Hugo Fregonese Movies

Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy wrote, co-produced and stars in (but did not direct) this sophomoric monster mash about a visitor from the dying planet Ummo (a badly-dubbed Michael Rennie, who's played better alien visitors) whose plan for dominating the people of Earth includes the reanimation of several legendary monsters, including the infamous werewolf Waldemar Daninsky (Naschy), the vampire Count de Meirhoff, the mummy Tao-Tet, and Frankenstein's monster... or at least something called "Franksollen" (Naschy again). Everything goes according to his sinister plan until Daninsky has a change of heart (as is his wont in most of Naschy's monster films). Originally titled The Man from Ummo, this cheesy production often aired on late-night TV as Dracula vs. Frankenstein (although the two legendary monsters never actually butt heads). ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Nello Pazzafini, using the pseudonym "Ted Carter," leads a band of outlaws in this rousing spaghetti western from director Giuliano Carmineo (as "Anthony Ascott"). Lisa (Pascale Petit) and her brother Paul are settlers who discover an abandoned mine full of gold but are attacked and robbed by Pazzafini's gang. Wandering to the town of Eagle's Nest, Lisa enlists the aid of a vagabond gunfighter named Joe Collins (Jeffrey Hunter) in getting back the gold and avenging her brother's murder. Aldo Lastretti appears as the obligatory fake priest, Rev. Riley, and genre regulars Daniela Giordano and Piero Lulli co-star. Hugo Fregonese collaborated on the screenplay, while Ricardo Pallottini provided the striking cinematography. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

This is the final entry in the Dr. Mabuse films a bad doctor wants to blow up Earth with a death ray and a giant concave mirror. He is thwarted by the brave hero. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this epic, a medieval adventurer heads to China and winds up saving the Grand Khan's daughter from bandits. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The British Seven Thunders was released in the US as Beasts of Marseilles. Set in 1943, the film stars Stephen Boyd and Tony Wright as escaped POWs Dave and Jim. Hiding out in Marseilles, the two protagonists battle over the affections of local gamine Lise (Anna Gaylor). When they find the time, Dave and Jim plan an elaborate breakout for the other POWs sequestered in the French port city. After an engaging opening, the film relies upon serial-like thrills and hairbreadth escapes to keep the audience awake. Stealing the show from the nominal stars are those grand old British troupers James Robertson Justice and Kathleen Harrison. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story from the Civil War, this drama follows a band of Confederate POWS who escape from a New England prison head for Canada and begin planning to distract Union forces by looting and pillaging a Vermont town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Man in the Attic is a sweat-stained remake of the oft-filmed Mary Belloc Lowndes suspense story The Lodger. Jack Palance plays a mild, secretive pathologist who rents an attic apartment in the heart of London. Palance falls in love with dancer Constance Smith, daughter of the landlady, but she doesn't seem interested. Meanwhile, several unsolved murders of women have been committed on the fogbound London streets--and all of the victims are showgirls. Unlike Hitchcock's 1926 version of The Lodger, the most likely suspect is indeed the "Jack the Ripper" character hunted by the police. The only surprise in Man in the Attic is that the London bobbies didn't arrest Jack Palance on sight long before the movie started. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Hugo Fregonese and writer George Oppenheimer do the unthinkable: they manage to transform Giovanni Boccaccio's bawdy -- and downright raunchy -- medieval tales of martial discontent and infidelity into harmless white-bread treacle. Louis Jourdan plays Boccaccio in a framing story set in a villa in the Florentine hills. With a widowed woman and her sex-starved female wards hungrily hunched over listening to his every word, Boccaccio spins three tales of illicit romance involving a trio of medieval husbands and wives. All three tales feature Jourdan as the romantic male lead and Joan Fontaine -- spruced up in a collection of bright costumes -- as the misunderstood and mistreated women of the tales. The first story concerns the bored housewife, of a middle-aged husband, who willingly jumps into the arms of a roustabout. The second tale tells the story of a husband who is highly suspicious of his wife's fidelity and the wife's circumspect way of proving her virtue to her husband. The third story is an ineffectual lark about a wife who fools her indifferent husband into demonstrating his proper marital role. Boccaccio had to wait for Pier Pasolini in order to get the spirit of his Decameron right. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Stanley Kramer's production unit at Columbia Pictures was known for its willingness to tackle subject matter that was not necessarily "box office" (much to the dismay, of course, of Columbia head man Harry Cohn!) Adapted by Michael Blankfort from the autobiography by Donald Powell Wilson, My Six Convicts is the true story of a prison psychologist and his efforts to "reach" his incarcerated patients. John Beal plays the Donald Powell Wilson counterpart, herein known simply as Doc. Convinced that psychological rehabilitation is, indeed, an option, Doc overcomes a great deal of opposition -- from both prison officials and prisoners -- to test out his theories. Once he's won the confidence of hardened safecracker James Connie (Millard Mitchell), Doc is able to bring five more convicts into his circle: murderous mobster Punch Pinero (Gilbert Roland); alcoholic, self-sacrificing Blivens Scott (Marshall Thompson); holdup man Clem Randall (Alf Kjellin); psychopathic killer Dawson (Harry Morgan -- yes, that Harry Morgan); and embezzler Steve Kopac (Jay Adler). These six cons learn to make their life behind bars not only tolerable but productive, and in so doing pass on their new outlook on life to their fellow inmates. Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, My Six Convicts is essentially a comedy, with the all-male cast working together in seamless perfection. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

One Way Street stars James Mason in a variation of his Odd Man Out role. Mason plays Doc Matson, a gangland physician who has stolen $200,000 from powerful mob boss Wheeler (Dan Duryea). Forced to go on the lam, Matson takes Wheeler's girl Laura (Marta Toren) along. Knowing he is doomed from the start, the Doc dispenses reams of fatalistic philosophy, so much so that one wishes Laura would shout "Enough, already!" Finally finding a purpose in life tending to impoverished Mexican peasants, Doc decides to go back to LA and return both the money and Laura to Wheeler. Not surprisingly, the mobster isn't in the mood to forgive and forget. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Where Words Fail was originally released in Argentina in 1946 as Donde Mueren las Palabras. The film recounts the life and work of famed concert pianist Dario Garzay, here playing himself. Garzay's rise to fame is counterpointed with the story of Victorio (Enrique Muino), a prominent symphony conductor who goes into decline after the death of his ballerina daughter Fedora (Linda Lorena). While working as a night watchman, Victorio serves as Garzay's spiritual mentor, and the rest is musical history. Director Hugo Fregonese would relocate to Hollywood in 1950, there to helm such interesting "little" films as My Six Convicts and The Raid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide