Robert L. Lippert, Jr. Movies
- 1956
After divesting himself of his own studio and distribution firm, producer Robert L. Lippert Jr. put together a group of low-budget films for 20th Century-Fox release. Filmed in Mexico, Lippert's Massacre stars Dane Clark as a mounted police officer, sent out to find a group of gun smugglers. Time is of the essence, since the villains are selling guns to the Yaqui Indian tribe, in preparation for an all-out war against the white settlers. Clark is able to destroy the stolen weapons and capture the smugglers, but the Yaquis manage to surround the officer and his prisoners. The outcome of the film is implicit in its title. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dane Clark, James Craig, (more)
- 1954
1954's The Black Pirates stars Anthony Dexter, who three years earlier hadn't quite set box-office records afire with his portrayal of Rudolph Valentino. Dexter heads a band of pirates who land in a sleepy Mexican village. A buried treasure is rumored to be somewhere in the vicinity, and the pirates want to get their grimy mitts on it. They enslave the villagers and force them to dig for the treasure. Black Pirates was written by Fred Freiberger, the man later responsible for the up-and-down third season of TV's Star Trek. It was filmed on location in Mexico and released stateside by Lippert Films. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1954
A young police officer tries his best to assuage the fears of his pregnant wife by refusing dangerous new jobs. But despite his caution, he has a job to do and he ends up chasing a dangerous thief all the way to Mexico in a helicopter. This actioner chronicles his death-defying adventures. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1954
Charles Chaplin Jr. makes his film starring debut in the location-filmed meller Fangs of the Wild. It's the old "boy cries wolf" story, featuring a lad named Tad (Freddie Ridgeway) who is inclined to stretch the truth now and then. Thus, when Tad insists that he's witnessed a murder, no one believes him. No one, that is, except the killer (Chaplin), who now realizes that he must put Tad out of the way as well. As indicated by the film's title, Tad's fate is in the paws of his faithful dog Shep (played by Buck, who also "starred" as the bibulous St. Bernard on the Topper TV series). Fangs of the Wild was one of the better efforts to emerge from bargain-basement Lippert Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Chaplin, Jr., Onslow Stevens, (more)
- 1953
Within its own modest limits, The Great Jesse James Raid is a well-crafted western. Willard Parker plays Jesse James, who when the film opens is seen comfortably settled into respectable retirement. At the instigation of the unscrupulous Bob Ford (Jim Bannon), Jesse leaves hearth and home behind to commit one last robbery. Somewhere in the deep recesses of a mine is $300,000 in hidden loot, and Jesse aims to get his mitts on it. Featured in the cast of The Great Jesse James Raid are Barbara Payton and Tom Neal, whose turbulent real-life romance resulted in a great deal of negative publicity. The film is stolen by Wallace Ford as a Scripture-quoting dynamiter; perhaps it is true, as one historian observed, that Ford was in more movies than anyone else in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Willard Parker, Barbara Payton, (more)
Elmo Williams, the veteran Hollywood film editor who gained fame for his work on High Noon, serves as director of the medium-budget western The Tall Texan. Lloyd Bridges plays the title character, a convicted murderer named Ben Trask. While being escorted to prison, Trask talks his captors into prospecting for gold. A rich vein has been found in Indian territory, attracting gold-hunters like flies to honey. Despite warnings from the local tribe, the prospectors refuse to leave. Even when a compromise is reached with the Indians, at least one of the gold-seekers oversteps his bounds. A climactic Indian attack is thus a foregone conclusion, and since none of the white characters is particularly sympathetic, the viewer is hard put not to root for the Indians. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lloyd Bridges, Lee J. Cobb, (more)
