George W. George Movies

A extended conversation between two old friends over dinner proves an unexpectedly fascinating subject for a film in the critically acclaimed My Dinner with André. The talkers in question are André Gregory, a renowned experimental theater director, and playwright and actor Wallace Shawn, both of whom play themselves. The film is not a documentary, but a condensation of several real discussions fashioned into a dramatic exchange by Shawn and director Louis Malle. The subtle conflict stems from the differences in the men's characters: Gregory is an inquisitive, uninhibited wanderer, willing to travel to remote lands to take part in unusual foreign rituals, while Shawn is the cynical, realistic New Yorker, more concerned with the challenges and rewards of day-to-day city life. Malle approaches their philosophical yet playful back-and-forth with a straightforward, minimal style that only rarely wanders outside its restaurant setting. The focus therefore falls on Shawn's and Gregory's contrasting verbal styles and facial expressions, highlighting conversational nuances normally lost on film. While the idea of watching any conversation for over 90 minutes, no matter how fascinating, may turn off some viewers, enough audiences have supported the film to make it an art-house classic. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Night Watch a suspenseful, under-rated thriller tells the story of a lonely, unhappily married woman who believes that she sees a murder committed in the deserted house across her courtyard. Ellen Wheeler (Elizabeth Taylor) spends her nights alone, drinking, wandering around her living room, and looking out the window. One night she witnesses a murder. She calls the police, who investigate, but find nothing. Her husband John (Laurence Harvey) believes that she has imagined the entire thing, but her friend Sarah (Billie Whitelaw), while skeptical, is sympathetic to her deeply troubled friend. Director Brian G. Hutton fills the film with a number of distracting red-herrings and directs with a leisurely pace which tends to lessen the suspense. However, Taylor is splendid in the central role of a woman who seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and she creates a sympathetic believable character. Laurence Harvey, in his final performance, is less effective but is believable as the neglectful, emotionally abusive husband. Night Watch has a bloody, surprise ending, which while stretching credibility, is perfectly in keeping with the melodramatic intensity created by Taylor. Night Watch, reminiscent in some respect of Gaslight will be of interest to fans of Elizabeth Taylor and should entertain any fan of psychological thrillers. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

In a disturbing movie about psychosis, Hayley Mills plays Susan Harper, a young student who tries to help a rich, emotionally ill and sinister young man, Martin Durnley (Hywel Bennett). Martin is a schizophrenic who assumes the personality of a six-year-old boy when he is in his "nice" phase. Susan talks a store manager out of pressing charges against Martin after he steals a toy duck. Martin wants to take the toy to his mongoloid brother, who is in an institution. Martin's stepfather, Henry (Frank Finlay), enraged by his shoplifting, evicts Martin despite the pleas of his mother, Enid (Phyllis Calvert). Martin, again acting like a young child, is taken in by Susan's mother, Joan Harper (Billie Whitelaw), who runs a boarding house. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Searching for an evacuation hospital behind enemy lines, King Company medic Doc Walton (Steven Rogers) is captured along with Pvt. Braddock (Shecky Greene) and several wounded soldiers. The prisoners are herded into a chateau owned by French aristocrat Count De Gontran (Ben Wright) and his daughter Gabrielle (Joan Hackett), currently under the command of Nazi major Richter (Dan O'Herlihy). Walton hopes that De Gontran will help him and the other Americans escape, but the Count is more concerned with the survival of himself and his home than in the outcome of the war--and to that end, he continues currying favor with Richter, a self-styled art connoisseur who has been "rescuing" the valuable paintings adorning the chateau walls, and isn't about to let the prisoners get in his way. Series stars Vic Morrow and Rick Jason do not appear in this episode, though both are billed in the opening credits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this standard children's story -- with a few teen songs added -- the head of Burberry Elementary School, Harry Davis (Eddie Albert) is the proud father of two boys, Timmy and Billy (Donnie Carter and Butch Patrick) who wish they were bears. If Dad was bothered before by this wish, things only get worse for him because the boys meet a gypsy who gives them a spell they can say that will grant their wish. Along with a bit of their sister's freckle cream (a necessary ingredient), the boys accomplish their transformation. Now Dad has a lot more to worry about. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this western, an accused killer is able to escape lynchers by trading coats with a dead man he found lying beside the road with an arrow in his back. He soon happens upon a farm. As the farm is under Comanche attack when he arrives, the man immediately saves the life of a woman and her son. He then takes the pair to Fort Dobbs. En route the woman realizes that the coat her hero is wearing belonged to her husband. Thinking the arrow hole in the back was caused by a bullet, the woman immediately accuses the hero of murdering her man. They arrive at the fort only to find it busily preparing for another Comanche raid. The clever hero devises an ingenious plan to defend them using the fifteen-shot repeating rifles brought by a gun trader. His ploy works. The Commandoes are thwarted, his innocence is proven, and the young mother's good name is preserved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A cut above the usual cheesy paste-up "tribute", The James Dean Story is imbued with a modicum of style thanks to fledgling film-director Robert Altman. Most of the film consists of clips from Dean's three starring pictures (East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant), with tantalizing glimpses of his pre-star career. One such glimpse, a snippet from the 1951 TV religious special Hill Number One, has popped up in virtually every Dean retrospective since. Altman's inherent cinematic gifts are evident in the impressionistic "re-enactment" of Dean's fatal auto crash. Narrated by Martin Gabel, The James Dean Story isn't terribly deep, but it's a good shorthand overview of one of the most powerful screen presences of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, two prospectors search the Colorado Territory for precious radioactive metal. They find large deposits and become rich men. Unfortunately, their friendship almost disintegrates after they fall in love with the same sexy woman. She pits them against each other. Fortunately, their mutual sense of loyalty and honor kicks in just before they dissolve their lucrative partnership. In the end, they both dump the troublesome lady and return to their work. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Although the French Foreign Legion became increasingly anachronistic in the 1950s, films like Desert Sands helped to perpetuate the glamorous legend of this mercenary aggregation. Ralph Meeker heads the cast as a bold legionnaire who falls in love with gorgeous Arab girl Marla English. Alas, Marla is the daughter of shiek John Carradine and the sister of vengeful Keith Larsen, both of whom have vowed to kill all Legionnaires within shouting distance. Larsen eventually discovers that his real enemy is not Meeker, but the duplicitous Carradine. Director Lesley Selander staged most of the action scenes in the manner of his western films, with excellent results. One of the scriptwriters of Desert Sands was Danny Arnold, later the prime mover of TV's Barney Miller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unlike many westerns, City of Bad Men is placed within a specific historical time frame. The scene is Carson City, Nevada, in the year 1897. As the city prepares itself for the much-ballyhooed prizefight between Gentleman Jim Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons, soldier-of-fortune Brett Stanton (Dale Robertson) rides into town with a few of his cronies. Stanton takes into consideration the enormous gate proceeds that the prizefight will yield and immediately begins formulating plans to steal the loot. He is deflected from this by his former girlfriend Linda Culligan (Jeanne Crain), whose good example sets Stanton on the right path. Corbett and Fitzsimmons are played, respectively, by ace stunt men John Day and Gil Perkins. Actual film footage exists of their legendary bout, and this brief ribbon of celluloid might make an interesting companion feature to City of Bad Men. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This seminal Brady Bunch stars Van Heflin as a widower and Patricia Neal as a widow. Both parties have several children by their first marriages. Heflin and Neal fall in love and decide to marry, each hoping to adopt the other's kids. The couple idealistically subscribes to the "one big happy family" theory, but they hadn't figured that their kids would dislike the idea...and each other. This mild situation comedy was directed with lots of efficiency but little style by Douglas Sirk, who did better for himself with Universal's big-budget romantic melodramas of the mid-1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peggy Brookfield (Diana Lynn) is one of many aspirants for the position of Queen of the annual Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calfornia. Also competing is Peggy's sister Susan (Barbara Lawrence). Both girls make the trek from Ohio to Pasadena in the company of their father (Charles Coburn), a retired professor. Peggy would seem to have the advantage in the contest, save for one small drawback: she is secretly married to Johnny Higgins (Rock Hudson), and the rules clearly stipulate that the Rose Queen must be single. And that's just one of the many comic complications packed into Peggy's chucklesome 77 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The trendy elegance of director Douglas Sirk's later big-budget soap operas is nowhere to be found in Sirk's Atomic-Age melodrama Mystery Submarine. MacDonald Carey stars as Brett Young, a U.S. undercover agent whose job it is to prevent atomic secrets from falling into the wrong hands. Marta Toren co-stars as Madeline Brenner, a woman of mystery who is seemingly in cahoots with enemy agents. The film's "maguffin" consists of the top-secret info stored within the brain cells of scientist Adolph Guernitz (Ludwig Donath). The titular mystery submarine figures into the film's climax, which takes place just off the coast of Mexico. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide