John WengrafFilmography

The Prize

Actors: Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer, Diane Baker, Micheline Presle

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Irving Wallace, The Prize takes place in Stockholm, where several laureates gather to accept their Nobel Prizes. At first, the film concentrates on iconoclastic novelist Paul Newman, but he is temporarily shunted to the background when physics expert Edward G. Robinson is Read More

Hitler

Actors: Richard Basehart, Cordula Trantow, Maria Emo, Martin Kosleck, Berry Kroeger

Synopsis: This was the last film by director Stuart Heisler, and in his uneven output it was not one of the most memorable. The evil dictator (Richard Basehart) is shown to be very much involved with his love life, as though impotency and a severe Oedipal complex alone could account for his dominion over Read More

Judgment at Nuremberg

Actors: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, Werner Klemperer

Synopsis: After the end of World War II, the world gradually became aware of the full extent of the war crimes perpetrated by the Third Reich. In 1948, a series of trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany, by an international tribunal, headed by American legal and military officials, with the intent of Read More

The Untouchables: Loophole

Synopsis: Jack Klugman guest stars as Morton Halas, an unethical but supremely successful criminal lawyer whose services are highly coveted by the Underworld. Now Halas has taken Big Mike Probitch (George Tobias) on as a client--and Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) determined to put Probitch away, no matter how Read More

The Untouchables: The Otto Frick Story

Synopsis: Beating the U.S. Army to the punch by nearly six years, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) goes after a criminal gang with links to the Nazi party. Otto Frick (Jack Warden), a racketeer in charge of several travelling carnivals which are distributing narcotics throughout the country, enters into an unholy Read More

Portrait in Black

Actors: Lana Turner, Anthony Quinn, Sandra Dee, John Saxon, Richard Basehart

Synopsis: Wanting to be free of her crippled husband but not his enormous fortune, a glamorous wife talks her lover, who is also her spouse's personal physician, into injecting poison into the ailing industrialist. This crime melodrama chronicles the chain of events that leads to the murderous lovers' Read More

12 to the Moon

Actors: Michi Kobi, Tom Conway, John Wengraf

Synopsis: Bumping along over several flaws, this is an odd sci-fi film directed by David Bradley, best known for his incredibly vast private film library rather than his stints in the director's chair. A very motley crew is winging its way through space with the moon as its objective. On board the spaceship Read More

Bonanza: Desert Justice

Actors: Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Claude Akins

Synopsis: Young Billy Walker (Wesley Lau) is accused of murdering the wife of Marshal Dowd (Claude Akins). Walker's employers, the Cartwrights, hope that Billy will get a fair trial, but it soon becomes obvious that Dowd intends to kill the boy before the case can be heard. Thus it is that Adam and Hoss Read More

One Step Beyond: The Explorer

Synopsis: Three explorers are hopelessly lost in the desert, their water supply all but depleted. Suddenly, a young man calling himself Eric Borgner (Jeremy Slates) appears out of nowhere, offering to guide the explorers to safety. Sadly, though the three men survive their ordeal, Eric does not. Years Read More

One Step Beyond: Image of Death

Synopsis: Having murdered his wife, French aristocrat Marquis De La Roget (Max Adrian) not only manages to escape detection (the authorities are convinced that the unfortunate woman died of a mysterious illness), but even takes his partner-in-crime Charlotte (Doris Dowling) as his new bride. But all is not Read More

The Curse of Dracula

Actors: Francis Lederer, Norma Eberhardt, Ray Stricklyn, Jimmie Baird, Greta Granstedt

Synopsis: Originally released as The Return of Dracula (and also known by the irrelevant title The Fantastic Disappearing Man), this interesting vampire variant on Shadow of a Doubt finds the infamous Count (Francis Lederer) leaving his castle digs in Transylvania and departing for the United States after Read More

Valerie

Actors: Sterling Hayden, Anita Ekberg, Anthony Steel, Peter Walker, John Wengraf

Synopsis: Anita Ekberg amply fills the title role in the offbeat western Valerie. Clearly inspired by Rashomon, the film offers contradictory flashbacks during a lengthy trial. The defendant, Civil War hero John Garth, Sterling Hayden, is accused of seriously wounding his wife Valerie and murdering her Read More

Oh, Men! Oh, Women!

Actors: Franklin Pangborn, Dan Dailey, Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Barbara Rush, Tony Randall

Synopsis: Edward Chodorov's stage farce Oh, Men! Oh, Women! is somewhat unnecessarily overburdened by star names in this 1957 film version. Dan Dailey plays psychiatrist Arthur Turner, who is somewhat put out when he discovers that one of his patients is the ex-boyfriend of his supposedly "normal" fiancée Read More

The Disembodied

Actors: Paul Burke, Allison Hayes, John Wengraf, Eugenia Paul, Joel Marston

Synopsis: The Disembodied is a voodoo melodrama set in a Hollywood-backlot jungle. The villain of the piece is Tonda (Allison Hayes), the craven wife of jungle doctor Metz (John Wengraf). Whenever she can't get what she wants, Tonda resorts to voodoo to confound and destroy her enemies. Naturally, she Read More

The Pride and the Passion

Actors: Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Sophia Loren, Theodore Bikel, John Wengraf

Synopsis: As was his custom, producer/director Stanley Kramer made some iconoclastic casting decisions when mounting his $5 million production The Pride and the Passion. Adapted from The Gun, a novel by C. S. Forester, the film is set in Spain during the Napoleonic wars. Captain Anthony Trumbull (Cary Read More

Never Say Goodbye

Actors: Rock Hudson, Cornell Borchers, George Sanders, Ray Collins, David Janssen

Synopsis: This emotional drama concerns a WWII medic who marries a German woman but leaves her in a jealous rage, taking their baby with him. They lose touch after she is arrested behind the Iron Curtain after the war. Eight years later, she sees him in a Chicago cafe, rushes across the street to see him Read More

The Racers

Actors: Kirk Douglas, Bella Darvi, Gilbert Roland, Lee J. Cobb, Katy Jurado

Synopsis: The CinemaScope process gets a rugged workout in Henry Hathaway's The Racers. Kirk Douglas stars as an Italian bus driver who dreams of entering the Grand Prix as a world-famous race car driver. Being Kirk Douglas, he achieves his goal, racing in all the major events around the globe. Dedicated to Read More

Gog

Actors: Richard Egan, Constance Dowling, Herbert Marshall, John Wengraf, Philip Van Zandt

Synopsis: When two scientists at a top-secret government installation devoted to space research are killed -- in their own test chamber, seemingly by an experiment gone awry -- Dr. David Sheppard (Richard Egan) is sent out from Washington to investigate. Sheppard mixes easily enough with the somewhat Read More

The Gambler from Natchez

Actors: Dale Robertson, Debra Paget, Thomas Gomez, Kevin McCarthy

Synopsis: Gambler From Natchez is one of a group on non-Cinemascope films released by 20th Century-Fox's Panorama Pictures subsidiary. Dale Robertson stars as a 19th century adventurer who returns to his home town of New Orleans, only to find that his father has been killed for allegedly cheating at cards. Read More

The French Line

Actors: Jane Russell, Gilbert Roland, Craig Stevens, Arthur Hunnicutt, Mary McCarty, Joyce MacKenzie

Synopsis: Like so many other films that were once considered "lewd" and "scandalous", The French Line seems as harmless as Pollyanna when seen today. Essentially a remake of The Richest Girl in the World, the film stars Jane Russell as Mary Carson, an incredibly wealthy Texas oil heiress. Lucky in Read More

Paris Playboys

Actors: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey, Veola Vonn, Steven Geray, Bennie Bartlett

Synopsis: Paris Playboys was lensed on the same sets used for the Bowery Boys' previous opus Loose in London, indicating that Allied Artists was nothing if not cosmopolitan. This time, Sach (Huntz Hall) turns out to be the exact double of brilliant French scientist Le Beau (also Huntz Hall). The Read More

Hell and High Water

Actors: Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi, Victor Francen, Cameron Mitchell, Gene Evans

Synopsis: Hell and High Water brings an intriguing Cold War slant to a standard submarine melodrama. Richard Widmark plays a soldier-of-fortune sub commander who agrees to sell his services to noted atomic scientist Victor Francen and his assistant (and daughter) Bella Darvi. Francen intends to prove that Read More

Tropic Zone

Actors: Ronald Reagan, Rhonda Fleming, Noah Beery, Jr., Grant Withers

Synopsis: It's always fun to watch Ronald Reagan play a slightly disreputable type, and Tropic Zone is no exception. Reagan stars as Dan McCloud, a self-styled "banana expert" who is hiding out in a mythical South American country for obscure political reasons. Motivated by greed, McCloud comes to the aid Read More

Flight to Tangier

Actors: Joan Fontaine, Jack Palance, Corinne Calvet, Robert Douglas, Marcel Dalio

Synopsis: In this suspense drama, a group of strangers becomes acquainted as they wait for a plane to arrive at an airport in Tangier. Among those awaiting the flight are Susan (Joan Fontaine), an American who is dating the pilot; Gil Walker (Jack Palance), an expatriate who received the Congressional Medal Read More

The Desert Rats

Actors: Richard Burton, Robert Newton, Robert Douglas, James Mason, Torin Thatcher, Chips Rafferty

Synopsis: The Desert Rats was a quickly assembled follow-up to 20th Century-Fox's successful war film The Desert Fox. Richard Burton plays an officer in the British Eighth Army, battling Rommel's forces in defense of Tobruk. Put in charge of an Australian unit, Burton rides his men ruthlessly, with Read More

Call Me Madam

Actors: Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Vera-Ellen, George Sanders, Billy De Wolfe

Synopsis: Ethel Merman reprised her role as a socialite turned diplomat in this screen adaptation of Irving Berlin's hit Broadway musical. Sally Adams (Merman) has made it her business to know everyone worth knowing in Washington D.C., and her penchant for parties pays off when she's appointed United States Read More

Dragnet: The Big Waiter

Synopsis: Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) investigates the murder of shopkeeper John Wilford, whose bound-and-beaten body is found on the floor of his own haberdashery. At first it looks like robbery was the motive, but the victim's widow sends the detectives off on another trail when she Read More

5 Fingers

Actors: James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie, Oscar Karlweis, Herbert Berghof, Walter Hampden

Synopsis: Based on a true story, 5 Fingers stars James Mason as a man known to his superiors only as Cicero. Ostensibly the valet of the British ambassador to Ankara during World War II, Cicero is actually a Nazi agent. He holds no particular political viewpoint: the Nazis offered the best price, so for the Read More

The Lovable Cheat

Actors: Charlie Ruggles, Peggy Ann Garner, Richard Ney, Alan Mowbray, Iris Adrian

Synopsis: Adapted from a play by Honore de Balzac, Lovable Cheat offers a veritable smorgasbord of Hollywood's top character actors. The title character, one Claude Mercadet, is played by Charlie Ruggles. Posing as a wealthy Parisian, Mercadet fleeces friends and casual acquaintances alike. He is forced Read More

Wake of the Red Witch

Actors: John Wayne, Gail Russell, Gig Young, Luther Adler, Adele Mara

Synopsis: This unusual, dreamlike John Wayne vehicle is set in the East Indies. The focus of the film is the deadly rivalry between two men of the sea. Ship's captain Rails (John Wayne) nurses a long-standing grudge against shipping magnate Van Schreeven (Luther Adler). The reason for the animosity: Van Read More

Sofia

Actors: Gene Raymond, Sigrid Gurie, Patricia Morison, Mischa Auer, John Wengraf

Synopsis: As Cold-War melodramas go, Sofia goes pretty well. Set in a backlot version of Turkey, the film stars Gene Raymond as former OSS man Steve Roark. Assigned to rescue two atomic scientists from Russia and spirit them across the Iron Curtain, Steve discovers that one of the scientists is his ex-lover Read More

T-Men

Actors: Dennis O'Keefe, Mary Meade, Charles McGraw, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, June Lockhart

Synopsis: The moodily evocative docudrama T-Men stars Dennis O'Keefe as Dennis O'Brien, a treasury agent determined to bring a counterfeiting ring to justice. O'Brien and his partner Tony Genaro (Alfred Ryder) go undercover to gain the confidence of the ruthless Detroit mob responsible for the phony money. Read More

Tomorrow Is Forever

Actors: Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles, George Brent, Lucile Watson, Richard Long

Synopsis: Elizabeth MacDonald (Claudette Colbert) is a newly married corporate librarian in 1918 Baltimore working for a chemical company owned by the Hamilton family and managed by Larry Hamilton (George Brent). Just as she is celebrating the armistice and anticipating the return of her husband John (Orson Welles Read More

The Razor's Edge

Actors: Tyrone Power, Demetrius Alexis, Gene Tierney, John Payne, Walter Bonn, Anne Baxter, Eugene Borden, Clifton Webb

Synopsis: After several years' service with the Marines in World War II, Tyrone Power made his much anticipated return to the screen in The Razor's Edge. Power is appropriately cast as disillusioned World War I vet Larry Darrell, who returns from hostilities questioning his old values. To find himself Read More

Weekend at the Waldorf

Actors: Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Edward Arnold

Synopsis: Weekend at the Waldorf is an unabashed remake of MGM's 1932 Oscar-winner Grand Hotel: in fact, at several points in the story, the cast makes pointed references to the earlier film. The posh Waldorf Hotel in the heart of New York is the setting for several plots and subplots. Ginger Rogers plays Read More

Till We Meet Again

Actors: Ray Milland, Barbara Britton, Walter Slezak, Mona Freeman, Konstantin Shayne, Lucile Watson

Synopsis: One of Hollywood's favorite film titles (next to Never a Dull Moment and The Man Who Dared) is given another go-round with 1944's Till We Meet Again. Ray Milland stars as an American combat pilot forced to crash-land in occupied France. He is sheltered by nun Barbara Britton, who finds herself Read More

U-Boat Prisoner

Actors: Bruce Bennett, Erik Rolf, John Abbott, John Wengraf

Synopsis: All-purpose Columbia contractee Bruce Bennett (formerly college athlete Herman Brix) was awarded a leading role in the wartime "B" U-Boat Prisoner. Bennett plays merchant seaman Archie Gibbs, who manages to survive when his ship is torpedoed by a German submarine. Disguising himself in the uniform Read More

The Thin Man Goes Home

Actors: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Gloria de Haven, Lucile Watson, Anne Revere, Harry Davenport

Synopsis: This fifth entry in MGM's off-and-on "Thin Man" series maintains the high production and story values of the first four. Per the title, retired private detective Nick Charles (William Powell) pays a visit to his home town of Sycamore Springs, with wife Nora (Myrna Loy) in tow. Poor Nick is Read More

Strange Affair

Actors: Allyn Joslyn, Evelyn Keyes, Marguerite Chapman, Edgar Buchanan, Nina Foch

Synopsis: In this mystery, the artist behind a detective cartoon strip solves real police cases on the side. The police are rather irritated by him because he is better at it than they are. He does it again when the chairman of a fund-raiser suddenly dies during a benefit. The police report claims the man Read More

The Seventh Cross

Actors: Spencer Tracy, Signe Hasso, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Agnes Moorehead

Synopsis: Fred Zinnemann directed this World War II drama, considered one of the best anti-Nazi dramas produced by Hollywood during the war years. The story concerns seven prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp who manage to elude the guards and the Gestapo. The commandant, in a rage over their escape Read More

Sahara

Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Bennett, Lloyd Bridges, Rex Ingram, J. Carrol Naish, Dan Duryea

Synopsis: Humphrey Bogart considered this World War II action epic from director Zoltan Korda one of his finest films. Sergeant Joe Gunn (Bogart) is the commander of an American M-3 tank crew allied to the British Eighth Army, which is defeated by the Germans at Tobruk. Joining the scattered retreat across Read More

Paris After Dark

Actors: George Sanders, Philip Dorn, Brenda Marshall, Madeleine Le Beau, Marcel Dalio

Synopsis: This French Underground melodrama stars George Sanders as a seemingly apolitical Parisian doctor who is actually a resistance leader. Sanders' nurse (Brenda Marshall) is likewise a French patriot--less so the nurse's husband (Philip Dorn), who has become disillusioned after two years in a POW Read More

Mission to Moscow

Actors: Walter Huston, Ann Harding, Oscar Homolka, Gene Lockhart, George Tobias, Eleanor Parker

Synopsis: More so than most wartime films, Mission to Moscow must be viewed within the context of its times. Requested by President Roosevelt to make a film supportive of America's Russian allies, Warner Bros. turned to the memoirs of Ambassador Joseph H. Davies, who spent several years prior to WWII in the Read More

Lucky Jordan

Actors: Alan Ladd, Helen Walker, Sheldon Leonard, Mabel Paige, Marie McDonald

Synopsis: Lucky Jordan (Alan Ladd) is a tough but good-natured New York racketeer who tries to finagle his way out of Army service. Despite his efforts, Jordan is drafted, but soon goes AWOL, with a lovely USO worker (Helen Walker) dogging his heels. She tries to arouse Jordan's patriotism, but he is Read More

Convoy

Actors: Clive Brook, John Clements, Edward Chapman, Judy Campbell, Penelope Dudley-Ward

Synopsis: Clive Brook heads the cast of this low-key British war film. Brook plays the skipper of a tiny English cruiser, performing convoy duty in the north seas. A German battleship targets the cruiser for a deadly game of cat and mouse. Just when it seems that Brook and his crew will be blown out of the Read More

Three Cockeyed Sailors

Synopsis: In this WW II comedy, three British sailors get roaring drunk in a South American port, accidentally mistake a German battleship for their own and stagger aboard. Boozy mayhem ensues until the tipsy trio manages to capture the ship and its entire crew on behalf of the Royal Navy. ~ Sandra Brennan Read More

Night Train to Munich

Actors: Margaret Lockwood, Rex Harrison, Paul Henreid, Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne

Synopsis: Rex Harrison astonished his fans by donning a Nazi uniform in the British suspenser Night Train (originally titled Night Train to Munich). Actually he's a British agent, working undercover to rescue a Czech inventor from the Gestapo. The inventor's daughter (Margaret Lockwood) becomes the Read More