Richard Beach Movies
In 1969, The Damned (La caduta degli dei) was director Luchino Visconti's most controversial film to date. Set in the 1930s, the film zeroes in on a Krupp-like family of German munition manufacturers. The Essenbeck clan is headed by the Baron (Rene Kolldehoff), but daughter Sophie (Ingrid Thulin) wants her Nazi boyfriend to take over the business. Soon the Baron is dead and Bruckman (Dirk Bogarde) becomes company president. Son Martin (Helmut Berger) is the dope-addicted teenager who sleeps with his mother and drags her into her own dependence on drugs. Ever in pursuit of more millions to add to their already bulging coffers, the family plays along with the Nazis, descending into corruption, betrayal and murder all along the way. The film was originally released in the U.S. with an X rating. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, (more)
- 1955
An old couple has been brutally beaten; the husband is dead, the wife not far from it. Neighbor lady Mrs. Hurley (Barbara Eiler) informs Friday (Joe Friday) and Smith (Ben Alexander) that the couple's no-good son had recently been kicked out of the house, making him the number one suspect. However, further investigation suggests that the guilty party is someone named "Smokey"--which happens to be the nickname of the couple's former handyman. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of February 22, 1953 ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Ross Hunter hadn't yet completely graduated to glossy, star-studded soap operas when he produced the taut crime meller Naked Alibi. Chief of detectives Joseph E. Conroy (Sterling Hayden) is busted after failing to prove that "solid citizen" Al Willis (Gene Barry) is a maniacal cop-killer. Despite his lack of authority, Conroy puts so much heat on Willis that the latter skips town with his floozy lady friend Marianna (Gloria Grahame). Conroy follows the two fugitives to a wide-open border town, then slowly and methodically maps out the villain's doom. Essentially a cat-and-mouse game for most of its running time, Naked Alibi slowly but surely builds up to a nailbiting rooftop-chase climax. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame, (more)
In this action film, an officer is thrown off the force by his father the chief of police. The bitter ex-cop then joins a racketeering operation. The ring leader assigns him to drive a truck-load of armed hoods to ambush his father. Unbeknownst to the crooks, the ex-cop is still active on the force. The whole affair was a ruse to capture them. The brave cop succeeds in warning his peers of the ambush and the bad-guys die in a hail of bullets. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kane Richmond, Pauline Moore, (more)
There was some novelty value in the fact that an actor whose initials were E.Q. was cast as intellectual sleuth Ellery Queen in Republic's The Mandarin Mystery. That actor was Eddie Quillan, who though a talented and appealing performer was woefully miscast as Queen. The story, based on the Ellery Queen novel The Chinese Orange Mystery, is set in motion by a crook who steals a $50,000 stamp, which results in two murders -- both committed in impenetrably locked rooms. The primary suspect is Jo Temple (Charlotte Henry), the original possessor of the stamp. Falling in love with Jo, Ellery sets about to retrieve the stolen goods and solve the murders. Perhaps realizing that Eddie Quillan could never be taken seriously in the leading role, Republic opted to play The Mandarin Mystery for laughs -- another big mistake. Originally released at 63 minutes, the film is currently available only in its 54-minute TV-reissue form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Quillan, Charlotte Henry, (more)
- 1937
This service comedy from the Republic Studio mills was perhaps the most aggressively titled of the "Marine Corps" film cycle of the mid-1930s (Come on Leathernecks, Pride of the Marines et. al.) Paul Kelly plays Phil Donlan, a pugnacious ex-cop and ex-Olympic athlete who is run out of New York in disgrace after falsely being accused of drunkenness. The innocent cause of Donlan's woes is pretty Paula Denbrough (June Travis), daughter of a Marine colonel (Purnell Pratt). To ingratiate himself with Paula -- and incidentally, to restore his reputation -- Donlan joins the Corps, where after a grueling training period he earns a commission. Offered a chance to return to the New York police force, Donlan gives it up to re-enlist, and Paula couldn't be happier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Kelly, June Travis, (more)
- 1937
Chester Gould's jut-jawed plainclothesman Dick Tracy first came to the screen in this 15-chapter Republic serial. Ralph Byrd stars as Tracy, a role which both brought him fame and typecast him for life. For the purposes of cliffhanging suspense, the Republic writing staff altered the Tracy "mythos" as set forth in Gould's daily comic strip. As the serial begins, Dick's brother Gordon (Richard Beach) is being controlled by a criminal genius known as "The Spider." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Byrd
