San Sebastian Film Festival ::

Don Siegel

USA

22 min. Short film

On Christmas Eve, three cowboys from the US Southwest cross the desert laden with gifts. They see a star shining on the horizon and ride towards it, only to discover that it?s the light of the Star Auto Court motel. Nick, its owner, no longer believes in goodness. Young Jose and Maria Santos arrive at the motel to find that there are no cabins left and have to stay in a shed. But when the other guests learn that Maria is going to have a child, they soon show Nick that there is still goodness in the world. Oscar® for Best Short Subject, Two-reel, 1946.

Hitler Lives

Don Siegel

USA

17 min. Short film

The film warns that the defeated Germans still have Nazi supporters among their ranks and that the world must not be duped by Germany's false pacifism as it was in the past. The Americans must also be on guard against those who preach violence and racial hatred in their own country. Oscar® for Best Documentary, Short Subjects, in 1946.

The Verdict

Don Siegel

USA

86 min.

Police superintendent George Edward Grodman's testimony sends an innocent man to the gallows for the murder of Hannah Kendall. Forced to resign, Grodman is replaced by his rival John R. Buckley. One night, after a party at Grodman's house attended among others by MP Clive Russell and Hannah's nephew, Arthur Kendall, the latter is murdered.

Night unto Night

Don Siegel

USA

84 min.

Scientist John Gaylord, an epilepsy-sufferer, rents a house on the Florida coast from Ann Gracie, a widow who claims that she can still hear her dead husband's voice. John meets Ann?s friends, the artist C. L. Shawn and his wife. Although John keeps his epilepsy a secret from his new acquaintances, Shawn accidentally discovers the truth. John falls in love with Ann and his doctor advises him to come clean with her about his condition, but instead he decides to break things off.

The Big Steal

Don Siegel

USA

71 min.

While on a boat in Veracruz (Mexico), U.S. Army Lieutenant Duke Halliday is confronted at gunpoint by Captain Vincent Blake, who plans to take him back to the United States. Halliday punches him and bolts. He meets Joan Graham, joining forces with her in a shared search for the same man, Fiske, who stole $300,000 in army payroll money from Duke and $2,000 from Joan.

The Duel at Silver Creek

Don Siegel

USA

77 min.

In the West of the late 1800s, the Jeffers gang murders miners for their claims. One of their victims, Cromwell, is shot to death at his mine, but his son Luke manages to shoot one of the attackers. When the gang turns its attention to miners in the area of Silver City, Marshal "Lightning" Tyrone, named for his quick draw, organizes a posse to hunt them down.

No Time for Flowers

Don Siegel

USA

83 min.

Czechoslovakian secretary Anna Svoboda works for Karl Marek, a government official just back from a diplomatic assignment in Washington DC. The gifts he brings (make-up and a beautiful evening gown) leave her shocked and wondering if he has gone over to the other side. Reporting her fears to Anton Novotny, Karl?s supervisor, she is summoned by Emil Dadak, Head of the Secret Police, who instructs her to befriend Marek and report any dubious activities.

Count the Hours

Don Siegel

USA

74 min.

Elderly farmer Fred Morgan and his housekeeper are murdered in the middle of the night. George Braden, the farmer's hired hand, is accused of the crime, with all the more reason after the police see his wife Ellen throwing a gun into the lake. After hours of intense interrogation, George confesses to the killings for fear that the pregnant Ellen will have a breakdown. Although Doug Madison, the lawyer appointed to George?s defence, doesn?t initially believe in the man?s innocence, Ellen finally convinces him.

China Venture

Don Siegel

USA

83 min.

The plane carrying Japanese Admiral Amara is shot down. Seriously injured, Amara falls into the hands of a Chinese guerrilla warlord high in the mountains. Captain Matt Reardon and a small escort are assigned to take Commander Bert Thompson and a medical unit to locate and rescue Amara. The point is that the Admiral knows they?ve lost the war and is willing to discuss ways to hasten its end with the Americans.

Riot in Cell Block 11

Don Siegel

USA

80 min.

Taking advantage of an inexperienced guard, three inmates of Block 11, "the punishment block", manage to overpower other guards and set the rest of the inmates free. Dunn, the leader, informs warden Reynolds that he wants to take his grievances to the press. While the warden, who has long been demanding reform of the prison, is willing to negotiate, the governor ushers in politician Haskell to crush the revolt.

Private Hell 36

Don Siegel

USA

81 min.

In New York, a man is killed and robbed of $300,000. A year later, two Los Angeles police detectives, Bruner and Farnham, have been assigned to trace a 50 dollar bill belonging to the New York haul. The two are close friends, although Farnham is a married man with a family while Bruner is single and bitter. The investigation leads to Lilli Marlowe, a nightclub singer who was given the bill as a tip.

An Annapolis Story

Don Siegel

USA

81 min.

Jim Scott and his younger brother Tony are both midshipmen at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Although Jim is in love with Peggy Lord, she convinces him that they should wait to get married. Jim and Tony are assigned to the same ship. When Tony's jet crashes one day, the Navy sends him back to the Academy to recover. Peggy visits him in hospital and they start spending time together. Tony falls in love with Peggy and when Jim returns from sea duty, he admits to his relationship with her.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Don Siegel

USA

80 min.

In Santa Mira, California, many of Doctor Miles Bennell's patients accuse their loved ones of being impostors. The local psychiatrist, Doctor Kauffman, assures him that it is simply mass hysteria, but Miles discovers that the townspeople are being replaced by perfect duplicates who grow from pods. They are like normal people except for their lack of emotion. The pod people work together to spread more pods and replace the entire human race.

Crime in the Streets

Don Siegel

USA

91 min.

Frankie Dane is the leader of a street gang called the Hornets. Humiliated in public by McAllister, Frankie decides to kill the boy. Only two members of the gang, Lou Macklin and Angelo "Baby" Gioia, are willing to help him as the rest want nothing to do with murder. Ben Wagner, a social worker who runs the local youth centre, sees that something is separating them from the rest of the gang and tries to find out what it is.

Spanish Affair / Aventura para dos / Spanish Affair

Don Siegel

USA-Spain

92 min.

American architect Merritt Blake travels to Madrid to supervise the construction of a new hotel. On arrival, the project director informs him that his design has been rejected because it clashes with the city?s traditional architecture. Merritt insists on defending his project and tries to get the company's board of directors on his side. Unable to speak Spanish, he hires the beautiful Mari Zarubia as his interpreter. Her boyfriend, Antonio, a jealous gypsy, follows them.

Baby Face Nelson

Don Siegel

USA

85 min.

On his release from prison, Lester M. Gillis lands work as a henchman for Lou Rocca. Realising that Gillis is completely mad, Rocca turns him in to the police. His girlfriend, Sue Nelson, helps him escape from prison. Returning to Chicago, Gillis shoots Rocca and tries to rob a pharmacy, ending in an injury forcing him to seek treatment from the alcoholic Doc Saunders. As Gillis recovers, he meets fellow patient John Dillinger, who has had plastic surgery to alter his features and fingerprints.

The Lineup

Don Siegel

USA

86 min.

When a ship docks in San Francisco, a taxi driver grabs a suitcase from one of the passengers and makes a run for it. In the ensuing chase, the driver hits a policeman who kills him with a shot before dying. Called in to investigate, police inspectors Lt. Ben Guthrie and Inspector Al Quine discover that the suitcase contains a statuette full of heroin and that a drug syndicate plans to use innocent, unsuspecting tourists visiting the Far East as drug couriers.

The Gun Runners

Don Siegel

USA

83 min.

Former naval officer Sam Martin earns a living in Key West (Florida) hiring his cabin cruiser to tourists. An arms seller named Hanagan hires his boat for a day trip, paying him an enormous sum to drop him off the coast of Havana, given that Cuba is legally off-limits because of the ongoing revolution. While in Cuba, Hanagan kills a policeman and a cab driver. Back home, questioned by the Coast Guard, Sam is stunned to hear of the two murders.

Edge Of Eternity

Don Siegel

USA

80 min.

Deputy sheriff Les Martin is working on the murder of a gold-mine executive killed in a ghost town after discovering that he was being robbed. Martin soon finds out that the dead man's last words "dancing in the bucket" refer to the tram cars hanging from the cables crossing the canyon. Another two murders later, Martin finds the culprit, who climbs onto one of the wagons and starts making his way across the deep canyon precipice.

Hound-Dog Man

Don Siegel

USA

87 min.

Spud and Clint McKinney are always getting into trouble for disobeying their mother and chasing animals with their reckless friend Blackie Scantling instead of studying. Spud has problems convincing his mother to allow him to keep his dog Spot and Clint is smitten with a girl who makes him jealous. Blackie falls in love with Dony, a beautiful girl from the mountains, but he also gets into a jam for messing around with the married Sussie Belle.

Flaming Star

Don Siegel

USA

92 min.

Sam Burton has two sons, Clint and Pacer. The latter's mother, Neddy, is a Kiowa Indian. The Burtons are worried about the new Kiowa chief, the war-loving Buffalo Horn. When a series of brutal Kiowa attacks makes war unavoidable, the other settlers wonder which side the Burtons will take. To prevent unnecessary killing, Pacer and Neddy visit the Kiowa camp. On their way back, Neddy is killed by Will Howard, whose family has been massacred by the Indians.

Hell Is for Heroes

Don Siegel

USA

90 min.

Reese, a rebellious former sergeant demoted for drunken behaviour, is sent back to his small, exhausted infantry squad which is unexpectedly ordered back to the front, to the Siegfried line. There they have to defend the area facing a German pillbox. They use various ruses to trick the enemy into thinking that they are a much larger force, until a German patrol discovers the truth.

The Killers

Don Siegel

USA

95 min.

Hired killers Charlie and Lee go to a school for the blind where they shoot one of the teachers, Johnny North. The man puts up no resistance. They are curious to know why they were paid so highly to kill a man who accepted his death so passively and wonder who ordered his killing. The killers connect him with an armoured car heist several years earlier and begin following his former associates in the hope of finding the booty.

The Hanged Man (TV)

Don Siegel

USA

87 min.

In New Orleans, during Mardi Gras, a killer is thirsty to avenge the violent death of a friend he believed was murdered. He meets and falls for the beautiful Lois Seeger, thus pitching himself dangerously against her husband. TV movie broadcast by NBC on 18 November 1964. Considered to be the second film shot for TV (the first was David Lowell Rich?s See How They Run, 1964). Don Siegel had already made The Killers for TV, but, considered too violent, it was directly released on the big screen.

Stranger on the Run (TV)

Don Siegel

USA

97 min.

Ex-convict Ben Chamberlain is accused of murder by a sadistic sheriff. The sheriff gives him food, a horse and an hour to lose himself in the desert, just as he usually does with the other criminals he later hunts down and kills. But Chamberlain?s not an easy prey. TV movie broadcast by the NBC on 31 October 1967.

Madigan

Don Siegel

USA

100 min.

Police Detectives Daniel Madigan and Rocco Bonaro are trying to bring in small-time hood Barney Benesch for questioning when he steals their guns and escapes, getting them into trouble with Police Commissioner Anthony X. Russell. The Commissioner is also worried because there is evidence that his oldest friend, Chief Inspector Charles Kane, is taking bribes.

Coogan's Bluff

Don Siegel

USA

94 min.

Deputy Sheriff Walt Coogan is sent to New York City to extradite escaped killer James Ringerman. When Coogan arrives he is forced to wait by New York police detective Lieutenant McElroy because Ringerman is in hospital recovering from an overdose of LSD and cannot be moved until the doctors release him. Coogan tricks the hospital staff into handing Ringerman over to him, but the man escapes with the help of his girlfriend Linny.

Death of a Gunfighter

Allen Smithee (Don Siegel & Robert Totten)

USA

94 min.

Marshal Frank Patch has maintained law and order in the Western town of Cottonwood Springs for 20 years. But when he kills drunken Luke Mills in self-defence, the town leaders decide it's time for a change. The local newspaper editor, Andrew Oxley, demands his resignation. Patch not only refuses to quit, claiming that on hiring him the town had promised him the job for as long as he wanted, but humiliates Oxley so badly in front of his son Will that Oxley kills himself. Will swears revenge.

Two Mules for Sister Sara

Don Siegel

USA

114 min.

Three men in the Mexican desert are about to rape a woman when Hogan, a gunfighter, arrives on horseback and kills them. She is Sister Sara, a nun involved in the Mexican revolutionary movement against the French. Hogan agrees to take her to the revolutionaries' camp and promises to help them attack the French garrison at Chihuahua provided they make it worth his while. En route, Hogan is surprised to see Sara smoking a cigar and drinking whisky.

The Beguiled

Don Siegel

USA

109 min.

In the South during the Civil War, a student at Farnsworth Seminary for Young Ladies comes across injured Union Corporal John McBurney in the woods. Martha Farnsworth, the headmistress, treats his leg injury and locks him in his room. Realising that the only thing preventing him from being thrown into a Confederate jail is the women's goodwill, he sets about charming them while the women try to seduce him in different ways.

Dirty Harry

Don Siegel

USA

103 min.

A killer calling himself Scorpio demands $100,000 or he?ll kill a person every day, starting with a Catholic priest or a black person. The mayor decides to gain time by paying the money. Some time later the body of a ten-year-old black boy is found: Scorpio has struck again. He slips through the fingers of the police time and again despite the traps they set. Inspector Harry Callahan gets on the case.

Charley Varrick

Don Siegel

USA

111 min.

Charley Varrick, a crop-duster and former stunt pilot, robs a small bank in New Mexico with his wife Nadine and partner Harman Sullivan. During the robbery, two policemen die and Nadine is mortally wounded. Instead of the expected small sum, the bags contain $750,000 of Mafia money waiting to be laundered. The Mafia, in the person of Maynard Boyle, hires a vicious thug named Mr. Molly to track down the thieves.

The Black Windmill

Don Siegel

USA

106 min.

The son of British agent John Tarrant is kidnapped. When the kidnappers demand that he pay a ransom of £500,000 in uncut diamonds (recently acquired to fund another operation) it?s clear that they?re acting on information filtered by a member of British intelligence. Cedric Harper, Tarrant?s direct superior, tells him that he can?t allow the ransom to be paid as the British government doesn?t negotiate with terrorists.

The Shootist

Don Siegel

USA

100 min.

J. B. Books, an aging western gunfighter who returns to Carson City, is diagnosed by his local doctor as having terminal cancer and given two months to live. He boards at the house of widow Bond Rogers, whose son Gillom sees him as a hero. After a group of men try to kill him, a reporter wants to write a sensational biography of his "life and bloody times" and a dance-hall girl he once loved asks him to marry her, Books decides to go in a different way.

Telefon

Don Siegel

USA

103 min.

When relations between the USA and the USSR start improving, Nikolai Dalchimsky, a KGB officer opposed to the situation, defects to America. With him, he takes the Telephone Book containing the names, addresses and telephone numbers of "sleeper" agents brainwashed twenty years earlier, who can only be activated using a special code. Their mission is to sabotage crucial parts of the US civil and military infrastructure.

Escape from Alcatraz

Don Siegel

USA

112 min.

The high security Alcatraz prison stands on an island in San Francisco Bay, surrounded by dangerous currents and shark-infested waters. On his arrival, Frank Morris is told by the warden that no-one has ever escaped nor will escape from Alcatraz. But Morris, who has already broken out of other prisons, devises a plan. Together with a group of inmates and using makeshift tools, he manages to get away and jump into the icy waters.

Rough Cut

Don Siegel, Robert Ellis Miller (kreditatu gabe / uncredited / no acreditado)

USA

112 min.

At a party, jewel thief Jack Rhodes meets Gilliam Bromley, a high-society kleptomaniac. Pretending she?s in love with him, Gilliam meets Rhodes again, following the orders of Inspector Willis from Scotland Yard, who is blackmailing her to help him capture Rhodes and crown his career before he retires. Rhodes is preparing the theft of $30 million in uncut diamonds and Gillian becomes part of the gang.

Jinxed!

Don Siegel, Sam Peckinpah (kreditatu gabe / uncredited / no acreditado)

USA

103 min.

Harold Benson and his girlfriend Bonita Friml follow blackjack dealer Willie Brodax all over the United States. The thing is that every time Harold sits at Willie's table, he wins. This gets poor Willie fired from a string of casinos until he ends up in Reno. Bonita and Willie fall in love and decide to kill Harold for his life insurance. But Harold commits suicide and to cash the money they have to make his death look like an accident.

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