Alberto Morin Movies

Anthony Quinn plays Matsoukas, a Greek/American ne'er do well, living in Chicago with his long-suffering wife Caliope (Irene Papas). When Matsoukas discovers that his son (Radames Pera) is dying, he decides that the boy needs to get out of the Windy City and recuperate in the more agreeable climate of Greece. All he needs is the money for the plane fare. One by one, Matsoukas' sources of income dry up until he is forced to fix a dice game in order to raise the cash. It is his wife who finally puts up the money by stealing from her own mother. Matsoukas makes the trip but realizes it would be better if he remain in Greece so as not to further humiliate the loyal Caliope. Inger Stevens co-stars as Quinn's mistress, while Sam Levene plays an old pal whose offer to put up the needed money evaporates when he suddenly drops dead. A Dream of Kings was adapted by Harry Mark Petrakis from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With Adam-12 temporarily out of commission, Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) are temporarily assigned to "The Beast", the oldest and least reliable vehicle in the department. Not only does "The Beast" spew out dangerous pollutants wherever it travels, but the old heap also continually breaks down as Jim and Pete struggle manfully to answer their calls. This evening's case log includes a run-in with a beautiful woman (played by The Beverly Hillbillies' former "Elly May" Donna Douglas) who proves to be nothing but trouble. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An Affair to Remember, director Leo McCarey's scene-for-scene remake of his own 1939 film Love Affair, isn't really an improvement on the original, but it's equally as enjoyable. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, high-profile types both engaged to be married to other people, meet and fall in love during an ocean voyage. To test the depth of their commitment to each other, Grant and Kerr promise that, if they're still in love at the end of six months, they will meet again at the top of the Empire State Building. Clips from An Affair to Remember were used as "reference points" throughout the 1993 romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle, which likewise concluded atop the Empire State Building. Disproving the theory that "Third Time's the Charm," Warren Beatty attempted to remake Affair to Remember, again titled Love Affair, in 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Three years after the second Thin Man entry, MGM brought back the property by popular demand with Another Thin Man. As ever, William Powell and Myrna Loy star as sophisticated sleuths Nick and Nora Charles, with the added filip of 8-month-old Nick Charles Jr. At the invitation of munitions manufacturer Colonel MacFay (C. Aubrey Smith), the Charleses spend a weekend at MacFay's Long Island estate. The Colonel is certain that his shady ex-business associate Phil Church (Sheldon Leonard) plans to do him harm, a prognostication that apparently comes true when murder rears its ugly head. Though he's promised to cut down on his drinking (after all, he's a daddy now), Nick spends an inordinate amount of time sorting out the clues and identifying the actual murderer-who, of course, is the least likely suspect (and in fact is played by an actor who seldom if ever harmed a fly in any other film). Adding to the merry mayhem is the Charleses' efforts to find a good baby-sitter, resulting in an onslaught of "help"-and additional babies!--courtesy of Nick's old Underworld cronies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Vincente Blasco Ibanez, Blood and Sand is the beautifully rendered story of the rise and fall of a young, cocksure Spanish bullfighter, played by Tyrone Power. Working his way slowly up the ladder to success, Power achieves fame when he is praised to skies by fatuous, fickle critic Laird Cregar. A country boy at heart, Power finds himself way over his head with sophisticates, and is soon torn between his pious and faithful wife Linda Darnell and sexy, mercenary Rita Hayworth. It is Darnell, however, who comforts Power after his final, fatal goring in the bull ring. The film's best scenes depict the curious combination of horror and fascination with which bullfighting aficionados treat this most barbaric of "sports." Blood and Sand was previously filmed in 1922 with Rudolph Valentino; a Valentino contemporary, Alla Nazimova, plays Power's mother in the remakes. Portions of this film turned up as stock footage in the 1945 Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most beloved American films, this captivating wartime adventure of romance and intrigue from director Michael Curtiz defies standard categorization. Simply put, it is the story of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a world-weary ex-freedom fighter who runs a nightclub in Casablanca during the early part of WWII. Despite pressure from the local authorities, notably the crafty Capt. Renault (Claude Rains), Rick's café has become a haven for refugees looking to purchase illicit letters of transit which will allow them to escape to America. One day, to Rick's great surprise, he is approached by the famed rebel Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) and his wife, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), Rick's true love who deserted him when the Nazis invaded Paris. She still wants Victor to escape to America, but now that she's renewed her love for Rick, she wants to stay behind in Casablanca. "You must do the thinking for both of us," she says to Rick. He does, and his plan brings the story to its satisfyingly logical, if not entirely happy, conclusion. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

John Wayne toplines this biography of the cattle owner John Simpson Chisum, a controversial figure who was the most powerful man in New Mexico during the Wild West era. A founder and prominent citizen in the town of Lincoln, Chisum is slow to act when ruthless land baron Lawrence Murphy (Forrest Tucker) moves in on several local businesses and takes them over. By the time Chisum and his ally, fellow rancher Henry Tunstall (Patrick Knowles), decide to go to the law, Murphy's already bought and paid for influence there, as well. The only recourse left to the cattlemen is to take Murphy on in all-out range war that embroils everyone in the county, including Tunstall's hand Billy the Kid Bonney (Geoffrey Deuel) and his comrade Pat Garrett (Glenn Corbett). Screenwriter and producer Andrew J. Fenady based the script for Chisum (1970) on his own short story, a very loosely fact-based account of Chisum, Billy the Kid and their involvement in the Lincoln County wars. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

That new-fangled swing music is the focus of this musical comedy. The trouble begins when a music school dean boards a train to meet her husband the symphony conductor. En route she meets Harry James, the big band leader. She is deeply impressed by the swingin' beat of the new music. It becomes her newest passion. Unfortunately, back at her school, her superiors do not share her enthusiasm and she is fired. She remains determined to introduce the kids to the new sound. She and James team up to perform the music on campus. Songs include: "As If I Didn't Have Enough on My Mind," "I Didn't Mean a Word I Said," "Moonlight Propaganda," and "Do You Love Me?" ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Twixt and tween his Dick Tracy movies, Ralph Byrd plays a Foreign Legionnaire in Drums of the Desert. Byrd and his pal Peter George Lynn alternately fight off the Riffs and fight each other over the affections of lovely Lorna Gray. Gee...we always thought that people joined the Foreign Legion to forget women. Monogram's resident black comedian Mantan Moreland is on hand for his usual impeccably timed (albeit politically incorrect) comedy routines. Drums of the Desert was directed by veteran actionmeister George Waggner, long before he began billing himself as "George WaGGner." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this family-style comedy, the trouble begins when a good father loses his job at the local newspaper when the publication is taken over by a major syndicate. To support his brood, he becomes a photographer. Meanwhile his son pursues his own hobby as a ham radio operator. When an enormous forest fire erupts nearby, both father and son find their occupations coming in mighty handy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, Deke Gentry (Kirk Douglas) is a lawyer who gets an unusual assignment from Chloe Brasher (Thelma Ritter), a wealthy widow, owner of a successful hotel chain, and one of his most prominent clients. Chloe has three daughters, sensible Kate (Mitzi Gaynor), bohemian Jan (Leslie Parrish), and heath food fanatic Bonnie (Julie Newmar), and she wants Deke to find them husbands. Though Deke protests that matchmaking is outside his traditional area of expertise, Chloe is insistent, and he ends up taking the job. To be sure that he's going through with it, Chloe assigns her security chief Joe (William Bendix) to keep his eye on Deke. Eventually, Deke fixes up Bonnie with Harvey Wofford (Richard Sargent), a meek IRS agent, and pairs Jan with artist Sam Travis (William Windom), but Kate turns out to be the hardest Brasher sister to marry off, until he throws his own hat into the ring. Richard Sargent would later shorten his first name to Dick and find success on the popular television comedy Bewitched. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls is a romantic drama set against the turbulent tapestry of the Spanish Civil War. Gary Cooper plays Robert Jordan, an idealistic American fighting with a Spanish guerilla band. He is assigned to blow up a crucial bridge in order to halt the enemy's progress. He falls in love with Maria (Ingrid Bergman), a young peasant girl who's joined the fight after being ill-used by enemy troops. Pablo (Akim Tamiroff), the eternally drunken leader of the guerillas, resents Jordan's attentions toward Maria, and he refuses to help Jordan in his sabotage work. Pablo's wife Pilar (Oscar-winner Katina Paxinou) takes over command of the guerillas and helps Jordan by arranging horses for the band's departure after their job is done. The man supplying the horses (Joseph Calleia) is killed, and Jordan is left to finish his task minus a means to escape. For Whom the Bell Tolls was a long, faithful adaptation of the Hemingway novel, with excellent performances, torrid love scenes, and first-rate Technicolor photography. Available for many years only in the 130-minute reissue version, it was restored to nearly its full original length of 168 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide