Charles Wagenheim Movies

The muscular physique of Rock Hudson is given plenty of screen exposure in the British-India actioner Bengal Brigade. Adapted from a novel by Hall Hunter, the film casts Hudson as Captain Jeffrey Claybourne of Her Majesty's Service, who is severely disciplined after defying orders. Feeling unworthy of his fiancee Vivian Morrow Arlene Dahl, the daughter of his superior officer, Claybourne breaks off the engagement until he can restore his reputation. When the duplicitous Rajah Karam Arnold Moss launches an all-out attack against the British forces in India, Claybourne finds his opportunity for redemption--as do several other "outcasts". Costarring in Bengal Brigade as an alluring native girl is Ursula Theiss, later the wife of actor Robert Taylor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's a toss-up as to who looks better unclothed in Universal's Veils of Bagdad: Hero Victor Mature or heroine Mari Blanchard. Mature plays a Robin-Hood type named Antar, who travels with a troupe of jugglers and wrestlers, all of whom double as thieves, pickpockets and second-story men. When the evil Pasha of Bagdad (Leon Askin) conspires with the equally evil Vizier (Guy Rolfe) to steal tax money to finance a private war, Antar and his gang swings into action. Blanchard plays Selima, the toothsome daughter of a murdered tribal chieftain who works as a cabaret dancer while searching for her dad's murderer. TV fans are advised to keep an eye out for future Baretta star Robert Blake, who shows up in a bit as a youthful beggar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although a few character names and minor details are different, Vicki is a fairly faithful remake of the 1941 murder melodrama I Wake Up Screaming. The title character, Vicki Lynn, played by Jean Peters, is a waitress who is transformed into a top fashion model by press agent Steve Christopher (Elliot Reid). When Vicki is murdered, psychotic detective Ed Cornell (Richard Boone) tries to pin the blame on Christopher. In fact, Cornell knows who the real killer is, but he was so desperately (and hopelessly) in love with the dead girl that he intends to railroad Christopher into the electric chair. With the help of Vicki's sister (Jeanne Crain), Christopher tracks down the genuine culprit and exposes Cornell for the nutcase that he is. Featured in the cast is future TV producer Aaron Spelling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though scheduled for production as early as 1950, the Bowery Boys' Loose in London didn't go before the cameras until 1953. In this outing, Sach (Huntz Hall) is told that he's a relative of Sir Percy, the Earl of Walsingham (Walter Kingsford). In short order, Sach, his pals Slip (Leo Gorcey), Chuck (David Condon) and Butch (Bennie Bartlett), and sweet-shop proprietor Louie (Bernard Gorcey) head to the Earl's estate in London. Immediately ingratiating themselves with the ailing nobleman, the boys give the old fellow a new lease on life--which doesn't sit well with the rest of the Earl's relatives, who are greedily awaiting his demise so that they may claim his inheritance. In desperation, the other relatives plan to kill the Earl, but they're foiled by Slip, Sach and company. This leaves Sach the sole heir to the Earl's fortune--at least that's what he thinks! Written by "Three Stooges" alumni, Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds (who also directed), Loose in London is an enjoyable hour's worth of nonsense. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of several early-1950s films to capitalize on the Kefauver Committee's investigation of organized crime, The Captive City stars John Forsythe as crusading editor Jim Austin. While Austin prepares his testimony before the Committee, the film flashes back to the events which led to this courageous act. Victor Sutherland plays mob boss Murray Sirak, who has the entire police force of Austin's hometown under his thumb. Sirak in turns takes his orders from an unseen Mister Big, who of course is "above the law"--or so it seems. Based on the experiences of Time magazine reporter Alvin Josephy Jr. (who co-authored the script), Captive City contains the added fillip of a guest appearance by Senator Estes Kefauver himself. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

The title Street Bandits refers to the crooked slot machines peddled by racketeer Monk Walter (Roy Barcroft). Struggling attorney Fred Palmer (Robert Clarke), in need of ready money, aligns himself with Walter. This sits not at all well with Palmer's partner Tom Reagan (Ross Ford), nor with his wife Mildred (Penny Edwards). Eventually, Palmer's conscience gets the better of him, and he turns on the disreputable Walter. This cookie-cutter crime melodrama has the advantage of brevity, running a mere 54 minutes; it is also exceptionally well-photographed by veteran Republic Pictures megger R. G. Springsteen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Blonde good-time girl Vivian Heldon (Jan Sterling), who lives in a cheap rooming house in a working-class section of Boston, run by the inquisitive and neurotic Mrs. Smerrling (Elsa Lanchester), goes out one night after a phone conversation with her boyfriend, proclaiming that she's got big plans and might even move to a nicer place. After putting in her shift as a waitress at a cheap dive called The Grass Skirt, she latches onto Henry Shanway (Marshall Thompson), an innocently drunk patron, who's trying to wash away his sadness over his wife's stillborn child. She uses Henry's car with him in tow to drive out to Cape Cod, then strands him on foot and meets her boyfriend -- but when she arrives, he puts a bullet into her, then strips the body, throws it into the sea, and drops the clothes and the car into a lake. Six months later, an ornithologist from the cape spots the skeleton of a human foot sticking up through the sand.

Enter Lt. Peter Morales (Ricardo Montalban) of the Boston PD; he and his partner on this case, Det. Sharkey (Wally Maher), bring the bones to Dr. McAdoo (Bruce Bennett), of Harvard University's forensic medical laboratory. Over the next few days, McAdoo and his staff are able to determine the gender, age, and general appearance of the person to whom the bones belonged, and that this is a case of murder -- and that the victim was pregnant. Morales and Sharkey, combing through what they know about the victim and the missing persons records of six nearby states, eventually tie the skeleton up with Vivian Heldon, who disappeared on just about the same day the victim was killed, and also to Shanway's car, which he reported stolen that day. The poor slob, who is merely trying to cover up a drunken lapse from his wife (Sally Forrest), acts guilty enough and lies about just enough so that Morales is certain that he's the murderer. His investigation isn't helped by the interference of Mrs. Smerrling, who sold Vivian's belongings when she didn't return to her room, and now seems fixated, even obsessed with the details of the case and its connection to her rooming house. While the police tighten the screws on Shanway, she backtracks Vivian's phone calls and makes contact with the woman's boyfriend, James Joshua Harkley (Edmon Ryan), member of a wealthy Boston family, and a married man; she also manages to steal a vital piece of evidence. But instead of turning it over to the police, she uses it to blackmail Harkley.

Meanwhile, the district attorney sets an early trial date for Shanway, but with the opening arguments only a week away, Morales begins to develop doubts about Shanway's guilt, in addition to harboring his own sympathy for Grace Shanway, whose life is being gradually destroyed by the prosecution on her husband -- not that Morales thinks he's innocent, but there's enough that's not right about the case, including the missing murder weapon, that he's not 100-percent sure. And that's when Vivian's friend and neighbor, Jackie Elcott (Betsy Blair) reports how strangely Mrs. Smerrling is acting, and the fact that she's got a gun. But before they can question her, Harkley kills Mrs. Smerrling -- now it's a race between Morales and Harkley to see who can get to the murder weapon first. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

MGM's Three Little Words is a "twin" musical biopic, covering the lives and careers of songwriters Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. Fred Astaire plays Kalmar, a frustrated magician, while Red Skelton is cast as Ruby, a wannabe baseball player. After "meeting cute" during a disastrous vaudeville show, the oil-and-water Bert and Harry become a popular songwriting team, dashing off such favorites as Who's Sorry Now?, Nevertheless, So Long Oo-Long, I Wanna be Loved by You, All Alone Monday and the title song (the film unfortunately skimps on Kalmar and Ruby's Gilbert-and-Sullivan style novelty ditties, with the exception of Hooray for Captain Spaulding, Groucho Marx' signature tune in Animal Crackers). Adhering more to MGM formula than the facts, the script contrives to have Kalmar and Ruby split up over a trivial misunderstanding, only to be reunited by their wives for an "all is forgiven" radio broadcast hosted by bandleader Phil Regan. Vera-Ellen co-stars as Kalmar's vaudevillian wife Jessie Brown, while Arlene Dahl portrays Ruby's movie-star spouse Eileen Percy. Gloria DeHaven is seen as her own mother, Mrs. Carter DeHaven; and Debbie Reynolds plays "boop-a-doop" girl Helen Kane, her singing voice dubbed in by Ms. Kane herself. Though not quite as humorous as the subject matter would seem to dictate (Red Skelton gets his biggest laughs in the scenes wherein he, as Harry Ruby, participates in spring training with his favorite baseball club) Three Little Words is an excellent example of MGM's musical unit at the height of its powers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based loosely on the Dostoyevsky novel, The Gambler stars Gregory Peck as a sensitive 19th-century Russian author. His "great sin" is gambling, which starts when he attempts to rescue aristocratic Ava Gardner from the gaming tables. He succeeds, only to lose himself to gambling fever, which costs him his friends, his reputation and his talent. Director Robert Siodmak was never happy with the screenplay for The Great Sinner, constant revisions bloated the film's rough-cut running time to nearly six hours! After Siodmak pared the film down, MGM insisted that the director reshoot the love scenes. Siodmak refused, thus the new sequences were filmed sans screen credit by Mervin LeRoy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As shown by the clock face that opens and closes the film, The Set-Up takes place within a compact 72 minutes, with the action played out in "real time." Robert Ryan plays Bill "Stoker" Thompson, a washed-up boxer who refuses to give up his career despite the pleas of his wife Julie (Audrey Totter). There's little chance that he's going to win this evening's bout; still, Stoker's manager Tiny (George Tobias) has secretly made a deal with a crooked gambler (Alan Baxter). Stoker is to take a dive, a fact withheld from him until the fight is well under way. His last vestige of pride is aroused in the ring, but the story doesn't end there. The fight sequence is one of the most brutal ever filmed, with close ups of Ryan's pummeled face intercut with shots of screaming spectators in the throes of bloodlust. Adapted by Art Cohn from a narrative poem by Joseph Moncure March, The Set-Up is arguably Robert Ryan's finest starring film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

East Indian actor Sabu heads the cast of the location-filmed Man-Eater of Kumaon. While the film's romantic plotline is carried by native couple Naraian (Sabu) and Lali (Joanne Page), the main story concentrates on the regeneration of American society doctor John Collins (Wendell Corey). Despite his distaste for all things Indian, Collins agrees to participate in a tiger hunt. Upon meeting the residents of a Himalayan village which is being decimated by the titular man-eating tiger, the doctor gains a new perspective on his fellow man, dropping many of his inbuilt prejudices along the way. Based on the best-selling novel by Jim Corbett, Man-Eater of Kumaon is at once a rousing adventure tale and an easy-to-take sociological tract. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide