Richard Monda Movies
When prison psychiatrist Bill Chrushank (Jeff Fahey) loses an arm in a car accident, he receives a revolutionary new transplant from an unknown donor, who is later discovered to have been a recently-executed psycho-killer. During his recovery, Bill is tormented by violent nightmares and aggressive new impulses -- and his limb seems to have developed a malevolent will of its own, acting independently and lashing out beyond his control. He eventually discovers that an artist named Remo Lacey (Brad Dourif) -- whose work is influenced by the same nightmares -- is the recipient of the killer's other arm. Before long, the same donor's legs turn up on yet another man, who harbors the same violent mood swings... and the inevitable "reunion" culminates in a violent, gory finale. Written and directed by Eric Red (based on the novel Choice Cuts by Pierre Boileau & Thomas Narcejac), this is a stylish and tightly-paced film (the harrowing car chase is a definite nail-biter), but the ball is sadly dropped by a weak script that discards the twisted potential of its premise (is the donor arm influencing Chrushank's mind, or vice versa?), lapsing instead into standard slasher-think. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Fahey, Lindsay Duncan, (more)
- 1958
George Nader plays a reporter whose career is ruined by liquor. A comeback opportunity presents itself when Nader is a bystander at the arrest of a well-known criminal. The reporter knows that the crook, who has been accused of an ambush murder, is innocent, and he sets about to collar the real killer. Nader goes "cold turkey" on the booze despite tempations at every turn, and gets his man. Appointment with a Shadow is one of a handful of films directed by onetime I Led 3 Lives star Richard Carlson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Nader, Joanna Moore, (more)
- 1957
In this tense murder mystery, a San Francisco traffic officer vows to find the killer of the kindly priest who raised him. Unfortuantely, his superiors assign the case to others. Angrily the cop quits the force and launches his own investigation. The cop's prime suspect is the priest's best friend. When this friend invites the cop to live with him and his lovely cousin, the cop accepts, hoping that he can prove the friend's innocence. Sure enough, the priest's friend is innocent. Relieved, the cop begins a romance with the cousin that culminates in their marriage. It is then that a terrible secret is revealed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Marisa Pavan, (more)
- 1953
Eddie Cantor, beloved "banjo eyed" entertainer who conquered stage, films, radio and television, is given the Hollywood biopic treatment in this largely uninvolving film. Cantor is portrayed by Keefe Brasselle, a minor nightclub performer of the 1950s who couldn't hope to come within shouting distance of Cantor's appeal. The storyline charts Cantor's professional progress, from the lower East Side boyhood to his ascendancy as star of The Ziegfeld Follies. It also chronicles his enduring marriage to wife Ida (Marilyn Erskine). Surprisingly shortchanged in the film was Cantor's humanitarian work (primarily on behalf of the March of Dimes and various Jewish causes); instead, screen time is wasted on Aline MacMahon, as lachrymose as possible in the role of Eddie's grandmother, and Jackie Barnett, giving a gosh-awful performance as Jimmy Durante. At the beginning and end of the film, the real Eddie and Ida Cantor appear, ostensibly to watch the unspooling of The Eddie Cantor Story in a Warner Bros. screening room. At the fade-out, Eddie turns to Ida and says "I've never been so happy in my life." Now that was great acting! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keefe Brasselle, Marilyn Erskine, (more)
