Ric Roman Movies

Henry Hathaway's film is based on a character from Harold Robbins' The Carpetbaggers, who, in turn, based it on cowboy actor Ken Maynard. Set in the West of the 1890s, the film opens with the torture and murder of the parents of Max Sand (Steve McQueen) by a trio of gunslingers seemingly motivated by their hostility toward the mixed nature of the marriage, since the wife is a Native American. Swearing revenge, the young cowhand enlists the help of itinerant gunsmith Jonas Cord Brian Keith, who teaches him how to shoot while counseling against revenge. Nonetheless, Sand doggedly scours one town after the other before finally running up against one of the murderers, Jesse Coe (Martin Landau). He finally kills Coe in a vicious knife fight, but is severely wounded himself and has to be nursed back to health by Neesa (Janet Margolin), a young Kiowa woman. He next heads for Louisiana where another of the murderous trio, Bill Bowdre (Arthur Kennedy), is serving a prison sentence in a remote swamp. In order to get close to the man, Sand stages a robbery, and is soon among the prison inmates. This was the only film on which McQueen worked with Landau, the only other person admitted to the Actor's Studio out of thousands of applicants in 1957. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide

A blinding snowstorm outside of Denver forces Beau Maverick (Roger Moore) and his friend Judge Scott (Alan Baxter) to seek shelter in seedy hotel. Here Beau is attracted to the beautiful Sally Flood (Marlene Willis), only to be informed by Sally's aunt Martha (Jeanne Cooper) that the poor girl is insane. Beau is inclined to believe this when Sally begins prattling about "strange voices" in the night. . .until he begins hearing those strange voices as well. The actual sinister presence in this little melodrama is Aunt Molly's very good friend Chet Whitehead (played by Australian actor-director Michael Pate). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is the very last entry in the long-running Bowery Boys saga. This time the gang gets involved with English diamond smugglers after they are hired to safely escort a valuable poodle on a Transatlantic voyage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This Republic potboiler is no relation to the like-vintage Swedish film of the same title. The wayward girl in question is Judy Wingate (Marcia Henderson), the stepdaughter of predatory alcoholic Frances Wingate (Katherine Barrett). Judy is thrown into prison for a murder actually committed by Frances. The motivation: both women were in love with the same man. Frances keeps mum about her crime until it's almost too late for the people whom the audience truly care about. Some of the best scenes involve B-picture "regular" Whit Bissell as a lovelorn middle-ager. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this entry in the long-running "Bowery Boys" series Sach sells his soul to the Devil so he can atone for spending a charity fund at the track. The bargain enables the young man to successfully predict winning horses at the track. Soon Sach finds himself pursued by greedy mobsters who want him to work with them. Sach demurs and then ends up riding a horse in the big race. Despite his efforts to force the steed to slow down and lose, it wins. Fortunately, the horse is disqualified because Sach was an illegal rider. This has the added benefit of proving the Devil wrong and nullifying their contract. To pay for his crimes, Sach must work in a diner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Cry of the Bewitched is the English-language title for the Mexican melodrama Yambao. Yambao (Ninon Sevilla) arrives on a plantation just as a plague hits the nearby villagers and homesteaders. Since Yambao is a stranger, she is held responsible for the spell of pestilence. The plantation owner thinks differently; in fact, he falls in love with the girl, despite the fact that his wife is still around and about. As was typical of Mexican psychological horror films of the 1950s, the supernatural aspects of Cry of the Bewitched are treated in a straight-faced, matter-of-fact fashion. This film is also known as Young and Evil and Priestess of Passion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This modest Republic suspenser stars Joan Vohs as a gorgeous victim of circumstance. Led to believe that she's killed a man in a car accident, Joan gets in deeper and deeper while trying to cover her tracks. Her detective boyfriend Scott Brady suspects that something's amiss, and begins conducting his own investigation. It turns out that Joan has been targeted to take the fall for a pair of deucedly clever auto thieves. The huge supporting cast includes radio veterans John Dehner and Virginia Gregg, not to mention the ubiquitous Percy Helton, who once more gets the bejeebers scared out of him while trying to indulge in a little petty larceny. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel and play by Joseph Hayes, which in turn was inspired by an actual event, The Desperate Hours is the prototypical "family-trapped-by-criminals" drama. Escaped convicts Humphrey Bogart, Robert Middleton and Dewey Martin, seeking an appropriate hideout until they can make contact with their money supply, deliberately choose the suburban home of Fredric March and his family. The cold-blooded Bogart wants no trouble with the police, and he knows he can cower a family with children into cooperating with him. The convict orders March, his wife Martha Scott, and their children Richard Eyer and Mary Murphy, to go about their normal activities so as not to arouse suspicion. Young Eyer, upset that March won't lift a hand against Bogart, assumes that his father is a coward. The authorities are alerted when March, at Bogart's behest, draws money for the convict's getaway from the bank. Pushed to the breaking point, March begins subtly turning the tables on the convicts. Bogart's character in Desperate Hours was originally written for a much younger man, which explains why Paul Newman was able to play the part in the original Broadway production. The film was slated to co-star Bogart with his old pal Spencer Tracy, but this plan fell through when the two actors couldn't agree on who would get top billing. Desperate Hours was remade in 1991 with Mickey Rourke in the Bogart role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Both Jane Russell and her uncredited stunt double look great in skimpy swimwear throughout the Technicolor and SuperScope romantic adventure Underwater. Ms. Russell is cast as the wife of fortune-chasing Richard Egan, who takes her along to the Caribbean on a treasure hunt. The couple is accompanied by mercenary Gilbert Roland, priest Robert Keith, and Egan's blonde-doxy secretary Lori Nelson. While exploring the depths in search of untold riches, the little party is menaced by a band of modern-day pirates, led by Joseph Calleila. Partially filmed on location in Mexico, Underwater was completed in a newly-constructed underwater tank in an RKO Radio soundstage. For its world premiere, Underwater was projected on a submerged movie screen at Silver Springs Florida, and the invited guests were encouraged to don aqualungs and bathing uits so that they could watch the picture while swimming! A similar publicity ploy was utilized nine years later at Marineland of the Pacific for the premiere of The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1955). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fritz Lang directed this gritty drama of gangland murder and police corruption, which was considered quite violent in its day. Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is a scrupulously honest police detective who learns that one of his fellow officers has committed suicide. Bannion is told by the officer's wife, Bertha (Jeanette Nolan), that he was severely depressed after being told he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. But the cop's mistress, a barmaid named Lucy (Dorothy Green), has another tale to tell. She claims that he left behind a suicide note detailing a complex trail of corruption in the department, leading to mob boss Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby), and now Bertha plans to use the note to blackmail Lagana. When Lucy is found dead beside an abandoned road, with her body showing obvious signs of torture, Bannion is convinced that her story was true, and he goes after Lagana. When he threatens to expose Lagana's dealings, the gangster orders Bannion killed. But the car bomb meant to finish Bannion off instead kills his wife Katie (Jocelyn Brando). The police take Bannion off the case, but, convinced his peers are trying to cover their tracks, Bannion follows the case alone, determined to get revenge. Lee Marvin and Gloria Grahame shine in key supporting roles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ann Sheridan landed the leading role in Benedict Bogeaus Productions/RKO Radio's Appointment in Honduras as part of a legal settlement arising from Sheridan's being dropped from RKO's My Forbidden Past (1951). Set in Central America, the plotline resembles a Republic serial, with Ms. Sheridan and leading man Glenn Ford facing such perils as man-eating fish, alligators, outsized hornets and a jungle brushfire. Ford's involvement in the proceedings comes about when he is hired to make certain that a huge sum of cash reaches an ousted South American political leader. Sheridan and her husband Zachary Scott are taken hostage by Ford's crooked employers and forced to go along. Guess who survives the ordeal and who doesn't. Jacques Tourneur's gutsy direction and Joseph Biroc's vivid Technicolor photography conspire to make Appointment in Honduras seem more expensive than it was. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide