Bill Nagy Movies
Born in Canada, actor Bill Nagy spent the bulk of his career in England...playing Americans. He was particularly adept at gangsters and thugs, as witness such films as Joe MacBeth (1956) and Mickey Spillane's The Girl Hunters (1963) and his TV guest-star stints on The Avengers, The Saint, and Secret Agent. Nagy had a varied choice of roles in British/American productions like Road to Hong Kong (1962), A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) and The Adding Machine in Hong Kong...er, The Adding Machine (1968). In First Man into Space (1957), Nagy convincingly played a New Mexico police chief, although the film's British countryside was decidedly more forrested than the real American Southwest. In a later sci-fi assignment, Nagy played the President of a quasi-American nation where reproduction is a capital crime in the futuristic Z P G (1972). Perhaps the biggest moneymaking film with which Bill Nagy was associated was Goldfinger; as Midnight, Nagy was a member of a powerful gangster cartel which was inhospitably rubbed out by the villainous Mr. Goldfinger (Gert Frobe). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A vicious murderer suffers amnesia and his psychiatrist finds his brain waves indicative of violent tendencies. After he escapes and kidnaps the doctor, police follow and soon uncover evidence of gangsters and drug smuggling. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1955
It took nerve to transpose Shakespeare's Macbeth into a 1930s gangster story using "tough guy" jargon, but Joe Macbeth very nearly pulls the trick off successfully. Paul Douglas plays Joe MacBeth, a successful mobster whose wife (Ruth Roman) has ambitions to be even more successful. Mrs. MacBeth talks her husband into killing his boss while the two of them are swimming, and when Joe timorously leaves the knife behind, his wife dives in after the weapon. Now near the top of the heap, Joe begins to believe that everyone is out to get him. He kills his best pal Banky, whose ghost shows up a banquet later that night (Joe dispenses with Shakespeare's iambic pentameter by shouting "What is this? A gag?") As Joe deteriorates, his wife goes crazy, screaming "Joe! There's blood on my hands!" in her sleep. Both Joe and his wife are killed in a shootout with rival gangsters. Straining to create suitable counterparts for the Shakespearian characters in 20th century Chicago -- the three witches are sidewalk peddlers, while Hecate is a sandwich-board man -- Joe Macbeth veers towards the laughable at times; but the basic story has been a good one for nearly 500 years now, so Joe Macbeth succeeds as often as it falters. Incidentally, despite the American characters and Chicagoland setting, Joe Macbeth was filmed in England, with principally British supporting actors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Douglas, Ruth Roman, (more)
- 1955
In this crime drama, an author disbelieves a police report that states that his former friend, the town alcoholic, died of heart failure during a brawl at the local nightclub. In the end it is the killer's diabetes that gives him away. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Filmed on location in Africa, Mark of the Hawk stars Sidney Poitier as a London-educated African who returns to his homeland to take a political post. Poitier's brother Clinton Macklin is in charge of a rebel organization, determine to topple the white-dominated government. Poitier must choose between seeking out racial equality through peaceful means, or casting his lot with Macklin: it is (at least in this film) a struggle of Right against Right. Eartha Kitt is top-billed, but her role is decidedly secondary to Poitier's. Released in Britain as Accused, Mark of the Hawk has been retitled Shaka Zulu on video, though it should not be confused with the 1985 TV miniseries of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eartha Kitt, Sidney Poitier, (more)
- 1957
In this WW II espionage drama, a secret agent must simultaneously capture a notorious spy out to steal highly classified information, and deal with his meddlesome girl friend who inadvertently botches his mission. After that fiasco, many years pass and the girl friend is a fashion reporter at a new show. There, the spy is masquerading as a waiter. The two old flames meet and rekindle their affair. This time, the woman is a real asset in capturing the enemy spy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A Graham Greene novel was the basic source for the British psychological melodrama Across the Bridge. Rod Steiger plays Carl Schaffner, a prominent financier who has absconded with company funds. A genius at improvisation, he plans to elude the authorities by murdering Paul Scarff (Bill Nagy) and assuming the dead man's identity. Upon arriving in Mexico, however, Schaffner learns to his chagrin that Scarff was himself an even more notorious fugitive from justice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, David Knight, (more)
- 1957
A rugged, isolated island off the coast of Nova Scotia provides the setting for this drama. Much of the island is owned by one person, the other inhabitants, primarily lobster fishermen, rent from him. One of the lobster men begins romancing the wealthy owner's daughter and marries her. After the wedding, the bride is disturbed to learn that her hubby is a compulsive gambler who quickly squanders their small savings. The impoverished couple has no choice but to leave the island and live on the mainland. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Sylvester, Michael Craig, (more)
- 1958
If official documentation didn't exist, we'd never believe a fantastic yarn like I Was Monty's Double. Actor M.E. Clifton James plays himself, a British stock-company actor who becomes an unsung hero during World War II. It seems that James, serving his country as a junior officer, is the exact double of General Montgomery. Major John Mills trains James to impersonate Montgomery to the last detail, then sends the actor on a tour of North Africa, the better to divert the German's attentions away from the real "Monty." Based on James' own written reminiscences, I Was Monty's Double was released in the U.S. under the baffling title Hell, Heaven or Hoboken! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Cecil Parker, (more)
- 1959
A full thirty years before Look Who's Talking would hit the screens with its verbose little infant, Max Bygraves and Shirley Jones starred in this routine comedy about a talking baby. Little Bobbikins (Steven Stocker) is the 14-month-old son of Benjamin and Betty (Bygraves and Jones) who is perfectly normal until his father comes home from his stint in the Navy and decides to reprise a career in show business. When nothing seems to go right for him, little Bobbikins decides to give Dad a few helpful hints. He never talks to anyone else, and this leads others to think his father is hearing things. Soon the baby gives some hot tips when his Dad becomes friends with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, leading to a killing on the stock market. Now rich and definitely affected by it, this new Dad has baby wondering if there is something he could do to bring him back down to earth again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max Bygraves, Shirley Jones, (more)
- 1959
Filmed not long after the launch of Russia's Sputnik satellite, First Man Into Space benefited from a surface realism made possible by enhanced public knowledge of space-travel jargon and paraphernalia. Dashing astronaut Lt. Dan Prescott (Bill Edwards) disappears from view when his experimental spacecraft vanishes in a mysterious cloud. The space capsule returns to Earth, covered in a bizarre extraterrestrial coating. Shortly thereafter, a hulking, half-human creature raids a blood bank, killing the nurse on duty and gulping down the supplies. More bizarre, unexplained events occur before Prescott's older brother Cmdr. C.E. Prescott (Marshall Thompson) concludes that the monster is actually his missing brother, transformed by his experiences in space into a mutant, vampiric beast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marshall Thompson, Marla Landi, (more)
The economy of the teeny-tiny European duchy of Grand Fenwick is threatened when an American manufacturer comes up with an imitation of Fenwick's sole export, its fabled wine. Crafty prime minister Count Mountjoy (Peter Sellers) comes up with a plan: Grand Fenwick will declare war on the United States. Grand Duchess Gloriana (Peter Sellers again) is hesitant: how can meek little Grand Fenwick win such a conflict? Mountjoy explains that the plan is to lose the war, then rely upon American foreign aid to replenish Grand Fenwick's treasury. Bumbling military officer Tully Bascombe (Peter Sellers yet again) leads his country's ragtag army into battle. They cross the Atlantic in an ancient wooden vessel, then set foot on Manhattan Island, fully prepared to down weapons and surrender. But New York City is deserted, due to an air raid drill. While wandering around, Sellers comes upon atomic scientist David Kossoff and the scientist's pretty daughter Jean Seberg. Kossoff has been working on the deadly "Q Bomb," a football-sized weapon with the destructive capacity of a hundred hydrogen bombs. Suddenly seized with patriotic fervor, Tully captures Kossoff, his daughter and the bomb and brings them all back to Grand Fenwick. Tully has "won" the war-precisely what he'd been told not to do. The upshot of this "victory" is that every world power converges upon Grand Fenwick to claim the Q Bomb for themselves. The satire is heavy-handed at times, but The Mouse That Roared contains several unforgettably hilarious moments, including one startling "false ending." One of the best gags involves the Columbia Pictures logo--a bit frequently cut from TV showings, worse luck. Based on one of the many "Grand Fenwick" novels by Leonard Wibberly, The Mouse That Roared was a success, yielding a Peter Sellers-less sequel, 1963's Mouse on the Moon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Jean Seberg, (more)
- 1960
This is an unimpressive spy-comedy from director Stanley Donen who inserts his specialty, a small song-and-dance number, into the odd proceedings. Gangster Nico March (Yul Brynner) has been ordered out of the United States because of his unsavory activities and back to the Greek island from whence he came (actually Rhodes). Once on the island, various characters enter the picture, including a local, corrupt police chief. Nico decides to send for a bundle of money left in the States but his double-crossing "friends" send him a bundle of feminine wiles instead, Gabby Rogers (Mitzi Gaynor). Obviously, Nico is none too pleased with the lousy substitution for hard cash, though he does not yet realize he is sure to fall in love with her. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Bill Nagy, (more)
- 1960
In this comedy set in Spain, Paco (Maurice Reyna) is a young boy with a part-time job as a messenger at a local bank. Paco's father drives a taxicab but has fallen deep into debt, and he loses his hack when he's unable to pay a mechanic for needed repairs. All day long, Paco hears about people getting loans from the bank to pay their bills, and, unaware of the way these things work, he "borrows" one million pesetas from the till to help his father along. It doesn't take long for someone to notice the money is missing, and not only is the bank eager to get it back, a group of local mobsters are after Paco's new fortune as well. A number of cleverly designed chase sequences enliven the second half of this story, which was shot on location in Valencia, Spain. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virgilio Teixeira, Maurice Reyna, (more)
- 1960
Set in Canada, this nasty little fable is about a respectable village elder (Patrick Allen) who is also a sexual deviate. Using candy as bait, he persuades two little girls to dance naked for him. When the girls complain to their parents, the old man is taken to court, but his prestige in town assures an acquittal. Inevitably, the man's perversities lead to the death of a child. The British title for this repellant film was Never Take Sweets From a Stranger; it was based on John Hunter's play The Pony Cart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gwen Watford, Patrick Allen, (more)
- 1961
After a town in Asia Minor is reduced to rubble by an earthquake, an American named Hadley (Peter Dyneley) volunteers to help locate the injured survivors. Also pitching in to help is a mysterious stranger, who after rescuing seven people from certain death perishes himself. When the fingerprints of the unknown Good Samaritan are taken and matched with police records, the authorities are in for quite a shock. This is the first of several One Step Beyond episodes filmed in England. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
In this crime drama, an FBI agent and a vengeful sister pursue diamond thieves who pulled their latest caper by placing a time-bomb aboard a plane piloted by the woman's brother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Set in post WW II-Vienna this British spy adventure centers on an international effort to thwart the communists that is led by an American newspaper journalist trying to save the two innocents from certain death. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This was the last trip in the "road" comedies that Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and a bevy of female stars that featured Dorothy Lamour once made famous. In this road to Hong Kong and parts far beyond, Chester and Harry (Hope and Crosby) are a couple of failed vaudeville stars looking for a way to riches in the confidence game. Chester's memory goes kaputz, and the two end up involved with Diane (Joan Collins), a spy looking for a secret formula, and a bunch of hoodlums who plan on sending up a rocket to the moon with special equipment allowing them to rule the planet earth. The pair of heroes gets caught in the rocket instead of the originally intended monkeys, and the monkey business continues in outer space -- where it seems to be all along. In this mixed collage of events, several stars pop up in cameo roles: Peter Sellers, Dean Martin, David Niven, Frank Sinatra among them. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, (more)
- 1962
In this crime drama, a young woman goes undercover at a stripjoint to investigate the murder of her brother, a police detective. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
The title refers to an astronomical phenomenon that might bring about the end of the world. The only scientist who knows for certain what's in store for mankind is brutally murdered, bringing Steed and Cathy in on the case. As the Avengers elude various villains and sidestep government cover-ups in order to get to the truth, the "dwarf" -- actually a meteor -- draws nearer and nearer to the Earth. An interesting precursor to the X-Files school of justifiable paranoia, "The White Dwarf" was written by Malcolm Hulke. First seen in England on February 16, 1963, the episode made its American TV debut exactly 28 years and nine days later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
In this British thriller, an avaricious, ambitious fellow, desiring to hold the reins for a major auto company, must frame someone for murder before he can get what he wants. He chooses a reformed embezzler who works for the company. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The Longest Day is a mammoth, all-star re-creation of the D-Day invasion, personally orchestrated by Darryl F. Zanuck. Whenever possible, the original locations were utilized, and an all-star international cast impersonates the people involved, from high-ranking officials to ordinary GIs. Each actor speaks in his or her native language with subtitles translating for the benefit of the audience (alternate "takes" were made of each scene with the foreign actors speaking English, but these were seen only during the first network telecast of the film in 1972). The stars are listed alphabetically, with the exception of John Wayne, who as Lt. Colonel Vandervoort gets separate billing. Others in the huge cast include Eddie Albert, Jean-Louis Barrault, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Gert Frobe, Curt Jurgens, Peter Lawford, Robert Mitchum, Kenneth More, Edmond O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Jean Servais, Rod Steiger and Robert Wagner. Paul Anka, who wrote the film's title song, shows up as an Army private. Scenes include the Allies parachuting into Ste. Mere Englise, where the paratroopers were mowed down by German bullets; a real-life sequence wherein the German and Allied troops unwittingly march side by side in the dark of night; and a spectacular three-minute overhead shot of the troops fighting and dying in the streets of Quistreham. The last major black-and-white road-show attraction, The Longest Day made millions, enough to recoup some of the cost of 20th Century Fox's concurrently produced Cleopatra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, (more)
- 1963
Novelist Mickey Spillane portrays his own creation, Mike Hammer, in The Girl Hunters. Hammer has spent seven years in an alcoholic funk after the supposed death of his secretary, Velda. He is brought back to the land of the living by his old friendly enemy, police lieutenant Pat Chambers (Scott Peters), who wants Hammer to extract some information out of a dying federal agent. This puts Mike on the trail of a subversive communist organization, the key to which seems to be sexy Laura Knapp (Shirley Eaton), the widow of a murdered senator. When Hammer determines that following this espionage trail may lead to relocating Velda, who might not be dead after all, he pursues matters with his usual fascistic tendency to pummel first and ask questions later. The Girl Hunters is the film in which Mike Hammer incapacitates an opponent by literally nailing the latter's hands to the floor. But that's kid stuff compared to the fate in store for the treacherous Laura Knapp. The Girl Hunters was filmed in its entirety in England. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Spillane, Shirley Eaton, (more)
