Steve Cochran

Strother Martin

Brian Keith

Will Wright

The Deadly Companions

The Deadly Companions (1961)

Gene Lockhart

Nigel Bruce

Keye Luke

Director Robert Aldrich, one year before his post-modern Noir masterpiece Kiss Me, Deadly (1955), did his best with this atmospheric China Seas melodrama. Should chanteuse Frenesie (Marion Carr) stay glued to her weak-kneed but handsome husband (Patric Knowles) or wise up and take what tough but reliable Irish soldier of fortune Callahan (Dan Duryea) has to offer? The answer comes only after sterling character actors Gene Lockhart (evil mastermind), Nigel Bruce (colonial governor), Douglas Dumbrille (military cop) and once-handsome Reginald Denny (ditto) squabble and planify to restore order. Bonus: lovely brogue-wielding Arthur Shields, younger brother of icon Barry Fitzgerald, as the hydrogen bomb expert whose kidnap fuels the intrigue. Bad guys vs. good with the sublime, sweet-hearted, tough-tongued Duryea playing both ends against the middle. His face like carved rare roast beef, his hair slicked back, eternal glint in his eye, Duryea wriggles through sewers, sprints around enemy strongholds, and handles grenades with the best of 'em.—Ernie Bakeswell

World for Ransom

World for Ransom (1954)

Lisa Montell

Mimi Gibson

Shirley Patterson

Four astronauts returning from mankind's first mission to Mars enter a time warp and crash on a 26th Century Earth devastated by atomic war. Our heroes meet with hideous mutant cavemen, giant spiders, love-struck beauties in short dresses, and jealous old geezers in sparkly skullcaps as they struggle to save humanity and build a new world.—D.A. Kellough

World Without End

World Without End (1956)

James Stewart

Harry Morgan

Barry Sullivan

Thinking that his fighting days are over, Robert "Dutch" Holland (James Stewart) had become a successful third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, only to be recalled into the newly-formed Strategic Air Command. Set in 1955, when the Cold War is rapidly heating up, SAC has been formed to provide the ultimate deterrent to World War III. By building up a powerful force of nuclear-armed bombers and keeping them on a war-ready status at all times, SAC's leader, Gen. Hawkes (Frank Lovejoy) hopes to keep the "enemy" from starting another devastating conflict. Unfortunately, he is forced to recall reserve pilots and crew from their private lives in order to fill his needs.Holland, promoted to Lt. Colonel, grudgingly accepts the assignment, along with some other equally unhappy airmen, many of whom are old acquaintances from bomber missions flown over Tokyo in 1945. Holland's wife Sally (June Allyson) is less than pleased with the turn their life has taken, and isn't happy about her husband being sent out on dangerous missions when there isn't even a war going on. Also, she soon discovers that she's pregnant, and though she tries to support her husband's efforts to do his job, Holland is soon torn between his sense of duty to his men and country, and his responsibilities to his wife and family.Holland flies missions in the massive B-36 "Peacemaker" bomber, a plane that can take off from its base in Texas and fly non-stop to Alaska and back while carrying a crew of a dozen men and more destructive power than a thousand WW-2 bombers. Over the next few months, Holland helps form SAC into a tightly run, well oiled machine, but it means long stretches away from Sally; she's come to dread the sound of the phone ringing, fearing it will be terrible news about Dutch.Holland is flying a cold-weather test mission over Greenland at -40 degrees when his plane's fuel tank seals fail, and the fuel sloshing around in the left wing starts a fire. Nothing they can do will extinguish it, and Holland orders the crew to bail out. Realizing he's too low to bail out himself, he rides the big plane down to a belly landing on the snow, and spends days trapped in the plane's wreck before rescue arrives. Meanwhile, Sally has given birth, and is overjoyed to hear that her husband is alive with only a twisted shoulder for an injury.Returning to duty, Holland is shown the newest addition to SAC's inventory: the futuristic B-47 Stratojet, a sleek, swept-wing jet plane that looks like nothing Dutch has ever seen before. Gen. Hawkes wants Col. Holland to head up the new Stratojet bomber force, but Sally has different plans. Wrangling an opportunity from Dutch's old boss with the Cardinals that she knows he will take, he can finally leave the Air Force behind. Joyfully presenting this to Dutch that night, she is dismayed to see that he has been thinking about his duty to SAC, and has decided to stay. He tries to explain his reasons, his belief that he's doing something far more important than he's ever done, his desire to serve his country and protect his family by staving off war, but Sally is heartbroken, and Dutch must leave on yet another mission.Still bothered by his shoulder injury, Holland leads a massive deployment of the entire wing to Japan, a tremendous undertaking designed leave no doubt in an enemy's mind about what SAC can accomplish. It will also stretch SAC to its limits, and push everyone to the breaking point. Sally tries to speak to her husband one last time before he takes off, but she's too late. Flying non-stop to their base in Japan, Dutch keeps track of all his planes and people, and manages to get everyone there safely, but when it's his turn to land the field is socked in with fog, and Dutch can barely move his right arm. With the help of his co-pilot, he manages a hair-raising blind landing, and collapses from exhaustion.Grounded by his shoulder, Gen. Hawkes is finally forced to release Holland from the Air Force. But before he leaves, he tells Dutch just how much good he has done for SAC. The example he set for his men, staying in even when he had every reason to leave, has done more good for the force than he can imagine. Sally is overjoyed that she's got her husband back at last, and Holland leaves, knowing he has done his duty.

