Patrick Whyte Movies
Bette Midler stars as a Martha Raye-type entertainer during the World War II era in this big-budget nostalgia piece. Midler plays big-band singer Dixie Leonard, who is chosen to perform at an overseas USO Christmas show by her uncle Art Silver (George Segal), a comedy writer for famed comedian Eddie Sparks (James Caan). Dixie is shuttled to London, where she is thrown on-stage with Eddie, who takes an immediate dislike to her. But her performance is a sensation, and the audience can't stop howling at Dixie's smart one-liner comebacks to Eddie. Dixie is catapulted to stardom, and the repartee between Eddie and Dixie becomes the stuff of legend. The two spar together through World War II, the McCarthy era, and Vietnam. But Dixie stops speaking to Eddie when he fires a writer for being a communist sympathizer and, later, she doesn't speak to him again after he arranges for a reunion between her and her son on the battlefields of Vietnam. Finally, Dixie, now an old woman, is cajoled to appear on a television awards show to reunite with a now decrepit Eddie, age 91. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Midler, James Caan, (more)
The Hideous Sun Demon was a typically awful really low budget 1959 sci-fi monster movie which B-movie actor Robert Clarke produced, directed, and starred in. The current feature simply takes the original film and dubs in hip, funny, self-mocking dialogue to replace the old, stiff, self-conscious original dialogue, much in the manner of Woody Allen's creative redubbing of What's Up Tiger Lily?. Among the uncredited voices is that of comic Jay Leno. A small amount of new footage, carefully shot to match the original, has been added to fill out the story. In the original, a research scientist (Clarke) has been exposed to a radioactive substance which makes him turn into a reptile monster whenever he's exposed to sunlight. After this, he falls in love with a beautiful nightclub singer, but a series of mishaps result in his being killed while his love remains unconsummated. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Clarke, Patricia Manning, (more)
- 1970
- R
In this melodrama, Jim Carlton (George E. Carey) is settling in for a relaxing weekend at home when his wife, Mona (Luanne Roberts) takes their baby off for a weekend trip. However, when the baby-sitter (Susan Roman) mistakenly shows up, she whisks Jim off to a wild weekend in Hollywood, where he discovers some sobering facts about his wife. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Producer Roy Huggins and director Douglas Heyes, Maverick veterans both, reteamed for the made-for-TV Drive Hard, Drive Fast. Brian Kelly stars as a race car driver who would have been better off sticking to the track. Upon hopping out of his slicked-up auto, Kelly gets mixed up in an unsavory love triangle involving Joan Collins and Joseph Campanella. Before long, Kelly has to keep peeking over his shoulder to avoid being hacked to piece by a machete-wielding assailant. Completed in 1969, Drive Hard, Drive Fast was not telecast until September 11, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Christopher Wren's classic adventure story is brought to the screen for the third time in this version, which featured several popular television stars of the day. Beau Geste (Guy Stockwell) is forced to take the blame for a crime he didn't commit in order to protect the good name of his family; he and his brother John (Doug McClure) flee the country to avoid capture and join the French Foreign Legion. Under the leadership of the sadistic Sgt. Major Dagineau (Telly Savalas), Beau and John must battle Arab troops as they try to clear their names. For this more budget-minded adaptation of the story, the three Geste brothers were whittled down to two; Wren's story wasn't filmed again until Marty Feldman's send-up of the Foreign Legion epics, The Last Remake of Beau Geste, appeared in 1977. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Stockwell, Doug McClure, (more)
- 1964
An aspiring senator finds himself in deep trouble when he tangles with a sultry teenage girl gone bad in this campy drama. Ann-Margret stars as Jody, a tough customer who escapes from reform school by stabbing a matron and attempting to burn down the building and then takes refuge in a house owned by ambitious politician David Patton (John Forsythe). Despite the hellcat's ample charms, the would-be officeholder wants nothing to do with her and tries to drive her away. She responds by practically taking him hostage, with the help of a gang of delinquent friends. An unexpected act of violence causes more trouble, leading Jody to hijack David and force him to a drive a getaway car to Mexico. The stilted dialogue, over-the-top situations, and rampant sexual innuendo will prove particularly attractive to camp aficionados, who should be delighted by the presence of such recognizable figures as Ann-Margret and Forsythe in the central roles. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann-Margret, John Forsythe, (more)
- 1963
This sequel to the 1960 Village of The Damned falls short of the original well-made Sci-Fi shocker. The pretentious attempt to give the film a moral message severely weakens the plot and serves to confuse the fans of the previous film. Beautiful, strange children with genius IQ's, destructive dispositions, and ray-gun eyes, who were invaders bent on overtaking the earth in the former tale, are now a sample of mankind's future sent to the earth for the purpose of being destroyed in order to teach the present-day warlike man a lesson of some sort. Plagued with a tedious and unimaginative plot. ~ Lucinda Ramsey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Hendry, Alan Badel, (more)
- 1961
The vast Canadian wilderness provides the backdrop for this adventure that centers on two Canadian bush pilots whose business and friendship is threatened after they fall in love with the same woman. One is so distracted that he embarks upon a flight without performing the vitally important safety check. He crashes so far in the wilderness that he doesn't think he will ever be found, let alone survive. He is there for many weeks before he is inspired to tag geese with his name and whereabouts. The clever ploy works and he is eventually saved. He also wins the girl in the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Bearing traces of the classic John Collier short story "Evening Primrose", Rod Serling's "The After Hours" was seen as the June 10, 1960, episode of Twilight Zone. While shopping in a big department store, Marsha White (Anne Francis) is inexorably drawn to the store's Ninth Floor, where a mysterious saleswoman (Elizabeth Allen) seems to recognize her. There's just one problem -- according to officious floorwalker Armbruster (James Milhollin), the store doesn't have a Ninth Floor! The makeup artistry of William Tuttle is utilized to the utmost in the episode's chilling (yet somehow touching) final scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Francis, Elizabeth Allen, (more)
Sunblock can't save you from the solar-powered monster in this sci-fi cult item. Dr. Gilbert McKenna (Robert Clarke) is a research scientist who is exposed to dangerously radioactive materials during a visit to an atomic power plant. The radiation causes McKenna to mutate into a strange and murderous half-man, half-reptile when he comes into contact with the rays of the sun. The isotopes also have another effect on him; he begins to forget about his loyal girlfriend Ann Russell (Patricia Manning) and starts taking up with blonde bombshell Trudy Osborne (Nan Peterson), who brings out the beast in him as surely as the sun. The Hideous Sun Demon was co-produced, co-written, and co-directed by leading man Robert Clarke; it was his first and last effort as a writer and director, though he was to remain active as an actor for another 30 years. In 1983, a group of comedians re-edited the film and dubbed in a new soundtrack; the results were released as What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
The debate still rages as to whether Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much is superior to his own original 1934 version. This two-hour remake (45 minutes longer than the first film) features more stars, a lusher budget, and the plaintive music of Bernard Herrmann (who appears on-camera, typecast as a symphony conductor). Though the locale of the opening scenes shifts from Switzerland to French Morocco in the newer version, the basic plot remains the same. American tourists James Stewart and Doris Day are witness to the street killing of a Frenchman (Daniel Gelin) they've recently befriended. Before breathing his last, the murder victim whispers a secret to Stewart (the Cinemascope lens turns this standard closeup into a truly grotesque vignette). Stewart knows that a political assassination will occur during a concert at London's Albert Hall, but is unable to tell the police: his son (a daughter in the original) has been kidnapped by foreign agents to insure Stewart's silence. The original script for Man Who Knew too Much was expanded and updated by John Michael Hayes and Angus McPhail. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Doris Day, (more)
- 1956
The Mole People holds the dubious distinction of being the weakest of the Universal-International horror films. John Agar plays Dr. John Bentley, who leads a Middle Eastern expedition in search of a lost tribe of Sumerians. Bentley and his cohorts follow a tunnel deep, deep, deep below the surface of the earth, eventually coming across a tyrannical tribe of albino Sumerians, who use the semi-human Mole People as slaves. What follows is so dull and plodding that stars John Agar and Hugh Beaumont seem like Mel Gibson and Arnold Schwarzenegger in comparison. Some prints of The Mole People are minus the pre-credits "explanation" by 1950s celebrity egghead Dr. Frank Baxter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Agar, Cynthia Patrick, (more)
- 1953
This costume drama was based on the historical fiction of Margaret Irwin, which embellishes the facts of the early years of England's eventual Queen Elizabeth I. It's told in flashback style, starting with the horrible day when King Henry VIII (Charles Laughton) sends away the future queen, young Bess (Jean Simmons), and executes her mother, Anne Boleyn (Elaine Stewart). Some years and several wives later, Henry VIII invites Bess to return to the palace to live with Catherine Parr (Deborah Kerr), her new stepmother. When the king dies, Bess' young half-brother, Edward (Rex Thompson), assumes the title of regent. Bess falls in love with the Navy's top admiral, Thomas Seymour (Stewart Granger), but has her brother compel him to marry Catherine. After Catherine dies, Thomas confesses his love to Bess. But his scheming brother Ned (Guy Rolfe) finds out about Thomas' feelings and accuses him of seducing Bess. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, (more)
- 1953
Fort Vengeance starts out as a western and ends up as a "northern." Trouble-making brothers Dick (James Craig) and Carey (Keith Larsen) skeedaddle to Canada when things get too hot for them in the states. The brothers join the Royal Canadian Mounties, where their knowledge of Indian activities make them invaluable. But Carey's recklessness causes the Blackfeet Indians to almost go on the warpath--and also leads to Carey's becoming a reluctant murderer. To prevent a massacre, the heartbroken Dick must track down his own brother. The film's climax is both downbeat and upbeat, depending upon one's point of view. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Craig, Rita Moreno, (more)
- 1953
This remake of John Ford's The Black Watch (29) stars Tyrone Power as British army captain stationed in India in 1857. Shunned by his fellow officers because he is a half caste, Power defies the social structure of the era by falling in love with the daughter (Terry Moore) of his superior officer. Power proves his loyalty to the Crown by quelling an uprising, led by his Indian boyhood friend (Guy Rolfe). The actors do their best, but the storyline is trite and stilted when dwelling on matters of honor and romance. King of the Khyber Rifles works best as an action picture--and in this respect it is immensely superior to the earlier John Ford film, which almost plays like a comedy when seen today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Terry Moore, (more)
- 1951
- NR
Allegedly based on a Rudyard Kipling novel, this draws most of its inspiration from the 1939 film made of Kipling's narrative poem Gunga Din. Stewart Granger, Robert Newton and Cyril Cusack play three boisterous English soldiers stationed on the Northern India frontier. Walter Pidgeon and David Niven are the threesome's superior officers, who are aggravated by the soldiers' drunken exploits but who appreciate how valuable they are to the regiment. The soldiers three become heroes once more when they thwart a native uprising. Producer Pandro S. Berman, coincidentally, had been in charge of production at RKO when Gunga Din was filmed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stewart Granger, Walter Pidgeon, (more)
Based on the autobiographical book by Agnes Newton Keith, Three Came Home stars Claudette Colbert as Mrs. Keith. Trapped in Borneo during the Japanese invasion, Mrs. Keith and her British husband (Patric Knowles) are penned up in a prison camp along with several other subjects. Despite the humanitarian views of camp commander Col. Suga (Sessue Hayakawa), Mrs. Keith is subject to torture, starvation, and humiliation at the hands of the guards, with Suga helpless to intervene lest he incur the wrath of his own superiors. Three Came Home contains several unforgettable moments, including a comic interlude between the male and female prisoners that ends abruptly with a barrage of Japanese bullets, and the heartwrenching scene wherein Suga learns that his family has been killed in a bombing raid. Since lapsing into the public domain in 1977, Three Came Home has popped up innumerable times on cable television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Patric Knowles, (more)
How much can a man give? When the U.S. 8th Army Air Force 918th Bombardment group is ordered on their fourth harrowing mission in four hard days, Brigadier General Frank Savage (Gregory Peck) demands "maximum effort." The bombers are forced to fly lower, to fly farther, and to test themselves -- overspent and fatigued -- right up until death's door. When their dedicated colonel speaks out in their defense, Savage mercilessly takes over command -- an officer should not sympathize with his men. The Brigadier General will compel the 918th to stop pitying itself and to hone its morale in the face of danger. Yet, as the men grow colder due to Savage's orders and the missions bring them closer to their crucial German targets, the officer learns the practical impossibility of raising the confidence of young men while also sending them to their deaths. He begins to understand that it is the burden of command that makes even the toughest leader sympathetic. Eventually caring for his men above all else, it is Savage who is forced to carry the hardships of "maximum effort" -- asking himself, how much can a man take? ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, (more)
- 1949
First love leads to unexpected responsibilities and difficult decisions in this well-crafted drama. Sally Kelton (Sally Forrest) is a free-spirited young woman who is chafing at the restrictions of living at home with her folks and wants to make something of herself. One evening after work, she stops for a drink with some friends and meets Steve Ryan (Leo Penn), a charming but cynical piano player. Sally falls for Steve in a big way and they embark on a brief romance, but Steve regards Sally as a passing fancy and soon moves on to another town. While Sally follows him, Steve makes it clear things are over between them and he takes a gig in South America. Heartbroken Sally takes a new job at a filling station and general store run by Drew Baxter (Keefe Brasselle), a war veteran with a bad leg and a serious crush on Sally. Sally is still getting over Steve and isn't interested in Drew when she learns that she's carrying Steve's child. The disgraced Sally decides to give her child up for adoption, but finds her maternal instincts are stronger than she expected and her desire to have her baby back leads her on a desperate and dangerous path. While Streets of Sin (aka Not Wanted) is credited to director Elmer Clifton, most of the picture was actually shot under the aegis of co-producer Ida Lupino after Clifton fell ill during production; it was the actress' first film as a director. In the '60s, Streets of Sin was reissued as The Wrong Rut, with the addition of footage of a Caesarian birth "borrowed" from an educational film, and booked into drive-ins and grindhouses on the exploitation circuit. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Forrest, Keefe Brasselle, (more)
- 1948
After supervising several of the best "psychological" horror films ever made, producer Val Lewton shifted his base of operations from RKO to Paramount. Lewton's first project at his new studio -- and the last -- was My Own True Love, an uncharacteristically sentimental offering. Based on the novel by Yolanda Foldes, the story focuses on the romantic dilemma facing ex-POW Joan Clews (Phyllis Calvert). On the verge of marrying middle-aged Clive Heath (Melvyn Douglas), Joan is introduced to Heath's war-veteran son Michael (Philip Friend). Sympathizing with Michael's wartime loss of his Malayan wife and child, Joan falls in love with him. Unwilling to betray his own father, Michael elects to commit suicide, but that's not quite how things turn out. My Own True Love is proof positive that romantic melodrama was not Val Lewton's forte. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
