Killers From Space (1954)

 

An atomic scientist claims he was abducted by aliens after being injured in a plane crash. 

Quite awful low-budget sci-fi alien invasion hokum is enjoyable for those who like bad effects and costumes, stock actors and a boring, predictable plot.

Maltin BOMB: "Poor in all departments - and too dull to be funny." 

Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)

 

A faulty computer causes a passenger space shuttle to head straight for the Sun. Can Ted Striker save the day and get the shuttle back on track - again? 

Lacklustre attempt to rehash the success of the original comedy,  full of warmed-up jokes and hit-and-miss humor.

Halliwell (no star): "Palsied sequel to a funny film, with some of the same cast and some of the same jokes." 

Maltin**1/2: "Mildly funny rehash of AIRPLANE..., but can't match the quantity, or quality, of laughs in the original."

 

 

The Naked Street (1955)

 

 

A mobster springs a condemned murderer because he got his sister pregnant. 

Standard crime melodrama is not too exciting, but is well-staged with a good cast. 

Halliwell (no star): "Semi-documentary expose melodrama about unpleasant people; reasonably proficient on its level."

Maltin**: "Good cast wasted in bland crime drama..." 

Airplane! (1980)

A man afraid to fly must ensure that a plane lands safely after the pilots become sick.

Deliberately silly spoof of Airport-like catastrophe movies entertains due to a relentless onslaught of hit-and-miss jokes.

Halliwell**: "Arthur Hailey's play Flight Into Danger and the film Zero Hour which was made from it get the zany parody treatment in this popular movie which is often funny but sometimes merely crude. It rang the box-office bell more loudly than most expensive epic of its year."

Maltin***1/2: "Very funny spoof of AIRPORT-type movies...with a nonstop string of gags that holds up almost to the end (why carp?)."

Red Planet Mars (1952)

An American scientist is able to contact and communicate with Mars with shattering political, economic, and spiritual repercussions.

More Cold War propaganda than science fiction this movie is merely interesting as historic document of the political naïveté of the 50s.

Halliwell (no star): "Lunatic farago that has to be seen to be believed."

Maltin**1/2: "Outrageous sci-fi...Hilariously ludicrous anti-Communist propaganda (Red Planet Mars, get it?)." 

Stalag 17 (1953)

When two escaping American World War II prisoners are killed, the German POW camp barracks black marketeer is suspected of being an informer.

A typical Billy Wilder mixture of humor and drama, an ensemble piece,  highly entertaining, but politically a bit dubious, if not dated.

Halliwell**: "High jinks, violence and mystery in a sharply calculated mixture; an atmosphere quite different from the understated British films on the subject."

Maltin****: "The pinnacle of all WW2 POW films...Wilder brilliantly blends drama with comedy to show monotonous, anxiety-ridden life of POWs."

Red Planet Mars (1952)

An American scientist is able to contact and communicate with Mars with shattering political, economic, and spiritual repercussions.

The Ballad of Josie (1967)

A young woman stirs things up in a western town by raising sheep instead of cattle, and organizing the local women to demonstrate for women's suffrage.

Likable gender comedy typical for its star, this time staged as a Western, convinces thanks to Doris Day's professionalism; the male chauvinism presented, however, is hardly bearable by today's standards.

Halliwell (no star): "Tediously whimsical, unsuitably cast women's lib comedy with so few laughs that it may require to be taken seriously."

Maltin**1/2: "Uninspired Western spoof..."