Operation Petticoat (1959)

 

During World War II, a commander finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) submarine, a con man executive officer, and a group of army nurses. 

Mildly amusing military comedy somehow easily smooths its way around having a coherent story, but prefers on presenting some singularly entertaining moments.

Halliwell*: "Flabby comedy with good moments, but not many."

Maltin***1/2: "Hilarious comedy...Some truly memorable gags; Grant and Curtis are a dynamite team in this happy film."

 

Hardcore (1979)

A conservative Midwest businessman ventures into the sordid underworld of pornography in California to look for his runaway teenage daughter who is making porno films in California's porno pits.

From memory: Intense and at times depressing drama about bigotry confronted with the harsh realms of reality is fascinating; the "happy" ending is deliberately ambiguous.

Halliwell***: "Intense and solemn treatment of a situation that could have gone over the top, and very nearly does; the acting saves it."

Maltin**1/2: "...at times fascinating, sad, and repellent. Marred by unbelievable conclusion."

The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955)

A dysfunctional family operating an isolated date farm in the California desert is threatened by the arrival of an extra-terrestrial.

Extremely low-budget sci-fi horror with some risible 'shock' moments and working mostly on creepy atmosphere takes way too long to give the audience a short glimpse of its truly ridiculous alien.

Halliwell (no star): "Semi-professional would-be horror story, on a level with the Corman horrors of the period."

Maltin**: "Imaginative though poorly executed sci-fi melodrama..."

Psychotronic/Michael Weldon: "...this is an effective little science-fiction movie... "