Robert Manning Movies

Tom Tyler is Singlehanded Sanders in this economical Monogram oater. Tyler plays a small-town blacksmith, whose reckless younger brother casts his lot with a crooked politician. When brother dear steals $5000 from heroine Margaret Morris, Tyler gallantly confesses to the deed. He eventually clears himself by rallying his fellow frontiersmen to form a united front against the villains (guess he's not so "single-handed" after all). Singlehanded Sanders was directed by Charles A. Post, previously the production manager for the Tom Tyler unit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Intrepid low-budget entrepreneur Sol Lesser attempted to recreate the popularity of the silent dog melodramas with this mix of Depression-era mise-en-scene and Grade-Z western tropes. Juvenile runaways Johnnie Diggins (Gene Toler) and Patsy Bolivar (Ruth Sullivan) meet on a freight train bound for Oregon, where the latter has an uncle. Along the way, they are rescued from a couple of lecherous hoboes (one of whom is B-Western perennial Bud Osborne) by another stowaway, Kazan, a handsome German Shepherd, whom they quickly adopt. In the small Oregon community of Wooltown, the trio uncover a scheme by local entrepreneur Dave Brownell to rustle the area's sheep. Brownell, whose own German Shepherd Champo (Prince) is spreading terror in the small community, accuses Kazan of the widespread "sheepicide" and offers a $500 reward for his capture. But aided by Dr. Elliott (Robert Manning), who has fallen in love with Patsy, Johnnie, Patsy and Kazan unmask the real culprit, Champo, whose master is apprehended by Sheriff Henry Dunkinson. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Bedlam is one of the costlier psychological-horror efforts from RKO producer Val (Curse of the Cat People) Lewton. Boris Karloff stars as the supervisor of the notorious 18th century British insane asylum St. Mary's of Bethlehem, better known as "Bedlam." Anna Lee, who co-stars as the feisty mistress of a fatuous government official, is appalled by the miserable treatment afforded the Bedlam inmates and insists that reforms be initiated. The crafty, politically connected Karloff responds by having Lee herself incarcerated in the institution: she is a "willful woman", and therefore must be insane. With the help of a few of the more rational patients, Lee stages a mutiny, capturing Karloff and giving him a mock trial. Though they don't truly intend to harm Karloff, he is seriously injured by one of his tormented patients. Assuming that Karloff is dead, the other inmates wall up his body in the cellar--and as the last brick is put in place, we see Karloff's eyes suddenly open! Though it has it moments of genuine terror, Bedlam is as historically accurate as possible, right down to the archaic dialogue passages. For the most part, the film is an indictment against political corruption, with Karloff (in a terrific, multi-faceted performance) alternately bullying and wheedling to save his own behind. Val Lewton (writing under the pseudonym Carlos Keith) based his film on one of the illustrations in Hogarth's "The Rake's Progress," glimpses of which are seen throughout the film as transitional devices. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Excellent Technicolor photography, principally in the aerial scenes, is the main asset of the cliché-ridden Fighter Squadron. Set in the months just prior to D-Day, the plot zeroes in on Marjor Ed Hardin (Edmond O'Brien) leader of a squadron of fearless combat pilots. In keeping with the conventions of the era, the training and flying sequences are counterbalanced with comic byplay involving wheeler-dealer Sergeant Dolan (Tom D'Andrea), whose flippant attitudes towards the opposite sex are a bit hard to take today. Far more effective is the performance of 15-year-old Jack Larson, making his screen debut in the role of a rookie pilot who grows up in a hurry after scoring his first kill (Larson later gained TV immortality as Jimmy Olsen on Superman). Also making his first screen appearance, in a role so small it isn't even billed, is a former truck driver named Rock Hudson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A made for TV movie in which Valerie Bertinelli portrays Florence Pancho Barnes, a bored socialite who decides to learn to fly. After receiving her pilot's license, even though her ambitions get in the way of her love life, she becomes a stunt pilot, barnstormer, and even forced Howard Hughes to change his mind about unions. Her career spanned such varied activities as racing against Amelia Earhart and training army pilots. Fine portrayal of one of the more interesting of the independent women from the 1920s. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Laramie, WY, is a small town which became infamous overnight in the fall of 1998, when Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was found tied to a fence after being brutally beaten and left to die, setting off a nationwide debate about hate crimes and homophobia. A month after the crime, Moises Kaufman, a writer and director with the New York City theater troupe the Tectonic Theater Project, traveled to Laramie with a handful of actors to interview people who lived in and around Laramie in preparation for an upcoming production; Kaufman's goal was to create a play that focused not on the assault on Matthew Shepard, but on the community where such an attack could happen, and how many of the citizens reacted to the crime. The result was The Laramie Project, which was first performed in early 2000, and was performed in Laramie in the fall of that year, two years after Kaufman and his associates first arrived in the city. The Laramie Project is a film adaptation of Kaufman's play, in which the thoughts and opinions of Laramie residents from all points of the political spectrum are presented alongside re-enacted excerpts from the trials of the two men who attacked Matthew Shepard. Produced for the premium cable network HBO, The Laramie Project was adapted for the screen by Moises Kaufman, who served as both writer and director. The distinguished cast includes Dylan Baker, Steve Buscemi, Peter Fonda, Janeane Garofolo, Laura Linney, Amy Madigan, Camryn Manheim, Christina Ricci, and Frances Sternhagen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Mars is Earth's closest planetary neighbor, and for decades scientists have been curious about the so-called "Red Planet," wondering if it's possible that life exists there, how its soil and terrain differs from our own, and if water can be found. While sending a manned space mission to Mars has been considered beyond the reach of America's space program, in 2001 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration approved a mission to send two "rovers" to Mars -- wheeled robots that would send images and data back to Earth. A two-year crash program resulted in two robotic rovers (dubbed "Spirit" and "Opportunity") being sent to Mars, which have given scientists and researchers on Earth a brand new vision of what the planet is really like. Roving Mars is a documentary which offers a detailed look at the people behind the Mars rover program, how the machines were built and what they can do, and what has been learned since they reached their target. Roving Mars was shot and originally exhibited in the high-definition IMAX film format. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide