Thomas Pittman Movies
- 1959
In this youthful drama, the nerdish high school genius, desperate to become popular, is easily duped by the prettiest girl in school, who convinces him to do her homework for her. This leads to the young man's downfall when a teacher recognizes his work on her assignments. He, believing he could never make it in academia, then becomes a criminal. He has mapped out an ingenious scheme for robbing a shipping office when the pretty girl again comes to use him. The results are disastrous for the awkward young man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Director Samuel Fuller skillfully intercuts footage of the German death camps with scenes from this thought-provoking drama about a forbidden, post-war love affair. David (James Best) is a G.I. stationed in Germany with the American Military Government. He falls in love with Helga (Susan Cummings), a young German woman, and she reciprocates his feelings. But their romance is not condoned by either culture and made all the more difficult because a troublesome gang of neo-Nazis is on the rampage, killing, stealing, and helping war criminals evade capture. Helga's younger brother is a member of the gang who suddenly breaks down when he attends the Nuremburg trials and sees footage on the death camps. That changes his mind and he is ready to help the American military, and maybe the relationship between his sister and David as well. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Best, Susan Cummings, (more)
A gentler but no less resourceful Alan Ladd stars in The Proud Rebel. Ladd is cast as civil war veteran John Chandler, while the star's son David (who grew up to become a powerful Hollywood producer) plays Chandler's emotionally disturbed son David. Since suffering a traumatic shock during the war, David has not spoken a single word. With his son in tow, John wanders the frontier in search of a doctor who might cure David's muteness. Along the way, he runs afoul of sheep baron Harry Burleigh (Dean Jagger), and for a brief period is forced into indentured servitude to pay a debt to farm woman Linnet Moore (Olivia de Havilland). Falling in love with Linnet, John vows to protect her land from the covetous machinations of Burleigh and his brood. It is during the climactic set-to between good guys and bad that David at long last finds his voice again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Ladd, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1958
A wandering cowboy endeavors to save a wagon train from an Apache attack in this western that is based upon a Louis L'Amour novel. The settlers are frightened and flee. They all end up dead, but for one little girl, whom the cowboy saves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, (more)
- 1957
In this adventure, a convict gets released and immediately begins looking for the $250,000 in loot a fellow inmate hid thirty years ago before coming to prison. While he looks, the ex-con is pursued by a strange family who wants a piece of the action. He is also accompanied by his new love, a waitress. The explorers are terribly disappointed when they learn that the gold is now covered by Lake Mead. The family is so angry that they try to kill the lovers. Fortunately, a sheriff intervenes before it's too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Hunter, Sheree North, (more)
George Montgomery both produced and starred in the psychological western Black Patch. Written by character actor Leo Gordon (who also appears on screen), the story revolves around one-eyed marshal Clay "Black Patch" Morgan (Montgomery). The marshal is delighted to find out that his old buddy Hank Danner (Leo Gordon) is riding into town, but less than thrilled to learn that Danner is now a wanted outlaw. Reluctantly throwing his friend into jail, Morgan sets off a chain reaction of terror, beginning with a jailbreak engineered by crooked saloonkeeper Frenchy De Vere (a particularly vicious performance by Sebastian Cabot) and culminating in a showdown between the marshal and Danner's young protégé Flytrap (Tom Pittman). This is the sort of film in which a rape is represented by the symbolic opening and closing of a screen door. Black Patch seems pretentious when seen today, but in 1957 a western never lost money at the box-office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Montgomery, Diane Brewster, (more)
Actually, this retelling of the life of outlaw Jesse James is only as true as its predecessor, the highly fanciful 1939 Tyrone Power-Henry Fonda starrer Jesse James. Generous chunks of stock footage from the earlier film are reused here, albeit reframed to accommodate the CinemaScope process. Robert Wagner makes an interesting James, though he is upstaged throughout by Jeffrey Hunter as his brother Frank. Adhering to the Canon, the film insists that the James boys were forced into a life of crime by greedy railroad men -- hence, their ongoing vendetta against trains. Director Nicholas Ray adds a few psychological nuances not found in the more prosaic 1939 film. John Carradine, who played "dirty little coward" Bob Ford in the original Jesse James, appears in the remake as Rev. Jethro Bailey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, (more)
- 1957
In this action melodrama, the troubled lives of three young robbers are presented. One of these is a college dropout and draft dodger who plans to rob a supermarket so he can purchase a boat and escape his problems. He enlists the aid of two others: one is an indebted man who is responsible for the high medical bills of a con woman who hurt herself while on a date with him, the other is a pathological liar who cannot cope with his failed marriage and writing career. During the robbery, the dropout gets too wired and kills the manager. They flee, but his cohorts are captured by the cops while he steals a truck and heads screaming down the road for Mexico. A great chase ensues until the truck's brakes fail and he suffers a fatal, fiery crash. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Vaughn, Roger Smith, (more)
- 1957
Ultra-pasteurized pop singer Pat Boone makes his feature film debut in this comical and tuneful look at adolescent life in the late 1950s. A group of teen-age boys discuss the attributes of the perfect girl and proceed to create a mental image of their dreamboat. Later they find her in the form of Jean, the new telephone operator in town. One of the lads, Sanford Wilson, falls hard for the comely lass. They begin dating, but as final exams approach, Sanford must temporarily shift his attention to his school work. To keep her from the other less-honorable boys who want her, he has handsome Lieutenant Langley Beaumont squire her around. Unfortunately, she and Langley soon fall in love, causing the anguished Sanford to join the military and leave for a year and a half. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat Boone, Terry Moore, (more)
- 1957
Adapting a made-for-TV play that he had directed for the screen, John Frankenheimer made his feature film debut with this sensitive father-son drama. Tom Ditmar (James Daly) is a movie studio executive who has a strained relationship with his teenaged son Hal (James MacArthur). Hal is arrested after an incident in a movie theater in which he was provoked into slugging the manager, Grubbs (Whit Bissell). Hal is rude to the police officer, Sergeant Shipley (James Gregory). Tom Ditmar gets the charges dropped but doesn't believe his son's story. Hal goes back to talk to Grubbs to try to get him to tell his father what really happened. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James MacArthur, Kim Hunter, (more)
- 1956
If ever Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) had an idol, it was fast-talking sharpster Dutch George (Robert Middleton). But times have changed, and now George is on the opposite side of the law as a horse thief. Though Matt has managed to avoid trouble with George and his gang, it looks like he'll have to take action when Jimmy McQueen (Tom Pittman) is robbed of his horse. As it turns out, however, Dutch George has less to worry about from Matt than from the deceptively helpless-looking McQueen. This episode is based on the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of November 20, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
