Walter Mirisch Movies

Julian Berniers (Dean Martin ) return from Illinois with his young bride Lily (Yvette Mimieux) to the family in New Orleans. Sisters Carrie (Geraldine Page) and Anne (Wendy Hiller) welcome the couple, who arrive with expensive gifts for the spinsters. The sisters hope brother Julian will help with much needed expenses, and he tells them his profitable factory went out of business but that he managed to save some money. It turns out Julian pulled of a real estate scam and took off with the dough. Carrie wishes to welcome her brother back with more than just her open arms. Carrie's jealousy of Lily pushes her to discover the shady land deal for herself as she tries to wreck the marriage. Lily returns to her mother Albertine (Gene Tierney), and is horrified to find her having an affair with their black chauffeur Henry (Frank Silvera). This film version of the Lillian Hellman play proves that Tennessee Williams is not the only playwright mining the twisted psychological profiles of characters from the deep South. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

There's always something simmering beneath the quaint and placid surface of small-town New England lives -- and that includes the usual maladies of alcoholism, rape, and suicide. At least this is the case if you go by the tortuous tale told in By Love Possessed, a Peyton Place knock-off, directed with glossy intensity by the usually reliable action director John Sturges (Bad Day at Black Rock and The Magnificent Seven). The tale chronicles the miserable lives of Arthur Winner (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), Julius Penrose (Jason Robards Jr.), and Noah Tuttle (Thomas Mitchell) -- legal counseling partners in a law firm that could probably use some good counseling themselves. Arthur's wife Clarissa (Barbara Bel Geddes) has nothing but contempt for poor Arthur because she considers their marriage as more a business deal than a love match. Then there's Julius's wife Marjorie (Lana Turner) who has become a full-time alcoholic ever since Julius has been rendered impotent by an automobile accident. Arthur and Marjorie's frustrations both gel into an illicit romantic union. Arthur certainly needs some kind of diversion since his son Warren (George Hamilton) refuses to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a lawyer. As if that weren't enough, he also refuses to marry Helen Detweiller (Susan Kohner), the girl Arthur wants him to marry because she is rolling in money and is also the ward of Noah. Instead, Warren runs off with the local town whore (Yvonne Craig), who accuses Warren of raping her. Despondent, Helen resorts to desperate measures when she is rejected, and Arthur realizes that he must begin to reconsider his life choices. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A troubled saddletramp with a penchant for drinking away his pain inherits a ranch from the man who may have been his father. This western follows the young rider's attempts to reform. His efforts are ultimately challenged when his old rivals come to town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

With Gene Barry already riding the video range as legendary gunfighter-turned-lawman Bat Masterson, independent producer Walter Mirisch hired old-timer Joel McCrea to play a rather less-dandified version in this routine Western released in Cinemascope. When his brother Ed (Harry Lauter) is cowardly shot in the back and killed, Bat accepts to run for county sheriff against the corrupt Jim Regan (Don Haggerty), only to learn that the real killer is someone entirely different. Not wanting the job of sheriff in the first place but only accepting to please a lady friend, the pious Pauline Howard (Julie Adams), Bat willingly breaks the law to aid an old friend (Walter Coy), almost losing both his position and his life in the ensuing shootout. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this western, an embittered cavalry sergeant must take over his regiment after their commanding officer is killed during an ambush. To save them, he leads the troop through Apache territory because it is the quickest way to reach the fort. The members of the regiment do not trust their new leader's reasoning. They suspect he is taking them through the restricted territory so that he can get revenge upon the Apaches who killed his wife and kids several years ago. The troop find themselves suffering a series of increasingly deadly attacks. Many die, until the soldiers, believing that the sergeant has lost his mind, rebel and kill him. ~ Sandra Brennan, 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

The faces are new and the settings up-to-date, but otherwise An Annapolis Story is the tried-and-true "two guys and one girl" formula. Filmed on location at the titular Maryland naval academy, the story centers upon two sibling cadets, Tony (John Derek) and Jim (Kevin McCarthy). The boys battle over the affections of Peggy (Diana Lynn), a triangle that seriously strains their fraternal relationship and compromises their effectiveness as officers-to-be and gentlemen. In the tradition of 1927's Wings, the conflict is resolved when one brother sacrifices his life for the other while serving in Korea. Among the other cadets in An Annapolis Story are Alvy Moore and L. Q. Jones, who twenty years later would team up to produce the cult-fave science fiction film A Boy and His Dog. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Dark Avenger was the European-release title of the Errol Flynn swashbuckler The Warriors; 20th Century-Fox handled European distribution, while Allied Artists released the film stateside. Lensed on location in Hertfordshire, England, the film stars Flynn as Edward, the "Black Prince" of England. At the end of the Hundred Years' war, Edward remains in France to guard the lands taken by his predecessor-father. He is opposed in this by the heavy of the piece, Count DeVille (Peter Finch). The story comes to a rousing conclusion as Edward and his followers defend their castle against DeVille's minions. Joanne Dru costars in Dark Avenger as Lady Joan Holland, who like Count DeVille is wholly a product of screenwriter Daniel B. Ullman's imagination. ~ 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