Reginald Denny Movies

Assault on a Queen is a complex, exciting crime-caper film in which a gang of clever mercenaries try to rob the famous luxury liner, the Queen Mary. Mark Brittain (Frank Sinatra) is hired by wealthy Italian adventuress Rosa Lucchesi (Verna Lisi) and her German partner-in-crime, Eric Laufftiauer (Alf Kjellin) to refurbish a WWII German U-Boat and use it to hold the entire ship hostage while it is robbed. Scriptwriter Rod Serling does his best with an interesting, but rather implausible premise, and director Jack Donohue gets above-average performances from his cast of veteran character actors, including Richard Conte and Reginald Denny, but Frank Sinatra is not particularly believable as an action hero. The true star of the show is the terrific color photography of the magnificent ocean liner by William Daniels and a musical score by Duke Ellington. While Assault on a Queen fails to generate much suspense, fans of Frank Sinatra should enjoy this, although it fails to reach the level of fun and excitement of his excellent Ocean's 11. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

This action-filled police drama chronicles the difficult first year of a rookie cop. The trouble begins on his very first day on the beat when he has a conflict with the criminally connected owner of the local tavern. Against the more moderate advice of his experienced partner, the rookie insists on strictly enforcing every law on the books. His unbending toughness creates hard feelings with the neighborhood toughs and soon he becomes their target. He becomes quite upset when a drunken woman leaps from his window to her death. He is then suspended. Later he redeems himself by solving a murder and bringing the corrupt tavern owner to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

World for Ransom is an unofficial extension of the popular 1950s TV series China Smith. Most of the Smith personnel, including star Dan Duryea, director Robert Aldrich and cinematographer Joseph Biroc, are on hand for this inexpensive but well-mounted melodrama. Duryea plays a mercenary adventurer who gets mixed up in a scheme by foreign spies (who wear baggy suits and speak with Slavic accents) to kidnap a nuclear scientist. Actually it isn't the whole world that's held for ransom--only the city of Singapore, which the spies threaten with nuclear annihilation. World for Ransom star Dan Duryea is solidly supported by old pros Gene Lockhart, Patric Knowles, Reginald Denny and Nigel Bruce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

Iroquois Trail (British title: The Tomahawk Trail) could be classified as a western, but for the fact that the story is set in 1775. Based on James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the film stars George Montgomery as Cooper's stalwart Indian scout Hawkeye. Hoping to avenge his brother's death at the hands of the French, Hawkeye offers his services to the British. During the course of events, he breaks up a spy ring, fights a hostile Indian chief to the death, and rescues the daughter (Brenda Marshall) of a British colonel (Paul Cavanaugh). Featured in the cast are Monte Blue (who was part Cherokee Indian) as Hawkeye's companion Sagramore, and Sheldon Leonard (who had no Indian blood whatsoever!) as fierce Chief Ogane. Auteurist fans of director Phil Karlson are welcome to search for any vestiges of Karlson's "signature" in Iroquois Trail. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episodic holiday film centers around a rich spinster aunt whose greedy nephew is attempting legal action to take her estate. Before he makes a final decision, a caring judge tells the spinster that she can rally together the three foster children she raised to help her keep the estate, he will delay the nephew's action. Now she must find her three grown boys who have gone in wildly different directions. One is a boozy cowboy involved in a baby racket, another is a deadbeat deeply indebted to the nephew, and the other is a successful owner of a South American cafe on the lam for a con-job he didn't commit. She endures and adventurous journey, but the three do manage to come together on Christmas Eve, save the estate, and give the conniving nephew his due. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When a man dies under suspicious circumstances, the law must decide if it was murder or an accident. Francis Macomber (Robert Preston) is a wealthy, carefree gentleman who hires Robert Wilson (Gregory Peck), an expert hunter, as his guide when he sets off on a safari in Kenya. Francis' wife Margaret (Joan Bennett) regards her husband as a fool and a coward, and before long, she develops a strong attraction to Robert -- which she does not bother to keep secret. However, Robert informs her that as a matter of personal ethics, he would not consider becoming involved with her. After several weeks on the African savannah, Francis feels himself changing; he's developed a new bravery and sense of confidence, and as a test of himself, he one day stands in the path of a charging buffalo as he prepares to shoot. However, shots ring out from behind him, and Francis falls dead. Margaret insists that she was trying to kill the animal before it could trample Francis and missed, but given her well-documented contempt for her husband, the widow finds herself on trial for murder. The Macomber Affair was based on the short story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway, though director Zoltan Korda found it necessary to rework the material (with the input of the featured cast) in order to appease the industry censors of the day. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A rare black-and-white Maria Montez vehicle, Tangier can be described as a second-echelon Casablanca. Montez plays a Spanish dancer named Rita, who is determined to bring Nazi collaborator Colonel Jose Artiego (Preston Foster) to justice. Artiego is at presently working incognito, as military governor of the North African city of Tangier. Maria finds an unexpected ally in the form of Artiego's discarded mistress Dolores (Louise Allbritton). Dominating the film's hotel-lobby set is an old-fashioned "open" elevator, which will obviously figure prominently in the climax. A camp classic, Tangier is distinguished by supporting actor Sabu's offkey renditions of such American standards as "Polly Wolly Doodle" and "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain"! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A beautiful child (14-year-old Jane Powell in her feature film debut) star tires of life in the spotlight and so disguises herself and sneaks off to join a Civilian Conservation Corps camp to work with normal kids. It doesn't take her long to discover that being "normal" isn't easy as it looks. When a crop is in danger of being ruined because there are not enough people to harvest it, the girl employs some of her famous colleagues to lend a hand. Cameo appearances include W.C. Fields, Charley McCarthy and Edgar Bergen and the dancing Condos Brothers. Songs include: "Too Much in Love," "Here It Is Monday," "Delightfully Dangerous," "Hawaiian War Chant" and "Notre Dame." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

From the first frame of its opening credits, Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror promises (and subsequently delivers) mystery and thrills several layers deep -- following a short prologue intended to introduce Holmes to contemporary England (circa 1942), there is a series of terror broadcasts from Germany, announcing destruction throughout the British isles, and a montage of explosions and other disasters causing havoc. Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) are called in by Sir Evan Barham (Reginald Denny) of British intelligence's Inner Council to investigate the Voice of Terror and the accompanying sabotage. The other members of the council are disdainful of Holmes' presence, and express heightening doubts as his investigation seems to take him up several blind alleys. The case starts to break when a dying informant gives Holmes a tip that takes him and Watson to London's seedy Limehouse district, where they get a hostile reception until Kitty (Evelyn Ankers), the widow of the murdered informant, makes a patriotic speech reminding her friends that regardless of their class or their feelings about British society, this is a war for the survival of England. With Kitty leading them, the men and women of Limehouse form an invisible army and go out in search of the saboteurs. Holmes determines that the Voice of Terror is recorded on phonograph records in England and flown to Germany for broadcast; with Kitty's help, he traces the saboteurs to a deserted dockside location where he and Watson, along with intelligence chief Mr. Lloyd (Henry Daniell), are nearly killed by Meade (Thomas Gomez), the leader of the saboteurs. Holmes and company are rescued at the last moment by Kitty's army, but Meade escapes. He crosses paths with Kitty, who pretends to be a thief on the run and joins him. Working her way into his trust, she finds evidence that Meade plans to kill Sir Evan Barham; Holmes arrives just minutes behind Meade and heads off an attempt by a German plane to land on Barham's remote estate. All of these incidents of sabotage and attempted assassination are serious enough, but Holmes suspects they're part of a larger, more sinister plot that could lead to the destruction of England. The film ends with a chase to the South Coast and a bombed-out church, where Meade and his men are preparing to take over the country. Holmes captures Meade and unmasks the man behind him, and reveals just how far ahead of the Germans he has been, turning their certain victory into defeat, but he loses a good friend and ally in the process. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Edward Arnold made the first of his two screen appearances as Bayard Kendrick's blind detective Captain Duncan McLain in MGM's Eyes in the Night. The plot is set in motion by Norma Lawry (Ann Harding), whose stepdaughter Barbara (Donna Reed) has been keeping company with washed-up actor Paul Gerente (John Emery). Norma feels that Gerente, an ex-lover of hers, is a bad influence for Barbara, but the girl merely assumes that Norma wants Gerente all to herself. When the ageing actor is murdered, Barbara assumes that Norma committed the crime. Rather than go to the police, Norma heads to her old friend Duncan McLain, but when the detective arrives at the scene of the murder, the body has disappeared. Detecting the odor of violets in the room, McLain uses this tiny clue to build a case against a gang of Nazi spies, headed by the Lawry's butler Hansen (Stanley Ridges), with whom the late Mr. Gerente had been collaborating. Just knowing who did it isn't enough in this case, however: getting the drop on McLain and his associates, the villains hold the detective and Lawry prisoner until they are able to get their hands on a secret formula developed by Barbara's father (Reginald Denny). In true movie-serial fashion, it is McLain's faithful seeing-eye dog Friday (played by "himself") who saves the day. A "B" picture with "A" entertainment value, Eyes in the Night proved successful enough to warrant a sequel, 1945's The Hidden Eye. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide