Brett Halsey Movies
Actor Brett Halsey came into this world as Charles Oliver Hand, the son of a San Francisco contractor. Formerly a page at the CBS studios in Hollywood, the 20-year-old Halsey was signed to a Universal contract in 1953. His earliest film efforts include The Glass Web (1953) and Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (1954), in which he played one of the myriad of Kettle offspring. He went on to play leads in bottom-budget juvenile delinquent films, including the immortal 1958 howler Speed Crazy. Under contract to 20th Century-Fox in the late 1950s-early 1960s, Halsey starred in Return of the Fly (1959) and was seen on a weekly basis as swinging journalist Paul Templin in the TV series Follow the Sun (1961). He then packed his bags and headed to Italy, where he played leads in swashbucklers and spy actioners. His experiences as a journeyman actor in Europe were encapsulated in his novel Magnificent Strangers. Halsey returned to the U.S. in the early 1970s, where he showed up in such TV daytime dramas as Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Search for Tomorrow and, General Hospital. More recently, he was cast to good advantage in Francis Ford Coppolas' Godfather III (1990). Brett Halsey was at one time married to actress Luciana Paluzzi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this Italian splatter film, director Lucio Fulci plays a horror filmmaker who goes to a psychiatrist because the types of films he makes are starting to disturb him, he suspects that his German producers are Nazis, and he believes he may be a killer himself. Much of the movie consists of clips from Fulci's previous films. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1953
All I Desire an early exercise in Douglas Sirk Baroque, is set at the turn of the century. Long divorced from her husband Richard Carlson, itinerant actress Barbara Stanwyck returns to her home town to watch her daughter perform in a high school play. Stanwyck decides to turn over a new leaf and devote herself to the daughter she's never known. This she finds next to impossible, thanks to ugly small-town gossip attending her return. The film was obviously building up to an unhappy ending, but producer Ross Hunter intervened, tacking on an unbelievably upbeat denouement. This artistic outrage evidently didn't hurt Hunter's relationship with director Douglas Sirk, inasmuch as the two would continue to successfully collaborate in the future. All I Desire is based on a novel by Carol Brink. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Carlson, (more)
- 1966
In this espionage drama, a leading American spy has a miniature camera surgically implanted in his eye, unbeknownst to him, and with it photographs secrets for the Russians, helping them gather information about a newly created death ray. The scientist who created it knew the secret could fall into enemy hands and so placed his secret plans into the skull of his unknowing daughter before he died. Meanwhile another spy begins following her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brett Halsey, Anna Maria Pier Angeli, (more)
In Beyond Justice-- an Italian-made action film directed by Tessari Duccio with an unusually fine cast -- Christine Sanders (Carol Alt), American millionairess and mother of the grandson of a fanatic Emir (Omar Sharif), hires mercenary Tom Burton (Rutger Hauer) to return her son after the Emir has him kidnapped. Against the advice of her lawyer (Elliott Gould) and her friend Sal (Brett Halsey), Christine accompanies Tom and endures a series of hardships such as a surprise attack and a sandstorm. This rather old fashioned, slow film is entirely predictable and tedious. Nothing can keep the audience interested despite the beautiful color photography of the desert or the excellent musical score by Ennio Morricone. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rutger Hauer, Carol Alt, (more)
- 1959
In this wartime adventure, four courageous Seabees infiltrate a Japanese-controlled island to find a place to build an air-strip. A beautiful jungle lass helps them navigate the dense forest and blow up an enemy transmitter. The flight back to their boat is not without casualties. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lupton, James Edwards, (more)
Italian cult favorite Lucio Fulci (Zombi 2) directed this atmospheric return to the Gothic themes which had brought him such success in the early '80s, and reminds the viewer of a pair of those early works in the opening scenes. Beginning with the horrifying torture, crucifixion, and flaming deaths of a group of nuns beneath a convent in 1486 Sicily (reminiscent of the opening murder of the warlock in L'Aldila), the film then flashes forward to modern-day Toronto, where Liza (Meg Register) has visions of their deaths at a séance (as in the opening of Paura nella Citta dei Morti-Viventi). Naturally, Liza soon finds herself in Sicily, along with archaeologist Professor Paul Evans (Brett Halsey) and his colleague, Porter (Al Cliver). Nosing around the convent, she breaks open the crypt, unleashing the nuns' expectedly bloody occult vengeance. People are impaled on spikes, a woman (Carla Cassola) has her eyes ripped out by her pet cats, a mean butcher (Lino Salemme) has a meathook driven through his neck and his tongue nailed to a board, and so on. Things reach a predictable frenzy with an angry mob, a nun with no face, demonic possession, and a man ripped completely in two. There's also a bizarre back story about the nuns seducing local youths and murdering them at the moment of orgasm to obtain their blood for Satanic rituals. None of it makes much sense, and most fans of the director seeking a return to form found Demonia a pale imitation of his notorious Gothics, particularly coming so soon after Michele Soavi's similar -- and more successful -- La Chiesa. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Raymond Burr was already three years into Perry Mason when he decided to return to his movie-villain roots with Desire in the Dust. Burr, playing the patriarch of a Southern family, befriends the ex-convict (Ken Scott) who'd supposedly killed Burr's son in an auto accident. Actually the accident was caused by Burr's daughter (Martha Hyer), who hopes that she can buy the accused man's silence and thus secure her daddy's political future. The ex-con goes along with the deception, having fallen in love with the daughter, but soon learns that Burr plans to double-cross him. Based on a novel by Harry Whittington. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Burr, Martha Hyer, (more)
- 1965
A male and a female spy track down the murderers of a scientist, developer of an electronic vibration reduction formula. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1995
- R
This cheesy martial arts flick has two government agents fighting to get out of a compound that trains assassins with virtual reality. Some good computer effects (for a film of this type) but still unable to achieve anything resembling entertainment. ~ Sean D. MacLaggan, All Movie Guide
In this suspenseful detective drama, a police detective's personal involvement with a beautiful widow takes a professional turn when she is accused of murdering her husband. The gumshoe feels it is his job to prove her innocent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rob Lowe, Leslie Hope, (more)
- 1959
Set in a small Arizona town in the 1870s, Four Fast Guns is a subpar Western about Sabin (James Craig), a man who takes on an unlikely tyrant in an effort to restore normal life to the townspeople. Sabin himself has been falsely accused of murder, though misconduct runs in the family -- his brother Johnny (Brett Halsey) is an outlaw. An invalid runs the local saloon and has parleyed his physical infirmity into an excuse to get away with a brutal hold over the town. Sabin challenges his authority, so the saloon-keeper sends one hired gun after another to kill him off. No one succeeds, but then the fourth gunman shows up -- Sabin's outlaw brother -- and the two siblings are forced into a fatal confrontation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Craig, Martha Vickers, (more)
- 1972
In the tradition of Akira Kurosawa's classic tale Rashomon comes this wild sex farce from Italy's master of the macabre, Mario Bava. Last night was a wild one for Tina (Daniela Giordano) and Gianni (Brett Halsey), but for the life of her, the confused woman can't quite recall how she ended up in bed with her handsome and mysterious date. Did the seemingly pleasant date lead to a night of passion-fueled consensual sex between Gianni and Tina, or did Gianni deliberately force himself on Tina in a horrific act of rape? Both the scratches on Gianni's forehead and Tina's torn dress seem to point to some mishap that may have occurred over the course of their date, but matters are infinitely complicated when Tina's overly protective mother and her nosey concierge chime in with two entirely different takes on the evening's events. Only when viewers witness the story from all four unique vantage points will they begin to understand the events that truly unfolded over the course of Tina and Gianni's lost evening together. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
One year to the day after Trans-Regional Airline Flight 332 crashed and burned, the same airline's Flight 662 meets a similar grisly fate. Renee Brennan (Jaclyn Smith) of the National Transportation Safety Board investigates the tragedy, with the "assistance" of her FAA rival (and current boyfriend!) Mark Ettinger (Bruce Boxleitner). By and by, Renee begins receiving cryptic messages from a mysterious man who seems to know a lot about both crashes. He should: The man is the widower of the female pilot who was blamed for the Flight 332 disaster, and who, seeking revenge against those whom he feels unfairly persecuted his late wife, has caused the crash of Flight 662. And now, he has targeted Trans-Regional Flight 795 for "extermination"--and only Renee can stop him. Made for cable, Free Fall premiered January 17, 1999 on the Fox Family network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
The highly variable Tab Hunter delivers his best film performance in the grim western Gunman's Walk. Hunter plays Ed Hackett, the son of gunslinger-turned-land baron Lee Hackett (Van Heflin). Out of respect (and fear) of his father, the hotheaded Ed is given a wide berth by the resentful townsfolk. The elder Hackett doesn't make things any better when he tacitly approves of Ed's violent behavior, all the while giving short shrift to his law-abiding younger son Davy (James Darren). Inevitably, Ed goes one step too far, forcing his father to make a devastating decision. Kathryn Grant, future wife of Bing Crosby, registers well as the half-breed girl with whom Davy falls in love. Gunman's Walk is seen at a disadvantage on television; director Phil Karlson's inventive use of the CinemaScope lens will be largely lost on a 22-inch screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, (more)
- 1956
Soft-hearted Kitty (Amanda Blake) is persuaded to hide handsome Steve Esler (Brett Halsey) from a lynch mob comprised of cattlemen. Steve insists he has been rustling cattle merely to avenge his father, who years earlier was brutally beaten by a trail crew. Matt (James Arness) is as sympathetic as Kitty towards Steve. But crusty old Doc suspects that the baby-faced fugitive is manipulating everyone's feelings--and that he is nowhere near the innocent lamb he makes out to be. This episode is based on the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of September 27, 1954. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
A good girl goes bad in the face of peer pressure in this exploitation outing from the late '50s. The girl is new in town and before her first day of school is over finds herself face-to-face with a scary group of juvenile delinquent girls with dangerously conical breasts, and bad attitudes to spare. They demand she join their group, but she hesitates. Later she asks the nice college boy who jerks sodas at the local malt shop for his opinion. Of course he tells her to stay away, but soon the lure of popularity grows too strong and she joins the gang. She has great fun being a hooliganette. Unfortunately, the fun turns deadly serious when the gangs leader gets killed. Good campy fun. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvonne Lime, Brett Halsey, (more)
- 1957
Hot rodder Richard Hartunian storms off after a spat with girlfriend Leigh Snowden. Shortly afterward, the car in which Leigh is driving is involved in a crack-up, injuring her and killing the driver. Since the car had been run off the road by a reckless driver, Hartunian is the Number One Suspect. Only on the eve of the Big Race is our hero exonerated. Also appearing in Hot Rod Rumble are Brett Halsey (future star of the immortal Speed Crazy), Wright King (late of Johnny Jupiter), and stand-up comic Joey Forman. The film was originally released on a double bill with Allied Artists' Calypso Joe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leigh Snowden, Richard Hartunian, (more)
- 1965
This uninhibited Italian comedy was originally titled Il Magnifico Cornuto. Ugo Tognazzi plays a philandering businessman, inordinately proud of his hyperactive libido. Claudia Cardinale is his sexy wife, which makes one wonder why Tognazzi would ever want to stray. Be that as it may, Cardinale decides to take revenge on her roving hubby by launching an affair of her own. The beauty part is that she's almost able to get away with her hanky-panky without her self-absorbed husband ever catching on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Cardinale, Ugo Tognazzi, (more)
- 1960
This historical war drama follows the command of 16th-century artist Benvenuto Cellini as he and his troops defend Rome against the attack of Charles V and his armies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Senta Berger plays retail clerk Jenny who falls for painter Jack (Brett Halsey). Between their quarrels and reconciliations, however, Jenny marries a wealthy businessman but eventually divorces him when the two go their own ways. It isn't until after a second marriage to a divorced playboy, that Jenny realizes her deep love for Jack. This unsuccessful comedy from director Victor Vicas was based on the novel Early to Bed by Anne Piper. Russian-American Vicas directed several features in Germany during the early '60s, though only a couple decades before, he had escaped from a German POW camp. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brett Halsey, Senta Berger, (more)
- 1959
A onetime pilot, now a convicted killer in the custody of the FBI, is the only hope of an overseas flight carrying a bomb. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Tony Curtis stars as Johnny Dark, a moody automobile designer. Rejected by a major auto firm because of his "radical" notions, Johnny sets out to prove the efficiency of his cars on the racetrack. He is aided and abetted by pretty Piper Laurie and less pretty Paul Kelly, while motor mogul Sidney Blackmer fumes and fusses until he realizes that Johnny's designs will save his company. Most of the film is devoted to a marathon race, pitting Johnny against his friendly enemy Don Taylor. Johnny Dark is a must for racing buffs, as well as a prime example of Tony Curtis in his beefcake period. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Piper Laurie, (more)
