Peter Lorre

An incompetent bellhop is recruited to fill in for a deceased comedian. When a star comedian dies, rather than letting anyone know, his comedy writers decide to find and teach an unknown to fill his shoes for a big show the comedian had been schedeled for. But the man they choose - bellboy, Stanley Belt - can't do anything right, and time's running out.

A magician, who has been turned into a raven, turns to a former sorcerer for help. In this tongue-in-cheek movie inspired by Poe's poem, Dr. Craven is the son of a great sorcerer (now dead) who was once himself quite skilled at that profession, but has since abandoned it. One evening, a cowardly fool of a magician named Bedlo comes to Craven for help - the evil Scarabus has turned him into a raven and he needs someone to change him back. He also tells the reluctant wizard that Craven's long-lost wife Lenore, whom he loved greatly and thought dead, is living with the despised Scarabus. —Ken Yousten <kyousten@bev.net> The magician Dr. Erasmus Craven, who does not belong to the brotherhood of magicians, grieves the loss of his beloved wife Lenore and lives in a castle with his daughter Estelle. One day, a raven knocks on his window and Dr. Craven learns that the bird is actually the magician Dr. Adolphus Bedlo that was turned into a raven after challenging the powerful magician Dr. Scarabus that was an enemy of his father. Dr. Craven makes a potion to turn Dr. Bedlo back to the human form and Dr. Bedlo tells that he has seen Lenore in the castle of Dr. Scarabus. Dr. Craven decides to go in his coach with Dr. Bedlo to visit Dr. Scarabus, and Estella and Dr. Bedlo's son, Rexford, decide to go with them. They find an amicable Dr. Scarabus who invites them to stay for the night. Was Dr. Craven's father wrong about Dr. Scarabus? —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Three tales of terror involve a grieving widower and the daughter he abandoned; a drunkard and his wife's black cat; and a hypnotist who prolongs the moment of a man's death. Three stories adapted from the work of Edgar Allen Poe. A man and his daughter are reunited, but the blame for the death of his wife hangs over them, unresolved. A derelict challenges the local wine-tasting champion to a competition, but finds the man's attention to his wife worthy of more dramatic action. A man dying and in great pain agrees to be hypnotized at the moment of death, with unexpected consequences. —David Carroll <davidc@atom.ansto.gov.au> "Tales of Terror" presents three adaptations of good stories by Edgar Allan Poe directed by Roger Corman. (1) "Morella": The twenty and something years old Lenora returns to the derelict house of her estranged father Locke. Her mother Morella died after giving birth to Lenora and Locke still grieves and blames Lenora for the death of his beloved wife. Lenora finds the corpse of Morella on her bed and Locke tells that he could not leave her in a coffin six feet under. Locke tries to make amends for abandoning Lenora but something supernatural happens. (2) "The Black Cat": The drunkard Montresor is an abusive man that spends the money that his wife Annabel earns working drinking wine in a tavern. He also mistreats her black cat. One day, Montresor meets the connoisseur of fine wines Fortunato Luchresi and he disputes his knowledge with him. Fortunato brings Montresor home and woos Annabel. When Montresor discovers that his wife is having a love affair with Fortunato, he plots an evil scheme to seek revenge. (3) "The Case of M. Valdemar": The wealthy Ernest Valdemar is terminal feeling great pain. He hires the hypnotizer Carmichael to relief his pain and asks his beloved wife Helene and his Dr. James to get married to each other after his death. However Carmichael controls his mind and Valdemar dies but his soul stays trapped in his body. Carmichael tells Helene that he let Valdemar go only if she marries him but his attitude brings tragic consequences. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A bumbling hero with a photographic memory winds up in Morocco as a private in the French Foreign Legion. He still hasn't adjusted after 18 months. Among other things, he's lost a tank. Private Meredith Bixby is so out of step in the Army that his six weeks of planned basic training has now stretched to 17 months. After he loses a tank, WAC Major Shelton, a psychologist, is assigned to make a good soldier out of him. She requests Corporal Dolan and Private Stan Wensalawsky to help with the training. Dolan and Stan both have scores to settle with Bixby and their "guidance" leads to more mishaps. Sergeant Pulley has them shipped out to Morocco. On leave in North Africa, Bixy wanders alone into a bar, has a few Moroccan Delights, which he thinks are malted milks, and becomes convinced that exotic singer-dancer Zita is THE girl for him. To protect him, Dolan tells him some lies about Zita, and Bixby, in despair, joins the Suicide Division of the Foreign Legion. He is kidnapped by a band of Arabian plotters and, guarded by the knife-happy Abdul, is ordered to assemble a stolen American cannon. Zita learns of his plight and gets Dolan and Stan to join her in a rescue mission. —Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

A Russian government official is sent to Paris to bring back her comrades; she soon gets a taste of Paris life and falls in love with an American movie producer. A musical remake of Ninotchka: After three bumbling Soviet agents fail in their mission to retrieve a straying Soviet composer from Paris, the beautiful, ultra-serious Ninotchka is sent to complete their mission and to retrieve them. She starts out condemning the decadent West, but gradually falls under its spell with the help of Steve Canfield, an American movie producer. —John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>

A jaded nightclub owner in war-torn Casablanca finds his loyalties are put to the test when his old flame reappears to seek his help in escaping from the Nazis.

Private detective Sam Spade gets involved with a band of international thieves who lie, double cross and commit murder for a jewel-encrusted statue known as The Maltese Falcon.

Convicts escaping from Devil's Island come under the influence of a strange Christ-like figure. Verne (Clark Gable) wants nothing more than to escape from a penal colony located off the northern coast of South America. He tries to involve Julie (Joan Crawford), a saloon girl, in his plans but she turns him in to the authorities. On Verne's next try, he piggybacks on the escape of six other convicts and runs into Julie again in the process. One of the convicts is a spiritual figure (Ian Hunter) who seems to know what will happen before anyone else. The group attempts to travel through the jungle, board a boat, and make it to the mainland. —JeanneArmintrout@juno.com