Strategic Air Command

Strategic Air Command (1955)

David Warner

Stephen Macht

Kathryn Harrold

A colony of vampire bats terrorize a small Indian community in New Mexico. Standard "Nature goes berserk" plot takes a twist toward the end when supernatural forces are discovered working through the bats.—B.M.

Nightwing

Nightwing (1979)

Cloris Leachman

Jack Elam

Ralph Meeker

A frightened woman is running barefoot on a highway, trying desperately to flag a car. After several cars pass her by, the woman sees another car approaching, and to make sure either the car stops, or she's killed, she stands in the path of the oncoming car. Private Investigator Mike Hammer is at the wheel, and after almost hitting the woman, he tells her to get in. The woman's name is Christina Bailey. She is obviously on the run, being barefoot and wearing nothing but a trench coat, and the scent of fear. Whoever was after her eventually catches up with them. Christina has information they want, but dies while being questioned. The killers fake an accident by pushing Hammer's car off the road, but he survives, waking up in hospital three days later. As Mike starts to investigate Christina's death, he's told by the police to stay out of it, but the hard-nosed private investigator proceeds anyway. Little did he know that Christina's secret would lead to death and destruction.—garykmcd

Kiss Me Deadly

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Paul Frees

Jean Hagen

Tim Considine

Through an ancient spell, a boy changes into a sheepdog and back again. It seems to happen at inopportune times and the spell can only be broken by an act of bravery....—Anonymous

The Shaggy Dog

The Shaggy Dog (1959)

Judith McConnell

Ahna Capri

L.Q. Jones

A family is trapped in a desert town by a cult of senior-citizens who recruit the town's children to worship Satan.

The Brotherhood of Satan

The Brotherhood of Satan (1971)

King Donovan

Richard Carlson

Kathleen Freeman

Working for O.S.I., the Office of Scientific Investigation, A-Man agent Jeffrey Stewart and his partner Dan Forbes are sent to a local hardware store where they find a strong magnetic field has magnetized every metal item in the store. Investigating further, they eventually trace the source of the magnetism to an airborn flight carrying scientist Howard Denker, now dying of radiation poisoning, who has carted on board with him a new radioactive element which he has bombarded with alpha particles for 200 hours. The element, dubbed 'serranium' grows geometrically by creating matter out of energy which it absorbs from metallic objects surrounding it. Stewart calculates that if the substance is not destroyed soon that within 24 hours or so it will have grown large enough to throw Earth out of its orbit.—Doug Sederberg

The Magnetic Monster

The Magnetic Monster (1953)

Reb Brown

Dirk Benedict

Felix Silla

David, a college student, is looking for a job. He is hired by Dr. Stoner as a lab assistant for his research and experiments on snakes. David also begins to fall for Stoner's young daughter, Kristina. However, the good doctor has secretly brewed up a serum that can transform any man into a King Cobra snake-and he plans to use it on David.—Anonymous

Sssssss

Sssssss (1973)

William Hickey

Mickey Golden

George Segal

When Confederate soldier Matt Weaver returns to town after the Civil War, he finds that his home has been sold by town boss Sam Brewster. Brewster hires gunfighter Jules Gaspard d'Estaing to deal with Weaver, but d'Estaing's independent approach settles the town's problems in a very unorthodox manner.—

Invitation to a Gunfighter

Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964)

Richard Jaeckel

Jack Palance

Lee Marvin

During the closing months of WWII, a National Guard Infantry Company is assigned the task of setting up artillery observation posts in a strategic area. Lieutenant Costa knows that Captain Cooney is in command only because of 'connections' he had made state-side. Costa has serious doubts concerning Cooney's ability to lead the group. When Cooney sends Costa and his men out, and refuses to re-enforce them, Costa swears revenge.—Buxx Banner  / edited by Rob

Attack

Attack (1956)

Orson Welles

Dennis Patrick

Oja Kodar

Life and times of Nikola Tesla, famous scientist whose inventions were stolen, but whose greatest contribution to mankind remain a mystery to this day.

The Secret Life of Nikola Tesla

The Secret Life of Nikola Tesla (1980)

6 / 10

Adventure
Drama

5.8 / 10

Crime
Drama

5.8 / 10

Adventure
Romance

6.3 / 10

Action
Drama

5.2 / 10

Action
Drama

7.5 / 10

Action
Crime

6.4 / 10

Action
Comedy

5.5 / 10

Action
Horror

5.8 / 10

Action
Horror

5.4 / 10

Action
Horror

6.3 / 10

Action
Drama

7.4 / 10

Action
Drama

7.2 / 10

Biography
Drama