Norman Budd Movies

A space alien martial arts master visits a tough inner city neighborhood and helps the good people there find hope and better lives while simultaneously ridding the streets of all bad influences in this low-budget outing. Also released as King of the Streets on VHS, whose cover leaves out any mention of the sci-fi elements as well as audaciously stating that it stars Larry Fishburne (which it does not). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Johnny Sims, a two-bit burglar and sneak-thief, breaks into the apartment of Clark Kent (George Reeves) and chances upon the secret closet where he keeps his Superman costume (Kent isn't wearing it that night because he must take a check-up as part of an office insurance program). He steals the costume but manages to get shot by a pursuing police officer and makes his way to the apartment of Ace (Dan Seymour) and Connie (Veda Ann Borg), a pair of low-level criminals. The burglar dies, but not before he gives Ace the location of the apartment where he got the costume. Ace is skeptical but the notion that this is Superman's costume, and what it would mean if he could figure out Superman's secret identity, is too tempting to ignore. Meanwhile, Kent is almost panic-stricken over the loss of the costume and what it might mean if someone discovered his secret. He can't go to the police, so he calls in a friend, private detective Candy Meyers (Frank Jenks), who is understandably bewildered when he is asked to help Kent recover a stolen piece of property, but also informed that he can't be told what the property is. While he's following up on the prints left behind by the burglar, Ace and Connie are several steps ahead -- when they learn that Kent is a reporter for the Daily Planet, they know they're on the right track. But due to a misunderstanding, they think that Candy is Kent and kidnap the detective. Kent must save his friend and bring an end to this situation, and to do it he is forced to bring Ace and Connie to a remote mountain peak, to an isolated cabin, until he can figure out what to do about them. It's then that the pair make a disastrous decision about trying to escape. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Running an action-packed 67 minutes, Okinawa is an expert combo of wartime newsreel footage and studio re-enactments. The plot concerns the gun crew of a destroyer, engaged in the torturous allied invasion of Okinawa, which cost more American and Japanese lives than any previous Pacific-Theater battle. Pat O'Brien does his usual as the ship's commander, while other stock types are essayed by Cameron Mitchell, Richard Denning, Rhys Williams, Richard Benedict and James Dobson. Curiously, Okinawa was co-written by Leonard Stern, a man more closely associated with TV comedy than two-fisted war epics, and directed by Leigh Jason, who generally piloted musical shorts and features. Actor-producer Alvy Moore (who later played county agent Hank Kimball on TV's Green Acres) shows up in a bit role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Of the many attempts by Republic Pictures' CEO Herbert J. Yates to turn his lady friend Vera Ralston into a star, Surrender is one of the better efforts. Ralston plays a conscienceless "femme fatale" who works out a complex scheme to secure her financial comfort. The plan, enacted in a western border town, involves bigamy, betrayal, and ultimately murder. She plays one man against another all too well; in the end Vera's perfidy backfires, and she falls victim to her own machinations. Vera Ralston tries hard indeed but the audience can sense that she is basically too nice to be making such mean faces. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Woman From Headquarters is female rookie-cop Joyce (Virginia Huston). For reasons that seem amazing unless one actually sees the film, Joyce decides to take on a narcotics ring single-handed. Even more amazing -- especially for a 1950 film -- is the fact that she doesn't seem to need much help from her male colleagues. She does, however, find time for an intramural romance with officer Gates (Robert Rockwell). She also works overtime to reform a good-girl-gone-bad (Barbara Fuller). Featured in the cast are real-life policewoman Frances Charles, stalwart supporting actor Jack Kruschen, and, at the bottom of the cast list, Leonard Penn, the father of 1990s film faves Sean and Christopher Penn. Made with the full cooperation of the Los Angeles Police Department, Woman From Headquarters overcomes its occasional lapses of logic, painting a fairly realistic picture of crime-fighting in the Big City. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The terrible consequences of perverting the legal system are spelled out in The Judge. In one of his rare starring roles, Milburn Stone plays criminal lawyer Martin Strang. Suspecting his wife Lucille (Katherine de Mille) of infidelity, Strang schemes to have her put out of the way. He wangles a not-guilty verdict for murderer William Jackson (Paul Guilfoyle), then blackmails Jackson into participating in his plan to punish Lucille. Things don't quite go off as expected, and before long several lives are needlessly destroyed. The title character of The Judge, played by Jonathan Hale, relates the sordid goings-on in flashback form. Two future "regulars" of the Superman TV series, John Hamilton and Herb Vigran, show up in minor roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of several "naughty" screwball comedies based on the works of Thorne Smith (of Topper fame), Hal Roach's Turnabout stars Carole Landis and John Hubbard as unhappily married couple Sally and Tim Willows. Bored with her humdrum existence, Sally spends most of her time figuring out ways of spending her husband's money, while hard-working Tim plots and plans to "step out" on the Missus in the company of his business associates Manning (Adolphe Menjou) and Clare (William Gargan). All of this changes when an effigy representing an Oriental deity comes to life and exchanges Sally and Tim's personalities. As a result, Sally awakens with a deep voice and dons Tim's business suit, while Tim speaks in a falsetto and favors Sally's frilly frocks. The complications ensuing from this role-reversal are much better seen than described, while the film's hilarious denouement was tipped by United Artists' ad campaign, which heralded that "The man's had a baby instead of the lady." Though not nearly as risque as it seemed to be back in 1940, Turnabout is full of wonderful vignettes, including a priceless bit involving veteran screen "pansy" Franklin Pangborn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A man is wrongfully convicted of a crime and sent to prison. Realizing that he is the victim of political shenanigans, he dutifully does his time. Eventually he comes up for parole, but the crooked official behind his incarceration, fearing that the prisoner will expose him, makes sure that parole is denied. The innocent inmate has only one consolation-- the prison nurse believes him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide