Vince Edwards Movies
The youngest of the seven children of a Brooklyn contractor, Vince Edwards left vocational school when he won an athletic scholarship to Ohio State University. He subsequently gave up college to attend New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After working as a chorus boy in the Broadway musical High Button Shoes, Edwards fell under the spell of the then-fashionable "Method" school of acting: "whoever had the dirtiest outfit was top man on Broadway," he would later comment. Edwards tended to be cast on the basis of his physique rather than his acting ability in such films as Mr. Universe (1951) and Hiawatha (1952). After ten years of film roles of varying quality, Edwards was starred in the television series Ben Casey (1961-66), rapidly developing a reputation as "TV's surly surgeon." Toward the end of the Casey run, Edwards began dabbling in directing, an activity that he has pursued ever since. Later projects involving Vince Edwards have included the brief 1970 TV series Matt Lincoln, an attempt to establish himself as a nightclub singer, and a voiceover stint for the TV cartoon daily The Centurions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1962
After his pioneering independent film Shadows (1960), actor/writer/director John Cassavetes made his major studio directorial debut with this gritty, low-key drama about jazz musicians. Bobby Darin plays John "Ghost" Walefield, a pianist who scuffles from gig to gig with his band, trying to keep body and soul together without betraying his muse. Ghost's agent Benny (Everett Chambers) introduces him to Jess (Stella Stevens), a would-be singer who looks beautiful, even though her voice is fair at best. Ghost falls hard for her and agrees to put her in the band, though it's hard to say if he believes in her musical talent or just wants her companionship. Ghost and his band score a record deal thanks to Jess' presence, but after a humiliating fight in a pool hall and Ghost's discovery that Jess occasionally turns tricks to pay the rent, he puts his integrity up for sale, fires his band, and starts spending his time with a rich woman who likes to hang out with musicians -- and is willing to pay for the privilege. A number of real-life jazz greats appear onscreen and on the soundtrack, including Slim Gaillard, Benny Carter, and Shelly Manne; the role of Ghost was originally written for Montgomery Clift, who was forced to back out at the last minute, leading to Bobby Darin's casting. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Darin, Stella Stevens, (more)
- 1961
This is an uneven melodrama on the tragic life of Pima Indian Ira Hayes, one of the men who raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima. The story picks up with Hayes (Tony Curtis) leaving his reservation in Arizona to join the Marines, enter boot camp, and start to adapt to the life of a Marine. Hayes becomes good friends with Sorenson (James Franciscus), and it is this friendship that sustains him in a white man's world. But as time goes by and the moment immortalized on Iwo Jima ends, Hayes goes into a decline, being unconvinced there was any heroism involved in his actions during the war and never being able to adjust to civilian life. At this point in time, no one recognized the afflictions common to all soldiers after long years in battle, and the death of Sorenson is blamed for Hayes' downfall. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, James Franciscus, (more)
- 1960
Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) is frustrated when a case that he has been building against mob functionary Theodore Newberry (Ken Lynch) literally goes South when the star witness, bookkeeper Julius Imbry (Byron Foulger), is kidnapped and spirited away to Mexico. When Newberry manages to humiliate Ness in public, undercover cop Nick Delgado (Vince Edwards) is assigned to bring Imbry back--while Newberry, who did not engineer the kidnapping, dispatches his own hired guns to locate and silence the witness. Martin Landau steals the show as a stuttering hit man in this episode, which also features an uncredited appearance by Batman's future "Chief O'Hara" Stafford Repp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This low-budget Asian-set adventure concerns a reformed smuggler (Vince Edwards of TV's Ben Casey) who finds his missing wife (Carol Ohmart) in Hong Kong. Ohmart has fallen in with a bad crowd and is involved with narcotics and stolen government bonds, requiring Edwards to extricate her from her woes. Director John Cromwell's star had clearly fallen since Of Human Bondage, as he was now forced to work with the likes of Filipino writer-producer Eddie Romero, best known for such dubious entries as The Mad Doctor of Blood Island. Romero regular Vic Diaz co-stars. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Fairly fast-paced, with only a lull here and there, this standard thriller by director Irving Lerner was one of his most successful films. It stars (Vince Edwards) as Vince, an escaped convict who grabs a metal vial from the prison's hospital before he makes his break. He thinks it is his ticket to the easy life because it contains heroin. Instead, the vial contains radioactive cobalt that could first sicken and then kill anyone who comes in close contact with it. The police are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. If they publicly announce a vial of deadly cobalt is on the loose, in the hands of an escaped convict, they might touch off a stampede. On the other hand, if they keep it a secret, who knows how many people will die. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vince Edwards, John Archer, (more)
- 1958
Claude (Vince Edwards) is an educated, respectable young man with a goal in life -- to buy a house that he has his eye on; but to do that on the money he makes in his office job could take 25 years, so he chooses to embark on a new profession, as a hired assassin. A cold-blooded, thoroughly professional killer, he does his work quickly and efficiently and establishes himself as a top trouble-shooter for the particular mob that employs him, even disposing of his immediate superior when he becomes a liability to the higher-ups. But then he takes a new contract to dispose of the key witness in a federal trial; he flies out to Glendale, CA, and meets the two local hoods, George (Herschel Bernardi) and Marc (Phillip Pine), who are supposed to show him the hit, and it takes their getting used to his methodical way of working, which includes days of seeing the sights and recreation just to see if they're being followed. All goes well until Claude discovers that the target he is to kill is a woman. As he explains, women are too unpredictable in their behavior, and this particular woman, Billie Williams (Caprice Toriel), a nightclub singer and pianist, is particularly erratic. Claude is almost ready to abandon the hit, but he doesn't want to walk out on a contract, especially as that could get him killed. He tries one basic method of assassination that's very clever but also too dependent on events he can't predict, and it fails; then he rigs a hit with George and Marc's help that seems letter-perfect and foolproof, until he discovers that it failed because of the intervention of someone -- another woman -- that no one could have predicted. Finally, he's forced to get Marc and George out of the way before they kill him, and he goes for the target once more. It's then that we discover the one serious chink in Claude's seemingly impervious, steely psychic armor. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vince Edwards, Phillip Pine, (more)
- 1958
Set amidst the beauty of the Caribbean, this romance centers upon the captain of a sail boat who falls in love with a tourist. The happy couple encounter rough seas when he tourist's aunt decides she wants the handsome salt for herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
In this thriller, a middle-aged husband is insanely jealous of his trophy wife, a showgirl. The young bride soon becomes romantically involved with one of her husband's employees. Together they conspire to kill the old goat. The treacherous wife then leaves her late husband's estate to his twin brother, an ex-con recently released from prison. In an interesting plot twist, it is discovered that the lovers actually murdered the twin brother, not the husband. The husband then begins exacting his revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, (more)
- 1957
Rory Calhoun is the star of this minor oater, playing a roving gunman for hire. His latest mission is to track down a murderer and bring the killer back dead or alive. Calhoun's quarry turns out to be the alluring Anne Francis, who insists she didn't murder her husband as charged. After the usual "drop that gun and come peaceably" prelims, Francis persuades Calhoun to go after the man she claims is the real culprit. Independently produced, The Hired Gun was released by Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Anne Francis, (more)
- 1957
Carol Lynley makes her first significant TV appearance in this episode, which also represents an early directorial effort by Robert Altman. Lynley is cast as Janice, a psychotic 17-year-old girl who uses a thirtysomething lout named Tex (Vince Edwards) as a pawn in her scheme to rid herself of her nagging aunt, Mae (Jeanette Nolan), so that she can marry her impoverished boyfriend Stan (Stephen Joyce). At episode's end, it appears that the conniving Janice has outsmarted herself...or has she? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
In this revisionist western, Captain George (Lloyd Bridges) is a cavalry officer of dubious principles who is given the assignment of escorting a tribe of Cheyenne Indians from the land of their birth to a government reservation. However, as the Cheyenne are en route to their new home, gold is discovered on the land, and suddenly a call goes up to relocate the Indians somewhere else. Tate (Rory Calhoun) is a cavalry scout with a conscience who is determined to see that the Cheyenne are treated fairly, protected from ruthless prospectors as well as hateful lawmen. Gloria Grahame and Vince Edwards highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Gloria Grahame, (more)
When Alistair Cooke shows up to introduce Three Faces of Eve, we know that the fact-based story will bear more than a little fidelity to truth. Joanne Woodward won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Eve, a young Georgia housewife suffering from multiple personalities. Eve's husband (David Wayne), confused by his wife's aberrant behavior when assuming her two "other selves," seeks out help from a psychiatrist (Lee J. Cobb). Carefully probing Eve's subconscious via hypnosis, the doctor finds out that, though each of Eve's personalities is aware of the other's existence, none are related. After months of therapy, Eve is purged of her negative selves and is totally cured. Ironically, Joanne Woodward would herself play a psychologist confronted with a multiple-personality case in the Emmy-winning 1976 TV movie Sybil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanne Woodward, David Wayne, (more)
The Killing was director Stanley Kubrick's first major film effort -- though, like Kubrick's earlier films, it was economically produced with an inexpensive cast. In a variation of his Asphalt Jungle role, Sterling Hayden plays veteran criminal Johnny Clay, planning one last big heist before settling down to a respectable marriage with Fay (Colleen Gray). Teaming with several cohorts, Johnny masterminds a racetrack robbery. The basic flaw is that all the crooks involved are losers and small-timers who find themselves in way over their heads despite their supposed cleverness. None of the participants is more pathetic than George Peatty (Elisha Cook Jr.), who is goaded into the robbery by his covetous and far-from-faithful wife (Marie Windsor). As in a Greek tragedy, Johnny's best-laid schemes go awry. Prominently featured in the cast of The Killing are offbeat character actors Tim Carey and Joe Turkel, who'd show up with equally showy roles in future Kubrick productions. The Killing is based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, (more)
- 1956
Loosely based on a novel by James M. Cain, this romantic drama centers on the struggles of a humble vineyard worker (real-life opera star Mario Lanza) who rises to become a renowned opera star. In the original book, Damon, the protagonist, has a homosexual relationship with the patron who boosts his career, but in the film, the patron is a wealthy and manipulative young woman named Kendall (Joan Fontaine). As charming as she is selfish, poor Damon cannot help but fall in love with Kendall. Unfortunately, she is a fickle creature and soon grows bored with him, thereby breaking his heart and causing him to choke during his audition for the Met. Afterward, he flees to Mexico. There he comes down with a mysterious, debilitating movie disease. Fortunately, Juana, a beautiful ex-bullfighter's daughter is there to help him recover. Damon falls in love with her, but just as it looks like happiness will finally be his, conniving Kendall reappears. In addition to singing numerous selections from popular operas, Lanza also sings a pair of Sammy Cahn/Nicholas Brodszky pop tunes: "Serenade" and "My Destiny." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mario Lanza, Joan Fontaine, (more)
- 1955
Julie Harris repeats her stage portrayal of the irrepressible Sally Bowles in John Van Druten's I Am a Camera. Set in pre-Hitler Berlin, the film details the curious, chaste relationship between Sally, an entertainer at a bawdy nightclub, and fledgling writer Christopher Isherwood (Lawrence Harvey). Shelley Winters co-stars as Natalia Landauer, whose impending marriage to a wealthy young Jewish man is imperiled by the anti-Semitism which envelops Berlin as the Nazis gain political power. If all this sounds familiar to you, it is because I Am a Camera is the non-musical precursor to the Broadway musical hit Cabaret. Both properties were based on Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories. Those familiar with the film version of Cabaret will notice that certain plot elements have been watered down in Camera. Examples: Isherwood's homosexuality is left unmentioned, save for Lawrence Harvey's opaque opening comment that he is "a confirmed bachelor;" and Sally Bowles' third-act abortion is changed into a false-alarm pregnancy. Also, Julie Harris' dynamic but rather overbaked interpretation of Sally is not nearly as memorable as Liza Minelli's Oscar-winning interpretation of the character in Cabaret. Still, I Am a Camera is well directed and deftly adapted for the screen (by John Collier); and even taking into consideration Ms. Harris' hamminess, she remains one of the most fascinating stage personalities of the mid-20th century. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Harris, Laurence Harvey, (more)
- 1955
Cell 2455 Death Row is based on the autobiography of condemned prisoner and "jailhouse lawyer" Caryl Chessman. William Campbell plays the Chessman counterpart, here renamed Whit. A seriously disturbed misfit, Whit begins a life of crime, culminating in sexual assault as the "Lover's Lane Bandit." Condemned to the gas chamber at San Quentin, Whit spends six years fighting his sentence, gradually winning the support and sometimes the respect of various legal experts. The film ends in 1955 (the year of its production), some five years before Caryl Chessman's ultimate execution; accordingly, the film's "open-ended" finale has been removed from many TV prints. A more thorough and incisive study of the Chessman case was offered in the made-for-TV movie Kill Me If You Can, which starred Alan Alda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Campbell, Marian Carr, (more)
- 1955
Though based on a true story, the principal inspiration for The Night Holds Terror was the success of Paramount's The Desperate Hours. Jack Kelly plays well-to-do businessman Gene Courtier, who makes the mistake of his life when he picks up hitchhiker Victor Gosset (Vincent Edwards). Soon afterward, Gosset and his criminal confederates (John Cassavetes, David Cross) are holding Courtier and his family hostage. Upon learning that Courtier has a lot of money in the bank, the trio kidnap the businessman and hold him for ransom. Working in concert with Courtier's wife Doris (Hildy Parks), the FBI manages to keep apace with the criminals via the telephone system. Only occasionally resorting to family-held-captive cliches, The Night Holds Terror is an effective suspenser. Leading lady Hildy Parks later became an influential TV and theatrical producer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Kelly, Hildy Parks, (more)
- 1954
- NR
MGM romantic Robert Taylor turns nasty in this low-budget crime melodrama. Taylor plays a cop who subsidizes his income with bribes and payoffs from various criminals and politicians. Taylor's brother (Steve Forrest), a rookie on the police force, is as honest as his brother is crooked. The younger brother witnesses a gangland murder; the killer goes to Taylor, demanding that he buy his brother off. When he realizes that his brother can't be corrupted, Taylor tells the Mob to lay off. An out-of-town torpedo is brought in to rub out both brothers, but he succeeds only in killing the honest sibling. His conscience aroused, Taylor goes after the mob leaders himself; though seriously wounded, he clears his family name. Rogue Cop set something of a schedule record at MGM, with only four months elapsing from the time the story was optioned to the time the film was released. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Janet Leigh, (more)
- 1952
When Vincent Edwards attained TV stardom as "Ben Casey" in 1961, his detractors took great delight in citing Edwards' earlier starring appearance in Monogram's Hiawatha. A great deal of fun was had by all when it was revealed that Edwards had to have his chest shaved on a daily basis while playing the hero of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's narrative poem. This aside, Edwards is fairly credible as Hiawatha, while the film itself is easy to take (perhaps too easy; action fans may be disappointed). The nucleus of the story is Hiawatha's love for Minnehaha (Yvette Dugay), the daughter of his tribe's mortal enemy, Chief Igaoo (Morris Ankrum). As war clouds gather, Hiawatha struggles manfully to prevent bloodshed between the Ojibway and Dacotah tribes. The ending of Hiawatha is slightly at odds with the Longfellow original, but works within the context of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vince Edwards, Yvette Dugay, (more)
- 1951
Yes, that's Vincent Edwards under that lavish blonde hairpiece in Eagle-Lion's Mr. Universe. An unsubtle lampoon of professional wrestling, the film top-bills Jack Carson as manager Jeff Clayton, who convinces bodybuilding contest winner Tommy Tomkins (Edwards) that "you gotta have a gimmick." Tommy rises to fame in the wrestling ring as a Gorgeous George clone, while Clayton tries to pay equal attention to his faithful girlfriend Lorraine (Janis Paige) and to extortion-prone gangster Fingers Maroni (Robert Alda). After several fixed bouts, Tommy shows he's really got what it takes in an honest grappling match. Just in case anyone might take this thing seriously, Bert Lahr shows up as wrestling promoter Joe Pulaski. Also on hand are famed ringside announcer Dennis James ("Okay, mother!"), former boxing champ Maxie Rosenbloom, and radio tenor Donald Novis. Something for everybody! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Carson, Janis Paige, (more)
- 1951
Using elements of two earlier films, The Fleet's In and Lady Be Careful, Paramount came up with the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis vehicle Sailor Beware. As usual, Jerry Lewis is the helpless goof and Dean Martin the suave ladies' man; this time Lewis is a navy recruit while Martin is his submarine-officer buddy. The film skips from one comic setpiece to another (the best is a parody of radio audience participation shows) until it reaches the slapstick climax: A boxing match pitting Lewis against the navy champion. After a few very funny moments in which Lewis pretends to be a punch drunk pug, the match commences, much to the dismay of Lewis and the delight of his fervent fan following. Martin makes good use of his screen time by romancing an "ice princess" movie star (Corinne Calvert), who of course melts once Dino turns on the charm. Betty Hutton, star of Sailor Beware's precursor The Fleet's In, pops up at the beginning and end of the Martin/Lewis epic as "Hetty Button." And watch for an unbilled James Dean as one of the team's shipmates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, (more)
