Broken Arrow
by Delmer Daves
from 20th Century Fox
Delmer Daves's movie about ex-army scout Tom Jeffords's one-man peace mission to the Apaches, and the diplomatic partnership he formed with Cochise, has a child's-storybook clarity to it. That applies to not only its lovely Technicolor compositions but also its scenario, characterizations, and still-arresting mix of violence and delicacy. Broken Arrow wasn't the first Western to express sympathy for the Indian side in the frontier wars (Devil's Doorway came out earlier in 1950 and filed a more scathing brief on the Indians' behalf), but it was Daves's picture that had a decisive impact on popular consciousness and effectively amended the ground rules of the genre. James Stewart's Jeffords may be less compelling than the troubled Westerners the star would soon be playing for Anthony Mann, but there's real tenderness and vulnerability in the performance. Jeff Chandler scored a supporting-actor Oscar® nomination for leavening the dignity of Cochise with sly humor. --Richard T. Jameson
In 1870, when white men and Indians are fighting bitterly, Tom Jeffords (Stewart) strongly believes the Apaches are treated unfairly. After befriending their leader Cochise (Jeff Chandler) and arranging a truce, he is called upon by a U.S. Army general to negotiate a government peace treaty. Though he fulfills his mission, Jeffords soon experiences great tragedy when he, his Indian wife (Debra Paget) and good friend Cochise become targets of a renegade ambush.
Demetrius and the Gladiators
by Delmer Daves
from 20th Century Fox
Amid a cast of all-stars in 1953's The Robe, Victor Mature made the strongest impression as the Greek slave, Demetrius. It was only natural, then, that Mature should star in this 1954 sequel, in which the newly liberated Demetrius forges an alliance with his Christian brethren to hide the sacred robe of Christ, coveted for its "magic" by the vile emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson, also reprising his role in The Robe). Captured and manipulated into believing his beloved Lucia (Debra Paget) has been killed, Demetrius rejects his pacifist faith, plots vengeance while becoming a rising star in the bloody arena, and falls prey to the scheming senator's wife Messalina (Susan Hayward), who craves his... affection. It all leads to a crisis of faith that will determine Demetrius's fate as a noble Christian or downfallen hedonist.
Inheriting The Robe's CinemaScope production values, Demetrius and the Gladiators has everything you'd want in a Biblical epic, riding the wave that would crest two years later with Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. It's campy, of course--Robinson is outrageously over-the-top; Mature is too contemporary (preceding the absurdity of Richard Gere's King David by 30 years); and Hayward seems closer to Rodeo Drive than ancient Rome. Still, there are abundant pleasures here, from the lavish arena battles (a bit cheesy, but still impressive) to a straightforward morality tale that doesn't compromise its themes of religious loyalty. You don't watch movies like this for historical accuracy, but for the combination of thrills, passion, and glory that were Hollywood trademarks of 1950s epics, long before the more secular ambition of Gladiator. --Jeff Shannon
Rome, soon after the death of Christ. The depraved and mad Caligula is on the throne, obsessed with two things: the Robe, the garment that fell from Jesus' shoulders on the cross, and brutal gladiatorial displays. Victor Mature is the devout Christian entrusted with the Robe by Peter (Michael Rennie). But he turns his back on God, enters the arena, and becomes the most famous gladiator in Rome. Sharing the bed of the powerful and diabolical Messalina (Susan Hayward), he may even betray the Robe - and any hope he has for redemption!
Prince Valiant
by Henry Hathaway
from 20th Century Fox
Cartoonist Hal Foster's medieval hero, the Scandinavian Prince Valiant, comes to the screen in all his Dutch-bob-haircut glory in this 1954 film directed by Henry Hathaway (Kiss of Death). Robert Wagner plays the title role and does a bang-up job of it, convincingly portraying the heroic prince as he enters the court of King Arthur (Brian Aherne) in England and becomes (with some tutelage from Sir Gawain, played by Sterling Hayden) a Knight of the Round Table. Determined to restore his dethroned family to their proper seat back home, Valiant takes on the Black Knight (James Mason), who plans to do away with Arthur and then finish his misdeeds back in Scandia. Under such pressure, the prince, quite understandably, falls in love with Princess Aleta (Janet Leigh). Hathaway proves to be the perfect director for this material, as his fluid skill, moderate forcefulness, and adaptability to genre necessities keep the film from teetering too far in the direction of pulp--or self-seriousness. --Tom Keogh
Overthrown and driven into exile, the king of Scandia has fled to Britain with his wife and son, Prince Valiant (Wagner). As a young man, Val hoes to King Arthur's court, where he is befriended by Sir Gawain (sterling Hayden) and trains to be become a knight of the round table. Val also falls in love with a beautiful princess (Leigh) and faces the treachery of the mysterious Black Knight, who is scheming to betray Val's family.
Belles on Their Toes
by Henry Levin
from 20th Century Fox
Myrna Loy charms as the Gilbreth family matriarch in this enjoyable 1952 sequel to Walter Lang's comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, based on the autobiographical novel by Frank Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. Picking up from the somber ending of Cheaper, in which Frank Sr. (Clifton Webb) dies, leaving behind his wife, Lillian (Loy), and 12 children, Belles focuses on the family's slow recovery and aspirations for a future. Lillian's qualifications as an engineer are dismissed--sometimes humiliatingly--by sexist men, though she finally receives a training position with the plain-speaking Sam Harper (Edward Arnold) and the respect of a major university. Meanwhile, eldest daughter Ann (Jeanne Crain) is wooed by a young doctor (Jeffrey Hunter), and the other Gilbreth kids weed out unsuitable suitors for their dating-age sisters. Several pleasant musical numbers punctuate the comically unpredictable action, including a few by Hoagy Carmichael as the Gilbreth's wry cook. --Tom Keogh
House of Strangers (Fox Film Noir)
by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
from 20th Century Fox
Edward G. Robinson's ill-gotten gains embroil his entire family in scandal and murder. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) / Belles on Their Toes
by Henry Levin
from 20th Century Fox
Love Me Tender
by Robert D. Webb
from 20th Century Fox
Here's the alpha point of Elvis Presley's film career, the introduction of the raw-boned Mississippi boy into Hollywood pictures. E.P. takes a supporting role, and his entrance is delayed for nearly 20 minutes: kid brother to returning Civil War soldier Richard Egan, his character marries Egan's sweetheart Debra Paget when Egan is presumed dead. It's a chance for Elvis, his face still trembling with baby fat, to emote dramatically and finish tragically, both of which he does passably well. A serviceable Western, the film shamelessly shoehorns four Presley tunes into two sequences: E.P. crooning on mama's porch, and performing at a country fair (where starchy locals don't seem disturbed at the boy's gyrating hips and happy feet). All in all, a shrewd way to put a foot in Hollywood's doorway, and, of course, one of the last Presley movies to feel like a real film and not a vehicle for the King. --Robert Horton
Moviegoers were introduced to Elvis Presley in this film set during the dying hours of the Civil War. Elvis sings four songs, including the title song. The year is 1865, and the three Confederate Reno brothers don't know the war has ended. They manage to steal a Union Army payroll, and head for home with the money. While Vance (Richard Egan) can think only of the love of his life, Cathy (Debra Paget), it turns out that the brothers have been reported dead, and Cathy has married their youngest brother Clint (Elvis Presley). Vance accepts this until he learns that Cathy still loves him. To complicate things, the U.S. Army knows of the brothers' theft and is hunting them down.
The Haunted Palace / The Tower of London
by Roger Corman
from MGM (Video & DVD)
THE HAUNTED PALACE TOWER OF LONDON
14 Hours (Fox Film Noir)
by Henry Hathaway
from 20th Century Fox
"There's a jumper on the ledge...." And so, after a wordless opening sequence, begins Fourteen Hours, a taut thriller about a would-be suicide standing outside his hotel-room window on St. Patrick's Day. The jumper, nervously played by Richard Basehart, is counseled by a gallery of interested parties, including a beat cop (Paul Douglas) and the man's divorced parents (Agnes Moorehead and Robert Keith) and fiancée (Barbara Bel Geddes). Psychiatrist Martin Gabel provides some Freudian analysis of the situation. Along with the drama on the ledge, the film cruises through the reactions of the crowd below, from concerned to cynical. Among the huge ensemble are a surprising gallery of faces, including up-and-comers Grace Kelly, Jeffrey Hunter, and Debra Paget. Howard Da Silva is a cop, and Ossie Davis and Harvey Lembeck (both uncredited) are cab drivers. Director Henry Hathaway had made some of the Fox film noirs emphasizing realism and authentic location shooting (House on 92nd Street, Call Northside 777), and he takes a similar approach to the flavorful Manhattan sites here--albeit mostly within a one-block area. The movie's ticking-clock momentum holds up well, even if some of the social-concern material feels dated. And when you can cut to a vertiginous angle every few minutes, suspense is practically guaranteed. --Robert Horton
Film noir, a classic film style of the `40s and `50s, is noted for its dark themes, stark camera angles and high-contrast lighting. Comprising many of Hollywood's finest films, film noir tells realistic stories about crime, mystery, femmes fatales and conflict.
This compelling suspense drama spends its time with a tormented young man (Richard Basehart) as he teeters on a New York hotel's 15th floor window ledge, deciding whether or not to jump. Paul Douglas plays a traffic cop, the first officer on the scene, and through his gentle, compassionate talk, he becomes the only one the man on the ledge trusts. He certainly doesn't trust his mother (Agnes Moorehead) or ex-fiancée (Barbara Bel Geddes). The crowd below is mesmerized and for some, the fourteen hours that follow will change their lives forever. This film is notable for the film debut of Grace Kelly in a small role.
The Ten Commandments
from Paramount
Legendary silent film director Cecil B. DeMille didn't much alter the way he made movies after sound came in, and this 1956 biblical drama is proof of that. While graced with such 1950s niceties as VistaVision and Technicolor, The Ten Commandments (DeMille had already filmed an earlier version in 1923) has an anachronistic, impassioned style that finds lead actors Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner expressively posing while hundreds of extras writhe either in the presence of God's power or from orgiastic heat. DeMille, as always, plays both sides of the fence as far as sin goes, surrounding Heston's Moses with worshipful music and heavenly special effects while also making the sexy action around the cult of the Golden Calf look like fun. You have to see The Ten Commandments to understand its peculiar resonance as an old-new movie, complete with several still-impressive effects such as the parting of the Red Sea. --Tom Keogh
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