Andrea Malandrinos Movies

A murderous mummy is on the loose and it's got the Hammer Films stamp on it, but this tame terror flick never gets the bandages off when it comes to thrills, chills, and gore. A British archeological team consisting of Sir Basil Walden (Andre Morrell), Paul Preston (David Buck), a photographer (Tim Barrett), and psychic linguist Claire (Maggie Kimberley) discover the tomb of Kah-to-Bey, a young heir to Pharaoh who died trying to escape a rebellion. The boy was buried by a loyal slave named Prem, whose mummy stands in a Cairo museum. The expedition is joined by Preston's wealthy, press-hungry father Stanley (John Phillips), who insists they return to Cairo with the body despite warnings of a curse by the tomb's guardian. The curse soon proves to be true as the slave's mummy is reanimated by the guardian and begins murdering each of the explorers who entered the tomb. While Stanley Preston unsuccessfully tries to save his own skin, Paul and Claire find themselves in a showdown with the seemingly indestructible mummy -- until they discover that the strange writing on the boy Pharaoh's shroud may be the secret to their survival. ~ Patrick Legare, Rovi

A pair of bumbling vampire-hunters attempts to destroy an undead nobleman and his cronies and rescue a buxom maiden in actor/director Roman Polanski's playful update of the venerable vampire genre. Bat expert and vampire obsessive Professor Abronsius (Jack MacGowran) barely survives his journey through the Alps into snowy Slovenia to continue his oft-maligned research into the undead. Thawed out by his hapless assistant, Alfred (Polanski), and the frisky local innkeeper, Shagal (Alfie Bass), Abronsius quickly notices the overabundance of raw garlic as a decorating motif in the inn and its environs. Too ineffectual to save Shagal from having his blood sucked, the professor and Alfred miss the boat again when the mysterious Count Von Krolock (Ferdinand Mayne) kidnaps Shagal's built, beautiful daughter, Sarah (Sharon Tate). The itinerant vampire hunters must travel through the icy wilderness to Von Krolock's abode and evade his manservant and his effete son Herbert (Iain Quarrier) before Sarah joins the ranks of the ghouls. They soon learn, however, that the luxury-starved lass actually enjoys her captors' lavish attentions. The action climaxes during a costume ball attended by a phalanx of blood-suckers, although the laughs and surprises continue until the very end. Sixteen minutes of unauthorized cuts have been restored in some video editions of The Fearless Vampire Hunters, although the animated credits sequence that replaced them is also retained. The film marks the feature debut of Tate, who replaced Polanski's original choice, Jill St. John, on the advice of producer Martin Ransohoff. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

While returning from a vacation in Chile, Dr. Keel tries to help the victims of a cyclone in Mexico. He soon stumbles onto a particularly nasty example of industrial pollution. Another doctor swears vengeance against the wealthy financier responsible for this ecological outrage, forcing Keel to put his return-to-England plans on hold and to prevent a brutal (if somewhat justified) murder. Written by John Lucarotti, "The Far Distant Dead" was originally broadcast August 19, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this lightweight 1960 musical comedy, rock singer Tommy Steele plays Tommy Tomkins, a British sailor. Steele was popular in England during the time this film was released, and the movie is mainly a showcase for its star's musical talents, with songs including the title tune and others such as Little White Bull. After a few misadventures, Tomkins and his girlfriend Amanda (Janet Munro) find themselves in Spain. There, they meet up with a renowned bullfighter. When the bullfighter is set up by a bunch of smugglers to take the rap for their crimes, Tomkins must step in and replace the bullfighter for one long, awful day. He hopes to win his fortune as the stand-in matador, free the real bullfighter, and get back to England. But the bulls have other ideas. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

The Boy and the Bridge is a very slight tale based on an original American story by Leon Ware centered on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. This adaptation by director and co-writer Kevin McClory is set on the Tower Bridge in London. The premise is simple and perhaps too much so for the 90-minute running time. A little boy named Tommy (Ian MacLaine) watches as his father is arrested after a bad brawl. Tommy believes his father must have killed someone and rather than return home, he heads to Tower Bridge to set up housekeeping there. The atmosphere and life around the bridge are a secondary protagonist in the story, introducing several interesting characters. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Boyish leading man Jack Watling is caught up in a rather mature set of circumstances in Links of Justice. In concert with his mistress Kay Callard, Watling plots to murder his wealthy wife Sarah Lawson. The best laid schemes gang aft agley, and the wrong person ends up dead. In a variation of Dial M for Murder, a false murder accusation is dissipated by the timely arrival of a housebreaker. Chalk up another serviceable second-feature British melodrama for the production team of Edward and Harry Danzinger. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The title of the Anglo-American The Prince and the Showgirl could well have alluded to the genuine stations in life of stars Sir Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe. Based on the Terence Rattigan play The Sleeping Prince, the film casts Olivier as Charles, prince regent of Carpathia, who is in London to attend the 1911 coronation of King George V. Monroe is deceptively dizzy American chorus girl Elsie Marina, who while performing in a West End revue catches Charles' eye. The prince arranges for Elsie to attend an "intimate supper" at his hotel suite. Though Elsie successfully wards off Charles' advances, she drinks too much bubbly and ends up falling asleep. Comes the dawn, and Prince Charles is anxious to show the awkward Elsie the door. She, however, has fallen in love with the prince, and sticks around long enough to upset a plan to overthrow the Carpathian throne, and to patch up a feud between Charles and his son Nicholas (Jeremy Spencer). Olivier directed as well as starred in The Prince and the Showgirl; he knew he had his work cut out for him in dealing with the mercurial Marilyn Monroe, but he managed to hold his temper and to extract a delightful comic performance from the actress. Alas, the film was a box-office disappointment, leading many Hollywood insiders to moan and wail that Monroe was "washed up" in films -- at least until her spectacular comeback in Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this comedy, a milque-toast bank clerk is forced to deliver blackmail money to a seductive woman. Misunderstandings abound when the clerk's brother-in-law sees him leaving the woman's house. Soon word that the clerk has become a dashing rake is spread around the town. In the end, the owner of a sexy lingerie factory offers the clerk a partnership in his business. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this detective drama, a biographer researches the death of a heroic pilot who died during a failed test and ends up in love with the deceased's sister. He then learns that the pilot's strange disappearance may not have been accidental and mayhem ensues. Soon other people associated with the case begin to die and the writer becomes nervous until two Scotland Yard inspectors get on the case and solve the mystery. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Jose Ferrer was both star and director of the British WW2 drama Cockleshell Heroes. Ferrer is cast as Major Stringer, the officer in charge of a delicate naval operation. Stringer and seven volunteers are expected to paddle four canoes into Nazi-held waters, plant limpet mines on enemy boats, and return safely to their own lines. Of the eight courageous saboteurs, only two survive. The story is abundant with suspense, humor and irony, buoyed by a top-rank supporting cast, including Trevor Howard, Victor Maddern and Anthony Newley (Christopher Lee shows up briefly as a German sub commander). Howard delivers the best performance as a subtly resentful officer who was passed up for promotion in order to work with Major Stringer. Cockleshell Heroes was released in the US by Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Innocents in Paris is a series of anecdotes bundled together by geography. First we see the efforts by British diplomat Alastair Sim to loosen up Soviet-agent Peter Illing long enough to forge an economic plan between Russia and England. Then we watch as dotty artist Margaret Rutherford purchases a copy of the Mona Lisa. Next we see British officer Jimmy Edwards go off on a toot in a Parisian bistro. The next vignette involves impressionable Claire Bloom, who is swept off her feet by a local rake (the human variety, not the garden implement). And so it goes for 102 minutes in the British version of Innocents in Paris, and 93 minutes in the American print. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this mystery, a woman desiring to locate her missing employer engages the services of "The Toff," a suave amateur detective. Mayhem ensues until the detective reveals that the boss wanted to disappear so he could hide from the man behind an insurance fraud who wants to kill him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi