Kurt Neumann Movies

Counterplot is a standard murder melodrama in which a man mistakenly believes he has killed someone. Brock (Forrest Tucker) flees to Puerto Rico from New York City, the scene of his supposed crime. A Puerto Rican boy who had befriended Brock years ago turns out to offer him a haven in this aftermath of the presumed murder. As time goes by, it is revealed that the murdered man's business partner was the one responsible for his death. Complicating matters is the fact that the dead man had taken out a hefty life insurance policy before he died. Brock's next challenge then, is to get evidence on the real killer. This was director Kurt Neumann's last film, he died within a year at the age of fifty-two. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Wealthy Helene Delambre (Patricia Owens) is discovered late at night in the factory owned by her husband Andre (David Hedison). Helene stands beside a huge metal press, which has crushed the head and arm of her husband. Held for murder, the near-catatonic Helene refuses to tell anyone--not even Andre's brother Francois (Vincent Price)--why she did it. Francois cannot help but notice that Helene reacts in mortal terror when a tiny flies zips through the room. Nor can he disregard the statement made by Helene's son Philippe (Charles Herbert) that the fly has a curious white head and leg. When Francois pretends that he's captured the fly, Helene relaxes enough to tell her story. It seems that Andre, a scientist, had been working on a matter transmitter, which he claimed could disintegrate matter, then reintegrate it elsewhere. After a few experiments, Andre tried the transmitter himself. Just as he stepped into the disintegration chamber, a fly also flew into the chamber. We aren't immediately shown the results of this, save for the fact that Andre afterward insists upon keeping his head and arm covered. Alone with her husband, Helene abruptly removes the covering, revealing that Andre now bears the head of a fly! His atoms have become mixed up with the fly, and now he is unable to reverse the procedure. Deciding that his transmitter will be a bogy rather than a blessing to mankind, Andre smashes the apparatus and burns his notes. He then instructs Helene, via body language, to crush his fly-like head and arm in the press. Neither Francois nor inspector Charas (Herbert Marshall) believe the story...until, while staring intently at a spider's web in the garden, they see a tiny entrapped fly with Andre's head and arm, tinnily screaming "Help me! Help me!" as the slavering spider approaches (If you're wondering why Vincent Price and Herbert Marshall do not look one another in the eye during this scene, it is because they couldn't deliver their dialogue without dissolving into laughter). Infinitely subtler than the admittedly excellent 1986 remake, the 1958 The Fly is one of the definitive big-budget horror films of its decade. Best bit: the prismatic "fly's eye view" of the screaming Patricia Owens. The Fly was adapted from George Langelaan's short story by James (Shogun) Clavell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama is another adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's popular novel that follows the exploits of a white scout who was raised by the Mohicans. He comes to the aid of a settler's colony that is plagued by warring Indians. He becomes entangled with an old white trader and his two daughters when he rescues them from the wrath of the Huron tribe. The trader hates the Indians because they killed his wife and took her scalp. Now he scalps any Indian he encounters. It turns out that all the Hurons want are the scalps he has taken so that the spirits of the dead can rest. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Hot on the heels of his successful sci-fier Kronos, Kurt Neumann directed the lesser genre entry She Devil. Jack Kelly stars as a doctor who invents a miracle cure for several horrible diseases. Suffering from tuberculosis, Mari Blanchard agrees to test out Kelly's wonder serum. Almost instantly, Mari's health and strength are restored. Unfortunately, there is one teeny-tiny side effect: Mari's benign personality transforms into that of a scheming predator with a pronounced homicidal streak. As Kelly and his superior Albert Dekker stand by helplessly, Mari murders the wife (Fay Baker) of wealthy John Archer, then draws up plans to knock him off and claim his millions. Even back in 1957, no one took this one seriously. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though released by 20th Century-Fox, Mohawk was produced independently by Edward L. Alperson, who also doubled as the film's musical composer. Scott Brady stars as an 18th century Boston artist, sent to Mohawk Valley to paint landscapes and portraits of Native Americans. Brady is forced to pack up his easel when he becomes embroiled in a war between the Indians and avaricious land baron John Hoyt. The villain intends to play both ends against the middle, then claim what's left when the Mohawks and settlers wipe each other out. Brady not only defies Hoyt, but also battles near-psychotic Mohawk warrior Neville Brand. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lensed in Germany, Carnival Story stars Anne Baxter as a wayward Teutonic lass who joins a travelling carnival troupe. She falls in love with carny spieler Steve Cochran, and out-and-out louse who treats Baxter like dirt and makes her like it. Eventually, she rises to star status through the auspices of high-diver Lyle Bettger, but she can never get over her passion for Cochran. Inevitably, this romantic triangle degenerates into violence, leaving magazine photographer George Nader to pick up the pieces. Carnival Story was filmed simultaneously with a German-language version, Rummelplatz der Liebe, which starred Eva Bartok, Curt Jurgens and Bernhard Wicki. Produced by the King Brothers and released by RKO, Carnival Story has since lapsed into public domain, and as such has become a ubiquitous presence on cable television. There's even a version that has been outfitted with a narration for the benefit of sight-impaired film fans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Vincent Edwards attained TV stardom as "Ben Casey" in 1961, his detractors took great delight in citing Edwards' earlier starring appearance in Monogram's Hiawatha. A great deal of fun was had by all when it was revealed that Edwards had to have his chest shaved on a daily basis while playing the hero of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's narrative poem. This aside, Edwards is fairly credible as Hiawatha, while the film itself is easy to take (perhaps too easy; action fans may be disappointed). The nucleus of the story is Hiawatha's love for Minnehaha (Yvette Dugay), the daughter of his tribe's mortal enemy, Chief Igaoo (Morris Ankrum). As war clouds gather, Hiawatha struggles manfully to prevent bloodshed between the Ojibway and Dacotah tribes. The ending of Hiawatha is slightly at odds with the Longfellow original, but works within the context of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Ring was directed by Kurt Neumann in a style best described as Hollywood neorealist. Based on a novel by Irving Shulman, the film focuses on a Mexican-American youth named Tommy (Lalo Rios). Unable to make any headway in a prejudicial, white-dominated society, Tommy turns to boxing, where he makes quite a name for himself. Just when he thinks he's gained the respect of the "Anglos," however, he discovers that they're only interested in his reputation, and still consider him an outsider because of his ancestry and skin color. Even the two white men who treat him decently -- his manager Pete (Gerald Mohr) and trainer Freddy (Robert Osterloh) -- have a vested interest. In danger of ending up a disillusioned, punch-drunk bum, Tommy is rescued by the unconditional love of his girl Lucy (Rita Moreno). Filmed entirely on location in greater Los Angeles, The Ring is for the most part an uncompromising glimpse at institutionalized bigotry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Columbia and Universal were the leading purveyors of well-crafted "little" pictures in the 1950s. It was Universal who put together Reunion in Reno, which opens with little Maggie (Gigi Perreau) walking into the offices of divorce-attorney Norman (Mark Stevens), demanding a divorce from her parents! It seems that Maggie is an adoptee, who fears that she'll be left in the lurch when mom (Frances Dee) and dad (Leif Erickson) become natural parents, which will happen very soon. As Norman strives to solve his youthful "client"'s problems, problems, he decides at long last to wed his own fiancee Laura (Peggy Dow) -- though if ever there was a strong argument against marriage and parenthood, it is the precocious Maggie. Elements of Reunion in Reno were later reworked into the 1984 comedy Irreconcilable Differences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Together with The Steel Helmet and Baron of Arizona, Rocketship X M is one of the best films ever turned out by the usually unimpressive Lippert Studios. Set sometime in the future, the film details the first manned space flight to the moon. John Emery plays the head of the expedition, with Lloyd Bridges, Osa Massen, Hugh O'Brian and Noah Beery Jr. in the crew. Blown off its course by a meteor shower, Rocketship X-M misses the moon and lands on Mars instead (the Mars scenes were originally tinted pink). During an exploratory expedition, the crew finds evidence of a once-mighty civilization, evidently destroyed by atomic warfare. A savage band of surviving Martians attack the earthlings, killing two and wounding a third. The survivors head back to the ship, but run out of fuel before reaching Earth. Out of this failure springs the hope that future space flights will prove successful. Generally avoiding cliches (except for the stereotypical comedy relief by Noah Beery Jr.), Rocketship X M is a reasonably intelligent outer-space yarn. While it's true that the film falters in the scientific-accuracy department, it is best to assess the film within the context of its times. Produced for $94,000, Rocketship X M reportedly grossed over a million dollars. A "restored" video version with new special effects was released in 1976 by entrepreneur Wade Williams. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1947, Variety Clubs International, a showbiz charitable organization, was responsible for the frothy musical Variety Girl. The organization's 1949 film effort, Monogram's Bad Boy, is a bit on the grimmer side, but not too much so. Most of the film was lensed at the VCI's Boys Club Ranch at Copperas Cove TX. In his first starring role (and second film appearance), war hero Audie Murphy plays Danny Lester, the "bad boy" of the title. A delinquent with a long rap sheet, Danny is sent to the Ranch in hopes that he can be rehabilitated. This seems to be a hopeless goal until ranch head Marshall Brown (Lloyd Nolan) digs into Danny's past to find a reason for the boy's ungovernable behavior. Jane Wyatt as Brown's wife, James Gleason as his assistant, and a coterie of talented juvenile actors lend sensitivity and credibility to this refreshingly unsentimental yarn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide