Starring Lloyd Nolan, Mary Beth Hughes, Helene Reynolds, George Reeves, Steven Geray
Directed by Herbert I. Leeds
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
Michael Shayne promises his fiancee he'll give up detective work for a less dangerous career, but after starting a job at an aircraft plant, he stumbles across a diamond-smuggling plot.
We have here another enjoyable entry in the Michael Shayne series of films for Fox, with a good balance of humor and grim goings-on. Nolan is as always fun to watch, and Hughes returns as his long-suffering girlfriend, ready to hurl breakables at him when he uses her for his own ends. Among the guest cast this time around is future TV Superman, George Reeves, who pours on the charm as a man with mysterious motives aboard a ship Shayne pursues the smugglers aboard. It's a shame that the talented Reeves was typecast and met with such an unfortunate end, as he's quite enjoyable here. Reynolds and Henry Victor admirably round out the principals, along with plenty of familiar character actors in small parts, including Mary Gordon taking a break from playing Sherlock Holmes' Mrs. Hudson to essay Shayne's landlady. The mystery is well-concocted, combining Shayne's domestic investigations with some international intrigue, making the film well worth your time.
Showing posts with label Steven Geray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steven Geray. Show all posts
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Tobor The Great (1954)
Starring Charles Drake, Karin Booth, Billy Chapin, Taylor Holmes, Steven Geray
Directed by Lee Sholem
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A scientist creates a robot to replace the men being subjected to dangers preparing for spaceflight, but its powerful abilities attract the attention of a foreign spy ring.
A real charmer, this production may have been the first "boy and his robot" picture and is a lot of fun. Although the premise is a fine starting-off point, the rest is pure fantasy, as "Tobor," (robot spelled backwards), not only has the ability to react to human emotions, but can be controlled by thought and a tiny device containing micro-circuitry, in reality decades from the film's 1950s setting. However, it's not too difficult to leave realism behind in embracing the story, enlivened by a wonderful cast of characters, including Holmes' kindly scientist and Chapin as his earnest grandson. Although there's no ground-breaking effects work, Tobor comes to life convincingly, and the robot would later return in a television pilot, Here Comes Tobor.
Directed by Lee Sholem
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A scientist creates a robot to replace the men being subjected to dangers preparing for spaceflight, but its powerful abilities attract the attention of a foreign spy ring.
A real charmer, this production may have been the first "boy and his robot" picture and is a lot of fun. Although the premise is a fine starting-off point, the rest is pure fantasy, as "Tobor," (robot spelled backwards), not only has the ability to react to human emotions, but can be controlled by thought and a tiny device containing micro-circuitry, in reality decades from the film's 1950s setting. However, it's not too difficult to leave realism behind in embracing the story, enlivened by a wonderful cast of characters, including Holmes' kindly scientist and Chapin as his earnest grandson. Although there's no ground-breaking effects work, Tobor comes to life convincingly, and the robot would later return in a television pilot, Here Comes Tobor.
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