Carlos Thompson Movies

This unusual, dreamlike John Wayne vehicle is set in the East Indies. The focus of the film is the deadly rivalry between two men of the sea. Ship's captain Rails (John Wayne) nurses a long-standing grudge against shipping magnate Van Schreeven (Luther Adler). The reason for the animosity: Van Schreeven stole away Rails' love, Angelique (Gail Russell). Revenge has warped Rails to point that sometimes he seems to be the heavy of the picture. Complications involving valuable pearls ensue before the offbeat climax, which finds Rails scuttling his own vessel, the Red Witch, as means of getting even. The film's resolution is one of the strangest ever concocted for a Wayne picture. Wake of the Red Witch represented the second screen teaming of John Wayne and Gail Russell; the film must also have held some special significance for Wayne, since he named his own production company, Batjac, after the shipping firm depicted in the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Penny Edwards and Ross Elliot are top-billed in the Republic programmer Woman in the Dark. Though Edwards plays the title character, most of the film is carried by Elliot as an Italian-American priest named Father Tony Morello. The good father is saddled with a no-good brother named Gino (Richard Benedict), who gets mixed up in a jewel heist. With the help of Father Tony and his other brother, a lawyer named Phil (Rick Vallin), Gino is cleared of all charges. But the jewel thieves exact a violent revenge upon Gino, prompting Phil to retaliate and Father Tony to try to maintain peace in the family. Throughout it all, Phil's Park Avenue girlfriend Anna Reichardt (Penny Edwards) stands on the sidelines, with wide eyes and trembling lips. Woman in the Dark was based on Moon Over Mulberrry Street, a play by Nicholas Cosentino. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Argentine El Tunel features two of that country's brightest young stars, Laura Hidalgo and Carlos Thompson (the latter was on the verge of "going Hollywood" in 1952). Based on a controversial novel by Ernesto Sabato, the film attempts to probe the psyche of a demented murderer. Thompson plays a surrealist painter who falls in love with the wife (Hidalgo) of a famous pianist. Consumed by jealousy of the woman's multiple affairs, the painter is driven to murder. But that's only part of the story: once he's safely ensconced in a lunatic asylum, the artist is "interpreted" by a group of self-styled specialists, in much the same way as his paintings had previously been picked apart by art critics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this adventure, set in Algiers, a French cabaret singer tries to expose the identity of an Arab leader who is conspiring to attack the French. She hopes that by cozying up to him in his palace that she will be able to steal his plans and thwart the conspiracy. Unfortunately, she is soon unmasked and must be rescued by her real lover, a soldier in the French Foreign Legion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Using the dry historical tome Gods, Graves and Scholars as its source, MGM came up with the rip-roaring adventure film Valley of the Kings. Robert Taylor plays Mark Brandon, an Indiana Jones-style archaeologist who embarks upon an expedition to Egypt. Brandon has agreed to help Ann Mercedes (Eleanor Parker) to locate the tomb of the Pharoah Ra-Hotep, thereby proving the validity of her late father's theories about Egyptian history. Along for the ride is Ann's seemingly affable husband Philip (Carlos Thompson), while the sinister Hamed Bachkour (Kurt Kasnar), who seems to be a criminal of some sort, dogs the expedition's trail. Upon arriving at the tomb, all heck breaks loose as the film's true heroes and villains are revealed. Valley of the Kings combines location-filmed footage in glorious Eastmancolor with a few moderately convincing studio mockups. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thunderstorm was produced in Spain by actress Binnie Barnes, though one suspects that most of the production details were handled by her husband Mike Frankovich. Carlos Thompson plays fisherman Diego Martinez, who while casting his nets one day comes up with quite a catch -- Maria Ramon (Linda Christian), whom Diego saves from drowning. It isn't long before practically every male in the village, including mayor Pablo Gardia (Charles Korvin) and Gardia's son Miguel (Gary Thorne), has fallen madly in love with Maria. Alas, her presence brings only misfortune for all concerned, leaving her no alternative to leave the village by returning whence she came -- the open sea. Thunderstorm was released in the U.S. by Allied Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In her second film for Universal-International, Esther Williams stars as Laura, a high-priced fashion model. While working in Rome, Laura succumbs to the charms of international playboy Wally (Carlos Thompson), agreeing to join him on a chartered plane flight across the Mediterranean. When the plane crashes, Laura and Wally are rescued by mysterious loner Moore (Jeff Chandler). Chafing at the thought of remaining on Moore's sparsely populated island, Wally finds the wreckage of a yacht. While he repairs the vessel in hopes of returning to the mainland, Laura and Moore draw ever closer, leading to a potentially explosive situation. Is it just imagination, or does Carlos Thompson sound as though his voice has been dubbed by Paul Frees? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For some reason, European filmmakers are irresistibly attracted to the notion of sex and betrayal under the big top. The Austrian/German Hippodrome stars Gerhard Riedmann as a circus tiger trainer, hopelessly in love with ballerina Margit Nunme. The girl plays up to Riedmann so that she can join his act. The trainer is transferred to another circus, so Margit takes up with sharpshooter Willy Birgel. When Riedmann returns, the jealous Birgel drugs his tigers, then kills himself when he's found out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A wooden, routine satire about love, sex, and a fascination with Americans, Die Halbzarte features an eccentric Austrian family who come up with a novel idea for making money. They decide to collectively write a sexy play about a young American that because of its content, is sure to become popular and sell out to packed houses. The innocent teen daughter in the family is involved in the project which suddenly becomes complicated when an American buyer gets interested in who wrote the play. This leads to romance for the pure-hearted daughter, whose own experiences in that area in no way match those of the play's hero. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

When Carlos Thompson begins killing miners following the murder of his wife by a miner, Charles
Fawcett and his Texas Rangers halt the killing spree. ~ All Movie Guide

This undistinguished drama from Austrian director Arthur Maria Rabenalt overdoses on melodrama and clichés as it tells the story of a young girl who tries to help her father find happiness. He is an important conductor who has been living alone with his daughter since his wife died. The daughter knows what her father needs is the right woman and is not likely to sit back and let him handle his own romantic life. Even well-known actors like Linda Christian and Edmond Purdom cannot overcome the deficiencies in the script. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide