Patricia Medina Movies

Godzilla maven Inoshiro Honda helmed this quaint, old-fashioned fantasy adventure (loosely styled after 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) about the crew of a damaged deep-sea craft who are taken aboard a high-tech atomic submarine dubbed "Alpha," commanded by the Nemo-like Captain McKenzie Joseph Cotten. The Captain then transports them to the underwater city of Latitude Zero, whose inhabitants are dedicated to monitoring and protecting human civilization. Cotten's next mission involves the rescue of a Japanese doctor from the clutches of the diabolical Dr. Malic Cesar Romero, whose scientific experiments include the transplanting of human brains into various animals. Mindless fun, with some marginally effective underwater model effects, and Honda even throws in a few giant rubber-suit monsters for old times' sake. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Patricia Medina guest stars as Dr. Karen Miller, who has become an outcast on the frontier by virtue of her profession and her foreign birthplace. During a diptheria epidemic, Dr. Miller numbers among her patients another "outcast", namely ex-Army officer Jason McCord (Chuck Connors). As Jason struggles to recover from his illness, he decides to help Dr. Miller gain acceptance from the hostile settlers by acting as guinea pig for a new, untested serum. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Pursued into the desert by bandits, Paladin (Richard Boone) encounters a poverty-stricken, weak-willed Mexican potter named Machado (Al Ruscio) and his beautiful but bitchy young wife Sabina (Patricia Medina). Deeply resenting both her husband and her standard of living, Sabina harbors dreams of wealth and luxury--and becomes convinced that Paladin will lead her to those intangibles. First, however, the three wanderers must survive their inevitable showdown with those bandits. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this family-oriented comedy, Snow White is taken to the woods to be killed at the behest of her evil stepmother and ends up abandoned and alone. Fortunately she stumbles across a charming cottage inhabited by the Three Stooges, and comical fairy-tale chaos ensues. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

This routine drama is helped by good acting and well-known stars like Rossano Brazzi as an unfaithful French husband, Deborah Kerr as his faithful English wife, and Maurice Chevalier as the uncle who goes to bat for his nephew's loosely held views of marriage. What does not help the story is the viewpoint that the husband is right and deserves to be forgiven. The setting starts out during World War II when Charles-Edouard (Brazzi), an air force pilot, falls in love with Grace (Kerr), the daughter of an English parliamentarian. The two marry and Grace gives birth to their son Sigi (Martin Stephens) nine months later. Nine years later, Grace discovers that her husband has cultivated a string of paramours when he was a war-zone pilot in Southeast Asia and North Africa. The two argue and split. And while Sigi at first appreciates the added attention he gets during the turmoil, he later has his doubts. Between his actions and Charles-Edouard's uncle, Grace does not stand a chance. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Although the trial of young Theodore Balfour (Tyler MacDuff), who was accused of killing his father Lawrence (Bruce Bennett), had ended in a hung jury, Theodore's lawyer had advised him to plead to the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. Outraged that Theodore seems to have been railroaded into prison, his grandfather Addison (Richard Hale) asks Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) to reopen the case, clear the boy, and expose the real killer. This episode is based on a 1957 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Patricia Medina makes her first series appearance as Diana Coulter, an imperious British aristocrat who has come west to stay at her brother's ranch in Shiprock, Arizona. Hiring Paladin (Richard Boone) as her escort, Diana arrives in Shiprock only to find that her brother and his family have been slaughtered by hostile Comanches. Now Paladin must prevent the same fate from befalling Diana--but is he motivated by gallantry or love (even though the lady in question is hardly what one could call lovable)? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, two prospectors search the Colorado Territory for precious radioactive metal. They find large deposits and become rich men. Unfortunately, their friendship almost disintegrates after they fall in love with the same sexy woman. She pits them against each other. Fortunately, their mutual sense of loyalty and honor kicks in just before they dissolve their lucrative partnership. In the end, they both dump the troublesome lady and return to their work. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Action specialist William Witney was the director of the leisurely, sensitive western Stranger at My Door. MacDonald Carey plays a frontier minister, who much against the wishes of his wife and child invites a fugitive outlaw (Skip Homeier) into his home. At first the outlaw takes advantage of Carey's largesse, but gradually feels the effect of the minister's kindness and altruism. This film has frequently been excerpted into TV documentaries on the basis of one single sequence: a beautifully staged confrontation with a wild, rampaging horse. The split-second editing and the undetectable combination of fact and artifice results in a superb setpiece which arguably represents William Witney's finest work. Stranger at My Door was scripted by Barry Shipman, the son of pioneering female producer/director Nell Shipman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Paul Henreid was light-years removed from Now Voyager and Casablanca when he starred in the Columbia costume cheapie Pirates of Tripoli. Henreid is cast as Edri-Al-Gadrian, a bold buccaneer who comes to the rescue of Princess Karjan (Patricia Medina). Much of the action footage is culled from earlier Columbia pirate epics, which explains the variety of costumes worn by the good and bad guys. Despite his reduced surroundings, Henreid seems to be having more fun than usual in his role. The remainder of the cast is comprised of such B-flick regulars as Paul "Tiny" Newland, John Miljan and William Fawcett, the latter eschewing his standard grizzled-old-propector characterization to portray a grizzled old street beggar. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

19th century Louisiana is the setting for Duel on the Mississippi. Patricia Medina stars as Lili Scarlet, a vengeful Creole girl who masterminds a series of pirate raids on the local plantations. To cover up her perfidy, Lili operates a lavish gambling ship, and it is here that aristocratic Jules Tulane (John Dehner) runs up a huge debt. As "security", Jules' son Andre (Lex Barker) turns himself over to Lili as a sort of bond slave. It doesn't take long for Andre and Lili to fall in love, much to the dismay of her knife-wielding paramour Hugo Marat (Warren Stevens). The titular duel between Andre and Hugo, fought with machetes, is the film's most exciting sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Warner Bros.' followup to its 3D hit House of Wax, Phantom of the Rue Morgue bears only the slightest resemblance to its alleged inspiration, the Edgar Allan Poe mystery yarn Murders in the Rue Morgue. Karl Malden delivers one of the hammiest performances on record as mad scientist Dr. Marais, who uses a trained gorilla to exact revenge on those who've wronged him. At the top of Marais' hit list are the many beautiful women who've spurned his advances, including such French pastries as Yvonne (Allyn McLerie), Arlette (Veola Vonn) and Camille (Dolores Dorn). Each of these unfortunate ladies have been given bracelets decorated with bells, designed to attract the homicidal ape's attention. Psychology professor Paul Dupin (Steve Forrest) conducts a private investigation of the killings, only to be arrested for the murders himself by the supremely confident (and rather dense) Inspector Bonnard (Claude Dauphin). This leaves Dupin's sweetheart Jeanette (Patricia Medina) virtually defenseless when she is targetted for extermination by Doc Marais. Outside of such incidental pleasures as seeing Merv Griffin play a French medical student, Phantom of the Rue Morgue offers a vast array of unsubtle 3D "shock" effects, which come off as hilarious when the film is shown "flat" (as it always is these days). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi