Felix E. Feist Movies

When the submarine Angier is lost at sea, Nelson (Richard Basehart) and Crane (David Hedison) investigate and discover that the captain and first officer -- previously the best of friends -- turned on each other, after a few hours' stay on a mysterious island. They head to the same island and are captured and subjected to brainwashing that turns the two into bitter enemies. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Captain Crane (David Hedison) is kidnapped and brainwashed by an enemy power, and then returned to the Seaview. helpless to resist the programming imposed on him. His mission is to deactivate a group of defensive missiles, and to kill Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart). ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) is kidnapped by a group of latter-day Nazis and thrown into a POW camp, where he is held as part of a plot to re-establish the Third Reich using the Seaview. He becomes the de facto leader of the men he is held with, all celebrities in their respective fields -- one of whom may be working for their captors. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Crooked sheepherder Jeb Drummond (Everett Sloane) is caught trying to graze his flock on the Ponderosa without permission. Ben Cartwright orders Jeb and his sons Billy (Ray Daley) and Burton (Tom Reese) to get out and stay out. But Jeb has other plans -- and he kidnaps Ben's son Adam to make sure those plans are carried out. First telecast on February 13, 1960, "Blood on the Land" was written by Robert E. Thompson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Felix E. Feist directed this second adaptation of the novel by Curt Siodmak (filmed previously in 1944 as The Lady and the Monster and later in 1963 as The Brain), which tells the story of a brilliant brain specialist (Lew Ayres) whose attempts to save the life of an accident victim result in the extraction of the dying patient's brain, kept alive via electrodes and a special solution. Before long, the disembodied gray-matter -- which previously belonged to sinister, wealthy industrialist Donovan -- begins to exert a supernatural influence over the doctor, until the once-kindly scientist begins taking on Donovan's aggressive, paranoid personality traits and is compelled to carry out the brain's nefarious commands. This is by far the most effective and intelligent treatment of its source material, building a creepy, suspenseful mood while avoiding lapses into pulp-novel camp. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Some sources have indicated that Battles of Chief Pontiac was originally intended as the pilot for a TV series. Erstwhile Tarzan Lex Barker stars as 18th-century frontiersman Kent McIntyre, while Lon Chaney Jr. essays the title role of Chief Pontiac. On behalf of the British, McIntyre tries to negotiate a peace treaty with Pontiac, who is understandably wary of white-man promises. Sure enough, a fierce anti-Indian policy is placed into effect when McIntyre's commanding officer is replaced by bigoted Hessian colonel Von Weber (played with Fuehrer-like intensity by Berry Kroeger). Practicing a particularly insidious form of genocide, Von Weber tries to decimate the Indians with smallpox-infested blankets. Eventually, the cruel commandant is hoist on his own petard, and peace is restored for awhile. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Man Behind the Gun is a standard-issue Randolph Scott western elevated by good performances and exciting action sequences. Scott plays Callicut, newly arrived in the bustling mid-19th century metropolis of Los Angeles. Outwardly just another soldier of fortune, Callicut is actually an undercover agent for the government, sent to LA to investigate a covert organization that hopes to make Southern California a separate state. When he finds the time, he romances schoolteacher Lora Roberts (Patrice Wymore), whose life he'd previously saved during a stagecoach holdup. Callicut's rival for Lora's attentions is Roy Giles (Philip Carey), a hotheaded Army captain who may be in on the secessionist movement. Once Callicut finds out who's behind the movement, all hell breaks loose. Robert Cabal makes a brief appearance in Man Behind the Gun as a supposedly harmless Latino who turns out to be firebrand desperado Joaquin Murietta. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title tells all in Realart's Basketball Fix. Talented young basketball star Johnny Long (Marshall Thompson) allows success to go to his head. To keep on living in the manner to which he is accustomed, Johnny agrees to shave a few points here and there at the behest of gambling boss Mike Taft (William Bishop). Thoroughly disgusted, sportswriter Peter Ferredey (John Ireland), the man who discovered Johnny, prepares to blow the whistle at the risk of his own life. Waiting anxiously on the sidelines throughout is Johnny's girl friend Pat Judd (Vanessa Brown). This otherwise ordinary programmer is distinguished by the excellent cinematography of Stanley Cortez. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Margaret Mitchell originally submitted her manuscript for Gone with the Wind, its title was Tomorrow Is Another Day. The 1951 film of that title has nothing to do with Gone with the Wind, as will be obvious before the credits fade. Steve Cochran plays an ex-convict who thinks he killed a man. He takes it on the lam with Ruth Roman, a taxi dancer whose boyfriend is the supposed murder victim. Cochran is careful to marry Roman before transporting her across state lines; she doesn't really love him, but anything is better than her present lifestyle. Both husband and wife head for California, hoping to bury their past and start life clean, but society just won't let them. From the looks of things, Tomorrow Is Another Day might well have originally been intended for John Garfield, who died in 1951. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lee J. Cobb stars as Ed Cullen, a San Francisco police lieutenant, embroiled in a clandestine romance with married socialite Lois Frazer (Jane Wyatt). When Lois kills her husband Howard (Harlan Warde), the flustered Cullen vows to cover for her. He arranges the evidence to suggest that Howard was shot during a robbery. Things get sticky when Cullen is assigned to investigate the case, together with his more honest younger brother Andy (John Dall). How can Cullen escape detection without destroying his brother's standing with the force? Man Who Cheated Himself is worth seeing if only to watch Jane Wyatt play against her established screen image. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Homicidal criminal Charles McGraw busts out of jail, kidnapping the three people responsible for his incarceration. The hapless hostages include detective Michael O'Shea, district attorney Frank Conroy, and nightclub singer Virginia Grey. McGraw makes no secret of his plans to kill O'Shea and Conroy once he has successfully made a getaway; he has other plans for Grey, however, and for a while it seems as though she'll willingly play along with him. The cat-and-mouse game reaches its peak of tension some sixty minutes into this 65-minute thriller. Sparse and unpretentious, The Threat contained far more excitement than many a more expensive, star-studded film noir. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Not by any means a great film, The Devil Thumbs a Ride nonetheless has an indefinable audience allure that sucks the viewer into its labyrinthine storyline and doesn't let go until the fade-out. Lawrence Tierney plays Steve Morgan, a charming but utterly sociopathic criminal who has just robbed and killed a movie theater cashier. Morgan hitches a ride with inebriated conventioneer Jimmy Furguson (Ted North). Later on, Furguson picks up two more hitchhikers: virginal Beulah Zorn (Nan Leslie) and good-time girl Agnes Smith (Betty Lawford). When circumstances lead Jimmy to believe that Steve is the fugitive whom the cops are looking for, Morgan sweet-talks his way into everyone's confidence. Before he knows what's happening, Jimmy is holed up in a beach house while Steve parties with Beulah and Agnes. Not even the most fervent of film noir fans will be able to predict the outcome of this one. Long ignored by movie buffs, The Devil Thumbs a Ride gained a large following through repeated TV showings in the 1960s and '70s. It is now considered so representative of its genre that one film historian used the film's title for a collection of his essays on B-melodramas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide