Don Gibson Movies
- 1958
Unhappily married businessman Jeffrey Lynn dreams of escaping his troubles and drifting off to a desert island. Lynn's dreams come true with startling suddenness when he is lost at sea and presumed drowned. In fact, he has washed up on the shore of a Carribean island, where he falls in love with local girl Leila Barry. Hoping to start life anew, Lynn helps Leila establish a resort hotel on her little island. But the jig is up when our hero begins feeling guilty about the wife and kiddies he left behind. Filmed on location in Miami and Nassau, Lost Lagoon is trivial, but easy to take. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Lynn, Peter Donat, (more)
- 1956
Ex-Hollywoodite A. Edward Sutherland co-directed the British programmer Bermuda Affair with Robert J. Shaw. Gary Merrill and Ron Randell play a pair of army chums who run a postwar air transport service. Reversing the cliché, it is Merrill, the homelier of the two men, who turns out to be a rat with women. Merrill messes around with Randell's wife Zena Marshall, but makes up for all past misdeeds when he gives up his own life to save his friend from certain doom. Filmed on location, Bermuda Affair was released worldwide by Hollywood's Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1954
A car with two men visible in it pulls up to a Los Angeles service station at night, with a single attendant (Dub Taylor) working. As he starts to pump the gas, he doesn't see the third man come around the side until it's too late and he's knocked cold. The trio carries out their robbery but before they can finish, a motorcycle cop rolls up. A gun battle ensues, and one of the robbers is shot, as is the police officer. Now a manhunt is on for the trio, all escapees from San Quentin who were making their way south; the other two give the wounded man enough money to get to the apartment of a former cellmate of one of them, Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson). But Lacey is genuinely trying to go straight and live a clean, honest life with his wife, Ellen (Phyllis Kirk), and wants nothing to do with anyone he knew in prison, or with harboring an escaped prisoner. He's even more unhappy when Dr. Otto Hessler (Jay Novello), another ex-con and a veterinarian, arrives to treat the gunshot victim. But when the hood dies, matters get even more complicated -- Lacey's life becomes a nightmare as the police arrive, led by the hardboiled Det. Sgt. Sims (Sterling Hayden), who doesn't believe that any hood ever goes straight. Sims doesn't believe that Lacey's claim of knowing nothing of the escapees, and is ready to send him back to prison on a parole violation -- even though his parole officer (James Bell) believes him -- when he won't cooperate. And worse still, the other two escapees, Doc Penny (Ted de Corsia) and Ben Hastings (Charles Buchinsky, aka Charles Bronson), force their way into Lacey's home, insisting on hiding out there and threatening Ellen. And as they're now a man short, they want Steve's help on a major heist they're planning -- and will kill Ellen if he doesn't cooperate. Soon Lacey is up to his neck in a daylight bank robbery, timed to the minute, and his wife is at the mercy of a mentally deficient, sexually deviant confederate (Timothy Carey), while the police still seem to be following every trail but the right one. Steve realizes that he is the only one who is going to be able to save himself or his wife from this nightmare, and isn't convinced that he'll get out of it alive -- but by then, between being put on him by Sims and his unwanted companions, he's prepared to die in order to save Ellen. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sterling Hayden, Gene Nelson, (more)
- 1953
The LAPD scours the city in search of "The Bull", vicious leader of a robbery gang. Although his henchmen have all been arrested and his criminal associates have shunned him, "The Bull" is still full of bravado, threatening to harm the family of detective Frank Smith (Ben Alexander) unless he is allowed to go free. Acting on a tip, Smith and his patner Joe Friday (Jack Webb) stake out a bar where "The Bull" plans to purchase a gun. An excellent study of the personal sacrifices made by police officers in their pursuit of justice, this episode was adapted from the Dragnet radio broadcast of September 14, 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
This tuneful remake of 1937's The Awful Truth centers on the rocky marriage of a philandering composer and the wife who has her fill and decides to get even by having an "affair" of her own. Actually, hers is quite innocent. Unfortunately, her husband doesn't known this and the couple get a divorce. But somehow, beneath all their anger, the two are still in love and show it by trying to make the other jealous at every opportunity. The wife allows a handsome Alaskan tycoon to court her while the composer uses a pretty young woman. Of course, it doesn't take the pair too long to realize the awful truth and reunite. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Wyman, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1953
Investigating a series of robberies, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) find out that off-duty patrolman Paul Eastman (Don Gibson) was spotted at the scene of the most recent crime--several minutes before it took place. Sure enough, it turns out that Eastman, a married man with children, is a "dirty cop" who has been participating in the robberies in order to support his current mistress. The final scene affords Jack Webb the opportunity to deliver one of his legendary "Jesus speeches" (the actor's own description), in which he angrily chews out Eastman for betraying his public trust. This episode is based on a equally powerful Dragnet radio program, first heard on October 19, 1950. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Rock Hudson stars in Seminole as 19th-century army officer Lance Caldwell. Born and raised in Florida, Caldwell is assigned to Fort King in the Everglades. Immediately clashing with his commanding officer Major Dade (Richard Carlson), Caldwell opposes Dade's plans to wipe out the Seminole Indians. The fact that Caldwell was the boyhood chum of Seminole chief Osceola (Anthony Quinn) is all the more reason to resist Dade's genocidal policies. After a deadly confrontation which costs dozens of lives on both sides, Osceola rescues Caldwell, whereupon the latter is court-martialed. Later on, Osceola comes to Fort King to talk peace, and is promptly killed by persons unknown. An attempt is made to frame Caldwell for the killing, but the truth eventually prevails. In the tradition of Broken Arrow, Seminole is essentially sympathetic to the Indian's point of view. Co-starring in the film are Barbara Hale as the requisite heroine and Lee Marvin as a surly sergeant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rock Hudson, Barbara Hale, (more)
- 1952
Assignment - Paris is based on a serialized Saturday Evening Post yarn by Paul and Pauline Gallico. The film stars Dana Andrews as reporter Jimmy Race, assigned to the Paris bureau of the New York Herald Tribune. Race makes the acquaintance of French journalist Jeanne Moray (Marta Toren), who is forced to suppress a white-hot news story about an impending Iron Curtain political conspiracy because she lacks proof. At great risk to himself, Race heads to Budapest to ferret out the facts, sometimes right under the noses of the communist "damage control" experts. George Sanders co-stars as editor Rick Strang, who dispatches Race on his fact-finding mission--partly because of his dedication to truth, and partly because he has designs on the gorgeous Jeanne himself. One of the more palatable anti-Red tracts of its era, Assignment - Paris makes excellent use of authentic Parisian and Hungarian locations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Andrews, Märta Torén, (more)
- 1952
It's a tough shift for Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Herb Ellis) as they work the Accident Detail on the eve of the July 4th weekend. Out of dozens of traffic accidents, the two detectives focus on three "standouts". The first involves a bunch of teenagers (ages 12 through 16), all of whom are seriously injured or worse after plowing into a car driven by an elderly couple--no thanks to the irresponsible father of the boy who'd been driving. The second case concerns an elderly drunk (played by Cliff Arquette of "Charley Weaver" fame) who has a habit of faking injuries so he can hitch an ambulance ride. Finally, motorcycle officer Mike O'Brien is stuck and killed while chasing a drunk driver--and it falls to Mike's old friend Friday to break the news to the dead officer's fiancee (Virginia Gregg). This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of July 3, 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
- NR
Above and Beyond is the story of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as told from the perspective of the man who flew the mission. Robert Taylor stars as Col. Paul Tibbetts, commander of the Enola Gay. Once selected for this extremely dangerous mission, Tibbetts must hand-pick a crew worthy of the task. He is also forced to keep his mission a closely guarded secret, even unto withholding all information from his loving and patient wife Lucey (Eleanor Parker). The film concentrates on the strain placed upon Tibbetts, his crew and their families in the crucial days before the "big drop". The bombing itself is handled with taste and decorum, though the horror and mixed emotions of the moment are brilliantly conveyed on the faces of Tibbetts and his men. Above and Beyond represents a rare noncomedy endeavor from the writer-director team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, (more)
- 1952
Running an action-packed 67 minutes, Okinawa is an expert combo of wartime newsreel footage and studio re-enactments. The plot concerns the gun crew of a destroyer, engaged in the torturous allied invasion of Okinawa, which cost more American and Japanese lives than any previous Pacific-Theater battle. Pat O'Brien does his usual as the ship's commander, while other stock types are essayed by Cameron Mitchell, Richard Denning, Rhys Williams, Richard Benedict and James Dobson. Curiously, Okinawa was co-written by Leonard Stern, a man more closely associated with TV comedy than two-fisted war epics, and directed by Leigh Jason, who generally piloted musical shorts and features. Actor-producer Alvy Moore (who later played county agent Hank Kimball on TV's Green Acres) shows up in a bit role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat O'Brien, Cameron Mitchell, (more)
- 1951
John Derek plays a Polish-American immigrant who excels in high school sports. Though no great shakes academically, Derek wins a scholarship at an exclusive Southern university. Sidney Blackmer is a wealthy alumnus who sees to it that Derek is allowed to coast in his classes so that he can play football--and help Blackmer win a series of lucrative wagers on the games. When Derek is sidelined by an injury, Blackmer loses interest, but the rich man's niece (Donna Reed) remains faithful to the boy. The cold business of subsidizing (and exploiting) college athletes is given a critical scrutiny in Saturday's Hero, though the film ends happily with Derek bearing down on his classroom work and making something of himself without relying on football. Featured in a supporting role is ex-athlete Aldo DaRe, later known as Aldo Ray. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Derek, Donna Reed, (more)
