Emil Newman Movies
- 1965
The Great Sioux Massacre is an entertaining pack of lies about Custer's Last Stand. General Custer (Philip Carey) is herein depicted as a bastion of tolerance, whose efforts to secure fair treatment for the Indians lead to several confrontations with corrupt government officials. Custer is forced to retire, but is soon approached by a machiavellian senator (Don Haggerty) who convinces the General that he is presidential material. The best way to attain the White House, Custer reasons, is to wrest control of the upcoming Little Big Horn campaign from the officer in charge (Frank Ferguson). This, alas, proves to be "Yellow Hair's" undoing. The Great Sioux Massacre costars Joseph Cotten and Darren McGavin as Custer's fellow officers Reno and Benton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Cotten, Darren McGavin, (more)
- 1959
Conflicting views on how to handle juvenile delinquents are not convincingly brought across in this teen melodrama by Edward Cahn. Colonel Walton (John Hoyt) is the repressive head of an institution for young male juvenile delinquents. Responsibility for the deaths of two teens is indirectly laid on Walton's doorstep, and he is replaced by liberal-minded Dr. Paul Furman (Jerome Thor). Furman throws out the old rule book when he decides to change the attitude to the young men by housing female delinquents in the prison. Although warned against this action by a matron and the former warden, Furman goes ahead with his plan. The result is friction between two of the young men over two of the women, and an attempted rape, putting Furman's views and control in jeopardy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerome Thor, Marcia Henderson, (more)
A gentler but no less resourceful Alan Ladd stars in The Proud Rebel. Ladd is cast as civil war veteran John Chandler, while the star's son David (who grew up to become a powerful Hollywood producer) plays Chandler's emotionally disturbed son David. Since suffering a traumatic shock during the war, David has not spoken a single word. With his son in tow, John wanders the frontier in search of a doctor who might cure David's muteness. Along the way, he runs afoul of sheep baron Harry Burleigh (Dean Jagger), and for a brief period is forced into indentured servitude to pay a debt to farm woman Linnet Moore (Olivia de Havilland). Falling in love with Linnet, John vows to protect her land from the covetous machinations of Burleigh and his brood. It is during the climactic set-to between good guys and bad that David at long last finds his voice again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Ladd, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1958
The plot and title of Unwed Mother are virtually one and the same. Betty (Norma Moore), the heroine, falls for the smooth line of patter delivered by no-good heel Dona (Robert Vaughan). Pretending to be a man of wealth, Dona convinces country gal Betty to give him her paychecks, promising to pay her back as soon as his inheritance comes through. He also assures her that he'll marry her when the time is right. When Betty becomes pregnant, she learns what the audience has known all along about the prevaricating Dona. After putting her child up for adoption, Betty has second thoughts, and thus spends the final reel chasing after the foster parents who've taken charge of her baby. Unwed Mother was originally released on a double bill with the equally unsubtle Joy Ride. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Moore, Robert Vaughn, (more)
- 1958
Director Edward L. Cahn always knew how to make lemonade from a lemon; his B pictures of the late 1950s displayed a raw energy that many of his higher-budgeted films of the 1930s lacked. Hong Kong Confidential is a backlot cheapie starring Gene Barry and second-feature stalwarts Beverly Tyler and Allison Hayes. Barry plays a secret agent, in Hong Kong to rescue an Arabian prince from his kidnappers. The villains, of course, are Soviet spies, easily recognizable by their baggy suits and flabby accents. Also in the cast of Hong Kong Confidential is Ed Kemmer, who'd once starred in that baby-boomer favorite Space Patrol. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Barry, Beverly Tyler, (more)
- 1957
Chicago Confidential may not have been the best of the late-1950s "expose" films, but it certainly boasted one of the most impressive casts. Based on the factual best-seller by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer, the film stars Brian Keith as a State Attorney who vows to bring corrupt Chicago union officials to justice. It turns out that the union crooks are in cahoots with a gambling syndicate, conspiring to frame uncooperative union leader Dick Foran for murder. With the considerable assistance of his coworker-fiancee Beverly Garland, Keith strives to prove Foran's innocence and punish the genuine miscreants. Crucial to the plotline is nightclub comedian Buddy Lewis, cast as an impressionist who helps to frame the troublesome Foran; also in the cast are such crime-flick perennials as Elisha Cook Jr., Paul Langton, Douglas Kennedy, Jack Lambert, John Indrisano, Phyllis Coates, and Thomas B. Henry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Keith, Beverly Garland, (more)
- 1957
Pill poppin' truckers provide the focus of this anti-drug drama. Much of the story centers upon an investigator for the US Food and Drug Department who has been assigned to stop all truckers from taking amphetamines while they drive. The drivers take the pills to help them stay awake on long-hauls. Unfortunately, the "speed" is also causing major accidents. The investigator goes undercover as a driver to help find the main drug pushers. En route he falls for a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, he finds that she is one of the biggest pushers in the country. Though the film's original intent was very serious, it has become popular with fans of campy or cult films. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Mala Powers, (more)
- 1957
Frontier peacekeeper Sheriff Galt (Sterling Hayden) faces a crisis of conscience in The Iron Sheriff. In the aftermath of a robbery-murder, Galt follows the trail of evidence directly to his own son, Benjie (Darryl Hickman). Sworn to uphold the law at all costs, Galt is grimly determined to see that Benjie will receive a fair trial without any coercion on his part. But the townsfolk have already decided that the sheriff will try to spring the boy, and a lynch-mob mentality slows festers its way through the community. As the trial proceeds, it becomes obvious that Benjie is going to hang for his alleged crime, but there's still one or two surprises in store. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sterling Hayden, Constance Ford, (more)
- 1956
In this adventure, Navy researchers team up with marine biologists to create an effective shark repellent for WW II pilots who must fly over oceans. Unfortunately, the project is supervised by an unscrupulous scientist who wants to get the project finished and endeavors to have an inferior product given to the Navy. When his shoddy workmanship results in the death of an innocent young man, the scientist becomes genuinely committed to his task and even uses himself as a guinea pig with the final formula. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Karen Steele, (more)
- 1956
Mantz; Walter Thompson) X It would be pointless to telecast the Cinerama travelogue 7 Wonders of the World on the tiny TV screen--at least, until widescreen digital television becomes the norm. This third feature-length Cinerama effort was produced by Lowell Thomas, who also narrates. The plotless film starts off with an overhead view of Manhattan, then hopscotches between 32 different countries. Among the sights soaked in by the triptych cameras are the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the Sphinx, the Pyramids, St. Peter's Basilica, a Benares temple and the Rio de Janeiro Mardi Gras celebrations. Five directors collaborated on the film, including the late, great stunt coordinator Paul Mantz. Though undeniably impressive, 7 Wonders of the World seems primitive when compared to the mixed-media IMAX presentations of the 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
A ruthless crime lord saves his sister from social embarrassment by working diligently to get the gangster who fathered her unborn baby off death row and out of prison so he can do the decent thing and marry the girl. The freed gangster is not thrilled with his new bride, but stays loyal until the woman miscarries. He then returns to crime and begins messing with other women, something that outrages his wife's nefarious brother and leads him to frame the cocky youth and get him sent back to prison and certain death. Just before he is to die, the youth tells his story to a sympathetic reporter, who decides to go after the real troublemaker. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Anne Bancroft, (more)
The Man with the Gun in this well-paced western is played by Robert Mitchum. A notorious gunslinger, Mitchum has been hired by a group of concerned citizens to restore law and order to the wide-open town of Sheridan City. Before long, however, Mitchum holds the community in a grip of terror, behaving like a Law Unto Himself. So: Is the star of the film actually the villain of the piece? A last-reel plot twist effectively answers that question. Though Robert Mitchum dominates the proceedings, Man With the Gun also includes some good supporting work by Jan Sterling as Mitchum's saloon-gal wife, Henry Hull as an ageing marshal, John Lupton as an honest young farmer, and Emile Meyer as the town's leading citizen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Jan Sterling, (more)
- 1954
In this western, a forward thinking hero joins in on the promotion of camels as the perfect desert pack animals. He embarks upon a journey with a group of others. Among them is a fugitive bankrobber and his girl friend who are trying to outfox a posse. One of the hero's men recognizes the desperado and begins blackmailing him in exchange for silence. During the journey, a band of angry natives attack. Later, the group loses their water and face the prospect of dying of thirst. The picture was originally released in 3-D. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanne Dru, Rod Cameron, (more)
A real "must see" for devotees of 1950s pop culture, Ring of Fear boasts a script co-written by character actor Paul Fix and a cast which includes the likes of animal trainer Clyde Beatty and pulp-fiction novelist Mickey Spillane. The story takes place in Beatty's travelling circus, where a homicidal maniac named Dublin (Sean McClory) is doing his best to wreck the show. It's all because Dublin is in love with Valerie (Marian Carr), the wife of aerialist Armond St. Denis (John Bromfield). Since the cops don't know who's behind all the trouble, they call in crime expert Spillane (cast as himself). Dublin nearly succeeds in bumping off Spillane before he himself is dispatched by a giant tiger. Representing the Law is Pat O'Brien, who delivers his silly dialogue with conviction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat O'Brien, Mickey Spillane, (more)
Set in the Philippines during WWII, this suspenseful and realistic war drama chronicles the courage of a unit of US Marines as they try to save a plantation owner/Allied spy and his beautiful daughter from the Japanese who have taken over a densely jungled island. The spy has crucial information to relay so the Marines must hurry. Unfortunately, during the rescue, the platoon is ambushed and all but one sailor, the spy and his daughter are killed. Now the three must somehow survive the jungle and make it to safety before it is too late. The story was shot on location in Hawaii. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Frank Lovejoy, (more)
- 1954
Vincent Price turns on his usual terrifying charm in the role of a homicidal magician in The Mad Magician, a satisfying thriller that was originally shown in 3-D. The actor best known for the luster he brought to many horror films stars as Gallico the Great, an inventor of magic acts who yearns to be the star of his own show. On the night of his first performance, he is shut down by his cruel manager Ormond (Donald Randolph) -- who wants to use Gallico's ingenious buzzsaw act for the famed magician Rinaldi (John Emery). Added to the knowledge that the wealthy Ormond had already stolen his wife Claire (Eva Gabor), Gallico goes mad and decapitates his tormentor with the buzzsaw. After a great sequence in which Ormond's head takes a mistaken trip with Gallico's assistant Karen (Mary Murphy) and her detective boyfriend Bruce (Patrick O'Neal), Gallico disguises himself as Ormond and rents an apartment with a mystery author (Lenita Lane). He manages to dispose of the body in another amusing scene, but he must kill again when Claire confronts him in his Ormond disguise. The author identifies Ormond as her killer and Gallico appears to be off the hook -- until Rinaldi appears with designs on stealing Gallico's latest trick: a crematorium illusion. Naturally, the illusion becomes reality and Rinaldi is burned to a crisp. Disguising himself as Rinaldi and taking over the magician's successful show, Gallico continues to fool the law until Bruce matches fingerprints from Rinaldi (who is really Gallico) to those of Ormond. Meanwhile, the author, realizing that the Ormond who stayed in her house was really Gallico, gathers Karen and the detective for a fiery confrontation. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, (more)
Hondo is so "perfect" a John Ford western that many people assume it was directed by John Ford--or at the very least, Andrew McLaglen. Actually the director was suspense expert John Farrow, who worked with the "Duke" only twice in his career (the second film was an oddball war drama, The Sea Chase [55]). In Hondo, John Wayne plays a hard-bitten cavalry scout who is humanized by frontierswoman Geraldine Page and her young son (Lee Aaker, star of TV's Rin Tin Tin). Try as he might, Wayne can't convince Page to move off her land in anticipation of an Apache attack. He leaves her ranch, only to be ambushed by desperado Leo Gordon--who happens to be Page's long-absent husband. Having killed Gordon, Hondo returns to the ranch to protect Page from the Indians, and to rekindle the woman's hesitant love for him. The climactic attack sequence is enhanced by Hondo's 3-D photography, one of the few truly effective utilizations of this much-maligned process. Long unavailable thanks to the labyrinthine legal tangles of the John Wayne estate, Hondo was finally released to videotape in the early 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Geraldine Page, (more)
- 1953
War Paint stars Robert Stack as a courageous U.S. Cavalry lieutenant, assigned to deliver a peace treaty to a powerful Indian chief. Unfortunately, a band of bloodthirsty renegades have vowed to kill the officer before he completes his mission. Will our hero be able to deliver the treaty at the appointed time, thereby avoiding mass bloodshed? And will the Indian chieftain's daughter (Joan Taylor) actually survive until the last reel, even though she's fallen in love with the lieutenant? (If so, it will be a Hollywood first!) Beautifully photographed in Pathecolor, War Paint was filmed on location in Death Valley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Stack, Joan Taylor, (more)
- 1953
The Steel Lady in this crazy-quilt actioner is the armored tank commandeered by star Rod Cameron. Marooned in the Sahara desert, airplane pilot Mike Monohan (Cameron) and his melting-pot crew (including a young Tab Hunter) come across a deserted Afrika Korps tank. As they roll across the burning sands in search of civilization, the crew is unaware that hidden within the tank is a fortune in diamonds. But villainous sheik Mustapha El Melek (John Abbott) does know, and he manages to enlist Monohan's drunken co-pilot Barlow (John Dehner) in his scheme to claim the gems for himself. Also released as Treasure of Kalifa, The Steel Lady is an unsteady mixture of war drama and Arabian-Nights escapism. The film was directed by E. A. Dupont, who in his salad days was responsible for the silent German classic Variety. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Cameron, Tab Hunter, (more)
- 1953
Ernie Driscoll (John Payne) is an ex-fighter who came within seconds of winning the world championship. He's now forced to eke out a living driving a cab. A basically decent guy, he has lots of people who care about him, including Linda James (Evelyn Keyes), a slightly ditsy actress friend -- but Ernie also has a short fuse, especially where his wife Pauline (Peggie Castle) is concerned. His rage boils over when he spots her kissing another man, but her unfaithfulness turns out to be the least of his worries. The man she's seeing, Vic Rawlins (Brad Dexter), is a career criminal with both the police and his former partners after him, and he sees Ernie as the perfect fall-guy. The law and Rawlins' criminal associates are soon closing in on Ernie, while he tries desperately -- with Linda's help -- to buy the time he needs to unravel this nightmare. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, (more)
During World War II, a Military Air Transport Command DC-3 piloted by a civilian crew is forced down in northern Labrador. The five men, led by Dooley (John Wayne), have barely any food and almost no way to keep warm, and their power supply is fading fast, but they have to find a way of staying alive until search planes find them. At first, even Dooley is overwhelmed by the responsibility for his crew's safety, and he is too lax in handling them -- but after one man dies, frozen to death just steps from help, he takes over and pushes his men and himself to the limits of their endurance; he even seems ready to crack himself at one moment. Meanwhile, the men who fly with Dooley push themselves and their machines past their endurance limits searching the arctic wastes for the downed plane. Island in the Sky -- based on the book by Ernest K. Gann (perhaps the best aviation novel ever written), which was, in turn, based on a true incident that happened during the war -- is one of the most startling movies in Wayne's output. He doesn't even look like the "star" John Wayne, but like a real pilot, and the cast, made up of familiar faces, all look like the real article; indeed, this movie should have been in the running for Academy Awards for costuming and makeup, just for making these familiar performers, such as Lloyd Nolan (in maybe his best performance) and Andy Devine (ditto), look like real pilots and ordinary men, rather than familiar actors. You end up feeling like you're watching a documentary, and the effect is bracing and unsettling, and dramatically unparalleled in Wayne's entire output. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Lloyd Nolan, (more)
- 1952
Written and directed by Irving Brecher, best known for his weekly TV series Life of Riley and The People's Choice, Somebody Loves Me is the highly fictionalized life story of vaudeville and Broadway star Blossom Seeley (Betty Hutton) and her husband-partner Benny Fields (Ralph Meeker). Unflatteringly, the film depicts Fields as something of an opportunist, who maneuvers Blossom into marriage for the benefit of his own career. Eventually he does penance for his callousness, particularly in a scene wherein Fields is reduced to playing straight for a pair of crummy Burlesque comedians. Meanwhile, Blossom also goes into an eclipse as a "single." The tearful finale is, like the rest of the film, a bit at odds with the truth, but effective nonetheless. Betty Hutton does pretty well as Seeley, even though she looks and sounds nothing like genuine article; Meeker seems uncomfortable, except when lip-synching to the prerecorded voice of Pat Morgan as Benny Fields. Jack Benny makes an amusing cameo appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Hutton, Ralph Meeker, (more)
- 1952
Joel McCrea plays 19th-century miner Rick Nelson in The San Francisco Story. The year is 1856, and Frisco is a wide-open town. To stem the activities of crooks and con artists, newspaper editor Jim Martin (Onslow Stevens) organizes a group of peace-keeping vigilantes. Nelson, an old friend of Martin's, arrives in the Golden Gate city to help out. The villain of the piece is political boss Andrew Cain (Sidney Blackmer), who regards San Francisco as his own personal fiefdom. When not battling Cain's bought-off flunkies and hulking henchman, Nelson dallies with Cain's erstwhile girlfriend Adelaide McCall (Yvonne DeCarlo). Not so much a western as a historical actioner, The San Francisco Story is tip-top entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel McCrea, Yvonne De Carlo, (more)
- 1952
Just for You is based very loosely on Stephen Vincent Benet's Famous. Widowed Broadway producer Jordan Blake (Bing Crosby) is too busy with work to pay much attention to his teenaged kids Jerry (Robert Arthur) and Barbara (Natalie Wood). One thing he hasn't noticed is that Jerry isn't really a kid any more. This point is driven home when Jerry develops a crush on Blake's latest leading lady--and erstwhile sweetheart--Carolina Hill (Jane Wyman). Only Allida de Bronkhart (Ethel Barrymore), owner of the girl's school attended by Barbara, is wise enough to figure out a satisfactory solution to everyone's dilemmas. Capitalizing on their previous successful musical teaming in Here Comes the Groom, Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman perform several sprightly tunes, both solo and in tandem. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman, (more)
- 1952
One of several early-1950s films to capitalize on the Kefauver Committee's investigation of organized crime, The Captive City stars John Forsythe as crusading editor Jim Austin. While Austin prepares his testimony before the Committee, the film flashes back to the events which led to this courageous act. Victor Sutherland plays mob boss Murray Sirak, who has the entire police force of Austin's hometown under his thumb. Sirak in turns takes his orders from an unseen Mister Big, who of course is "above the law"--or so it seems. Based on the experiences of Time magazine reporter Alvin Josephy Jr. (who co-authored the script), Captive City contains the added fillip of a guest appearance by Senator Estes Kefauver himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Forsythe, Joan Camden, (more)
