Classic Adventure
Remember those moments where the main character finds himself in a difficult or precarious dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation, those thrill-a-minute extravaganzas, those rip-roaring spectacles, swashbuckling and derring-do action, cliff-hanger endings .... that was what Saturday Matinees were made of.
Below is a compilation of the 'essence' of this wonderful genre. See also 'Cliff-Hanger Serials'
The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958)
6.1/10
Director: Raoul Walsh
Starring: Bruce Cabot, Henry Hull, Jayne Mansfield, Kenneth More, Ronald Squire
A proper English gentleman, traveling in the American West, inadvertently stops an Indian attack on the stagecoach in which he is a passenger. When th... Read more
The Son of Monte Cristo (1940)
6.3/10
Director: Rowland V Lee
Starring: Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, George Sanders, Lionel Royce, Florence Bates
Louis Hayward stars as the sword-slinging hero, Edmond Dantes Jr., in this swashbuckling adventure from director Rowland V Lee. Masquerading as a fopp... Read more
The Three Musketeers Volume 1 (1-6) (1933)
5.6/10
Director: Armand Schaefer
Starring: John Wayne
Tom Wayne rescues Clancy, Renard and Schmidt in the Arabian desert and they join him in going after El Shaitan, a bad guy who is never seen as he trie... Read more
The Three Musketeers Volume 2 (7-12) (1933)
8.1/10
Director: Armand Schaefer
Starring: John Wayne
Tom Wayne rescues Clancy, Renard and Schmidt in the Arabian desert and they join him in going after El Shaitan, a bad guy who is never seen as he trie... Read more
The Vikings (1958)
7.1/10
Director: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Janet Leigh, Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis
Sweeping adventure saga of the Vikings' invasion of England centers on a Viking warrior prince (Kirk Douglas) and a former slave (Tony Curtis), bitter... Read more
The Wild Women of Wongo (1958)
2.1/10
Director: James L Wolcott
Starring: Jean Hawkshaw, Mary Ann Webb, Cande Gerrard, Johnny Walsh
A prehistoric beach blanket classic with leopard skin-clad women and brutish men engaged in the battle of the sexes on the idyllic island of Wongo. A... Read more
Treasure Island (1950)
7/10
Director: Byron Haskin
Starring: Bobby Driscoll, Robert Newton, Basil Sydney
Disney's first live action movie was this vivid take on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, filmed in England (not the West Indies!) with Bobby Driscoll... Read more
Treasure Island (1972)
6/10
Director: John Hough
Starring: Orson Welles, Walter Slezak, Lionel Stander, Maria Rohm, Kim Burfield, Paul Mull...
Orson Welles is Long John Silver in this 1972 adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic pirate tale. Young Jim Hawkins comes into possession of... Read more
Ulysses (1954)
6.7/10
Director: Mario Camerini
Starring: Anthony Quinn, Kirk Douglas, Silvana Mangano
It's high adventure, Homer-style, with Kirk Douglas as the brave adventurer who battles the one-eyed Cyclops, encounters sorceress Circe (who turns hi... Read more
Valley of Fire (1951)
6/10
Director: John English
Starring: Gene Autry
As the new mayor of a lawless 1850s California mining town, Gene Autry attempts to clean up the town by bringing in a wagon train of eligible ladies t... Read more