Sara Shane Movies
- 1964
In Volume 40 of a collection culled from the 1963-1965 science fiction anthology television series, the speedy evolution of an alien culture is observed through a professor's telescope. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1964
When the king of a small nation is assassinated, the Seaview gets the mission of conducting the young Crown Prince home. The mission, and the need to protect the boy, is made all the more difficult by his unhappiness, and Nelson and Crane's inability to communicate with him. When the sub picks up a mysterious old man (Carroll O'Connor) at sea, he provides the boy with the companionship he needs, as well as some unexpected guidance. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Publisher Victor Hartman (Arnold Moss) receives a series of tape recordings, ostensibly of the latest mystery novel written by Warren Barrow (James Mason). As Hartman listens to the tapes, the action of the novel is acted out for the benefit of the audience. The plot concerns a mystery writer in love with a married woman (played by Angie Dickinson) -- and as that plot thickens, Hartman begins to wonder if the story is merely fiction or a real-life murder scheme hatched by the diabolically clever Mr. Barrow. Whodunit specialists Richard Levinson and William Link adapted this episode from Henry Bingham's novel Murder Plan Six. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Retired professional assassin Frank Burns (Richard Conte) has told his new wife, Loretta (Sara Shane), that he used to be an engineer. Unfortunately, a man named Cullen (Stacy Harris) knows the truth about Burns, and he threatens to tell all unless he is paid off. Not one to be threatened, Frank briefly comes out of retirement to deal with Cullen -- which proves to be, shall we say, a fatal error. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Future film superstar James Coburn appears as slimy entrepreneur Donald Fletcher, who purchases a highly respected publishing house and converts its output to slezy tabloids and nudie magazines. Unable to legally prevent Fletcher from inflicting further damage, editor Edmond Aitken (Philip Abbott), whose family once owned the publishing firm, may be driven to desperation. Ultimately, Fletcher is murdered--but it is Aitken's wife Alyce (Sara Shane), rather than her husband, who is charged with the crime because she was being blackmailed by Fletcher with nude photos taken during her modelling career. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) prepares to clear Alyce and ferret out the genuine culprit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Tarzan's Greatest Adventure stars Gordon Scott in his fourth screen appearance as Edgar Rice Burrough's lord of the jungle. Jane is absent from the proceedings, Cheetah the chimp is reduced to a bit part, and Tarzan himself is given a sophisticated vocabulary (in keeping with the Burroughs original). The storyline concerns a murderous diamond hunter (Anthony Quayle), an old enemy of Tarzan's who threatens to despoil the Ape Man's jungle domain. Among the villain's entourage is a young Sean Connery, playing a nasty chap who meets a nastier demise. While perhaps not as great as the title proclaims, Tarzan's Greatest Adventure is one of the most consistently exciting entries in the Tarzan series, and worth a second glance today due to its top-drawer supporting cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gordon Scott, Anthony Quayle, (more)
- 1957
In this suspenseful crime drama the trouble begins when the healthy wife of a crippled plantation owner prepares to leave with her handsome lover. Just before she does, her ailing husband tells her that he will only live a few months more, and if she remains with him she will inherit $20 million. She then dumps her lover and returns to her husband. Time passes and he is still alive. She grows impatiant and pushes her husband and his wheelchair into the swimming pool and gets her money. Afterward, she murders a snoopy servant, but in the end one of her late husbands' servants avenges his death and kills the conniving wife. Meanwhile, the lover returns to the piano bar where he met the woman. The film was shot in oppulent Havana, Cuba before Castro came to power. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cassavetes, Raymond Burr, (more)
- 1957
Investigating a robbery at a supermarket, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) interview the owners, George and Alva Clawson (Ed Prentiss, Sara Shane). It soon becomes obvious that the thief had "inside" information that the couple kept their money hidden in two empty tomato cans. Things become confusing when George Clawson insists that the thief was a stranger to him, but his wife has a slightly different story. Featured in the cast is cult favorite Yvette Vickers, the "blonde bombshell" who appeared in such campy 1950s film epics as Reform School Girl and Attack of the Giant Leeches. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
The King and Four Queens was the first (and last) project from Clark Gable's own production company, GABCO. Gable stars as Western fugitive Dan Kehoe, who hides out in a small ghost town. Here he whiles away his time with the town's only inhabitants: Ma MacDade (Jo Van Fleet), matriarch of the outlaw McDade family, and the four wives (Eleanor Parker, Jean Willes, Barbara Nichols, and Sara Shane) of Mrs. McDade's gunslinging sons. Three of the four McDade boys are dead; the fourth is expected to return at any minute with the loot from a recent stagecoach robbery. Since no one knows which of the McDades is dead, all four wives make a play for the bemused Kehoe; he in turn responds to their advances, hoping to get a share of the gold. The fur really begins to fly when it turns out that one of the wives is a phony who intends to double-cross the other three and ride off into the sunset with Kehoe. When The King and Four Queens proved a box-office disappointment, Clark Gable gave up the notion of producing his own films and returned to freelancing at the major studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Eleanor Parker, (more)
- 1956
In this steamy drama, three sisters learn that their father has died in a plane crash, and they begin fighting over his enormous estate to see who is to be the principal heiress. One of the sisters is particularly wicked. Wanting it all for herself, she maims one of her siblings so badly that the girl kills herself. She then hires the man who flew the plane the day their father died to help her kill the second sister in exchange for a piece of the fortune. The pilot agrees, but then falls in love with the second sister and marries her. The evil sister gets revenge by telling the new bride that she is having an affair with the pilot. The distraught sister is just about to jump off a cliff when the pilot and the bad seed accidentally drive over the cliff themselves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathleen Hughes, Sara Shane, (more)
- 1955
This last remake (thus far) of the Jean Webster novel Daddy Long Legs was extensively revised to accommodate the talents of Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron. Fragments of the basic plot remain: American millionaire Astaire is the unknown benefactor of French orphan girl Caron, financing the girl's education on the proviso that his identity never be revealed to her. Moved by Caron's letters of thanks, Astaire's secretary Thelma Ritter advises Astaire to go to France to visit the "child". When he arrives, he finds that his ward has grown up rather nicely, and the two fall in love--though Caron never knows until the very end who Astaire really is. The old story has been updated to allow for an elaborate "cowboy" number and a couple of Eisenhower jokes. Highlights include a solo ballet by Caron and a wonderful Astaire routine involving a set of drums. The score for Daddy Long Legs is unremarkable save for Johnny Mercer's hit "Something's Gotta Give". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, (more)
- 1954
This second film version of Lloyd C. Douglas' spiritual novel Magnificent Obsession is in its own way as successful as the first (filmed in 1935) in glossing over the plot holes and logic gaps in the original novel. Rock Hudson plays Bob Merrick, a reckless playboy who is indirectly responsible for the death of a kindly and much-beloved doctor. The dead man's wife, Helen Phillips (Jane Wyman), refuses to accept Bob's apologies. When Helen is accidentally blinded, Bob decides to "do right" by her anonymously, illustrating author Douglas' curious edict that the best sort of good deed is the one for which you're not rewarded. In record time, Bob becomes a brilliant physician, and it is he who performs the sight-restoring surgery on Helen. Rather than fade into the woodwork unheralded, Bob is at last forgiven by Helen, who has fallen in love with him during her sightless months without even knowing it. Luxuriously produced by Ross Hunter and directed con brio by Douglas Sirk, Magnificent Obsession was one of the most successful of Universal's big-budget "weepers" of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, (more)
- 1954
Jeff Chandler may be the top-billed star of Sign of the Pagan, but the film belongs to Jack Palance, cast as no less than Attila the Hun. As Attila's hordes advance upon Rome, noble centurion Marcian (Chandler) mounts a counteroffensive. Alas, the Scourge of God cannot be stopped by weaponry or sheer brute strength. No, Attila can be halted in his tracks only by the hand of God Himself. Through a deft combination of historical fact and movie magic, this is precisely what happens. Ballerina Ludmilla Tcherina, her voice dubbed by an anonymous American actress, co-stars as Marcian's lady love, while Rita Gam is sublimely cast as Attila's long-suffering daughter. Also appearing as Attila's slave bride is Allison Hayes, some three years away from her starring turn in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. Filmed on a more spectacular scale than one usually associates with Universal-International, Sign of the Pagan loses some of its scope when shown on television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Chandler, Jack Palance, (more)
