Walter Mirisch Movies

Nice guys don't always finish last as can be seen in this crime drama. The story begins as a perfectly nice fellow finds himself arrested for murder. The trouble is, the man cannot remember a thing about the night of the murder. Though he insists he is innocent, all the evidence tells a different story. He was found at the scene with a bloody knife in his hand. Fortunately, a policeman friend, believes him. He gets him out of jail and together, they begin looking for the real killer. They soon find that the set-up was perpetrated by his uncle who strongly disapproved of his dating his ward. The woman who died had been the uncle's lover who was blackmailing him. To get even with them all, the uncle drugged his nephew, killed his mistress and planted the knife upon his unconscious relative. In the end, the uncle is arrested and the nephew and his lover live a long and happy life together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Bomba on Panther Island was the second in Monogram's series based on Roy Rockwood's "Bomba the Jungle Boy" adventure stories. The plot is set in motion when agriculturist Robert Maitland (Henry Lewis) accidentally stirs up restlessness within the native population. The locals assume that Maitland is responsible for the recent spate of vicious attacks by a black panther, who is regarded as the Devil Incarnate. Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) proves that the panther is just another overgrown kitty-cat in a climactic human vs. animal battle. For those not interested in the plot or the papier-mache sets, Bomba on Panther Island offers two comely leading ladies, Lita Baron and Allene Roberts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

County Fair is an amiable racetrack drama starring Rory Calhoun. A veteran horse trainer, Calhoun has developed a somewhat unsavory reputation. He redeems himself by arranging for near-impoverished matron Florence Bates to win an important race. It's all for the love of a good woman--in this case, Bates' niece Jane Nigh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Lost Volcano is the 3rd entry in Monogram's "Bomba the Jungle Boy" series. Johnny Sheffield, formerly "Boy" in the Tarzan pictures, stars as Bomba. In this outing, Our Hero sets out to rescue David (Tommy Ivo), the kidnapped son of husband-and-wife zoologists Paula and Ruth Gordon (Donald Woods and Marjorie Lord). David has been kidnapped by scurrilous jungle guides Barton (John Ridgely) and Daniel (Robert Lewis), who hope that the kid will lead them to a valuable treasure. Bomba is forced to race against time when a reactivated volcano threatens to swallow up David and his captors. Elena Verdugo, years removed from her Marcus Welby MD stint, co-stars as an alluring native girl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Elephant Stampede was the sixth entry in Monogram's "Bomba the Jungle Boy" series. This time Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) must contend with a pair of scurrilous ivory hunters (John Kellogg and Myron Healey). Not above killing pachyderms, the bad guys show an equal lack of remorse when they murder their guide and kidnap Bomba to lead them to the fabled "elephant's graveyard." Emulating Tarzan (Sheffield "Boy" in the old Tarzan flicks), Bomba vocally summons the neighboring elephants to crush the villains into pulp. One film historian, who made no secret of his disdain for the entire "Bomba" ouevre, grudgingly labelled Elephant Stampede "the hokiest but the best of the series." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rod Cameron heads the cast of the Monogram "B-plus" western Cavalry Scout. Cameron plays army scout Kirby Frye, who has been assigned to track down a stolen cache of weaponry. Frye suspects that local troublemaker Martin Gavin (James Millican) is the criminal mastermind, but he needs proof. The film matriculates into a tense cat-and-mouse game between Frye and Gavin, culminating in a long-overdue action finale. Cavalry Scout was lensed in Cinecolor, a pleasing two-color process which Monogram reserved for its prestige productions. The film was produced by Walter Mirisch, who'd later turn out such "A"-flicks as The Apartment, West Side Story and The Great Escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though Ben Johnson would have to wait until the 1970s before full stardom was bestowed upon him, 1952's Wild Stallion proved that, even at this early stage, Johnson had what it took to carry a picture. Harking back to his pre-movie rodeo days, Johnson plays inveterate horse-lover Dan Light, who spends a lifetime searching for his pet colt, who'd managed to escape when Light's parents were killed by Indians. The colt has grown to a magnificent wild stallion, much coveted by others, including the U.S. Cavalry. The color photography by Harry Neumann is superb, as are the supporting performances by Martha Hyer, Edgar Buchanan and Don Haggerty. The Wild Stallion was produced by Walter Mirisch, who later graduated to such big-budget westerns as Man of the West (1958) and The Magnificent Seven (1960). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In an obvious attempt to recreate some of the power and impact of Henry King's Twelve O'Clock High, Lesley Selander's Flat Top tells its story in flashback as Dan Collier (Sterling Hayden), a senior officer, recalls from the bridge of the carrier Princeton during the Korean War, the first squadron he commanded on the ship during World War II. Arriving as green recruits, the men resent Collier's grounding the most dedicated man in the squadron (Keith Larsen) for ignoring a wave-off; even more so, they fail at first to understand his sometimes harsh efforts at preparing them for battle against the Japanese -- we also get to meet the various men of the squadron, who are mostly identified by what they did in civilian life -- William Schallert plays a poet-turned-pilot named "Longfellow"; John Bromfield plays an ex-football player nicknamed "Snakehips". Most of the conflict centers on Collier and his efforts to make a good executive officer out of Joe Rodgers (Richard Carlson), who was already in the navy when he transferred to aviation but is too concerned with being popular with the men to be a good commanding officer. Meanwhile, the pilots face various conflicts, psychological and personal, as they move toward the thick of battle. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Lesley Selander took time off from his directorial duties on Tim Holt's RKO western series to helm the Monogram oater Fort Osage. Rod Cameron stars as frontier scout Tim Clay, assigned to guide a wagon train through Indian territory. Clay knows that he's in for a lot of trouble because of the treaty-violating activities of white criminals Pickett (Morris Ankrum) and Keane (Douglas Kennedy). Fortunately for the hero, Pickett and Keane double-cross each other somewhere along the line, weakening their ability to foment an all-out Indian attack. Jane Nigh co-stars as the in-the-dark daughter of one of the villains. Fort Osage was produced by Walter Mirisch, who later graduated to such big-budgeters as West Side Story and The Great Escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jungle Girl was the 7th entry in Monogram's "Bomba the Jungle Boy" series, based on the pulp novels by Roy Rockwood. This time, Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) tries to find the long-lost remains of his parents. He discovers that the person responsible for mom and dad's deaths was evil native chieftain Martin Wilkins. Only after the chief's daughter Suzette Harbin is herself accidentally killed (not by Bomba-rest, easy kids!) does the villain give himself up to the authorities. With the exception of Johnny Sheffield and co-stars Karen Sharpe and Walter Sande, most of the acting in Jungle Girl is strictly amateur night. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed around the same time as Gunfight at the OK Corral, Wichita is a more modest--and to some, more entertaining--slant on the Wyatt Earp legend. Joel McCrea does his usual smooth, underplayed job as Earp, who aims to bring law and order to the wide-open cow town of Wichita. His least popular move is to take away the guns of everyone in town, no matter how important. Only when town banker McCoy (Walter Coy) is hit with a personal tragedy does Earp's no-guns edict begin to make sense. Linking the episodic storyline is an offscreen ballad, sung High Noon style by Tex Ritter. Interestingly, Joel McCrea would later star in the 1959 TV western Wichita Town--though not, of course, as Wyatt Earp (Hugh O'Brien was busy with that character on another network!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joel McCrea stars in this leisurely paced Western from Allied Artists (formerly Monogram) originally released in Cinemascope. Having lost his wife in childbirth en route to California, Dr. John Brighton (McCrea) builds a new home for himself and his baby daughter in an Oklahoma backwater town, lodging with kindhearted Mrs. Fitzgerald (Esther Dale). As the town grows up around him, Brighton becomes a well-respected local medico, championing the rights of the area's Indian population when nasty rancher Cass Dobie attempts to buy them out cheap. Unbeknownst to the townspeople, Dobie has discovered oil on the land belonging to Charlie Smith (Michael Pate), whose beautiful daughter, Maria (Gloria Talbott), is working as little Louise Brighton's (Laurie Mitchell) nursemaid. When Charlie is forced to kill Cass' brother, Mel (Douglas Dick), in self-defense, Cass vows revenge. Aided by female rancher Anne Barnes (Barbara Hale), Brighton learns about the discovery of oil and there is a final confrontation on main street. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Joel McCrea essays the title role in this moody little western. McCrea is a Union officer wounded in battle, who joins up with a wagon train heading westward. He is ostracized by those passengers who'd fought on the Confederate side, though leading lady Virginia Mayo welcomes his presence. McCrea redeems himself in the eyes of the ex-Confederate homesteaders when he acts as mediator in a range dispute with a land baron (Barry Kelly)--who happens to be McCrea's own half brother. Tall Stranger is based on a novel by the prolific Louis L'Amour. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide