Hal R. Makelim Movies
- 1957
Anita Ekberg amply fills the title role in the offbeat western Valerie. Clearly inspired by Rashomon, the film offers contradictory flashbacks during a lengthy trial. The defendant, Civil War hero John Garth, Sterling Hayden, is accused of seriously wounding his wife Valerie and murdering her parents. At first, the jury's sympathy is with Garth, who claims that his faithless wife was running off with preacher Blake (played by Ekberg's then-husband Anthony Steel) and that the death of his in-laws was accidental. But as testimony proceeds, it is revealed that the highly respectable, much-beloved Garth is a beast in human form. The complicated outcome of the trial has so many twists and turns that it would be criminal to reveal any one of them. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sterling Hayden, Anita Ekberg, (more)
- 1956
James Mitchell stars as a gunslinger-turned-parson in The Peacemaker. Arriving in a hostile western town, Rev. Terrall Butler (Mitchell) intends to win over the townsfolk with faith rather than force. His religiosity is immediately put to the test when Butler tries to mediate a feud between the local ranchers and farmers. He then must face down the vicious gunmen hired by railroad mogul Gray Arnett (Herbert Patterson), who intends to lay his tracks through the territory despite the protests of the farmers. The Peacemaker was the first and last effort from Hal B. Makelim Productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Mitchell, Rosemarie Bowe, (more)
- 1953
After several years of supporting roles, Edward Arnold once again enjoys top billing in the independently produced Man of Conflict. Arnold plays powerful industrialist J. R. Compton, who tries to force his son Ray (John Agar) to become as ruthless and hard-hearted as his dad. But Ray is cut from a different cloth; he treats the employees like human beings, rather than automatons. The father-son conflict rages on until the elder Compton finally realizes that his way is not always the best way. Well cast with some of the best character actors in the business, Man of Conflict makes up in good intentions and good acting what it lacks in production values. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Arnold, John Agar, (more)
