Phil C. Samuel Movies

With dialogue ranging from flat to offensive and acting in the same range, this low-brow erotic crime drama by director Terence Young stars Jayne Mansfield as Midnight Franklin, a star stripper in a Soho club that is in serious rivalry with another strip joint. A reporter gets involved in the strip scene while writing a story on the clubs, and in the end he has quite a lot to write about. The competition between the two clubs heats up, and after one of the owners is the unknowing instrument in the death of a young (illegally young) stripper, both rival clubs head for a crash. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this drama, the commanding officer of a British Royal Air Force flight training school must deal with an ornery, irresponsible cadet. The lad reminds the officer of himself when he was young. It also reminds him that his own youthful arrogance and foolishness caused the death of the new recruit's father. The young man only settles down when the C.O. saves him during maneuvers. The boy is injured during the flight which gives him serious pause for thought. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this desert adventure, a bandit chieftain roams the northwest deserts of India. Wherever he goes, he leaves a trail of ruin and raped women. A British major is assigned to capture the bandit and his gang. He succeeds, but soon the bandit, with the assistance of a sadistic nomad, escapes. The raiders then head for a British garrison where more bloodshed ensues as they begin slaughtering the hapless soldiers. The nomad captures the colonel and begins torturing him. The bandit, who has grown to respect his British adversary, sacrifices his own life to stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A U.S. military officer is motivated by love and compassion to begin a life of crime in this action adventure story. Sgt. Joe Lawrence (Richard Widmark) is an American Army officer who, while stationed in Berlin shortly after the end of WWII, falls in love with Maria (Mai Zetterling), a refugee trying to raise enough money to move a group of German orphans to South America, where they can start life anew. Joe wants to help her, and with his buddies Sgt. Roger Morris (George Cole) and Brian Hammell (Nigel Patrick), Joe plans a daring robbery. A fortune in gold is being transferred from England to Germany via military transport, and Joe, Roger, and Brian intend to hijack the plane and grab the treasure. While the robbery goes off as planned, the three participants soon have second thoughts about what to do with their ill-gotten gains. Seven years later, leading lady Mai Zetterling would commence a distinguished career as a director with her film Wargame. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Grand National Night began life as a stage play, which was promptly adapted as a popular British radio serial. The film combines the best elements of both previous incarnations. Racehorse owner Gerald Coates (Nigel Patrick) accidentally kills his spiteful wife Babs (Moira Lister) during a quarrel. Terror-stricken, Coates stashes the body in the boot (or trunk) of a stranger's car. Methodical police inspector Ayling (Michael Hordern) suspects there's more to this than meets the eye. The script carefully builds up sympathy for the frenzied Coates, then manages to find a way to wrap up the story to everyone's satisfaction (Here's a clue, provided by Leonard Maltin: while watching the film, examine the character names). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Not a remake of the 1934 Katharine Hepburn film of the same name, Spitfire was originally released in Great Britain as The First of the Few. Director Leslie Howard stars in this dramatization of the life and work of R.J. Mitchell, inventor of the Spitfire fighter plane. The film suggests, accurately as it turns out, that Mitchell was aware of Hitler's plans to conquer Europe by the air long before anyone else caught on (we see him watching a suspicious-looking group of "amateur" German gliding enthusiasts in the mid-1930s). David Niven, then a major in the British Army, was given leave to appear in this morale-boosting film as Mitchell's best friend, a dauntless test pilot. Ironically, Spitfire was released after the death of its star-director Leslie Howard, whose plane was shot down by the Germans somewhere between London and Lisbon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide