Michael Garrett Movies
- 1972
Based on the book of the same name by H.S. Ede, eccentric director Ken Russell created this biographical drama of a great early 20th century artist who died tragically young. Henri Gaudier (Scott Anthony) is only 18 years old, a self-taught Parisian sculptor of enormous talent but prone to rash, exuberant behavior. Henri meets and begins a platonic but emotionally intense relationship with Sophie Brzeksa (Dorothy Tutin), a cultured Polish woman 20 years his senior. The relationship between Henri and Sophie remains inspired and impassioned, if not sexual, and her air of intelligent refinement positively impacts his life and work. Eventually, the couple moves to London, where Henri takes his partner's last name, and his star rises in the art world as the chief proponent of Vorticism, an offshoot of Cubism and Futurism. In real life, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska was a signer of the Vorticist Manifesto and a founder of The London School along with his patron, Ezra Pound, but his genius was not recognized until after his death. Gaudier-Brzeska was killed at the age of only 24 in WWI, a French Army hero who had been twice promoted for bravery. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Tutin, Scott Antony, (more)
- 1960
It's Shakespeare in the sagebrush in this Maverick-ized version of "Romeo and Juliet." This time, the blood feud is between the Montgomerys and the Carterets, and the "star-cross'd" lovers are Sonny Montgomery (Steve Terrell) and Julie Carteret (Carole Wells). When he tries to help the sweethearts elope, Bret (James Garner) is captured by the Carteret clan. To save his neck, Bret suggests that the two families resolve their differences in a winner-take-all poker game. What he hasn't counted on is that the man chosen to play cards on behalf of the Montgomerys is his own brother Bart (Jack Kelly). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Two men have been committing robberies throughout Los Angeles. Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) have a single solid clue to go on: One of the bandits has huge feet--and he wears a pair of distinctively fancy cowboy boots. Joby Baker delivers another of his patented Dragnet portrayals as a young man with big problems. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
A burglar at large in Los Angeles has the curious habit of leaving small mementos at the scene of each crime. Unfortunately, he doesn't leave behind any fingerprints, so Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) must seek out other means of identifiying the burglar. The detectives finally get a solid lead courtesy of a random snapshot. A young Robert Vaughn plays a minor role in this 1958 episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
A gang of crooks set up a nonexistent small town in order to collect exorbitant traffic fines and hijack valuable truck shipments. Inevitably, "Daily Planet" reporter Jimmy (Jack Larson) and Lois (Noel Neill) are railroaded into the phony town's "jail" by an equally phony judge (Richard Elliot)--and when Clark (George Reeves) and Henderson (Robert Shayne) investigate the reporters' disappearance, they too are locked up and targeted for extermination. How will Clark be able to transform himself into Superman while trapped in a jail cell with virtually everyone he knows? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
During the summer lay-off of the TV series Wyatt Earp, Hugh O'Brian found time to star in the superior sagebrusher The Brass Legend. O'Brien plays a sheriff who takes full credit for the arrest of dangerous outlaw Raymond Burr. In fact, young Donald McDonald, the brother of O'Brien's fiancee Nancy Gates, was largely responsible for Burr's capture, but the sheriff refuses to reveal McDonald's part in the arrest for fear that the boy will be killed by Burr's cohorts. Unfortunately, the local newspaper editor believes that O'Brien simply wants to cheat the boy out of his share of the reward money. The editor blithely prints up the full story in his paper, leading to a near-disastrous denoument. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh O'Brian, Nancy Gates, (more)
- 1952
Louis de Rochemont, former March of Time producer whose "docudrama" films proved so popular in the 1940s, offers more of the same in Walk East on Beacon. Based on an article written (or ghostwritten) by J. Edgar Hoover, the film concerns the efforts by the FBI to plug up a dangerous security leak. Federal agent Belden (George Murphy) is assigned to locate the communist mastermind behind the leak, and to trace all avenues of informational access utilized by the Bad Guys. Finlay Currie co-stars as an Einstein-like scientist who is being blackmailed by the Reds into cooperating with them, while Karel Stepanek is slime personified as the top Eastern-Bloc spy. Largely filmed on location in New York, Walk East on Beacon makes good use of several Manhattan-based actors, few of whom were seen in films either before or since. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Murphy, Finlay Currie, (more)
