Philip Van Zandt Movies

A former fighter's younger brother decides that he too wants to enter the squared circle and so leaves his native Maine to try his luck in New York. Things go well until he finds himself entangled with mobsters who try to convince him to throw his fights. Meanwhile, his big brother, who simply vanished a few years after stubbornly refusing to take a dive during a major fight, hears about his younger sibling's dilemma and shows up to stop him. He succeeds, but the gangsters go for brutal revenge. Fortunately, a sportswriter hears about the mess and calls in the cops. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A locked-in-the-fifties science fiction film, The 27th Day begins with five different people from five different countries suddenly disappearing from view. They have been gently abducted by the agent (Arnold Moss) of a faraway dying planet, who gives each of the five earthlings a "killing capsule" that will destroy everything on Earth and allow the residents of the alien planet to re-colonize the planet--but which will be ineffective if not used after 27 days. In typical Cold War fashion, the representatives of the "good" countries (including Gene Barry) refuse to utilize the capsules, while the Soviets, (personified by Azemat Janti and Stefan Schnabel) intend to deploy the capsules for their own nefarious purposes. Their perfidy only results in the utter decimation of the USSR. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This is one of the funnier shorts made by the latter day Three Stooges lineup of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe Besser. The boys are assistants to Professor Jones (Emil Sitka) and they have traveled from Earth to the planet Sunev (which a title informs us is "Venus" spelled backwards). The planet's leader greets them cordially enough, but he has secret plans to bring prehistoric men to life and take over the earth. Jones finds out about the evil scheme and is promptly tied up. Meanwhile, the Stooges are making time with some Sunevian girls. Unfortunately, the girls are charged with "atomic electricity," which makes smooching a bit difficult. At dinner, the alien leader informs them that they are about to die, so they make a mad dash to escape. Getting the aliens out of the way is easy enough -- they short circuit their "atomic electricity" with Joe's hot water bottles (he thought it was going to be cold on Sunev). They have a much harder time getting rid of a prehistoric man (Bonanza's Dan Blocker), but they manage to free Jones and they begin to destroy all the equipment that would have brought doom to the Earth. It turns out that all this is a story the boys were telling their kids (played by the Stooges in baby bonnets). But then the baby-sitter shows up -- and she's got the same caveman face as the monster in their tale. The boys panic and leap out the window. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Based on a 1941 movie entitled Shepherd of the Hills, this is the story of a gunfighter who decides to return home after 17 years to make amends with his son. The son blames him for his mother's death and the reconciliation is difficult. Although there are many side action lines -- old enemies still gunning for him and new friends not sure who to root for -- the main theme is that of the interaction between father and son. The push toward one last battle is made secondary. Short on plot, this film features good performances by Jack Palance and Anthony Perkins. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

In this drama, two prospectors search the Colorado Territory for precious radioactive metal. They find large deposits and become rich men. Unfortunately, their friendship almost disintegrates after they fall in love with the same sexy woman. She pits them against each other. Fortunately, their mutual sense of loyalty and honor kicks in just before they dissolve their lucrative partnership. In the end, they both dump the troublesome lady and return to their work. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Our Miss Brooks had been a radio and TV sitcom hit thanks to the considerable input of star Eve Arden. The film version of Our Miss Brooks was not quite as successful (why pay for something that you can get at home every week for free?), but it admirably captures the spirit of the original audio and video versions. As ever, high school teacher Connie Brooks (Arden) carries a torch for handsome but clueless biology professor Phillip Boynton (Robert Rockwell, taking over a role created for radio by Jeff Chandler). Connie is finally able to arouse Boynton's attention when she is courted by the father (Don Porter) of a student (Nick Adams) she is tutoring. A subplot involving petty crime can easily be ignored, but there's no avoiding the hilarious fingernails-on-the-blackboard rendition of It's Magic sung by the adenoidal Walter Denton (Richard Crenna). And of course, there's principal Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon), blowing his top at the slightest provocation. Our Miss Brooks was directed by Al Lewis, who was the chief writer for the radio and TV editions of the property. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cub reporter Jimmy Olsen (Jack Larson) is mistaken for Prince Gregory of Burgonia (Chet Marshall), who has been targeted for assassination. Putting his life on the line, Jimmy agrees to impersonate Gregory, the better to bring the would-be killer out in the open. Once the not-so-well-hidden culprit is revealed, things look mighty bleak for our boy Jimmy--but never fear, Superman (Clark Kent) is dashing to the rescue. This was the final episode of The Adventures of Superman's third season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A jewel thief is at large on the Riviera, and all evidence points to retired cat burglar Cary Grant. Escaping the law, Grant heads to the Cote D'Azur, where he is greeted with hostility by his old partners in crime. All of them had been pardoned due to their courageous activities in the wartime Resistance, and all are in danger of arrest thanks to this new crime wave. But Grant pleads innocence, and vows to find out who's been copying his distinctive style. With the reluctant aid of detective John Williams, Grant launches his investigation by keeping tabs on the wealthiest vacationers on the Riviera. One such person is heavily bejeweled Jessie Royce Landis, who is as brash and outspoken as her daughter Grace Kelly is quiet and demure. But "still waters run deep," as they say, and soon Kelly is amorously pursuing the far-from-resistant Grant. Part of Kelly's attraction to Grant is the possibility that he is the thief; the prospect of danger really turns this gal on. Being Cary Grant, of course, he can't possibly be guilty, which is proven in due time. But by film's end, it's obvious that Kelly has fallen hard for Grant, crook or no crook. Occasionally written off as a lesser Alfred Hitchcock film (did we really need that third-act fashion show?), To Catch a Thief is actually as enjoyable and engaging now as it was 40 years ago. Though the Riviera location photography is pleasing, our favorite scene takes place in a Paramount Studios mockup of a luxury hotel suite, where Grant and Kelly make love while a fireworks display orgasmically erupts outside their window. And who could forget the scene where Jessie Royce Landis disdainfully stubs out a cigarette in an expensive plate of eggs? Adapted by frequent Hitchcock collaborator John Michael Hayes from a novel by David Dodge To Catch a Thief won an Academy Award for cinematographer Robert Burks. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Following Gypped in the Penthouse, a rare original comedy short, the battle-fatigued Three Stooges returned to revamping one of their old shorts, Heavenly Daze (1948), by adding a few new scenes without going to the expense of hiring a supporting cast. The audience, according to producer/director Jules White, was none the wiser. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

For their final two-reel comedy of 1954, the Three Stooges remade their earlier The Hot Scots (1948), playing detective school graduates shipped of to Scotland's Glenheather Castle to guard a treasure. Christine McIntyre, Theodore Lorch (who had died in 1947), Herbert Evans, and Charles Knight all appeared courtesy of stock footage. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Completed in 1953, Dragon's Gold was released by United Artists early the following year. John Archer (the father of present-day leading lady Anne Archer) stars as an insurance investigator, sent to China to locate a missing client. The official story is that the client stole $7 million from his employer, but Archer smells a rat. His olfactory senses are right on target: The supposed theft was actually a smokescreen, contrived by a Red Chinese general (Noel Cravath). Also intimately involved in the intrigue is Hillary Brooke, playing straight once more after several years' worth of TV work on The Abbott and Costello Show and My Little Margie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Shelley Winters was still in the sex-symbol phase of her career when she headed the cast of Universal's Playgirl. Ms. Winters plays Fran, a nightclub vocalist whose main squeeze is married publisher Mike Marsh (Barry Sullivan). When Mike makes a play for new employee Phyllis Matthews (Colleen Miller), the jealous Fran shoots him down. The ensuing scandal ruins Phyllis' reputation, whereupon she, and not Fran, becomes the libertine $100-dollar-a-night playgirl of the title. When Phyllis' life is endangered by gangsters, Fran unexpectedly comes to her rescue. Though dealing with a censorable subject, Playgirl manages to stay within the bounds of good taste, for better or worse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When two scientists at a top-secret government installation devoted to space research are killed -- in their own test chamber, seemingly by an experiment gone awry -- Dr. David Sheppard (Richard Egan) is sent out from Washington to investigate. Sheppard mixes easily enough with the somewhat eccentric team of scientists, though he always seems in danger of being distracted by the presence of Joanne Merritt (Constance Dowling), who serves as the aide to the project director Dr. Van Ness (Herbert Marshall) but is, in reality, another security agent. Sheppard is as puzzled as anyone else by the seemingly inexplicable series of events overtaking the installation -- properly operating equipment suddenly undergoing lethal malfunctions, and the radar tracking aircraft that aren't there -- until he puts it together with the operations of NOVAC (Nuclear Operated Variable Automatic Computer), the central brain of the complex. But the mystery deepens when he discovers that NOVAC was shut down during one of the "accidents" -- and even the computer's operators can't account fully for the whereabouts of GOG and MAGOG, the two robots under the computer's control. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi