Victor Mature Movies
The first male film star to be officially labelled a "hunk," Victor Mature was the son of Swiss immigrants. When he arrived in California to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, Mature was so broke that he lived in a pup tent in a vacant lot and subsisted on canned sardines and chocolate bars. There was speculation amongst his fellow students that Mature's spartan lifestyle was deliberately engineered to draw publicity to himself; if so, the ploy worked, and by 1938 he'd been signed to a contract by producer Hal Roach. Mature's first starring film role was as Tumack the caveman in Roach's One Million BC (1940), which enabled the fledgling actor to display his physique without being unduly encumbered by dialogue. While still under contract to Roach, Mature made his Broadway debut in the Moss Hart/Kurt Weill musical Lady in the Dark, playing a musclebound male model. In 1941, Mature was signed by 20th Century-Fox as the "beefcake" counterpart to the studio's "cheesecake" star Betty Grable; the two attractive stars were frequently cast together in Fox musicals, where a lack of clothes was de rigeur. Apparently because of his too-handsome features, the press and fan magazines went out of their way to make Mature look ridiculous and untalented. In truth, he had more good film performances to his credit than one might think: he was excellent as the tubercular Doc Holliday in John Ford's My Darling Clementine (1948), and also registered well in Kiss of Death (1947), Cry of the City (1948), The Egyptian (1954), Betrayed (1954), and Chief Crazy Horse (1955). As the slave Demetrius in The Robe (1953), Mature is more understated and credible than the film's "distinguished" but hopelessly hammy star Richard Burton. Nonetheless, and thanks to such cinematic folderol as Samson and Delilah (1949), Mature was still widely regarded as a lousy actor who survived on the basis of his looks. Rather than fight this ongoing perception, Mature tended to denigrate his own histrionic ability in interviews; later in his career, he hilariously parodied his screen image in such films as After the Fox (1966) and Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976). Semi-retired from acting in the late 1970s, Victor Mature ran a successful television retail shop in Hollywood, although in 1984 he did appear in a TV remake of Samson and Delilah, effectively portraying Samson's father. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1997
- Add Hidden Hollywood: Treasures From The 20th Century Fox Vaults to Queue Add Hidden Hollywood: Treasures From The 20th Century Fox Vaults to top of Queue
Joan Collins is the host of these outtakes and clips deleted from 20th Century-Fox productions of decades past. Entertaining song selections in the compilation include Betty Grable sequences from Footlight Serenade (1942) and Pin Up Girl (1944), Carmen Miranda wearing a lighthouse on her head while essaying True to the Navy for Doll Face (1945), and Shirley Temple doing a Jimmy Durante impersonation while dueting with him for Little Miss Broadway (1938). Alice Faye's delightful I'm Always Chasing Rainbows, and an Al Jolson medley were both deleted from Rose of Washington Square (1939). Faye and Grable teamed in Tin Pan Alley (1940). The fascinating footage features miscues on pre-recorded tunes and other assorted bloopers in addition to awkward attempts at musical performances by such actors as Don Ameche, Clark Gable, and Victor Mature. Hidden Hollywood first aired November 18, 1997 on American Movie Classics. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joan Collins
- 1984
This lavish retelling of the story of the Hebrew strong man and history's most famous lady barber was based in part on the Old Testament, in part on Eric Linkletter's book Husband of Delilah, and in great part on the same-named 1949 Cecil B. DeMille movie epic. Newcomer Anthony Hamilton stars as Samson, who uses his awesome strength--not to mention the jawbone of an ass--to safeguard his fellow Hebrews from the persecution of the Philistines in the 11th Century BC. Fascinated by Samson, Philistine harlot Delilah (Belinda Bauer) pretends to fall in love with him so that she may learn the source of his muscle power. Upon discovering that his mightiness stems from his flowing mane of hair, Delilah drugs Samson's wine and pulls out the shears. Bald and blinded, Samson is transformed from the savior of his people into an enslaved object of Philistine ridicule. But redemption is at hand, and by film's end practically the entire cast has been entombed in the rubble wrought by Samson's final, desperate feat of strength. Victor Mature, who of course played Samson in the 1949 film, was coaxed out of retirment to portray Samson's father, while Max Von Sydow, who Biblical-movie credits include the part of Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told, delivers an impressively subtle performance as the Philistine governor. Filmed in Mexico, Samson and Delilah originally aired April 1, 1984, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1979
- R
Set in the Caribbean, Firepower is one of those "celebrity salads," featuring a glittering all-star cast. Sophia Loren heads the ensemble as Adele, the widow of a murdered chemist. Believing that a multimillionaire industrialist is the culprit, Adele determines that she can expect no help from the authorities. Thus she engages the services of retired professional assassin Jerry Fanori (James Coburn), who in turn enlists the aid of troubleshooter Catlett (O.J. Simpson). Watch for Jake LaMotta, the ex-prizefighter whose life was dramatized in Raging Bull, in a supporting part. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, James Coburn, (more)
- 1976
- PG
- Add Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood to Queue Add Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood to top of Queue
This spoof makes fun of a certain famous German shepherd movie star from the 1920s. The mayhem begins when the head honcho of a financially struggling studio turns a lost dog into a legend. The story features a number of old stars making cameo appearances. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruce Dern, Madeline Kahn, (more)
- 1972
- PG
In this drama, a woman's dancing school is overrun by gangster's who begin using it for a betting parlor. As a result, she becomes the nanny for the mob boss's son. Soon she kidnaps him. Trouble and action ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lynn Redgrave, Victor Mature, (more)
The Monkees -- Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones and Peter Tork -- didn't really enjoy being labelled the Prefab Four back when their TV series was all the rage in 1966. With the help and support of Bob Rafaelson (co-producer, co-writer and director) and Jack Nicholson (co-producer, co-writer, and, if you look closely, bit player), the Monkees expressed their displeasure over being packaged for popular consumption in the non sequitur masterpiece Head. At least, it seems that the film is an indictment of the merchandising of pop stars. It's hard to tell at times, because Head literally has no plot; it is instead a patchwork of loopy sight gags, instant parodies, "camp" cutups, musical numbers and wry inside jokes. Clips of such old movies as the 1934 Karloff-Lugosi epic The Black Cat pop up every so often, as does an impressive lineup of pop-culture icons: Victor Mature, Annette Funicello, Sonny Liston, Frank Zappa (he's the one leading a cow) and Ray Nitschke, as well as such movie-trivia "answers" as Timothy Carey, Vito Scotti, Teri Garr, Percy Helton, Logan Ramsey, Carol Doda, and pre-Divine cross-dresser T.C. Jones. The best bits include a lengthy Golden Boy parody which does double duty as a lampoon of the network's efforts to create "personalities" for the individual Monkees, and a psychedelic buck-and-wing performed by Davy Jones. One gag, in which Micky Dolenz blows up a Coca Cola machine, is usually excised from TV showings. Head did zero business when it first came out thanks to poor distribution, but it has since become a fixture of midnight-movie showings and campus cinema classes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Tork, Davy Jones, (more)
With Peter Sellers as star, Neil Simon as screenwriter, and Vittorio DeSica as director, how could After the Fox miss? Miss it did, however--though the film, patchy and inconsistent though it might be, definitely has its moments. Sellers plays an Italian master thief who can't seem to stay out of jail. His latest scheme involves moving $3 million worth of stolen gold bullion from Cairo to Rome. To cover his tracks, Sellers pretends to be a "nouvelle vague" movie director, filming a crime picture. Britt Ekland, Mrs. Sellers at the time, plays his movie-struck sister. The film is effortlessly stolen by Victor Mature, who is unbearably funny as a vainglorious hasbeen Hollywood star. Director DeSica shows up in the film as "himself"-at least until all his camera equipment is stolen by Sellers and his partner-in-crime Akim Tamiroff. Never as hilarious as it should have been, After the Fox nonetheless manages a few isolated belly laughs. Outside of Mature's performance, our favorite bit in the film is the final gag: "Ze wrong man has escaped!" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Britt Ekland, (more)
- 1962
With a setting in medieval Russia and two top film stars leading the action -- Victor Mature as Oleg and Orson Welles as Burundal -- this otherwise uninspired costume drama has its moments. The Vikings and their leader Oleg are pictured as pacifists, while the Tartars and Burundal are the real culprits, evil and brutal. Both factions hold a coveted woman hostage while they try to work out a deal. That tactic fails and as the slaughter and bloodshed mount, a romance between a young, mixed couple (Viking/Tartar) is beginning to heat up. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Orson Welles, Victor Mature, (more)
Yet another in a spate of historical costume dramas by Italian filmmakers, Hannibal tells the story of the famous general's battles and his ill-advised march across the snowy Alps. To make life that much more interesting, violence, gore, sex, love, and personal issues are thrown in for good measure. The great general is played by Victor Mature and his main love interest Sylvia by Rita Gam. As Hannibal's successes in battle increase, it seems like he is fated for ultimate victory, but his own failings are his undoing in the end. Unevenly paced and unconvincing in parts, this offering by director Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (best-known for the "Toto" series of comedies) is geared more for audiences out for spectacle and entranced by history, no matter how it is interpreted. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Rita Gam, (more)
- 1959
This unexceptional adventure yarn by director Jacques Tourneur is set in the French Sudan during the beginning of World War II, when the French Foreign Legion was doing battle with the Tuaregs. In order to bring a halt to the hostilities, a powerful Muslim religious leader has to make it to Timbuktu, the center of the conflict. In the meantime, an American merchant-adventurer (Victor Mature) is helping out the French commander of the garrison at Timbuktu, and falling in love with the commander's wife (Yvonne De Carlo). Between the forbidden romance, the journey of the Muslim leader, and the angry Tuaregs, there are no dull moments even if the tension is not exactly unbearable. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Yvonne De Carlo, (more)
- 1959
Bandit of Zhobe is what actor Hans Conried once described as a "western in burnoose." Victor Mature plays the title character, one Kasim Khan. Cutting a swath of terror and pillage through India, Kasim Khan pauses only to romance the romanceable Anne Aubrey. Khan's principal foes are the British, who have wiped out his family--or so he thinks, until set aright in the final scenes. Anthony Newley co-stars as a comedy-relief British tommy, behaving as though he's just wandered in from another movie. Bandit of Zhobe was coproduced by Albert Broccoli, on the verge of bigger and better things as one of the mentors of the James Bond series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Anne Aubrey, (more)
- 1959
Victor Mature, in one of his last leading man performances, plays Hank Whirling, the owner of a financially shaky circus who is trying to get back on his feet, despite cutthroat competition from a rival organization. He also has a younger sister (Kathryn Grant) to watch out for. After arranging for a bank loan, he discovers that he's got two new members of "management" to contend with: persnickety bank officer Randy Sherman (Red Buttons), who is put there to safeguard the loan, and press agent Helen Harrison (Rhonda Fleming), who is hired by Sherman to help get the Whirling Circus some publicity. Hank can't abide the presence of either of them, or, more to the point, the idea of sharing his authority, though Randy means well and Helen is very good to look at and does know her job. The circus owner can barely take the time to deal with either of them, however, with shows to give and an apparent saboteur at work, who grows bolder with each passing day and finally starts getting people killed. In the course of trying to save the show, aerialist Zack Colino (Gilbert Roland) commits himself to a headline-making publicity stunt -- covered heavily by television news as well -- that Helen merely rattles off without thinking, of walking a wire across Niagara Falls. Colino also figures heavily in the denouement, a tense chase under the big top that develops as the man responsible for the train wrecks, escaped animals, fires, and other sabotage is identified and goes on the run. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Red Buttons, (more)
This trite, low-budget Western stars Victor Mature as Ben Lassiter, a former Confederate soldier who is traveling to the Western U.S. with his daughter, Abbey (Reba Waters), just after the Civil War. Their journey is interrupted by a group of Union soldiers on patrol and the recent war casts its shadow over this encounter. Beth Drury (Elaine Stewart) is riding along with the group of Union soldiers and soon she and Lassiter become romantically entangled. Throw in her rabid anti-Confederate sister and a few hostile Native Americans, and the story is complete with the usual characters and antagonisms. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Elaine Stewart, (more)
Cliff Brandon (Victor Mature) is a US pilot serving in China in 1943, flying supplies to Allied soldiers in Burma. He's the best at what he does in the air, but he's also emotionally cut off from everyone around him, disillusioned by the loss of men in his command during nearly two years of war. When he's not in the air on a mission, or riding his new men (including Stuart Whitman, Tige Andrews and Johnny Desmond) to learn their jobs as fast as they can so they can survive, he's usually either passed out drunk or getting there on the ground. One night, while staggering out of his usual watering hole, he chances to meet an elderly Chinese man and, after a barely understood conversation, hands him a pile of money. When Cliff awakens the next day, he discovers that he's bought three months of housekeeping service from the man's daughter, Shu-Jen (Li Li Hua). At first he's at a loss over what to do about her -- he would gladly send her back to her father, until he learns from local missionary Father Cairns (Ward Bond) that Shu-Jen (whose name means "precious jewel") is the sole supporter of her family; and that if he sends her back, they'll return his money as a matter of honor, and have to sell her services as a housekeeper again; and that the next time that may be to someone who is a lot less honorable than Cliff, and could destroy the rest of the girl's life. So they're stuck with each other, and in the course of three months together Cliff discovers through Shu-Jen a joyous side to life that he'd forgotten -- his men even notice that he smiles occasionally, and he actually seems like a human being, enough so that Cliff soon wants more out of life than just day-to-day survival; he wants a life with Shu-Jen. And despite her initial misgivings, they decide to marry. But duty constantly beckons to Cliff, especially when he's moved to a forward base to support a new Allied offensive -- he isn't there for the birth of their child, but he is able to bring them both to him, only to find that the war is now on both their doorsteps. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Li Li Hua, (more)
- 1958
In this WW II adventure, five brave Allies endeavor to escape from an Italian POW camp in North Africa. They succeed, but their trials are not over as they must still cross the burning Libyan desert to get safely behind Allied lines. En route they are captured by a Nazi-loving sheik. The sheik takes considerable time to decide the fate of the escapees; in that time, the five manage to escape again. This time they kill their captors. The film is also titled No Time to Die. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Anthony Newley, (more)
- 1957
One of several British melodramas picked up for American distribution by Columbia in the late 1950s, The Long Haul stars Victor Mature and Diana Dors, two of the prettiest and most amply endowned screen personalities of the era. Mature is cast as American ex-GI Harry Miller, who takes a job as a truck driver to support his British war bride Connie (Gene Anderson). It isn't long, however, before Harry is blackmailed into joining a smuggling operation run by the conniving Casey (Liam Redmond). His resolved momentarily weakened by his obsession with gang moll Lynn (Diana Dors), Harry finally decides to turn honest again--if the other crooks will let him live that long. Director Ken Hughes adapted the screenplay from a novel by Mervyn Mills. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Diana Dors, (more)
- 1957
Victor Mature stars in this European-based crime thriller. Mature is an FBI agent on the trail of a drug smuggling operation, following his quarry all over the Continent (with accompanying pretty pictures of Portugal, Spain, France etc.) The criminal mastermind (Trevor Howard) is something of a lunatic, who has already strangled Mature's sister to death just for the hell of it. Anita Ekberg plays Howard's luscious courier; as usual, her "acting" consists to breathing heavily in a low-cut dress. The title Pickup Alley was the invention of Columbia's New York office: The film's original British title was Interpol. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Anita Ekberg, (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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Karen Steele, (more)
- 1956
This tense, uncompromising African actioner affords Victor Mature one of his best screen roles. When his family is wiped out by Mau Mau insurrectionists, white hunter Mature assembles an expedition to track down the tribal leader responsible for the massacre. The British authorities don't want Mature to foment further difficulty by seeking revenge, so they revoke his hunting license. Still, he manages to embark upon his justice-seeking safari by hiring himself out as a guide for millionaire lion hunter Roland Culver and Culver's fiancee Janet Leigh. The grimness of the proceedings is occasionally leavened by an incongruously upbeat musical score. Safari was photographed on location by Ted Moore and directed by Terence Young, who'd later collaborate on the James Bond epic Thunderball (1965). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Janet Leigh, (more)
- 1956
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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Michael Wilding, Sr., (more)
Victor Mature is in rare form in this otherwise uneven cavalry Western about a trapper who prevents a Little Big Horn-type disaster. Having been robbed of a year's worth of skins by marauding Indians, Jed Cooper (Mature), Gus Hideout (James Whitmore), and Mungo (Pat Hogan) sign on at a nearby fort. Jed, however, falls in love with Corinna (Anne Bancroft), the refined wife of the commanding officer, Colonel Marston (Robert Preston), and when the latter begins to plan an all-out attack on an unruly Indian tribe, he attempts to prevent what, in all likelihood, will be a mass slaughter. Based on a novel by Richard Emery Roberts, The Last Frontier was re-released to television as Savage Wilderness and came complete with a rousing title song performed by Rusty Draper. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Guy Madison, (more)
- 1955
Three bank robbers (J. Carroll Naish, Lee Marvin, Stephen McNally) case a small Arizona mining town prior to pulling a holdup. The audience get to know the various townsfolk as they're scrutinized by the crooks. Victor Mature plays a man who is a disappointment to his son because he didn't serve in the war. Tommy Noonan is a meek bank manager with a habit of spying on a pretty customer as she undresses in her second-story bedroom. Sylvia Sidney is a petty thief who has deposited her stolen funds in the bank. Margaret Hayes is the cheating wife of a local leading citizen, who is killed in the holdup. And Ernest Borgnine is a pacifistic Amish farmer, forced to take violent action when his children are threatened by the criminals (Borgnine's pitchfork-wielding scene was reproduced for the print ads of this film, leading some critics to assume that he was the villain!) The hero of the day turns out to be the "unheroic" Mature, who after being kidnapped by the crooks frees himself and prevents their escape. Violent Saturday is based on a novel by William I. Heath. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Richard Egan, (more)
- 1955
Reviled in his lifetime as a lunatic insurrectionist, Chief Crazy Horse has in recent years emerged as a Native American hero. In this off-beat western, unusual for its time in that it sympathetically presented the Native American viewpoint, Victor Mature plays the misunderstood Sioux leader while the treaty-breaking villain General Crook is played by James Millican (who had earlier portrayed an equally unsympathetic General Custer in Warpath). The battle of the Little Big Horn is staged with less bravura but more authenticity than in 1941's They Died With Their Boots On (a wildly inaccurate pro-Custer opus). Chief Crazy Horse falters only in its verbose dialogue sequences, wherein the native tongue of the Sioux seems to be Fluent Cliche. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Suzan Ball, (more)
- 1954
The 3D melodrama Dangerous Mission starts off with a bang when innocent Piper Laurie inadvertently witnesses the murder of her gangster boss. Though she doesn't get a particularly good look at the killer, she knows she's dead meat if she remains in town. Thus, Laurie skeedaddles to Montana's Glacier National Park, where most of the film takes place. Following her westward are Victor Mature and Vincent Price. One of these men is a federal agent, bound and determined to bring Laurie back to the East to testify; the other is the murderer, who intends to silence our heroine for keeps. Laurie doesn't know which is which, but the audience does. A bit poky at times (thanks in part to the uninspired editing of Gene Palmer), Dangerous Mission roars into life during a mid-film forest fire and a climactic chase through the glacier fields. Featured in the cast are William Bendix as a Montana ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Piper Laurie, (more)
Demetrius and the Gladiators was the sequel to The Robe, and though they were released several months apart, the films were shot at the same time. Based on characters originally conceived by Lloyd C. Douglas, the film stars Victor Mature as the title character, an ex-slave who embraced Christianity after being present at the Crucifixion. Thrown in jail for defending an elderly merchant from a sadistic Roman legionnaire, Demetrius is forced to attend gladiator school and fight in the arena for the amusement of the mad, debauched emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson, likewise repeating his performance in The Robe). The well-proportioned Demetrius attracts the attention of Messalina (Susan Hayward), the nymphomaniac wife of Caligula's would-be successor Claudius (Barry Jones). Briefly losing faith in Christ, Demetrius is saved from himself by the apostle Peter (Michael Rennie). Because of contractual complications, Demetrius and the Gladiators was released to television seven years before The Robe. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Susan Hayward, (more)
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