Richard Travis Movies

Green cheese? Men in the Moon? Nah, everyone knows that the moon is really populated by beautiful women wearing silk underwear and spiked heels. They are ruled by an evil temptress and share the moon with giant rock men and an enormous spider. Honest. Just watch this campy remake of Cat Women of the Moon and see for yourself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Tired of the humdrum routine at a staid British woman's prison, brassy American chorine Angela Booth (Beverly Michaels) busts out. Scotland Yard decides to allow Angela to roam free, hoping that she'll lead them to her partner in crime, who unbeknownst to her is a notorious traitor and killer. Blonde Bait was originally released in Great Britain as Women without Men. For American consumption, a few new scenes were shot, featuring Hollywood actors Jim Davis, Richard Travis, and Paul Cavanagh. Direction of the finished product was credited to the film's editor, Elmo Williams. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, the real-life personality so brilliantly (albeit briefly) portrayed by Elizabeth McGovern in Ragtime (1981), is given the full biopic treatment in 20th Century Fox's The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing. Since the real Mrs. Thaw served as technical advisor for the film, it isn't surprising that the controversial Evelyn comes across as being more sinned against that sinning. Joan Collins stars as Evelyn, the gorgeous chorine and original "Gibson Girl" who becomes the romantic bone of contention between ageing architect Stanford White (Ray Milland) and slightly unbalanced young millionaire Harry K. Thaw. Setting up Evelyn in a plush apartment, the lecherous White insists that she "perform" for him on the red velvet swing of the title (allegedly, Evelyn swung naked above the slavering White, though she's fully clothed in the film). Eventually, Thaw marries Evelyn, but cannot prevent White from continuing his romantic overtures. Things come to a head in 1906, on the roof of Madison Square Garden. As Evelyn sings and dances in a stage musical, the insanely jealous Thaw walks up to White, pulls out a pistol, and, in full view of the audience, pumps several bullets into the older man. Though Thaw manages to avoid the gallows by pleading insanity (he was eventually released), Evelyn's reputation is permanently besmirched, leaving her little choice but to capitalize upon her notoriety on the vaudeville stage (actually, Evelyn pursued a moderately successful film career before losing all her money to bad investments in the 1920s). By purifying the character of Evelyn Nesbit and thoroughly vilifying Stanford White, The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing is hardly 100 percent accurate; still, the film is immensely entertaining, thanks to the enthusiastic performances of the three stars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mutated spiders, mad geniuses, childlike mental patients, gold-digging blondes, and vengeful little people are only part of the madness in this legendary bit of oddball science fiction. Grant (Robert Knapp) and Doreen (Mary Hill) wander into a shack in the wastelands of Mexico's Muerto Desert, where the sunburned and dehydrated pair tell their tale to a surveyor for an American petroleum firm. Grant was working as a pilot for millionaire businessman Jan Van Croft (Nico Lek), who was to marry the much younger Doreen when engine trouble stranded them in a Mexican border town. Jan and Doreen were killing time in a roadhouse when they were joined by the eccentric Dr. Leland Masterson (Harmon Stevens), who had recently escaped from a mental hospital. Before Masterson's nurse, George (George Barrows), can lure his patient back to the hospital, Masterson pulls a gun and shoots entertainer Tarantella (Tandra Quinn) while she performs a wild dance routine; Masterson then takes Jan and Doreen hostage and demands that Grant fly them away. Further engine trouble strands the traveling party on a mesa, where they discover a handful of strange, tiny men and statuesque women. In time, we discover that Masterson knows the story behind the Mesa's unusual residents -- they're the products of a series of experiments by Dr. Aranya (Jackie Coogan), whose research into the pituitary glands of spiders has produced unusual results. The only screen credit for screenwriter and co-director Herbert Tevos (who helmed the project with Southern exploitation icon Ron Ormond), Mesa of Lost Women also features a memorably irritating guitar-and-piano score and a brief appearance by Dolores Fuller, best known for her work with one-time beau Edward D. Wood Jr. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Pier 23 was one of three hour-long mysteries produced by Lippert Productions for both TV and theatrical release. Each of the three films was evenly divided into two half-hour "episodes," and each starred Hugh Beaumont as San Francisco-based amateur sleuth Dennis O'Brien. In Pier 23, O'Brien first tackles the case of a wrestler who has died of a suspicious heart attack after refusing to lose a match. He then agrees to help a priest talk an escaped criminal into returning to prison. The film's two-part structure leads to repetition and predictability, but it's fun to watch TV's "Ward Cleaver" making like Philip Marlowe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lippert's Fingerprints Don't Lie stars Richard Travis as fingerprint expert James Stover. At the moment, Stover is attempting to solve the murder of a small-town mayor. When the most likely suspect has been collared, Stover determines that the fingerprints found at the scene of the crime have been forged. Thus it is that the actual murderer is still around and about. In fact, he's much closer to Our Hero than anyone might have suspected. Fingerprints Don't Lie co-stars Sheila Ryan (in one of her last film appearances before becoming Mrs. Pat Buttram) and Lippert's resident utility player Sid Melton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lippert's Mask of the Dragon was filmed simultaneously with Fingerprints Don't Lie, utilizing the same director and cast. Richard Travis plays Phil Ramsey, a private eye, headquartered in San Francisco. He is obliged to investigate the murder of an old friend, a Korean war vet who had recently delivered a jade dragon to a Chinatown merchant. Aided by heroine Ginny O'Donnell (Sheila Ryan), Ramsey follows the trail of clues to a deserted TV studio (actually Los Angeles' KTLA). Sid Melton provides comedy relief as the head villain's dopey henchman. Though cheaply produced, Mask of the Dragon doesn't stint entertainment-wise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Veteran character actor Joe Sawyer produced, co-wrote and co-starred in the diverting docudrama Operation Haylift. Based on an actual incident that took place in 1949, the film recounts the efforts of the U.S. Air Force to rescue stranded cattle during a devastating series of blizzards. Sawyer's role is minor compared to Bill Williams and Tom Brown, who play a pair of brothers who sign up together for Air Force duty. Made with the full cooperation of the USAF, the film utilizes the services of a fleet of "flying boxcars," and also features the actual pilots who participated in the rescue. Handling the romantic angle in the film's dramatic passages are Ann Rutherford and Jane Nigh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed under the title Highway Patrol, Lippert's Motor Patrol stars Don Castle as Ken, a rookie policeman. When his fiancee's brother is killed by car thieves, Ken volunteers to bring in the murderers. He poses as a big-city racketeer and infiltrates the gang. After the inevitable unmasking, the film ends in a blaze of artillery. The film strives for a documentary "feel" by including long, detailed sequences dramatizing real-life police procedure. This being a Lippert Film, the presence of Sid Melton as comedy relief is inevitable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set virtually in its entirety in an airborne TWA Constellation (evidently the company agreed to the use of its name in exchange for free advertising), Sky Liner stars Richard Travis as FBI agent Steve Blair. At the beginning of the film, a government courier is murdered by a foreign spy during a transcontinental flight. Blair manages to collar the spy, who is then promptly murdered himself. Now Blair is forced to play detective, sifting out the guilty party (or parties) from the passenger list. Pamela Blake and Rochelle Hudson play the standard "good" and "bad" girls, while the rest of the cast is a film-buff's dream: Steven Geray, Bess Flowers, Jack Mulhall, George Meeker et. al. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Speed to Spare is an efficient entry from the Pine-Thomas Productions assembly line. Ricard Arlen, who'd been a "regular" with the P-T output since the early 1940s, stars as daredevil auto racer Cliff Jordan. Opting for a safer profession, Jordan forms a trucking firm with his somewhat more even-tempered pal Jerry (Richard Travis). Before long, however, the reckless Jordan once more finds himself in hot water, courtesy of all-around villain Pusher (Ian McDonald), the head of a rival trucking concern. Though billed third, Jean Rogers has little to do other than register concern over the carefree Jordan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This minor 20th Century-Fox B picture received a great deal of TV play in the late 1950s. In a series of flashbacks, the audience learns that attorney John Morland (John Eldredge) has given a lift to a hitchhiker (Douglas Fowley) who turns out to be a murderer. As a result, Morland himself is implicated in a killing. A pair of detectives (Larry Blake and Richard Travis) discover that Morland has been having business problems and no end of difficulties with his wife Catherine (Jean Rogers). The trail of clues leads to a surprising revelation-especially surprising for those filmgoers conditioned to believe that the most obvious suspect is never guilty. Backlash is also available in a computer-colored version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though 20th Century-Fox was phasing out its B-picture unit in the late 1940s, a few inexpensive films, some made in England to utilize the studio's wartime "frozen funds", still managed to trickle into theaters. The Jewels of Brandenburg stars Richard Travis as Johnny Vickers, a US government agent operating in London. Vickers puts a tail on a double agent named Marcel Grandet (Leonard Strong), with whom he'd worked during the war. Grandet has stolen a fortune in jewels with which he intends to finance a neo-Nazi movement. Posing as a fellow fascist, Travis is able to infiltrate the villains-but will he be able to return the gems and save his own skin? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide