Stanley Waxman Movies

Justine (Anouk Aimee) is a Jewish prostitute living in Egypt who manages to sleep her way to the top. Marrying a financial minister, Justine works her way up from her beginnings as a hooker, but continues to use her sexual allure as a tool to win her and her husband's ends. Along the way, she helps the Jews fight for their own homeland against the British and Arabs. The story is told from the perspective of the English nobleman Darley (Michael York), who first meets the temptress in 1938. The Jews in Egypt are continually pressured by the Moslem majority, who also persecute local Coptic Christians. Justine helps both Christians and Jews in Alexandria receive fair treatment despite religious and racial prejudice. Dirk Bogarde and Anna Karina also star in this story tinged with adultery, incest, homosexuality and religious and nationalistic fervor. This story is based on the novel Justine, one of four which comprise the Alexandria Quartet, by British diplomat and novelist Lawrence Durrell. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A tribe of Indians, led by the financially savvy Chief Running Wolf (Stanley Waxman), has laid claim to a huge chunk of the Clampetts' oil-rich property. As banker Drysdale tires to negotiate with the tribe, impressionable Granny prepares for an all-out Indian war -- just like the ones she's seen in the movies. This is the episode in which John Wayne made his well-publicized "surprise" appearance (complete with a burst of pre-recorded studio applause). "The Indians are Coming" originally aired on February 1, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An Inter-Planetary cop flies out in his specially designed space suit to stop humanoid zombies from obeying the commands of a psycho research scientist who wants to blow the world out of its natural orbit in this obviously low-budget early 1950s sci-fi serial. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Young Lovers is the more familiar title of a 1950 drama originally released as Never Fear. Sally Forrest plays a beautiful young dancer who is crippled with polio. Forrest's dance partner Keefe Brasselle wants to see her through her illness, but the embittered Forrest prefers to be alone. Only by allowing others to share her grief is Forrest able to pull herself together and go on with her life. Though The Young Lovers is listed as Ida Lupino's directorial debut, she'd previously helmed Not Wanted (49) (also starring Forrest and Brasselle) when official director Elmer Clifton fell ill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The terrible consequences of perverting the legal system are spelled out in The Judge. In one of his rare starring roles, Milburn Stone plays criminal lawyer Martin Strang. Suspecting his wife Lucille (Katherine de Mille) of infidelity, Strang schemes to have her put out of the way. He wangles a not-guilty verdict for murderer William Jackson (Paul Guilfoyle), then blackmails Jackson into participating in his plan to punish Lucille. Things don't quite go off as expected, and before long several lives are needlessly destroyed. The title character of The Judge, played by Jonathan Hale, relates the sordid goings-on in flashback form. Two future "regulars" of the Superman TV series, John Hamilton and Herb Vigran, show up in minor roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ex-navy pilot Slattery (Richard Widmark) works for a dope-smuggling ring. When he's not in the air, Slattery is making time with Dolores (Veronica Lake), the somewhat put-upon secretary of the ring's leader. Only upon meeting Aggie (Linda Darnell), the wife of his old navy buddy Hobson (John Russell), does Slattery entertain thoughts of changing his ways. As the film's title indicates, Slattery redeems himself during an outsized hurricane. Based on a story by Herman Wouk, Slattery's Hurricane was largely shot on location in Florida. The film represented a comeback attempt by Veronica Lake, who was then married to director Andre de Toth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Garfield, in the best performance of his career, portrays Joe Morse, an ambitious attorney who has long since abandoned his scruples in favor of monetary reward. Morse now represents the interests of crime boss Ben Tucker (Roy Roberts), who plans to take over the numbers racket in New York. Morse has devised a way of doing this legally and above-board, with no violence: Tucker's people will bring about the collapse of the illegal numbers racket in the city, using a race track-betting scam that will bankrupt the small-time underworld numbers banks; an investigation will ensue, along with a call for a legal numbers operation in the form of a lottery, which Tucker will control through Morse's machinations. The whole plan hinges on Morse's estranged brother, Leo (Thomas Gomez), a small-time numbers banker who is to be shielded from the collapse, and who will serve as the "legitimate" front for Tucker. Leo is the flaw in the plan, however, because not only can't he stand the sight of Joe, but he is also too honest to participate in the plan -- he doesn't want his employees, all decent people just looking to earn a living, forced into the employ of real gangsters. Joe orchestrates a series of police raids that force Leo into his corner, and Joe's plan seems to be working out, but then the whole enterprise is threatened when a rival mob, run by Tucker's former Prohibition-era partner, Fico (Paul Fix), starts pressuring Leo, trying to get to Joe and Tucker. Fico and his men aren't any different from Tucker's mob, except that they're prepared to start shooting sooner to get what they want. Tucker decides to hang tough and expects everyone, including Leo, to do the same, even when Fico starts sending thugs around to frighten everyone. Soon Joe is beset by problems on three fronts -- he wants his brother out of Tucker's combination and safe; he is trying to romance Leo's bookkeeper (Beatrice Pearson), who is too nice a girl for who he is; and his own well-being is threatened by both Fico and Tucker, and a state investigator who has already tapped the phone of Joe's otherwise respectable partner. All of these threads are pulled together in the final section of the film, which is as violent and disturbing, yet poetic and graceful a resolution as any crime film of the 1940s ever delivered. Force of Evil was star-crossed almost from the start, as many of the people involved, including star John Garfield and director Abraham Polonsky (a writer making his debut behind the camera, with help from assistant director Don Weis in doing the camera set-ups and blocking), were suspect at the time for their leftist political views. Indeed, the company that made Force of Evil, Enterprise Productions, was also in trouble for the leftist leanings of its films in the midst of the Red Scare, and went out of business just as the movie was finished -- dropped by United Artists and picked up by MGM, of all studios, Force of Evil made it into theaters during Christmas week of 1948, not the ideal schedule for something as grim (albeit great) as this film was. As it turned out, it was Polonsky's last chance to direct for more than 20 years, and Garfield's last completely successful film. And a movie that should have been a triumph for all concerned ended up a cult favorite. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide