78% (2) Confidential Report 93 min, Not Rated, [Crime, Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller] [Orson Welles] [02 Oct 1962]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 73%, Rotten Tomatoes: 83%, External Reviews
Actors: Akim Tamiroff, Michael Redgrave, Orson Welles, Patricia Medina, Peter van Eyck
Writer: Orson Welles (story), Orson Welles (screenplay)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, German, French, Polish Country: France, Spain, Switzerland
Plot: Guy Van Stratten, American smuggler, leaves an Italian prison term with one asset, a dying man's words about wealthy, mysterious Gregory Arkadin. Guy finds it most pleasant to investigate Arkadin though his lovely daughter Raina, her father's idol. To get rid of Guy, Arkadin claims amnesia about his own life prior to 1927, sending Guy off to investigate Arkadin's unknown past. Guy's quest spans many countries and eccentric characters who contribute clues. But the real purpose of Guy's mission proves deadly; can Guy himself survive it?
Rotten Tomatoes: A dying man's final words send two people to Gregory Arkadin, a mysterious and much-feared billionaire who lives in a Xanadu-like castle. Guy Van Stratten, an adventurer and fortune hunter, is interested in Arkadin's money -- and his daughter, Raina. Arkadin, overprotective of his daughter, has his "secretaries" prepare a damaging dossier on Van Stratten -- entitled "Confidential Report." But, Arkadin then makes a deal with Van Stratten -- he will pay the young man for preparing a similar file on him, for Mr. Arkadin says he remembers nothing about his past and does not know where he came from. Even his name is a mystery. Van Stratten's search for the truth about Arkadin's past takes him throughout Europe and to Mexico and features encounters with a variety of fabulously colorful characters.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 7]
68% (1) Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion 80 min, Passed, [Adventure, Comedy] [Charles Lamont] [25 Sep 1950]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 68%, External Reviews
Actors: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Patricia Medina, Walter Slezak
Writer: D.D. Beauchamp (story), John Grant (screenplay), Martin Ragaway (screenplay), Leonard Stern (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Jonesy and Lou are in Algeria looking for a wrestler they are promoting. Sergeant Axmann tricks them into joining the Foreign Legion, after which they discover Axmann's collaboration with the nasty Sheik Hamud El Khalid. Bits include Lou's mirage sightings, one a New York newsboy ("they gave me a bad corner").
Rotten Tomatoes: Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play wrestling promoters whose star attraction, Wee Willie Davis, skips town to return to his home in Arabia. While scouring the desert in search of Davis, Bud and Lou inadvertently purchase slave girl Patricia Medina, and with equal inadvertence join the Foreign Legion. In their own bumbling, inept fashion, our heroes manage to foil a desert uprising fomented by shiek Douglas Dumbrille and traitorous Legion commandant Walter Slezak. The film's highlights include an opening-scene parody of pre-rehearsed wrestling matches, a "mirage" routine capped by one of the hoariest vaudeville punchlines in history, and a runaway-jeep climax. All in all, however, Abbott & Costello in the Foreign Legion is one of the team's lesser efforts.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 7]
68% (1) Don't Take It to Heart 90 min, APPROVED, [Comedy, Romance] [Jeffrey Dell] [13 Nov 1944]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 68%, External Reviews
Actors: Alfred Drayton, David Horne, Edward Rigby, Esma Cannon, Patricia Medina, Richard Bird, Richard Greene
Writer: Jeffrey Dell
External Links: Wikipedia IMDb Language: English Country: UK
Plot: A stray World War Two bomb releases the ghost of the 3rd Earl of Chaunduyt after 400 years. A visiting professor, while wooing the beautiful Lady Mary, daughter of the present Earl, finds him an ally in his fight on behalf of the villagers to protect their ancient rights against a meddling newcomer.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 7]
65% (1) Plunder of the Sun 81 min, APPROVED, [Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller] [John Farrow] [29 Dec 1953]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 65%, External Reviews
Actors: Diana Lynn, Francis L. Sullivan, Glenn Ford, Patricia Medina
Writer: Jonathan Latimer (screen play), David Dodge (based on the novel by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA, Mexico
Plot: An American insurance adjuster, stranded in Havana, becomes involved with an archaeologist and a collector of antiquities in a hunt for treasure in the Mexican ruins of Zapoteca.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this film, several interested parties converge upon the Mexican Aztec ruins in search of a long-buried treasure. Insurance investigator Glenn Ford is ostensibly the hero, but he doesn't seem any more trustworthy than the rest of the crooks, fallen women, and alcoholics who've gone along for the archeological ride.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 7]
61% (1) Desperate Search 73 min, APPROVED, [Adventure, Drama] [Joseph H. Lewis] [19 Nov 1952]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 61%, External Reviews
Actors: Howard Keel, Jane Greer, Keenan Wynn, Patricia Medina
Writer: Arthur Mayse (novel), Walter Doniger
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: The family and friends of two children lost in the wilderness mount a desperate search to find them.
Rotten Tomatoes: Desperate Search is a lower-echelon MGM programmer, elevated by the crisp direction of cult favorite Joseph H. Lewis. Jane Greer plays the mother of two small children who are on board an airliner which crashes. The children survive, but are stranded in the middle of the Canadian wilderness. With the help of forest ranger Keenan Wynn and bush pilot Howard Keel, Greer launches an agonizing all-points search for the missing children. Desperate Search was an entertaining and efficient means for MGM to keep its contract players busy at minimum cost. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 7]
59% (1) Phantom of the Rue Morgue 83 min, APPROVED, [Crime, Horror, Mystery] [Roy Del Ruth] [27 Mar 1954]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 59%, External Reviews
Actors: Claude Dauphin, Karl Malden, Patricia Medina, Steve Forrest
Writer: Edgar Allan Poe (story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"), Harold Medford (screenplay), James R. Webb (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: When several women are found mutilated and murdered, the Paris police are baffled as to who the killer may be. All evidence points to Dupin, but soon it becomes apparent that it is someone (or something) stronger and deadlier than a human.
Rotten Tomatoes: This big-budget remake of 1932's Murders in the Rue Morgue, which was based on an Edgar Allen Poe tale, this horror outing was originally shown in 3-D and tells the grim tale of how a mad zookeeper and his murderous, thieving monkey terrorized Parisians in the early 1900s. A young Merv Griffin plays a bit part as a college student.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 7]
52% (1) The Black Knight 85 min, Approved, [Adventure, History] [Tay Garnett] [26 Aug 1954]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 52%, External Reviews
Actors: Alan Ladd, André Morell, Harry Andrews, Patricia Medina
Writer: Alec Coppel (original screenplay), Dennis O'Keefe (additional dialogue), Bryan Forbes (additional dialogue)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: UK, USA
Plot: As a blacksmith John can't hope to win the hand of Linet, daughter of the Earl of Yeonil. Off he goes to prove himself a noble knight. He makes himself a suit of armor with a winged chicken helmet and runs around fighting for King Arthur as the Black Knight. Evil doings include plots by visiting kings and a Druid sacrificial ceremony at Stonehenge.
Rotten Tomatoes: Alan Ladd once more journeyed to England to make a film for Columbia's British counterpart (Warwick Studios), and the result was the lively swashbuckler The Black Knight. Ladd plays John, a young swordmaker who aspires to join the Knights of the Round Table. Unfortunately, he is falsely accused of cowardice and banished from his community. Thanks to the secret tutelage of one of Arthur's knights, John is able to train himself in the art of combat, and soon reemerges as the vengeance-seeking Black Knight. In this guise, he is able to bring a group of traitors to justice, rout a band of invading Saracens, and rescue his lady love Linet (Patricia Medina) from certain doom. Anthony Bushell, who was soon to completely forsake acting in favor of producing and directing, costars as King Arthur, while the villains of the piece are essayed by Peter Cushing and future Dr. Who Patrick Troughton. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 7]