Herbert Kline Movies

Although the Actors Studio and Lee Strasberg have been famous for many decades in the U.S., this documentary is the first film to go into the studio and record sessions with actors, showing Strasberg in action. Aside from interviews with Strasberg, he is also seen responding to filmed performances of Eleonora Duse and other Hollywood giants of times gone by, and interacting with others as a mentor and friend. Even Strasberg's inspiration, Konstantin Stanislavsky himself, is shown talking about acting with two students toward the end of his life. Jane Fonda explains how she benefitted by Strasberg's instruction, and the results of his efforts are shown in clips of James Dean and Marlon Brando, two of his more famous students. By the time the final segment of the documentary has closed, viewers have a much better idea of why Lee Strasberg was so successful with hundreds of actors over the long span of his professional life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Prince of Pirates is fairly elaborate for a Sam Katzman production, though its low budget does betray itself in the closing scenes. Utilizing plenty of stock footage from Joan of Arc (as he'd previously done in Thief of Damascus), producer Katzman offers the viewer a 16th-century swashbuckler, with John Derek as Robin Hood-like buccaneer Prince Roland. Having lost his throne to his evil older brother Stephan (Whitfield Connor), Roland forms a band of volunteers to oust Stephan and bring peace and harmony to his land (by busting several heads along the way). Barbara Rush co-stars as Nita, the daughter of a deposed count and a fine swordswoman in her own right. The film's best line is unintentionally funny: After being fetchingly attired in form-fitting blouse and slacks during most of the film, Nita is garbed in hoop-skirted feminine finery, whereupon Roland snickers "At last, you look more like a woman!" Far from a classic, Prince of Pirates is an agreeable time-passer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Long before he became producer/director of The Tonight Show, Fred DeCordova helmed the Universal meller Illegal Entry. Howard Duff, who later worked with DeCordova on the TV series Mr. Adams and Eve, stars as Bert Powers, an undercover agent for the U.S. Department of Immigration. While attempting to bring a vicious gang of alien smugglers to justice, Powers falls in love with Anna Duvak (Marta Toren), a gang member who is Not What She Seems. The film leaves no cliché unturned, not even the familiar scene wherein the airborne smugglers dispose of their human cargo by way of a handy lever which causes the bottom of the plane's passenger section to drop out. Illegal Entry is staged in semi-documentary fashion, maintaining the then-prevalent tradition of such popular films as House on 92nd Street and Call Northside 777. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

My Father's House was the first feature-length film to be shot in its entirety in Palestine. Since it was completed in 1947, the film frequently focusses on the efforts by refugee European Jews to carve a homeland out of the Palestinian desert. The protagonist is 11-year-old David (Ronnie Cohen), who during WW2 is separated from his parents when his family is shipped off to the Nazi concentration camps. Just before he is herded into a train, David's father promises that the family will some day be reunited in the Holy Land. Surviving the Holocaust, David desperately searches for his parents, in hopes that his father's parting words will come true. Everyone with whom the boy comes into contact knows that David's parents are dead, but the boy will not be dissuaded or discouraged. While the ending can't be described as happy, David's odyssey does end on a note of hope. Financed in part by the Jewish Defense Fund, My Father's House was produced by Hollywood director Herbert Kline and screenwriter/critic Meyer Levin, using a cast of nonprofessional but immensely capable Hebrew-speaking actors. The film was originally released in tandem with two Palestinian short subjects, Home in the Desert and Assignment Tel Aviv. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this WW II-era drama set in a small town, most of the adults are so busy fighting the war or working in the local defense plant that they have little time to supervise their children. A sort of juvenile anarchy ensues with the children and teens doing whatever they please. Soon the town is falling into ruin as a boy is run down by a car thief, a runaway girl begins associating with thugs and other mayhem ensues. Fortunately, a returning soldier decides to open up a youth center to give the kids a place to go. He also helps the boys get some useful job training. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The 66-minute documentary Lights Out in Europe offers a compact overview of WWII and the events leading up to the conflict. Many of the newsreel clips were culled from coverage of the London blitz, and of the evacuation of the city's children to the rural regions. Also included are several stomach-churning vignettes of the carnage in Poland following the Nazi invasion. Many of the images in Lights Out in Europe had never previously been seen by American audiences due to the stringency of European censorship. The film was written by James Hilton (of Goodbye Mr. Chips fame) and narrated by Frederic March, with music provided by Werner Janssen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi