Jeanne Carmen Movies
A stage dancer on Broadway who later gravitated to fame and success as a pinup model, Jeanne Carmen was born in Arkansas to a family of cotton-pickers. Desiring a change of scene, she ran away from home at age 13, moved to Manhattan, and instantly landed her first role on the Great White Way, in a show called Burlesque starring Bert Lahr (The Wizard of Oz). Carmen subsequently posed for cheesecake photographs in men's magazines and performed golfing stunts before hitting Hollywood and signing for roles in a series of low-rent films including The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1957) and Born Reckless (1959). Along the way, she associated with the Tinseltown elite, and later claimed to have had love affairs with many top-drawer celebrities including Frank Sinatra. Carmen died of lymphoma in December 2007 at age 77. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Taking his cue from such 1970s horror classics as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977), animated rocker Rob Zombie goes celluloid with the throwback shocker House of 1000 Corpses. Running low on gas as they travel the highways of America in search of the ultimate roadside attraction, a group of teens pull into Captain Spaulding's (Sid Haig) museum of oddities (which also offers fried chicken and gasoline) only to become obsessed with uncovering the mystery of a legendary local maniac known only as Dr. Satan. When an attractive and mysterious hitchhiker subsequently offers to give the thrill seekers a personal tour of Dr. Satan's old stabbing grounds, a breakdown forces them to take refuge with a group of menacing oddballs as a fearsome storm rages outside. As the evening progresses and the backwoods hosts' Halloween festivities become ever more threatening, the teens soon realize that the legend of Dr. Satan may hold a bit more contemporary weight than any of them had previously thought. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, (more)
A mystery woman leads an ordinary man down an evil path in this intriguing horror story. Rick Turner (Robert Alda) is a man haunted by a recurring dream in which a beautiful woman in a flowing white gown dances for him. The dream is robbing Rick of his sleep and driving a wedge between him and his fiancée Donna (Ariadna Welter), so he's startled when one day he passes a shop window and sees a doll that looks just like the woman in his dreams. The owner of the shop, Frank Lamont (Neil Hamilton), informs Rick that the doll was custom-made for a client, and Rick arranges to deliver it to her himself. Rick arrives at the luxurious apartment of Bianca (Linda Christian) to discover she is the very image of the woman in his dream, and she appears to know him already. Rick learns that both Bianca and Frank are members of a mysterious satanic cult that uses the dolls as part of their ceremonies; Rick becomes a regular visitor to their meetings and becomes deeply involved with Bianca after Donna is suddenly bedridden. But does Bianca have a plan for Rick that he doesn't yet suspect? The Devil's Hand was also released under the title Live To Love. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1959
This rodeo songfest finds Jackie (Mamie Van Doren) in love with Kelly (Jeff Richards) as they perform on the traveling rodeo circuit. Cool Man (Arthur Hunnicutt) is the likeable rodeo veteran. Jackie carries the torch for Kelly, who plays hard to get. Kelly plans to leave his bronco busting life behind before injuries and age catch up with him. Liz (Carol Ohmart) is a rich divorcee with eyes for Kelly. Van Doren sings five songs, and Tex Williams plays himself singing "Song Of The Rodeo". Johnny Olenn sings the title track and "You Lovable You". ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mamie van Doren, Jeff Richards, (more)
- 1958
Lonely lighthouse-keeper Sturges (John Harmon) keeps mostly to himself, doing his job, which includes warning people away from the beaches and caves near the Piedras Blancas lighthouse. But when two fishermen are found dead, all-but-beheaded and without a trace of blood in their bodies, that brings Constable Matson (Forrest Lewis) and Dr. Jorgenson (Les Tremayne) snooping around. And suddenly the village is being stalked by some kind of monstrous creature, capable of killing anyone in its path. Sturges reveals what he knows, but this may be too late to save his daughter Lucy (Jeanne Carmen) or himself. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Les Tremayne, Jeanne Carmen, (more)
- 1957
Untamed Youth is a camp classic, so stupefyingly awful that it's actually festive. The villains are cotton grower Tropp (John Russell) and corrupt female judge Mrs. Steele (Lurene Tuttle), who conspire between them to ship female convicts to work on Tropp's farm for starvation wages. Two of the new arrivals are professional entertainers Penny (Mamie Van Doren) and Janey (Lori Nelson), arrested on trumped-up charges and forced to work off their sentence on the Tropp spread. Salvation arrives in the form of Bob (Don Burnett), Mrs. Steele's son, who intends to expose his mom's eeeevil scheme. Featured in the cast is rock-and-roller Eddie Cochran, who gets to sing one song -- while Mamie Van Doren is permitted four numbers. To repeat examples of the film's howlingly bad dialogue would be to rob the viewer of the perverse pleasure of experiencing Untamed Youth in all its trashy glory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mamie van Doren, Lori Nelson, (more)
The actions of various criminals such as Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonnie and Clyde and Baby Face Nelson are reenacted in this film. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1957
War Drums manages to be pro-Indian, pro-Mexican, pro-tolerance and pro-feminist without ever resorting to speechmaking or sacrificing its entertainment value. Former Tarzan Lex Barker stars as an Apache chief who is almost ostracized by his tribe when he marries Mexican girl Joan Taylor. Eventually, Barker is welcomed back, but Joan refuses to behave like a typical dutiful squaw. In deference to his wife's wishes, Barker trains Joan to become an Apache warrior! It is curious that the Political Correctness crowd has never paid homage to War Drums; perhaps it's because of the film's surfeit of decidedly non-PC violence and bloodshed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lex Barker, Joan Taylor, (more)
- 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)
- 1956
In this western, three gringos deposit their loot in a Mexican bank and set up homes in a tiny village where they hope to live long, peaceful lives. Unfortunately other banditos rob their bank, forcing them to ride out after them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
