Richard Eyer Movies

Saunders (Vic Morrow) and his squad are assigned to help engineer officer Captain Cole (James Daly) find a suitable location to build a bridge. At the same time, Cole's son Jack (James MacArthur), a war correspondent, has arrived in hopes of mending a long-standing rift between himself and his father. The situation comes to a head when the principal characters are trapped in a farmhouse surrounded by Germans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This third film version of the lachrymose Fannie Hurst novel Back Street stars Susan Hayward as Rae Smith the role previously essayed by Irene Dunne (in 1932) and Margaret Sullavan (in 1941). In both earlier films, Rae Smith sacrifices 28 years of her life to her married lover, who can never get a divorce and who compels Rae to squirrel herself away in a shabby back-street apartment. In contrast, Susan Hayward's Rae Smith is a fiercely independent fashion designer, whose fidelity to the very married John Gavin doesn't retard her livelihood in the least. Vera Miles makes a meal of her supporting role as Gavin's shrewish, alcoholic wife. Though cinematographer Stanley Cortez does his utmost, he can't completely hide the fact that Hayward is at least ten years older than her costars, making her seem more of a doting aunt than the "other woman" (the film might have been more effective had Hayward and Miles switched roles). Its plot inconsistencies and logic lapses notwithstanding, Back Street proved to be another hit for producer Ross Hunter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Whilst Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) is on his way to Baghdad, transporting the Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant), who is to become his bride and secure peace between her kingdom and his, the ship encounters the isle of Colossa. Sinbad and his men are attacked by a gigantic, bestial one-eyed Cyclops, and are saved only when the mysterious magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher) appears and uses a magic lamp to protect Sinbad's men. But in the process of escaping harm, Sokurah loses the lamp to the Cyclops. He desperately wants to retrieve it and tries to persuade Sinbad to put about and return to Colossa -- but the captain won't jeopardize the safety of the princess or the success of his mission, and the Caliph of Baghdad (Alec Mango) feels the same way, even after Sokurah amazes the court by conjuring up a snake-woman. It is only when the princess is shrunk by an evil spell, the breaking of which requires the shell from the egg of the giant Roc -- which resides on Colossa -- that Sokurah can get his expedition mounted, with Sinbad in command. With a crew made up of a handful of his bravest men and some of the most desperate convicts in the Caliph's prison, he has to contend with potential mutiny at every turn, and the men are driven almost to madness before they even reach Colossa. Once there, they find terrors as great as the Cyclops and the treachery of the magician, but Parisa -- in her tiny state -- also discovers the beautiful world inside the lamp, and the lonely boy genie (Richard Eyer) who inhabits it. They strike the bargain that, when Sinbad's bravery is added to the equation, will bring their quest to an end. If, that is, they can all survive the dangers that Sokurah puts in their path. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Young schoolboy Johnny Rocco (Richard Eyer) has a stuttering problem. Though this in itself is not unusual, the source of Johnny's nervous impediment is off the beaten track: Johnny's father (Stephen McNally) happens to be a high-ranking mobster. When Lois (Coleen Gray), the boy's teacher, takes a special interest in Johnny's plight, she finds her life in danger. Rival mobsters and police officials alike pursue Johnny and Lois because of privileged "inside" information that the boy carries in his head. The script for Johnny Rocco was based on a story by actor Richard (I Led Three Lives) Carlson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though Richard Eyer and Philip Abbott get top billing, the real star of The Invisible Boy is Robby the Robot of Forbidden Planet fame. Based on a short story by Edmund Cooper (which, incidentally, contained no robots!), the film finds electronics genius Dr. Merrinoe (Abbott) developing a huge talking computer. While Merrinoe is the master of his laboratory, he has trouble controlling his rambunctious son Timmie (Eyer). When the doctor takes Timmie to the lab with him, hoping to impress his son with the importance of his work, Timmie is interested only in reassembling a robot left behind by Merrinoe's predecessor. Though the robot has been programmed not to bring harm to human beings, the poor clunking creature falls under the spell of Merrinoe's "super computer," which has developed a demonic mind of its own. The computer arranges to launch a rocket, with the robot at the controls, that will enable it to control the earth's orbit. But Timmie, who has stowed away on board the rocket, is able to bring the robot to its "senses" and save the day. Impressive on a technical level, The Invisible Boy is relentlessly silly storywise, which of course adds to the enjoyment. Best line: "Timmie, if you don't bring that rocketship back this instant, you'll get the spanking of your life!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Canyon River stars George Montgomery as trail boss Steve Patrick. Reversing the procedure usually depicted in westerns of this nature, Patrick is assigned to guide a cattle drive from the west-coast state of Oregon to the wilds of Wyoming. En route, our hero must fend off attacks from both rustlers and Indians. He is also being undermined from within by foreman Bob Andrews (Peter Graves), who dearly covets Patrick's job. The romantic interest is provided by widowed camp cook Janet Hale (Marcia Henderson). Canyon River was produced by Richard Heermance, who, for the record, was (a) the brother of announcer Bud Collyer and actress June Collyer and (b) the brother-in-law of comedian Stu Erwin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anyone who thinks that tabloid journalism is an aberration of the 1980s should take a look at the 1956 release Slander. The film stars Van Johnson as a happily married, well respected TV kiddie show host who becomes the subject of an expose' from a Confidential style magazine. The publisher (Steve Cochran) has no qualms about ruining lives so long as it boosts circulation; nor is he concerned about libel suits, since everything he prints is a matter of record. The exposure of Johnson's minor-league criminal past leads indirectly to the death of his young son. But it isn't Johnson who metes out retribution to the publisher; instead, the avenging angel is the publisher's mother (Marjorie Rambeau), who kills her son rather than allow him to ruin more lives. Sincerely motivated, Slander is nonetheless as cheap and tawdry as the magazines it attacks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Kettles in the Ozarks was the eighth of Universal's "Ma and Pa Kettle" series--minus "Pa" (actor Percy Kilbride had left the series). Carrying on without the Kettle paterfamilias, Ma Kettle (Marjorie Main) and her large brood of children head for the Ozarks to visit her brother-in-law Sedge (Arthur Hunnicutt). She spends a good portion of the film's running time outwitting three bootleggers who've set up shop in Sedge's barn. Ma also accelerates Sedge's marriage to Bedelia Baines (Una Merkel), to whom he has been engaged for two decades. Kettles in the Ozarks suffers from the absence of Percy Kilbride, but the climactic slapstick battle with the bootleggers is well up to par. Una Merkel, who played Sedge's erstwhile sweetheart, would recall years later that she fought tooth and nail with her agent to get out of Kettles in the Ozarks, but eventually had a wonderful time on the set thanks to the kindness and cooperation of star Marjorie Main. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel and play by Joseph Hayes, which in turn was inspired by an actual event, The Desperate Hours is the prototypical "family-trapped-by-criminals" drama. Escaped convicts Humphrey Bogart, Robert Middleton and Dewey Martin, seeking an appropriate hideout until they can make contact with their money supply, deliberately choose the suburban home of Fredric March and his family. The cold-blooded Bogart wants no trouble with the police, and he knows he can cower a family with children into cooperating with him. The convict orders March, his wife Martha Scott, and their children Richard Eyer and Mary Murphy, to go about their normal activities so as not to arouse suspicion. Young Eyer, upset that March won't lift a hand against Bogart, assumes that his father is a coward. The authorities are alerted when March, at Bogart's behest, draws money for the convict's getaway from the bank. Pushed to the breaking point, March begins subtly turning the tables on the convicts. Bogart's character in Desperate Hours was originally written for a much younger man, which explains why Paul Newman was able to play the part in the original Broadway production. The film was slated to co-star Bogart with his old pal Spencer Tracy, but this plan fell through when the two actors couldn't agree on who would get top billing. Desperate Hours was remade in 1991 with Mickey Rourke in the Bogart role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Excluding a brace of 1980s TV-movie appearances, It Happens Every Thursday was the final feature film appearance of Loretta Young. As radiantly beautiful at 40 as she'd been as a teen-aged ingenue, Young plays Jane McAvoy, the pregnant wife of big-city newspaper reporter Bob McAvoy (John Forsythe). Tired of the urban rat race, Bob moves to a small California town and assumes ownership of a just-getting-by weekly paper. It's a hand-to-mouth existence for the first few editions, and the situation isn't remedied by the cloistered, resentful behavior of the local citizenry. The outcome of the plot hinges on a publicity stunt engineered by Bob: an attempt to artificially create rain for the drought-ridden community. The well-chosen supporting cast of It Happens Every Thursday includes Edgar Buchanan, Jimmy Conlin, Willard Waterman, and in her last film, Gladys George. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide