Sean McClory

At a state mental institution, Korean War veteran and patient Dublin O'Malley treasures a photograph of Valerie St. Denis, a trapeze artist in the Clyde Beatty Circus, with whom he had a relationship years before when he was a circus ringmaster. His refusal to discuss his obsession with Valerie leads the parole board to consider Dublin uncooperative, and after consideration, they proclaim him "schizophrenic and possibly homicidal." Realizing that his release will not be granted, Dublin escapes and kills a man to fake his own death. Then, in the town where the Beatty Circus is performing, Dublin secretly contacts the alcoholic clown, Twitchy, who recalls a drinking spree in which Dublin was saved from the lions by the circus owner and animal trainer, Clyde Beatty. Although Twitchy is unaware of it, Dublin has been haunted for years by the laughter of the circus people at his predicament and seeks revenge on Clyde for making him look foolish. Using knowledge of Twitchy's involvement in a woman's accidental death years before, Dublin blackmails him into causing a series of accidents to disrupt the circus. Later, the circus manager, Frank Wallace, suspects sabotage, noting that the results of the accidents--financial loss and the employees' fear of a jinx--are destroying the company. After Clyde is almost killed when a restraining rope in the lion cage breaks, Frank asks for help from Mickey Spillane, the writer of the "Mike Hammer" detective books. Soon after, Dublin gets himself rehired as ringmaster, although Frank fears trouble between Dublin and Valerie's possessive husband Armand. When Valerie sees Dublin for the first time after many years and introduces her five-year-old daughter Nellie, she asks him not to mention their past to Armand, whom she met and married after Dublin left the circus. However, while pretending to be friendly, Dublin makes double-edged comments and, after shooting and developing photographs of the St. Denis family, remarks how Nellie's nose is different than either of her parents. Although Valerie becomes uneasy, Armand is oblivious to Dublin's remarks, so Dublin takes out his frustration by tormenting a caged tiger. Frank and Clyde allow Paul Martin, who claims to be a magazine journalist, to travel with the company to do a series of articles on the circus. Later, Paul, who is really a police detective investigating the accidents at Spillane's request, finds proof from a lab test that the accidents were rigged, as the rope in the lion cage was burned apart with film developer. However, after several days, the culprit still eludes Paul, so Spillane, inspired by his own detective books, suggests that they consider the person who seems least guilty. They begin to watch Dublin, although he appeared on the scene after problems began. When Armand's rigging fails during a performance and the artist almost falls to his death, Clyde is surprised that Twitchy was the last person to check the rigging, as the clown, who is a former aerialist, should have easily spotted any problems. Meanwhile, a remorseful Twitchy wants to confess to Frank, but Dublin drowns him in a horse trough, making his death appear to be the result of inebriation. However, Frank, Spillane and Paul question whether someone else was behind his death and the other accidents, despite Dublin's efforts to frame the dead Twitchy. Later, Paul receives a telegram from authorities describing Dublin as an escaped homicidal maniac and Spillane searches the killer's trailer. Caught in the act by Dublin, Spillane is blinded by the killer's flashgun and restrained with a curtain cord. Paul arrives in time to prevent Dublin from pouring acid in Spillane's eyes, but Dublin escapes to the St. Denises' trailer. There he proclaims his unique and abiding affection to Valerie, but as soon as Armand shows up, Dublin flees to the animal tent and frees the tiger from its cage. After running to a train that has stopped nearby, he hops aboard a freight car, laughing maniacally at his easy escape. While others search for Dublin, Clyde tries unsuccessfully to maneuver the tiger back into its cage, but when it instead heads for the train and jumps into the freight car, he shuts it inside for safekeeping. Before Clyde and the others can stop it, the train departs, but they can hear Dublin's anguished cries as the tiger kills him.

After an enigmatic, self-described pathologist rents the attic room of a Victorian house, his landlady begins to suspect her lodger is Jack the Ripper. London, 1888: on the night of the third Jack the Ripper killing, soft-spoken Mr. Slade, a research pathologist, takes lodgings with the Harleys, including a gloomy attic room for "experiments." Mrs. Harley finds Slade odd and increasingly suspects the worst; her niece Lily (star of a decidedly Parisian stage revue) finds him interesting and increasingly attractive. Is Lily in danger, or are her aunt's suspicions merely a red herring? —Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu> With Jack the Ripper killing women in the Whitechapel district of London, people are on edge. Enter the mysterious Mr. Slade who arrives at the home of Helen and William Harley looking to rent rooms. Slade is a strange man. He is a respected pathologist and researcher at a major hospital but very much keeps to himself. He also happens to out of the house every time the Ripper strikes. Mrs. Harley becomes convinced that Slade is the Ripper but with tensions mounting across the city, the evidence is anything but clear. —garykmcd In 1888, all of England is horrified by the gruesome murders of streetwalkers in the Whitechapel district of London. One night, even though three thousand policeman are patrolling the area, the killer, dubbed "Jack the Ripper," claims his fourth victim. That same night, William Harley (Rhys Williams), an unsuccessful businessman, and his wife Helen (Frances Bavier) are surprised by a visit from Mr. Slade (Jack Palance), who is interested in their rooms for rent. Slade expresses dismay at the parlor's drawings of old-time actresses, but is interested in the attic, which he says will be useful for experiments. Explaining that he is a pathologist who keeps irregular hours, the soft-spoken Slade offers Helen a month's rent in advance. Helen, curious about Slade's aversion to actresses, tells him that her actress niece, Lily Bonner (Constance Smith), is about to open in London after a successful run in Paris. On the night of Lily's opening, the Harleys' maid, Daisy (Tita Phillips), is hesitant to attend, as she does not want to walk home alone, despite the presence of an additional thousand policeman to the area. Slade then meets the beautiful Lily, who is intrigued by the shy, lonely lodger. Later, as Lily prepares in her dressing room, she is visited by faded actress Annie Rowley (Lilian Bond), who admits that she now works in a brothel. Although Lily wants to help Annie, she disappears, and Lily goes onstage, where her revealing dances are welcomed with applause. After the show, Lily is visited by Scotland Yard inspector Paul Warwick (Byron Palmer), who informs her that Annie has become the Ripper's latest victim. The police believe they have a lead, however, as a man wearing an ulster and carrying a small black bag was seen near Annie's body. The following morning, Warwick visits the Harley home to see Lily, with whom he has become infatuated. When he is introduced to Slade, however, Warwick takes an instant dislike to him, and Slade returns his antipathy, for both men are jealous of the other's interest in Lily. Warwick expounds his theory that the Ripper is left-handed and is a maniac who kills at random, but Slade replies that he will never catch the Ripper, as he is only doing what he has to because of who he is. Soon after, Helen becomes uneasy when she discovers that Slade has burned a small black bag, although William shows her that he has hidden a similar bag of his own because any man carrying such a bag is under suspicion. The following day, Slade has tea with the flirtatious Lily, who kisses him, much to his surprise and delight. Slade turns away, however, when she inquires about his dislike of actresses. Slade then reveals that his mother was an actress and that her extraordinary beauty hid "the wretched heart of a Jezebel," and that after she left his father for a younger man, he died a drunkard. Slade relates that his mother eventually became an alcoholic streetwalker and died on the streets of Whitechapel, and Lily is surprised by the depth of his conflicting feelings for her. Their discussion is interrupted by Warwick, who invites Lily to tour Scotland Yard's Black Museum, which contains artifacts of notorious killers. Slade accompanies them and is disgusted by Warwick's attitude toward the artifacts, which he proudly regards as trophies. Warwick theorizes that the Ripper has broken his pattern of killing every five or six days, and that the compulsion to kill must be building within him. Angered by Warwick's professed expertise about the Ripper, Slade predicts that he will strike that night. A few hours later, Irish immigrant Mary Lenihan (Lisa Daniels) is murdered, and soon after, Lily awakens at home and finds Slade burning his ulster. Although the stains on his coat look like blood, Slade asserts that he is burning the ulster to prevent contamination due to a bungled experiment. The next morning, a nervous Helen wants to alert the police about Slade's strange activities, but William refuses to listen and assures Slade that he is welcome to stay. Slade then tells Lily that he will be attending her show that evening, although he jealously notes that Warwick will also be coming. Meanwhile, Warwick, suspicious of Slade, confirms that he is a pathologist at the University Hospital, and later that night, arrives at the Harley home to escort Lily to the theater. Before Lily comes downstairs, William reluctantly apprises Warwick of Slade's eccentricities, and the inspector searches Slade's room, in the hopes of obtaining a fingerprint to compare with one found at the latest crime scene. Lily is outraged when she finds Warwick snooping through Slade's belongings and stealing a portrait of his mother, and berates him. At the theater, Slade grows increasingly distraught by the lascivious stares Lily's dancing draws, while at Scotland Yard, Warwick is frustrated in his efforts to match Slade's fingerprints to those of the Ripper. Warwick's sergeant, Bates (Harry Cording), cracks the case, however, when he recognizes the portrait of Slade's mother as Anne Lawrence, the Ripper's first victim. Rushing to the theater, Warwick and his men search for Slade, who is with Lily in her dressing room. Slade begs Lily to go away with him, far from the stares of other men, but the nervous Lily states that she would never give up acting, despite her fondness for him. In anguish, Slade states that he must cut out the evil from her beauty and holds a knife to Lily's throat. Lily gasps that Slade cannot hurt her because he loves her, and as Warwick and his men pound on the door, Slade drops his knife and escapes through the window. After a long chase through the streets of Whitechapel, Warwick reaches the River Thames, into which Slade has disappeared. Although Warwick searches for the killer, it becomes apparent that he has drowned, and the inspector surmises that the river is not as deep and dark as where Slade is going.

A simple group of commercial flyers, post WWII, one plane is downed in uncharted Canadian tundra, dead of winter, wicked cold. Limited resources. Other pilots start a search. Simple, huh? Remember...No GPS, No Radar, Limited radio and supplies! And that relentless bitter cold! But wait. These aren't ordinary commercial pilots. We soon learn these guys have some real history, military types, probably in WWII. They're tight, driven and fearless, and they're gonna find and rescue The Duke and his crew if it kills them! Like a fine wine, what starts out as a simple story draws us into the lives of these fine men, and their families as well. Before you know it, your heart is racing, and the tears are flowing! Perhaps an overused cliche, but truly, they just don't make films like this anymore! What's more, you get to see James Arness cry! Real men, these.