Felipe Turich Movies

In this drama, a Chicano gang member falls in love with a beautiful, wealthy Anglo girl. She tries to get him to leave the gang, but the young man is too deeply involved in being macho to listen. Then his grandmother dies and he travels to Mexico for the funeral. There his mother decides to introduce him to his estranged father, a boozy Anglo-American neer-do-well. Seeing his father causes the boy to take a good look at himself. He decides he wants a better life. He tries to leave the gang and they end up beating him senseless. Still he persists, and soon he is reunited with the girl he loves. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this s-s-suspenseful drama, a submarine carrying a load of poisonous snakes accidentally wedges itself amidst the rocks near the bottom of the sea. Now the crew must somehow avoid the unwanted slitherers and manage to extricate themselves. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Fuzz treads the line between raucous comedy and gut-churning melodrama. Based on an "87th Precinct" novel by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter), the film stars Burt Reynolds and Jack Weston as, respectively, detectives Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer. Their current assignment is to bring in Deaf Man (Yul Brynner), a mad bomber who has been targeting politicians. A subplot concerning a couple of punks who get their kicks by setting fire to sleeping winos is dramatically justified by the main storyline, but it was this element that caused a lot of trouble for the producers of Fuzz when a pair of real-life teenagers decided to imitate the film. On a lighter note, Raquel Welch co-stars as Detective Eileen McHenry, who is obliged to go undercover -- and under covers -- with fellow officer Bert Kling (Tom Skerritt). And as a bonus, viewers are treated to Burt Reynolds' first "drag" scene. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

William "One Shot" Beaudine's companion piece to the equally nonsensical Billy the Kid vs. Dracula represents a memorable closing to the eccentric "Z"-movie auteur's amusing body of work. The hare-brained concept finds the legendary outlaw Jesse James (John Lupton) stumbling into the decrepit lair of Maria Frankenstein (Narda Onyx) -- not the daughter but the granddaughter of the infamous monster-making Baron. Maria is, of course, following in Grandpa's footsteps by creating a creature of her own, transplanting the dormant but still-intact brain of Frankenstein's original monster into the body of one of James' cohorts. The lumbering, homicidal monster -- imaginatively dubbed "Igor" -- begins terrorizing townsfolk until the inevitable showdown between living and undead gunslingers. Though not as flamboyantly awful as its predecessor (mainly due to the absence of John Carradine), this is still worth a look for trash-movie completists. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

George Stevens' sprawling adaptation of Edna Ferber's best-selling novel successfully walks a fine line between potboiler and serious drama for its 210-minute running time, making it one of the few epics of its era that continues to hold up as engrossing entertainment across the decades. Giant opens circa 1922 in Maryland, where Texas rancher Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Rock Hudson) has arrived to buy a stallion called War Winds from its owner, Dr. Horace Lynnton (Paul Fix). But much as Bick loves and knows horses, he finds himself even more transfixed by the doctor's daughter, Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor), and after some awkward moments, she has to admit that she's equally drawn to the shy, laconic Texan. They get married and Leslie spends her honeymoon traveling with Jordan to his ranch, Reata, which covers nearly a million acres of Texas. Once there, however, she finds that she has to push her way into her rightful role as mistress of the house, past Bick's sister, Luz (Mercedes McCambridge), who can't accept her brother's marriage or the changes it means in the home they share. Also working around Reata is the laconic ranch hand Jett Rink (James Dean) -- from a family as rooted in Texas as the Benedicts but not nearly as lucky (or "foxy"), Jett is dirt-poor and barely educated at all, and he fairly oozes resentment at Bick for his arrogance, although Luz likes him and for that reason alone Bick is obliged to keep him on. One thing Jett does have in common with his employer is that he is in awe of Leslie's beauty; another is his nearly total contempt for the Mexican-Americans who work for them -- Jett and Bick may have contempt for each other, but either one is just as likely to dismiss the Mexican-Americans around them as a bunch of shiftless "wetbacks." Luz feels so threatened with a loss of power and control that she decides to assert herself with War Winds, yet another "prize" that Bick brought back from Maryland that resists her authority -- then decides to ride the stallion despite being warned that no one but Leslie is wholly safe on him, and spurs him brutally in an effort to break him, which ends up destroying them both in the battle of wills she starts.

After Luz's death, Jett learns that she left him a tiny piece of land for his own, on Reata, which he refuses to sell back to Bick, preferring to keep it for his own and maybe prospect for oil on it. Meanwhile, Leslie and Bick have their own problems -- Leslie can't abide the wretched conditions in which the Mexican families who work on Reata are allowed to live, taking a special interest in Mr. and Mrs. Obregon and their baby, Angel; but Bick doesn't want his wife, or any member of his family, concerning themselves with "those people." Leslie's humanity and her independence push their marriage to the limit, but Bick comes to accept this in his wife, and in four years of marriage they have three handsome children, a boy and two girls, and a loving if occasionally awkward home life. Meanwhile, Jett strikes oil on his land -- which he's named Little Reata -- and in a couple of years he's on his way to becoming the richest man in Texas, getting drilling contracts on all of the land in the area (except Reata) and making more money than the Benedicts ever saw from raising cattle. Bick is almost oblivious to the way Jett grows in power and influence across the years and the state, mostly because he's got his own family to worry about, including a son, Jordan III (Dennis Hopper), who doesn't want to take over the ranch from him, but wants instead to be a doctor; an older daughter, Judy (Fran Bennett), who wants to study animal husbandry and marry a local rancher (Earl Holliman) and start a tiny spread of her own; and a younger daughter, Luz (Carroll Baker), who's just a bit man-crazy and star-struck by the movies.

The American entry into the Second World War and the resulting need for oil forces Bick to go into business with Jett and allow him to drill on Reata, and suddenly the Benedicts are wealthy enough to be part of Jett Rink's circle, which includes the governor of the state and at least one United States senator at his beck and call -- and Luz develops a serious crush on Jett, who likes his women young and is especially attracted to her, as Bick's and Leslie's daughter. Young Jordan marries Juana, a Mexican-American nursing student (Elsa Cardenas), and his father accepts it begrudgingly, with help from Leslie. The war kills Angel Obregon (Sal Mineo), a death that even affects Bick, but the Benedict family gets through it wealthier than ever and grows some more with the birth of Jordan IV to Jordie and Juana. When the family attends a gala opening of Jett Rink Airport, which concludes with a dinner honoring Jett's success, however, young Jordan's wife is humiliated by Jett's racist edicts, and he is beaten up by Jett's men after punching the oil baron. Seeing this, Bick challenges his old rival to the fight that's been brewing for a quarter of a century and wins by default, Jett being too drunk to defend himself or to hit; he's also too drunk to make the grand speech that was to climax the celebration, and he ends up alone in the ballroom. The Benedicts have it out with each other, young Jordan accusing his father of being as much a racist as Jett, and Leslie caught in the middle between her husband and her son. It looks like the Benedicts may lose each other, until an encounter with a racist diner owner forces Bick to stand up and get knocked down (more than once) defending his daughter-in-law and his grandson.

Seen today, Giant seems the least dated of any of James Dean's three starring films, in part because it addresses issues that remain relevant more than 50 years later, and also because it has the best all-around acting and the best script of any of the three. Taken in broader terms, it's even better, with two of the best performances that Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson ever gave, and perhaps the second best of Hudson's whole career (after Seconds) -- the only unfortunate element at modern theatrical screenings is the tendency of younger viewers, who only know him in terms of the revelations late in his life of his being gay, to laugh and snicker at elements of Hudson's characterization; but his work is so good that the titters usually fade after the first 30 minutes or so. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Three Hours to Kill is a "message" Western that manages to entertain without preaching. Jim Guthrie (Dana Andrews), unjustly accused of murder, is forced out of town by an angry mob. After several tough years living off the land, Guthrie returns to clear his name. Fearing that Guthrie is out for blood, the townsfolk arrange a "necktie party." The one person who might show some compassion is ex-fiancée Laurie Mastin (Donna Reed), who'd been left pregnant by Guthrie and had married another man on the rebound. But Laurie's brother was the murder victim, so she's just as determined to rid the world of Guthrie as everyone else. With the help of sympathetic Chris Plumber (Dianne Foster), Guthrie traps the real murderer. The mentality of mob rule is exposed for all its ugliness in Three Hours to Kill, ironic in that real-life Hollywood had been governed by mob pressure to enforce the Blacklist during the same period. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Daniel Mainwaring took this story right out of the headlines of the day, penning this true story of a mass murderer who was eventually executed in San Quentin's gas chamber. Released during McCarthy's witch-hunt, Mainwaring was not given credit because Howard R. Hughes, who produced it under RKO, refused to give credit to any "radicals." The story is that of two men on a fishing trip who pick up a hitchhiker. He turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who has committed multiple murders, a sociopath who hates humanity because of his own abuse as a child. He also has an affliction which terrifies these two men: an eye which is permanently open, thereby never allowing them to know if he is really asleep or just faking it--something which he does with regularity to scare them...letting them take off and then meeting up with them just as they feel they have escaped from him. A tense thriller skillfully directed by the only female director of the time, Ida Lupino, it is a suspenseful tale of terror on the highways. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

Bob Hope is up to his famous nose in danger in this espionage comedy. Second-rate burlesque comic Peanuts White (Hope) is approached by federal agents who think that he's international spy Eric Augustine, to whom Peanuts bears a striking resemblance. When they realize that Peanuts and Eric are two different people, the FBI persuades him to travel to Africa posing as Eric and fetch a batch of microfilm that could prove vital to national security. With reluctance, Peanuts flies to Tangiers and arranges a rendezvous with Lily Dalbray (Hedy Lamarr), Eric's beautiful girlfriend and an agent of shifting alliances herself. However, Lily's superior Karl Brubaker (Francis L. Sullivan) wants the microfilm, and he will stop at nothing to get it. As Peanuts tries to rescue the microfilm, make time with Lily, and avoid Karl, things become even more confused when Eric escapes from hiding and re-enters the picture. Both Bob Hope and Hedy Lamarr contribute songs to the soundtrack, though unlike Bob, Hedy's vocals were dubbed in by a studio vocalist. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The Lawless was director Joseph Losey's second feature-length film. The story concerns a group of Mexican-American migrant workers who are subjected to all sorts of abuse and intolerance by their California bosses. A violent clash between whites and Latinos at a dance results in a torrent of bigotry. Seemingly the only Californian willing to champion the workers' cause is crusading newspaperman Larry Wilder, and soon he too is the victim of senseless mob violence. The story boils to a manhunt for a fugitive fruit-picker who has been accused of fomenting the aforementioned riot. Director Losey, producers William Pine and William Thomas and screenwriter Geoffrey Homes (aka Daniel Mainwaring) are to be commended for tackling a controversial issue in an honest, no-nonsense fashion; even so, the film ends in standard Hollywood-liberal fashion with a white man coming to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Western aficionados tend to regard Short Grass as the best-ever directorial effort by Lesley Selander. Considerably longer than most Monogram westerns (82 minutes), the film never lags, thanks to the expertise of Selander and a top-rank cast. Rod Cameron plays Steve, a drifter who briefly settles down on a ranch. During a range war, Steve comes to blows with avaricious rancher Hal Fenton (Morris Ankrum). Shortly thereafter, a man is killed and Steve is implicated in the crime. He leaves town in a hurry, returning five years later to clear his name and reclaim his land. He finds that his former girl friend Sharon (Cathy Downs) is married to alcoholic newspaperman John Devore (Tris Coffin), and that Fenton now holds the commuity in an iron grip of fear. Lawman Keown (Johnny Mack Brown) can't administer justice because of the political strings pulled by the villains. With Steve's help, Keown and the rest of the town's honest citizens are finally able to swing into action, leading to a superbly staged climax. Comic actor Raymond Walburn essays a relatively straight role as the town's leading citizen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Long before she became a TV cosmetic-commercial spokeswoman, Barbara Britton essayed the title role in Bandit Queen. Britton plays Lola, daughter of a American father and Spanish-aristocrat mother. When her parents are murdered, Lola forms an outlaw band, dedicated to reclaiming those portions of California illegally seized from her fellow Spaniards. She is aided in this endeavor by dashing bandit Joaquin Murietta (Philip Reed). The film really comes to life whenever Lola settles an argument by wielding her bull-whip! Bandit Queen was Lippert Studios' final release for 1950. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Set in the Cuba of 1933, We Were Strangers stars John Garfield as revolutionary-minded Tony Fenner. A member of an underground movement dedicated to toppling the despotic Machado regime, Tony supervises the booby-trapping of a cemetery where several top Cuban officials are planning to converge for a state funeral. Also involved in the assassination scheme is China Valdes (Jennifer Jones), whose brother had been executed by the government. As often happens in a John Huston film, the best-laid schemes of the protagonists go tragically awry. Based on a portion of Robert Sylvester's novel Rough Sketch, We Were Strangers was scripted by frequent Huston collaborator Peter Viertel. The film has the curious distinction of being lambasted by both the left-wing and right-wing critics in the U.S. Audiences were likewise underwhelmed, compelling Columbia Pictures to withdraw the film from distribution early on. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

To the Victor is one of the first Hollywood films to touch upon the subject of war guilt. There are no high-ranking Nazis or gas ovens here; the people on trial are French citizens, accused of collaboration. This being a Warner Bros. production, the cast includes such authentic Frenchpersons as Dennis Morgan, Bruce Bennett and Dorothy Malone; leading lady Viveca Lindfors isn't from Burbank, but she's not from France either. Once past this obstacle, the film raises some interesting moral and ethical questions, but was made to close to the events for anything resembling objectivity. Plus there's a turgid romance between a French girl and a black marketeer, which adds nothing to the proceedings. To the Victor warrants B for effort, C for results. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi