Joseph Marr Movies
- 1964
The crew of the USS Reluctant is at it again in this comedy sequel to Mister Roberts. The story opens toward the end of WWII as the great ship drops her cargo at various island bases. Their captain is an unbending tyrant. Young Pulver aspires to become a doctor just like his hero and mentor, the ship's physician. A terrible storm erupts and the ruthless captain is knocked overboard by a rogue wave. Brave Pulver dives over to save the commander and together the two end up stranded on a deserted island. When the captain suddenly doubles over with appendicitis it is up to Pulver to save him via a radio and the ship's doctor's instructions. Fortunately, it all comes out well in the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burl Ives, Walter Matthau, (more)
- 1960
This effective gangster film on the notorious New York mobster Jack "Legs" Diamond is interspersed with moments of comic relief and was released just a few months after The Purple Gang shot their way across the silver screens in the U.S. Ironically, that gang and Diamond met their ends in the same year, 1931, and their rise was largely due to Prohibition. "Legsie" (Ray Danton) gets his name because he was a dancer, but he gets his reputation because he double-crosses anyone. He is a psychopath who works his way up the body count to the top of his own network of rackets. Along the way he meets and marries his wife Alice Schiffer (Karen Steele) and survives three attempts on his life that send him to the hospital each time. His reputation for "invulnerability," the inability of the police to touch him, gangsters who kill each other off, the racketeering with union bosses, and the hijacking of liquor shipments are all elements found in this film and The Purple Gang as well. Watch for a young Dyan Cannon in a bit part as Dixie, back when her first name was spelled like everyone else spells Diane. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Danton, Karen Steele, (more)
- 1957
Halloran (Harold Stone), an obnoxious newspaper reporter known for his elaborate practical jokes, chooses an old barfly named Johnny (Russell Collins) as his next victim. To this end, Halloran prints up a dummy newspaper bearing the headline "World to End Tonight at 11:45 p.m." Thoroughly convinced of his imminent doom, the pathetic Johnny decides to spend his last moments fulfilling several long-suppressed desires -- with disastrous and ultimately fatal consequences. One of the street urchins appearing in the climactic department-store sequence is a young Harry Shearer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Virtually every major city in the 1950s harbored some sort of political corruption or other, providing plenty of material for the "exposé" school of filmmaking. Portland Expose is a fact-based account of skullduggery in the Oregon metropolis. Inspired by revelations made during the Senate's McClellan Committee hearings, the story concentrates on an honest tavern owner named George Madison (Edward Binns) who is involuntarily sucked into the city's rotten-to-the-core political machine. When Madison refuses to allow his establishment to serve as the gathering place for hoods and delinquents, the powers-that-be threaten to harm his family. Only after his daughter is attacked by a syndicate flunkey does Madison decide to fight back. At great personal risk, he manages to tape-record damning evidence against Portland's "untouchable" criminal kingpin (Russ Conway). The supporting cast includes such radio and TV "regulars" as Virginia Gregg, Larry Dobkin, Frank Gorshin and Joe Flynn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Binns, Carolyn Craig, (more)
- 1948
After supervising several of the best "psychological" horror films ever made, producer Val Lewton shifted his base of operations from RKO to Paramount. Lewton's first project at his new studio -- and the last -- was My Own True Love, an uncharacteristically sentimental offering. Based on the novel by Yolanda Foldes, the story focuses on the romantic dilemma facing ex-POW Joan Clews (Phyllis Calvert). On the verge of marrying middle-aged Clive Heath (Melvyn Douglas), Joan is introduced to Heath's war-veteran son Michael (Philip Friend). Sympathizing with Michael's wartime loss of his Malayan wife and child, Joan falls in love with him. Unwilling to betray his own father, Michael elects to commit suicide, but that's not quite how things turn out. My Own True Love is proof positive that romantic melodrama was not Val Lewton's forte. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
