Stephen Boyd Movies
Irish-born Stephen Boyd was performing on stage since his preteen years. Migrating to Canada in the 1940s, Boyd acted in stock and on radio on both sides of the U.S./Canada border. After several lean years, Boyd got his movie break in the 1955 British comedy An Alligator Named Daisy. His powerful portrayal of the treacherous Messala in 1959's Ben-Hur proved to be Boyd's career peak. Few of his subsequent movie assignments came within shouting distance of Messala. Cast as Marc Antony in 1963's Cleopatra, Boyd was forced by prior commitments to defer the role to Richard Burton; and though top-billed in 1966's Fantastic Voyage, Boyd was compelled to play second fiddle to the film's remarkable special effects. In 1977, Stephen Boyd suffered a fatal heart attack while playing golf. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1978
The Spanish Mil Millones Para Una Rubia whisks the viewer from Vegas to Monte Carlo, then from Paris to Monaco. The scenery is gorgeous enough to take one's mind off the film's occasional dead spots. The plot concerns a gang of clever thieves who plan major heists in all the fleshpots of the Rich and Famous. Analía Gadé, José Luis López Vázquez and Jean Sorl head the cast, while Hollywood's Stephen Boyd makes a token appearance or two. The film keeps the viewers on their toes throughout its 90 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
This Michael Apted-directed crime melodrama features Stacy Keach as Jim Naboth, a Scotland Yard cop on the skids, suffering from depression and alcoholism. He is summoned by Foreman (Edward Fox), a British security expert whose wife Jill (Carol White) and daughter are being held hostages by kidnappers until Foreman pays the crooks a million-dollar-plus ransom. Jim has to marshal his forces and regain his clarity to save Foreman's family. The pressure is even more intense for Jim, since Foreman's wife, Jill also happens to be his former spouse. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stacy Keach, Freddie Starr, (more)
- 1976
Potato Fritz (Hardy Kruger) and his friends have moved from Germany to the American Wild West, settling eventually in the Rockies. They are besieged by what appear to them to be hostile Native Americans. Before too long, it becomes clear that the hostiles are in fact a gang of gold thieves. This movie is notable among German-made Westerns for its use of authentic period costumes and firearms. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hardy Kruger, Stephen Boyd, (more)
- 1975
Looking like a million dollars in a series of fabulous outfits, Shirley Jones plays Jenny Dolan, an ex-investigative reporter. The widow of a wealthy businessman, Jenny suspects her husband met with foul play, and returns to reporting to prove her theory. She uncovers a political assassination plot, but never does solve her husband's murder...because this made-for-TV movie was the pilot for an unsold series, in which Jenny would have spent each week trying to get at the truth. She also would have gone from one exotic foreign locale to another, with an expensive change of wardrobe for each occasion. It should come as no surprise that Lives of Jenny Dolan was the first TV project of famed "glamour film" producer Ross Martin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Filmed entirely in South Africa and featuring an all-star cast, this adventure chronicles the scenic adventures of a band of hunters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Wanna bet that Key West was a TV pilot film? You win! Stephen Boyd plays ex-CIA agent Steve Cutler, now happily running a boat service in-where else?--Key West. Cutler is forced to go back into action when he is marked for extermination by vengeful tycoon Ford Rainey. He is also kept busy trying to track down evidence that might compromise US senator William Prince. Old John Ford regular Woody Strode co-stars as Cutler's sidekick Candy Rhodes. Originally slated for a March 10, 1973 TV debut, Key West remained on the shelf until December 10. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Carroll Baker, the blond starlet best known for her role in Baby Doll, ended her career in a number of Italian giallo thrillers including A Quiet Place to Kill, Paranoia, The Fourth Victim, and this giallo-tinged crime film from director Osvaldo Civirani. Baker plays a dual role as translator Julie Harrison and her twin sister Mary. The serpentine plot begins as Julie tells her lawyer Dave Barton (Stephen Boyd from Ben-Hur) that Mary's life is being threatened in London while Julie herself is being stalked by a mysterious stranger in Amsterdam. Dave's racecar-driving friend Tony Shane (George Hilton) saves her from both an attempted kidnapping and an attempted murder before putting her up with an old blind woman to hide. The blind woman is murdered that same night, and Luciano Pigozzi turns up as an insurance investigator who finds out that Mary has stolen a precious diamond from an Indian Maharaja, double-crossing her husband to do so. To reveal any more of the plot would rob the viewer of the jaw-dropping developments, but the film features an unbelievable prank played by Julie's knife-wielding co-worker in a gorilla mask, a speeded-up car chase reminiscent of Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, and a very odd denouement in an abandoned windmill. The cast is loaded with genre veterans like Lucretia Love, Carla Mancini, Franco Ressel, and Ivano Staccioli, and the familiar-sounding score is by the ubiquitous Stelvio Cipriani, making this a solid addition to any giallo library. Various versions run 89 and 87 minutes. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll Baker, Stephen Boyd, (more)
- 1971
Kill is an English-language, French-made crime thriller/melodrama with elements of satire. In this film, Alan (James Mason) is an Interpol agent "on the take" from international drug rings he is supposed to investigate. Before he can get to Asia on his next assignment, his beloved wife Emily (Jean Seberg) takes a vacation trip to Asia. Why is the American narcotics agent (Stephen Boyd) following her? She is unaware of her husband's lack of uprightness, and the adventures she stumbles into (all as a result of her Alan's connections) puzzle and frighten her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Boyd, Jean Seberg, (more)
- 1970
In this suspense thriller, Stephen Boyd plays Miguel, who is clearly not in his right mind. He remembers killing his mother-in-law but cannot determine what happened to his wife Pilar (Marisa Mell). As far as he knows, she may have just run away. As the film opens, it is the servant's day off. Marta (also Marisa Mell), a good-looking young woman who is the spitting image of Miguel's wife, runs the gauntlet of his snarling dogs. He rescues her and puts her to bed in a very fatherly fashion. Later, she tries to seduce him, but he has some sexual dysfunction which causes her efforts to fail. Marta searches the house for Miguel's wife who is her sister. Among other things, she finds a room fitted out for torture but otherwise has no success. Later, she induces Miguel to join her in the search. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
With The Mod Squad sweeping the Tuesday night TV ratings in 1968, producers Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas hoped to get another multiracial adventure series on the air A.S.A.P. Carter's Army was the 72-minute pilot for this project. Set during World War II, the film stars Stephen Boyd as an Army captain who doesn't exactly dislike African Americans-it's just that he holds no special fondness for them. Naturally, Boyd is assigned an all-black company, and is forced to share his command with lieutenant Robert Hooks. Despite seething racial tensions, everyone pulls together to destroy an enemy dam. Originally telecast January 27, 1970, Carter's Army failed to spawn the planned series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
This lugubrious spy yarn finds Philip Scott (Stephen Boyd) posing as a toy manufacturer to hide his real purpose in life. He and his faithful operative Harris (Michael Redgrave) battle the evil Smith (Leo McKern) in Austria, England and West Germany. Toni Peters (Camilla Sparv) is the love interest in Philip's life, which is in constant danger from shadowy spies and double agents. The low-key direction ends up having no key to unlock anyone's imagination, but there's nothing inspiring about much of anything in this feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Boyd, Camilla Sparv, (more)
- 1967
Career bank robber Peter Churchman Stephen Boyd plans to retire from his life of crime and live the good life in this uninspired crime thriller. He is blackmailed by Angela Tresler Giovanna Ralli into pulling off one last heist of some precious jewels located in the bank in Pamplona, Spain. Peter and three accomplices must steal the jewels during the annual running of the bulls. The festival atmosphere will hopefully allow them to pull off the crime, but the bank is located directly across the street from the local police station. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Boyd, Yvette Mimieux, (more)
- 1966
This exciting adventure provides an interesting look into the manufacture and trafficking of opium and heroin. The original story was written by Ian Fleming who died shortly before he was to pen the screenplay. The story is set in Iran and opens as an American undercover agent is murdered in the desert while attempting to buy opium. Two more agents are sent to Teheran to investigate the death and stop the powerful drug ring behind the smuggling. Once there, they run into the dead agent's girlfriend, who soon after suddenly disappears. Unfortunately, they cannot find her and so focus on their other job. To figure out where the drugs are going (and hopefully get a lead on the missing girl) they steal a bunch of opium and lace it with radioactive tracers so they can track it with Geiger counters. They then follow the drugs as they are slowly dispersed throughout Europe. After many twists, turns and blind alleys, the agents eventually succeed. This film was originally made for TV and contains cameos from many stars who worked for little pay because they strongly supported its anti-drug message. Those stars include Grace Kelly (who introduces the film) Omar Sharif, E.G. Marshall, Eli Wallach, Marcello Mastrioanni, and many more. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Senta Berger, Stephen Boyd, (more)
- 1966
A heartless actor scrambles to the top of show business' sleazy summit in this drama. Frank Fane (Stephen Boyd) is a Hollywood leading man who is desperate to boost his career by winning an Academy Award, and he doesn't care who he has to betray to achieve his goals -- including his former best friend and PR man, Hymie Kelly (Tony Bennett), lonely acting coach Sophie Cantaro (Eleanor Parker), slimy agent Kappy Kapstetter (Milton Berle), and long-suffering girlfriend Kay Bergdahl (Elke Sommer). However, as Frank waits for his name to be called, certain that victory is in his grasp, fate has a little secret in store for him. The Oscar marked Tony Bennett's onscreen acting debut. The screenplay, based on the novel by Richard Sale, was written in part by award-winning author Harlan Ellison, who is known to often take comical potshots at the film, which he considers a low point in his career. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Boyd, Elke Sommer, (more)
- 1965
The internationally produced historical epic Genghis Khan sometimes wavers uncertainly between spectacle and self-parody. Though Omar Sharif essays the title role, top billing is bestowed upon Stephen Boyd as Genghis Khan's mentor-turned-enemy Jamuga. It's hard to generate audience sympathy for a Mongolian leader who laid waste to much of the civilized world, but Sharif manages to pull it off. While the battle scenes are impressive, the most memorable sequence involves an outsized fireworks display (which turns out to be a clever bit of military strategy). James Mason is amusing as an epigrammatic Chinese leader, Eli Wallach is appropriately hissable as the film's main villain, and the late Francoise Dorleac is decorative as the romantic bone of contention between Genghis Khan and Jamuga. Most of the film was lensed in Yugoslavia, a country that served as a generic location for many a historical pageant of the 1960s and 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Boyd, Omar Sharif, (more)
Though Fall of the Roman Empire is now infamous as the epic which destroyed the cinematic "empire" of producer Samuel Bronston, the film is actually an above-average historical drama, attempting to make sense of the political intrigues which resulted in the dissolution of the Glory That Was Rome. The film begins with wise, diplomatic emperor Marcus Aurelius (Alec Guinness) calling together the various representatives of the many nations within the Empire as a means of securing peace and prosperity for all involved. When Marcus intimates that he intends to turn over his crown to adopted son Livius (Stephen Boyd) rather than the logical successor Commodus (Christopher Plummer), he is poisoned by one of Commodus' cronies. Marcus' daughter Lucilla (Sophia Loren) tries to get Livius to claim the throne, but he wants no part of it; thus, the fate of the empire is in the incompetent hands of the preening Commodus. Despite efforts by cooler heads to save Rome from ruin, Commodus vainly declares himself a god and kills anyone who poses a threat to him. When he learns that Lucilla actually has a stronger claim to the throne than he does, Commodus condemns her to be burned at the stake. Only then does Livius intervene, slaying Commodus and promising to try to pick up the pieces of the disintegrating empire. Attempting to find a common ground between history buffs and action fans, Fall of the Roman Empire has come to be regarded as a classic. Alas, audiences in 1964 had grown weary of epics (especially after the highly touted but disappointing Cleopatra), and failed to turn out in sufficient enough numbers to justify Fall's exorbitant cost. Virtually wiped out, Samuel Bronston would not be able to return to filmmaking until 1971, and then only on a much smaller and more pinchpenny scale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Guinness, Sophia Loren, (more)
- 1964
TV commentator Stephen Boyd doesn't believe the official verdict of suicide in the death of a famed London psychiatrist. Boyd tries to get to the truth by studying a list of the shrink's patients. While interviewing three of these worthies (Jack Hawkins, Diane Cilento and Richard Attenborough), Boyd discover that each has a deep dark secret that the psychiatrist was privy to. The best-kept secret concerns the schizophrenia of the dead man's teenaged daughter (Pamela Franklin)--a fact that provides the key to mystery. The Third Secret originally featured Patricia Neal as one of the suspects, but her scenes were cut from the final release print. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, (more)
- 1963
This French/Italian historical spectacle was released in the US as Imperial Venus. Gina Lollobridgida, in her considerable prime, stars as Paolina Bonaparte, Napoleon's wanton, sensuous sister. We see Paolina through many affairs and her unhappy marriage of state. Her hot Corsican dalliance with Jules De Canouville (Stephen Boyd) ruins Paolina's status in court. Freudian scholars may be interested in the subliminal "jealousy" angle involving brother Napoleon (Raymond Pellegrin). Micheline Presle plays Josephine, who in this film is relegated to the background. The English dialogue for Venere Imperiale was written by John Michael Hayes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Stephen Boyd, (more)
Inasmuch as the spectacular Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart Broadway musical Jumbo was written in 1935, this 1962 film version can't help but seem a little quaint. Still, the film features the original production's star Jimmy Durante, energetically recreating his stage role as circus owner Pop Wonder; it is Durante's bravura performance that saves the film from dullness. Threatened with foreclosure, Pop Wonder and his pretty daughter Kitty (Doris Day) put their fates in the hands of go-getter Sam Rawlins (Stephen Boyd). What they don't know is that Sam is the son of Pop's biggest rival (Dean Jagger), and he's been sent to undermine the Wonder Circus. It goes without saying that Sam turns the tables on his dad, thereby saving the day and winning Kitty's hand. Martha Raye shows up as Lulu, a fortune teller who can't figure out what's going to happen next (funny, we can). And of course there's Jumbo the elephant, who figures into the film's funniest scene (as well as one of Jimmy Durante's most celebrated punchlines). Old MGM musical hands Charles Walters and Busby Berkeley share directing chores, but somehow the film hasn't the panache of their earlier work. Happily, most of the Rodgers-Hart songs are retained, including "My Romance" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"-not to mention a few Rodgers-Hart tunes borrowed from other show, e.g. "This Can't Be Love". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Day, Stephen Boyd, (more)
- 1962
The British The Inspector was released in the U.S. as Lisa. Dolores Hart plays Lisa Held, a Dutch Jewish girl who has survived the horror of Auschwitz. Anxious to leave Holland for Israel, Lisa enlists the aid of Dutch police inspector Stephen Boyd. He does all he can to help Lisa, hoping in this way to atone for his unwillingness to protect Jews from the Nazis during the war. Terrified at the prospect of a barrage of interrogations before being granted a pass, Lisa flees Holland by "illegal" means, travelling from country to country en route to the Holy Land. The Inspector marked the next-to-last film appearance of Dolores Hart before she left Hollywood behind to become a nun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolores Hart
- 1961
This adventure melodrama concerns Vic Brennan (Stephen Boyd), who persuades his family to put up money for him to leave Dublin for the remote African town of Jebanda in order to start up a truck-hauling business. The family agrees to give Vic the money under the stipulation that his cousin Samuel (David Wayne), a bank clerk, go with him to protect their investment. Vic and Samuel arrive in the Ivory Coast along with Vic's bride Marie (Juliette Greco). Samuel loses their customs papers, and Vic's truck is impounded. Luckily, Marie recognizes a friend, a French naval captain, and he gets Vic's truck released. They then proceed onward toward Jebanda, but they have nothing but bad luck along the way --their truck crashes into a tree, and Vic has to bribe the natives with some beer to get the tree removed; a German guide tries to steal their cargo; and the African sun makes Samuel delirious, and he declares his love for Marie. Finally, the truck reaches a raging river. They try to cross it, and Vic is knocked unconscious by a log. Samuel must now find the courage to rescue Vic and continue on to Jebanda. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Boyd, Juliette Greco, (more)
- 1959
The hardships faced by a widow and her eight-year-old son on a rugged Canadian ranch provide the basis of this gripping outdoor adventure. She lost her husband to a forest fire. To help her run the ranch, she hires a handy man. A handsome, but taciturn fellow who has known much tragedy, he works hard for her. The woman's son though resents him, and when he learns that his mother is planning to marry him to quell ugly rumors in town, the youth is most unhappy. After the wedding, the step-father treats the boy harshly, not out of cruelty, but because he wants to prepare the boy to survive the tough life ahead. This creates friction and frustration. Sometimes the handyman beats both the wife and the child. On the day the wife learns she is pregnant, the boy and his step-father get into a violent fight. Afterward the husband goes to the local saloon and ends up jailed for brawling. A month later he is released. When he gets home he finds his wife has moved his things to the barn. A natural disaster changes the family's lives and relationships and after much turmoil, honesty and pain gives them a chance to heal and start afresh. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Hayward, Stephen Boyd, (more)
