Laurette Luez Movies
Best known today for claiming to have suggested the name "Marilyn Monroe," darkly exotic Laurette Luez (real name: Loretta Luiz) had been a protégée of drama coach Marie Stoddard prior to being spotted by Cecil B. De Mille, who cast the youngster in a bit role in The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944). Luez went on to portray a seemingly endless series of South Seas islanders, pagan girls, and jungle vixens in potboilers ranging from Prehistoric Women (1950) to The Adventures of Haji Baba (1954); she also appeared in the short-running syndicated television series Adventures of Fu Manchu (1956). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1964
Country singer Marty Robbins is featured as a Robin Hood of the West who robs stage coaches and gives the loot to the poor. When he and his outlaw buddy fall for the same dame, things get real rough and rowdy. ~ All Movie Guide
The only Rodgers and Hammerstein cinemadaptation to be produced by Universal Pictures, Flower Drum Song was, alas, also the only Rogers and Hammerstein film to lose money at the box office. It looks far better now than it did back in 1961, if only because of the paucity of musical films in the 1990s. Essentially a comedy about the culture clash between old-world Chinese and assimilated Chinese-Americans, the film begins when Mei Li (Miyoshi Umeki) and her grandfather (Kam Tong) smuggle themselves into San Francisco. It seems that Mei Li has arrived to honor an arranged marriage between herself and Runyonesque nightclub owner Sammy Fong (the incomparable Jack Soo). This might prove delicate, since Sammy is in love with flashy cabaret entertainer Linda Low (Nancy Kwan). Meanwhile, Linda is romancing Wang Ta (James Shigeta), the son of a wealthy Chinatown merchant (Benson Fong). Soon, however, Mei Li and Wang Ta have fallen in love.......It's a complex plot, to be sure, but comedy and music manage to predominate. The songs include "I Enjoy Being a Girl" (a tour de force for the special effects department, and for Nancy Kwan), "A Hundred Million Miracles," "The Other Generation," "Love Look Away," "I Am Going to Like It Here," "Don't Marry Me," "You Are Beautiful," "Grant Avenue" and "Chop Suey." Flower Drum Song is attractively produced and consummately acted; while no classic along the lines of King and I or Sound of Music, it deserves a second look. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, (more)
- 1956
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In this 1950s television series, Glenn Gordon stars as the evil Chinese criminal mastermind created by writer Sax Rohmer, with English actor Lester Matthews as his nemesis, Sir Nayland Smith. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1954
The Bowery Boys go to Africa in this entry in the long-running series. They embark upon their adventure after they discover that one of them has the ability to smell diamonds. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Everyone involved with Siren of Bagdad decided early on that this adventure could never be taken seriously; thus it's played strictly for laughs, and actually earns a few. Paul Henried stars as an Arabian-Nights magician who becomes involved with a passel of harem girls and an usurping sultan. We know what to expect from the rest of the film when, in the very first scene, Henried burlesques his Now Voyager role by smoking two hookahs, then handing one to a lady friend ("Nine out of ten Arabian doctors recommend this brand"). As Henried's comic sidekick, Hans Conried is forced to deliver such lines as "Excuse me, sir; I know they haven't been invented yet, but have you got a match?" Hardly a gut-buster, Siren of Bagdad is fitfully amusing if you're willing to go along for the ride. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Henreid, Patricia Medina, (more)
- 1953
Paris Model is quickie producer Albert Zugsmith's answer to such multistoried films as Tales of Manhattan. Linking the four stories presented herein is a Paris-original gown, "Nude at Midnight." The gown is first purchased by "good bad girl" Gogo Montaine (Eva Gabor), who hopes to impress her date for the evening, the Maharajah of Kim-Kepore (Tom Conway, who happened to be Gabor's brother-in-law at the time, a fact that wasn't ignored in the film's publicity). Next, the gown is illegally copied in the U.S., leading to a major social gaffe involving secretary Betty Barnes (Paulette Goddard), her boss Edgar Blevins (Leif Erickson) and Blevins' wife Cora (Gloria Christian). Next, Marion Parmelee (Marilyn Maxwell) wears the gown to coerce her husband's boss (Cecil Kellaway) into giving hubby a promotion. And finally, Marta Jensen (Barbara Lawrence) dons the gown in hopes that her erstwhile beau Charlie Johnson (Robert Hutton) will pop the question. Tom Conway makes a return appearance in this final sequence, as does 1930s comedy favorite El Brendel and Hollywood restaurateur Prince Michael Romanoff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eva Gabor, Tom Conway, (more)
- 1952
Number Seven in Monogram's Bomba the Jungle Boy series was African Treasure. This time Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) agrees to help geologist Arthur Space and his team locate a hidden diamond mine. Unfortunately for our hero, Space and his cohorts Lane Bradford and Lyle Talbot are actually jewel thieves. For a while, it looks like the villains have the upper hand, but a convenient landslide changes things. The heroine is played by voluptuous pin-up girl Laurette Luez, whose acting ability is hardly a consideration here. Stock footage from African Treasure later popped up in Monogram's Bowery Boys entry Jungle Gents, which also co-starred Laurette Luez. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Sheffield, Laurette Luez, (more)
Errol Flynn is top-billed in Kim, but the title character is played by Dean Stockwell. The son of an Irish sergeant, young Kim wanders through the streets and hills of Colonial India, disguised as a native boy. Kim's adventures include an episode with a horse trader (Errol Flynn) who is actually a British secret agent; a sojourn with a holy lama (Paul Lukas) on a mysterious quest; and involvement with a plan to rid the Khyber Pass of Czarist Russian agitators. Kim had been in the planning stages since 1938 (those considered for the title role included Freddie Bartholomew and Mickey Rooney), but the property's catch-as-catch-can storyline, coupled with the changing political climate in postwar India, delayed production until 1949. While a great deal of Kim was filmed on location in India, some of the more complicated exterior sequences were lensed in Lone Pine, California. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Dean Stockwell, (more)
- 1950
Partially filmed at Whittier, CA, and at Hollywood's General Service Studio, this low-budget exploitation melodrama features Laurette Luez as Tigri, the head of a tribe of Amazonian women charged by an elder (Janette Scott) to find and capture husbands by the next full moon. Tigri finds and captures Engor (Allan Nixon), but a rival, Arva (Mara Lynn), also claims the handsome cave-dwelling tribesman. Tigri, however, manages to hold on to her man, but Engor gets the upper hand after accidentally discovering how to make fire by striking two stones together. The women are soon turned into slaves, but this little idyll is rudely disrupted by the arrival of Guaddi, an eight-foot giant who threatens to destroy them all. The giant is eventually slain by the men and Tigri, who has fallen in love, persuades Engor to return with her to the women's camp where the elder marries them. Sold on the independent exploitation circuit, Prehistoric Women reportedly made a mint for its producer, Albert J. Cohen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurette Luez, Allan Nixon, (more)
- 1950
Killer Shark was another of actor Roddy McDowall's self-produced film efforts for Monogram release. McDowall stars as Ted, the son of fisherman White (Roland Winters). Convinced that his college-bred son is too namby-pamby for the demands of his profession, White nonetheless allows Ted to accompany him on a dangerous shark-netting expedition. Proving an ineffectual seaman, the boy accidentally causes one of the crew to suffer a serious injury. Hoping to prove himself, Ted signs on with another fishing boat--only to fail again (McDowall didn't seem to be too concerned about projecting himself as a hero on-screen). Finally, Ted comes through by capturing a gang of shark thieves. Fans of director Oscar "Budd" Boetticher tend to write off Killer Shark as a training exercise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roddy McDowall, Laurette Luez, (more)
Preston Sturges' Unfaithfully Yours is a typically witty and wild screwball comedy starring Rex Harrison as a symphony conductor named Alfred de Carter who is convinced his wife (Linda Darnell) is having an affair. During one of his concerts, Alfred begins planning three different ways of solving the problem -- including murder -- setting each to a different classical piece. Sturges' script and direction are lively and the actors are perfectly cast, capable of wringing all the humor, both physical and verbal, out of the story. Despite the artistic success of the film, Unfaithfully Yours was unsuccessful at the time of its release, yet it was well-regarded by critics and film buffs. It was remade in 1984, featuring Dudley Moore in the lead role. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, (more)
"I want to report a murder...mine." So begins D.O.A. Told in flashback, the story tells of how vacationing CPA Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) becomes the recipient of a deadly poison known as iridium. Told by a doctor that he hasn't long to live, Bigelow desperately retraces his movements of the previous 24 hours, trying to locate his murderer. Through the aid of his secretary Paula Gibson (Pamela Britton) (who doesn't know of her employer's imminent demise), Bigelow traces a shipment of iridium to a gang of criminals who've used the poison in the commission of a crime. But for much of the film, it remains unclear why Bigelow himself was targeted. Though we know from the outset that Bigelow isn't long for this world, the film builds up an incredible amount of suspense towards the end, when Bigelow is taken "for a ride" by a psychopath (Neville Brand). with a penchant for pummeling his victims in the belly. DOA was remade in 1988 with Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, (more)
