David Garcia Movies
- 1961
A guest instructor at a South American university, American political-science professor Gavin Carroll (Larry Gates) takes an academic interest in a young insurgent who has been killed during an attempt to assasinate a local dictator. But after sniffing an unusual-looking flower, Carroll is suddenly possessed with revolutionary fervor--whereupon he sets out to finish the job that the late insurgent had started. This is the last One Step Beyond episode to be filmed in Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
As the Civil War limps to a close, Confederate widow Lavinia Godwin (Joanne Linville) sits grimly on the porch of her ruined mansion, watching a seemingly endless parade of wounded soldiers drag themselves down the road in front of her property. One of the soldiers, a Southern sergeant (James Gregory) with a wooden leg, stops to rest, engaging the embittered Lavinia in conversation. As they talk, a sudden horrific realization hits them both -- a realization confirmed by the climactic appearance of "the last casualty of the Civil War." Originally telecast October 6, 1961, "The Passersby" was scripted by Rod Serling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanne Linville, James Gregory, (more)
- 1959
A few days before her wedding, wealthy Lisa Garrick (Pamela Lincoln) insists that her father move the ceremony out of the family's massive ballroom. It seems that, as a child, Lisa had a recurring dream in which, while standing in the middle of the ballroom, she was killed by a falling chandelier. Ultimately, and despite everyone's precautions, Lisa's premonitions come true--but not in the way that she imagined. This episode marks one of the first TV appearances by prolific character actress Julie Payne, daughter of film star John Payne)--as well as a guest spot by movie veteran Thomas B. Henry, perennial "general" in many a 1950s sci-fi/fantasy epic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Warlock offers us a mean-spirited, mercenary Henry Fonda and an honest, peaceloving Richard Widmark. A Wyatt Earp-like frontier marshal, Fonda agrees to protect the small town of Warlock from an outlaw gang, but only if he's permitted to plunder the town's cash reserve. Widmark, the town deputy, is a reformed outlaw whose willingness to fend off the invading criminals is motivated by his fondness for his new neighbors. Looming large in the proceedings is Anthony Quinn as the glory-grabbing Fonda's sidekick. Adapted by Robert Alan Aurthur from a novel by Oakley Hall, Warlock is a good example of the "thinking man's westerns" prevalent in the late 1950s-early 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1958
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, (more)
- 1956
Behind the High Wall is a remake of the 1937 Jackie Cooper-Victor McLaglen film The Big Guy. Tom Tully plays prison warden Frank Carmichael, who is kidnapped during a jail break in which a policeman is killed. In an ensuing car crash, all the escapees are killed except young Johnny Hutchins (John Gavin). Though he knows that Hutchins had nothing to do with the cop's murder, Carmichael refuses to intervene when Johnny is condemned to death. It seems that the escaping convicts had been carrying $100,000 in stolen money with them, which Carmichael has hidden away for his own use. By eliminating Hutchins, the warden is also getting rid of the only potential witness to his own perfidy. Sylvia Sidney is pure venom as Carmichael's crippled, greedy wife, while Betty Lynn (who later played Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show) also registers well as Johnny's agonizing fiancee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tully, Sylvia Sidney, (more)
- 1955
Phil Karlson, well-regarded by film buffs for his tough, no-nonsense crime dramas, directed this adventure story shot partially on location in the Caribbean. Mike Cormack (John Payne) was once a District Attorney, until his fiancée, Janet Martin (Mary Murphy), left him to marry another man. Depressed, Mike began drinking heavily, and eventually his alcoholism cost him his job. Trying to pull himself back up after hitting bottom, Mike gets a job as a bouncer at a casino in Las Vegas. Barzland (Francis L. Sullivan), a handicapped criminal, approaches Mike with an unusual offer. Barzland will pay Mike $5,000 if he can locate a ruby that went missing following the disappearance of a plane in the West Indies. Mike discovers that the reason he was picked for this job is that the pilot of the plane, Eduardo (Paul Picerni), is the man Janet chose to marry, and Barzland and his men believe that she might have clues as to the ruby's whereabouts that Mike could uncover. However, when Mike arrives to meet with Janet, he discovers that Eduardo is now in jail, and Janet begins to snare Mike in a web of lies and deceit. Hell's Island was rereleased in 1962 under the title South Sea Fury. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Payne, Mary Murphy, (more)
- 1954
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Julie Blair (Anne Kimball), a tourist visiting Mexico's Yucatan region, encounters deep-sea researcher Steve Dunning (Stuart Wade). They hear stories about people and animals that have disappeared from the area around the beach where they meet, but she doesn't believe the legend of a monster until she sees it herself. Then she must do her best to convince Steve and the authorities of what she saw. The creature turns out to be a mutation, probably spawned by recent atomic testing, and Steve must rescue her when she is caught by the monster as she searches for it. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Kimbell, Stuart Wade, (more)
- 1952
In this musical western, a rancher sends a man to prevent the marriage of his daughter. When the man arrives he finds a dude ranch and several murders which require solving. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
