Gregory Gaye Movies

Arriving in the US under the alias "Paul Sieger", Nazi war criminal Helmut Probst (Charles Korvin) hopes to avoid capture with the aid of American fascist leader Mark Dryden (Ralph Bellamy). Although he idolizes Probst, Dryden becomes disillusioned when the Nazi starts making advances towards his daughter Karen (Anne Helm). It is now up to Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) to prevent Dryden from assassinating Probst so that the Feds can grab the Nazi themselves. It is no small irony that the episode's climax takes place in a Jewish synagogue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) must capture enemy spy Sladek (Charles Korvin) before the man can report to his superiors. Sladek has in his possession a coded list of all the anti-Communist insurgents in his own country, a document that would result in mass executions should it fall into the wrong hands. Complicating Erskine's assignment is the fact that Sladek has fallen in love with Marya Pazmany, a naturalized American citizen who finds her loyalties torn between her adopted country and her treacherous lover. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Irving Wallace, The Prize takes place in Stockholm, where several laureates gather to accept their Nobel Prizes. At first, the film concentrates on iconoclastic novelist Paul Newman, but he is temporarily shunted to the background when physics expert Edward G. Robinson is kidnaped and replaced by his wicked twin brother. The real Robinson is to be spirited behind the Iron Curtain, while the "fake" Robinson is to disrupt the awards ceremony with an anti-American tirade. Newman gets wind of the plot, and with the help of Swedish foreign office functionary Elke Sommer, he endeavors to rescue the real Robinson and expose the phony-who has yet another trick up his sleeve before the film is over. We'll go along with the fantastic plot convolutions of The Prize, provided we don't have to swallow the premise of another man's voice emanating from that familiar Eddie Robinson mug. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of Elvis Presley's most successful post-Army vehicles, Blue Hawaii casts Elvis as scion to a Hawaiian pineapple fortune. His snooty mother Angela Lansbury wants Presley to take over the management of the family business, but he'd rather make his own way in the world. He lands a job at a tourist agency, and incidentally finds time to dally with such lovelies as Joan Blackman and Nancy Walters. Steve Brodie, as ever, is on hand to inveigle Elvis into an outsized brawl. Among the songs featured in the film are the title number (originally written in 1937 for Bing Crosby) and "Can't Help Falling in Love." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having murdered his wife, French aristocrat Marquis De La Roget (Max Adrian) not only manages to escape detection (the authorities are convinced that the unfortunate woman died of a mysterious illness), but even takes his partner-in-crime Charlotte (Doris Dowling) as his new bride. But all is not roses and orange blossoms for the happy couple: Before long, the Marquis is haunted by visions of his dead wife, whose image appears on a wall in the form of a large, ever-growing stain. The callous Charlotte hopes to use her husband's terror to her advantage--but plans like these always have a way of backfiring. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Auntie Mame began as a novel by Patrick Dennis (aka Ed Fitzgerald), then was adapted into a long-running Broadway play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. This 1958 film version permits Rosalind Russell to recreate her stage role as Mame Dennis, the flamboyant, devil-may-care aunt of young, impressionable Patrick Dennis. Left in Mame's care when his millionaire father drops dead, young Patrick (Jan Handzlik) is quickly indoctrinated into his aunt's philosophy that "Life is a banquet--and some poor suckers are starving to death." Social-climbing executor Dwight Babcock (Fred Clark) does his best to raise Patrick as a stuffy American aristocrat, but Mame battles Babcock to allow the boy to be as free-spirited as she is. In 1974, Auntie Mame was remade as the filmmusical Mame with Lucille Ball. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Newly re-energized in the late 1950s, the venerable Pine-Thomas production company moved from Paramount to United Artists, there to make such actioners as Bailout at 43,000. John Payne stars as a courageous test pilot, who joins a team busily testing jet-bomber ejector seats. But before he can prove his worth to the team, Payne loses his nerve. Chances are he'll get it back in time to make the titular bailout at 43,000 feet, thereby redeeming himself in the eyes of his wife (Karen Steele) and son (Richard Eyer). The film truly comes to life during its aerial scenes, but crashes to earth during its treacly dramatic passages. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A gangster is killed by a big man who pays no attention to bullets, and who leaves glowing fingerprints. Police scientist Chet Walker (Richard Denning) discovers that the fingerprints are radioactive -- as well as those of a dead man. We soon learn that this walking corpse was created by Dr. Wilhelm Steigg (Gregory Gaye); he's allowing secretly-returned deported gangster Buchanan (Michael Granger) to get revenge on those who were responsible for his conviction. Steigg removes part of the brains of recently-dead men, and replaces them with a device that allows them to control the body from a distance, like a robot; they can even see through the creature's eyes via television. Another atomic zombie kills the district attorney who convicted Buchanan, which leads Chet and his homicide detective friend Dave Harris (S. John Launer) to deduce that the killings are connected to the Buchanan case. Warnings are issued to other possible targets, but they're unable to prevent another death. The last two go into hiding. The movie concludes with a headline: "Creatures with the Atomic Brains Destroyed." This entertaining but cheesy little movie is completely unpretentious. Broad, surprisingly gruesome and well-paced, it's obviously aimed straight at the juvenile market -- and it hits it, too. A sterling artifact of its time: brisk, efficient and entertaining, even if it is awfully silly. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

Sexy Denise Darcel is the Flame of Calcutta in this Columbia programmer. Set in 18th-century India, the film stars Darcel as Suzanne Roget, daughter of a murdered French official. To avenge her father's murder and bring down a usurping Indian prince (George Keymas), Suzanne adopts the guise of a guerilla leader known only as "The Flame." She is aided and abetted by sympathetic British army officer Keith Lambert (Patric Knowles). As was customary in the films produced by quickie king Sam Katzman, a goodly portion of Flame of Calcutta consists of stock footage from earlier Technicolor swashbucklers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

June Allyson plays a band singer working in New York City; Van Johnson is the manager of a fancy apartment house where a murder is committed. The victim is Allyson's wealthy uncle, and since she can't account for her actions at the time of the crime, Our Heroine is the principal suspect. The real murderer is an expert in hypnosis, who uses this skill to manipulate Allyson's actions--and to lure the girl to her potential doom. Johnson doesn't figure things out until it's almost too late. Remains to Be Seen was based on the Broadway comedy/mystery by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse, which originally starred Jackie Cooper and his then-wife Janis Paige. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The famed Bal Tabarin cabaret in Paris is the gathering spot for this swiftly paced crime melodrama. It all begins when singer Judy Allen (Muriel Lawrence) scampers away to the City of Light to escape the clutches of the villains who murdered her boss. The bad guys not only want to silence Judy, but also want to retrieve the cache of jewels that she has hidden somewhere. She takes a singing job at the Bal Tabarin, where head crook Joe Goheen (Steve Brodie) inevitably comes calling one evening. Three new songs are performed in the course of events, as are several terpsichorean routines by the fetchingly underdressed "French Can Can Girls" (that's how they're billed). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide