Vincent Renno Movies

Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) returns home after a few years of knocking around the country following his divorce from good-time girl Anna (Yvonne De Carlo). Getting his old job back driving an armored car, and not even convincing himself that he's making a new start, he also wants his old wife back. When he finds Anna, he quickly learns that she is involved with gangster Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea). Nonetheless, they carry on a clandestine affair, with Steve foolishly believing that Anna will return to him. Even after she marries Slim, Steve, with her encouragement, masochistically clings to this doomed obsession. So when Slim catches them together, Steve ad libs plans for an armored car robbery that includes Slim. The two rivals form an uneasy and untrusting collaboration, but Steve and Anna plan to double cross Slim. However, the title of Robert Siodmak's film noir gem is, not incidentally, Criss Cross. ~ Steve Press, Rovi

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, Rovi

Convicted stars Glenn Ford as a hotheaded young man convicted of manslaughter. Broderick Crawford plays a sympathetic warden (formerly a tough DA) who tries to help Ford adjust to prison life, eventually giving the lad responsibilities in the warden's office. Ford witnesses the killing of a stoolie by another convict (Millard Mitchell), but adheres to the prison "code" and refuses to talk, even though it means he will be accused of the killing. Mortally wounded by a guard in a subsequent fracas, the real murderer confesses and Ford escapes the electric chair--into the arms of the warden's daughter (Dorothy Malone), with whom he has fallen in love. Convicted was the third film version of Martin Flavin's 1929 stage play The Criminal Code. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The film traces Naples-born Caruso's ascension from adolescent choir singer to the uppermost ranks of the opera world. Caruso is brought to America, getting off to a bad start by inadvertently insulting the impresario (Carl Benton Reid) responsible for his Metropolitan debut. This complication has a happy outcome when Caruso marries his benefactor's daughter (Ann Blyth). Refusing to spare himself or to hold back his talents from his fans, Caruso's health fails him, and he dies in 1921 at the age of 47. Featuring no fewer than 27 musical numbers, Great Caruso also stars Mario Lanza as Caruso, as well as such operatic superstars as Dorothy Kirsten and Jarmila Novotna. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Stanley Kramer's production unit at Columbia Pictures was known for its willingness to tackle subject matter that was not necessarily "box office" (much to the dismay, of course, of Columbia head man Harry Cohn!) Adapted by Michael Blankfort from the autobiography by Donald Powell Wilson, My Six Convicts is the true story of a prison psychologist and his efforts to "reach" his incarcerated patients. John Beal plays the Donald Powell Wilson counterpart, herein known simply as Doc. Convinced that psychological rehabilitation is, indeed, an option, Doc overcomes a great deal of opposition -- from both prison officials and prisoners -- to test out his theories. Once he's won the confidence of hardened safecracker James Connie (Millard Mitchell), Doc is able to bring five more convicts into his circle: murderous mobster Punch Pinero (Gilbert Roland); alcoholic, self-sacrificing Blivens Scott (Marshall Thompson); holdup man Clem Randall (Alf Kjellin); psychopathic killer Dawson (Harry Morgan -- yes, that Harry Morgan); and embezzler Steve Kopac (Jay Adler). These six cons learn to make their life behind bars not only tolerable but productive, and in so doing pass on their new outlook on life to their fellow inmates. Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, My Six Convicts is essentially a comedy, with the all-male cast working together in seamless perfection. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi