THE WORLD WAS HIS JURY

Paul Birch 

THE WORLD WAS HIS JURY (1958). Director: Fred F. Sears. Colorized. 

During the party for the last night of the voyage of a luxury liner, Captain Barrett (Robert McQueeney) is accidentally struck on the head and appears drunk when he staggers onto the bridge. A fire causes much loss of life and serious injuries, and the ship sinks as well. Barrett then finds himself accused of dozens of charges of manslaughter, not just facing the loss of his career but decades in prison. Assisted by private eye Tony Armand (John Beradino), attorney David Carson (Edmond O'Brien of The Bigamist) decides to defend Barrett, something which even his wife, Robin (Mona Freeman of That Brennan Girl) -- who thinks he has been defending far too many creepy guilty people -- is against. Carson will discover that it will be an uphill battle to prove that his client isn't guilty of criminal negligence, and the damaging testimony of officer Martin Ranker (Paul Birch of Not of This Earth) certainly won't help.

Mona Freeman and Edmond O'Brien

The World Was His Jury not only has an interesting and completely absorbing storyline, but it features fine performances from (as expected) O'Brien but also from the rest of the cast. Paul Birch is outstanding and riveting as Ranker, who is forced to give negative testimony despite his alleged friendship with the defendant. Richard H. Cutting (of Seven Were Saved) and Harvey Stephens (of The Flight that Disappeared) score respectively as the prosecuting attorney and the no-nonsense judge. There's also nice work from McQueeney, Mona Freeman and  Karin Booth as the captain's wife. Director Sears [Earth vs the Flying Saucers] passed away before the film was released, and this was Freeman's last movie, although she frequently appeared on television afterwards. McQueeney was primarily a television actor. 

Verdict: Highly interesting drama with an excellent cast -- and Paul Birch makes the grade! ***.

THE MONOLITH MONSTERS

THE MONOLITH MONSTERS (1957). Director: John Sherwood. 

Sheriff Dave Miller (Grant Williams) has a serious problem. There are these silicon-based black rocks scattered all over his town, and anyone who comes into contact with them is headed for trouble. His deputy is found dead, in a petrified state, and another family suffers the same fate after their house is crushed. The one survivor, a little girl, has an arm that is slowly turning to stone. What's worse, Miller learns that these weird "rocks" have the power to expand, multiply, and grow to staggering heights whenever they touch water, falling over and crushing everything underfoot when they grow too large. And a rainstorm is on the way ... While big rocks are obviously not as compelling as giant insects or dinosaurs on the rampage, The Monolith Monsters holds the attention and works up some minor suspense. It doesn't hurt that the dramatic score from Deadly Mantis embellishes each scene. Grant Williams is the low-key star; it's easy to see why this handsome actor never jumped into the big leagues (perhaps with the exception of The Incredible Shrinking Man) although he's competent enough. Lola Albright is an appealing leading lady, and Les Tremayne is fine as the dissatisfied newspaper man. Richard H. Cutting, who plays Dr. Reynolds, had a small role in Monster on the Campus and was also in Attack of the Crab Monsters. 

Verdict: You don't have to have rocks in your head to watch this. **1/2.