Harold Daniels Movies
- 1965
A weird little low-budget item featuring Lon Chaney, Jr. and John Carradine as the DeSarde brothers, a pair of sorcerers with opposing powers. The evil brother (Chaney) sports devil's horns and torments the captive guests at the DeSarde mansion, while the invalid benevolent brother (Carradine) languishes in his sickbed. This lackluster production is hampered by a weak story overstuffed with metaphysical mumbo-jumbo and spiced up with belly-dancers and cut-price werewolves, and it keeps its dueling warlocks (who look decidedly bored with the entire ordeal) from sharing any scenes together. Apparently three separate directors contributed footage to this project; the resulting lack of cohesion is obvious. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1959
A transient finds the corpse of a murdered policeman and decides to steal his clothing and his identity to find the killers and bring them to justice. What makes this routine crime drama out of the ordinary is that it was shot in "Psychorama" a process in which subliminal messages were inserted to heighten the suspense. Used once before in director Harold Daniels' Terror in the Haunted House, it wasn't all that effective. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1958
The "psycho"-logical melodrama My World Dies Screaming was appropriately released on a double bill with Lost, Lonely and Vicious, which also featured a profoundly disturbed protagonist. In My World, Gerald Mohr plays Philip Tierney, who hopes to expunge the inner demons plaguing his wife Sheila (Cathy O'Donnell). He persuades her to return to the crumbling old mansion where, as a child, she witnessed a brutal axe murder. Incredibly, the killers do not return to finish the job; instead, the audience is treated to all manner of pseudo-Freudian symbolism as Sheila subconsciously battles her way towards normalcy. My World Dies Screaming isn't bad: it's just that the films substitutes style for substance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The "psycho"-logical melodrama My World Dies Screaming was appropriately released on a double bill with Lost, Lonely and Vicious, which also featured a profoundly disturbed protagonist. In My World, Gerald Mohr plays Philip Tierney, who hopes to expunge the inner demons plaguing his wife Sheila (Cathy O'Donnell). He persuades her to return to the crumbling old mansion where, as a child, she witnessed a brutal axe murder. Incredibly, the killers do not return to finish the job; instead, the audience is treated to all manner of pseudo-Freudian symbolism as Sheila subconsciously battles her way towards normalcy. My World Dies Screaming isn't bad: it's just that the films substitutes style for substance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
The calculatedly sleazy Bayou stars Lita Milan as Marie, the daughter of slovenly Cajun fisherman Herbert (Douglas Fowley). Marie falls in love with Northern architect Martin (Peter Graves), which rests not at all well with her ardent--and psychotic--local suitor Ulysses (Tim Carey at his most loathsome). Martin is afraid to fight the brutish Ulysses, but for Marie's sake he summons up the courage for a violent climactic set-to. Sharp-eyed viewers will notice that, in addition to his role as the heroine's father, Douglas Fowley doubles in a bit as the hero's contractor friend. A model of decorum by today's standards, Bayou nevertheless enjoyed a healthy second life on the exploitaiton circuit under the title Poor White Trash. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Lita Milan, (more)
Released by RKO, Sword of Venus was independently produced by "B"-flick mavens Aubrey Wisberg, Jack Pollexfen and Albert Zugsmith. Set in the early 19th century, the film stars Robert Clarke as Dantes, the son of the legendary Count of Monte Cristo (the film, in fact, was released in Britain as Island of Monte Cristo). Like his father before him, Dantes is cheated out of his vast estate by villainous conspirators. This time, however, Dantes is able to turn the tables on the bad guys before too much damage can be inflicted. The heroine of Sword of Venus is played by Catherine McLeod, whom baby-boomers of the 1960s will recall as the woman in the Anacin commercials who uttered the immortal phrase, "Mother, PLEASE! I'D RATHER DO IT MYSELF!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Clarke, Catherine McLeod, (more)
- 1953
Port Sinister was produced by the team of Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen, whose chief claim to fame was the 1951 sci-fi "sleeper" The Man From Planet X. Soldier of fortune Tony Ferris (James Warren) leads an expedition to an island threatened with extinction by a volcano. No, Ferris isn't crazy: it is his belief that the eruption will reveal a fortune in buried pirate treasure. Surrounded by highly suspicious-looking characters, Ferris can trust only his longtime companion, Jean Hunter (Lynne Roberts) -- and even she doesn't seem too trustworthy. Originally distributed by RKO Radio, Port Sinister was re-issued by Realart Pictures in 1961 under the title Beast of Paradise Isle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Warren, Lynne Roberts, (more)
- 1951
An insurance investigator, a dame with a yen for the finer things in life and a mail robbery gone horribly wrong are the ingredients in this low-budget but highly engrossing film noir. Charles McGraw and Louis Jean Heydt are tough insurance agents but their partnership comes in for some rough sailing when he former falls head over heels for Joan Dixon, a lady apparently not averse to letting herself be wined and dined by an obvious gang leader (Lowell Gilmore). In an attempt to win the lady's favors, McGraw concocts a plan to rob a mail train insured by his own company. Too late does he discover that the girl is perfectly willing to accept him as he is. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles McGraw, Joan Dixon, (more)
- 1951
This film was made to promote the annual Easter passion play of the Lawton Congregational Church in Lawton, Oklahoma. The first half of the film presents the history of the pageant, which began in 1926. The rest of the film presents the actual pageant which takes place in the Wichita Mountains during Holy Week. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1949
Enterprising roadshow exhibitor Kroger Babb was largely responsible for the jerry-built "feature film" The Lawton Story. Most of the footage is devoted to the annual Passion Play at Lawton, Oklahoma, enacted by volunteers from several nearby communities. This portion of The Lawton Story was directed by Harold Daniels and narrated by radio announcer Knox Manning. To bring the film up to feature length, a fictional plotline concerning the preparations for the pageant was hastily assembled, featuring such familiar Hollywood character players as Forrest Taylor, Willa Pearl Curtis and Maude Eburne. These "wraparound" scenes were directed by old reliable William Beaudine. Certain recent publications have mercilessly poked fun at The Lawton Story, pointing out such "mistakes" as the telephone wires behind the crucified Jesus and the wristwatches worn by some of the Passion Play performers. Nowhere do these derisive accounts acknowledge that the audience is made aware that this is not meant to be a historical spectacle, but is in fact a filmed record of an outdoor-theater production. The Lawton Story is better known by its general-release title The Prince of Peace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Forrest Taylor
- 1949
Martha Vickers was given a rare leading-role opportunity in Daughter of the West. Vickers plays Lolita Moreno, a part-Native American girl who falls in love with college-educated Navajo Navo (Philip Reed). The film's Indian characters are depicted in a dignified, respectful manner: not so the white villains, headed by crooked Indian agent Ralph Connors (Donald Wood). When Connors and his flunkies try to cheat the Navajos out of their land, Navo gets wise to their scheme and nips it in the bud. The film's highlight is an authentically staged Indian harvest sequence, lensed in Cinecolor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martha Vickers, Phillip Reed, (more)
- 1948
In this crime drama the trouble begins when a murder occurs aboard a docked ship. Another murder occurs aboard an airplane in flight. An insurance investigator comes to Tangier to look into the theft of 50,000 pounds of sterling from the ship. He is assisted by a cafe entertainer. Together they solve the mysteries and recover the missing silver. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adele Jergens, Stephen Dunne, (more)
