Rocky Jones

 

 (imdb)

MANHUNT IN SPACE-1954-Rocky Jones (Richard Crane) & Winky (Scotty Beckett) race to save Vina (Sally Mansefield) from space pirates led by Earth renegades, Rinkman (Henry Brandon) and Dr. Venco (Gabriel Curtiz). She's saved and they go to Cassa-7 to visit her brother, Paul (Tom Brown). The pirates are working for Cheolanta (Patsy Parsons), the ice queen of planet Ophesius. Her assistant is Atlasan (Harry Lauter). Rocky uses Cold Light, the invention of Prof. Newton (Maurice Cass) to find the bad guys. James Griffith is a traitor working on Cassas-7. Hagar Nu (Ted Hecht) a Martian, fits into the story too. Also with Judd Holdren who was the third actor to play Commando Cody in a serial and on TV around the same time. This is three episodes of the popular TV space adventure “Rocky Jones, Space Ranger”. It's pretty low budget and also features Robert Leyden as little know it all Bobby.

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Back In The Bayou...

 

 (themoviedb.org)

THE LOUISIANA HUSSY-1959-Down in the Bayou, a dumb trapper named Jacques (Peter Coe) won't attend his brother Pierre's wedding because he's in love with the bride Lily (Betty Lynn). While out doing his thing, Jacques comes upon the mysterious Minette (Nan Peterson) who seems to have had a traumatic experience and says her rings were stolen. He takes her to town where the local doctor (Tyler McVey) kind of forces Pierre (Robert Richards) and new wife to take Minette in despite it being their honeymoon. Everyone thinks it's a big joke and laugh at him. Lily doesn't seem to understand Pierre's frustration. In fact, she seems more concerned about Minette's condition than her hubby's. The minute Minette wakes up, it's clear she's some home wrecking tramp. Within minutes of talking, she and Pierre are kissing passionately while Jacques watches from outside. Later she hooks up with Jacques. 

When Pierre & Lily visit Clay Lanier (Harry Lauter), they learn that Minette is really someone else. A flashback narrated by his manservant (Smoki Whitfield) tells how Lanier's wife Minette was driven to suicide by the fake Minette's antics. After Pierre prevents Lanier from killing fake Minette, the brothers reconcile and fake Minette gets away, looking for a new sucker. 

Dumb sleazy quickie with Coe miscast as the hot-headed Jacques. Director Lee Sholem had already made PHARAOH'S CURSE (1957), SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE PEOPLE (1951) and several “Jungle Jim” adventures.

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Out West

 

 (imdb)

CONVICT STAGE-1965-A gunslinger named Latimer (familiar TV actor Harry Lauter) searches for the two outlaws who killed his sister. The US Marshall (Don “Red” Barry who also co-scripted) arrests them. He puts them on a stagecoach to take them to trial along with some other passengers (including the outlaws' mother (Hanna Landy) who wants to help them escape). They hold up in an abandoned town and talk a lot. The rest of the gang closes in.

 Low budget black & white little western that seems like a TV episode but longer. Director Lesley Selander may hold some kind of record for directing the most western movies, though he did step out of the genre to make THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST in 1945.

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Cry Baby Jack

THE CRY BABY KILLER-1958-A confused juvenile delinquent named Jimmy (skinny Jack Nicolson in his film debut) gets beaten up by a sleazy dude named Manny (Bret Halsey, one year before RETURN OF THE FLY) and his two punk underlings. Manny's new girl Carole (Carolyn Mitchell) is Jimmy's old one and he wants to get her away from Manny. They go out into the parking lot and somehow Jimmy gets his hand on Manny's gun and shoots Manny and one of the punks. Thinking he's killed them, Jimmy takes a kitchen worker (Smoki Whitfield) and a lady (Barbara Knudson, who died in March of 2014) with a baby hostage. Police lieutenant Porter (familiar TV actor Harry Lauter) investigates. A TV reporter (Ed Nelson) does a live report as a large crowd gathers. There's a lot of expounding on kids, family and growing up while the police (and his mom) try to talk Jimmy (now called "the boy with the gun") out but everything seems to go wrong. Frank Richard is Gambelli, the uptight owner of the bar (character actor Herb Vigran plays his lawyer) and Lynn Cartwright is a proselytizing waitress.

NIcolson is pretty funny as Jimmy, desperate, then crazed then sorry. It's really not that much of a role as most of the rest of the cast has the best lines. It's interesting that there is a sympathetic black character who tries to talk Jimmy into surrendering but by the end of the story he's not even thanked. The lieutenant just gives him a blank stare.

Actor Leo V. Gordon (who was married to actress Cartwright) wrote the screenplay (he performed this chore for Corman several more times) and appears in some crowd scenes (with Bruno Ve Sota). Producer Roger Corman (who's seen briefly as a TV technician) claimed this was the only movie he ever released that didn't make money!

I think this is the only feature film directed by Justus Addiss who usually worked in TV. His last work was for Irwin Allen in the '60's.

The great theme song is sung by Dick Kallman.

To read more about featured actress Carolyn Mitchell go here: 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0593198/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

The version I saw was just called THE CRY BABY.

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