Richard Harrison Movies

A alien satellite enters close orbit around the Earth and releases a projectile that takes over the body and mind of Dr. Hubbell Eliot (John Emery), the director of Lab Central, America's top astrophysics research facility. Even as Elliot is falling victim to the invaders, Lab Central scientist Dr. Leslie Gaskell (Jeff Morrow) and his colleagues, Vera Hunter (Barbara Lawrence) and Dr. Arnie Culver (George O'Hanlon), have begun tracking the object -- not certain what it is -- and determine that it is going to hit the Earth in less than 24 hours. An attempt to destroy it with nuclear warheads fails, and the vehicle comes down off the coast of Mexico. While Eliot tries to resist the invaders' control and is hospitalized in a state of collapse, Gaskell, Vera, and Culver fly to the site of the landing, where the submerged craft emits a powerful energy pulse that spreads across the surface of the ocean and toward the beach. When it clears, there stands on the beach a huge metallic object -- a towering robot, inadvertently christened "Kronos" by Gaskell, in a relative moment of whimsy. Hundreds of feet tall and possessing immense power, Kronos proceeds to rampage across the countryside, destroying everything in its path as it seeks out and absorbs all sources of electrical and atomic energy. Back at Lab Central, Eliot temporarily breaks free of the aliens' control, long enough to tell Gaskell of the robot's purpose and mission -- Kronos is a accumulator, sent to Earth by a race whose own planet is depleted of energy, and it will continue to grow stronger unless someone can find a way of reversing the process; worse yet, if Kronos isn't destroyed, other accumulators will be sent to drain the Earth of all its energy. The robot advances relentlessly, growing in destructive power as it moves up the coast, and not even a hydrogen bomb can slow it down. Finally, as it heads toward an H-bomb depository and prepares to destroy the city of Los Angeles in its path, Gaskell devises a possible method of stopping Kronos, based on an untested, untried scientific theory. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Producer/director Joshua Logan's long-awaited filmization of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Pulitzer Prize winning musical South Pacific was not the classic that everyone hoped it would be, principally because of some curious creative choices made by the production personnel. Adapted from James A. Michener's best-selling novel Tales of the South Pacific, the film stars Mitzi Gaynor as WAVE officer Nellie Forbush, who while stationed overseas during World War II falls in love with wealthy French planter Emile De Becque (Rosanno Brazzi). The Navy would like DeBecque to help them in a reconnaissance mission against the Japanese, but he refuses; having run away from the outside world after killing a man in his home town, De Becque sees no reason to become involved in a war which he did not start and in which he has no interest. But when Nellie, her inbred bigotry aroused when she discovers that Emile has two mixed-race children, refuses his proposal of marriage, DeBecque, having nothing to lose, agrees to go on the mission. His partner in this venture is Lt. Joseph Cable (John Kerr), who like Nellie is a victim of prejudicial feelings; Cable has previously thrown away a chance at lasting happiness by refusing to marry Liat (France Nuyen), the dark-skinned daughter of Tokinese trader Bloody Mary (Juanita Hall). When Cable is killed and DeBecque is seemingly lost in battle, Nellie, realizing the stupidity of her racism, prays for Emile's safe return. The dramatic elements of South Pacific are offset by the low-comedy antics of "Big Dealer" seabee Luther Billis (Ray Walston). Outside of Walston and Hall, both repeating their stage characterizations, South Pacific suffers from a largely noncharismatic cast. Mitzi Gaynor never rises above cuteness in the difficult role of Nellie Forbush, while Rosanno Brazzi (whose singing is dubbed by Giorgio Tozzi) seems to be striking poses rather than acting as Emile DeBecque. These casting deficiencies might have been ignored had not South Pacific been laboring under an additional handicap: director Joshua Logan's decision to use colored filters in several key scenes, representing the emotions experienced by the actors. The constant color shift is more unsettling than attractive, drawing attention to Logan's technique and thereby taking the audience "out" of the picture. With all this going against it, however, South Pacific has much to be treasured. For one thing, all of Rodgers & Hammerstein's immortal songs--"Some Enchanted Evening," "Bali H'ai," "There is Nothing Like a Dame," "I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy," "Younger Than Springtime" etc.--are retained, and, as a bonus, a song cut from the original stage production, "My Girl Back Home," is revived herein. In addition, the film is a bonanza for movie buffs who enjoy playing "spot the bit player:" among the supporting-cast ranks are Tom McLaughlin, Ron Ely, Doug McClure, John Gabriel and James Stacy (rumors persist that Joan Fontaine shows up unbilled as a nurse, but we've yet to spot her). Though artistically disappointing, South Pacific ended up one of the biggest box-office gold mines of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this adventure, a daring nobleman returns to his castle after visiting Venice and learns that the Saracen pirates have taken it over. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Master of the World was adapted by Richard Matheson from two Jules Verne novels, Robur le Conquerant (1896) and its sequel, Maitre du Monde (1904)--with more than a little of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea thrown in. Set in 1868, the story is galvanized by an ominous warning of impending doom, delivered in a disembodied but resonent voice from a huge mountain just outside Morgantown, Pennsylvania. Hoping to find the source of the warning, the members of the Weldon Balloon Society, headed by munitions manufacturer Prudence (Henry Hull), send a motorized balloon to investigate. Also aboard Prudence's balloon is his daughter Dorothy (Mary Webster), her fiance Philip (David Frankham), and taciturn pilot Strock (Charles Bronson). Before long, the little party is captured by the brilliant but unbalanced Robur (Vincent Price), captain of the gigantic, state-of-the-art airship "Albatross." Robur explains that he is a man of peace, and that he is using his huge airship to wipe out all warfare by obliterating every weapon of mass destruction on earth--and never mind that a few innocent bystanders may also be killed in the process. Admiring Robur's intentions if not his methods, Strock bypasses every opportunity to stop the madman in his tracks, and for this he is branded a coward by the hotheaded Philip, sparking a battle of words and fists that will persist throughout the film. Meanwhile, Robur attacks such strategic military locations as Paris, Madrid and North Africa (courtesy of stock footage from other films), and as the carnage continues, Prudence renounces his war-profiteering ways. As for Strock, his admiration for Robur does not prevent him from a desperate climactic effort to rescue Prudence, Dorothy and Philip by planting a time bomb in the "Albatross"--a bomb that very well may go off before the "good guys" get off. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Four writers are to credit for this unsuccessful sword-and-sandal feature starring Richard Harrison. Set in the 1st century A.D., Sparta is under the tyranny of the Roman Empire. With the help of six other gladiators, Spartan Darius (Harrison) is determined to make a small contribution to the welfare of mankind by engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the local brutes. The dubbing is uneven in this historical actioner that follows the same pattern as many of the low-budget features of this genre. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

The early '60s saw a plethora of sword-and-sandal adventure movies coming out of Italy, all featuring professional bodybuilders-turned-actors playing super-strong heroes out of the ancient Greek or Roman legends. Medusa Against the Son of Hercules, as this movie was generally released in the United States, was recut as part of a package for television and shown broken into five "episodes," presented nightly under the series title The Sons of Hercules. The movie is a retelling of the legend of Perseus and the Medusa, in which the hero is defending the besieged kingdom of Seriphos. Its people are near starvation, under siege by the army of Argus on one side, a huge dragon on another side, and the hideous Medusa on another. The king is about to give his daughter, Andromeda (Anna Ranalli), to the evil Galinor, king of Argus, as a bride for his son, in order to open up a route for trade. Perseus (Richard Harrison), the son of the murdered king of Argus, vows to avenge his father's death, stop the usurper Galinor's subjugation of Seriphos, and free both kingdoms. To do this, he must slay the dragon and then destroy the Medusa, which will restore her victims -- Seriphos' best soldiers -- who have been transformed into stone in her valley, to flesh-and-blood, so that they can defeat the army of Argus. First, however, he must defeat the evil son of Galinor in a tournament and win the trust of Andromeda's father. The action is a little clunky and the music too repetitive by half, and the dragon looks like a nasty version of Cecil the Sea Serpent from Beany & Cecil, but the Medusa, created by Carlo Rambaldi (who subsequently worked on E.T.), is an inspired vision, a giant hydra-like creature with tentacles for legs and an evil, glowing eye at its center. The scenes in the fog-shrouded valley where it claims its victims are particularly eerie. The presence of Perseus' mother as a half-mad queen also adds to the sense of verisimilitude with the ancient Greek origins of the story. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The Spanish/Italian Gringo stars Richard Harrison as a combatant in the Mexican civil war. In between bloody skirmishes with the enemy, Harrison takes time out to settle a personal score with his hated foster father. With its Lone Avenger protagonist and its excessive violence, the film has all the earmarks of a "spaghetti western"--even though it was filmed in 1963, a year before Sergio Leone popularized that gore-encrusted genre. Gringo was not released in the US until 1968, after the success of Leone's Clint Eastwood vehicles. Originally released as Duello Nel Texas, Gringo is currently available on videotape under the title Gunfight at Red Sands. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steve Reeves clone Richard Harrison stars in the sword 'n' sandal Giants of Rome. The Eternal City is threatened by a modernistic doomsday weapon. Harrison decides to investigate, cutting a swath through various well-armed antagonists. It turns out that the horrible weapon turns out to be little more than an outsized catapult. There was a huge built-in audience for this sort of fare back in 1964, so it hardly matters whether or not Giants of Rome is any good...though it is better than most of its kind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this espionage drama, an American CIA agent must find the whereabouts of valuable microfilm that was smuggled over by two Russian scientists who had been hoping to defect. Unfortunately, they died for their efforts and the film fell into the greedy hands of a Lebanese business magnate who is also killed. In desperation the agent convinces the dead man's niece that he needs that film and she tells him where it is located. Just as he is about to get the film, a Russian spy grabs it, tells him that he is a double agent, grabs the niece, and rushes off in a stolen speed boat. Fortunately, a helicopter is nearby and the good agent jumps in and flies off after the fleeing spy. In the end the CIA agent gets it all and saves the Western world. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide