Author Archive: Retro

Five passengers on a seaplane find that a crash has stranded them on an island used for nuclear testing in this disaster movie. Just to get to the island, they had to endure many hardships including a hurricane, a gun-battle, shark-infested seas, and a fire on the plane. Panic ensues when the diverse group learns that in five hours, another bomb will be tested there. While the story is action-based, most of the time is spent looking at the individual characters and the way they cope. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

PERFECT ALIBI: Randall investigates a baffling jewel theft at a big movie studio, with suspicions falling on a studio guard whose alibi doesn’t seem to check out. THE QUIET LIONS: Against his better judgement Randall tries to help a movie producer/director out of a jam involving a young female blackmailer who has been found dead. Guest Stars: Stephen (The Shadow on radio for 1/2 season) Courtleigh, Murial Hutchenson. Dir. Breezy Eason.

Oliver is heartbroken when he finds that Georgette, the inkeeper’s daughter he’s fallen in love with, is already married to dashing Foreign Legion officer Francois. To forget her, he joins the Legion, taking Stanley with him. Their bumbling eventually gets them charged with desertion and sentenced to a firing squad.

When a man finds the corpse of his married lover on the beach, he runs to call the police, but witnesses believe he is the killer attempting to escape. Based on the novel “A Shilling For Candles” by Josephine Tey. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock

An English man joins an army academy and gets talked into racing horses by a wealthy woman.

A comic look…at Cuba after Castro regime take over.

This film finds Stan & Ollie as traveling mousetrap salesmen in Switzerland, a logical place to sell mousetraps they think, because it’s full of cheese. They ultimately end up as waiters at a Swiss chalet where with their usual “talents”, they wreak havoc. This underrated Laurel & Hardy vehicle features a wonderful sequence where Ollie serenades his true love while Stanley accompanies him on the tuba. Songs and laughs galore in this Classic film from The Boys. Dir. John G. Blystone

Silvana Mangano (a very lovely & sexy voiced actress) plays a young, poor Venetian woman, Giovanna Masetti. She is struggling with an difficult life as a shop assistant when one day a young count Enrico sees her in the glass shop where she works. She gets invited to the masquerade ball (ah – if they would have parties like this now – oh wow) with the help of her unscrupulous boyfriend Mario’s dirty deal with the count – the glorious evening does not turn out well, not at all. One bright moment to this disastrous evening is Giovanna’s meeting up with a troupe of MAMBO dancers in particular the troupe leader, Toni Salerno (Shelley Winters

Greedy diamond hunters mistakenly believe that Costello has memorized a lost map to a hidden diamond fortune in Africa. A classic! Dir. Charles T. Barton.