Hanna Landy Movies
In Roman Polanski's first American film, adapted from Ira Levin's horror bestseller, a young wife comes to believe that her offspring is not of this world. Waifish Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her struggling actor husband, Guy (John Cassavetes), move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and only elderly residents. Neighbors Roman and Minnie Castevet (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon) soon come nosing around to welcome the Woodhouses to the building; despite Rosemary's reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, Guy starts spending time with the Castevets. Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Minnie starts showing up with homemade chocolate mousse for Rosemary. When Rosemary becomes pregnant after a mousse-provoked nightmare of being raped by a beast, the Castevets take a special interest in her welfare. As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castevets' circle is not what it seems. The diabolical truth is revealed only after Rosemary gives birth, and the baby is taken away from her. Polanski's camerawork and Richard Sylbert's production design transform the realistic setting (shot on-location in Manhattan's Dakota apartment building) into a sinister projection of Rosemary's fears, chillingly locating supernatural horror in the familiar by leaving the most grotesque frights to the viewer's imagination. This apocalyptic yet darkly comic paranoia about the hallowed institution of childbirth touched a nerve with late-'60s audiences feeling uneasy about traditional norms. Produced by B-horror maestro William Castle, Rosemary's Baby became a critically praised hit, winning Gordon an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Inspiring a wave of satanic horror from The Exorcist (1973) to The Omen (1976), Rosemary's Baby helped usher in the genre's modern era by combining a supernatural story with Alfred Hitchcock's propensity for finding normality horrific. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, (more)
Derek Flint (James Coburn) is back in this James Bond-styled spy spoof sequel to Our Man Flint. Flint's boss Cramden (Lee J. Cobb) assigns him to stop a group of felonious females on the Virgin Islands who hope to take over the world; the bad femmes are kidnapping astronauts and replacing them with doubles to gain access to the world's missile sites. Andrew Duggan plays the U.S. President and his nefarious double. The feature was typical of the spoofs that followed in the wake of the successful James Bond spy films of the 1960s. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Coburn, Lee J. Cobb, (more)
- 1965
In this western, a cavalry sergeant is wrongly court-martialed. To reclaim his good name, he takes over a patrol that just lost its leader in an Indian attack. He leads the regiment to Fort Courageous, but is appalled to discover that the Indians attacked and massacred all but one of its inhabitants. The hardy little group must now fight the renegades on their own. The ex-sergeant plans a brilliant strategy that culminates in winning the Indian's respect. They leave the fort alone and peace is restored. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1965
While on a fishing vacation, Perry (Raymond Burr) rescues novelist Diana Carter (Bonnie Jones) from a watery grave. He must then save Diana from a charge of being an accomplice in a $50,000 jewel theft. And THEN, it's up to Perry to clear the girl on a charge of murdering Addison Powell. A forged note, hidden somewhere in a sunken yacht, is the vital piece of evidence on this occasion. "The Case of the Impetuous Imp" is based on Erle Stanley Gardner's novel The Case of the Negilgent Nymph, previously filmed under that title for Perry Mason's first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
In this western a cowboy rides out for vengeance against the outlaws who brutally murdered his sister. But before he can exact vigilante justice upon the killers a wise old lawman manages to round up the gang and bring them to proper justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Of the two competing Jean Harlow biopics released in 1965, producer Joseph E. Levine's Harlow is the more slickly professional, though neither film is exactly a cinematic landmark. Carroll Baker plays 1930s "platinum blonde" Jean Harlow, who, in keeping with the portrait painted by biographer Irving Schulman and Arthur Landau (upon whose book this film is based) was a forlorn waif tossed around like a football by the predatory males of wicked old Hollywood. Prodded by a hellish stage mother (Angela Lansbury) and an implicitly incestuous stepfather (Raf Vallone), Harlow rises to the pinnacle of movie stardom but never finds true happiness. The wedding-night revelation that her new husband, producer Paul Bern (Peter Lawford), is impotent is just another devastating blow for the poor girl. After all she goes through in the film, Harlow's premature death at age 26 is almost a relief. The only person who truly, deeply, sincerely cares about her is her lovable agent Arthur Landau (played by lovable Red Buttons) who, it will be remembered, co-authored the original Harlow book. Movie buffs will derive some perverse pleasure by the script's many distortions of the facts. Whatever its shortcomings, Harlow posted a huge profit for Joe Levine and Paramount Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll Baker, Martin Balsam, (more)
- 1965
Git! tries very hard within its low-budget limits to offer Disney-style family entertainment. Jack Chaplain plays 17-year-old Deke, who rescues a woebegone Irish setter from a sorry demise. Teaming up with Elaine (Heather North), the daughter of widowed dog-breeder Andrew Garrett (Richard Webb), Deke tries to transform the pooch into a first-class hunting dog. Not that there aren't any setbacks: in fact, the film is virtually nothing but setbacks for the people the audience cares about. During its 92-minute running time, Git! manages to accommodate three songs, none of them as interesting as the dogs paraded before the camera. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Now travelling under the name "Sanford", fugitive Richard Kimble (David Janssen) takes a job at the Long Island estate of wealthy Harlan Guthrie (Robert Webber). It doesn't take Kimble long to figure out that Guthrie only married his long-suffering wife Ann (Peggy McCay) for her money, and that his new boss would rather dally with Ann's younger sister Carol (Pippa Scott). What no one knows is that Guthrie is planning to murder his wife--and pin the blame on Kimble. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Released about five weeks before the Adolf Eichmann trial began in Jerusalem on April 11, 1961, this docudrama by director R.G. Springsteen was quickly dashed together to take advantage of the trial, and it shows. Overplaying Eichmann's venality and lacking any depth in characterization, the story unfolds in several large segments. Eichmann (played by Werner Klemperer), as head of Dept. IV, B4 or "Jewish affairs/evacuation affairs, personally ordered, or watched, or supervised the extermination of Jews in Germany and the nations under its occupying forces. These years are shown in the first part of the film; the second half deals with Eichmann's escape from an American POW camp, his four years under cover in Germany, aided by an association of Nazi SS members (ODESSA), his escape in 1950 to Argentina through Italy, and his capture on May 11, 1960. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Werner Klemperer, Ruta Lee, (more)
- 1961
In this socially conscious drama, based on a true-story, a high school teacher gets in trouble for having his students write compositions describing their feelings about sex. He is suspended; his students unite to defend him. A confrontation with the prudish school board ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Lee Kinsolving, (more)
