Emil Rameau Movies

Based loosely on the Dostoyevsky novel, The Gambler stars Gregory Peck as a sensitive 19th-century Russian author. His "great sin" is gambling, which starts when he attempts to rescue aristocratic Ava Gardner from the gaming tables. He succeeds, only to lose himself to gambling fever, which costs him his friends, his reputation and his talent. Director Robert Siodmak was never happy with the screenplay for The Great Sinner, constant revisions bloated the film's rough-cut running time to nearly six hours! After Siodmak pared the film down, MGM insisted that the director reshoot the love scenes. Siodmak refused, thus the new sequences were filmed sans screen credit by Mervin LeRoy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The opening scene of Robert Siodmak's grim film noir depicts police lieutenants Candella (Victor Mature) and Collins (Fred Clark) observing wounded cop killer Martin Rome (Richard Conte) receive last rites. Though Rome recovers, he still must elude Candella and Collins in his desperate attempt to escape his fate. Rome has two visitors in the hospital: his girlfriend, Teena (Debra Paget), who goes into hiding, and Niles (Berry Kroeger), a crooked lawyer. Niles tries to bribe Rome to take a jewel theft and homicide rap for a client of his since Rome is facing the electric chair anyway. When Rome refuses, Niles threatens to frame Teena as the client's female accomplice. Worried that Candella might find Teena, Rome breaks out of jail and goes to Niles' office to accept the offer, but he actually plans to leave the country with Teena. When Niles reneges, Rome kills him, but not before learning the accomplice's identity and discovering the stolen jewels in the lawyer's safe. Rome finds the accomplice, Rose Given (Hope Emerson), and offers to trade the jewelry for the means to leave the country. She agrees, and they arrange a meeting in the subway, but Rome informs Candella of the plan. When the police arrive, Candella is shot, Rose is arrested, and Rome escapes to meet up with Teena in a church. As he is trying to convince Teena to run away with him, a wounded Candella shows up and tells Teena how Rome uses people and that everyone who helped in his escape will be paying a price. Teena rejects Rome, and he runs again, only to be shot down by Candella. The moral order is ultimately restored, but no one has been left unscarred. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide

Bearing traces of such earlier hits as My Favorite Blonde and The Ghost Breakers, Where There's Life is one of the best of Bob Hope's postwar vehicles. The inimitable Mr. Hope is cast as New York radio personality Michael Valentine, who's poised to marry his long-time fiancee Hazel O'Brien (Vera Marshe). But destiny takes a hand when, in the far-off kingdom of Barovia, King Hubertus II (William Edmunds) is felled by an assassin's bullet. To avoid a revolution, the King's cabinet hurriedly searches for Hubertus' sole heir -- who, according to all reliable sources, is one Michael Valentine. Gorgeous General Katrina Grimovich (Signe Hasso) is dispatched to New York to bring Valentine back to Barovia, while a group of insurrectionists, headed by Krivoc (George Coulouris) and Stertorius (George Zucco), conspire to kill Valentine before he can ever leave American soil. When Valentine is apprised of his royal lineage, he assumes that he's the victim of a practical joke perpetrated by his announcer Joe Snyder (George Zucco). Once he's convinced that it's no joke, Valentine and Katrina scurry about the streets of Manhattan, dodging potential assassins at every turn -- not to mention keeping out of the way of Hazel's muscle-bound policeman brother Victor (William Bendix), who assumes that Valentine is merely trying to weasel out of his wedding. Full of bright dialogue and hilarious gag situations, Where There's Life is vintage Bob Hope. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Ghost Goes Wild is a low-cost but high-rolling farce starring James Ellison and Anne Gwynne. It starts off with Ellison, a young artist, being sued for an unauthorized caricature. To escape arrest, Ellison disguises himself as a mystic, only to conjure up a genuine ghost during a seance. Things come to a head during Ellison's trial, where the invisible ghost takes the witness stand on Our Hero's behalf. The Ghost Goes Wild is a rare venture into wacky comedy by western-oriented Republic Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of two con-artists ends up arrested and given five days of freedom before he must go to jail. This comedy chronicles those five days. The man loves to eat; knowing that prison food is lousy, he decides to spend his days stuffing himself with the finest foods available. He is accompanied to numerous 4-star restaurants by his partner and the arresting officer. Each of these two are interested in learning where he stashed a half-million dollars in loot. Eventually the man begins looking at his lovely partner and thinking of things other than his stomach. This leads to marriage. After serving his time, he and his bride go on to lead honest lives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This Republic programmer is based on a true story, though its plot complications are anything but founded in reality. Set in London, the story is motivated by master criminal Carl Hoffmeyer (Erich Von Stroheim), who cooks up an intricate, apparently foolproof scheme to steal the Mona Lisa, on loan to the National Art Gallery. Upon pulling off the crime, Hoffmeyer discovers that the Da Vinci masterpiece is a forgery, the original having previously been swiped by a mercenary antiques dealer (Forrester Harvey, in his final film appearance). Meanwhile, crusty Scotland Yard man Sir James Collison (Sir C. Aubrey Smith) tries to solve both robberies. Reasonably well-produced, Scotland Yard Investigator is of little real interest outside of veteran character actors Erich von Stroheim and C. Aubrey Smith, who seem to enjoy having all the footage to themselves for a change. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ingrid Bergman won her first of three Oscars for this suspense thriller, crafted with surprising tautness by normally genteel "women's picture" director George Cukor. Bergman stars as Paula Alquist, a late 19th century English singer studying music in Italy. However, Paula abandons her studies because she's fallen in love with dapper, handsome Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer). The couple marries and returns to the U.K. and a home inherited by Paula from her aunt, herself a famous singer, who was mysteriously murdered in the house ten years before. Once they have moved in, Gregory, who is in reality a jewel thief and the murderer of Paula's aunt, launches a campaign of terror designed to drive his new bride insane. Though Paula is certain that she sees the house's gaslights dim every evening and that there are strange noises coming from the attic, Gregory convinces Paula that she's imagining things. Gregory's efforts to make Paula unstable are aided by an impertinent maid, Nancy (teenager Angela Lansbury in her feature film debut). Meanwhile, a Scotland Yard inspector, Brian Cameron (Joseph Cotten), becomes suspicious of Gregory and sympathetic to Paula's plight. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Nur Am Rhein (Only on the Rhine) is a standard "heimat"-style musical, with handsome young Germans lifting their voices and beer steins in song and pretty blonde frauleins giggling appreciatively before going into their dance. At the end of WWI, the British forces occupy the Rhineland, where English captain Barrymore (Igo Sym) falls in love with burgomeister's daughter Hanna (Dasy D'Ora). When Barrymore's interpreter Lehmann (Julius Falkenstein) spreads malicious gossip about the captain and his lady, Hanna's brother Karl (Carl Bauhaus) decides to teach the loose-tongued Lehmann as lesson. Karl and his college buddies subject Lehmann to a fraternity hazing, and as a result he is arrested and threatened with a lengthy prison term for insulting a British official. Only the evacuation of the English saves Karl from durance vile, allowing Barrymore and Hanna to get married with a clear conscience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This overblown, German-made historical epic was based on the play by Maurice Maeterlinck. It takes place during the times of the Italian Renaissance, when the cities of Pisa and Florence were at war. Guido Gurlino, head of the Pisan armies (Paul Wegener) lusts after Monna Vanna, a peasant girl (blonde German star Lee Parry). He takes her and weds her. Vitellozo Vitelli, the Florentine army leader (Olaf Fjord) is wounded in a duel with Gurlino and Monna nurses him back to health. He doesn't realize it, but she falls in love with him. After he regains his health, Vitelli lays siege to the city, and when the inhabitants beg for food, he promises to feed them if they give him Gurlino's bride. When she is delivered and he sees it is Monna, he is ashamed. Together they escape to Pisa, and the jealous Gurlino has Vitelli tried and sentenced to death. Vitelli manages to escape and he leads the Pisan army to victory. Gurlino is killed in battle, so Vitelli and Monna are able to marry. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide