John Dodsworth Movies

This is the very last entry in the long-running Bowery Boys saga. This time the gang gets involved with English diamond smugglers after they are hired to safely escort a valuable poodle on a Transatlantic voyage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A locked-in-the-fifties science fiction film, The 27th Day begins with five different people from five different countries suddenly disappearing from view. They have been gently abducted by the agent (Arnold Moss) of a faraway dying planet, who gives each of the five earthlings a "killing capsule" that will destroy everything on Earth and allow the residents of the alien planet to re-colonize the planet--but which will be ineffective if not used after 27 days. In typical Cold War fashion, the representatives of the "good" countries (including Gene Barry) refuse to utilize the capsules, while the Soviets, (personified by Azemat Janti and Stefan Schnabel) intend to deploy the capsules for their own nefarious purposes. Their perfidy only results in the utter decimation of the USSR. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A short story by once-notorious novelist Michael Arlen is the basis for this episode, in which a pair of British practical jokers place a bet with visiting American Howard Latimer (Biff McGuire) that he won't be able to spend an entire night in a supposedly haunted mansion. Though he does not scare easily, Latimer is aghast when he is seemingly confronted by the "ghost" of a young murder victim named Julia. Two years pass before Latimer again crosses paths with the men who made the bet -- and the results aren't pretty. An earlier version of "The Gentleman from America" was released in the U.K. as the 1948 theatrical feature The Fatal Night. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this production from Benedict Bogeaus and RKO Radio, Robert Ryan stars as a fugitive from justice who hides out in the Far Eastern teak plantation managed by Barbara Stanwyck. As the two fall in love, Stanwyck comes to believe in Ryan's innocence. Upon the arrival of doggedly determined security officer David Farrer, Ryan and Stanwyck escape into the treacherous Burmese jungles. Like many of Bogeaus's productions of the 1950s, Escape to Burma was directed by Allan Dwan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Curt Siodmak's The Magnetic Monster (1953) is a truly novel science fiction film, in terms of its rather cerebral plot and low-key, quietly intense execution. As much a mystery and, in its first half, a manhunt, as it is a sci-fi-thriller, the movie pushed lots of suspense buttons for viewers in 1953 and still holds up more than a half century later. Richard Carlson (who also co-produced) plays Dr. Jeff Stewart, an agent for the Office of Scientific Investigation. Stewart and his colleague, Dr. Dan Forbes (King Donovan), begin searching for a dangerously radioactive element, which they have good reason to believe is somewhere in the Los Angeles area. They soon learn that this is no ordinary investigation -- among its other attributes, the unknown element generates enough radiation to kill, and also manifests a powerful magnetic field. The trail leads them to Dr. Howard Denker (Leonard Mudie), a rogue scientist who, working on his own, has created a new isotope of an element called serranium, which proves to be not only highly radioactive, but dangerously unstable in ways that science has never seen before. Every 11 hours, the serranium mass enters a growth cycle requiring massive amounts of energy, which it obtains by absorbing the energy from the atomic structure of any matter around it, releasing huge amounts of radiation in the process. The serranium mass doubles in size with each cycle, doubling its energy needs in the process, as well as the potential destructiveness of the next cycle. The danger lies not only in the potential for destruction in the serranium's rapidly increasing energy absorbtion, but its ever-increasing mass, which, at some point, will threaten to unbalance the Earth itself, in its rotation and orbit. Long before that, however, the resulting radiation is going to start killing large numbers of people, and the destructive force accompanying it will threaten to split the Earth's surface apart. Stewart and Forbes soon recognize that the only hope they have of stopping the process is to get ahead of it, by bombarding the serranium with enough energy to force it to divide into two relatively stable elements. The only possible source of sufficient energy is the world's largest cyclotron, which has been built by the Canadian government in Nove Scotia -- but is even it powerful enough to do the job, and can they get the deadly isotope there in time? ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The hero of The Maze turns out to be a giant frog, but that's hardly the most unbelievable aspect of this one-of-a-kind melodrama. It all begins when Scotsman Gerald McTeam (Richard Carlson) is called away to his ancestral mansion just before his marriage to Kitty (Veronica Hurst). Several weeks pass before it dawns on Kitty and her aunt Mrs. Murray (Katherine Emery, who narrates the film) that Gerald may not be coming back. The two women head to the mansion, where Gerald refuses to see them. The household servants likewise refuse access to Kitty and her aunt, but the two women intend to get to the bottom of the mystery, the solution of which seems to be somewhere in the huge maze in the rear of the castle. And that's all that can be revealed without giving the game away. Lensed in 3D, The Maze was one of two fascinating fantasy films directed in 1953 by production designer William Cameron Menzies: the other was Invaders from Mars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though scheduled for production as early as 1950, the Bowery Boys' Loose in London didn't go before the cameras until 1953. In this outing, Sach (Huntz Hall) is told that he's a relative of Sir Percy, the Earl of Walsingham (Walter Kingsford). In short order, Sach, his pals Slip (Leo Gorcey), Chuck (David Condon) and Butch (Bennie Bartlett), and sweet-shop proprietor Louie (Bernard Gorcey) head to the Earl's estate in London. Immediately ingratiating themselves with the ailing nobleman, the boys give the old fellow a new lease on life--which doesn't sit well with the rest of the Earl's relatives, who are greedily awaiting his demise so that they may claim his inheritance. In desperation, the other relatives plan to kill the Earl, but they're foiled by Slip, Sach and company. This leaves Sach the sole heir to the Earl's fortune--at least that's what he thinks! Written by "Three Stooges" alumni, Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds (who also directed), Loose in London is an enjoyable hour's worth of nonsense. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hollywood, 1927: the silent-film romantic team of Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) is the toast of Tinseltown. While Lockwood and Lamont personify smoldering passions onscreen, in real life the down-to-earth Lockwood can't stand the egotistical, brainless Lina. He prefers the company of aspiring actress Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), whom he met while escaping his screaming fans. Watching these intrigues from the sidelines is Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor), Don's best pal and on-set pianist. Cosmo is promoted to musical director of Monumental Pictures by studio head R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) when the talking-picture revolution commences. That's all right for Cosmo, but how will talkies affect the upcoming Lockwood-Lamont vehicle "The Dueling Cavalier"? Don, an accomplished song-and-dance man, should have no trouble adapting to the microphone. Lina, however, is another matter; put as charitably as possible, she has a voice that sounds like fingernails on a blackboard. The disastrous preview of the team's first talkie has the audience howling with derisive laughter. On the strength of the plot alone, concocted by the matchless writing team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Singin' in the Rain is a delight. But with the addition of MGM's catalog of Arthur Freed-Nacio Herb Brown songs -- "You Were Meant for Me," "You Are My Lucky Star," "The Broadway Melody," and of course the title song -- the film becomes one of the greatest Hollywood musicals ever made. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Most of Storm Over Tibet is built around footage gleaned from a 1930 German documentary lensed in the Himalayas, portions of which had been previously glimpsed in Frank Capra's Lost Horizon. The 1930 film had been directed by Andrew Marton, who also helmed Storm Over Tibet. Concocted by Ivan Tors and Sam Meyer, the script of the later film concerns David, a WW II pilot, played by Rex Reason, who steals a valuable religious artifact from a Tibetan temple. Upon returning to civilization, David is plagued by guilt -- and by the likelihood that a curse has been placed on his head. Seeking redemption, David joins a UNESCO expedition into the Himalayas, hoping to return the artifact to its rightful owners. Diana Douglas, actress-wife of Kirk Douglas, co-stars as the pilot's long-suffering wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical comedy, two idealistic bit players decide to rewrite a movie script in order to make it suit their values. At the same time, another a conniving pressman, sneakily re-writes his late partner's will so he can get part of the deceased's newspaper company. To cover himself, he frames one of the movie extras and gets him sent to jail. Things for the new publisher go well until the innocent actor escapes and is able to prove his innocence and bring the real crook to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide