George Bellak Movies
- 1973
Several inconvent truths about "equal consideration under the law" come to surface as Stone (Karl Malden) and Keller (Michael Douglas) investigate two separate murders. One of the victims was a wealthy and well-connected white foreign businessman; the other was an impoverished black police informant. Judyann Elder delivers a stunning performance as the black victim's embittered wife, who challenges the cops to pay as much attention to her husband's death as to the executive's murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
In this suspenseful crime drama, a lawyer begins investigating the theft of some priceless Macedonian national treasures from a religious shrine. The film is made up of two episodes from the TV show Trials of O'Brien. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Britt Ekland, (more)
- 1963
Paroled from jail, Terry (Chris Robinson), Fred (James Gregory), and Al (Norman Fell) manage to find honest jobs at a garage. Unfortunately, once a thief, always a thief, and before long the trio has broken into a safe in the payroll office next door. Even more unfortunately, they have also unwittingly stolen a radioactive capsule, capable of leveling the entire city once the safe is opened -- which is just what Terry, Fred, and Al are trying to do back in the garage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Robinson, James Gregory, (more)
- 1961
Once a big shot in the criminal world, Tommy Karpeles (Harold J. Stones) cuts quite a pathetic figure as a jury convicts him on a mail-theft charge. Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) is convinced that Tommy is innocent, and that he is taking the fall for a trio of clever hoodlums named Mendoza (Joseph Wiseman), Collier (Vic Morrow) and Herling (Murray Hamilton). The only person who can provide Karpeles with an air-tight alibi is his embittered daughter Sally (Madlyn Rhue)--but she refuses to lift a finger for the old man. In the end, it is up to Tommy himself to win back both his daughter's love and his self-respect...but at a terrible cost. Featured in the cast is future director Leo Penn, the father of film stars Sean Penn and Christopher Penn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Invisible Avenger is an ultra-cheap melodrama set in New Orleans. The hero, Lamont Cranston (Richard Derr), is a student of mysticism and mind control. At crucial points, Cranston is able to hypnotically "cloud men's minds" so that they cannot see him. If this sounds familiar, it's because Invisible Avenger was the unsold pilot film for a TV series based on the famed pulp-novel and radio detective "The Shadow". This hour-long pilot was released theatrically by Republic after the TV series failed to sell. The plot concerns the machinations of a banana-republic dictator who fakes his own death in order to draw his country's true ruler out of exile, the better to kill the man. Cranston and his mentor Jogendra (Mark Daniels) set things right by pulling their invisibility act. Filmed on location using "natural light" by legendary photographer James Wong Howe, Invisible Avenger is dramatically uninvolving, but holds marginal interest for modern viewers due to the curiously "close" relationship between Lamont Cranston and his instructor Jogendra (who at one point exhibits jealousy when Cranston eyes a pretty girl!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
