80% (2)  The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms  80 min,  Approved,  [Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi]  [Eugène Lourié]  [13 Jun 1953]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 67%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 94%,   External Reviews
Awards:  2 nominations.
Actors:  Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey, Paul Hubschmid, Paula Raymond
Writer:  Lou Morheim (screenplay), Fred Freiberger (screenplay), Ray Bradbury (story "The Fog Horn")
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English, French    Country:  USA
Plot:  As a result of an arctic nuclear test, a carnivorous dinosaur thaws out and starts making its way down the east coast of North America. Professor Tom Nesbitt, only witness to the beast's existence, is not believed, even when he identifies it as a "rhedosaurus" to paleontologist Thurgood Elson. All doubts disappear, however, when Elson is swallowed whole during an oceanic bathysphere excursion to search for the creature. Soon thereafter the rhedosaurus emerges from the sea and lays waste to Manhattan Island until Nesbitt comes up with a plan to try to stop the seemingly indestructible beast.
Rotten Tomatoes:   An atomic bomb test in the Arctic Circle awakens a long-hibernating and ostensibly extinct Rhedosaurus. Emerging from the sea, the Rhedosaurus wreaks havoc on NYC in every direction, leveling cities and amusement parks in his path. The film is based on Ray Bradbury's short story "The Fog Horn."
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 5]

67% (2)  Crisis  95 min,  PASSED,  [Crime, Drama, Thriller]  [Richard Brooks]  [07 Jul 1950]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 67%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 67%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Cary Grant, José Ferrer, Paula Raymond, Signe Hasso
Writer:  Richard Brooks (screenplay), George Tabori (story)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English, Spanish    Country:  USA
Plot:  Husband and wife Americans Dr. Eugene and Mrs. Helen Ferguson - he a renowned neurosurgeon - are traveling through Latin America for a vacation. When they make the decision to return to New York earlier than expected, they find they are being detained by the military in the country they are in. Ultimately, they learn the reason is that President Raoul Farrago, the tyrannical military dictator of the country, has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and will die without an operation to remove it, Farrago choosing Gene as the doctor to lead the surgical team. Because of the volatile politics within the country and for his own safety as revolutionary forces would like to see him dead, Farrago refuses to go to a hospital for the operation, instead it to be done at his home. Despite not particularly liking Farrago or his ways, Gene agrees purely in his oath as a doctor. However, he ends up being caught in the middle between Farrago/his brutal regime and the revolutionaries, each side who is willing to use him and Helen to get what they want, namely the life or death of Farrago.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Cary Grant's utter credibility in the role of a brilliant, world-famous brain surgeon Dr. Eugene Norland Ferguson is the single element that keeps Crisis afloat. While vacationing in a politically unstable Latin American country, Ferguson and his wife, Helen (Paula Raymond), find themselves the unwilling house guests of dictator Raoul Farrago (José Ferrer). Suffering from a brain tumor, Farrago insists that Ferguson operate at once. The "crisis" of the title arises when revolutionary leader Gonzales (Gilbert Roland) demands that Farrago be killed on the operating table -- and kidnaps Dr. Ferguson's wife to bind the bargain. Unaware of his wife's plight, Ferguson proceeds with the operation, setting into motion a series of events leading to a grimly ironic denouement. Director Richard Brooks adapted the screenplay of Crisis from a story by George Tabori. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 5]

73% (1)  Devil's Doorway  84 min,  APPROVED,  [Romance, Western]  [Anthony Mann]  [15 Sep 1950]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 73%,   External Reviews
Awards:  2 nominations.
Actors:  Louis Calhern, Marshall Thompson, Paula Raymond, Robert Taylor
Writer:  Guy Trosper
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  Lance Poole, an Indian who won a Medal of Honor fighting at Gettysburg, returns to his tribal lands intent on peaceful cattle ranching. But white sheep farmers want his fertile grass range and manage to turn the ostensibly civilized white population against the tribes, with tragic results.
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 5]

73% (1)  The Tall Target  78 min,  APPROVED,  [Adventure, Crime, Drama]  [Anthony Mann]  [17 Aug 1951]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 73%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Adolphe Menjou, Dick Powell, Marshall Thompson, Paula Raymond
Writer:  George Worthing Yates (screenplay), Art Cohn (screenplay), George Worthing Yates (story), Daniel Mainwaring (story)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  The historical fact of a possible assassination attempt on the President-Elect Abraham Lincoln makes the movie very interesting. The drama comes from a fictitious New York police sergeant discovering the plot and boarding the last train to Washington, DC, to protect the new president to be. Dick Powell does a very good job using deduction and logic to find who on the train could be conspirators. He is foiled at different times but manages to succeed even when the conspirators have caught him. The movie's action takes place mostly on the train and the effects of travelling are well done. Historically, several states have already seceded from the union and that included Virginia. That's why Lincoln had to travel to Washington, DC, through Maryland, also a slave state. When he was taking his own "Inaugural Train" the plan was to kill Lincoln in Baltimore during a long stop but Lincoln's supporters did some slight of hand to sneak him on board the last train to the capital. Maybe not Oscar material but a very enjoyable piece of entertainment.
Rotten Tomatoes:   This historical thriller is set shortly after President Abraham Lincoln was elected and centers upon a bodyguard who learns of a plot to assassinate him. He tries to tell his superiors, but they scoff at the notion. This causes the bodyguard to quit and launch a personal investigation. He is on a Baltimore-bound train when he learns that one of the potential assassins is also a passenger. Now the bodyguard must somehow stop him and the other would-be killers.
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 5]

60% (1)  Grounds for Marriage  90 min,  APPROVED,  [Comedy, Musical]  [Robert Z. Leonard]  [19 Jan 1951]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 60%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Barry Sullivan, Kathryn Grayson, Paula Raymond, Van Johnson
Writer:  Laura Kerr (screenplay), Samuel Marx (story), Allen Rivkin (screenplay)
External Links:  Wikipedia  IMDb     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  Opera singer Ina Massine tries to win back former husband Dr. Lincoln I. Bartlett.
Scroll To:   Up   Down   Top   Bottom   25%   50%   75%    [ / 5]