George Sawava Movies
- 1952
Friday (Jack Webb) again teams up with Sgt. Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips) to investigate the seemingly unmotivated murder of a pretty young secretary. It takes some doing, but the two cops manage to follow the clues to a religious fanatic who has a morbid obsession with the month of September. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of September 27, 1951. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Narrow Margin is generally considered a "model" B picture; some film buffs go farther than that, labelling this 1952 RKO suspenser as the best low-budget studio production ever made. Nail-hard detective Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) is assigned to protect gangster's widow Mrs. Neall (Marie Windsor) as she rides the train from Chicago to LA, en route to testifying at a grand jury. There's no love lost between the ill-tempered Neall and Brown, especially since Brown's partner (Don Beddoe) was killed by mobsters while shielding Neall from harm. On the train, Brown makes the acquaintance of a likeable woman (Jacqueline White) and her playful young son. He also comes in contact with a rather secretive fat man (Paul Maxey), who may well be a mob assassin. Not long before the train pulls into California, Brown is approached by small-time crook (Peter Brocco), who offers the detective a great deal of money if he'll permit Neall to be silenced. Brown appears to be tempted, but this is only a smokescreen to throw the crooks off the trail. The Narrow Margin was remade (and unnecessarily padded and attenuated) in 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, (more)
- 1953
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) investigate when Rose Baker, a no-good, slovenly "party girl", disappears. The last person to see Rose was her sister Bernice (Irene Tedrow), who has been taking care of Rose's four children. Several other people come forth with contradictory stories, indicating that Rose was either going to return to her kids, move to another apartment, or leave the city on vacation. There is no question, however, of how Rose Baker ends up--and that's dead. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of March 27, 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Working out of Homicide, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are dispatched to an old rail yard, where a dazed young man (Sam Edwards) has been found hiding in an abandoned freight car, holding the body of a middle-aged woman in his arms. Though there are no signs of violence, it appears that the dead woman was a heavy drinker. Refusing to talk at first, the young man finally identifies himself as Gordon Miller, and claims that he killed the woman. It turns out that Gordon is an aspiring pianist and that the woman was his music teacher--but that's not the end of the story by a long shot. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of July 10, 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are summoned to a church by a Reverend Small (Lawrence Ryle), who reports that one of his parishioners, Dorothy Wilson (Joyce McCluskey) has been receiving anonymous letters and phone calls, branding her a "sinner" and threatening dire consequences. Curiously, though both Small and Dorothy have gotten similar poiosn-pen letters signed variously by "Sister in the Lord" and "D.R. Griswold", only Dorothy has been getting the crank phone calls. The detectives suspect that the obviously neurotic Dorothy is sending the letters to herself--but then the woman is found unconscious in the choir room, bound and gagged! This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of November 2, 1950. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Leonard Gray (Paul Richards) contacts Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) to report the murder of his wife Hazel. In a somewhat garbled statement, Gray insists that Hazel was killed while both he and his best friend Earl Anderson (Kenneth Tobey) were drunk--and that he's worried that Anderson will accuse him of the murder. As it turns out, both Gray and Anderson had motive and opportunity...and both have very weak alibis. This episode was adapted from the Dragnet radio broadcast of April 5, 1951. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1954
At the height of the popularity of his Dragnet TV series, producer/director/star Jack Webb struck a deal with Warner Bros. to direct several feature films--the first of which, but of course, was 1954's Dragnet. This time around, the "true story" in which "only the names are changed to protect the innocent" involves the murder of former syndicate member Dub Taylor. LAPD sergeants Joe Friday (Webb) and Frank Smith (Ben Alexander) follow the trail of evidence to shifty gangster boss Stacy Harris, who during most of the film is able to avoid arrest through legal loopholes. Richard Boone plays Captain Hamilton, while Ann Robinson, best known for her screaming and scurrying about in War of the Worlds, plays policewoman Grace Downey. Most of the rest of the cast is drawn from Webb's TV and radio stock company, including Virginia Gregg, who is quite good as the amputee wife of the victim, and Vic Perrin, who would later portray the voyeuristic serial killer in the 1967 TV movie version of Dragnet. Some sources list Cliff Arquette as being in the cast of Dragnet, playing his familiar Charley Weaver character, but we can't find him. Dragnet has often been derided because of Joe Friday's reluctance to honor the civil liberties of his suspects, but remember that this was 1954, long before the "You have a right to remain silent" era. Webb's terse, tightly edited, close-up-dominated TV technique translates surprisingly well to the big screen. At its worst, Dragnet falls victim to the corny overkill of the TV version: the subtle-as-an-earthquake musical cues, Friday and Smith's ubiquitous nods and exchanged glances, etc. Still, Dragnet was a satisfying and profitable feature film directorial debut for Jack Webb, whose subsequent efforts included Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), The DI (1957), 30 (1959) and The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Webb, Ben Alexander, (more)
One critic has noted that The Prodigal was aptly titled, inasmuch as it was all too prodigal with the funds of the then-flagging MGM studios. In its retelling of the 22-verse Biblical story of the Prodigal Son, the film helpfully fills in the story details inconsiderately left out of the Old Testament. Edmond Purdon plays Micah, the wastrel son of Eli (Walter Hampden) who takes his share of his father's fortune and blows it all in wicked old Damascus. Micah's one redeeming feature is his unserving faithful in the Lord God Jehovah. Pagan princess Samarra (Lana Turner at her most giddily exotic) intends to seduce Micah into renouncing his faith, only to get stoned to death for her troubles. Nearly two hours pass before Micah returns home and the fatted calf is killed in his honor. If for nothing else, The Prodigal would be memorable for Lana Turner's pagan-ritual costume, which is little more than a glorified bikini. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lana Turner, Edmund Purdom, (more)
- 1956
Given its cast and director, it is disheartening that The Black Sleep isn't any better than it is. Basil Rathbone heads the cast as Sir Joel Cadman, who uses a mind-controlling drug known as "The Black Sleep" to place brilliant scientist Gordon Ramsay (Herbert Rudley) under his control. Cadman needs Ramsay's intellect and expertise to aid him in a series of mysterious, covert experiments involving brain transplants. Evidently Cadman has already endured a few failures, as witness the present feeble-minded state of his former "volunteer" Mungo (Lon Chaney Jr.). Ramsay and heroine Laurie Munro (Patricia Blake) finally learn what Cadman is up to when they stumble upon a dungeon full of his previous "experiments," including a demented, emaciated man (John Carradine) and a blank-eyed monstrosity (Tor Johnson). In his last mainstream film, Bela Lugosi essays the thankless role of Cadman's mute servant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Basil Rathbone, Akim Tamiroff, (more)
- 1956
In this crime drama, an amiable car salesmen must begin selling stolen vehicles to pay for his sickly baby son's medical expenses. He tries to escape the gangsters who have been strong-arming him. Meanwhile, a policeman is investigating the crooks. When he gets too close, they kill him and frame the car salesman for the death. The salesman and the head mobster have a thrilling, final conflict aboard a speeding roller coaster at an amusement park. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Bromfield, Joi Lansing, (more)
- 1956
The owner of a liquor store is killed during a holdup--in which, curiously, no money was stolen. Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are puzzled by this fact, and by presence of a .38 bullet casing, but no corresponding slug. Soon afterward, a doctor reports that he removed the missing slug from a young patient. Though the detectives think they have their man, there are still a few twists and turns in store for them. This episode is a remake of the Dragnet radio broadcast of February 22, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
This 62-minute quickie takes place during a single 12-hour shift at Los Angeles' Emergency Hospital. In anticipation of such contemporary TV dramas as Chicago Hope and ER, several subplots are developed at once. Dr. Janet Carey (Margaret Lindsay) is romanced by wealthy Ben Caldwell (Byron Palmer), who may or may not be a dangerously reckless motorist. Visiting detective Arnold (Walter Reed) must come to grips with the fact that his teenaged son (Jim Stapleton) is a budding delinquent. And other major and minor crises are experienced by nurse Norma Mullen (Rita Johnson) and staff doctor Ellis (John Archer). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lindsay, Walter Reed, (more)
- 1957
This week's Person of Interest is a slippery thief who specializes in swiping brand-new fur coats. In the course of their investigation, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) interview an embittered woman named Wilda Chandler (Michael Ann Barrett), who points a finger at her no-good boyfriend, an "insurance agent" with a highly suspicious method of operation. This episode was adapted from the Dragnet radio broadcast of December 29, 1953. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Also known as Bop Girl, this diverting musical time capsule features several of the best Calypso performers of the late 1950s. Real-life jazz musician Bobby Troup stars as a college music student, writing a graduate thesis on rock 'n' roll. For research purposes, Troup persuades nightclub singer Judy Tyler to perform one of her numbers to a calypso beat. Before you can say "Harry Belafonte", a brand-new musical craze is born. The veteran supporting cast includes Lucien Littlefield as Bobby Troup's professor mentor, former 20th Century-Fox starlet Margo Woode as a eugenics expert, and George "Joe McDoakes" O'Hanlon as comedy relief. Among the musical acts are the Mary Kaye Trio, The Goofers, the Lord Flea Calypsonians, Nino Tempo, The Titans and The Cubanos. Bop Girl Goes Calypso was the final film appearance of up-and-coming actress Judy Tyler, who was killed in a particularly nasty car accident shortly after filming wrapped. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Tyler, Bobby Troup, (more)
- 1960
In this crime drama, a man serves five years in the state pen for armed robbery. Upon his release, the man is anxious to retrieve the $260,000 in loot he hid before he went to jail. Unfortunately, he is still pursued by both the police and his former gang mates. He ends up severely beaten, robbed, and ultimately cheated by his own lover. Despite these set-backs, the fellow remains content because he now has the love of his former partner's widow. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
This one-hour, police-story melodrama does not focus on the two-legged officers commonly found chasing the bad guys, but a four-legged K-9 corps German Shepherd named "Wolf" (played by Rocco), whose training forms a large part of the story. Wolf is put through his paces so that when the time comes, he can join up with his bosses and head out to capture some nasty arsonists, intent on torching buildings to collect insurance money. Given that Wolf's fans are likely to be the younger set, any ingrained clichés and lines of uninspired dialogue will not be a great problem. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Brown, Merry Anders, (more)
- 1961
This fantasy-comedy is directed by Don Taylor whose specialty is horror and action flics, and clearly not talking ducks and children's tales. Beetle McKay (Mickey Rooney) and Admiral John Paul Jones (Buddy Hackett) are two wacky sailors who make friends with a talking duck, a verbose avian that possesses a secret formula. It seems the formula is needed by the Navy satellite program and so the talky mallard is worth quite a bit. But in the meantime, the duck is hooked on booze and is a failure at taking to the water or even sounding like a normal duck. So the sailors have their work cut out for them as the deadline for launching the satellite approaches. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, (more)
- 1961
When a storm at sea threatens to sink the freighter "Janeel Trader", first officer Jerry Griffin orders a million dollars' worth of cargo to be dumped overboard, taking full responsibility for what he regards as a life-saving act. But when returns to shore, Jerry must face charges brought by a maritime court. The only man who can clear Griffin is Captain Bancroft (Robert Armstrong); unfortunately, Bancroft is murdered and Griffin is accused of the crime. This turns out to be a real "out-of-town" assignment for Griffin's civilian attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). Wesley Lau makes his first series appearance as Lt. Anderson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In Hands of a Stranger, concert pianist James Stapleton loses his hands in a traffic accident. Doctor Paul Lukather grafts on a new pair of hands, which were "donated" by a murder victim. Distressed that his new extremities are radically different from his old ones, Stapleton suffers a severe emotional breakdown. He subsequently causes the deaths of several people, both directly and indirectly; the most chilling moment is the death of young Barry Gordon, the son of the now-blinded cab driver whom Stapleton holds responsible for his accident. This was an unofficial screen version (the fourth up through that time) of the novel Hands of Orlac; previous versions were made in 1924 (as Orlacs Hände), 1935 (as Mad Love) and 1960 (as Les Mains d'Orlac). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Lukather, Joan Harvey, (more)
- 1963
Spliced together with plentiful strips of old footage from previous films set in Africa, this routine romantic drama takes place on the east, equatorial region of the so-called "dark continent," in 1897. The story features Mariette Hartley as Ruth Knight and Lloyd Bochner as David, an engineer and Ruth's romantic interest during a safari. Frankie Avalon plays another safari member. Aside from the spliced-in scenery and animals, and the romance between Ruth and David, there is a dash of adventure here and there as slave traders enter into the action. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Avalon, Mariette Hartley, (more)
- 1963
The Clampetts prepare to celebrate their first Thanksgiving in Beverly Hills. Problem is, Elly May has become so attached to the Thanksgiving turkey that she can't bear the thought of cookin' and eatin' the poor bird. The plot of this episode manages to accommodate two rather inauthentic-looking Indians, one of them portrayed by ubiquitous dialect comedian Benny Rubin. "Turkey Day" premiered on November 27, 1963, appropriately, the day before Thanksgiving. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Based on the story "The Horla" by Guy de Maupassant, this grim low-budget potboiler stars Vincent Price as Simon Cordier, a ruthless magistrate in 19th-century Paris who becomes possessed by the malevolent spirit (or "horla") of a condemned murderer whom Cordier was forced to kill in self-defense. Driven by the madman's ghost to continue his pattern of brutal crimes, Cordier comes to the realization that the only way he can purge the violent demon from his soul is to immolate himself in a blazing pyre. Though the riveting Price (whose very presence can enliven even the most dismal of horror duds) does an admirable job as the tormented Cordier, he is unable to bear the ponderous weight of this tedious production. Although a parallel between the callousness of Cordier's office and the insensate evil of his crimes would have provided an interesting subtext, the script forfeits this potential, relying instead on a pat, self-righteous finale with religious overtones. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Nancy Kovack, (more)
- 1963
Hanley (Rick Jason) places his confidence in a Free French guide named Massine (Peter Whitney) when the platoon is assigned to a dangerous mission behind enemy lines. But Massine with fulfill his end of the job on one condition: that he and his fellow Underground members are allowed to raid a Nazi ammunition depot. It is a praiseworthy goal--and it is also strictly against Hanley's orders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
In this western a cowboy rides out for vengeance against the outlaws who brutally murdered his sister. But before he can exact vigilante justice upon the killers a wise old lawman manages to round up the gang and bring them to proper justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
