Gregory Gaye Movies

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

Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn play two seal-hunting rivals in this adventure film set in the days when Alaska was a Russian territory. Peck is adventuring seafarer Jonathan Clark, who falls in love with Russian Countess Marina Selanova (Ann Blyth) while the countess is in San Francisco fleeing an arranged marriage to the vile Prince Semyon (Carl Esmond). The Countess wants to hire a ship to take her to Sitka, AK, where her uncle, General Ivan Vorashilov (Sig Rumann), is governor. Portugee (Quinn) can't raise money for the voyage, so the countess agrees to sail with Clark, and the two quickly fall in love. But Prince Semyon sails into San Francisco just as Clark and the Countess are about to be wed, and the prince abducts her and takes her to Alaska, threatening to kill her uncle if she doesn't marry him. Clark and Portugee then agree to race to Alaska, with the winner getting the other's ship and the seal catch. Clark's boat wins the race, but the Russians arrest both the men as seal poachers. Countess Marina agrees to marry Semyon if he will order the seal hunters released. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Auteur theorists may have trouble discerning the "signature" of director Phil Karlson in the Columbia costume adventure Mask of the Avenger. John Derek stars as Capt. Renatu Dimorna, the son of an Italian aristocrat, who vows revenge after his father is murdered during the European political upheaval of 1848. To this end, Dimorna becomes a dashing Robin Hood type, swashbuckling his way throughout Italy. His principal rival is a traitorous military leader (Anthony Quinn), who is also Dimorna's rival for the affections of a beautiful woman (Jody Lawrance). Production values are quite good in Mask of the Avenger, belying the picture's modest budget. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peking Express was the second remake of Josef vonSternberg's Shanghai Express. In the original film, a group of railroad passengers escaping war-torn China are overtaken by Chinese; in the first remake, Night Plane to Chungking, a plane is forced down in a jungle surrounded by Japanese troops. In Peking Express, the chief villains are Chinese again, but the passengers are now refugees of the Communists. Joseph Cotten (as a doctor) and Corinne Calvet (as a "woman of the world") are among the pilgrims threatened by Oriental outlaw Marvin Miller and his gang. The elements of social and religious hypocrisy in the original Shanghai Express are downplayed in the 1951 version, as is the shady past of leading lady Calvet (who inadequately fills the role originated by Marlene Dietrich). Peking Express is not the classic that the vonSternberg film had been, but on its own is a snappy little melodrama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Republic's Harbor of Missing Men stars Richard Denning as a two-fisted smuggler named Brooklyn. Double-crossed by his partners, Brooklyn is forced to go on the lam lest he be shot full of holes by his smooth-talking boss Danzinger (George Zucco). Hiding out in the home of a Greek fishing captain, Brooklyn vows to reform when he falls in love with Angelike (Aline Towne) the captain's daughter. The film concludes with a burst of violence, retribution and redemption. Harbor of Missing Men features cult-favorite character actor Percy Helton in a meatier role than usual as a waterfront habitue named Rummy Davis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Counterspy Meets Scotland Yard was the second entry in Columbia's "David Harding, Counterspy" series. Howard St. John stars as Harding, who, per the film's title, travels to England in this one. Joining forces with Scotland Yard operative Simon Langton (Ron Randell), Harding attempts to break up a spy ring that uses hypnosis as one of its "weapons." Future Gunsmoke heroine Amanda Blake co-stars as an alluring femme fatale. The Counterspy series was based on the radio series created by Philips H. Lord, which ran from 1942 to 1957. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gregory Ratoff is listed as sole director of the 1949 Orson Welles starrer Black Magic, but it is now common knowledge that Welles directed most of this lavish costumer himself. Told in flashback, the film recounts the life and times of notorious 18th-century hypnotist/magician/scam artist Cagliostro (played, but of course, by Welles). Learning the secrets of hypnosis from Dr. Mesmer (Charles Goldner), Cagliostro exploits this skill to gain wealth, prestige and, on occasion, romance. His downward slide begins when Cagliostro enters into an Anastasia-like scheme to substitute a young lass named Lorenza (Nancy Guild) for French queen Marie Antoinette. The charlatan's partners in crime are gypsies Gilbert (Akim Tamiroff, who manages to out-ham Welles in some scenes) and Zoraida (Valentina Cortese). Longer on style than substance, Black Magic is a wickedly delightful cinematic exercise, with Welles at his overbaked best. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An aspiring ballerina begins following a prima ballerina hoping that she will become her replacement. Unfortunately, another dancer is chosen, causing the determined twinkle-toes to cause a little accident to destroy the usurper's career. It works and the hapless ballerina's career is destroyed. In the end, the conniving one atones for her treachery and the two become fast friends. Danny Thomas makes his feature film debut in this musical. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Though already established as Roy Rogers' favorite leading lady (offscreen and on), Dale Evans was permitted a rare non-western appearance minus Rogers in the 1947 Republic mystery thriller The Trespasser. Evans is cast as nightclub singer Linda Coleman, the sister of newspaper-book reviewer Bruce Coleman (William Bakewell). Bruce is engaged in a clever fraud, peddling rare-book forgeries to collector/publisher Channing Bliss (Francis Pierlot). This bunco scheme is uncovered by aspiring girl reporter Stevie Carson (Janet Martin), with the grudging help of veteran newshound Danny Butler (Warren Douglas). With all this going on, ostensible star Dale Evans has little to do except sing one sultry musical number and look smashing in low-cut gowns -- and, oh yes, indulge in a bit of romance with Stevie's editor Bill Monroe (Douglas Fowley). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy-mystery, an advertising executive begins looking into a touchy situation involving two brothers who are embezzling from his company. Also involved are two vicious thugs who are pursuing the brothers. When the ad man releases his new campaign, "The Three Springs," the brothers, whose surname is Spring, believe he is attempting to blackmail them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

One of the most successful filmed biographies of the 1940s, A Song to Remember alleges to be the true story of Polish composer Frederick Chopin. Actually, it has about as much relation to truth as a Heckle and Jeckle cartoon, but with such gorgeous creatures as Cornel Wilde and Merle Oberon in the leads, who cared? Though Wilde, as Chopin, is the nominal lead, top billing goes to Paul Muni, hamming his way through the role of Chopin's mentor Professor Joseph Elsner. Reportedly, Muni developed his characterization long before shooting started, refusing to allow the performances of the other actors to alter his interpretation in the slightest. This may explain why Muni seems to be acting in a vacuum, frequently completely out of rhythm with the film and its characters. Otherwise, Cornel Wilde does a nice job as the tempestuous Chopin, whose patriotic fervency frequently takes priority over his music. Merle Oberon plays novelist George Sand, who despite her preference for male clothing proves to be "all woman" during her torrid, decade-long affair with Chopin. The film's money scene--the one that everyone talked about, keeping the picture "alive" long after its original release--occurs towards the end, when the tubercular Chopin begins hemorrhaging as he performs his Polonaise for the first time (Jose Iturbi is heard on the soundtrack, "doubling" for Wilde's ivory-tickling). Sumptuously photographed in Technicolor by Tony Gaudio and Allen M. Davey, A Song to Remember was the usually penurious Columbia Pictures' top production of 1945. Fifteen years later, the studio hoped to make lightning strike twice with its Franz Liszt biopic Song Without End, but the magic just wasn't there. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Constance Bennett both produced and starred in the espionager Paris Underground. Bennett and Gracie Fields play, respectively, an American and an English citizen trapped in Paris when the Nazis invade. The women team up to help Allied aviators escape from the occupied city into Free French territory. The screenplay was based on the true wartime activities of Etta Shiber, who engineered the escape of nearly 300 Allied pilots. British fans of comedienne Gracie Fields were put off by the scenes in which she is tortured by the Gestapo, while Constance Bennett's following had been rapidly dwindling since the 1930s; as a result, the heartfelt but tiresome Paris Underground failed to make a dent at the box-office. It would be Constance Bennett's last starring film--and Gracie Fields' last film, period. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though released by Republic Pictures, The Tiger Woman is not a serial, as might be assumed from the title. Adele Mara stars as nightclub singer Sharon Winslow, billed for no discernible reason as "The Tiger Woman." Not exactly the sort of girl one takes home to mother, Sharon kills her husband for his insurance money then knocks off the lover who helped her commit the murder. When detective Jerry Devery (Kane Richmond) investigates, Sharon turns on the charm, intending to spin a web around Jerry and eliminate him as well. At this point, the film turns into a bush-league Double Indemnity, with a most surprising denouement. Director Philip Ford was the nephew of John Ford, who'd long since outgrown such silliness as The Tiger Woman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide