Leo C. Richmond Movies
- 1952
A very tired-looking Errol Flynn heads the cast of Maru Maru. Flynn plays deep-sea diver Gregory Mason, who is hired to locate a sunken PT boat bearing a diamond-encrusted religious icon. Mason's employer on this mission is the disreputable Brock Benedict (Raymond Burr), a firm believer in the old buccaneer credo that "dead men tell no tales." Aware that he's expendable once he finds the treasure, Mason stalls as long as he can, hoping that Benedict and his crooked flunkies will end up wiping out one another. He also intends to claim the treasure for himself, rather than turn it over to the proper authorities. Ruth Roman co-stars as Stella Callahan, the widow of Mason's former partner, who wants nothing more than for Mason to return the gem-studded cross to its rightful owners (well, maybe she wants Mason, too). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Ruth Roman, (more)
- 1949
In this low-budget Africa-set jungle adventure, the excitement begins when a small plane crash-lands deep in the dense tropical forest. Everyone survives the landing, but now they must survive the many dangers there as they journey through the jungle to safety. It doesn't help that two of the passengers are notorious Chicago gangsters who were being extradited to the US by the police. En route the little group runs into an eccentric millionaire, who simply vanished years before and was presumed dead. With the tycoon is his lovely, feral daughter who, using her expertise at jungle living, helps the travelers successfully make the arduous, danger-fraught journey. Among the terrors they face are vicious gorillas, and angry natives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lois Hall, James B. Cardwell, (more)
This unusual, dreamlike John Wayne vehicle is set in the East Indies. The focus of the film is the deadly rivalry between two men of the sea. Ship's captain Rails (John Wayne) nurses a long-standing grudge against shipping magnate Van Schreeven (Luther Adler). The reason for the animosity: Van Schreeven stole away Rails' love, Angelique (Gail Russell). Revenge has warped Rails to point that sometimes he seems to be the heavy of the picture. Complications involving valuable pearls ensue before the offbeat climax, which finds Rails scuttling his own vessel, the Red Witch, as means of getting even. The film's resolution is one of the strangest ever concocted for a Wayne picture. Wake of the Red Witch represented the second screen teaming of John Wayne and Gail Russell; the film must also have held some special significance for Wayne, since he named his own production company, Batjac, after the shipping firm depicted in the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Gail Russell, (more)
