Watch Demetrius and the Gladiators Online

Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.6
Date Released : 4 November 1954
Genre : Action, Drama, History
Stars : Victor Mature, Susan Hayward, Michael Rennie, Debra Paget. The story picks up at the point where "The Robe (1953)" ends, following the martyrdom of Diana and Marcellus. Christ's robe is conveyed to Peter for safe-keeping, but the emperor Caligula wants it back to benefit from its powers. Marcellus' former slave Demetrius seeks to prevent this, and catches the eye of Messalina, wife to Caligula's uncle Claudius. Messalina tempts Demetrius, he winds up ..." />
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The story picks up at the point where "The Robe (1953)" ends, following the martyrdom of Diana and Marcellus. Christ's robe is conveyed to Peter for safe-keeping, but the emperor Caligula wants it back to benefit from its powers. Marcellus' former slave Demetrius seeks to prevent this, and catches the eye of Messalina, wife to Caligula's uncle Claudius. Messalina tempts Demetrius, he winds up fighting in the arena, and wavers in his faith.

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Review :

Watchable Epic

A sequel to the box office successful "The Robe", this film is just one more of those spectacular epic films of the 50's and early 60's settled in ancient Rome and with a religious background of the early Christians and their whereabouts in an all pagan world.

After a secondary lead in "The Robe", Victor Mature (as the freed Christian slave Demetrius) takes here the centre of the stage and the film deals with his story; the man looses his faith and recovers it after fighting as a gladiator in the arena, becoming a Decurion for Emperor Caligula and having a passionate affair with the woman (Messalina) married to the weak emperor's uncle Claudius (Barry Jones). The film is most colourful, the script is not bad as well as the costumes and armors, the settings and reproduction of the old Rome are good enough (no computers back in 1954) and some action sequences in the arena are well achieved. But somehow this picture lacks the sort of sensation of greatness and huge spectacle other products of the genre transmitted ("The Robe" itself, the previous "Quo Vadis?" or the posterior "Ben Hur" and "Spartacus"); in fact, "Demetrius and the Gladiators" is not one of the titles that comes to mind easily when epic spectacular films is the subject.

Victor Mature shows his inevitable overacting as the main character though it is fair to say he has done worse ("The Egyptian" and "Samson and Delilah", for instance, and many others). Susan Hayward also overacts every now and then as the wicked Messalina but she was a fine actress and rounds up a better job. Jay Robinson clearly overacts and very much as Calìgula (Caius Germanicus was his real name) but in his case it appears to be a conscious performing decision after he was the most remembered character in the previous "The Robe"; he just lets himself go without limits. It is hard to swallow Michael Rennie (Peter) as a rude uneducated fisherman not for his acting but for his important and polite looks. There are good performances by Ernest Borgnine, Richard Egan (as a villainous gladiator), Barry Jones, Anne Bancroft and William Marshall (far before his "Blacula" days). Debra Paget delivers her acceptable acting but she looks as a contemporary girl here (she could have used the same hairdo and make up for her real life in the middle 50's).

All in all, "Demetrius and the Gladiators" is a watchable and entertaining product, but no much more than that in my opinion. A 6 (out of 10) for me.

Watch The Dark Avenger Online

The Dark Avenger (1955)iMDB Rating: 6.2
Date Released : 11 September 1955
Genre : Adventure, Drama, History, Romance, War
Stars : Errol Flynn, Joanne Dru, Peter Finch, Yvonne Furneaux
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Format : MKV
Size : 700 MB

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During the 14th century the 100-year war between France and England ends in a truce and with the English occupation of French Aquitainia. Rebel French knights vow to continue the war and oust Prince Edward of Walles, ruler of Aquitainia.

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Review :

Enjoyable comic strip history

The American director Henry Levin once described THE DARK AVENGER as a "western in armour", which is an apt description of this colourful saga. The casting is hilarious: Errol Flynn, born in 1909, plays the son of Michael Hordern, born 1911. Although Sir Michael aged quickly, Flynn is no spring chicken either, and looks all of his 46 years. The result of living in the fast lane is right up there on the screen. Christopher Lee shines in one of his early roles and demonstrates keen swordmanship in his duel with Errol Flynn. Actually Lee duels with British Olympic sabre champion Raymond Paul - with Flynn taking over in the close-ups. The supporting cast is full of future TV household names. Rupert Davies and Ewen Solon had considerable success years later in "Maigret". Richard O'Sullivan, a talented child actor, went on to play swashbuckler "Dick Turpin" in the 70's. Fans of Patrick McGoohan had better not miss the beginning of this movie, the star of the cult TV classic "The Prisoner" only has a few lines in a brief appearance. This movie always crops up on Sam Kydd's filmography but spotting him is virtually impossible, maybe Sam was edited out of the finished film. THE DARK AVENGER was filmed on the abandoned IVANHOE lot and is enjoyable comic strip history, it's a good way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Watch Stronghold (1951) Online

Stronghold (1951)iMDB Rating: 6.2
Date Released : 15 February 1952
Genre : Adventure, Drama, Romance, War
Stars : Veronica Lake, Zachary Scott, Arturo de Córdova, Irene Ajay
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Size : 700 MB

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Mary Stevens, a young American girl, goes to Mexico with her mother, to escape the strife of the Civil War in the United States. One there, she gets caught up in love and politics as Don Migeul Navarro, a follower of Maximillian, battles Dom Pedro Alvarez, a follower of the exiled Juarez, vie for her hand. The romance parallels the success of the Juarez movement.

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Review :

Reviving An Old Practice

During the early sound era in Hollywood several studios filmed simultaneous versions of their better films for a foothold in another language market. The practice was discontinued after about five years. Stronghold from the minor Lippert studios revived that practice with Veronica Lake in the lead in Stronghold and Mexican film star Sarita Montiel in Furia Rosa which was the same film. The practice was not revived after this film.

Stronghold has Veronica Lake as a southern sympathizing woman who has come to Mexico with her Mexican national mother after losing a brother during the Civil War. Foolish people think they'll forget their troubles in Mexico which is having its own Civil War between Maximilian and Carlotta and Benito Juarez and his supporters. But even before they're put ashore the women are kidnapped and used for ransom by the Juaristas to get silver from Lake's cousin Zachary Scott who is the local bigshot and Maximilian supporter.

What I found interesting about this film is that in America Maximilian and Carlotta are treated somewhat even handedly being presented as naive people taken in by the false promises of support from Napoleon III. But in a Mexican production which this Lippert film essentially is, the Austrian pair are the worst kinds of villains. Carlotta here is one evil woman and no doubt her flight into insanity would be applauded in a Mexican film before a Mexican audience.

Veronica Lake walked away from her contract with Paramount and this Lippert film was the best thing she could get three years away from the White Mountain studio. She's not bad in it and Zachary Scott is his usual sleazy villain and ruthless one at that. But this did not revive her career on the big screen. Lake did some television was off the big screen for 14 years until she made three more big screen efforts that added no luster.

Scott in order to capture DeCordova flooded his own mine and drowned several people. The flood scene was nicely staged something in special effects you would not normally get from a poverty row studio.

Stronghold is not a bad film, might have been better if a major studio had done it.

Streaming The Stars Are Singing Online

The Stars Are Singing (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.1
Date Released : 29 May 1953
Genre : Musical
Stars : Rosemary Clooney, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Lauritz Melchior, Bob Williams. Fifteen-year-old Katri Walenska jumps a Polish ship, swims ashore and enters New York illegally. The United States Immigration officials are alerted---the USA still had a functioning immigration policy and department when this was filmed---and the search is on. Katri's only possessions are a ten-dollar bill and a letter to her parents' old friend, Jan Poldi, a former Metropolitan Opera star. She ..." />
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Fifteen-year-old Katri Walenska jumps a Polish ship, swims ashore and enters New York illegally. The United States Immigration officials are alerted---the USA still had a functioning immigration policy and department when this was filmed---and the search is on. Katri's only possessions are a ten-dollar bill and a letter to her parents' old friend, Jan Poldi, a former Metropolitan Opera star. She finds him in a shabby Greenwich Village apartment. His neighbors in the apartment house are three Broadway hopefuls; pop singer Terry Brennan, hoofer Buddy Fraser and Homer Tirdell and his talented dog Red Dust. (Pardon me, make that four Broadway hopefuls counting the dog.) When Terry hears Katri's magnificent singing voice, she scurries around New York to get her an audition and succeeds in getting her a spot on Don Wilson's televised amateur hour. She wins the contest but unwittingly reveals her true identity as an illegal alien, which causes the arrest of Poldi, Wilson and Dave, Terry's ...

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Review :

Rosie's debut

This was one of the films the U.S.A. channel used to show before they got their current boring line--up. A sweet musical comedy,featuring Rosemary Clooney befriending a young refugee and helping her to stay in country and be a star. Not much plot but light and airy entertainment with some good songs. Anna Maria and Rosie make lovely singing stars. The supporting cast is great,including the comics who play Rosie's friends. It proved Paramount was just as capable and MGM,making musicals. I wish this one was on DVD,hopefully there'll be a groundswell of interest so people can buy it.Another good Rosie picture is Here Come the Girls,with Bob Hope and Arlene Dahl.Paramount hoped Rosie would replace Betty Hutton as their resident singing star but the decline of musicals and Rosie's decision to be a wife and mother prevailed and she did mainly television.

Streaming The Toughest Man Alive Online

The Toughest Man Alive (1955)iMDB Rating: 6.0
Date Released : 16 November 1955
Genre : Crime, Drama
Stars : Dane Clark, Lita Milan, Anthony Caruso, Ross Elliott." />
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Size : 700 MB

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Review :

Top Notch - Likely Lost

Saw this film on first Run in '55 at the age of twelve and for some odd reason its been with me ever since. Something to do I suspect, with setting a mark to shoot for. Simple film really and not all that different except for action and intensity, from other crime-thrillers of its time, and the only reason I'm commenting at all (my only such BTW) is that I can't bear its entry remaining completely unremarked.

Memory wanes, but surely B/W, 1:33 to 1, and no names beyond Clark & Caruso. Clark's the undercover agent sent to bust up BadGuy Yankee gun-runners in Latin America. Clark joins the mob & bulls it out till his number's up, something about a girl, big climax at the docks (HUGE FIGHT). Plenty of fistfights, gunplay, and I swear... at twelve I thought Dane Clark really WAS the toughest man alive... short, like me, but takin' nuthin' from nobody.

Caruso delivers his best Mob-Boss persona, Clark was never tougher-yet-sympathetic, even frequently sporting a pet spider-monkey which gambols lovingly about his shoulder.

Never to my knowledge on TV, Cable, Disc, or Tape, and most likely a "Lost Film". Odds are overwhelming it will never resurface. Saw a few 16mm reels of it for sale on Ebay some time back, but didn't seem worth the effort. Evidently I'm not the only one with a significant interest in this crime thriller, judging from the number of requests for it lodged with firms who specialize in locating & providing otherwise unavailable titles for the home-video market. In their professional opinion, as of this writing, no copies are known to exist.

Pity is, it ranks (in memory of course) as among the best of the 'tough-undercover-guy battles wicked-criminals' genre produced during the decade. I think maybe its impact even got me through a few tough scrapes of my own.

But, unfortunately, I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.

Streaming A Life in the Balance (1955) Online

A Life in the Balance (1955)iMDB Rating: 6.5
Date Released : 1 July 1955
Genre : Thriller
Stars : Ricardo Montalban, Anne Bancroft, Lee Marvin, José Pérez. Antonio Gomez, a nearly down-and-out musician, is a widower with a young boy, Paco. Fighting to support his boy in the face of unemployment and neighbors who want custody of his son (something that here in Mexico City they might just obtain), Gomez argues with an ex-girlfriend over money she owes him. After he leaves, the girlfriend is murdered by the religious-fanatic serial killer terrorizing ..." />
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Antonio Gomez, a nearly down-and-out musician, is a widower with a young boy, Paco. Fighting to support his boy in the face of unemployment and neighbors who want custody of his son (something that here in Mexico City they might just obtain), Gomez argues with an ex-girlfriend over money she owes him. After he leaves, the girlfriend is murdered by the religious-fanatic serial killer terrorizing the city. When neighbors report the argument Gomez had with the dead girl, the police presume they are finally on the hot trail of the serial killer, and Gomez is their target. Gomez goes out to a pawnshop to buy his son a long-dreamed-of guitar and there meets a young woman with whom he goes looking for his son. What Gomez does not realize is that a police dragnet is closing in on him and that his boy Paco actually witnessed this most recent murder and has been trailing the killer. It's not long, though, before the killer is trailing the boy.

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Review :

Has its moments, but overall mediocre

Lee Marvin is a crazed American serial killer on the loose in Mexico City who kidnaps an 11-year-old boy who is the only witness to his most recent murder. The boy is the son of down-and-out musician Ricardo Montalban, who frantically searches the city for his son and the psychopath who took him, and in the process hooks up with lovely Anne Bancroft. The Mexico City Police Department joins the pair in their hunt. Marvin is quite good for the most part--although he goes over the top on occasion--and Bancroft looks beautiful but doesn't have all that much to do. Montalban, unfortunately, crosses into "ham" on too many occasions, and the ending is trite and pat. Good use of Mexico City locations works in the film's favor, but the less-than-inspired writing, somewhat sloppy direction and Montalban's overacting work against it. Its good points and its bad points more or less cancel either each out, and the end result is that, while the film manages to hold your interest and has some tense moments, it's somewhat overheated and basically pedestrian.

And, contrary to what several posters believe, it is not in any way, shape or form a "film noir" piece.

Streaming Cow Country (1953) Online

Cow Country (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.4
Date Released : 26 April 1953
Genre : Western
Stars : Edmond O'Brien, Helen Westcott, Robert Lowery, Barton MacLane." />
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Size : 700 MB

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Review :

Allied Artist Westerns -- a Step Up

As Monogram Pictures morphed into Allied Artists, they tried to raise the quality of their projects. As the demand for their B westerns disappeared, they hired some good actors -- among them the incomparable Edmond O'Brien -- and produced this western, directed by long-time Western director Lesley Selander.

I wasn't expecting O'Brien to be convincing as a cowboy, but he is astonishingly good as an ex-cowpoke who is building an express business -- and given a huge oversupply of cattle, he's shipping an awful lot of tallow and hide, all the scrubs are good for. There's a lot more history intelligently explained here than is usual for a B western, the photography is crisp and clean and there are fine supporting actors carrying the roles -- John Millicam is particularly affecting in, for him, a large role.

Selander directs very efficiently -- you can tell that villain Barton Maclane shot his interiors in a block and the action sequences near Lone Pine, where Selander spent most of his professional career are handled to advantage.

The net effect is that everything is much better than a B western, yet the obvious economies make it at best a shaky A. Still, overall it is a superior effort and worthwhile for western fans and a surprisingly unexpected sidetrack for Edmond O'Brien.