Steve Roberts Movies

In this film, there is a popular television game-show called "A Smoking Gun," whose purpose is to solve murders on the air. Nolan (Sam Trammell) is an intern with this show. His job is to investigate the claims of would-be contestants. In this case, he goes to a resort island off the Massachusetts/Rhode Island coasts. Lucille, a woman living in one of the island's hotels has been writing the show for months, claiming that several murders were committed where she lives, and that she knows because she helped commit them. Nolan, a good-spirited lad who wishes to believe the best of everyone, is misled from the beginning by various members of the local community, who claim that Lucille is making things up. Gus (John Randolph), the hotel caretaker, seeks to fulfill his great dream of becoming the owner of the hotel. To that end, while Nolan is busy courting a local girl, Gus reluctantly murders several more people (including Lucille) directly under Nolan's increasingly inattentive nose. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Phoebe (Mary Steenburgen) and Jason (Dudley Moore) are a pair of Broadway playwrights who are partners in their chosen profession, but in spite of a definite inclination, they remain unpartnered (for a long time) in any other way. Phoebe is an aspiring playwright from the Northwoods and Jason is just getting married when the two meet for the first time and decide to collaborate. As their relationship produces first a failure and then a string of successes, their repartée remains sharp and witty -- and their unrequited interest in each other gathers energy over a nine-year period, until some resolution is finally in sight. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Escape From the Planet of the Apes is the third in the series of films based upon the Planet of the Apes characters created by novelist Pierre Boulle. At the end of the second film, the centuries-in-the-future world colonized by simians was destroyed, but apes Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and Zira (Kim Hunter) were able to escape in the space vessel left behind by 20th century astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston). Cornelius and Zira pass through another time warp, finding themselves in the Earth of the 1970s. When they reveal their ability to speak, the apes are first treated as curiosities, then as threats when the government, believing the story that the Earth will eventually be inherited by monkeys, tries to prevent the birth of Zira's baby. They are ultimately given shelter by sympathetic circus owner Armando (Ricardo Montalban). This film was followed by the fourth "Apes" entry, 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a cowboy finally returns to his home after a long absence precipitated by his killing a wicked rancher's son in a forced duel. The cowboy wants to live peacefully on his daddy's ranch and be with the woman that he loves. While on the trail home, he encounters a ruthless outlaw gang planning a bank robbery. Because most of the town men have gone on a giant cattle drive, the town is defenseless. The courageous cowpoke and his pal do all they can to keep the bad-guys at bay during a bloody battle. Eventually the good-guys prevail and the prodigal cowboy is appointed sheriff. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Thanks to the notorious gangland conference in Appalachian, New York, the word "Mafia" was on everyone's lips in 1959. Rushing to capitalize on this fact was the low-budget expose Inside the Mafia. Grant Richards plays a Lucky Luciano type who is about to return to the US after several years' deportation. Richards arranges for an upstate New York gangland meeting, where minor mob functionary Cameron Mitchell plans to depose big boss Ted DeCorsia. Mitchell also intends to murder Richards so that he can rule the Mafia unfettered. But Richards is still master of his own fate, and he guns down his competition during the gang conference before surrendering to the police. Inside the Mafia told the public little that wasn't already known, but the film served its purpose of cashing in on a "hot" title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When two scientists at a top-secret government installation devoted to space research are killed -- in their own test chamber, seemingly by an experiment gone awry -- Dr. David Sheppard (Richard Egan) is sent out from Washington to investigate. Sheppard mixes easily enough with the somewhat eccentric team of scientists, though he always seems in danger of being distracted by the presence of Joanne Merritt (Constance Dowling), who serves as the aide to the project director Dr. Van Ness (Herbert Marshall) but is, in reality, another security agent. Sheppard is as puzzled as anyone else by the seemingly inexplicable series of events overtaking the installation -- properly operating equipment suddenly undergoing lethal malfunctions, and the radar tracking aircraft that aren't there -- until he puts it together with the operations of NOVAC (Nuclear Operated Variable Automatic Computer), the central brain of the complex. But the mystery deepens when he discovers that NOVAC was shut down during one of the "accidents" -- and even the computer's operators can't account fully for the whereabouts of GOG and MAGOG, the two robots under the computer's control. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Mistaken identity and underhanded dealings set the stage for this adventure story based on Anthony Hope's classic novel. Rudolph Rassendyll (Stewart Granger) is a British tourist visiting the nation of Ruritania in the Balkans. A number of people comment upon Rassendyll's remarkable resemblance to Prince Rudolph, who in a matter of days is to be crowned the nation's new king, and the prince's staff even arranges a meeting between the two men. But Rudolph's devious brother believes it is he who should be the king, and he arranges for Prince Rudolph to be poisoned the night before his coronation. Desperate, Rudolph's minders beg Rassendyll to participate in the ceremony in Rudolph's place so that the usurper cannot take the throne. Rassendyll agrees, and the ceremony goes off without a hitch, but when the brother's men discover this subterfuge, they imprison the real Prince as they threaten to reveal the secret of the new "king." Rassendyll's dilemma is compounded when he finds himself falling in love with Princess Flavia (Deborah Kerr), Rudolph's intended. This was the fourth screen adaptation of The Prisoner of Zenda; a fifth, which focused on the tale's comic possibilities, starred Peter Sellers and was released in 1979. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The perfunctorily titled Jet Job is an updated retelling of the old one about the hotshot test pilot who learns the value of being a team player. Stanley Clements stars as Joe Kovak, whose recklessness and refusal to follow orders causes no end of trouble for his superiors. Fired by boss Sam Bentley (John Litel), Joe takes a job with Bentley's competitor Oscar Collins (Tom Powers). After a suspicious jet-plane crash, Joe is grounded on Collins' say-so. In fact, it was Collins' own negligence that caused the crash, but no one will listen to Joe's side of the story. Redemption is at hand, however, and Joe clears his name during a death-defying test flight for the army. Co-starring as Joe's love interest is Elena Verdugo, several years away from her weekly chores as Consuela on TV's Marcus Welby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A remake of the 1931 film of the same name, Iron Man stars Jeff Chandler as up-and-coming boxer Cokie Martin. A relatively pleasant fellow outside the ring, Martin turns into a monster whenever he dons boxing gloves and trunks. As a result, he becomes "the man you love to hate" so far as the fans are concerned. Only his fiancee Rose (Evelyn Keyes) is willing to stand by him, but even her devotion is sorely tested when Cokie continues displaying his killer instinct. Only the intervention of "clean" fighter Speed O'Keefe (Rock Hudson) prevents Cokie from destroying himself. Told in flashback, Iron Man is at its best in its expository scenes, showing the hero working his way out of a coal mining town and into the championship. Joyce Holden co-stars as a good-time girl who enjoys a brief fling with the hero; in the original 1931 version, Holden's character was played by Jean Harlow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The story of the legendary Harlem Globetrotters takes second place to the rise to prominence of All-American athlete Billy Brown (a star Globetrotter, here playing himself). While still in college, Brown drops his education in favor of joining the famed basketball team. Lacking the esprit de corps of his teammates, Brown is only interested in fattening his bank account. It takes a few major setbacks, coupled with the no-nonsense devotion of his sweetheart Ann Carpenter (a surprisingly subdued Dorothy Dandridge) to realign Brown's priorities. Thomas Gomez heads the cast as Abe Saperstein, the real-life entrepreneur who organized the Trotters back in 1927. Oddly enough, The Harlem Globetrotters suggests that the team is comprised of serious hoopsters, rather than the zany clowns we've come to know and love. There are even times that it seems that the hand-picked other team will actually win! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rogue River stars Rory Calhoun as Ownie Rodgers, the nephew of crooked Oregon police chief Joe Dandridge (Frank Fenton). A $70,000 windfall, bequeathed to Dandridge by a man he'd once framed on a bank robbery charge, unleashes innumerable family skeletons. Ownie is obliged to solve the long-ago bank job himself, and in so doing he discovers that his "faithful" girl friend Judy (Ellye Marshall) was in on the scheme. The last-minute return of Dandridge's estranged son Pete (Peter Graves) leads to an ending that cannot truly be described as happy. More talky than most westerns of the era, Rogue River still contains much to please the eye, especially when one is lucky enough to see an original Cinecolor print. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two-bit photographer Howard Duff wins a big newspaper assignment by romancing his lady boss (Peggy Dow). Duff is sent to take a picture of criminal Brian Donlevy, who doesn't like to be captured on celluloid. Donlevy takes a liking to Duff and asks him to frame one of the crook's less cooperative henchmen (Lawrence Tierney). Duff plays both sides of the fence, informing the henchman that his boss had planned to frame him. Shortly afterward, Donlevy is killed by a car bomb, and Duff becomes famous taking a picture of the event. Eventually Duff pulls one double-cross too many and is himself killed by the surly henchman--but not before taking a snapshot of his murderer in the act. Hard to believe, but Howard Duff makes his character in Shakedown somewhat likable, so that the audience is eager to see what sort of scam he'll pull next. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No one is as good as Barbara Stanwyck when she's bad. Here Stanwyck plays Thelma Jordon, a woman who late one night shows up in the office of happily married Assistant DA Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey) to seek help in solving the string of robberies at her wealthy aunt's estate. Before Cleve can stop himself, he and Thelma are involved in an illicit affair. But Thelma is a mysterious woman, and Cleve can't help wondering if she is hiding something. His suspicions are confirmed when Thelma confesses to him that she is married to Tony Laredo, though she swears that she never wants to see him again. When Thelma's aunt is found murdered, Cleve's suspicions are aroused once again, but he is too love-struck to keep himself from being drawn into the complicated series of events that ultimately lead to his ruination. Siodmak directs with his usual skill and polish, but the film really belongs to Barbara Stanwyck who is magnificent as Thelma. Unlike the usual cold, passionless femme fatale of film noir, Thelma has a heart and a conscience. She comes to love Cleve, and has concern for his life and his future. However, despite her wish that her life could be different, she realizes that she belongs in Tony's world, and despite her attempts to sacrifice herself to save Cleve, he is doomed, by his love for her and by his own weaknesses. The File on Thelma Jordan is a romantic, unusual mystery, with a great performance and superior direction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide