Steve Forrest Movies

Filmmaker Albert Lewin's fascination with erotic exotica reaches a pinnacle in The Living Idol. James Robertson Justice plays Dr. Alfred Stones, an archeologist working in Mexico. It is Dr. Stones' contention that Indian maiden Juanita (Lilliane Montevecchi) is the reincarnation of an Aztec princess, sacrificed centuries earlier to appease the "jaguar gods". To prove his thesis, the good doctor lets loose a jaguar to see what happens when it sinks its claws into poor Juanita. Coming to the rescue is nominal hero Terry Mathews (Steve Forrest), who, like Juanita, looks as confused as the audience at this point. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Warner Bros.' followup to its 3D hit House of Wax, Phantom of the Rue Morgue bears only the slightest resemblance to its alleged inspiration, the Edgar Allan Poe mystery yarn Murders in the Rue Morgue. Karl Malden delivers one of the hammiest performances on record as mad scientist Dr. Marais, who uses a trained gorilla to exact revenge on those who've wronged him. At the top of Marais' hit list are the many beautiful women who've spurned his advances, including such French pastries as Yvonne (Allyn McLerie), Arlette (Veola Vonn) and Camille (Dolores Dorn). Each of these unfortunate ladies have been given bracelets decorated with bells, designed to attract the homicidal ape's attention. Psychology professor Paul Dupin (Steve Forrest) conducts a private investigation of the killings, only to be arrested for the murders himself by the supremely confident (and rather dense) Inspector Bonnard (Claude Dauphin). This leaves Dupin's sweetheart Jeanette (Patricia Medina) virtually defenseless when she is targetted for extermination by Doc Marais. Outside of such incidental pleasures as seeing Merv Griffin play a French medical student, Phantom of the Rue Morgue offers a vast array of unsubtle 3D "shock" effects, which come off as hilarious when the film is shown "flat" (as it always is these days). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The horrors suffered by American prisoners of war at the hands of the North Koreans during the Korean war provide the basis of this drama. Allegedly based on the true stories of those who survived the tortures, it centers on an intelligence officer (Ronald Reagan) who is sent into a POW camp to investigate conditions. When he learns that inmates are routinely tortured and brainwashed, he allows himself to undergo the same. He fools the enemy into believing that he has successfully been indoctrinated into Communist philosophies as does another soldier. Meanwhile, another soldier affects a more direct means of combatting the enemy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This 1953 tear-jerker is the third film version of the Edna Ferber novel So Big. Stepping into the role previously essayed by Colleen Moore and Barbara Stanwyck, Jane Wyman plays Selina, a girl of wealth who comes to a Dutch community outside Chicago as a schoolteacher. Here Selina falls in love with poor but big-hearted truck farmer Pervus DeJong (Sterling Hayden). When Pervus dies, Selina is left a widow with a small son and little else to her name. Through grit and perseverance, Selina single-handedly raises the boy, who grows up to be architect Dirk DeJong (Steve Forrest). Taking a cue from his self-sacrificing mother, Dirk devotes himself to creativity rather than money-grubbing while pursuing his profession. Meticulously produced, So Big is one of the better "saga" soapers of the 1950s, with Jane Wyman repeating her "aging" process from 1951's The Blue Veil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An unofficial remake of The Champ, The Clown concerns Dodo Delwyn (Red Skelton), a down-and-out performer with abundant and obvious talent, but also a self-destructive tendency to overindulge his drinking and gambling habits. Once a Ziegfeld headliner, Dodo is now lucky to get jobs playing a clown at cheap amusement parks and even cheaper burlesque. Dodo's addictions cost him his marriage, but he somehow is able to maintain custody of his son Dink (Tim Considine), whose love for and faith in his father knows no bounds. Dink and Dodo's desperate need for each other is threatened when Dink's mother -- married again and capable of providing him with a better life -- reappears and explains that she wants to take care of the boy herself. Dink goes behind his father's back to locate his old agent, and begs him to help Dodo; but the agent cannot do anything. Dink goes away with his mother, but is miserable and runs back to his father. The agent, meanwhile, has managed to wrangle a TV show for Dodo -- and now that his son is back and needs him, Dodo resolves to find the courage to take up this offer and make a success of it. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Clemson Reade (Cary Grant) is the kind of man who wants to marry an old-fashioned girl, one who will stay home and take care of her husband. However, he's fallen in love with Priscilla "Effie" Effington (Deborah Kerr), who has an exciting career with the State Department that she has no intention of giving up. Clemson has the poor timing of proposing marriage to Effie just as she's in the middle of trying to resolve a major political crisis with the Middle Eastern nation of Bukistan; the United States wants to stay on Bukistan's good side, thanks to their plentiful reserves of oil. Tired of waiting for Effie, Clemson decides that he needs to find a potential bride who will follow his lead instead of her own, and he soon meets Princess Tarji (Betta Saint John), daughter of the King of Bukistan, who has spent her life learning to faithfully serve her man. Clemson half-seriously sends a telegram proposing marriage to Tarji, which touches off a political tempest in a teapot when Tarji responds by visiting the United States. The State Department decides that someone should look after Tarji while she's in America, and who should be given the assignment but Effie; to Clemson's chagrin, Effie uses her time with Tarji to enlighten her about the more liberated status of women in the West. By the way, don't bother looking for Bukistan in your atlas, the country doesn't really exist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Despite her top billing, Martha Hyer does not play the title character in Geisha Girl. Filmed on location in Tokyo, the story concerns the misadventures of airline hostess Peggy Burns (Martha Hyer) and her GI suitors Rocky (William Andrews) and Archie (Archer MacDonald). Somehow or other, the intrepid trio comes into the possession of a top-secret weapon, leaving them at the mercy of a sabotage ring. The plot is essentially an excuse to display for the edification of American viewers such Japanese traditions as a Kabuki theater presentation, a Buddhist religious ceremony, and--of course--a geisha house. With the exception of the three stars, most of the cast of Geisha Girl is Japanese. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sealed Cargo was based on The Gaunt Woman, a novel by Edmund Gilligan. Dana Andrews stars as Pat Bannon, a Newfoundland fishing-boat captain during WW II. Coming to the rescue of an endangered vessel, Bannon finds himself in the middle of a nest of Nazi spies. Reasoning that he'll never be able to alert the authorities, Bannon takes it upon himself to scuttle an impending large-scale German submarine attack. Claude Rains is the personification of cultured evil as the head Nazi naval officer, while Carla Balenda co-stars as an innocent bystander who may well lose her life as a result of Bannon's planned heroics. Sealed Cargo was one of several moneymaking films released by RKO Radio during one of the studio's most profitable years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide