Percy Faith Movies
- 1968
In this detective drama, a struggling private detective is hired to protect a millionaire's mistress. After repeated attempts on her life, the PI moves her, the tycoon, and his family to the Bahamas. There, another attempt is made to kill the mistress, but this time the detective kills the murderer -- who turns out to be the tycoon's business partner. The detective is incarcerated for his crime, but is then released. Upon his parole he discovers that the family his abandoned him and that he was framed for the death. He eventually confronts the conspirators who end up killing each other during a struggle in their offices. This frees the detective who takes off to look for better assignments. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Peppard, Raymond Burr, (more)
- 1966
A heartless actor scrambles to the top of show business' sleazy summit in this drama. Frank Fane (Stephen Boyd) is a Hollywood leading man who is desperate to boost his career by winning an Academy Award, and he doesn't care who he has to betray to achieve his goals -- including his former best friend and PR man, Hymie Kelly (Tony Bennett), lonely acting coach Sophie Cantaro (Eleanor Parker), slimy agent Kappy Kapstetter (Milton Berle), and long-suffering girlfriend Kay Bergdahl (Elke Sommer). However, as Frank waits for his name to be called, certain that victory is in his grasp, fate has a little secret in store for him. The Oscar marked Tony Bennett's onscreen acting debut. The screenplay, based on the novel by Richard Sale, was written in part by award-winning author Harlan Ellison, who is known to often take comical potshots at the film, which he considers a low point in his career. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Boyd, Elke Sommer, (more)
- 1965
One subject that has always been popular in the movies -- and is likely to stay that way for a long time to come -- is beautiful women, and this 1965 documentary explores the history of the Hollywood sex symbol, from the earliest days of Thomas Alva Edison's first silent films to such then-contemporary bombshells as Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor. Along with celebrating some of the most beautiful women to grace the silver screen, including Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow, Ingrid Bergman, and Greta Garbo, The Love Goddesses discusses the shifting attitudes about the onscreen portrayal of love and sex, and how some actresses found their images changing as they went from ingenues to pinups, and sometimes vice-versa. Actor Carl King serves as narrator; Percy Faith composed the score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1965
This quirky melodrama opens with an automobile crash. The driver, Steve Mallory (George Peppard), comes out of unconsciousness with amnesia. As his memory slowly returns, he learns that he is a wealthy manufacturer of table china. His wife Alexandria (Elizabeth Ashley) wants to leave him, and his cousin Oliver Parsons (Roddy McDowall) wants Steve to sell him the family business. He also learns that the passenger in his car, a cocktail waitress named Holly Mitchell (Sally Kellerman), was killed in the accident. Her husband Lester (Arte Johnson) joins forces with Parsons to frame Steve and blame him for the accident, and Steve is arrested. Lester then kidnaps Alexandria and threatens to kill her in revenge for Holly's death. The film is based on a novel by Joseph Hayes. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Peppard, Elizabeth Ashley, (more)
- 1964
Maurice Chevalier plays Philip Dulaine, a supposedly dying millionaire, while Sandra Dee co-stars as Cynthia, the elderly man's granddaughter. To allow Dulaine to die happy, Cynthia promises to find a husband. Actually, Dulaine is only pretending to be at death's door to get Cynthia married off. Subsequent complications involve Cynthia's personal choice for a husband, Warren Palmer (Andy Williams), and Dulaine's selection, Paul Benton (Robert Goulet). Deanna Durbin fans will quickly detect that I'd Rather Be Rich is a remake of Durbin's It Started With Eve (1941), with a gender switch (in the original, Robert Cummings is the grandson, and Durbin is the instant fiancee) and with Maurice Chevalier filling the sizeable shoes of Charles Laughton as the foxy grandpa. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Dee, Robert Goulet, (more)
- 1961
In this emotional romance, the young backwoods girl Tammy lives in a houseboat on the river. She is very sad because she hasn't heard from her college-student boyfriend in ages. Determined to be near him, she cruises her boat down to his university and enrolls. To pay expenses she gets a job. Her new boss is pleased and ends up borrowing Tammy's boat for a short vacation. She then gives the girl an expensive necklace. Tammy soon finds herself pursued by a handsome professor. Later, the niece of Tammy's boss becomes worried at her wealthy aunt's mysterious disappearance and organizes a search party. When she sees Tammy wearing her aunt's necklace, she assumes the worst and has the girl arrested. Later the conniving niece has her aunt tried for mental incompetence. Fortunately, Tammy's pleas are heard by the compassionate judge, her boss is deemed sane, and peace is restored. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Dee, John Gavin, (more)
One of the gutsiest movie musicals of the 1950s, Love Me or Leave Me is the true story of 1930s torch-singer Ruth Etting, here played by Doris Day. While working in a dime-a-dance joint, Ruth is discovered by Chicago racketeer Martin "The Gimp" Snyder (fascinatingly played with nary a redeeming quality by James Cagney). The smitten Snyder exerts pressure on his show-biz connections, and before long Ruth is a star of nightclubs, stage and films. Ruth continues to string Snyder along to get ahead, but she can't help falling in love with musician Johnny Alderman (Cameron Mitchell). After sinking his fortune into a nightclub for Ruth's benefit, Snyder is rather understandably put out when he finds her in the arms of Alderman. Snyder shoots the musician (but not fatally) and is carted away to prison. Upon his release, Snyder finds that Ruth is still in love with Alderman; he is mollified by her act of largesse in keeping her promise to perform in his nightclub at a fraction of her normal salary. No one comes off particularly nobly in Love Me or Leave Me, even though the still-living Ruth Etting, Martin Snyder and Johnny Alderman were offered full script approval. The fact that we are seeing flesh-and-blood opportunists rather than the usual sugary-sweet MGM musical stick figures naturally makes for a more powerful film. In his autobiography, James Cagney had nothing but praise for his co-star Doris Day, and bemoaned the fact that she would soon turn her back on dramatic roles to star in a series of fluffy domestic comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Day, James Cagney, (more)
