Robert Ayres Movies

Scotland Yard detective Patrick Holt is hot on the trail of a gang of thieves. Holt goes undercover, joining the gang and participating in a few heists. The gang catches on, but decides not to kill Holt under their next caper. Will our hero be able to contact the Yard in time save his neck? 13 East Street was produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman, the same team responsible for the popular 1960s TV adventure series The Saint. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This meticulous re-creation of the sinking of the Titanic was adapted by Eric Ambler from the best-selling book by Walter Lord, and it preceded the blockbuster Titanic by almost 40 years. The film covers the life and death of the huge vessel from its launching celebration to that fateful night of April 14, 1912, when the "unsinkable" ship struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Of the 2224 passengers on board, 1513 were drowned as a result of the bad planning of lifeboats and escape routes. Kenneth More heads a huge and stellar cast, with 200 speaking parts, as second officer Herbert Lightoller, from whose point-of-view the story unfolds. Also in the cast are Laurence Naismith as the ill-fated Captain Smith; Michael Goodliffe as conscience-stricken ship's designer Thomas Andrews; Tucker McGuire as feisty American millionaire Molly Brown, whose courage and tenacity saved many lives; and Anthony Bushell as the captain of the Carpathia, who launched a noble but vain rescue mission once he was apprised of the disaster. Also appearing are two future TV favorites: The Avengers' Honor Blackman as a woman who believes that she has nothing to live for, and The Man From UNCLE's David McCallum as a wireless operator. The climactic sinking of the vessel is re-created with painstaking accuracy; filmed in "real time," it is a mere 37 minutes shorter than the actual tragedy. Two years before the film's release, an American TV adaptation of A Night to Remember set a precedent as the most elaborate and technically complex "live" broadcast of its time. Some viewers will find this movie a more accurate and gripping representation of this sea disaster than the romance-heavy Titanic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, an amiable widow must use her savings to raise her son. One day she happens upon some stolen money which she takes and squirrels away for her boy's education. Unfortunately, the thieves return to find it. Fortunately, a friend is there to defend her from them, and later she turns the money into the police. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this rabid anti-communist science fiction tract, scientist Arnold Kramer (Peter Arne) convinces the Pentagon that the communist Chinese are digging a complex series of tunnels from China and beneath the United States, from which they plan to detonate nuclear weapons and destroy the free world. Kramer enlists Commander Jonathan Shaw (Kerwin Mathews) to assist Kramer in trying to prevent the literal and final collapse of the U.S.A. Shaw sets up shop inside an extinct Hawaiian volcano, attempting to destroy the main supply tunnel coming from China. But before the team can complete their mission, they are captured y the evil Chinese. Now it is up to Shaw and Kramer to escape the clutches of the Chinese in order to activate a nuclear stockpile inside the tunnel and incinerate the Chinese forces. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

England's Richard Greene and France's Anouk Aimee (here billed simply as Anouk) star in the fast-paced espionager Contraband Spain. Greene is cast as American federal agent Lee, who is dispatched to the French-Spanish border to break up a smuggling ring. Making things difficult for Lee is the fact that his own brother is one of the smugglers. Aimee plays Elena, a nightclub singer who plays both sides, but who eventually links up with Lee. As British customs official Ricky, Michael Denison virtually reprises his foppish "Algernon Moncrieff" characterization from The Importance of Being Earnest--but his broad behavior is all part of the plot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an American journalist goes to England and winds up assisting a prominent lawyer's nephew after he is falsely accused of murdering a girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

It's Never Too Late stars Phyllis Calvert as a sedate and settled British wife and mother. Deciding that her family has taken her for granted far too long, the bored Ms. Calvert types up a movie script. Her work becomes a hit film and Phyllis suddenly finds herself a celebrity. Now she must choose between being a highly paid author and a middle-class housewife; since this film is conformist all down the line, her decision holds few surprises. It's Never Too Late was based on a play by Felicity Douglas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Night Without Stars was adapted by Winston Graham from his own novel. David Farrar stars as Giles Gordon, a blind, disillusioned Briton who whiles away his time on the French Riviera. Gordon falls in love with Alix Delaisse (Nadia Gray), the widow of a legendary French resistance leader. The romance encounters turbulence when it appears that Alix is involved with criminal activities. Regaining his sight in an operation, Gordon pretends that he's still blind, the better to find out whether or not Alix has been lying to him. When he's satisfied that she's been truthful all along, he begins gathering evidence to entrap the genuine culprits. American musical comedy star June Clyde makes an amusing appearance as a pixillated party girl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Looking rather spent, Tom Conway walks through the British programmer Operation Murder. Conway is a poverty-stricken doctor who happens to have a rich cousin. Conspiring with his partner Patrick Holt, Conway schemes to kill his cousin, passing off the death as a mishap on the operation table. The plan is almost foolproof, but.....Operation Murder was another of the multitude of inexpensive Danzinger Brothers productions, released throughout the English-speaking world by United Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Who's "depraved" in the British Depraved? Just about everyone, it seems. Married to drunken, abusive lout Basil Dignam, Anne Heywood inaugurates an affair with American army officer Robert Arden. Anne convinces Arden to help her do away with her husband. As if this is going to solve things in a melodrama of this nature. Another gem from the Danzinger brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It isn't surprising that The Great Manhunt invokes fond memories of Alfred Hitchcock; the film was scripted by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, the two former Hitchcock collaborators responsible for the screenplay of The Master's The Lady Vanishes (38). Gilliat also directed this fast-paced political adventure, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as an American heart surgeon summoned to operate on the ruler of a Balkan dictatorship. When the dictator dies, Fairbanks becomes a security risk for those who wish to perpetuate the totalitarian regime. The doctor desperately seeks a means of escaping the country; along the way, he teams up with a showgirl (Glynis Johns) who likewise wants to get home in a hurry. Meanwhile, the head of the secret police (Jack Hawkins) tries to keep one step ahead of Fairbanks. A healthy strain of comic cynicism pervades Great Manhunt, with both hero and villain making self-deprecating comments on the fickle nature of political power. Released in the US as State Secret, The Great Manhunt was based on Roy Huggins' novel Appointment With Fear. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This was the last trip in the "road" comedies that Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and a bevy of female stars that featured Dorothy Lamour once made famous. In this road to Hong Kong and parts far beyond, Chester and Harry (Hope and Crosby) are a couple of failed vaudeville stars looking for a way to riches in the confidence game. Chester's memory goes kaputz, and the two end up involved with Diane (Joan Collins), a spy looking for a secret formula, and a bunch of hoodlums who plan on sending up a rocket to the moon with special equipment allowing them to rule the planet earth. The pair of heroes gets caught in the rocket instead of the originally intended monkeys, and the monkey business continues in outer space -- where it seems to be all along. In this mixed collage of events, several stars pop up in cameo roles: Peter Sellers, Dean Martin, David Niven, Frank Sinatra among them. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide