Roy Engel Movies

Adapted by Christopher Knopf from a short story by C.B. Gifford, Joy Ride is a fast-paced pocket variation of the Desperate Hours/Night Holds Terror school of suspense. When middle-aged Mr. Miles (Regis Toomey) picks up a quartet of young-punk hitchhikers, he's only trying to extend the usual courtesies of the road. But the troublemaking foursome (Rad Fulton, Nicholas King, Robert Levin and Jim Bridges) assume that Miles' hospitality is borne of fear, and they decide to take advantage of the situation. The four boys invade Miles' home, trashing the place and causing Mrs. Miles (Ann Doran) to suffer a heart attack. Eventually the law catches up with the four vandals, giving Miles the opportunity for revenge, but he just isn't that sort of guy. One wonders if director Edward Bernds and actress Ann Doran ever shared any on-set anecdotes about their experiences in Columbia's 2-reel comedy unit. Joy Ride as originally released on a double bill with Unwed Mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bound hand and foot and set adrift in a rowboat, Bret (James Garner) washes up on an island used as a refuge by smugglers who have emigrated from England. Accused of being a government spy, Bret finds himself a prisoner once more. Despite the precarious circumstances, our hero manages to squash a deadly feud between the Forge and Offord families, and to smooth the path of romance for a brace of star-crossed lovers. Arlene Howell, normally seen in the recurring role of Southern belle Cindy Lou Brown, is here cast as Ladybird Forge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paladin (Richard Boone) hires on as bodyguard for waspish English author-poet Oscar Wilde (John O'Malley), who has come West as part of an American lecture tour. A pair of disgruntled hooligans named Jim and Chris Rook (Richard Shannon, Jack Hogan), angry that they were beaten out for the bodyguard assignment, retaliate by kidnapping Wilde and attempting to murder Paladin in the process. Although many of the Wildean epigrams heard on this episode are genuine ("A man can't be too careful in the choice of enemies"), several were created from whole cloth by scriptwriter Irving Wallace, later the author of such bestselling novels as The Prize and The Word. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Edward Bernds, graduate of Columbia's "Three Stooges" shorts and Allied Artists' "Bowery Boys" epics, expertly guides The Storm Rider through its paces. Scott Brady plays an ex-gunslinger who is hired by a group of ranchers to protect them from covetous land baron Roy Engel. Unbeknownst to the ranchers, Brady is the killer of their former leader. Emotional complications ensue when Brady falls in love with Mala Powers, the widow of the man he killed. The film's ending upholds the uncompromising integrity of the rest of The Storm Rider. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pill poppin' truckers provide the focus of this anti-drug drama. Much of the story centers upon an investigator for the US Food and Drug Department who has been assigned to stop all truckers from taking amphetamines while they drive. The drivers take the pills to help them stay awake on long-hauls. Unfortunately, the "speed" is also causing major accidents. The investigator goes undercover as a driver to help find the main drug pushers. En route he falls for a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, he finds that she is one of the biggest pushers in the country. Though the film's original intent was very serious, it has become popular with fans of campy or cult films. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Dodge City is in a panic over rumors of an impending attack by the Pawnee Indians. Matt (James Arness) is skeptical of these rumors, since it doesn't seem logical that the Pawnees would announce their plans ahead of time. It turns out that the instigator of the panic is a man named Tewksbury (Robert Ellenstein)--who curiously enough has always been a friend of the Pawnees. The answer to this mystery may be provided by a solemn Indian maiden known as Quiet One (Anne Barton). This episode is adapted from the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of September 12, 1953. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The catch-all title Tribute to a Bad Man had been floating around MGM for years (at one point, it was the working title for The Bad and the Beautiful) before it was finally affixed to this big-budget western. Originally intended as a vehicle for Spencer Tracy, the film was recast with James Cagney when Tracy walked out of his MGM contract. Cagney stars as no-nonsense land baron Jeremy Rodock, who plays by his own rules, his own sense of justice and his own code of honor. Young cowhand Steve Miller (Don Dubbins) learns the hard way what it means to incur Rodock's wrath when he falls in love with Jocasta Constantine (Irene Papas), whom Rodock considers his own personal property. Through the example of the even-tempered Miller, however, Rodock rediscovers his own essential humanity. The film's "money scene" takes place when Rodock punishes a group of scraggly horse thieves by forcing them to march barefoot through the sagebrush. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the gutsiest movie musicals of the 1950s, Love Me or Leave Me is the true story of 1930s torch-singer Ruth Etting, here played by Doris Day. While working in a dime-a-dance joint, Ruth is discovered by Chicago racketeer Martin "The Gimp" Snyder (fascinatingly played with nary a redeeming quality by James Cagney). The smitten Snyder exerts pressure on his show-biz connections, and before long Ruth is a star of nightclubs, stage and films. Ruth continues to string Snyder along to get ahead, but she can't help falling in love with musician Johnny Alderman (Cameron Mitchell). After sinking his fortune into a nightclub for Ruth's benefit, Snyder is rather understandably put out when he finds her in the arms of Alderman. Snyder shoots the musician (but not fatally) and is carted away to prison. Upon his release, Snyder finds that Ruth is still in love with Alderman; he is mollified by her act of largesse in keeping her promise to perform in his nightclub at a fraction of her normal salary. No one comes off particularly nobly in Love Me or Leave Me, even though the still-living Ruth Etting, Martin Snyder and Johnny Alderman were offered full script approval. The fact that we are seeing flesh-and-blood opportunists rather than the usual sugary-sweet MGM musical stick figures naturally makes for a more powerful film. In his autobiography, James Cagney had nothing but praise for his co-star Doris Day, and bemoaned the fact that she would soon turn her back on dramatic roles to star in a series of fluffy domestic comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Suddenly is the name of the small town invaded by professional assassin Frank Sinatra and his henchmen. Taking a local family hostage, Sinatra sets up a vigil at the second-story window of the family's home. From here, he intends to kill the President of the United States when the latter makes a whistle-stop visit. The film's tension level is enough to induce goose pimples from first scene to last. Sinatra is outstanding as the disgruntled war vet who hopes to become a "somebody" by killing the president. The parallels between his character and Lee Harvey Oswald's are too close for comfort, so much so that Suddenly was withdrawn from local TV packages for several years after the JFK assassination. Sinatra would claim in later years that he himself engineered the removal of Suddenly from general distribution, though in fact he'd lost whatever rights he'd held on the film when it lapsed into public domain. Be sure and miss the notorious colorized version of this black-and-white thriller, wherein Sinatra is transformed into Ol' Brown Eyes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most subtle and sophisticated of the musical comedies that came out of MGM's Arthur Freed Unit in the '40s and '50s, The Band Wagon stars Fred Astaire as Tony Hunter, a movie star whose career is in a downturn. Looking for a boost, Tony decides to try starring in a Broadway musical. His friends Lester and Lily Marton (Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray) have written a show they feel would be just right for Tony, and the three team up with Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan), a self-styled "genius" director, who gets the idea to turn the play into a revised version of Faust. Cordova's more pretentious ideas don't always sit well with the Martons, and Tony isn't too happy with his leggy co-star, Gaby Gerard (Cyd Charisse), whom he's convinced is too tall (then again, she thinks he's too old). But when the show proves a disaster in out-of-town tryouts, everyone realizes they have to put aside their differences if they want a show that will be on Broadway for longer than four hours. The Band Wagon featured a rare American appearance for British musical star Jack Buchanan, who does a fine soft-shoe with Fred Astaire on "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan." Astaire also shines in the numbers "Shine on Your Shoes" and "The Girl Hunt," a witty Mickey Spillane parody. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Although a few character names and minor details are different, Vicki is a fairly faithful remake of the 1941 murder melodrama I Wake Up Screaming. The title character, Vicki Lynn, played by Jean Peters, is a waitress who is transformed into a top fashion model by press agent Steve Christopher (Elliot Reid). When Vicki is murdered, psychotic detective Ed Cornell (Richard Boone) tries to pin the blame on Christopher. In fact, Cornell knows who the real killer is, but he was so desperately (and hopelessly) in love with the dead girl that he intends to railroad Christopher into the electric chair. With the help of Vicki's sister (Jeanne Crain), Christopher tracks down the genuine culprit and exposes Cornell for the nutcase that he is. Featured in the cast is future TV producer Aaron Spelling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Producer-director-star Hugo Haas attempts a costume melodrama in Thy Neighbor's Wife. Plotwise, it's the usual Haas formula: a middle-aged man, his voluptuous young wife and a handsome interloper. In the 19th century, a Moravian magistrate (Haas) swears vengeance when his gorgeous bride (Cleo Moore) renews her romance with her ex-flame (Ken Carlton). When the young man's uncle is murdered, the judge prosecutes his wife's lover for the crime, despite the fact that he's already heard a confession from the village-idiot (Tom Fadden). To make sure that the young man is hanged, the judge kills the real killer; this is witnessed by the judge's wife, who is likewise promptly murdered by her over-zealous husband. Eventually, justice -- or rather, conscience -- emerges triumphant. The ad campaign for Thy Neighbor's Wife included an alluring 8 X 10 of the bare-backed Cleo Moore being flogged, though this is hardly an important moment in the film's course of events. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide