The Crime Of Doctor Crespi (1935)

Starring Erich von Stroheim, Harriet Russell, Dwight Frye, Paul Guilfoyle, John Bohn
Directed by John H. Auer
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

When the man who stole the woman he loved away suffers a car accident, the chief surgeon for a hospital is urged to save his life in an operation, and he does, but has a plan for vengeance.

A powerhouse performance by von Stroheim really elevates this film into something special.  The actor delivers his dialogue in a quiet subdued tone for the most part, but when his character, the esteemed surgeon Dr. Andre Crespi, is angered, he explodes in a temperament well-showcased in tight closeups with almost blank backgrounds, shifting our attention to his expressions.  Dwight Frye, known for his roles as sinister assistants in Dracula and Frankenstein, plays Crespi's subordinate, and receives most of the doctor's wrath, putting him in a unique position to challenge Crespi when he suspects his nefarious activities.  It's not as showy a role for Frye as others he's had, but he's very good in his own way.  I'll have to say though, without giving too much away, that the best scene in the picture is von Stroheim's confrontation with the body of his victim, which firmly establishes the film in horror territory and gives the actor a meaty scene to work with.  It's just too bad the filmmakers opted to not utilize a music score to augment the rest of the picture.

The Boy And The Pirates (1960)

Starring Charles Herbert, Susan Gordon, Murvyn Vye, Paul Guilfoyle, Joseph Turkel
Directed by Bert I. Gordon
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A young boy, enamored with the historical exploits of famous pirates, encounters a genie in a bottle that transports him back in time onto the ship of the legendary Blackbeard. 

Bert I. Gordon, the producer/director and creator of special effects for 1950s sci-fi classics like The Amazing Colossal Man and Attack Of The Puppet People, tries his hand at a fantasy film with this time travel adventure starring Charles Herbert, the young actor from movies like The Fly and 13 Ghosts.  It's charming, but probably among the least of Gordon's films in my opinion, with a meandering story and some less than satisfying visuals.  The pirates, led by Vye's Blackbeard, are colorful, but their attacks on other vessels aren't very dynamic or exciting, and the bulk of the film focuses on weak humor in Herbert's exposure of the pirates to modern technology like safety matches and bubble gum.  Those faults aside, I still enjoyed the film, but it's a pale imitator of other fantasy classics.  The director's daughter Susan appears as a young victim of the pirates that Herbert rescues.