Burt Balaban Movies
American filmmaker and producer Burt Balaban was originally trained as a combat cameraman for the Marines during WW II. Later he went on to direct and produce television films during the 1950s. At the end of the decade he began working in feature films, though he made very few. Balaban is best known for directing the gangster film, Murder Inc. (1960). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1966
In this drama, a troubled 17-year old socialite runs away from her home in New York to Rio. There she falls for a troubled architect. The architect, devastated since his girlfriend was killed, is unable, or unwilling to speak. The girl tries to help him by suggesting he see a psychiatrist, but he, believing that she only wants him to rejoin the fast life, refuses. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher George, Lynda Day, (more)
- 1961
This gangland crime story about the life and death of mobster Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll (John Chandler) is most notable for the array of relatively unknown actors in bit parts who later became famous. Otherwise, there is a lot of bloodshed, surface characterization, and a great deal of fiction in the violent tale. Coll is first shown suffering extreme abuse from his father, and then he segues into the development of a neighborhood gang at the age of seventeen. From there, he gets on the wrong side of gangster Dutch Schultz which ultimately is a big mistake. Director Burt Balaban depicts Coll as increasingly insane, before his last killing leads to his violent death. Among those "new" faces are Telly Savalas as Lt. Dawson, Jerry Orbach as Joe, Coll's Judas, Gene Hackman in his first screen role as a cop, and Vincent Gardenia as Dutch Schultz. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Chandler, Neil Nephew, (more)
This true crime story was hardly "ripped from today's headlines," since the events took place some 20 to 30 years before the movie was released. Still, Murder, Inc. is not afraid to name names, notably those of syndicate boss Louis "Lepke" Buchalter (David J. Stewart) and killer Abe Reles (Peter Falk), who squeals on the Mob to earn immunity. The activities of Buchalter's murder-for-hire operation are played against a fictional story about a nightclub singer (Stuart Whitman) and a dancer (May Britt). Murder, Inc. has a queasy, unsettling quality, due in part to some offbeat casting: TV comedian Henry Morgan co-stars as a dead-serious federal agent, while "human joke machine" Morey Amsterdam shows up as a cabaret entertainer who is stabbed by the Mob. The film was a major boost for the career of Peter Falk, who very nearly managed to parlay his Murder, Inc. supporting role into an Academy Award. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Whitman, May Britt, (more)
- 1958
Craig Rhodes (John Derek) is the partner of gold miner Frank Davidson (Al Mulock). Frank's wife Lenore (Elaine Stewart) develops a yen for Rhodes, while he insists upon remaining honorable.The situation becomes prickly when a heavy snowfall forces Frank, Lenore and Craig to share close quarters, awaiting rescue. Adding to the tension is lecherous miner Luke Fulgham (Patrick Allen), who openly lusts after the heroine. Though set in the Canadian Rockies, produced by a Hollywood film company and boasting a largely American cast, High Hell is technically a British film, lensed in the Alps! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Derek, Elaine Stewart, (more)
- 1957
Old-timer Dennis O'Keefe and newcomer Ann Sears star in the British melodrama Lady of Vengeance. O'Keefe plays an American publisher headquartered in London, whose young ward (Eileen Elton) is driven to suicide. The distraught O'Keefe hires a professional criminal (Anton Diffring) to plot the murder of the man responsible for the girl's death, with the proviso that the victim undergo the torments of the damned before he is finally killed. Trouble is, the wrong man is targeted for the publisher's revenge. Nominal leading lady Ann Sears does what she can with the nondescript role of O'Keefe's secretary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis O'Keefe, Ann Sears, (more)
- 1954
Hollywood actress Marsha Hunt, blacklisted during the "Red Scare" of the early 1950s, was able to find occasional work in England. Ms. Hunt is top-billed in Diplomatic Passport, but hers is a secondary role to hero Paul Carpenter. The latter plays an American diplomat who is being used as an unwitting courier by diamond smugglers.Honor Blackman, twixt and tween her "English Rose" period and her leather-clad Avengers days, is the femme fatale. Diplomatic Passport was co-produced by Burt Balaban, of American theatre-chain fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this sci-fi film, a Venusian emissary and an earth woman become friends. The alien tells her that he has come to warn her of the dangers of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately very few earthlings listen to his message. The film is basically a cheap knock-off of The Day the Earth Stood Still. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
