83% (2) House of Wax 88 min, GP, [Horror] [André De Toth] [25 Apr 1953]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 71%, Rotten Tomatoes: 95%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win & 1 nomination.
Actors: Carolyn Jones, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Vincent Price
Writer: Crane Wilbur (screenplay), Charles Belden (story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Professor Henry Jarrod is a true artist whose wax sculptures are lifelike. He specializes in historical tableau's such a Marie Antoinette or Joan of Arc. His business partner, Matthew Burke, needs some of his investment returned to him and pushes Jarrod to have more lurid exposes like a chamber of horrors. When Jarrod refuses, Burke set the place alight destroying all of his beautiful work in the hope of claiming the insurance. Jarrod is believed to have died in the fire but he unexpectedly reappears some 18 months later when he opens a new exhibit. This time, his displays focus on the macabre but he has yet to reproduce his most cherished work, Marie Antoinette. When he meets his new assistant's beautiful friend, Sue Allen, he knows he's found the perfect model - only unbeknown to anyone, he has a very particular way of making his wax creations.
Rotten Tomatoes: Ever been creeped out by the life-like statues at a wax museum? Yes? But have you ever recognized your old roommate behind the glass? Vincent Price plays the menacing Professor Henry Jarrod, in a role that would solidify his reputation as the creepiest man in Hollywood. With everything from cancan girls to rubber paddleballs finding their way into the audience, 'House of Wax' takes full advantage of the novel 3-D stereoscopic process.
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70% (1) Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone 69 min, APPROVED, [Comedy, Mystery] [Norman Taurog] [08 Dec 1950]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 70%, External Reviews
Actors: Ann Dvorak, James Whitmore, Marjorie Main, Phyllis Kirk
Writer: William Bowers (screenplay), Craig Rice (story "Once Upon A Train, or The Loco Motive"), Stuart Palmer (story "Once Upon A Train, or The Loco Motive")
External Links: Wikipedia IMDb Language: English, Greek Country: USA
Plot: "Murder-on-the-train" mystery has lawyer Malone chasing his paroled embezzler client (Kepplar) who still hasn't paid Malone's fee. When Kepplar jumps parole on a train to Chicago, Malone follows, in company with Kepplar's ex-wife, a police inspector and Mrs. O'Malley, a hearty radio contest winner from Montana. Kepplar is murdered, and a game of musical corpses commences, with hijinks in coach corridors as Malone and Hattie search for the killer.
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66% (1) Thunder Over the Plains 82 min, APPROVED, [Romance, War, Western] [André De Toth] [27 Oct 1953]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 66%, External Reviews
Actors: Charles McGraw, Lex Barker, Phyllis Kirk, Randolph Scott
Writer: Russell S. Hughes
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: It's 1869, Texas has not yet been readmitted to the Union, and carpetbaggers have taken over the state. Federal Captain Porter, a Texan, has to carry out orders against his own people. He brings in the rebel leader whom he knows is innocent of the murder for which he is charged. But in trying to prove his innocence, Porter now finds he is a wanted man.
Rotten Tomatoes: Randolph Scott is as strong and silent as ever in Thunder Over the Plains. The scene is Texas, in the years just following the Civil War. Carpetbaggers have taken hold of the Texas government and imposed a near-dictatorship, hiding behind the legal protection of the Union Army of Occupation. Though his heart belongs to Dixie, Captain David Porter (Scott) is honor-bound to uphold the law of the land, even though it protects criminals and persecutes the innocent. Eventually, Porter reveals his true feelings as he tries to clear Texas patriot Ben Westman (Charles McGraw) from a murder charge framed by villains Standish (Elisha Cook Jr.) and Balfour (Hugh Sanders). Meanwhile, caddish Captain Bill Hodges (Lex Barker) tries to make time with Porter's long-suffering wife Norah (Phyllis Kirk). Perhaps a bit too complicated storywise for western fans, Thunder Over the Plains is right to the point when it comes to the action highlights. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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65% (1) Back from Eternity 100 min, APPROVED, [Drama] [John Farrow] [19 Feb 1957]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 65%, External Reviews
Actors: Anita Ekberg, Phyllis Kirk, Robert Ryan, Rod Steiger
Writer: Richard Carroll (story), Jonathan Latimer
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: A South American plane loaded with an assortment of characters crash lands in a remote jungle area in the middle of a storm. The passengers then discover they are in an area inhabited by vicious cannibals and must escape before they are found.
Rotten Tomatoes: Director John Farrow's Back From Eternity is a virtual scene-for-scene remake of Farrow's 1939 film Five Came Back. The earlier film is the better of the two, if only because it is 22 minutes shorter. The plot concerns a small passenger plane that crashlands in South America, square in the heart of headhunter country. Pilot Robert Ryan is able to get the plane back into flying condition; unfortunately he discovers that the plane will only be able to carry five of its eleven passengers to safety. Who will have to be left behind: condemned murderer Rod Steiger, socialite Phyllis Kirk, her weak-willed fiance Gene Barry, copilot Keith Andes, elderly married couple Beulah Bondi and Cameron Prud'homme, songstress Anita Ekberg, foul-tempered cop Fred Clark, soft-hearted crook Jesse White, or tousle-haired kid Jon Provost? Rod Steiger is just fine in the role orginally played by Joseph Calleia, but Ekberg is no match for the original's Lucille Ball.
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59% (1) Johnny Concho 84 min, [Western] [Don McGuire] [01 Jul 1956]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 59%, External Reviews
Actors: Frank Sinatra, Keenan Wynn, Phyllis Kirk, William Conrad
Writer: David P. Harmon (screenplay), David P. Harmon (story "The Man Who Owned the Town"), Don McGuire (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: The townsfolk of Cripple Creek fear Johnny Concho (Frank Sinatra), who acts tough and takes advantage of the populace because his brother is a notorious gunfighter. But when a stranger arrives in town, claiming to have killed his brother and treating people worse than Johnny, he's forced to face his fears and stand up for himself and the town.
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59% (1) The Sad Sack 98 min, APPROVED, [Comedy] [George Marshall] [27 Nov 1957]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 59%, External Reviews
Actors: David Wayne, Jerry Lewis, Peter Lorre, Phyllis Kirk
Writer: Edmund Beloin (screenplay), Nate Monaster (screenplay), George Baker (comic strip)
External Links: Wikipedia IMDb Language: English, French Country: USA
Plot: Private Meredith Bixby is so out of step in the Army that his six weeks of planned basic training has now stretched to 17 months. After he loses a tank, WAC Major Shelton, a psychologist, is assigned to make a good soldier out of him. She requests Corporal Dolan and Private Stan Wensalawsky to help with the training. Dolan and Stan both have scores to settle with Bixby and their "guidance" leads to more mishaps. Sergeant Pulley has them shipped out to Morocco. On leave in North Africa, Bixy wanders alone into a bar, has a few Moroccan Delights, which he thinks are malted milks, and becomes convinced that exotic singer-dancer Zita is THE girl for him. To protect him, Dolan tells him some lies about Zita, and Bixby, in despair, joins the Suicide Division of the Foreign Legion. He is kidnapped by a band of Arabian plotters and, guarded by the knife-happy Abdul, is ordered to assemble a stolen American cannon. Zita learns of his plight and gets Dolan and Stan to join her in a rescue mission.
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