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What makes this movie remarkable and unique apart from its great screenplay and cinematic effects is the musical background performed on an unusual stringed instrument, played by Anton Karas, the zither, which adds a repetitive haunting theme of suspense and intrigue to this well made production.

In post WW11 Vienna, American writer Holly Martins (played by Joseph Cotten) arrives there to seek out work with an old friend Harry Lime only to discover that he has been killed in a motor vehicle traffic accident. Martins investigates.

The plot thickens when he finds inconsistencies in the stories of witnesses to the incident with a hushed up look of fear and non cooperation on the part of those who knew Lime. It appears from the two men who picked him up from the roadway that there was a third man involved.

Martins becomes all the more suspicious after meeting his loyal girlfriend Anna (Alida Valli) already under surveillance by the Allied military powers of the city and eventually the murky world of Lime emerges in the dimly lit streets of Vienna, with his reputation as a racketeer and black market dealer being exposed.

Lime is also pursued by Major Calloway, (played by Trevor Howard), of the British Occupational Forces, who does not at first believe that Lime is still alive after attending his funeral, but then after that was his sighting by Martins in a doorway one dark night.

Eventually, Lime, (now revealed truly, for what he is and acted superbly by Orson Welles), comes into focus with a conclusion well played out in the underground sewers of Vienna where he tries to make a dash for freedom from the authorities and his flight from justice.

Interesting drama, shot perfectly in black and white filmography, backed by good performances from Welles and Cotten.

But who was the third man?

I had just finished watching our annual national horse race the Melbourne Cup,(an equivalent to the Kentucky Derby over here), and after losing my bets, decided to switch to another channel on my pay TV for some alternative form of entertainment.

By coincidence I got another horse drama, a film - Gallant Bess - a bond of loving friendship between a WW11 soldier and a mare,who both saved one another at respective intervals during the Pacific conflict.

Although nearly towards the end when I signed in, I got enough interest to watch it again in the evening full time,and recorded it.

For any animal lover like myself I found this tale to be one of a great personal relationship, between a young man having lost his original horse, Bess, on the home farm and then in forthcoming events enlists in the Marines to serve his Country.

On an island in the Pacific he discovers a wounded horse,(calls it Bess),and nurses it back to good health, and is rewarded when that horse comes to his own rescue after a skirmish with the Japanese.

Being shipped out later back home without his pet,in an outstanding finale, Bess breaks her tie rope and swims out to the departing vessel and is eventually taken on board by the crew and goes home to the farm for a happy ending.

I would recommend this film to the young children of today to emphasize the importance of how we need more companion animals like this one featured, who seem to prove more worthy in life than that of our own kind in our present society.

You would never get tired of watching this exciting film with Paul Newman as (Henry Gondorff) and Robert Redford (Johnny Hooker) combining to form a partnership, to set up mean vindictive respectable style gangster Robert Shaw (Doyle Lonergan) with a well planned heist, for ordering the killing of well loved drifter Luther Coleman (played by Robert Jones), who conned one of Lonergan's runners out of several thousand dollars in illegal cash.

Gondorff, getting himself on a train from New York to Chicago gets involved in a cheating game of poker with equally cheating Lonergan and wins his stakes infuriating the latter accordingly, particularly when he finds out that he was staked on his own pick pocketed cash.

Hooker plays up to Lonergan with a ruse of taking over Gondorff's enterprise and citing his basement racing shop as a means of getting control and inducing Lonergan to bet money on past posted races via an elaborate set up on a false con with a Western Union wire relay.

In between there is corrupt Lt. Snyder (Charles Durning) State Police (Bunko Squad) who thinks he has a deal with a fictitious FBI team to get Gondorff (for a promise of reward dollars), for nabbing Hooker and getting him to rat on Gondorff.

Lonergan thinking he has now the perfect means of taking down Gondorff places a huge half million dollar bet on a past posted race.

The fake FBI intervenes just at the end falsely shooting Hooker and Gondorff,who are playing dead , Lonergan exits at Snyders insistence because of two murders having just occurred, raving at his loss of money left in the racing shop.

In the meantime the team cleans up - Gorndorff and Hooker come back to life and they all share in Lonergan's proceeds.

This movie could well be described as acting within acting because that what it is - a perfectly rehearsed tale of deception by a host of characters who played their parts splendidly -great cast and one of the best productions I have seen.

The musical piano ragtime tunes of Scott Joplin interposed therein throughout the sequences add a special flavor to one of my favorite best films.

I first saw this movie at a suburban picture theater as a teenager in Brisbane, Queensland after its release in 1959. It is a sobering view of how the world could have ended if the two post super WW11 powers had actually clashed in a nuclear war.

I never imagined in my life that such an event could ever happen, (but it nearly did in reality as the result of the Cuba crisis three years later), which is the inspirational substance of this great movie. I noted the calender shown within this movie as 1964. What a great close forecast at the time of such an impending event.

I watched it again last night on Pay TV and my appreciation of its message of over 50 years ago conveys to me the great fragility of which our own mortal kind, exists in this uncertain world of today, and seems to be bent on descending into an eternal disaster of terrorism and destruction.

Set in my own home country Australia, it features the ever capable magnificent Gregory Peck as American submarine commander Towers arriving with his ship No. 623 in Melbourne, before the worldwide cataclysm of descending lethal radiation from a nuclear war, which has already engulfed the northern hemisphere will finally reach the shores of our down under happy go lucky continent and all oblivious to our citizens of this unavoidable maelstrom.

Enter Anthony Perkins as Australian Naval Lieutenant Peter Holmes with his devoted wife, Mary (played lovingly by Donna Anderson ) with their daughter Jennifer, and then the appearance of the lovely Ava Gardner (Moira), as an Aussie liaison officer who ultimately indulges in a passionate affair with Peck in a doomed but magical relationship in the beginning of the end for the time they have left. Ava was outstanding in her role in this movie.

And also the unusual part of Fred Astaire as Julian, more known for his outstanding song and dance man roles on American stage scenes, playing in this instance the off beat down trodden racing car scientist aboard the submarine, delegated to provide an assessment of the remainder of the time to come, before it becomes necessary for those left to end their lives with prescription pills.

Great emotional drama of an event which shows how our own race can be so destructive to the point where leaders can display their selfish principles in pursuit of power, decide the worth of their personal living, and ultimately those of the fate of their own kind.

Very tear jerking scene towards the end in which Lt. Holmes and wife Mary confront the final plight of their lives together and re-affirm their vows of genuine love for each other.

This movie was derived from the talents of absolutely brilliant novelist Nevil Shute who wrote the original book, translated into a magnificent production and direction by Stanley Kramer with the added musical tune of our proud now alternative national theme "Waltzing Matilda" played at those important intervals to such effect, which just makes this movie click perfectly.

P.S. I have a minor connection to this film through my brother in law who is Spanish by birth and was a very young refugee of the Civil War in his country in 1936. Twice he tried to stowaway on board a ship to the U.S. but was discovered and returned home. He later stowed to Australia, and accepted as an immigrant refugee, got a job as a dishwasher in a high class Melbourne Restaurant in the early 1950's. Through hard work he was eventually promoted to head drink table waiter and was personally assigned to serving Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, and Anthony Perkins who regularly dined there after their daily filming roles for this movie.

Ava Gardner made it quite clear to the management of the restaurant that she would only dine there if my brother in law (Tony) would be her personal waiter. He did well in salary and tips for that recommendation.

I believe she had a great attraction for Spanish gentlemen, well reflected in some of the movies she made during her time.

There is a street in the Melbourne suburb of Berwick where a lot of this filming took place, and under development at that time, and had her name - Gardner Street - placed up in the honor of her contribution to the role she played in this local production. Even Stanley Kramer got his last name on a street there for his contribution.

Great movie, well done in black and white - watch it and see for yourself. You wont be disappointed.

I never thought I would ever see a movie where the lovely gracious actress Deborah Kerr (and wasn't she), playing Sister Angela, would team up with the crude outspoken hard drinking U.S. marine soldier Allison (played by Mitchum) in this epic story of two persons, finding themselves stranded together on a lonely Pacific Island during WW2. Despite their in differences in social values, both combine to make a great team in the wake of possible impending Japanese discovery and find great moral ideals to their lives.

The end is just absorbing with Allison defeating an enemy attempt to bombard an invasion fleet by removing the breech blocks of their guns and neutralizing any move on the attacking warships.

Getting wounded in the process and ferried to a hospital berth aboard ship followed by Sister Angela gives this movie a very special distinction.

As the title ended,appropriately, under the directorship of the great John Huston - "Heaven knows Mr. Allison"

This is a splendid well cast movie which features two important identities - the first - Barnes Wallis (played well by Michael Redgrave) a somewhat eccentric off beat scientist with an imaginative idea of defeating the Germans by breaching their dams, the source of their hydro electrical power generation necessary for their war production, and in doing so, bringing a quick end to the Second World War.

The other is British Wing Commnander Guy Gibson (played superbly by Richard Todd) who leads his newly formed Lancaster bomber squadron (No. 617) on the attack with precision low flying tactics and brave judgment and charged with the duty of care and welfare of his well chosen loyal crew from all sides of the Allied cause.

Despite their difficult confronting obstacles, they complete their designated assignment with understandable casualties. Wallis is appalled by the loss of so many men on this mission and he regrets his decision to have even advocated the plan in the first place.

Gibson assures him differently and says his men would have gone anyway regardless of their outcome. The loss of his beloved black Labrador dog, hit by a car on the eve of his mission adds a very personal touch to this story.

Great musical score so thoroughly and magically composed for this WW2 drama by Eric Coates gives this film the thumbs up.

Just watch it and see. Absolutely outstanding viewing.

Cliff Robertson playing a somewhat reticent U.S. Naval Lieutenant (Lawson) hoping for a long due leave posting, is unexpectedly assigned to a command with a British base on an island in the New Hebrides off the South West Pacific in 1942. Because of his Japanese language skills and directed to penetrate to the north of the island with a British commando force he is given a directive to take control of an enemy radio station and deliver deceptive messages to their adversary in order to confuse Japanese naval intelligence.

On arriving at the British base and expecting some form of settling relaxation beforehand, is informed by Commanding Officer Thompson (Played by Harry Andrews), that he will be leaving for his duties in "half an hour".

The stunned look on Lawson's face, and at a subsequent pr-briefing put him into a state of disbelief as to what is happening with his association with his British colleagues who are already demonstrating precision control over their already come to attention to duties.

Enter British "Limey" Michael Caine (Tosh) an equally disconcerted medical orderly soldier with a totally disloyal uninterested squad of men, led on this patrol by bungling Captain Hornsby (played superbly by Denholm Elliot) who takes his troops to complete disaster with poor judgment of jungle fighting skills.

A shootout between them and an unanticipated Japanese Patrol leads to casualties on both sides - with the sarcastic remark of a Corporal describing the affray as though it was the outcome of a Soccer match -

"It's been a great day at Hampden Park folks - Hornsby's Hotspurs 5 - Japanese United 3". - all of them scored by Hornsby.

Tosh after attending to the dead and wounded replies - "Fairy Feet Hornsby deployed his forces with such a masterful grasp of tactics one half of ourselves got shot by the other half".

Another replies - I don't believe it.

Tosh again interjects referring to his fallen comrades - go dig out the bullets - you won't find "Made in Japan" written on them.

The rest of the patrol in their mission ends in absolute disaster with the loss of Hornsby on his disastrous assault of the radio station. A subsequent discovery of a major Jap naval airstrip there by the remainder of the patrol leads to a chase and run by the enemy in an endeavor to stop them reporting this find.

The remainder of the force retreat in a shambles with some of the party becoming victims of the Japanese,either killed or surrendering beforehand, leaving Lawson and Tosh to try to make it back to base.

Both eventually leave the jungle perimeter under enemy fire over an exposed field with only one survivor returning.

Really great movie full of comedy quips, combined with interesting American - British off beat well quoted differences, and a conclusion deserved of the movie title.

While WW11 rages in Europe, German intelligence officer Major Grau (played splendidly by Omar Sharif) is involved in the investigation of the grisly murder of a prostitute in Warsaw in December 1942. A German General is seen leaving her room beforehand and Grau proceeds to try to discover the perpetrator, targeting three likely suspects - General Tanz played by Peter O'Toole, General Kahelenberge played by the ever dependable Donald Pleasance and Charles Gray as General Von Seiditz - Gabler. His actions are seen as somewhat eccentric by his superiors but he has a devotion to duty to see justice done for unfortunate abused females already aided by Inspector Morand (Phillipe Noriet) of the French Police when another prostitute is brutally murdered in Paris nearly two years later in July 1944. All three suspected Generals happened to be there at that time. Grau with his polished conduct and charm plus Morand form a close bond to solve the murders and carry out their duties with gentlemen conduct though being on opposing sides in the war

Even though Grau is aware of the upcoming plot on Hitler's life he remains obsessed with solving his current crimes. He discovers the true identity of the killer but is himself shot dead by the real culprit in the wake of the unsuccessful assassination attempt on the Fuhrer.

The scene then shifts to post WW11, some 20 years later with the murder of another prostitute in Hamburg. The killings all have the same striking similarity in clues.

The final act is played out at an anniversary rally for an SS reunion, in which Inspector Morand confronts the accused and leads him to his demise.

Great backup cast by John Gregson as Colonel Sandauer (Tanz's loyal assistant) and Tom Courtenay with Joanna Pettet who provide a sensual romantic interlude to the horror of war and feature prominently in the closing of this good drama.

Peter O'Toole gives a magnificent performance as the destructive, arrogant hard drinking, demanding General, with strange personal qualities (like exact bathwater temperature and unclean hands of his subordinates), amounting into somewhat of an obsessive compulsive disorder.

Something definitely different from your standard WW11 movie and really well worth watching.

This movie has always been a great favorite of mine because I always regarded President John F. Kennedy to be one of the most influential politicians of the 20th century who championed the cause of Democracy throughout the world, particularly during the Cold War.

His service as a Naval Lieutenant in the Pacific during WW 11, in charge of a PT boat,(No. 109) which was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer during a night sortie in the Solomon Islands in August 1943 is one of heroic performance in which he paid vigilance to the safety of his disbanded crew, getting them to dry surroundings on a nearby island.

Their future looked bleak after being written off as dead by their own command,

But Australian Coast Watcher Lt. Reginald Evans (played by Michael Pate) and his loyal band of native Solomon Islanders refused to give up hope of their survival and after extensive searching discovered their whereabouts.

Kennedy sent a message to Evans carved on a coconut to confirm his presence and that of his men and they were subsequently rescued.

Kennedy's actions were very gallant on his part indeed, in order to keep his crew intact, and he did it with magnificent conduct in a role played superbly by Cliff Robertson.

Excellent supporting cast with James Gregory as local district Naval Commander Ritchie, and Ty Hardin, Robert Culp and Robert Blake making up as members of the crew.

A great well made movie of a true future leader - no wonder he became a U.S. President.

P.S. When President Kennedy paid a visit to Australia in 1962 he asked to meet once again with Lt. Evans and that was a bond of friendship renewed. I will never forget that terrible day one year later when he was assassinated in Dallas Texas on November 22nd 1963. I was 19 years old at the time.

I am surprised and very disappointed to find out from the remarks of previous IMDb reviewers, particularly my fellow Australians, that they cannot obtain a commercially published copy of this movie.

Well I have one and for good reason, because I played a minor role in the making of this film and was given a copy by my late Uncle, Jack McCafferty, whose bus company which I worked for at the time, was featured in several cameo shots. My Uncle was overseas at the time and, left in charge as a Company Executive, was approached by the Producer on a tightly fixed budget,for a deal where we would provide free transport of equipment and personnel to the filming sites at Emerald and Rubyvale where we ran regular bus services. In exchange we would get a small featured role in the film as set off advertising. My Uncle who I contacted approved the deal and we went ahead. Anyway, apart from all this, and the business association involved, it is really a great film of two "Buddies", played superbly by Colin Friels (Mike) and Harold Hopkins (Johnny), (ex my home town Toowoomba), just trying to make a living and seeking to strike it rich, fossicking for gemstones in their humble outback habitats of central Queensland.

Despite the intervention of their nemesis Andy a menacing identity, who tries to dominate the local scene and cook the market on the real worth of sapphires he is outwitted by the two buddies in the end.

Joined by a host of other great supporting cast members like Kris Mc Quade, Bruce Spence as co-fossickers, and city slicker tourist caravan folk from down South, - George, Merle, Jennifer and Pete they combine to make this a great adventurous movie.

Simon Chilvers as the personable dapper chappy aircraft salesman, and great aerobatic stunts by Barry Hempel, who I knew personally, and died only recently in a light plane crash off the Queensland Coast, gives extra blood pumping spirit to this great Aussie classic.

The final clashing scene between Mike and Andy on their respective big mechanical earthmoving machines brings this film to a great conclusion.

See it for yourself and decide - if you can get a copy.

P.S. I was invited to attend the premiere of this film, which screened in Rockhampton in 1983, and met all the cast, including late local Mayor Rex Pilbeam who played the part of the chap riding his horse into the bar of the hotel in the latter part of the movie. The film did make viewing on Channel 10 several years ago courtesy of movie host Bill Collins, and I was fortunate to dub a second copy.I have not seen it since.

I am not really into odd musicals but Carmen Jones is a marvelous work of genius by Otto Preminger based on the magnificent opera "Carmen" with wonderful vocal performances by a talented outstanding Dorothy Dandridge, along with equally superb vocalist Harry Belafonte,also Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll and the dubbing voices of others.

But what makes this movie significantly important is the all black cast which transforms this show into a musical masterpiece of its time.

Based on and made originally as a screenplay during the Second World War incorporating the themes of the great Bizet operatic tunes, with the added descriptive modern words later of Hammerstein, gives this beautiful rousing Spanish music grand appeal, and would have been an inspiration to many U.S. troops along with its very seductive dancing vocal interpretation performances of the lovely Carmen (Dandridge) who tragically committed suicide in later life - we may never have known the wonderful music she may have created had she lived a normal later life.

I first saw this great movie in the early 60's and was so impressed by it's beautiful flowing musical rhythm by which I always remembered with its inspiring vocal values. I saw it again a few nights ago on Pay TV (and recorded it), not available record ably then and would like to share my comments with your other viewers. A really enjoyable movie of how how past century musical classics can be cast into a modern wonderful production as this film proved to be.

P.S. I believe the actual singing of Dandridge and Belafonte (already greatly acknowledged for their own established singing talents) were in fact dubbed by Marilynn Horne and Le Vern Hutcherson in this movie because their own vocal range could not reach Bizet's requirement on which the original score depended.

Tommy and Jimmy were never actors, nor close brotherly musicians for that matter. Fightin' and Feudin' were their credentials in real life, breaking up their joint band in 1935 over an argument on stage about the tempo of a tune, "I'll Never Say Never Again". Hot of trombone, hot of temper the domineering,take charge Tommy walked off and formed his own Band. Jimmy, the older of the two, who adopted the role in their joint band as the lay back clarinet and alto saxophonist was left with the original orchestra.

Both brothers vowed never to play with one another again and the rift lasted twelve years, till the death of their father, where they made it up in consolation to their grieving mother.

This movie is a relatively good portrayal of their respective lives, featuring their doting parents, who tried to reconcile their indifference's but to no avail.

The real substance of this movie however, is the superb music not only of the Dorsey Brothers, whose individual careers flourished anyway regardless of the breakup, but the contribution of many other original performers such as Bandleader Paul Whiteman, and solo instrumental performances by Charlie Barnet, Art Tatum, Henry Busse, Ziggy Elman and Ray Bauduc. Great vocals by Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell singing "Green Eyes" who were actual performers in Jimmy's band but the real stunner is a very lovely, talented Janet Blair with a heavenly voice, effortless phrasing and natural style giving superb renditions in Tommy's band of "Marie",and "The Object of My Affection",and separately with a trio featuring William Lundigan as the pianist, plus Bass and Guitar of an unforgettable number, "To Me", in which she shines magnificently.

Tommy died on November 26 1956 followed by Jimmy 7 months later.

Despite everything about their eruptive and stormy past they both left a legacy of great music which is still played by swing band enthusiasts like myself to this day.

Relax, watch the movie, and enjoy the music.

I must admit my surprise at being outdone by my fellow Aussie Peter Blight on the first review of this film having recorded it on Pay TV two years ago. I have been a bit slack on my follow up on IMDb.

I totally agree with Peter's comments, I couldn't have expressed my own remarks better. What a great review on his part, deservedly getting top marks accordingly.

I have a special link to Artie Shaw through my late father, who was a professional Clarinet and Saxophone Player of the 1930 - 40's' and personally met Artie himself, when he toured with his U.S. Navy Band in the Pacific theater during World War 2. He arrived in Brisbane in mid October 1943, to entertain U.S. troops at Camp Moorooka Primary School a recreational facility for these G.I.'s at that time

Artie gave my father one of his I.D. Cards in U.S. Navy uniform as a pass to attend this concert, which my father did, and I still have that card in my possession to this day.

Artie Shaw was a genius of the clarinet with a unique style of playing not equaled by his other competitors like Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey and Woody Hermann who I would never criticize,- they were entitled to their interpretations of jazz and also played great during the swing band era.

Artie's story is one of a self confessed, difficult compulsive perfectionist musician who felt he could not achieve his ultimate dream with his beloved clarinet and gave the music business away in 1954 when he said he could not do better. He married eight times,including actresses Lana Turner, Ava Gardner and Evelyn Keyes - quite understandably, a very striking good looking man.

He then turned to writing, including his autobiography," The Trouble with Cinderella", well worth reading, and also his great passion for fishing.

I had the great privilege of acquiring some of his fine clothing from his Estate (which fits me perfectly) plus other great souvenirs.

Vale Artie - you were the greatest, and departed this world aged 94 leaving us a legacy of some of the finest jazz clarinet music of all time along with a great succession of superb Swing Bands and magnificent players- Billy Butterfield, Roy Eldridge, "Hot Lips" Page and Buddy Rich and singers like Billie Holliday, Helen Forrest,and Mel. Torme and his Meltones. I agree that a DVD release on the documentary of this great artist is an absolute necessity.

Derek Bentley a partly retarded youth due to an injury as a child in a bombing raid in World War 11 becomes involved with Christopher Craig and other anti-social misfits called "teddy boys" during the early 1950's.

In November 1952 Craig, with Bentley under his influence decide to rob a confectionery business in Croydon, London but are observed climbing onto the roof of the building and are reported to the police.

When the police arrive and apprehend the youths, Craig opens fire on the officers from a concealed gun killing P.C. Miles, although Bentley has already surrendered beforehand to Detective Fairfax, already wounded by Craig in an earlier part of the shootout.

At the following trial of the two youths for murder, the already biased Lord Chief Justice Goddard is determined to exact the supreme vengeance on the perpetrators of this crime. Craig who fired the shot killing the Police Constable is detained at Her Majesty's pleasure being a juvenile under the age of 16 years. Bentley aged 19 and considered an adult is sentenced to death as an accomplice.

Despite a public outcry over Bentley's fate, and petitions made to save him from the gallows, the Home Secretary Sir David Maxwell Fyfe refuses to grant him a reprieve,and Bentley is hanged on 28th January 1953.

The great irony of this case is that the Home Secretary was the successful chief British Prosecutor of the Nazi War Criminals in 1946 in Nuremburg but tarnished his reputation in a most disgraceful manner in the way he treated the semi-illiterate Derek Bentley who was made the condemned victim for his part in this crime because the real killer could not face the supreme penalty.

The other most shameful and disgusting aspect of this case is that it took over 45 years for the unforgiving self righteous British law courts and representations to the various Governments of the day, to finally overturn the conviction of Derek Bentley, although both his parents had died beforehand, but at least give the rest of his surviving family the satisfaction of knowing that his sentence was totally improper and unjust.

Christopher Eccleston gives a fine performance as Derek Bentley, along with Tom Courtenay as Bentley's father, who wages a relentless but futile attempt to save his son from his fate. The rest of the supporting cast is great.

A must see for those who think justice is blind and fair to everyone.

I notice that many reviewers have mixed comments about this film. While not being another "Gone with the Wind" classic it is a film far ahead of it's time, representing very realistically the way in which black slave labor was ruthlessly exploited during the mid 19th century. Bearing in mind that this film was released well before the advent of civil rights laws of the 60's, left it's release vulnerable to an improbable success at the box office due to the views of a divided nation.

Clark Gable is magnificent as the suave well dressed self assured Hamish Bond who harbors a secret past, rescuing part black blooded white female Yvonne De Carlo playing Amantha Starr, from her uncertain fate at a public auction of slaves in New Orleans. Bond installs her as his non-mistress in his luxurious city dwelling, behaving as the perfect gentleman and sympathizing with the circumstances of her past tragic life. His black aide played superbly by Sidney Poitier as Ra-Rau greets her arrival with somewhat of an apprehension, and his beautiful black housekeeper, Michelle played by a stunning Carrole Drake (the only movie she ever made as far as I can ascertain) who is secretly in love with Bond and wants to give Amantha a chance to escape by giving her a ticket on a steamboat to the sanctuary of the North. Her attempt at this is frustrated by Ra -Rau who returns her to Bond, leaving her furious and believing she is now a permanent prisoner of her white master.

A visit from sea shanty naval skipper played by Torin Thatcher ensues in a drinking session in the courtyard in which a mighty storm breaks.Bond comes to the assistance of Amantha when he shuts the French doors of her room blown open by the storm.

A few words of gratitude between the two lead to an immediate love affair and shortly after Bond invites Amantha to his grandiose plantation. On their arrival by riverboat Bond, knowing that an impending war between North and South is inevitable gives Amantha a further chance to escape to the north before the conflict, but she refuses and joins him in her increasing infatuation of her lover rescuer.

Her arrival at the plantation causes immediate commotion between Bond's black employees, and an advance on her by neighboring French upper class aristocrat Charles De Marigny played by Patric Knowles causes a violent intervention between him and Ra-Rau, who flees the plantation pursued by white vigilantes at the instigation of Marigny.

Bond who was absent at the time, returns to the plantation, learns of the events which have taken place, and challenges the over confident Marigny to a gun duel who cowardly refuses.

In the meantime the Civil War is well underway, and Ra-Rau joins the Union forces of the north, turning against his former master Bond who he blames for his demise and his previous subservience to him as his aide.

The victory of Union forces over the Confederates leads Bond to abandon his plantation burning and destroying his cotton crops and barns. He then confesses to Amantha his past as a slave trader, and being the reason he cannot marry her because of his guilt of what he has done to the race of her partly colored blood. He pays her what little money he has left, sends her on her way, and sets off for another of his previously abandoned plantations.

Meanwhle Amantha establishes herself in New Orleans as a music teacher, and is subjected to abuse by two Union soldiers, observed by their superior Efrem Zimbalist as Lt. Ethan Sears who places them under summary discipline and after escorting her home immediately falls for her. This comes to the attention of Rex Reason as Captain Seth Parton, a supposed champion of equal rights, self denial, and ethical values who once was a promising suitor of her prior to her incarceration into slavery.

At a dance party he re-introduces himself, and the unsuspecting Amantha, believing in his original values allows him to escort her home. Parton discloses his frustrations at losing her to Bond because of his past pious convictions and tries to make sexual advances to her. She flees to Bond's city dwelling where Ra-Rau has taken up residence and confronts her over her black blood link and her association with a white man and then assaulting her.

Ra-Rau then learns of the suspected hideout of Bond and sets out in pursuit of him and surprises him at gunpoint. Bond displays complete coolness in the face of this confrontation and confesses his role as a slave trader and how he rescued a child during a massacre of a village in Africa.Bond goes on to reveal how he took the child home, raised him like his own son, and called him Ra-Rau.

Ra-Rau is stunned, lowers his gun and tells Bond he is free to leave and Bond discloses that he is to be picked up by his old friend skipper at a cove en -route to the West Indies, but at that moment other Union troops arrive accompanied by their white Captain who tries to buy off Ra-Rau by suggesting a promotion for him if the Captain is allowed to claim the military credit for Bond's capture. Ra-Rau pretending to go along with this leaves the keys in the handcuffs of Bond who has already been led away by two Union troops whom he quickly overpowers.

Amantha learning of the location of Bond's departure is led somewhere near the cove but cannot find it. Ra-Rau emerges to lead her to to the exact spot of their meeting and they sail away to a happy conclusion.

The superb musical score of Max Steiner well interposed throughout this film in great traditional style adds to the worth of this well done production with great direction by Raoul Walsh of this marvellous novel by Robert Penn Warren.

This tragic legendary story of the Flying Dutchman is expertly woven into a wonderful drama about the tale of a beautiful but spoiled destructive lover, night club singer Pandora Reynolds, the beautiful femme fatal played by Ava Gardner. Already giving her hand in marriage to racing car driver Stephen Cameron played by Nigel Patrick she meets the mystical owner of a strange yacht, played outstandingly by James Mason, which is anchored in the port off Esperanza Spain. She is immediately attracted to him and finds a new meaning to her life abandoning her selfish, spiteful deceit with her past life and her other suitors including jealous bull fighter Mario Cabre who kills Mason not knowing he has immortality and where Mason then shows up at a bullfight shocking the performing Cabre, and distracting him so, that he mortally wounded by an attacking bull.

Harold Warrender as archaeologist Geoffrey Fielding provides a brilliant narration of this story throughout the movie and holds it together with gentleman expertise.

The final part of this movie is absolutely moving with the fatal love scene between Mason and Gardner culminating in the cracked hour glass in which they succumb to their mortal qualities in a storm where their lives are consumed and he is released from his imposed curse of wandering the seven seas for an eternity until he could find a woman who was prepared to die for him. This movie was too far ahead of it's time to be fully appreciated by the audiences of the day.

This superb story and direction by Albert Lewin makes it a lost classic. Bring it back.

No matter what you have to say about MacArthur, critical or otherwise, he shaped events in the Pacific theater of World War II to give him a part of history in the twentieth century. In this well done production with Gregory Peck in the leading role, he gives a candid performance of the flamboyant and publicity seeking authoritative General who turned earlier defeat into ultimate victory. His great speech on arrival from the Phillipines, by train at Spencer Street Station in Melbourne Australia in March 1942 incorporating those famous words - " I came through and I shall return" - was an inspiration to many Australians during their darkest hour.

From the time of his arrival in our country he quickly abandoned the idea of defending any mainland invasion by the Japanese and decided on an offensive in New Guinea as a counter attack. Peck is perfect in the role of the self minded MacArthur doggedly pursuing the Japanese back to their homeland while arguing with his own superiors, including U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt over his earlier promise to liberate the Phillipines, which was planned to be bypassed. After the Japanese surrender, MacArthur becomes virtual ruler of Japan modifying old customs and instituting sweeping land reforms. His authority remained absolute until the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, when he clashed with new U.S. President Harry Truman over his successful campaign against the North Koreans and his intention to take on their Communist Chinese backers. Truman, wanting to avoid another world conflict, relieves MacArthur of his command and he is recalled home. Peck is magnificent with his captivating speech before a band of West Point recruits where he details his life and closes the movie with that famous caption " Old soldiers never die - they just fade away". This movie is a must for the younger generation of this world, to know that today's freedom was the result of the sacrifices made by their forbears.

To add a final footnote my mother worked at Archerfield aerodrome in Brisbane in 1942 with her sister where they were employed as aircraft riveter's being responsible for the repair of the fuselage of damaged U.S. Aircraft used during the defense of our country during World War 2. She told me well before her death in March 2004 how she took her limited time off from work to travel to central Brisbane just to watch General MacArthur walk down Queen Street from his home base at Lennons Hotel to the AMP building in Edward Street where he had his headquarters.

She said what a fine figure he cut, tall and handsome, and full of confidence in his goal of supreme victory. Her expectations in the faith of this great American General were ultimately justified. We are a free country today for the contribution of his great military expertise in the time of our greatest need.

This movie reigns supreme over it's 2001 version Pearl Harbor which is really a fictional love story confined within a true conflict. Tora Tora Tora is based on actual events leading up to this avoidable tragedy, notably the bureaucratic bungling and complacency from the top down which allowed the Japanese attack to succeed.

Throughout this well done production, the story in true chronological sequence shifts between the two opposing sides with full subtitles giving the role played by each leading actor.

The viewer is given a clear concise unfolding of events with the part of the code-breakers importantly emphasized.

The attack is quite breathtaking in parts with several scenes closely resembling or being actual footage taken.

Ironically the breaking of the Japanese naval code by U.S. Intelligence gave the Americans every opportunity to correctly contemplate the next move of their adversary, but a desire for utmost secrecy by the Roosevelt Administration and the top brass of the Navy and Army restricted the transmission of clear and proper communications necessary for the Pearl Harbor commanders, Admiral Kimmel and General Short to make sound objective judgments regarding their respective commands.

Both men were treated shabbily by their superiors in the aftermath of the attack, were relieved of their command, and for decades thereafter had to endure the shame and responsibility placed on them in allowing this occurrence to happen.

This movie does a lot to exonerate them from their part in this terrible disaster.

P.S. I had the great honor of meeting bugler Richard Fiske personally, (USS West Virginia) with a colleague of mine when we visited Pearl Harbor in March 1997, (plus autograph),and had our photo taken with him. It is one of my enduring photos of this great sailor who gave his time unselfishly as a volunteer survivor, at the base, to give two second generation Australians the respect of knowing that we met a man who belonged to a nation which contributed to the success of winning the Pacific War.

This is a great film with a well done script about an American Naval Lieutenant Ken Braden played by James Garner assigned to a submarine commanded by Edmond O'Brien (a very underrated actor of his time) as Captain Stevenson. Braden's mission is to go ashore as a frogman on a Japanese held island to retrieve a wireless code unable to be cracked by U.S. intelligence. Stevenson is haunted by the loss of a rating on a previous sortie and wants to exact careful handling of his current mission at the expense of making Braden's operational plan a difficult one. With a submerged time deadline imposed on Braden to find and photograph the information he skilfully swims to the island and after activating an incendiary device to alight fuel drums at the Japanese base in order to create a diversion, successfully enters the radio room behind the back of the on duty officer and snaps the pages of the code. Returning to the sub he is behind the time deadline and oxygen on the sub is rapidly depleting. A crew member constantly taps a wrench on the sub's hull to guide Braden back and Stevenson gives in to just sufficient extra time to allow him to return. On arrival back at Pearl Harbor Braden sees Intelligence Officer Sally Johnson, played by a stunning Andra Martin, at the dock waiting to greet him. She had been commissioned at the beginning of the movie to evaluate his suitability for the assignment but a love affair blossomed to now give this movie a supposedly happy ever after ending. Mention must also be made of the role of Alan Hale Jr. (ex Gilligan's Island) as Ensign Malone who gives the movie a well deserved comedy touch. Absorbing viewing.

I agree with many previous reviewers that this was an ideal drive-in thriller movie and well suited to the era with it's colorful cinematography of the picturesque South.

Max Baer better known as "Jethro", the jovial dim witted clown of the "Beverly Hillbillies" series shows how equally well he can play officious gun toting Deputy Sheriff Reed Morgan of a southern Georgia town, flaunting his obvious authority with others. When three teenagers arrive in his domain at a local service station with car trouble he immediately becomes suspicious and makes clear his anxiousness for them to leave his County as quickly as possible.

Morgan shortly after leaves with son Luke, played by Leif Garrett, on a duck shooting expedition and while away two ex cons break into his house and rob and murder his wife Carol. Returning home he notices the teenagers car broken down nearby and after discovering the fate of his wife sets out in armed pursuit of the teenagers. The teenagers take refuge on a houseboat and the tragic events which unfold give this movie a hold on to your seat electrifying finale. The excellent "Another Place Another Time" song of Bobbie Gentry in the closing credits adds vividly to the way life and events did exist and were perceived in the Fifties era.

I often wonder why this film was re-named The Battle of the River Plate when the actual action took place 150 miles to the east in the South Atlantic. Nevertheless it is a great production brought all the closer to reality by the use of two of the original Allied cruisers which were still in commission at the time of filming. The big problem was the choice of a warship to fill the role of the pocket battleship Graf Spee which had already been scuttled and that of her two sister ships which were also destroyed before the end of the war. The choice of the heavy cruiser USS Salem while not perfect was probably the best the producers could come up with despite it's extra tier of forward and rear main guns and the familiar U.S. Navy number 139 on it's bough. The storyline of the film is held together through the eyes of Captain Dove played by Bernard Lee who is taken aboard the Graf Spee after his merchant ship Africa Shell becomes one of her victims. Loosely held as a prisoner Dove is given an insight into the Graf Spee's tactics as a surface raider and that she is in fact masquerading as an American warship with false gun turrets and a bough number, solving the producers dilemma of explaining the different physical characteristics of each warship. The actual battle while well done does show a few inconsistencies in that the near miss salvos are more like large splashes and at times the Graf Spee looks motionless while being bombarded by allied shells. This is more than made up by the fine acting of the combatants, with Anthony Quale giving a best of British tradition role as task force leader Commodore Henry Harwood along with John Gregson as Captain Bell of HMS Exeter and Jack Gwillim as Captain Parry of the New Zealand cruiser Achilles. Peter Finch is perfect in the role of the chivalrous and compassionate German commander of the Graf Spee Hans Langsdorff who in real life displayed these rare qualities and was immensely respected by those on both sides of the conflict. When the Graf Spee puts into Montevideo harbour in neutral Uruguay to effect repairs a great diplomatic battle ensues over her sanctuary and the story switches to a tense minute by minute dockside radio coverage by American reporter Mike Fowler played in true journalistic style by Lionel Murton. Meanwhile two of the three British Cruisers supported by a newly arrived warship Cumberland maintain a vigil out to sea while their embassy engages in it's own brand of propaganda to deceive the Germans into believing they are up against a vastly superior British naval force. Langsdorff falls for the ruse and after seeing his men to safety scuttles his mighty warship precisely at sunset a few miles out of Montevideo in the mouth of the River Plate. With the expectations that another and greater naval action was forthcoming this fateful decision gives the end of the film somewhat of an anti-climax but it was the factual truth and a necessary conclusion to maintain it's credibility. To add a final footnote, there is presently underway a large salvage operation to raise as much of the Graf Spee as possible and eventually put it on display in a museum in Montevideo.

I never tire of watching this unforgettable film which conveys a story, although fictional, could be applied to a real life situation despite it's unbelievable improbability.

Humphrey Bogart as Captain Philip Francis Queeg gives one of the greatest performances in his acting career as the paranoid skipper of the minesweeper USS Caine who attempts to bring his own brand of naval discipline to a previously slovenly run ship.

His eccentric but quite plausible actions are interpreted by his crew as those of a dangerous psychotic fueled by the outspoken comments of know all sub exec. officer Thomas Keefer a budding novel writer played by Fred McMurray who gives an outstanding performance as the sniveling Judas who will betray his fellow officers in a future court martial of of Executive Officer Lt.Steve Maryk well played by Van Johnson.

When Maryk relieves Queeg of his command at the height of a typhoon he is charged with mutiny and reluctantly defended by Jose Ferrer as Lt. Barney Greenwald . Greenwald is brilliant with his eloquent prose who torpedoes Queeg's testimony at the naval tribunal and exposes his failure of command.

At a following dinner attended by the Caine's officers, Greenwald turns up somewhat inebriated and remorseful as the result of his successful court action and uses the occasion to denounce Keefer in a toast by throwing a glass of wine in his face. This is one of the most riveting scenes in the film and a perfectly natural sequel to a well told drama. Robert Francis as Ensign Willie Seward Keith gives this film it's principal, moral in the story theme as the newly enlisted naive naval officer who quickly learns that the real U.S. Navy is very different to the fundamentals he learned at the naval academy.

Along with the stirring musical march score by Max Steiner so descriptive of the Navy just tops off this film as one of the finest productions of all time.

This film is not your usual sci-fi monster from the deep or outer space but a story based on comprehensible logic - the suggestion that the human mind and it's psychic and sixth sense qualities was the result of alien intervention with our ancestral primates millions of years ago. Andrew Keir plays a fine role as the tweedy dressed sometimes gruff gentleman professor, Bernard Quatermass who teams up with equally amiable James Donald as Dr.Mathew Roney and his attractive female assistant Barbara Shelley as Barbara Judd to solve the riddle of a strange craft and several ape like skeletons unearthed during the reconstruction of an underground London railway station. At first thought to be an unexploded second world war missile an Army demolition team is brought in to disarm it, led by the bombastic single minded military thinking Colonel Breen played by Julian Glover who scoffs at the theories of the two scientists that this could be anything more than a German V weapon. The finding of large insect like creatures preserved within the hull of the craft and an analysis of their physical attributes leads Quatermass and Roney to conclude that they are Martians who along with their ape like passengers were killed as a result of a crash landing five million years beforehand. Quatermass also speculates that the apes had been previously taken from Earth to Mars and altered in order to give them Martian thinking characteristics which were then inherited by their human descendants. Breen dismisses the insect creatures as fakes and convinces his government superiors that the missile is safe, against the advice of Quatermass, Roney and Judd who have already discovered sinister awakenings within the craft after a workman dismantling his drill therein is seized upon by an invisible propelling force along with terrifying mental images. When the public and press are admitted to the site the craft comes to life generating a ghostly devil looking apparition, along with the now mind affected local population banding into groups and unleashing a killing spree on their own kind. Quatermass and Roney must now pool their scientific expertise to neutralize the menace and restore order. Nigel Kneale's compelling screenplay is sheer brilliance and gives this film a distinct and special uniqueness in the world of science fiction. A must see for the serious minded movie watcher.

As a true crime buff I found this film a profoundly compelling story and one in which, considering the racial attitudes of the place and era, the testimony of two black men actually convicted a white and powerful land baron of murder. One of the two principal characters which are the centerpiece of this film is Andy Griffith who gives an outstanding performance as the self assured and dubious law abiding Christian John Wallace, owner of a great land empire located in Meriwether County of rural Georgia. The other is the late and legendary country western singer Johnny Cash as the fearless incorruptible southern sheriff Lamar Potts with a true craving for the principle of natural justice. When tenant farmer Wilson Turner steals one of Wallace's prized dairy cows the latter, along with three cronies, decide to enact their own justice on the perpetrator. They pursue Turner in a car chase across the county line into neighboring Coweta where Wallace corners Turner at a roadside cafe and viciously and fatally bludgeons him on the head with the butt of a gun. The witnessed crime comes under the jurisdiction of Coweta County sheriff Potts who after intensive investigation arrests Wallace and the others.

In the meantime Wallace with the coerced help of two of his black farm workers have already disposed of Turner's body by burning it and scattering the ashes in a nearby river. Confidently believing he has got away with murder because no body can be found Wallace and his cohorts are sent to trial but Potts and his lawmen have turned up evidence of bone fragments in ash deposits at the crime site and the accused are duly convicted and sentenced. Potts also shows his relentless pursuing of others involved in the crime by arresting Meriwether County Sheriff Hardy Collier as an accessory after the fact. Griffith and Cash couldn't have been more perfect choices for this film in their respective roles. The former, I have always been used to seeing as the smiling friendly character of "The Andy Griffith Show" and many other films, but whose great acting talents in this instance show he can play just as well the evil, corrupt and reprehensible individual at the expense of his popular image. Cash for his part as the slow southern drawl talking lawman demonstrates his capacity as a serious and capable actor in addition to his already established singing talents. I am led to believe he was chosen for this part because he resembled the original Lamar Potts. This is a film which deserves a greater audience than it has got and shows that with truth and honor justice can prevail for all as equals.

I notice that many previous reviewers have been trying to obtain a copy of this film after viewing same. I can really understand why because it's impact is romantically haunting. When I saw it advertised for screening in the 1980's I preset a video to record it while I was out shopping. Unfortunately due to insufficient tape I missed the ending and it was two years later when I managed to obtain a copy from a local video store to complete my experience of a tale which I found absolutely fascinating. Lindsay Wagner is magnificent and well suited in the role of the gentle loving romantic Jenny Logan along with her less enamored happy go lucky husband Michael played by Marc Singer. When they buy an old house once owned by an unknown artist she finds a doorway to the world of the past by wearing an old dress discovered in the attic. This leads her to a romance with the artist as she travels to a time in pre-turn of the century 1900. The great appeal of this film is the transition from the uncaring hustle and bustle of the present to the gracious principled and courteous past marking the distinctly different attitudes of the people of these respective eras. The story right to the ending is a well laid out plot with the respective events giving a totally believable twist to the fate and fortune of Jenny Logan. This is a film which you can watch over and over, never find boring, and then become caught up being addicted with the fantasy of being one of the principal characters in this unforgettable tale. A great tear jerker for the ladies.