forced to go "mano y mano" with Landers; Douglas wins, but refuses to kill Landers, having lost his taste for killing. But when Matthau and his partner Lon Chaney Jr. contrive to rob the Indians of their gold, Sioux chief Eduard Franz prepares to wipe out the settlers. Only when Douglas risks life and limb to bring Matthau and Chaney Jr. to justice does Franz relent. Somehow, Kirk Douglas manages to link up with two leading ladies in The Indian Fighter: his Italian "discovery" Elsa Martinelli and his own ex-wife Diana Douglas (wouldn't you liked to have been a fly on the wall at that casting call?) The first film assembled by Douglas' own Bryna Productions, The Indian Fighter is a particular treat when seen in color; incredibly, its first network telecast in 1962 was in black and white. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Elsa Martinelli, (more)
- 1932
Forgotten Commandments is a well-meaning but clumsy attempt to explore the consequences of communism. The story takes place at a Russian university where religious discussion is forbidden. A priest risks his life to espouse the Ten Commandments, but he is killed by a hedonistic scientist (Irving Pichel) who writes up his own set of "pagan" commandments--which leads to an overall loosening of morals at the university. The scientist comes to grief when his own mistress (Sari Maritza) takes the "new" commandments to heart and begins an affair with a married man (Gene Raymond). The sole highlight of Forgotten Commandments is a "flashback" sequences to Moses' flight from Egypt, lifted bodily from the Cecil B. DeMille silent epic The Ten Commandments. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sara Maritza, Gene Raymond, (more)
- 1925
When Ellen Linden (Alice Terry) returns from finishing school, she discovers that her father has lost his fortune. Although she's less than thrilled at the prospect, she finds work in an office. Both her employers, James Rand (Lawson Butt) and Egbert Phillips (Henry Kolker), show their interest in her. Ellen only cares for Tom Galloway (Ernest Gillen), who is trying to promote a new soft drink. She attempts to interest her bosses in financing his endeavor, but when Rand discovers that the pair are romantically involved, he pulls his backing. Rand and Ellen team up for a treasure hunt (a fad popular in England during the mid-'20s in which the competitors compete with the help of scooters, old cars, old-fashioned bicycles, and just about anything else that moved). They are delayed and wind up being out until the early morning hours. Mrs. Rand (Margarita Fischer) is furious, as is Galloway. Galloway finally realizes that Ellen did nothing wrong and they are reunited. Rand decides it's a good idea to kiss up to his wife, and offers to back Galloway's soft drink as a wedding present to Ellen. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alice Terry, Ernest Gillen, (more)
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