John Marley Movies

Young model Jean Dexter is knocked unconscious and drowned in her own bathtub in her Manhattan apartment, and a lot of jewelry that she supposedly owned is missing. The Naked City is actually about six days in the life of New York City that coincide with the murder and the subsequent investigation by Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and Detective James Halloran (Don Taylor). The account of their work, and the workings of the New York City police department, is interspersed with brief vignettes about the life of the city around them, and, especially, the reaction of residents to the murder and the newspaper reports of the progress of the case. Muldoon and Halloran first must determine why she was killed, which may (or may not) have to do with how a woman with a minimal income came by the jewelry -- was it a love affair gone bad (and if so, with whom?), or something more complex and sinister? Retracing the final 18 months of the victim's life, their investigation reaches out to a mysterious "Philip Henderson" with whom she was supposedly linked romantically, and to Frank Niles (Howard Duff), who's a little too fast-and-loose with the truth when he doesn't have to be to make Muldoon comfortable; to make things more complicated, Muldoon determines that there were at least two men involved with the actual commission of the murder. The victim turns out to have led a wild life, filled with men and parties, and was tied up with several sordid figures. Their investigation carries them into the highest and lowest ends of New York's social strata to find the killer, and it turns out there are a lot of interlocking reasons why at least three men might've wanted her dead. In the process, we get glimpses of the private lives of the detectives, which was something new in movies at this time; in the midst of all of this activity, the writers set up a fascinating contrast, in adjacent scenes, between Halloran, his wife, and their young son looking toward the future, with the parents of the dead woman, looking back with bitter regret and recriminations -- no movie ever presented in more subtle fashion the contrast between the zeitgeist of the 1930s and that of the postwar era. The final chase on the Williamsburg Bridge is one of the classic pieces of suspense cinema, as the armed and desperate killer races up the walkway past children playing and adults strolling, while detectives close in on foot from behind and patrol cars come up from ahead, with crowded subways rolling past, and then into the superstructure of the bridge for a stand-off and shootout. Sharp-eyed viewers will spot future character leads Paul Ford, James Gregory, John Marley, Kathleen Freeman, and Arthur O'Connell as well as familiar faces Tom Pedi, John Randolph, Molly Picon, and Walter Burke in the supporting cast. Cinematographer William Daniels and editor Paul Weatherwax won Oscars for their work, but awards might just as easily have been presented to director Jules Dassin, writers Albert Maltz and Malvin Wald, composers Miklos Rozsa and Frank Skinner, and, most notably, to producer/narrator Mark Hellinger, who intoned the closing monologue, which opens with one of the most famous tag lines in movie history: "There are eight million stories in the Naked City." ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Broderick Crawford plays Johnny Damico, a detective who suddenly finds himself up to his neck in trouble and his career on the line. Going home in the rain one night, he finds himself just a few feet from a shooting on a dark street, where the gunman claims to be a detective from another precinct, flashing a real badge -- and then slipping away. Damico discovers that the victim of the shooting was a witness who was to have appeared before a grand jury investigating waterfront crime, and that the same man who shot him also murdered the chief investigator on the case just a few hours earlier (which is where the badge came from). Damico could lose his job, but instead he's given the chance to redeem himself -- he's sent undercover and given a new identity as New Orleans tough-guy Tim Flynn, who insinuates himself onto the New York waterfront when he arrives on ship. He manages to hook up with union thug Joe Castro (Ernest Borgnine) and his strong-arm man Gunner (Neville Brand), who try to frame him for a murder that also gets a potential stoolie out of the way and that hooks Damico up with crooked police sergeant Bennion. After following one blind alley involving a federal agent (Richard Kiley) working as a longshoreman, Damico manages to get an intro to Blackie Clegg (Matt Crowley), the man working behind Castro, Gunner, et al, who's as cool and slippery as they come and as sadistic as he is vengeful. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Coley Wallace plays the title role in The Joe Louis Story. Told in flashback, the film recounts the pugilistic career of "the Brown Bomber" from the early 1930s to his misguided comeback attempt opposite Rocky Marciano in 1951. The film's high point is Louis' defeat of Germany's Max Schmeling; its low point (dramatically, not quality-wise) is the breakup of Louis's marriage. Evidently for legal reasons, most of the character names in the film are fictional. Many of the fight scenes are culled from footage of the real Louis in action. Though the "race" angle in The Joe Louis Story is downplayed, Louis is treated on an equal par with the white characters, which resulted in the film being banned in certain Southern regions back in 1953. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this suspenseful detective yarn, an insurance investigator finds himself unbearably bored by his routine life and decides to become a criminal. Following the robbery he engineers, he begins to investigate the theft himself. Unfortunately, he is trailed by a determined railroad cop, a dear friend who remains professional despite the mixed emotions he feels. The film is the feature debut of TV actor Jack Klugman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this variation on the Sasquatch legend, little Davey Morris (Dennis Holmes) suddenly shows up after missing from his home for several days. Davey's dad (Fred Beir) refuses to believe the boy's claim that he has been in the company of a huge, friendly beast. How then, can Mr. Morris explain those gigantic footprints near the house. . .or that strange animal odor in the smokehouse, where several sides of beef have had huge chunks torn from them? A classic "Val Lewton" ending caps this fact-based episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Little Egypt" is what they call the town of Morraine, Illinois, which is ruled with an iron hand by Major Charlie Byron, a former military officer turned mob boss. Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) sends his fellow "Untouchable" Cam Allison (Anthony George) undercover to get the goods on Byron, and to send messages back to Chicago via carrier pigeon. Meanwhile, exotic dancer Hazel Stanley (Susan Cummings) is ordered by Byron's flunkeys to play up to Allison to see if he can be trusted--and in the process, she finds herself falling for the big lug. Majel Barrett of Star Trek fame appears unbilled as a waitress in this episode, which was loosely based on the life of Charlie Birger, the last gangster to be hanged in the state of Illinois. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Washed out of an upcoming Moon project, civilian astronaut Mitchell Heller (Robert Bray) has plenty of reason to despise the man responsible, Maj. Gen. Addison Brand (a pre-stardom James Coburn). Not only has Heller stolen his job and his girlfriend, but he also may have swiped an invention on which Heller has been working for years. Thus, when Brand is murdered, the police think that Heller is the culprit. In his efforts to clear Heller, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) immerses himself in the brave new world of Astronautics--while a reluctant Paul Drake (William Hopper) participates in a simulated space-capsule flight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comical farce is a lighthearted lampoon of Wall Street and the vibrant trading and selling on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Henry Tyroon (James Garner) is the chameleonic broker who changes his colors and ethical standards to fit every deal. Molly (Lee Remick) is the novice trader competing in a largely male profession who catches Henry's eye. Her boss is Bullard Bear (Jim Backus), the slick financial veteran Henry runs up against. Chill Wills, Phil Harris, and Charles Watts are the Texas triumvirate who play their parts of super rich good old boys to the pinnacle of stereotypical eccentricity. John Astin is the vigilant government agent just dying to uncover some dirt and blow the whistle at the slightest hint of impropriety. Louis Nye plays an abstract artist who wishes to expand his stock portfolio. Plenty of jabs are taken at Wall Street, Madison Avenue and idle rich blue bloods at the mercy of unscrupulous opportunists. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Victor Jory stars as veteran police officer Paul Reardon, who vows to avenge the murder of his rookie-cop son, Philip (Peter Brown). Although ordered by the higher-ups to lay off, Paul is determined to bring drug kingpin Herbie Lane (Lawrence Tierney), the man responsible for Peter's death in a shoot-out, to justice. In fact, Paul will go to any length to settle accounts with Herbie -- even if his efforts kill both men. This 300th episode of Alfred Hitchcock's popular TV anthology is also the final episode of the series' eighth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmmaker Elia Kazan based America, America on the early life of his Greek-immigrant uncle. Stavros Topouzoglow is the young immigrant, whose starry-eyed impressions of America are soon compromised by reality. Despite the casual cruelties, betrayals, and career setbacks, Stavros forms strong and lasting friendships which help him weather the worst. An Oscar went to the painstakingly accurate art direction of Gene Callahan. Despite moments that are not suitable for children, America, America won a rare "bell-ringer" rating from the high-school oriented Scholastic magazines back in 1963; in the years since, it has become a stalwart of the American Movie Classics cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Defense lawyer Ned Murray (Martin Landau) is certain that he has made a name for himself by getting his client Lew Rydell (Frank Gorshin) acquitted on a murder charge. Later on, however, Lew mockingly informs Ned that he was actually guilty of the crime -- and under the rule of double jeopardy, he cannot be prosecuted twice for the same crime. Motivated by both guilt and the fear that he will be ruined if the truth comes out, Ned tries to figure out a way to bring Rydell to justice. But, as things turn out, the lawyer is placed in the unenviable position of saving Lew's life all over again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

New York newspaperman Ned Travis (Claude Akins) tracks down Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) in hopes of getting the "real story" of what happened at Bitter Creek. Under normal circumstances, McCord would like nothing better than to reveal the truth and clear himself of the charge of cowardice. But this proves uniquely difficult when McCord comes face to face with Sue Pritchett (June Lockhart), the widow of Jason's former commanding officer. This episode was directed by B-picture veteran Joseph H. Lewis, whose films include such cult favorites as The Big Combo and Terror in a Texas Town. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide