Michael Dale Movies
- 1958
In this drama set just after the end of WW II, an American officer falls in love with a German woman. Their blissful affair is disrupted when her German ex-lover returns and begins trying to exact his jealous revenge upon the Yankee. When the jealous shows up dead, the American is blamed. His courageous girl friend then risks all to prove his innocence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
In this adventure, a remake of Singapore (1947), a hero finds a bracelet containing 13 precious gems while visiting Istanbul. He soon finds himself pursued by covetous crooks who want those jewels. He is then deported by the Turkish authorities, but not before he has time to hide the bracelet in a hotel. Five years later, the man returns to seek out the stones. Again he is pursued by both authorities and criminals. He must also contend with the reappearance of his wife whom he thought had burned to death on their wedding night. She lived but suffered amnesia. She then remarried. Nat "King" Cole sings "When I Fall in Love". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Cornell Borchers, (more)
- 1956
This first episode of Dragnet's sixth TV season was adapted from a radio drama first broadcast on June 15, 1954. Identifying himself as the owner of a small circus, elderly Clarence Havill (Will Wright) tells Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) that his circus truck has been broken into and his animals have been stolen. Havill is especially worried that the most dangerous of the beasts, a black panther named Danny, may be prowling the Hollywood Hills. Only after a citywide panic has occurred do the detectives learn the truth about Havill's "big cat". When the radio version of this episode (featuring Cliff Arquette, aka "Charley Weaver", as the old circus man) originally aired, Jack Webb was sued by the real-life counterpart of Clarence Havill; according to Dragnet historian Michael Hayde, a federal judge ruled in Webb's favor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
The "Bridey Murphy" craze of the 1950s was the catalyst for I've Lived Before. Jock Mahoney plays a contemporary pilot who survives a plane crash. Upon awakening, he is under the delusion that he is another airman, who died during the first World War. The authorities pass this insistence off as delirium, until Mahoney starts recounting events and intimacies that only the long-dead pilot would know. Ann Harding portrays the ageing former lover of the soul trapped within Mahoney's body. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jock Mahoney, Leigh Snowden, (more)
- 1955
Forrest Tucker stars in this yeoman Republic actioner. A short-term railroad freight line is threatened with extinction by a swifter trucking service. Keith Larsen is Tucker's business opponent, as well his rival over the affections of the beauteous Barbara Britton. When the train service evinces signs of survival, the truckers start playing dirty. Night Freight was directed by western veteran Jean Yarborough, who proved that his many years in the TV-sitcom world had not diminished his ability to stage action sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Forrest Tucker, Barbara Britton, (more)
- 1953
Director Budd Boetticher moves out of his traditional western surroundings for the Technicolor programmer East of Sumatra. Jeff Chandler stars as an American miner, who journeys east of Sumatra in search of tin ore. He runs afoul of Anthony Quinn, a local despot who rules the Pacific island which Chandler hopes to mine. This being a Boetticher film, there's a lot of "faking out" from both hero and villain, as each man takes full measure of the other before making any sudden, violent moves. The climactic native uprising, is well worth the wait, even though everyone in the audience is fully aware who will come out on top. East of Sumatra was based on a novel by Louis L'Amour, a western specialist who like Budd Boetticher proved quite capable of working outside his own particular genre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Chandler, Marilyn Maxwell, (more)
