Sam Newfield Movies
Born Samuel Neufeld in New York City, Sam Newfield was the brother of Sigmund Neufeld, who later became the chief of production for the tiny poverty row studio PRC. Newfield entered the movie business in 1919, and began directing comedy shorts in 1926 with Jane's Engagement Party and Jane's Predicament. He moved into full-length features in 1933 with Reform Girl and Important Witness, and was quickly snapped up by the burgeoning B-movie production houses of the era, most notably Tower, Ambassador, and PRC. The latter, under the aegis of his brother Sigmund, provided Newfield with so much work that he was forced to adopt two pseudonyms -- Sherman Scott and Peter Stewart -- in order to make his output seem more reasonable. Newfield was a specialist in fast, low-budget filmmaking; he relied heavily on stock footage shot well ahead of time, which he reused shamelessly. He was a specialist in crime and action films, but that didn't keep him from doing the occasional comedy (Skipalong Rosenbloom -- a parody of Hopalong Cassidy starring ex-prize fighter Maxie Rosenbloom), serious drama (I Accuse My Parents, cited by Wheeler W. Dixon in The B-Directors as the antecedent to Rebel Without a Cause), exploitation picture (Devil's Weed), horror or science-fiction vehicle (The Monster Maker, Dead Men Walk, The Flying Serpent, The Lost Continent). Although hardly noted for quality, Newfield's films were effective within their budgets and shooting schedules (sometimes as little as three days), and with the right cast -- such as veteran horror film heavy George Zucco, a regular Newfield villain -- he could get good results. His movies were popular program fillers, especially with baby boomers, who got to see them either in the waning days of B-pictures or the early days of television, and his science fiction and horror films of his are among the most familiar in the B-movie category -- and at least two of Newfield's films are staples in the programming of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the '90s. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide- 1958
In this western a half-Sioux cavalry officer tries to mediate between settlers and the angry Sioux. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1956
The fraternal filmmaking team of produced Sigmund Neufeld and director Sam Newfield once again joined forces on The Wild Dakotas. Made some two years after the "official" demise of the "B" western, the film attempts to revive the genre with a new cowboy star, one Will Williams. In keeping with the "adult western" trend of the period, the so-called hero, a wagonmaster, is something of a psychotic. He attempts to foment a war between the settlers and the local Indian tribe. A surprise is in store for the wagonmaster-and the audience. The veteran cast includes Coleen Gray, Jim Davis, John Litel, John Miljan and the indestructible Iron Eyes Cody. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
James Craig plays Sheriff Pat Garrett, the man who gunned down Billy the Kid. We always thought that was the end of the story, but Last of the Desperados informs us that Garrett was forced to flee from the vengeance of Billy's gang (we also never knew that Billy had a gang). Everywhere he goes, Garrett is dogged by his pursuers, who leave a trail of corpses in their path to dissuade anyone from helping the former lawman. Finally Garrett puts on his badge again and picks off Billy's buddies one by one. Last of the Desperados was written by western movie "regular" Orville Hampton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Craig, Jim Davis, (more)
- 1956
In this western, three gringos deposit their loot in a Mexican bank and set up homes in a tiny village where they hope to live long, peaceful lives. Unfortunately other banditos rob their bank, forcing them to ride out after them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1956
Just before achieving TV stardom as The Sheriff of Cochise, John Bromfield headed the cast of Frontier Gambler. Coleen Gray co-stars as the ruthless boss lady of a frontier town. When Gray disappears, suspicion immediately falls upon her former lover Bromfield. Others who had reasons to see Gray dead include Jim Dallas Davis, Kent Taylor and Veda Ann Borg. Frontier Gambler was stitched together by the reliable (if parsimonious) producer-director team of Sigmund Neufield and Sam Newfield (they were brothers, despite the spelling differences). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
The NBC television series Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion ran from 1955 to 1957. Buster Crabbe plays Capt. Gallant, the commander of a French Foreign Legion outpost in North Africa (the series was shot on location), who must protect French settlers and local natives from the depradations of bandits, spies and rebels. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1955
In this adventure, a renowned American physician journeys to darkest Africa to help a pair of sibling missionaries stop prospectors from inciting a tribal war. The miners do this to scare the white colonists away from their newly discovered mine. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
This off-beat western is set in a remote western town that has made it illegal for men to enter. The town is owned by a powerful female gambler whose reign is toppled by a handsome and persistent cowboy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Windsor, Richard Rober, (more)
- 1952
In this murder mystery, a woman's brother is killed in a freaky accident, or so she believes. Fortunately for her, an American journalist is more suspicious and so begins roaming the London streets in search of the killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
In this crime drama, an avaricious, successful gambler is not content with fabulous wealth and aspires to become a member of the British nobility after he falls in love with one of the country's more prominent blue-blooded women. Unfortunately, to have her, he must mend his ways. He then dumps his girl friend, a nightclub singer who becomes murderously jealous. He must also deal with the mobsters who try to take over his clubs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1951
Lippert's Mask of the Dragon was filmed simultaneously with Fingerprints Don't Lie, utilizing the same director and cast. Richard Travis plays Phil Ramsey, a private eye, headquartered in San Francisco. He is obliged to investigate the murder of an old friend, a Korean war vet who had recently delivered a jade dragon to a Chinatown merchant. Aided by heroine Ginny O'Donnell (Sheila Ryan), Ramsey follows the trail of clues to a deserted TV studio (actually Los Angeles' KTLA). Sid Melton provides comedy relief as the head villain's dopey henchman. Though cheaply produced, Mask of the Dragon doesn't stint entertainment-wise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Travis, Sheila Ryan, (more)
- 1951
In this wartime espionage comedy, a mentally-ill soldier looks exactly like the notorious enemy spy who has been trying to steal the plans for a highly classified new plane. Mayhem ensues when the bungling GI is assigned to capture this spy. Somehow he manages to succeed. The film is also titled Blown Skyhigh. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sid Melton, Mara Lynn, (more)
- 1951
In this comedy, a dimwitted fellow bumbles off in search of the marriage license bureau and instead finds himself in a recruiting office for the Marines. Before he knows it, the jughead has become a jarhead. Fortunately, his fiancee also joins and they go through boot camp together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sid Melton, Mara Lynn, (more)
- 1951
Lippert's Fingerprints Don't Lie stars Richard Travis as fingerprint expert James Stover. At the moment, Stover is attempting to solve the murder of a small-town mayor. When the most likely suspect has been collared, Stover determines that the fingerprints found at the scene of the crime have been forged. Thus it is that the actual murderer is still around and about. In fact, he's much closer to Our Hero than anyone might have suspected. Fingerprints Don't Lie co-stars Sheila Ryan (in one of her last film appearances before becoming Mrs. Pat Buttram) and Lippert's resident utility player Sid Melton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Travis, Sheila Ryan, (more)
In this adventure-fantasy, an American rocket ship crashes upon a remote island in the Pacific and an Air Force pilot and a scientist are assigned to find it. They get to the island and suddenly discover that the island is populated by a myriad of extinct animals, including dinosaurs. Fortunately, there is an island girl around to help the handsome captain and his crew recover important pieces of their craft and get back home. Some of this film is comprised of clips from Rocketship X-M and The Terror of Tiny Town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cesar Romero, Hillary Brooke, (more)
- 1951
Originally slated for release by Eagle Lion, Skipalong Rosenbloom purchased by United Artists -- who gave it a cursory theatrical release before selling the film to television. As it turned out, TV was the appropriate medium for this heavy-handed satire of video westerns. Former boxing champ Maxie Rosenbloom plays a lampooned variation of Hopalong Cassidy, with all the standard western cliches in evidence. "Skipalong" Rosenbloom is depicted as the star of a heavily commercialized TV kiddie show, presided over by a smarmy announcer. The plot proper finds "Skipalong" at odds with western bad guy Butcher Baer, played by Rosenbloom's onetime ring opponent Max Baer. Others in the cast are Jackie Coogan, Fuzzy Knight and Hillary Brooke, who seem to be having fun with the dreadful material foisted upon them. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom, Max Baer, (more)
- 1950
Filmed under the title Radar Patrol, Lippert's Rader Secret Service wastes no time getting down to business. Indeed, with a 59-minute running time, no waste would have been tolerated. John Howard and Ralph "Dick Tracy" Byrd star as Bill and Static, a pair of secret service operatives, in search of stolen uranium ore. Per the film's title, Our Heroes use radar to track down the atomic bandits. This was hardly necessary: any dyed-in-the-wool movie fan could have told Bill and Static from the get-go that the villains are Moran (Tom Neal) and Michael (Tris Coffin). Lippert's resident comic relief Sid Melton provides some amusing moments, while the feminine angle is handled by Adele Jergens and Myrna Dell, two of the best "bad girls" in "B"-pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Howard, Adele Jergens, (more)
- 1950
Despite its title, Western Pacific Agent is a contemporary crime melodrama. Kent Taylor stars as a railroad detective, assigned to track down an elusive robber-murderer. The audience knows from the outset who the culprit is (hotheaded Mickey Knox, who delivers an astonishingly vicious performance), but the plot requires the detective to methodically piece together the evidence before making his final move. Helping him solve the crime is the sister (Sheila Ryan) of a slain paymaster (Robert Lowery). The whole story is narrated in flashback by an uncredited Jason Robards Sr. One of the most brutal films of its era, Western Pacific Agent spares the audience nothing: at one point, the villain beats up his own father! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Knox, Sheila Ryan, (more)
- 1950
Jim Davis, better known to contemporary audiences as Josh Ewing, J.R.'s (Larry Hagman) father on Dallas, is the two-fisted star of 1950's Hi-Jacked. Davis plays truck driver Joe Harper, who after his rig is stolen is accused of masterminding the theft himself. To clear his name, Joe sets out on his own to trap the real thieves. What he doesn't know is that one of his own co-workers has been tipping off the crooks whenever the trucking routes are changed. Joe's wife Jean is played by Marsha Jones, who during her child-star days was known as Marcia Mae Jones. Inasmuch as Hi-Jacked was produced by Lippert Films, it is perhaps inevitable that Sid Melton shows up in the supporting cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Davis, Marsha Jones, (more)
- 1950
Lippert Studio's first 1951 release was the compact western 3 Desperate Men. The title characters are the Denton Brothers, played by Preston S. Foster, Jim Davis and Ross Latimer. Accused of crimes they didn't commit, the Dentons are obliged to become outlaws to survive. So long as they stay away from their home town, the brothers are able to pull off their crime spree unabated. But their fate is sealed the moment they head homeward to exact revenge against those who framed them. Critics of the period were satisfied with 3 Desperate Men, though it was felt that at least two of the three Dentons could have used some lessons in horsemanship. The film secured pretty good bookings for a Lippert production. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Preston S. Foster, Ross Latimer, (more)
- 1950
Filmed under the title Highway Patrol, Lippert's Motor Patrol stars Don Castle as Ken, a rookie policeman. When his fiancee's brother is killed by car thieves, Ken volunteers to bring in the murderers. He poses as a big-city racketeer and infiltrates the gang. After the inevitable unmasking, the film ends in a blaze of artillery. The film strives for a documentary "feel" by including long, detailed sequences dramatizing real-life police procedure. This being a Lippert Film, the presence of Sid Melton as comedy relief is inevitable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Nigh, Reed Hadley, (more)
Those scurrilous Chinese communists are up to their old tricks in the 1949 flagwaver State Department - File 649. William Lundigan plays Ken, an operative of the U.S. Foreign Service stationed in North China. Ken is one of several people trapped in a remote village by evil warlord Yun Usu (Richard Loo), who intends to sell his services to the highest bidder, be they Red or otherwise. Our hero manages to get a message out to the Free World before the film's operatically self-sacrificial climax. The characterizations are of the cardboard variety and the dialogue is straight out of Fu Manchu. Still, State Department - File 649 is a fascinating encapsulation of postwar political propaganda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginia Bruce, William Lundigan, (more)
- 1948
In this psychological drama, a group of people are stranded in a remote jungle after a plane crash. The disparate reactions of each are chronicled through out the story as they learn to survive in their new jungle home. Fortunately, they are helped by a man who was similarly stranded several years before. He not only teaches them how to survive, he also teaches them about humility. They are all rescued when the pilot manages to make it to civilization and returns with a helicopter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Audrey Long, (more)
