Edward G. Robinson, Jr. Movies
- 1970
Irwin Allen, praised in some circles as a science fiction genius and damned in others as a shameless schlockmeister, produced and directed this fanciful TV-movie. Set in the 21st century, the film concentrates on a group of colonists dwelling in a modernistic underwater city called Pacifica. The emphasis is on drama rather than special effects, as we see the deep-sea denizens struggling to cope with the pressures of their new existence--and their own personal animosities. Stuart Whitman heads a large cast of TV veterans, including Time Tunnel regulars James Darren, Robert Colbert and Whit Bissell, and onetime Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea star Richard Basehart (as the US President). Expanded from a short "demo" pilot film, City Beneath the Sea is the one Irwin Allen project that could have matured into a truly worthwhile TV series; unfortunately no network was interested in subsidizing this expensive effort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The launching pad for Billy Wilder's comedy classic was a rusty old German farce, Fanfares of Love, whose two main characters were male musicians so desperate to get a job that they disguise themselves as women and play with an all-girl band in gangster-dominated 1929 Chicago. In this version, musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) lose their jobs when a speakeasy owned by mob boss Spats Columbo (George Raft) is raided by prohibition agent Mulligan (Pat O'Brien). Several weeks later, on February 14th, Joe and Jerry get a job perfroming in Urbana and end up witnessing a gangland massacre in a parking garage. Fearing that they will be next on the mobsters' hit lists, Joe devises an ingenious plan for disguising their identities. Soon they are all dolled up and performing as Josephine and Daphne in Sweet Sue's all-girl orchestra. En route to Florida by train with Sweet Sue's band, the boys (girls?) make the acquaintance of Sue's lead singer Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe, in what may be her best performance). Joe and Jerry immediately fall in love, though of course their new feminine identities prevent them from acting on their desires. Still, they are determined to woo her, and they enact an elaborate series of gender-bending ruses complicated by the fact that flirtatious millionaire Osgood Fielding (Joe E. Brown) has fallen in love with "Daphne." The plot gets even thicker when Spats Columbo and his boys show up in Florida. Nominated for several Oscars, Some Like It Hot ended up the biggest moneymaking comedy up to 1959. Full of hilarious set pieces and movie in-jokes, it has not tarnished with time and in fact seems to get better with each passing year, as its cross-dressing humor keeps it only more and more up-to-date. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, (more)
- 1958
This war drama is set during the Korean War and follows the exploits of four men and their tank as they fight their battles behind enemy lines. During their many skirmishes, they discuss their past romantic exploits. One of them is currently involved with an Army nurse. The four find themselves in a real bind when the tank breaks down against a cliff. One of the soldiers risks it all to sneak out and retrieve the needed part to fix the tank. It is a dangerous, exciting journey, but he succeeds and saves his buddies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Kelly, Marjorie Hellen, (more)
- 1956
The D-Day invasion of 1944 provides a backdrop for the Allied Artists actioner Screaming Eagles. Tom Tryon plays Private Mason, an ill-tempered member of the 101st Airborne Infantry division. Mason makes plenty of enemies with his negative attitude until good-guy lieutenant Pauling (Jan Merlin) straightens him out. The 101st' s main objective (once all personal travails are swept away, that is) is to capture and hold a vital bridge in Normandy. Jacqueline Beer, later one of the costars of TV's 77 Sunset Strip, provides the feminine interest as an attractive resistance fighter (were there ever any unattractive resistance fighters?) Featured in the cast are TV favorites Martin Milner and Alvy Moore and second-generation thespian Edward G. Robinson Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tryon, Jan Merlin, (more)
A handful of strangers are suddenly thrown together as America goes face-to-face against the Communist threat in this curious example of Cold War exploitation. A few people are enjoying drinks in a Manhattan cocktail lounge - television reporter Vince Potter (Gerald Mohr), vacationing tractor tycoon George Sylvester (Robert Bice), cattle baron Ed Mulfory (Erik Blythe), Congressman Arthur Harroway) (Wade Crosby), aimless party girl Carla Sandford (Peggie Castle), and cheerfully dunderheaded bartender Tim (Tom Kennedy). As they discuss the state of the world and their disinterest with U.S. defense and paying taxes, one Mr. Ohman (Dan O'Herlihy) begins swirling his brandy snifter, and before long the other patrons are lulled into a hypnotic state, where they're given a sneak preview of what to expect when an unnamed Communist nation invades the West Coast. Mulfory is able to return home just in time to see his ranch flooded by enemy sabotage, armed troops take over Sylvester's factory, the Congressman watches as Reds seize power, and the suddenly patriotic Carla falls in love with Vince as he covers the brave but futile resistance dished out by our ill-equipped and poorly-prepared military forces. Spectacularly paranoid and loaded with often tattered stock footage, Invasion USA was shot in a mere seven days on a budget of $127,000, and ended up earning its producers well over a million dollars upon its initial release in 1952. Superman fans take note: Phyllis Coates and Noel Neill, both of whom played Lois Lane in the 50's television series The Adventures of Superman, appear in Invasion USA's supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gerald Mohr, Peggie Castle, (more)
