Jack Harvey Movies

The motivating factor behind City Beneath the Sea is an underwater treasure hunt. In 1692, an underwater earthquake sends the Jamaica city of Port Royal to the bottom of the Caribbean. Three-hundred-fifty years later, deep-sea divers Brad Carlton (Robert Ryan) and Tony Bartlett (Anthony Quinn) take the plunge near Port Royal, in hopes of recovering a million dollars in gold bullion that was lost in a modern-day quake. What Brad and Tony don't know is that their employer, steamship magnate Dwight Trevor (Karel Stepanek), doesn't really want the divers to find the gold. Trevor hopes to pull off a major insurance fraud, and has no qualms about killing his divers to get what he wants. Mala Powers and Suzan Ball provide the love interest, while plump Hawaiian entertainer Hilo Hattie offers some welcome comedy relief. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

By the none-too-exacting standards of Screen Guild Productions, Last of the Wild Horses is practically an "A" picture. James Ellison plays Duke Barnum, an innocent soul who is set up as the fall guy for duplicitious horse-ranch foreman Riley (Reed Hadley). When ranch owner Charlie Cooper (Douglass Dumbrille) discovers that Riley has been raiding the neighboring ranchers' stock, he confronts the foreman with the evidence. Riley responds by killing Cooper and placing the blame on Barnum, leading to a deadly climactic confrontation between the two. Filmed on location in Southern Oregon, Last of the Wild Horses was directed by Robert L. Lippert, who'd later assume control of Screen Guild and rename the studio after himself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this science fiction adventure, John Fairbanks (Richard Denning) is a former Marine who, while on duty, discovered a previously unknown island in the Pacific where dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals have somehow managed to escape extinction and live as they did millions of years ago. Still traumatized by the experience, Fairbanks is persuaded to return by Ted Osborne (Philip Reed), a photographer who thinks that a few shots of some real live dinosaurs could shift his career into high gear. Accompanying John and Ted are the latter's sweetheart Carol (Virginia Grey) and Capt. Tarnowski (Barton MacLane), the ship's pilot -- who is not a man to be trusted. Ted and his crew soon find out that John's story is true, and they discover why the danger has taken such a toll on him, as they soon find themselves on the run from hungry dinosaurs. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The zany vaudeville comedy team of Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson was still one year away from their smash Broadway hit Hellzapoppin' when they starred in Republic's Country Gentlemen. The daffy duo plays a couple of gold-stock swindlers who try to fleece the citizenry of a small town. They end up purchasing a vacant lot for $4000, which they try to pass off as an oil field. A group of local WWI veterans invest heavily in Olsen and Johnson's latest venture, meaning that the boys will be in for quite a lot of lumps if the expected "gusher" doesn't come in. Thanks to good influence of heroine Lila Lee, our heroes change their crooked ways -- but not quite in the nick of time! Critics weren't keen on the notion of middle-aged Ole Olsen being cast as a romantic lead, but everyone was satisfied with the supporting performance of perennial "dumb blonde" Joyce Compton as the team's Girl Friday. Originally released at 66 minutes, Country Gentlemen is presently available in its 53-minute TV reissue form. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Its story credited to stunt-man extraordinaire Yakima Canutt, Riders of the Golden Gulch, from low-budget West Coast Studios, featured Buffalo Bill, Jr. as Bill Edwards, a young man searching for the villain who ruined his banker father. Along the way, Bill is himself accused of robbing a bank but it is all a ruse to ferret out the real culprit, nasty Bart Smith (Edmund Cobb). Yak Canutt played the hero's sidekick and the little western also featured such oldtimers as Pete Morrison and Buck Connors. A survivor from silent westerns, Buffalo Bill, Jr. later worked under his real name, Jay Wilsey. According to his widow, the former actress Genee Boutell, Wilsey earned approximately $50 a day as a low-budget western star. Although filmed in 1930, Riders of the Golden Gulch (aka Riders of Golden Gulch) was not released until two years later. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

From low-budget (and rather ill-named) Big 4 Film Corp. comes Headin' for Trouble, starring former silent cowboy Bob Custer and juvenile roping champion Andy Shuford. Custer is Cyclone Crosby, a cowboy who bravely interferes when town boss Butch Morgan Robert Walker) tries to force his unwanted attentions on innocent Mary Courtney (Betty Mack). Suspecting Morgan of being the leader of a gang of rustlers, Mary's father (Buck Connors) begs Cyclone to stick around, just in case. After setting a trap for Morgan and his gang, Cyclone is revealed to be a ranger in disguise, much to the delight of Mary and her hero-worshipping kid brother Bobbie (Shuford). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi