Robert Bassler Movies

Suddenly is the name of the small town invaded by professional assassin Frank Sinatra and his henchmen. Taking a local family hostage, Sinatra sets up a vigil at the second-story window of the family's home. From here, he intends to kill the President of the United States when the latter makes a whistle-stop visit. The film's tension level is enough to induce goose pimples from first scene to last. Sinatra is outstanding as the disgruntled war vet who hopes to become a "somebody" by killing the president. The parallels between his character and Lee Harvey Oswald's are too close for comfort, so much so that Suddenly was withdrawn from local TV packages for several years after the JFK assassination. Sinatra would claim in later years that he himself engineered the removal of Suddenly from general distribution, though in fact he'd lost whatever rights he'd held on the film when it lapsed into public domain. Be sure and miss the notorious colorized version of this black-and-white thriller, wherein Sinatra is transformed into Ol' Brown Eyes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

At the time of its release, Beneath the 12-Mile Reef was considered more notable for its technical achievements than its artistic virtues, a judgment that is still valid, up to a point. It wasn't the most earth-shattering drama ever made, though the performances seem better than they were probably given credit for being at the time. 20th Century Fox's second Cinemascope production starred Robert Wagner (at the height of his male ingénue phase) and Terry Moore in a modern Romeo and Juliet story. He plays Tony Petrakis, the cocky but good-hearted son of Greek sponge fisherman Mike Petrakis (Gilbert Roland), who fishes the area off the Florida coast. The fiercest rivals of Petrakis and his fellow Greek fishermen are the English-descended hook-boat fishermen -- led by Thomas Rhys (Richard Boone) -- who are prepared to kill anyone who intrudes on their established territory. Mike Petrakis has already had one run-in with Arnold, a protégé of Rhys' and the would-be husband of Rhys' daughter, who doesn't know when to back off. In the midst of their conflict, which has come close to gunshots being exchanged, Tony meets Gwyneth Rhys (Terry Moore), Thomas' daughter. She's fascinated by this handsome young Greek who doesn't seem afraid to fight back against men bigger, older, and tougher than he is. The two end up falling in love, much to the consternation of their two families and their friends. Mike later dies in a tragic diving accident, in the aftermath of which his boat is looted and burned at the instigation of Arnold. The elder Rhys turns out to be a better and fairer man than Arnold, who mercilessly beats Tony after catching him off guard. Tony and Gwyneth end up running off together in her hook-boat, with Arnold and her father in hot pursuit, ready to kill him. Only Thomas Rhys' basic decency and Tony's bravery -- coupled with Arnold's cowardice, lust, and anger -- manages to get the conflict settled, in a surprising (and convincing) resolution. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The Silver Whip stars Dale Robertson as Race Crim, the guard on a stage coach driven by his best friend, young Jess Harker (Robert Wagner). Wounded during a holdup, Crim vows to get even with bandit Slater (John Kellogg). Meanwhile, Harker, fired from his job as driver, manages to become the deputy for Sheriff Tom Davisson (Rory Calhoun). When the sheriff captures Slater and throws him in jail, a lynch mob, headed by Crim, converges upon the jailhouse. Harker is placed in a delicate dilemma: should he protect Slater and uphold justice, or should he allow his old friend Crim to satisfy his thirst for vengeance? The Silver Whip was based on a novel by Jack Schaefer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Besotted by alcohol, Australian cattle-station owner Michael McGuire (Finlay Currie) is led to believe that crooked gambler Richard Connor (Peter Lawford) is his long-lost son. Connor and his partner-in-crime Gamble (Richard Boone) go along with the gag, convincing McGuire's daughter Dell (Maureen O'Hara) that they've arrived to help the old man save his livestock, when in fact they're planning a major swindle. The scheme goes awry when Connor falls genuinely in love with Dell. The arrival of mounted policeman Leonard (Chips Rafferty) sets the ball rolling for an onslaught of violence, renunciation and redemption. Vividly filmed on location in Australia, Kangaroo was remade in Africa as The Jackals in 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After surviving the hell of a Nazi death camp, a refugee faces even greater dangers in America in this tale of murder, deceit, and assumed identities. Victoria Kopwelska (Valentina Cortese) is a Polish woman imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp near the end of World War II. Desperate to survive, Victoria learns that her best friend has family in the United States, and if they are ever freed, she pledges to take Victoria to America with her. Victoria's friend, however, is killed shortly before American troops can liberate the camp. With nowhere to go, Victoria steals her friend's papers and sails to America, where she is accepted as her friend by her family. Victoria learns that she is now the godmother to a young boy, as well as the heir to a sizable fortune, following the death of her "aunt." Alan Spender (Richard Basehart), the boy's guardian, has been making secret plans to get his hands on the money, and Victoria's arrival causes him to draft a new scheme. Alan begins wooing Victoria, hoping to take her hand in marriage and then murder her, gaining her estate in the process. However, after several accidents befall the youngster, Victoria begins to believe that her new sweetheart is up to no good. The House on Telegraph Hill was directed by Robert Wise, who went on to helm such blockbusters as West Side Story and The Sound of Music. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A Ticket to Tomahawk has sometimes been described as a musical western satire, but in fact is more "straight" western than anything else--not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. Dan Dailey plays a travelling medicine show entrepreneur who comes to the aid of fast-shootin' Anne Baxter, daughter of a railroad man. Stagecoach line representative Rory Calhoun is doing everything he can to prevent a new train service from winning a Colorado territory franchise. The whole affair boils down to a race between the train and Calhoun's coaches. The film's never-take-a-breath action scenes are played out against some of the most gorgeous Colorado scenery ever captured on Technicolor. A Ticket to Tomahawk has achieved latter-day fame due to the unbilled presence of Marilyn Monroe as one of Dan Dailey's chorus gals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thieves' Highway is set in San Francisco and the surrounding countryside. Richard Conte plays Nick Garcos, an American GI who returns from WWII to find that his father Yanko (Morris Carnovsky), a produce trucker, has lost the use of both legs because of a fight with crooked truck driver Mike Figlia (Lee J. Cobb). Nick is a clean-cut guy who was set on marrying his sweetheart Polly Faber (Barbara Lawrence). Instead, Nick gets embroiled in his father's feud with Mike, buying a truck and falling deeper into racketeering. He delivers a truckload of apples to Mike as part of a scheme to expose his cheating. A prostitute, Rica (Valentina Cortesa), tells Nick that Mike has his own plot to trap him. Nick and Rica help Mike's henchmen learn that Mike has also been cheating them, and Nick eventually gets his revenge. But Nick has permanently lost Polly because of his involvement with the gangsters and his change in personality from a good guy to a more sinister businessman. Director Jules Dassin was blacklisted from Hollywood for supposed communist sympathies after making this 1949 picture, but he went on to have success with more caper movies while in exile in France. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

"A woman loses her mind and is confined to a mental institution." That's the usual TV-listing encapsulation of The Snake Pit -- and like most such encapsulations, it only scratches the film's surface. Olivia de Havilland stars as an outwardly normal young woman, married to loyal, kindly Mark Stevens. As de Havilland's behavior becomes more and more erratic, however, Stevens comes to the sad conclusion that she needs professional help. She is sent to an overcrowded state hospital for treatment -- a curious set-up, in that, while de Havilland is treated with compassion by soft-spoken psychiatrist Leo Genn, she is sorely abused by resentful matrons and profoundly disturbed patients. Throughout the film, she is threatened with being clapped into "the snake pit" -- an open room where the most severe cases are permitted to roam about and jabber incoherently -- if she doesn't realign her thinking. In retrospect, it seems that de Havilland's biggest "crime" is that she wants to do her own thinking, and that she isn't satisfied with merely being a loving wife. While this subtext may not have been intentional, it's worth noting that de Havilland escapes permanent confinement only when she agrees to march to everyone else's beat. Amazingly, Olivia de Havilland didn't win an Academy Award for her harrowing performance in The Snake Pit (the only Oscar won by the film was for sound recording). While some of the psychological verbiage in this adaptation of Mary Jane Ward's autobiographical novel seems antiquated and overly simplistic today, The Snake Pit was rightly hosannahed as a breakthrough film in 1948. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Often mistakenly identified as a sequel to My Friend Flicka, Thunder in the Valley actually has more in common with the Lassie saga. Lon McAllister plays the son of truculent Scottish sheepherder Edmund Gwenn. Though he has no time for people, Gwenn is quite fond of his collie dog. Partly as a means of defying his intractible father, McAllister raises his own dog and beats Gwenn at an annual contest. Father and son are brought closer together when Gwenn is forced to do away with his collie, who has gone mad. Breathtakingly photographed in Technicolor (those nocturnal Highlands scenes are terrific!), Thunder in the Valley is based on the popular Alfred Ollivant novel Bob, Son of Battle. Lending excellent support to stars Gwenn and McAllister are Peggy Ann Garner and Reginald Owen; reportedly, perennial Laurel and Hardy foil James Finlayson also appears in the role of a judge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a Bostonian socialite marries the owner of a racehorse and begins a life of globe-trotting from international track to track until her hubby runs out of money. In desperation, he borrows money from an ex-girlfriend who decides that she will not let him leave her again. Meanwhile, the wife is beginning to wonder why she married him and begins contemplating divorce. Things change when her philandering spouse dumps the other, decides to rebuild his stables, and bets every last nickel on his one remaining horse's Kentucky Derby run. His horse barely loses to his wife's horse. Fortunately, the couple makes up and they live a long, happy life together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this police drama, a busy precinct is thrown into chaos when the murdered corpse of a local detective is found in an abandoned car. Now the press is demanding to learn details. Meanwhile, an ambitious officer finds himself sorely tempted to use dishonest means to advance his political career. Things get even more muddled up when he falls in love with a female murder suspect. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A servant with no experience ends up teaching the master of the house a thing or two in this comedy. Molly Barry (Gracie Fields) is a struggling actress who is short on money and needs paying work. When she learns that John Graham (Monty Woolley), a wealthy and respected former politician, needs a housekeeper, Molly figures that being a maid can't be that much different than playing one, and she takes the job. However, the straight-laced and prickly Graham has a habit of rubbing people the wrong way, having driven away his wife and seriously alienated his son Jimmy (Roddy McDowell). Graham's butler Peabody (Reginald Gardiner) is one of the only people willing to stand by him. But Molly tolerates no nonsense from Graham and teaches him how to better get along with people, including his son. Meanwhile, as various members of the staff quit, Molly begins to replace them with old friends from her days in the theater, until Graham's estate is practically a refuge for out-of-work thespians (Molly also makes a surprise discovery about Peabody's work history). Molly and Me also features several songs sung by Gracie Fields, a major musical comedy star in Great Britain. This proved to be her last feature film, though she remained active in television and on the stage. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide