Rube Schaffer Movies
- 1974
In this wartime drama, a young soldier spends much of stint in Vietnam remembering his life and his 12 love affairs. The story ends before he can have a 13th. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Based on one of author Phillip Roth's shorter works, Goodbye Columbus stars Richard Benjamin as Neil, a young man of humble means who falls in love with Jewish-American-princess Brenda (Ali MacGraw). Their romance is out of the question so far as Brenda's suburbanite parents are concerned, so Neil and Brenda rendezvous in some of the sleaziest motels ever seen in a 1960s film (and that assessment includes The Bates Motel). Unwilling to take birth control pills because they upset her tummy, Brenda opts for a diaphragm, which unfortunately is discovered by her mother. Their rocky relationship comprises the bulk of the film. The trendy, New Wave-influenced direction by Larry Peerce gained a great deal of critical attention in 1969, notably such self-indulgent devices as having a close-up of a girl's navel dissolve into a long-shot of a swimming pool. Far more memorable is Peerce's amusingly straight-on depictions of upper-class Jewish/American social functions. In their film debuts, Richard Benjamin and Ali MacGraw are appealingly awkward; the more memorable performance is delivered by Michael Meyers as MacGraw's adenoidal younger brother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Benjamin, Ali MacGraw, (more)
Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is a rebellious slave purchased by Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), owner of a school for gladiators. For the entertainment of corrupt Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Batiatus' gladiators are to stage a fight to the death. On the night before the event, the enslaved trainees are "rewarded" with female companionship. Spartacus' companion for the evening is Varinia (Jean Simmons), a slave from Brittania. When Spartacus later learns that Varinia has been sold to Crassus, he leads 78 fellow gladiators in revolt. Word of the rebellion spreads like wildfire, and soon Spartacus' army numbers in the hundreds. Escaping to join his cause is Varinia, who has fallen in love with Spartacus, and another of Crassus' house slaves, the sensitive Antoninus (Tony Curtis). The revolt becomes the principal cog in the wheel of a political struggle between Crassus and a more temperate senator named Gracchus (Charles Laughton). Anthony Mann was the original director of Spartacus, eventually replaced by Stanley Kubrick, who'd previously guided Douglas through Paths of Glory. The film received 4 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Ustinov. A crucial scene between Olivier and Curtis, removed from the 1967 reissue because of its subtle homosexual implications, was restored in 1991, with a newly recorded soundtrack featuring Curtis as his younger self and Anthony Hopkins standing in for the deceased Olivier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, (more)
- 1955
There's a surprising lack of action in the Sam Katzman-produced western Seminole Uprising. George Montgomery heads the cast as Army lieutenant Cam Elliot, who is assigned to round up a group of renegade Seminoles who've left their Florida reservation and have escaped to Texas. Along the way, Elliot rekindles his romance with Susan Hannah (Karin Booth), who'd previously rejected him because she thought he was part Indian (this is not the most sympathetic heroine in screen history). Elliot proves his worth by rescuing Susan when she's kidnapped by Seminole leader Black Cat (Steve Ritch). Seminole Uprising is based on Bugle's Wake, a novel by Curt Brandon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Montgomery, Karin [Katharine] Booth, (more)
- 1949
Often misidentified as The Treasure of Monte Carlo, this low-budget melodrama is tenuously related to the "Monte Cristo" legend as laid down by novelist Alexandre Dumas. Glenn Langan plays Edmund Dantes, a descendant of the original Count of Monte Cristo. Working as an officer on a freighter, Dantes is forced to follow family tradition when he is falsely accused of murder and imprisoned. After escaping, Dantes tracks down the genuine villains to find out why he was set up. Lensed on location in San Francisco, Treasure of Monte Cristo benefits from such reliable supporting players as Adele Jergens (whose duplicity is so transparent that one wonders how the hero could be so stupid), Steve Brodie, and former "East Side Kid" Bobby Jordan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Langan, Adele Jergens, (more)
- 1949
The Lost Tribe was the 2nd entry in Columbia's "Jungle Jim" series. Johnny Weissmuller stars as Jungle Jim, the comic-strip adventurer created by Alex Raymond way back in 1934. The plot is motivated by a lost treasure, located somewhere in the faraway land of Dzamm. Villains Calhoun (Joseph Vitale) and Rawling (Ralph Dunn) scheme to steal the treasure, but Jungle Jim won't let that happen. Our hero summons forth an army of gorillas to fight off the bad guys. Many of the animal-fight sequences in The Lost Tribe would pop up as stock footage in future "Jungle Jim" entries. The film is graced with the presence of two exotic leading ladies, Myrna Dell and Elena Verdugo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1944
Daphne du Maurier's novel formed the basis for this romantic adventure saga. Lady Dona St. Columb (Joan Fontaine), an English noblewoman, is unhappily married to the weak-willed Harry St. Columb (Ralph Forbes), while Harry's sinister best friend Lord Rockingham (Basil Rathbone) makes no secret of his desire for her. When she discovers the ship of a French pirate, Jean Benoit Aubrey (Arturo DeCordova), docked near her estate, she makes the acquaintance of the dashing buccaneer, and she soon finds herself infatuated with him. Dona impulsively joins Jean as he stages a raid against wealthy landowner Lord Godolphin (Nigel Bruce); when Dona learns that Harry and Rockingham plan to capture the pirate, she stages a dinner party to distract them and then sends word to Jean that he is in danger. Jean soon appears at the St. Columb estate, putting Harry and Rockingham behind bars and urging Dona to run away with him. She declines, choosing not to follow her heart but to instead stay home to raise her children; however, Rockingham overhears this conversation and uses it to blackmail Dona into having his way with her. Frenchman's Creek earned an Academy Award for Sam V. Comer's set decoration and design. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Fontaine, Arturo de Cordova, (more)
- 1943
Lupe Velez is "The Mexican Spitfire" in everything but name in the frantic baseball farce Ladies Day. Eddie Albert plays Wacky Waters, star pitcher of the Sox, a league-leading contender for the World Series. Alas, whenever Wacky falls in love, his game suffers-and so do the wives of his teammates, who are counting on that Series bonus money. When Wacky marries vivacious movie star Pepita Zorita (Velez), the wives, led by Hazel Jones (Patsy Kelly), take drastic action, kidnapping Pepita and hiding her out in a hotel room. But Pepita manages to wriggle out of the hotel towels that bind and gag, disguise herself as a bellboy, and head to the ballpark during the Big Game. Fortunately, Pepita turns out to be Wacky's prime motivation for winning the Series, and there's a happy ending for one and all. Pretty lame as far as baseball films go, Ladies Day will be best appreciated by fans of Lupe Velez and Patsy Kelly, who never speak when shouting will do. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lupe Velez, Eddie Albert, (more)
- 1941
The much-maligned Playmates callously offers the appalling spectacle of a thoroughly dissolute John Barrymore in his final screen performance, but the film isn't quite as bad as it's supposed to be. Barrymore plays himself, a washed-up ham actor up to his ears in debts. When the IRS demands payment for back taxes, Barrymore's press agent Pete Lindsey (Peter Lynd Hayes) and manager Lulu Monohan (Patsy Kelly) suggest a sure-fire moneymaking scheme: the venerable thespian will transform bucolic bandleader Kay Kyser (also playing himself) into a Shakespearean actor, in exchange for a fat radio contract. Neither Kyser nor Barrymore are keen on this set-up, but while Kyser is willing to go through with the plan, Barrymore seeks various devious methods of wriggling out of the committment. Barrymore goes so far as to sic his peppery girlfriend Carmen del Toro (Lupe Velez) on poor Kyser, hoping to dissuade the bandleader from showing up at the climactic Long Island Shakespeare Festival peformance. When this fails, Barrymore spikes Kyser's throat spray with alum, only to be rendered speechless himself when the spray bottles are switched. Suffice to say that all ends happily, with Kay Kyser and his aggregation (Ginny Simms, Harry Babbitt, Ish Kabibble et. al.) performing a rather pleasant "swing" version of Romeo and Juliet. Admittedly, it's rather hard to watch Playmates knowing that John Barrymore had once been regarded as the greatest actor of his generation. Even so, a few bright moments shrine through, notably a poignant scene in which Barrymore briefly recaptures the old magic by reciting a few passages from Hamlet's soliloquy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Lupe Velez, (more)
