Paul Carpenter Movies

The title character of Albert, R.N is portrayed by-well, by no one. Albert is a papier-mache dummy, constructed by the British inmates of a German POW camp. The dummy is used as a diversion in a daring escape plan. Anthony Steel plays the mastermind of the getaway scheme, while Anton Diffring costars as the shrewd-and utterly despicable-Nazi commandant. Albert, R.N was released in the US under the unimaginative title Break to Freedom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's Bob Hope as phony explorer Matt Merriwether, who promotes himself as an expert on the dark continent, basing his exploration of the African subcontinent on old diaries of his uncle. When an American space capsule crashes in an uncharted region of Africa, Merriwether, based on his alleged expert knowledge of the region, is selected to recover the capsule. Joining Merriwether and his pre-Kervorkian suicide kit, is security agent Frederica Larsen (Edie Adams). Hot on their heels are Russian agents Luba (Anita Ekberg) and Dr. Ezra Mungo (Lionel Jeffries), who want to get to the space capsule first. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an American journalist goes to England and winds up assisting a prominent lawyer's nephew after he is falsely accused of murdering a girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This second entry in the British "Doctor" series once more stars Dirk Bogarde as young medico Simon Sparrow. Securing his first job as ship's doctor on a freighter, Simon again runs afoul of James Robertson Justice, here cast not as the irascible Sir Lancelot Sprat but as ship's captain Hogg. Unexpectedly, the freighter is obliged to take on passengers--specifically, the man-hungry daughter (Brenda DeBanzie) of the shipping magnate who owns the vessel, and toothsome French chanteuse Helene Colbert (Brigitte Bardot, in her first English-language film). As the older woman makes a play for the crusty captain, Helene sets her sights on the nonplussed Dr. Sparrow. Often funnier than its predecessor, Doctor at Sea proved the viability of the "Doctor" series, prompting several chucklesome sequels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An elderly woman tells the police that her life savings, which she has stored in a candy box, has been stolen and replaced with strips of old newspaper. In their efforts to retrieve the money and catch the thief, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) run up against a disturbing number of contradictory clues. This 200th episode of the original black and white Dragnet was written especially for television, with no previous radio version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This silly British-made space opera finds distant ancestors of the lost civilization of Atlantis -- all of them nubile young ladies, of course, and starved for male company -- residing for some unexplained reason on the thirteenth moon of Jupiter, where they are discovered by an Earth exploration team headed by Anthony Dexter. The Earthmen offer to help the Atlantean cuties return home and re-establish their fallen city, but only manage to rescue one of them after they come under attack from a cheesy monster known as the "Black God." The film's camp highlight comes when the maidens perform an interpretive dance to the music of Borodin. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The career of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun (Curt Jurgens) is the focus of this film. Supposedly bullied by the Nazis into working for the Third Reich, the end of the war leaves the rocket man with a decision to take his talents to either Russia or the United States. He chooses the U. S., but controversy follows the gifted scientist wherever he goes. Some resent his collaborations with the Nazis, while others in the government are more than willing to turn their heads in deference to his genius. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this airborne disaster movie, a has-been brilliant scientist plants a bomb on a transatlantic jet to exact revenge upon a passenger whom he blames for his daughter's death -- she died during a plane crash. When the booby-trap is discovered and the passengers learn the motive for the scientists' actions, one of the passengers attempts to kill the man the scientist blames. A fight erupts and a window is shattered. The helpful passenger is sucked right out of the plane. Only when the scientist spies a child resembling his own lost daughter does he regain his humanity and disarm the bomb. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Landfall takes place during the early portions of WWII. RAF pilot Rick (Michael Denison) is transferred to another squadron after sinking a British sub during a bombing raid. Disgraced, Rick has no one to turn to, save for sympathetic barmaid Mona (Patricia Plunkett). With her help, the pilot is able to find out the truth behind his "fatal error" and clear his name. Landfall was based on a novel by Nevil Shute, of On the Beach fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The British Assignment Redhead stars Hollywood's Richard Denning as a devil-may-care secret agent. The blonde Denning is, of course, not the redhead of the title: that honor goes to luscious nightclub vocalist Carole Mathews. The girl is up to her pretty neck in intrigue, thanks to a $12 million robbery masterminded by chameleon-like criminal Ronald Adam. When she has the chance to ice Denning, Carole refuses to do so, throwing her lot with him to foil the villains. Based on a novel by Al Bocca, Assignment Redhead was released in the US (in a radically chopped-up version) as Million Dollar Manhunt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"You've never SEEN Gregory Peck until you've seen him in CINEMASCOPE." So read the publicity hype for 20th Century-Fox's Night People. Actually, Peck is his usual solid, stoic self as Col. Van Dyke, a CIA officer stationed in West Berlin. When an American soldier is kidnapped by the Soviets in the Eastern sector, Van Dyke is verbally assaulted by the soldier's influential industrialist father Leatherby (Broderick Crawford), who demands that something be done immediately. The Colonel realizes that it's not as simple as that: in return for the soldier, he is expected to turn over an elderly couple, both former anti-Nazi activists, to the East Germans, who will probably execute the couple. Leatherby backs off a bit when he meets the couple, then agrees to let Van Dyke handle the crisis in the most diplomatic manner possible. Things come to a head when the Colonel discovers that one of his trusted aides (Anita Bjork) is in league with the Soviets. Filmed on location in Germany, Night People is capped by a deliciously ironic coda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this thriller, a reporter investigates the murder of a female blackmailer and soon finds himself hot on the trails of both the killer and the schoolboy that may have witnessed the crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide