Harry Brown Movies

Having struck pay dirt with his 1958 western Rio Bravo, Howard Hawks more or less remade the picture twice in the 1960s. The first of these rehashes was El Dorado, with Rio Bravo star John Wayne back for more. Wayne plays a gunfighter who rides into El Dorado to link up with his old pal, sheriff Robert Mitchum ("It's the big one with the big two!" declared the film's advertisements). Wayne has turned down a job with evil land baron Ed Asner, who'd hoped to drive a family off the land that he needed for its water. That family, headed by R.G. Armstrong, is convinced that Wayne is working with Asner; when Armstrong's son Johnny Crawford dies, Wayne is held responsible, earning him a bullet in the spine from Crawford's sister Michele Carey. A year passes: Wayne returns to El Dorado, in the company of his new saddle pal James Caan. They find that Asner is still up to his old tricks, and that Mitchum has descended into alcoholism. Several plot twists and power shifts ensue, leading to the slam-bang climax, with the partially paralyzed Wayne, the newly crippled Mitchum (on crutches), and the concussion-suffering Caan battling together to stave off Asner's minions. The final long-shot, of Wayne and Mitchum limping off together arm-in-arm, is one of the most enduring images in the entire Hawks canon. If they loved it twice they'll love it thrice: in 1969, John Wayne and Howard Hawks teamed up for a third Rio Bravo derivation, Rio Lobo--which, like the first two films, was scripted by Leigh Brackett. Incidentally, that's famed artist Olaf Weighorst (whose paintings appear in the title sequence) in a cameo as the gunsmith. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

No one in King Company is in the mood to whistle "Dixie" when Pvt. Moseby Lovelace (Jonathan Bolt), an unreconstructed Southerner, joins the platoon. Saunders (Vic Morrow) is particularly peeved that Lovelace is constantly complaining about "Yankee" fighting methods: Why, he asks, does everyone duck into foxholes when you should be fighting the Nazis face-to-face, "Rebel" style? Also, the new recruit has a habit of playing fast and loose with regulations, including marching across a stream in his bare feet! Still, Lovelace gets results when the going gets tough--but will he ever learn to shed his Southern-friend skin and become a team player? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The conflict between duty and conscience is explored in the WWII drama The Deep Six. Alan Ladd stars as Naval gunnery officer Alec Austin, a Quaker whose sincere pacifist sentiments do not sit well with his crew members. When he refuses to fire upon an unidentified plane, the word spreads that Austin cannot be relied upon in battle (never mind that the plane turns out to be one of ours). To prove that he's worthy of command, Austin volunteers for a dangerous mission: the rescue of a group of US pilots on a Japanese-held island. The ubiquitous William Bendix costars as Frenchy Shapiro (!), Austin's Jewish petty officer and severest critic. If the film has a villain, it is Keenan Wynn as ambitious Lt. Commander Edge, who seems to despise anyone who isn't a mainline WASP.The Deep Six was based on a novel by Martin Dibner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Robert Wagner stars as insensitive Southern landowner who gets a much-overdue dose of humility and democracy when he's drafted into the army. Unable to curb his arrogance, Wagner runs afoul of a sadistic military officer (Broderick Crawford), who makes it his mission in life to break the recalcitrant recruit. After rescuing a fellow soldier (Buddy Ebsen), Wagner discovers he has the inner strength to change his outlook on life, and to stand up to the vicious Crawford. Based on a novel by Francis I. Gwaltney, Between Heaven and Hell features uncredited appearances by Frank Gorshin, Scatman Crothers, and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Packaged and sold as an outdoor actioner, Many Rivers to Cross is as much a comedy as anything else. Robert Taylor stars as 18th century trapper Bushrod Gentry, who is himself entrapped into marriage by the spunky Mary Stuart Cherne (Eleanor Parker). Escaping his marital responsibilities (which were impressed upon him on threat of death), Gentry heads into the North Country, with Mary in hot pursuit. Hero and heroine spend the rest of the picture taking turns rescuing each other from hostile Indians. Some of the humor is predicated upon the wholesale slaughter of the "redskins", and as such is a bit hard to take when seen today. Supporting Taylor and Parker are Victor McLaglen as the heroine's burly father, and TV-stars-to be James Arness (Gunsmoke) and Russell Johnson and Alan Hale Jr. (Gilligan's Island). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Steve Allen makes his dramatic film debut in The Benny Goodman Story. Outside of Goodman's conflicts with his parents over his career choice, and his early frustration over not being able to play his kind of music, the film tends to be more a series of musical highlights than a biography. The film features guest appearances by Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson, Harry James, Martha Tilton, Ziggy Elman, and Sammy Davis Sr. (as Fletcher Henderson). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The "regeneration" of blacklisted director Edward Dmytryk was expedited when he was hired by producer Stanley Kramer to helm the location-filmed melodrama The Sniper. In the interests of political expediency, Dmytrk was required to direct Adolphe Menjou, one of the most virulent Red-baiters of the HUAC hearings. Shorn of his trademarked mustache, and with his famous expensive wardrobe replaced by a humdrum business suit, Menjou turns in one of his best performances as a world-weary San Francisco detective assigned to track down a mad sniper. From the beginning, the audience knows that the criminal is psycho Eddie Miller (Arthur Franz), who is possessed of the notion that he must kill every beautiful brunette woman who crosses his path. Some audience sympathy is elicited by Miller's pathetic attempts to rid himself of his obsession, but this never gets in the way of the film's suspense. The excellent supporting cast includes Richard Kiley as a police psychiatrist, Marie Windsor as Miller's first victim, and Mabel Paige as the sniper's snoopy landlady. An unbilled Wally Cox shows up briefly. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bonar Colleano, who spent the war years playing brash Americans in British films, makes his final screen appearance in the Stanley Kramer production Eight Iron Men. Set during WW II, the film follows the exploits of a small Army squadron, billeted in a bombed-out house on the front lines. Tensions mount as the men attempt to save one of their number, who is trapped behind enemy lines and heavily surrounded. Essentially a single-set film (it was based on A Sound of Hunting, a stage play by Harry Brown), Eight Iron Men works better as a character study than a war flick. Colleano dominates the proceedings as a self-styled Lothario, while Arthur Franz, Lee Marvin, Richard Kiley, Nick Dennis, James Griffith, George Cooper and former child-star Dick Moore likewise register well. For no discernible reason, the screenplay manages to include several extra characters, including Mary Castle as "The Girl" in a dream sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Shortly before his death, horror film producer Val Lewton switched creative gears by overseeing the Universal western Apache Drums. The scene is the potentially prosperous western town of Spanish Boot, built from nothing by a group of determined settlers. Before they can enjoy the fruits of their labors, the townsfolk are threatened with an imminent Apache attack. Delivering this sobering news is gambler Sam Leeds (Stephen McNally), previously kicked out of town by the "proper" citizens. At first, no one believes Leeds, but soon the Apaches prove the veracity of the gambler's claims. The rest of the film is light on action but heavy on tension, as the true personalities of all concerned are revealed while they await the final, fatal Apache assault. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Originally conceived as a Gary Cooper western, Only the Valiant reached the screen with Gregory Peck in the lead. Peck plays Richard Lance, a strictly by-the-book Army captain. Though hated by his men, Lance is respected for his military know-how. This comes in very handy when Lance and a detachment of troops attempt to reach, and then hold, an unguarded Army garrison in the middle of Apache Country. Among the film's he-man contingent are Ward Bond, Gig Young, Lon Chaney Jr., Neville Brand, Jeff Corey and Steve Brodie, all delivering topnotch performances. The nominal leading lady is Barbara Payton, whose real-life tragedies were far more dramatic than any film she appeared in. Only the Valiant was based on a novel by Charles Marquis Warren. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The notoriety of the Ingrid Bergman-Roberto Rossellini liaison resulted in the release of several heretofore obscure Swedish Bergman films in the U.S. One of these, originally filmed in 1935 as Ocean Breakers, finally made it to American screens in 1949 as The Surf. In her second screen appearance, Bergman plays Karin, the daughter of a fisherman. During a raging storm, a young pastor is forced to stay in the fisherman's house during his absence. Much taken by Karin's virginal beauty, the pastor succumbs to his baser instincts. Nine months later, the consequences of this indiscretion take shape in the form of an illegitimate child. With only 64 minutes at its disposal, Surf doesn't have much time to cook up a happy ending -- but amazingly, it does. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, Arch of Triumph is a complicated war romance directed by Lewis Milestone. Dr. Ravic (Charles Boyer) is a refugee physician practicing medicine illegally in Paris under a false name. He saves Joan Madou (Ingrid Bergman) from committing suicide after the sudden death of her lover. He gets her a job singing at the nightclub where his only friend, Boris Morosov (Louis Calhern), is the doorman. Joan falls in love with Ravic, but he is deported and she finds herself the mistress of wealthy Alex (Stephan Bekassy). Meanwhile, Ravic seeks revenge against a Nazi officer (Charles Laughton) and war is declared between France and Germany. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Barbara Stanwyck headlines this romantic tearjerker as a free-spirited concert pianist dying of tuberculosis. She checks into a posh Alpine sanitarium and there falls in love with her suave and gentle doctor (David Niven). The poor physician has his hands full trying to keep the energetic Stanwyck quiet so her body can rest. She tries, but when the fellow patient she befriended dies, she becomes afraid of her own death and flees to have a crazy affair with a race car driver. Together they tear across Europe until she becomes weak and must return to the sanitarium for the tragic conclusion. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi