John C. Higgins Movies

John Sturges directed this taut adaptation of Jack Higgins' suspense novel about an attempted kidnapping of Winston Churchill by the German high command during World War II. When it is discovered that in November 1943 Winston Churchill is scheduled to spend a weekend in a country home in Norfolk, the Germans plan to kidnap him. Heinrich Himmler (Donald Pleasence), under orders from Hitler, assigns Nazi colonel Max Radl (Robert Duvall) the chore of sneaking the English-hating Irishman Liam Devlin (Donald Sutherland) into the British countryside and arranging for a 16-man task force to be parachuted into the English country town of Sudley Constable, under the auspices of Colonel Kurt Steiner (Michael Caine). The efficient planning works too well, and before long their exactingly perfect timetable begins to come apart. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

This crime drama finds American agent Novak (Yul Brynner) sent to Scotland Yard to help uncover a gang of forgers, murderers and counterfeiters. Even when the British agent Thompson (Edward Woodward) is assigned to help, Novak still remains suspicious of everyone. From Liverpool, the duo traces the Owl (Charles Gray) to London where they hope to meet up with the mysterious gang leader Mr. Big. Novak eventually trusts Thompson as the two close in on the gang that is raking in millions with their illegal activities. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Spun from Daniel DeFoe's tale of the titular character, this sci-fi story involves a spaceship commander, Chris Draper (Paul Mantee) in a similar situation to the original Robinson Crusoe -- but rather than being stranded on an island, our hero is on a hostile planet. Draper, Colonel Dan McReady (Adam West), and a test monkey look as if they are going to collide with a meteor. Draper and the chimp are able to eject themselves from the vessel, but McReady is not so lucky. The two survivors safely land on Mars and figure out how to breathe, drink, and eat on the inhospitable planet. After some time, Draper crosses paths with a human, Friday, who has recently escaped slavery on an alien planet. As the two find a means of communication, they become friends. They soon work together to survive the incredible odds, including an alien attack and meteorological phenomena. Filmed on location in California's Death Valley, this impressive feature owes much to cinematographer Winton C. Hoch and special effects master Lawrence W. Butler. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Given its cast and director, it is disheartening that The Black Sleep isn't any better than it is. Basil Rathbone heads the cast as Sir Joel Cadman, who uses a mind-controlling drug known as "The Black Sleep" to place brilliant scientist Gordon Ramsay (Herbert Rudley) under his control. Cadman needs Ramsay's intellect and expertise to aid him in a series of mysterious, covert experiments involving brain transplants. Evidently Cadman has already endured a few failures, as witness the present feeble-minded state of his former "volunteer" Mungo (Lon Chaney Jr.). Ramsay and heroine Laurie Munro (Patricia Blake) finally learn what Cadman is up to when they stumble upon a dungeon full of his previous "experiments," including a demented, emaciated man (John Carradine) and a blank-eyed monstrosity (Tor Johnson). In his last mainstream film, Bela Lugosi essays the thankless role of Cadman's mute servant. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Singer Tony Martin plays the non-musical title role in United Artists' Quinannon, Frontier Scout. Sent on a top-secret mission by the government, Quincannon tries to find out who's been selling repeating rifles to the Indians. The culprit turns out to be an old friend of the hero--and, for plot purposes, the brother of heroine Maylene (Peggie Castle). Throughout the film, Tony Martin appears uncomfortable and uncertain, a bad combination when you're dealing with taciturn Indians and renegade whites. On the plus side, Quincannon, Frontier Scout is gorgeously photographed on location in the Utah desert. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this violent, gripping drama, a ruthless criminal kidnaps a little boy and takes him into the Colorado wilderness where, unfortunately, the lad accidentally dies in a terrible fall. This doesn't stop the crook from collecting and hiding a substantial ransom. He is eventually captured and imprisoned. There he hooks up with four other bad apples and together they escape and go looking for the money. These criminals are desperate and will stop at nothing to reach their goal. One of them is a true psychopath and the cops and FBI agents must hurry before more blood is spilled. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A corrupt cop creates all kinds of problems in this crime drama. The trouble begins when he kills a bookie and then grabs $25,000. Later he tells his chiefs that he did it because he had to, but as no one was there to witness the killing, they are forced to take his word for it. Unfortunately for the bad egg, there was one witness. Fortunately for him, he manages to kill that witness. The killing alerts a detective who was once framed by the crook and another gangster. The detective's investigations lead him to the bad apple's newly built suburban home, in which his illicit money is hidden. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Generous helpings of stock footage from the 1944 film Buffalo Bill help make Pony Soldier seem far more expensive and ambitious than it actually is. Tyrone Power stars as 19th-century Royal Canadian Mountie Duncan MacDonald, whose job it is to escort a group of Cree Indians back to their above-the-border reservation. His guide in this endeavor is the not-too-trustworthy half-breed Natayo (Thomas Gomez). Along the way, he tries to free two white captives of the Crees, escaped convict Jess Calhoun (Robert Horton) and Jess' sister Emerald (Penny Edwards). Calhoun nearly messes up the whole operation when he impulsively kills the brother of Chief Konah (Cameron Mitchell). Though set in Canada, Pony Soldier was filmed in Arizona's Coconino National Forest. A curiosity: leading lady Penny Edwards has barely five lines, while 6th-billed child actor Anthony Earl Numkena, cast as lovable Indian cub Comes Running, is given reams of dialogue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Violent and viscerally sexual, Anthony Mann's muscular low-budget noir tells the tale of a framed gangster's quest for vengeance after he busts out of prison. Once freed, gangster Joe Sullivan Dennis O'Keefe) and his girl friend Pat (Claier Trevor) set off to find the mobster who set him up. The kidnapping of Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt), the social worker who wrote to Joe in prison, leads the fugitive into a romantic triangle of death, passion and tragedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The "He" of the title is Richard Basehart, a clever but psychopathic burglar (based on real-life criminal Erwin Walker) Basehart stays one step ahead of the law by listening in to the police band on his radio. To avoid detection, he changes his M.O. on each crime, making it seem that the string of burglaries is the work of several thieves. But Basehart trips himself up when he kills a cop. His own personal Waterloo occurs in the Los Angeles sewer system--a stylish predecessor to the similar (and more widely praised) climax in Sir Carol Reed's The Third Man. Though the direction is credited to Hollywood old-timer Alfred Werker, most of He Walked By Night is the handiwork of an uncredited Anthony Mann. Featured in the film's cast is Jack Webb in the small role of a police lab technician. Impressed by first-hand experience with police procedure and by the semi-documentary quality of He Walked By Night Webb expanded on these elements for his own radio and TV project, Dragnet. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The moodily evocative docudrama T-Men stars Dennis O'Keefe as Dennis O'Brien, a treasury agent determined to bring a counterfeiting ring to justice. O'Brien and his partner Tony Genaro (Alfred Ryder) go undercover to gain the confidence of the ruthless Detroit mob responsible for the phony money. The plot, compelling though it is, takes second place to the film's stylish set pieces, superbly directed by Anthony Mann and brilliantly photographed by John Alton. Among the film's most famous moments is the scene in which two-bit hood Wallace Ford is bumped off in a steam bath by sadistic hood Charles McGraw, not to mention the harrowing vignette wherein O'Keefe, posing as a crook, must stand by silently as his partner Ryder is murdered. One of the finest examples of the film noir form, T-Men proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that a film didn't need to have a lush budget, brilliant Technicolor and Clark Gable to score a hit with postwar moviegoers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tartu--or more formally, The Adventures of Tartu--stars Robert Donat as a Rumanian-born British spy, dispatched to Czechoslovakia during World War II. Posing as an ineffectual milquetoast, Donat is hired as a chemist in a Nazi-controlled poison gas factory. Working in concert with the Underground, our hero spends his off-hours dismantling the Nazi operation. Then he has to figure a way to get out of Czechoslovakia as adroitly as he got in. Adventures of Tartu was filmed at MGM's British studios (it was Metro's first British production in two years), with an American director but with a full cadre of English acting talent: Donat, Valerie Hobson, Glynis Johns, etc. The Teutonic villain is played by Walter Rilla, whose son Wolf Rilla later became a prominent British director. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this crime drama, a ruthless gangster's son is soon following in his father's footsteps. When his daddy kills an FBI agent and a cabby, the boy sees it all. Fortunately the courts intervene and send the lad off to live with a family of farmers. Country living agrees with the boy and soon with the family's loving support is completely reformed. When his father reappears to bring him home, the boy uses a gun to chase him off the property. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi