James Poe Movies

This made-for-TV historical drama chronicles the personal and professional lives of Colonel Tibbets and the airmen who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The story is based on a book by Gordon Thomas and Max Gordon Witts and also looks at the ways in which the aftermath of the bombing affected their lives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A total of nine Academy Award nominations went to this wildly acclaimed, allegorical drama set amongst the contestants in a marathon dance contest during the Great Depression. Gig Young stars as Rocky, the obnoxious emcee for a dance marathon that offers prize money of $1,500, a small fortune during hard economic times that brings out the worst in several participants. Among them are Gloria Beatty (Jane Fonda), a malcontent who's partnered with a drifter, Robert Syverton (Michael Sarrazin); a pregnant farm girl (Bonnie Bedelia) and her husband (Bruce Dern); a sailor (Red Buttons); and an aspiring actress (Susannah York). As the marathon winds into a staggering second month, suspicion, doubt and insecurity rages among the competitors and even the decaying and increasingly manipulative Rocky, leading to a shocking crime. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The Bedford Incident was an attempt by Columbia Pictures -- which had previously made Dr. Strangelove and released Fail-Safe -- to tap the well of public anxiety surrounding nuclear weapons and the Cold War one more time. Reporter Ben Munceford (Sidney Poitier) is allowed aboard a navy ship on patrol near the Arctic Circle, under the command of Captain Eric Finlander (Richard Widmark). His job is to observe the ship in action and do an article on Finlander, a hard-as-nails sailor and a dedicated anti-Communist with a patriotic zeal that's extraordinary even in a man of his rank and position. Finlander's main problem, however -- when he's not sparring with the reporter -- is tracking and hunting a Soviet sub that he knows is patroling the same waters. What alarms Munceford (and the audience) is that Finlander acts like there is an actual "hot" war going on; he drives his men mercilessly, up to and past the breaking point, trying to hunt down the submarine and force it to surface, and nothing -- not the questions of the reporter, the angry protests of the newly-arrived medical officer (Martin Balsam), or the quietly voiced concerns of retired U-Boat commander Commodore Shrepke (Eric Portman), aboard as an observer, can get him to relent. Then, when it looks like Finlander has been proved right and has gotten away with his provocation of the "enemy," a mistake by one over-tired young officer (James MacArthur) suddenly unleashes all of the destructive power with which Finlander has been flirting. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Sidney Poitier plays Homer Smith, an aimless ex-GI who takes a temporary handyman job at a Southwestern farm maintained by five German nuns. It is the cherished dream of the Mother Superior (Lilia Skala) to build a chapel (or, as she says, a "shapel"). She is convinced that the personable Homer has been sent from Above to help her realize her dream. He protests loudly and rudely, but she will not be dissuaded. How Homer accomplishes her goal, endears himself to the surrounding townsfolk, and avoids an arrest for a previous crime, comprises the heart of Lilies of the Field. The film, adapted by James Poe from a novel by William E. Barrett, was later remade for television, and it won Poitier an Academy Award for Best Actor, the first time that award was given to an African-American. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Combining elements from William Faulkner's novel Sanctuary, its sequel Requiem for a Nun, and a stage adaptation of Requiem for a Nun by Ruth Ford, director Tony Richardson's film is set in 1920s Mississippi and recounts the story of Temple Drake (Lee Remick), a young, lustful white woman who falls for a man who rapes her, only to marry another when she is told that her lover has died. The story is told as a flashback in an attempt to explain what led to the film's present, in which a black maid is on trial for the murder of Temple's baby. This was Richardson's first film made for a studio; he agreed to make Sanctuary to fund his next film, A Taste of Honey. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Anthony Quinn and Shirley Booth play a married couple who cling and claw like cats in a bathtub in this sudsy melodrama set in steamy New Orleans. Booth does most of the clinging as a neglected wife struggling to reassemble her battered marriage to Quinn who plays a faithless husband in love with tender young Valerie Allen, something Booth tries her best to ignore. Unfortunately, despite her efforts, her children are not spared the spousal turmoil. Matters are not helped when Earl Holliman, the eldest son, decides to leave his father's employment business and start his own. The youngest son Clint Kimbrough finds it all terribly upsetting. Meanwhile his sister Shirley MacLaine becomes deeply depressed after her father threatens her boyfriend in an effort to get him to marry her. Now MacLaine is left with no one. The fur really begins to fly when Quinn, tired of the tumult, decides to chuck the whole family and move to Florida with Allen. Tragedy ensues for the wicked duo. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Razzle-dazzle showman Michael Todd hocked everything he had to make this spectacular presentation of Jules Verne's 1872 novel Around the World in 80 Days, the second film to be lensed in the wide-screen Todd-AO production. Nearly as fascinating as the finished product are the many in-production anecdotes concerning Todd's efforts to pull the wool over the eyes of local authorities in order to cadge the film's round-the-world location shots--not to mention the wheeling and dealing to convince over forty top celebrities to appear in cameo roles. David Niven heads the huge cast as ultra-precise, supremely punctual Phileas Fogg, who places a 20,000-pound wager with several fellow members of London Reform Club, insisting that he can go around the world in eighty days (this, remember, is 1872). Together with his resourceful valet Passepartout (Cantinflas), Fogg sets out on his world-girdling journey from Paris via balloon. Meanwhile, suspicion grows that Fogg has stolen his 20,000 pounds from Bank of England. Diligent Inspector Fix (Robert Newton) is sent out by the bank's president (Robert Morley) to bring Fogg to justice. Hopscotching around the globe, Fogg pauses in Spain, where Passepartout engages in a comic bullfight (a specialty of Cantinflas). In India, Fogg and Passepartout rescue young widow Princess Aouda (Shirley MacLaine, in her third film) from being forced into committing suicide so that she may join her late husband. The threesome visit Hong Kong, Japan, San Francisco, and the Wild West. Only hours short of winning his wager, Fogg is arrested by the diligent Inspector Fixx. Though exonerated of the bank robbery charges, he has lost everything--except the love of the winsome Aouda. But salvation is at hand when Passepartout discovers that, by crossing the International Date Line, there's still time to reach the Reform Club. Will they make it? See for yourself. Among the film's 46 guest stars, the most memorable include Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer, Jose Greco, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lorre, Red Skelton, Buster Keaton, John Mills, and Beatrice Lillie. All were paid in barter--Ronald Colman did his brief bit for a new car. Newscaster Edward R. Murrow provides opening narration, and there's a tantalizing clip from Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (1902). Offering a little something for everyone, Around the World in 80 Days is nothing less than an extravaganza, and it won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Aldrich's screen adaptation of Clifford Odets' stage play reflects the quandary of the writer's later career; the golden boy of the Group Theater in the '30s, when his plays were the toast of Broadway, his talent seemed to wither after a number of years in the screenwriting trenches, and a revulsion for what he saw as hackwork combined with his capitulation to HUAC to blight his final decade. Jack Palance stars as Charlie Castle, a major film star who has refused to sign a long-term contract for big money with a studio run by the tyrannical Stanley Hoff (Rod Steiger). This has led to the return of his wife, Marion (Ida Lupino), who had left him due to his womanizing and a willingness to kowtow to Hoff in doing bad movies only for the money. After his agent, Nat Danziger (Everett Sloane), tries unsuccessfully to get him to reconsider, Hoff himself badgers Charlie, insisting on the absolute necessity of his signing. When the star continues to resist, Hoff threatens to blackmail him with an ugly incident from his past. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide

The distinctive stamp of action-film director Phil Karlson is very much in evidence in Scandal Sheet. Broderick Crawford plays tabloid editor Mark Chapman, whose burgeoning success is threatened by the arrival of his wife Charlotte (Rosemary DeCamp), whom he deserted 20 years earlier. Hoping to keep Charlotte's mouth shut, Chapman accidentally kills her. He does his best to cover his tracks, but his best is none too good, and another murder follows. Meanwhile, Chapman's star reporter Steve McCleary (John Derek) is busy investigating the still-unsolved murder of Charlotte. Though Steve holds no grudge against his boss, the same cannot be said of feature writer Julie Allison (Donna Reed), who resents Chapman's sensationalist methods. Slowly but surely, the noose tightens around Chapman's neck, thanks to the diligence of McCleary and, indirectly, the inquiries of Julie. Scandal Sheet was based on a novel by former newspaperman Samuel Fuller, an excellent film director in his own right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Also known as Twilight, Without Honor is a tour de force for leading-lady Laraine Day. During a quarrel with her lover Dennis Williams (Franchot Tone), Mrs. Jane Bandle (Day) attacks him with an ice pick. Believing she has killed Williams, she hurriedly hides the body in her laundry room when her husband Fred (Bruce Bennett) comes home. As Jane's nasty brother-in-law Bill Bandle (Dane Clark) reveals her romantic peccadilloes to Jane's husband and to Williams's wife Katherine (Agnes Moorehead), the "dead" man recovers and drags himself to a nearby hospital. Amazingly, the only one to suffer long-term consequences from this whole mess is the obnoxious Bill! As always, composer Max Steiner's musical score dutifully clues the viewer in as to what's about to happen next in any given scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide