High School Confidential! (1958)

High School Confidential! (1958)

[6] In this hilariously dated morality play about the perils of marijuana use, Russ Tamblyn (West Side Story, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) plays the smart-ass new kid at school, losing no time offending the faculty while trying to climb…
The Defiant Ones (1958)

The Defiant Ones (1958)

[8] Socially-conscious filmmaker Stanley Kramer (Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg) made an impact early in his directing career with this dramatic chase story of two escaped convicts evading authorities while chained together at the wrists. The twist? One prisoner's…
The Camp on Blood Island (1958)

The Camp on Blood Island (1958)

[6] British men and women are held captive in segregated prison camps under the rule of a sadistic Japanese commander who vows to kill them all if Japan loses World War II. When the Brits secretly learn of the war's…
Lafayette Escadrille (1958)

Lafayette Escadrille (1958)

[6] William Wellman's (Wings, The Ox-Bow Incident) final film is also his most autobiographical, combining his experiences as an American volunteer in the French Legion during World War I with the experiences of a friend who fell in love with…
Tarzan’s Fight for Life (1958)

Tarzan’s Fight for Life (1958)

[5] Gordon Scott continues his reign in the famed loincloth in Tarzan's Fight for Life. In this chapter of the ongoing series, Tarzan is trying to mediate between an English doctor building a hospital in the jungle and a jealous…
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

[6] Peter Cushing returns for Hammer's first sequel to their highly successful Curse of Frankenstein. Cushing's mad doctor escapes the guillotine and sets up camp in a new town, where he transplants the brain of his deformed assistant into a…
Some Came Running (1958)

Some Came Running (1958)

[6] Frank Sinatra plays an unhappy writer and WWII veteran who has trouble readjusting to life in his scenic Indiana hometown. The screenplay, based on a novel by James Jones, gets lackadaisical in the middle, but Vincent Minnelli does a…
Lonelyhearts (1958)

Lonelyhearts (1958)

[4] Montgomery Clift plays an eager journalist who risks losing his girlfriend after his editor nudges him into an affair with another woman. The dreary storyline struggles to rise above its theatrical roots and lead star Clift, whom I normally…
The Left Handed Gun (1958)

The Left Handed Gun (1958)

[6] On one hand, Arthur Penn's take on Billy the Kid isn't as whitewashed as other tellings. On the other hand, why should we care that some hot-headed simpleton ran out and got himself shot? Despite an admirable effort from…
A Night to Remember (1958)

A Night to Remember (1958)

[7] If you've only seen James Cameron's telling of the R.M.S. Titanic's tragic 1912 sinking, you might be surprised how much that film owes to this earlier British version directed by Hammer and Amicus alum Roy Ward Baker (Scars of…