Kerwin Mathews Movies
American actor (and ex-teacher) Kerwin Mathews was but one of many handsome contract players at Columbia Pictures when, in 1957, he was thrust into the title role in Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. Mathews managed to assert his engaging personality into the proceedings even with the formidable competition of Ray Harryhausen's eye-popping special effects. Mathews went on to star in another Harryhausen opus, Three Worlds of Gulliver (1961), and also headlined the Harryhausen "wannabe" film Jack the Giant Killer (1962). After playing Johann Strauss Jr. in the Disney-produced The Waltz King (1962), Kerwin Mathews had trouble sustaining his stardom; his later films were along the lines of Battle Beneath the Earth (1968) and Nightmare in Blood (1978). He died in July 2007 at age 81. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1958
A soldier is expected to never question the actions of his commanding officer, but when a Marine sees his CO breaking the law, he finds himself facing a difficult dilemma in this provocative war drama. The trouble begins when the officer kills another soldier during a battle. The Marine who witnesses it wants to report it, but fears that the other superior officers will not believe him. As the battles rage on, the officer and the Marine are frequently paired; the tension between the two mounts. Things get really sticky when the CO marries the Marine's sister and the Marine falls for the slain man's widow. Just before the Marine files formal charges, the CO ends up dying in battle. It seems to be a heroic death. As the story ends, a general, preparing to award the officer a posthumous Medal of Honor, asks the Marine about him. The Marine cryptically quips, "Nobody knows anybody...." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kerwin Mathews, Julie Adams, (more)
Vincent Sherman replaced an uncredited Robert Aldrich as director of this noirish and atypically pro-union film from the 1950's. Tulio Renata (Robert Loggia), an organizer for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, campaigns to unionize the employees of dress factory owner Walter Mitchell (Lee J. Cobb). Viscerally opposed to the union, Mitchell has hired Artie Ravidge (Richard Boone) to thwart Renata's efforts. In a complex oedipal sub-plot, Walter's son Alan (Kerwin Matthews) returns home and joins the firm following the suspicious death of his father's partner. Alan is more sympathetic to the union and attempts to persuade his father to sign a contract. Only after Ravidge kills Renata, and the elder Mitchell finally admits to himself that Ravidge is a thug who also killed his partner, does he agree to negotiate with the union. Before he can do so, however, he, too, is murdered by Ravidge's goons. It is then left to Alan, increasingly involved with Renata's widow Theresa (Gia Scala), to run the business, bring Ravidge to justice, and settle with the union. Similar to Herbert Biberman's Salt of the Earth (1954) in its overt support of the labor movement, The Garment Jungle is clearly a liberal, not a radical, film. Rather than advocate class warfare, it asserts that honest unions and decent capitalists can work together honorably. The film's real fire is found in the personal conflicts between Tulio and Theresa and Walter and Alan. Cobb, Loggia, and Scala perform with intense and multi-dimensional passion. Particularly noteworthy is Theresa's fury at her husband for taking excessive, and ultimately fatal, risks. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee J. Cobb, Kerwin Mathews, (more)
- 1955
In this film noir, five college students laughingly devise a perfect plan for robbing a casino in Reno. At first they do it just to pass the time, but one of them is deeply in debt and becoming increasingly distraught about it. He successfully cajoles his peers into carrying through with their plans. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Madison, Kim Novak, (more)
