Carlo Giustini Movies

In this campy Italian sci-fi adventure wicked aliens from outer space abduct and miniaturize Earth's leaders to make it easier to destroy the planet until a courageous hero appears to fight against him and his legion of skintight leather-clad robot women. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This classic Greek tale of a friendship that overcomes even death makes for an interesting sword-and-sandal saga, with Guy Williams in the role of Damon. An apt choice since Williams is himself an expert swordsman, as partially demonstrated in his role as Zorro on American television (1957-59). Pythias (Don Burnett) has been caught plotting the assassination of King Dionysis I of Syracuse (Arnoldo Foa). Before his execution, Dionysis grants Pythias leave to put his affairs in order because Damon volunteers to stand in his stead if Pythias does not come back to face the executioner. Damon's act is considered foolish. He was safe, why should Pythias come back? But the two are devotees of the Pythagorean mysteries, and their faith in brotherly love goes beyond self-interest. When Pythias does return in the allotted time, King Dionysis is impressed enough to have a change of heart. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This Italian drama tells the story of Christ's crucifixion from the viewpoint of the Roman emperor's procurator in Israel who must try to quell a Jewish revolt. In a bizarre twist, John Drew Barrymore plays both Jesus and Judas in the film. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

When French playwright Pierre Corneille wrote El Cid, a fanciful version of the life of 11th-century Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, aka "El Cid", an attempt was made to honor the "classic unities" and to compress the whole story into a single day! Be assured that the 1961 film version of El Cid is more faithful to the actual chronology. Charlton Heston adds one more character to his gallery of historical portrayals as El Cid, the disgraced Spanish knight who rids his country of its Moorish conquerors. The triumphs of El Cid's military life are not matched by his private affairs; he is betrayed by his bride Chimene (Sophia Loren) and is made a political pawn by the avaricious Spanish landowners. El Cid has a climax unique in the annals of movie epics: the final assault against the landgrabbers is led by a dead hero. El Cid established the short but generally profitable reign of producer Samuel Bronston as the King of the Epics; his imprint on the film is much stronger than that of director Anthony Mann. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Irving Rapper's film is a dramatization of the Old Testament tale of Joseph, who ascends from slavery to the position of minister in the court of the pharaoh. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Anthony Quinn added Eskimo to the many ethnic types he portrayed on film with this drama about a clash of cultures from director Nicholas Ray. Inuk (Quinn) is a typical Eskimo hunter, living proudly as his ancestors did, eking out an existence on the frozen Canadian tundra. When Inuk takes his wife and mother-in-law to a trading post to exchange furs, the family meets a friendly priest (Marco Guglielmi). In time-honored Eskimo custom, Inuk offers the missionary his wife's sexual favors. Offended by the man's rejection, Inuk kills him. Having broken Western law, Inuk is pursued by two Mounties (Peter O'Toole and Carlo Giustini). Slowed down by his wife's elderly mother, he sends the woman out on the ice to perish, another of his people's ancient traditions. The police capture Inuk, but the lawmen and their prisoner encounter severe weather. The Savage Innocents (1959) was the feature debut of actor O'Toole, who objected to the overdubbing of his voice in the finished film. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

British melodrama maven Jimmy Sangster adapted his screenplay for Intent to Kill from a novel by Michael Bryan. Richard Todd plays a Montreal doctor who is in love with his pretty American assistant Betsy Drake. Todd is saddled with a viper-tongued wife (Catherine Boyle), who wants him to leave the provinces for a posh practice in London. The good doctor's problems are intensified when he is obliged to perform delicate brain surgery on a hated South American president (Herbert Lom), who has been targeted for assassination by a "trusted" colleague (Carlo Giustini). Only the intervention of police detective Paul Carpenter saves Todd from stopping a bullet himself. The heated intrigues of Intent to Kill are contrasted by the wintry Montreal exteriors. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this mystery, a movie producer gets bored with his wife and begins an affair with a fiery actress. In the end, he jilts his mistress and returns to his wife. The trouble begins when someone stabs the actress and he is labelled the prime suspect by a detective. Later the producer discovers that the actress is still alive, and that the detective was her husband. A real murder follows and the producer is arrested. His loyal wife launches her own investigation and proves that her husband was innocent. The real killer, the husband of the actress, ends up killed in a car wreck. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

British sailors John Mills and Richard Attenborough would like to take Neopolitan lass Lisa Gastoni out on a date. But Gastoni can't leave the house unless her baby brother tags along. During a rowdy evening on the town, Mills is forced to sneak the infant on board his ship. When Gastoni and Attenborough arrive to claim the kid, they find that the ship has already sailed. Essentially a British Abbott & Costello picture, Baby and the Battleship manages to deliver a sufficient supply of hearty chuckles. The film was based on a somewhat subtler novel by Anthony Thorne. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi