Michael Dugan Movies

National Intelligence Agent Dan Street (Richard Egan) is on the trail of some stolen laser rubies. It is assumed the agents will come after the raygun itself for their evil purposes. Count Romano (Michael Ansara) is the swimsuit-import mogul who tries to keep his head from going under while working for the enemy agents. The key to the mystery lies with Dutch (John Ericson), a Korean War veteran who fell into the hands of the brainwashing communists. Patricia Owens is Dan's love interest in this plodding suspense film. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Spock faces the death penalty for receiving signals from planet Talos IV. With the agreement of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Fleet Captain Pike, the trial continues in closed session and the evidence -- the forbidden transmissions -- continues to be viewed by the trial board, as Kirk searches for a reason behind Spock's actions and a way to save his friend's life. They see Captain Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) and his strange adventure on Talos IV some 13 years earlier, and the manner in which the Talosians, with their power to cast illusions, tried alternately to torture and seduce him to secure his cooperation, and his successful resistance to the point where he was ultimately released. They also learn why any contact with planet Talos IV is forbidden, the danger that contact poses to the human race, and why that contact may mean the salvation of the stricken Captain Pike. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Vicki Gaye (Cyd Charisse) is a dancer at a night club in early 1930's Chicago. A healthy cynic who still possesses some ideals, she entertains no illusions about the "invitation" (or the $100 that goes with it) that she gets to a party hosted by mob kingpin Rico Angelo (Lee J. Cobb) -- but she still won't let Angelo's head torpedo Louis Canetto (John Ireland) get near her. Angelo's attorney Thomas Farrell (Robert Taylor) is another story -- he's a more complicated than the men he defends, and still enough of an idealist so that when he and Vicki cross swords about who is the worse hypocrite, it actually affects him. Farrell, whose right leg has been crippled from birth and getting worse, took the easy way to success by pursuing a criminal practice, including getting Canetto off a murder rap -- but after meeting Vicki he starts to see another path to take, and also embarks on a year of surgical procedures to cure the worst of the pain in his leg. And he comes out a new man, with a new plan in life, including starting over in a practice that doesn't involve criminal law. But Angelo plans on having Farrell fight an old friend, prosecutor Jeffrey Stewart (Kent Smith), who is trying to indict Angelo's associate Cooky La Motte (Corey Allen). Farrell resists, until Angelo threatens to harm Vicki -- and when the case and the trail blow up in both sides' faces, he finds himself caught between the mob and the law, with Vicki urging him to do the right thing. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Conceived as a Gone With the Wind for the CinemaScope generation, Raintree County wasn't quite as successful as its role model, but it still proved a moneyspinner for MGM. Elizabeth Taylor stars as a spoiled Southern belle who falls in love with pacifistic Indiana youth Montgomery Clift. Though Clift is engaged to Eva Marie Saint, what Taylor wants, Taylor gets, and she isn't above using the dirtiest of deceptions to win Clift's affections. When the Civil War break out, Clift, a staunch abolitionist, joins the Union, much to the dismay of true-to-Dixie Taylor. While Clift is off fighting the war, Taylor descends into a depression that deepens into insanity. At war's end, Clift tries to come to terms with Taylor's lunacy for the sake of their child. But the strain proves too much for both of them, leading to an operatic climax which curiously segues into a happy ending (happy for some of the characters, anyway). If Montgomery Clift's performance--and appearance--seems to fluctuate wildly throughout the film, it is because he was involved in a serious auto accident during shooting, one that left both physical and emotional scars from which he never completely recovered. The 187-minute Raintree Country (reduced to 168 minutes after its initial roadshow engagements) was adapted by Millard Kaufman from the best-selling novel by Ross Lockridge, Jr. (whose own life story was infinitely more tragic than anything in his book). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this western, a pacifistic store owner does all he can to avoid association with his father, a notorious gunfighter. One day he gets drunk and shows off his own considerable skills with a pistol. Unfortunately, this attracts the attention of the man who fancies himself the town's fastest draw and he heads to the store for a little confrontation. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Adapted by Don M. Mankiewicz from his own novel, Trial is a surprisingly timely story of how justice can sometimes be compromised by "special interests". It all begins when Mexican youth Angelo Chavez (Rafael Campos) is placed on trial for the murder of a white teenaged girl. Battling the lynch-mob mentality in and out of the courtroom is relatively inexperienced defense attorney David Blake (Glenn Ford). Believing that anything done on behalf of his client is for the common good, Blake approves the organization of an "Angelo Chavez Society" to pay the boy's court costs and ostensibly see that justice is done in the face of small-town prejudice. Soon, however, Blake discovers that both he and his client are being used as dupes by a Communist lawyer, who hopes that Chavez will be found guilty and executed, thereby creating a martyr for the Red cause. Much was made in 1955 of the fact that the presiding judge is a black man, played by Juano Hernandez. A bit creaky at times, Trial nonetheless still packs a wallop when shown today. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

During her brief stay at MGM, starlet Jarma Lewis received starring roles in two programmers. One of these was The Marauders, in which she appeared with Dan Duryea, Keenan Wynn and Jeff Richards. The bulk of the film's drama is handled by Richards, cast as a homesteader who refuses to move despite the threats of land baron Harry Shannon. After Shannon's death, the persecution of Richards is supervised by Dan Duryea, an unhinged frustrated soldier who fancies himself a second Napoleon. The looney Duryea manages to kill James Anderson, weak-willed husband of Jarma Lewis, with the help of hired gun Keenan Wynn. But Richards stands his ground, winning Jarma in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A nail-biting Indian deadlock remains the climax of this otherwise overly verbose Western filmed in M-G-M's then-new Ansco colors (forerunner of Eastmancolor). After ruthlessly dragging an escaped prisoner through the Arizona desert, Union Army Captain Roper (William Holden) suffers rebuke from both the rebel prisoners and his commanding officer (Carl Benton Reid). Things settles down a bit with the arrival of Carla Forester (Eleanor Parker), with whom Roper falls in love. But Carla proves to be a Confederate spy assigned to engender the escape of Captain Marsh (John Forsythe), the Rebel leader. The plan succeeds to a point but the escapees are hunted down by Roper and Lieutenant Beecher (Richard Anderson). Returning to Fort Bravo with his prisoners, Roper and his captives ride right into a Mescalero Apache hunting party. Filmed on location at California's Death Valley, Escape from Fort Bravo was co-written by Australian-born actor Michael Pate. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Fish-market worker Johnny O'Hara (James Arness) is named as a suspect when his boss -- with whom he had a dispute the previous day -- is shot to death in an apparent robbery. When he's arrested, his family appeals to their old friend James Curtayne (Spencer Tracy), who was once a renowned criminal attorney but is now in civil practice. He resists their entreaties until he realizes that no decent attorney will handle the case properly; his daughter (Diana Lynn) watches with alarm, however, for we soon learn that Curtayne is an alcoholic, and that the major factor in his life that pushed him over the edge was the stress of having someone's life in his hands. He discovers soon enough just how much Johnny's life is in his hands when his client refuses to level with him about his real whereabouts on the night of the murder. He also realizes as the trial starts precisely how rusty he is in the courtroom, and the old stresses return -- and with them, his drinking. Curtayne not only manages to lose the case but destroys his career when he tries to buy off a larcenous prosecution witness. His client facing a death sentence and his own life and career in ruins, he's seemingly hit bottom, but then new evidence surfaces, of a nature that not even the ambitious prosecutor (John Hodiak) can ignore. Recognizing that his client was actually innocent and also acting in his silence -- however stupidly -- from the noblest of motives, Curtayne is willing to redeem himself by putting his own life on the line, confronting a killer who has taken more than one life without any compunction whatsoever, and who has no reason to spill anything.

The People Against O'Hara was a well-made, largely location-shot crime drama set in New York City, but it wouldn't have been nearly so prestigious a movie were it not for the presence of Spencer Tracy in the role of Curtayne. Ironically enough, he only agreed to do the film on the condition that his friend Pat O'Brien, who hadn't been in a major studio release in a couple of years, be given a large role, which he got as the lead detective on the case, and O'Brien and Tracy get a couple of really good scenes together. The film also includes an unbilled appearance by Charles Bronson, who was still working as Charles Buchinski in 1951, and is highlighted by a superb prominent supporting performance by William Campbell, who seems to quietly relish every nuance of his portrayal of a totally slimy character. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

MGM's new musical screen team of Esther Williams and Howard Keel were given plenty to do in the pleasant if unambitious songfest Texas Carnival. Williams plays Debbie Telford, one-half of a carnival performing team. The other half is Corny Quinnell (Red Skelton), who breaks up the act when he is mistaken for Texas millionaire Dan Sabinas (Keenan Wynn). Living high on the hog in Sabinas' absence, Corny manages to smooth the romantic path for Debbie and ranch foreman Slim Shelby (Keel), while he dallies with the luscious Sunshine Jackson (Ann Miller). Red Skelton is given more opportunity to shine than usual, especially during a riotous poker game (this scene was a particular favorite of screenwriter Dorothy Kingsley, who felt it could have been even funnier had director Charles Walters "punched it up" cinematically). Esther Williams' particular highlight is a swimming sequence in a waterless hotel room, a bit of special-effects wizardry that only the MGM tech staff could have dreamed up. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Monogram's Whip Wilson western series occasionally produced a better-than-average entry. In Range Land, Wilson and saddle pal Andy Clyde try to get the goods on a gang of stagecoach bandits. The robberies are being staged by a "solid citizen" who hopes to accumulate a fortune in gold bars. Whip goes undercover, joins the gang, has a few close shaves, and collars the crooks. And, in keeping with his screen nickname, Wilson wields a mean bullwhip whenever the occasion arises. One of the villains is played by Leonard Penn, the father of actors Sean and Christopher Penn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of the better Universal "budget" musicals of the postwar era, Yes Sir, That's My Baby serves as an excellent showcase for Donald O'Connor. The timely script concerns the problems facing ex-GIs as they adjust to marriage, parenthood, and (thanks to the GI Bill) college life. William Waldo Winfield (O'Connor) is among the new collegiates who are frustrated by a campus rule barring married men from playing on the football team. This rule is the handiwork of spinsterish psychology professor Boland (Barbara Brown), who is in cahoots with the male students' wives. Solving everything is crusty biology prof Jason Hartley (Charles Coburn), whose long-ago reluctance to exchange wedding vows is the cause of Professor Boland's vendetta. As Donald O'Connor's wife, Gloria de Haven is very pretty and modestly talented. Featured in the cast as one of the football players is Joshua Shelley, who shortly thereafter was blacklisted from films because of his allegedly left-of-center political views. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi