Marjorie Stapp Movies

In this romantic comedy, a grocery store employee endeavors to attract the attention of a wealthy playboy by pretending to be a high society girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this routine western set in 1864 in Montana, U.S. Marshal Jim McDowell (James Philbrook) is trying to safely get a treasure-trove of gold bullion out East, where it will help the Union cause in the Civil War. Standing in his way are first a band of Native Americans and then some crafty outlaws headed by double-dealing sheriff Henry Plummer (Marshal Reed). Since the sheriff has insider information, he and his band of bad guys have a special hot line to what happens next. Meanwhile, Marshal McDowell is aided and abetted by his wife Rose (Nancy Kovack), a woman who married him for her own particular reasons. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this conventional drama about a killer on the loose, the usual psychological interplay of a disturbed mind and the killer's potential victims is emphasized. Jamie (Steven Marlo) is running away from a murder he just committed, apparently unable to control his homicidal urges once they arise. Ann and Benjie (Luana Patten and Tom Selden) are the young couple who pick up Jamie while they themselves are running away from the police. Their reasons are hardly criminal, they believe the police will try to stop them from getting married. As the association with Jamie continues, the young couple begin to suspect he might be even more dangerous than the police they are trying to evade. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Saga of Hemp Brown gets under way when the title character (Rory Calhoun) is court-martialed and booted from the Cavalry. Brown is accused of permitting his men to walk into a deadly ambush; he knows he's innocent, and he spends the rest of the picture tracking down the real culprit. Joining a travelling medicine show, Brown falls in love with pretty snake-oil peddler Mona Langley (Beverly Garland). She is instrumental in helping Brown corner the mastermind behind the ambush (whose identity must remain secret in this paragraph). As a western, Saga of Hemp Brown is more of the same; the film's greatest strength is the unstressed rapport between stars Rory Calhoun and Beverly Garland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A bizarre western that at times veers dangerously close to outright burlesque, Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend concluded Randolph Scott's long-term contract with Warner Bros. and sat on the shelf for nearly two years before being dumped on the double-bill market in 1957. Scott and two fellow cavalry officers (Gordon Jones and a very young James Garner) have their clothes stolen while skinny-dipping. Offered new apparel by a group of Quakers (or are they Mormons? It is never made quite clear), the threesome go on to prevent James Craig from supplying the territory with faulty guns and ammo. Dani Crayne (the wife of actor David Janssen at the time) seductively warbles {&"Kiss Me Quick") and a young Angie Dickinson lends further femininity to the proceedings. Much of this is strangely watchable, but as a western Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend can never make up its mind whether to play it straight or for comedy. Not too surprisingly, director Richard L. Bare had gotten his start helming the studio's "Joe McDoakes" comedy shorts in the 1940s. A final paradox: There is nary a shoot-out in the entire film. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A alien satellite enters close orbit around the Earth and releases a projectile that takes over the body and mind of Dr. Hubbell Eliot (John Emery), the director of Lab Central, America's top astrophysics research facility. Even as Elliot is falling victim to the invaders, Lab Central scientist Dr. Leslie Gaskell (Jeff Morrow) and his colleagues, Vera Hunter (Barbara Lawrence) and Dr. Arnie Culver (George O'Hanlon), have begun tracking the object -- not certain what it is -- and determine that it is going to hit the Earth in less than 24 hours. An attempt to destroy it with nuclear warheads fails, and the vehicle comes down off the coast of Mexico. While Eliot tries to resist the invaders' control and is hospitalized in a state of collapse, Gaskell, Vera, and Culver fly to the site of the landing, where the submerged craft emits a powerful energy pulse that spreads across the surface of the ocean and toward the beach. When it clears, there stands on the beach a huge metallic object -- a towering robot, inadvertently christened "Kronos" by Gaskell, in a relative moment of whimsy. Hundreds of feet tall and possessing immense power, Kronos proceeds to rampage across the countryside, destroying everything in its path as it seeks out and absorbs all sources of electrical and atomic energy. Back at Lab Central, Eliot temporarily breaks free of the aliens' control, long enough to tell Gaskell of the robot's purpose and mission -- Kronos is a accumulator, sent to Earth by a race whose own planet is depleted of energy, and it will continue to grow stronger unless someone can find a way of reversing the process; worse yet, if Kronos isn't destroyed, other accumulators will be sent to drain the Earth of all its energy. The robot advances relentlessly, growing in destructive power as it moves up the coast, and not even a hydrogen bomb can slow it down. Finally, as it heads toward an H-bomb depository and prepares to destroy the city of Los Angeles in its path, Gaskell devises a possible method of stopping Kronos, based on an untested, untried scientific theory. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The Monster That Challenged the World is the misleadingly title for one of the more well-regarded second-echelon horror films of the 1950s. An underwater earthquake in the Sargasso sea yields up the eggs of a long-extinct sea monster. Once hatched, the monster's offspring (which resemble huge snails) sustain themselves by sucking the life forces of various unlucky human land dwellers. Even worse, these horrendous creatures procreate at an incredible rate, laying 3000 eggs per sitting. Eventually, the monsters are neutralized by Modern Science, save for one stray snail that very nearly lunches on a little girl.. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Taking shaky aim at Tinseltown scandal sheets, this murder mystery centers on an actor who is accused of murdering the reporter who recently smeared his name. As a result of the accusation, the actor loses his studio contract. Fortunately, all is not lost for another is working to prove his innocence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Frank Tashlin directed this comedy about a man whose marriage hits the skids when his wife gets caught in the draft. Gregory Whitcomb (Tom Ewell) served with distinction in the Army during WWII, but he now makes his living as a television writer. Gregory's wife Katy (Sheree North), several years his junior, was also a member of the military as a WAC. When the armed forces find themselves strapped for qualified personnel, Gregory and Katy are ordered to return to active duty; after his physical, Gregory is reclassified 4-F for health reasons, but Katy is judged 1-A and put back in camouflage. Now poor Gregory finds himself having to look after the home by himself and waiting for his spouse at the base, while both Katy and Gregory try to figure out how to free her from her military obligations. The Lieutenant Wore Skirts also features Rita Moreno and Rick Jason. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One of the most entertaining of the Western movies to come out of the 1950s, this is a Stewart vehicle in which he must take on the ruthlessness of the frontier. Set in the Yukon, Stewart and his friends are driving cattle to market from Wyoming to Canada, where the boom towns pay top dollar for beef. When they arrive in Skagway, the corrupt sheriff of the town (John McIntire) steals the cattle and Stewart et al are forced to fight for their herd. Together with the female saloon keeper of another town (Ruth Roman), they find themselves up against an evil they were not prepared for. When Stewart's friend (portrayed by Walter Brennan) is killed, he is forced to go up against the evil sheriff. Good versus evil in incredible Yukon settings makes this an above average Western. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Port Sinister was produced by the team of Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen, whose chief claim to fame was the 1951 sci-fi "sleeper" The Man From Planet X. Soldier of fortune Tony Ferris (James Warren) leads an expedition to an island threatened with extinction by a volcano. No, Ferris isn't crazy: it is his belief that the eruption will reveal a fortune in buried pirate treasure. Surrounded by highly suspicious-looking characters, Ferris can trust only his longtime companion, Jean Hunter (Lynne Roberts) -- and even she doesn't seem too trustworthy. Originally distributed by RKO Radio, Port Sinister was re-issued by Realart Pictures in 1961 under the title Beast of Paradise Isle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

1950's Emergency Wedding is a remake of 1940's You Belong to Me. The later film stars Larry Parks, who'd had a bit role in the original. Parks plays wealthy Peter Kirk, a playboy, while Barbara Hale co-stars as female doctor Helen Hunt. When Peter marries Helen, it is a "given" that he'll stay home while she works. Unfortunately, Peter becomes jealous of the amount of time Helen spends at the hospital with her patients. Out of pique, Peter makes the supreme sacrifice and offers to get a job himself. All sorts of misunderstandings and remonstrations ensue before the title Emergency Wedding is explained at the very end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The legendary Knights of the Round Table came to the screen in 1949 courtesy of penny-pinching serial producer Sam Katzman. A pre-Superman George Reeves starred in the title role, a knight who, in order to join King Arthur (Nelson Leigh) and his famous table, must obtain the missing sword Excalibur whose powers can render a person invisible. Sir Galahad is hindered in his quest by the occupying Saxons in general and by Merlin the magician (William Fawcett) and a mysterious Black Knight (Leonard Penn) in particular. All the legendary characters appear in this serial, including Morgan Le Fay (Pat Barton); Sir Lancelot (Hugh Prosser); Queen Guinevere (Marjorie Stapp); and Sir Gawain (Rick Vallin). Katzman and screenwriters George H. Plympton, Lewis Clay and David Mathews added a rotund sidekick, Bors, played, surprisingly, by veteran B-Western menace Charles King. Unfortunately, producer Katzman's pernicious methods rendered the serial less than first class. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide