Richard Crane Movies

This unappealing suspense film stars Ronald Foster and Erika Peters as a couple who arrive at a decrepit old mansion only to find that the previous occupants -- a group of circus freaks -- have yet to vacate the premises. Worse, it seems that the mischievous tenants are quite adamant about defending their territory against all outsiders while waiting for their keeper to return, and their methods of dissuading unwanted guests apparently include murder. This is a passable spook-house exercise, with lots of severed limbs flung at the hapless protagonists and and a silly cop-out ending, but the use of actual circus freaks as the villains (probably a cost-saving measure for the filmmakers) is more than a little disconcerting. The circus giant is played by a young Richard Kiel. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

In this children's movie, an adorable newsboy, his dog, and his friend the hobo accidently stumble across a briefcase containing $100,000. It belongs to a desperate thief who definitely wants it back. The honest child, not knowing the loot is stolen, looks for its owner. Fortunately the police save the day. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This routine and somewhat trite war movie develops slowly until a group of five nurses are captured by North Korean troops and quite clearly need to be rescued. At the head of the rescue task force is Lt. Frank Davis (Scott Brady). Frank has a special interest in freeing the women because one of them, Mary (Elaine Edwards) is more than just a pretty face in a uniform. Even though she is engaged to a Navy surgeon she is falling in love with the young lieutenant, and vice-versa. In the meantime, there is the little matter of the rescue itself. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A confused horror yarn set in the Deep South, Alligator People stars Richard Crane as a husband who becomes accidently separated from his new wife (Beverly Garland) during a train ride. She tracks him down to the swamplands surrounding his family mansion. Her reunion with her husband is tarnished by the fact that he's been partially transformed into an alligator! This is the handiwork of doctor George MacReady, who's been conducting curious experiments with gators and humans. Garland must figure out a way to save her mutated husband from both the scientist and a drunken alligator hunter (Lon Chaney Jr.). The story is told in flashback, as psychiatrists try to figure out what has driven Garland insane. The Alligator People was the last film directed by Roy Del Ruth, light years away from his glory days at Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Every so often, the prestigious 1950s CBS anthology Playhouse 90 would digress from its "live" format and offer a sumptuously produced film presentation. One of these was the suspenseful 1958 offering No Time at All, a fascinating precursor to the Airport films of the 1970s. On a routine night flight from Miami to New York, an airliner loaded with passengers is suddenly plunged into darkness due to an electrical failure. Losing contact with the plane, the ground crew in New York worries that all on board may be lost--especially since the weather has turned ugly. In a brilliant dramatic device, the viewer never sees the plane in flight nor its passengers and crew: Instead, the play stays on solid land, concentrating on the reactions of the friends and families of those on board. This Playhouse 90 entry boasts perhaps the most impressive cast ever assembled for the series, among them dramatic actors Bill Lundigan, Jane Greer, Betsy Palmer, Sylvia Sidney and Keenan Wynn; comedians Buster Keaton, Chico Marx (with a Jewish accent), and Harry Einstein (aka "Parkyakarkus", and the father of contemporary comic actors Bob Einstein and Albert Brooks); and musical-comedy favorites Jack Haley (in a rare unsympathetic role) and Cliff Edwards (the voice of Jiminy Cricket in the 1940 cartoon feature Pinocchio). Also seen in the supporting cast is an up-and-coming young player named Charles Bronson, here cast as a sentimental boxer; and "Floyd the Barber" himself, Howard McNear--who, indirectly, is the hero of the piece. Long considered a "lost" film, No Time at All was made available on the home-video market in the early years of the 21st century, complete with the original commercials and a preview of the next week's Playhouse 90. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Paul Drake (William Hopper) is hired to keep an eye on a lonely-hearts classified ad placed by heiress Marilyn Cartwright (Kathleen Crowley). No, Marilyn isn't looking for love: she's looking for con artist "Country Boy" Barnaby (L.Q. Jones), the man who drove her sister to suicide. All Marilyn wants to do is trap Barnaby into exposing himself as a crook--but when he turns up murdered, she finds herself accused of the crime. Inevitably, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is brought in to prove the girl's innocence. This episode is based on a 1948 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After a dying outlaw confesses to a crime for which Jedd Ferris (Richard Crane) has been sentenced to jail, Bret (James Garner) sets upon the task of securing Jedd's release. Trouble is, Jedd's wife Martha (Joan Vohs) is coveted by a tough customer named Ben Maxwell (Richard Webb), who will stop at nothing to make certain that Jedd remains behind bars. The first Maverick episode directed by series "regular" Douglas Heyes, "The Long Hunt" is a particular treat for fans of 1950s TV science-fiction shows, inasmuch as Richard Webb, aka "Captain Midnight", is cast as the bitter enemy of Richard Crane, aka "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of Republic's most elaborate productions of the 1950s, The Eternal Sea is the biography of American admiral John M. Hoskins. Sterling Hayden delivers a superbly understated performance as Hoskins, who continued to serve throughout WW2 despite the loss of a leg in the early phases of the conflict. The admiral's farsighted activities as commander of the aircraft carrier Princeton led to the development of the more sophisticated jet-aircraft carriers of the Korean War. The well-chosen supporting cast includes Alexis Smith as Hoskin's wife Sue, Dean Jagger as Admiral Thomas L. Semple, Morris Ankrum as Adm. Arthur Dewey Struble, and John Maxwell as Adm. William "Bull" Halsey (whose life story would serve as the basis for the 1960 film The Gallant Hours). Elmer Bernstein's soaring musical score is the icing on the cake. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi