Maxwell Shane Movies

Jazz musician Stan Grayson (Kevin McCarthy) wakes up from a dream in which he has killed a man during a struggle in a bizarre mirrored room. However, thumbprints on his neck, a strange key in his pocket, and a haunting, otherworldly musical riff in his head quickly convince him that it was not just a dream. Afraid that he might be a murderer, yet not recalling the events of the nightmare, he confides in his brother-in-law (and New Orleans homicide detective) René Bressard (Edward G. Robinson), who tells him that he's been working too hard and drinking too much. But as Grayson is almost magnetically drawn back to the scene of the apparent crime, Bressard angrily comes to believe that Stan was lying and knew exactly what he had done. Grayson, paralyzed by his guilt, can barely find the strength to try to clear himself. McCarthy portrays a sense of overwhelming panic almost as well as he does in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and Robinson's tough cop is warmly textured with a sly sense of humor. Nightmare is a far superior remake of director Maxwell Shane's own first adaptation of the Cornell Woolrich story, Fear in the Night (1947). With a larger budget and better cast, Shane creates a shadowy, hypnotic world of seedy urban nightclubs and cheap hotels; even a picnic on the bayou evokes a feeling of dread. Woolrich would have felt right at home. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide

Phil Karlson, well-regarded by film buffs for his tough, no-nonsense crime dramas, directed this adventure story shot partially on location in the Caribbean. Mike Cormack (John Payne) was once a District Attorney, until his fiancée, Janet Martin (Mary Murphy), left him to marry another man. Depressed, Mike began drinking heavily, and eventually his alcoholism cost him his job. Trying to pull himself back up after hitting bottom, Mike gets a job as a bouncer at a casino in Las Vegas. Barzland (Francis L. Sullivan), a handicapped criminal, approaches Mike with an unusual offer. Barzland will pay Mike $5,000 if he can locate a ruby that went missing following the disappearance of a plane in the West Indies. Mike discovers that the reason he was picked for this job is that the pilot of the plane, Eduardo (Paul Picerni), is the man Janet chose to marry, and Barzland and his men believe that she might have clues as to the ruby's whereabouts that Mike could uncover. However, when Mike arrives to meet with Janet, he discovers that Eduardo is now in jail, and Janet begins to snare Mike in a web of lies and deceit. Hell's Island was rereleased in 1962 under the title South Sea Fury. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This drama chronicles the exploits of Peter, a European desperate to enter the United States. Because he can't be granted asylum due to the lack of proper papers, he resorts to jumping ship and sneaking in. In the Big Apple, he is assisted by two people who know about his past. One of them is a jazz musician, a former American pilot shot down in Europe during WWII. Peter helped the man then and hopes that he will now vouch for Peter in his attempts to obtain legal papers by showing that he was instrumental in aiding underground activities during the war to help the Allied cause. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This slightly bowdlerized version of Irving Shulman's The Amboy Dukes was used by Universal-International to showcase several of its new male contractees. Set in the slums of Brooklyn, the film follows the exploits of the Amboy Dukes, a teenaged street gang. Foremost among the Dukes is Frank Cusack (Peter Fernandez), who loses all opportunity to escape his grim existence when he accidentally kills his high-school teacher. The film tries to demonstrate that the so-called "code of the streets"--never rat on a pal--is possibly more destructive than any brass knuckle or switchblade. Maxwell Shane and Dennis Cooper's screenplay resists any temptation to sentimentalize the kids or trivialize their plight; the closest the film comes to comedy relief are the shattered romantic illusions of the near-moronic Crazy Perrin. Prominent among the supporting players are Thelma Ritter as Frank Cusack's anguished mother, Stephen McNally as a community center counselor, and Anthony (Tony) Curtis as the leather-jacketed gang leader. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The same week that Pine-Thomas Productions' Speed to Spare was tradeshown in Los Angeles, the company released another of its patented adventure programmers, Mr. Reckless. William Eythe plays the title character, an oil-well digger named Jeff Lundy. Returning to his hometown after a long absence, Jeff is displeased to discover that his sweetheart Betty Denton (Barbara Britton) is engaged to the much-older Jim Halsey (Ian McDonald). Though outwardly philosophical about the whole matter, Jeff concocts several outlandish schemes to win Betty back, most of these hinging upon his daredevil oil-field activities. Walter Catlett and Lloyd Corrigan steal the show with their time-honored mugging and gesticulating. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adventure Island is a shorter and less satisfying remake of the 1937 Paramount actioner Ebb Tide. Rory Calhoun, Paul Kelly and John Abbott star as Herrick, Lochlin and Hulsh, three mercenary seamen involved in illegal activities in the South Seas. Hired to pilot a schooner to Australia, the threesome plan instead to rob the vessel of its precious cargo. Much to their dismay, they discover that the cargo is bogus, and that they're stuck taking care of the former captain's pretty but contentious daughter Faith Rhonda Fleming. The four lost souls are later imprisoned by Mr. Atwater Alan Napier, in the role played in Ebb Tide by Lloyd Nolan, a megalomaniac who rules a tiny island by exploiting the superstitions of the local natives. Assembled by Pine-Thomas productions, Adventure Island represents a rare excursion away from Poverty Row by director Sam Newfield, here travelling under the alias of Peter Stewart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Big Town was the first of a series of Pine-Thomas productions inspired by the radio series of the same name--which in turn was spun off into a long-running TV series. Philip Reed stars as crusading newspaper editor Steve Wilson, while Hillary Brooke portrays Wilson's ever-loving, ever-efficient "Girl Friday" Lorelei Kilbourne. Vowing to rid his community of the stench of Yellow Journalism, Wilson assumes command of the Illustrated Daily Press, utilizing his tabloid as a bastion of truth and a weapon against big-city corruption. Crusading against a local crime ring, Wilson unfortunately goes "too far", and is nearly destroyed by lawsuits before he can redeem himself. To avoid confusion with the teleivision series, Big Town was retitled Guilty Assignment for its earliest TV showings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Art Linkletter had only recently taken over the popular audience-participation radio series People are Funny from Art Baker when he appeared as "himself" in this lighthearted musical comedy. The film's plot concerns a rivalry between two radio producers, both of whom want to produce a weekly radio series in which audience members indulge in silly stunts for huge cash prizes. A romance develops between supposedly slow-on-the-uptake radio producer Pinky Wilson (Jack Haley) and writer Corey Sullivan (Helen Walker), while wealthy sponsor Ormsby Jamison (Rudy Vallee) tries to determine if People are Funny is a saleable concept. Ozzie Nelson costars as Wilson's business rival, Frances Langford shows up for a song, and future 3 Stooges member Joe DeRita has a funny bit as a contestant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tokyo Rose is a standard wartime melodrama with the slight advantage of topicality. Lotus Long plays the title role, an American-educated Japanese woman broadcasting enemy propaganda to American troops. Captured GI Pete Sherman (Byron Barr) is one of a group of POWS slated to be interviewed on Tokyo Rose's radio program. Instead of advising his comrades to surrender (as ordered), Sherman uses his innate Yankee knowhow to hoist the treacherous oriental deejay on her own petard. Managing to make his escape, Sherman hooks up with the Japanese Underground, convincing anti-militarist Charlie Otani (Keye Luke) to aid in a kidnapping plot aimed at Tokyo Rose. This story wasn't any more believable when it was done on TV's Hogan's Heroes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comedy centers around an inept reporter who wouldn't recognize a hot story if it burned him on the hand. The trouble begins when he is assigned to do a story on a local wine festival. Meanwhile an escaped convict holds the heated interest of the rest of the newspaper employees. The bungler gets involved when he goes to the wrong location and ends up on a bus where someone is killed. He becomes a suspect, and later when he must stop at an inn, he finds his girl friend and a detective there too. At the inn, the proprietor has two priceless jeweled chess pieces that have been attracting a lot of attention from the public, and from the fugitive convict. Mayhem ensues when the crook shows up to claim the chessmen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this drama, two competing reporters get involved in a mystery when they find a gangster's corpse in a wax museum. As no one has reported the death, the two rivals begin racing to get the scoop. Unfortunately the uncooperative corpse keeps disappearing. Also looking for the body is the killer who does not want his murder to become public as he has also stolen some jewels. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Another of Jack Haley's comedy vehicles for Pine-Thomas productions, One Body Too Many casts Haley as timid insurance salesman Albert Tuttle. Much against his better judgment, Tuttle makes a business call at a sinister old mansion, intending to sell life insurance to the owner. He proves a bit late, inasmuch as the owner has just kicked the bucket. The mansion is full of avaricious relatives, who are obliged by the dictates of the decedent's will to remain in the house until the authorities claim the body. Realizing that dead man's niece Carol (Jean Parker) is a damsel in all kinds of distress, Albert decides to stick around to keep Carol from meeting her uncle's fate. Though there's a murder-mystery angle in One Body too Many, the audience knows who didn't do it the moment Bela Lugosi shows up as a butler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Timber Queen is another of Pine-Thomas' rugged low-budget adventure films of the 1940s, most of which (like this one) starred Richard Arlen. It all begins when Russ (Arlen), a former Army pilot, comes home after a physical discharge. He befriends Elaine (Mary Beth Hughes), the widow of an Army buddy, who has inherited a financially-strapped timber camp. Elaine's financial future hinges on a huge timber shipment, which must arrive at its destination On Time-and that's where Russ and his little airplane come in. Sheldon Leonard is his usual surly self as Smacksie, a reformed racketeer who helps Russ complete his mission. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide