Sort by IMDb Rating - Highest Rated Feature Films With Phil Karlson
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1. A Wave, a WAC and a Marine (1944)
Approved | 70 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Henny, talent scout for the Margaret Ames Film Agency in Hollywood, mistakes understudies Judy and Marian for Eileen and Betty, the real stars of a Broadway show and signs them up for ... See full summary »
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Elyse Knox, Ann Gillis, Sally Eilers, Richard Lane
Votes: 72
2. Scandal Sheet (1952)
Passed | 82 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The editor of an exploitation newspaper commits a murder and assigns his protégé to investigate hoping to divert attention away from himself.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: John Derek, Donna Reed, Broderick Crawford, Rosemary DeCamp
Votes: 3,480
3. 99 River Street (1953)
Not Rated | 83 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A former boxer turned cab driver has to hide from the police when his badgering wife is murdered by the jewel thief she was having an affair with.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen
Votes: 3,439
4. Kansas City Confidential (1952)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An ex-con trying to go straight is framed for a million dollar armored car robbery and must go to Mexico in order to unmask the real culprits.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston Foster, Neville Brand
Votes: 8,143
5. The Phenix City Story (1955)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A crime-busting lawyer and his initially reluctant attorney father take on the forces that run gambling and prostitution in their small Southern town.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: John McIntire, Richard Kiley, Kathryn Grant, Edward Andrews
Votes: 3,259
6. Gunman's Walk (1958)
Approved | 97 min | Western
A powerful rancher always protects his wild adult son by paying for damages and bribing witnesses, until his crimes become too serious to rectify.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, Kathryn Grant, James Darren
Votes: 2,127
7. Louisiana (1947)
Approved | 85 min | Drama
Fourteen-year-old James Houston Davis, the music-loving son of a poor sharecropper, is determined to get a good education and help improve life in his beloved state of Louisiana. With the ... See full synopsis »
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Jimmie Davis, Margaret Lindsay, John Gallaudet, Freddie Stewart
Votes: 28
8. Walking Tall (1973)
R | 125 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Based on the life of Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser, who almost single-handily cleaned up his small town of crime and corruption, but at a personal cost of his family life and nearly his own life.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Joe Don Baker, Elizabeth Hartman, Leif Garrett, Dawn Lyn
Votes: 6,750 | Gross: $4.75M
9. Hell to Eternity (1960)
Approved | 131 min | Biography, Drama, War
When his adoptive Japanese-American family is sent to Manzanar after Pearl Harbor, a young Chicano enlists in the marines to become a hero in the Battle of Saipan.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, Vic Damone, Patricia Owens
Votes: 1,577
10. The Brothers Rico (1957)
Passed | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A retired mob accountant is drawn back in when his brothers, who have recently made a hit for the organization, decide to go to the authorities.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Richard Conte, Dianne Foster, Kathryn Grant, Larry Gates
Votes: 1,618
11. The Young Doctors (1961)
Approved | 100 min | Drama
Medical drama set at one of New York City's hospitals during the early 1960s.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Fredric March, Ben Gazzara, Dick Clark, Ina Balin
Votes: 602
12. Rocky (1948)
Approved | 76 min | Drama
Out fishing one day, painter John Hammond and his son Chris come across Bert Hillman, the foreman of a local ranch. He and his ranch hand are searching for a wild dog that killed one of ... See full summary »
Directors: Phil Karlson, William Beaudine | Stars: Roddy McDowall, Edgar Barrier, Nita Hunter, Gale Sherwood
Votes: 53
13. Tight Spot (1955)
Approved | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A female inmate is whisked out of prison and into a police-guarded hotel until the district attorney can convince her to testify against the mob.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson, Brian Keith, Lucy Marlow
Votes: 2,542
14. Kilroy Was Here (1947)
Approved | 68 min | Comedy
"Kilroy Was Here" was a popular expression during World War II, but it's not much fun to John J. Kilroy, who has to try to live with all the jokes and wisecracks regarding his name.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Jackie Cooper, Jackie Coogan, Wanda McKay, Frank Jenks
Votes: 55
15. Dark Alibi (1946)
Approved | 61 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A public defender enlists Charlie to exonerate one of his clients, an ex-con falsely accused of bank robbery and murder, scheduled for execution in nine days.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland, Ben Carter, Benson Fong
Votes: 1,453
16. Framed (1975)
R | 106 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A gambler kills a sheriff in self defense. But as everyone in conspiring against him, he is condemned to a long sentence in prison.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Joe Don Baker, Conny Van Dyke, Gabriel Dell, John Marley
Votes: 737 | Gross: $2.12M
17. The Shanghai Cobra (1945)
Approved | 64 min | Mystery
Someone is attempting to steal radium stored in a bank. Death by cobra venom connects a number of murders. Charlie investigates.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland, Benson Fong, James Cardwell
Votes: 1,243
18. Thunderhoof (1948)
Approved | 77 min | Drama, Romance, Western
Texas rancher Scotty Mason goes into the Mexican desert-country in search of a wild horse, and takes his young wife, Margarita and his hired-hand, The Kid, whose life Scotty had saved a few... See full summary »
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Preston Foster, Mary Stuart, William Bishop, Dice
Votes: 147
19. Adventures in Silverado (1948)
Approved | 75 min | Western
Into California's 1880 frontier country rides Robert Louis Stevenson Edgar Barrier, the novelist, looking for story material 'in a land of stage-drivers and highwaymen', and soon finds it ... See full summary »
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: William Bishop, Gloria Henry, Edgar Buchanan, Forrest Tucker
Votes: 133
20. Bowery Bombshell (1946)
Passed | 65 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Slip, Sach, Bobby, Whitey and Chuck unsuccessfully try to sell a dilapidated car to a street cleaner for a fabulous amount, so they can get enough money to save Louie's Malt Shop.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, William 'Billy' Benedict
Votes: 418
21. Assignment: Paris (1952)
Passed | 85 min | Drama, Thriller
Cold war intrigue in France and Hungary.
Directors: Robert Parrish, Phil Karlson | Stars: Dana Andrews, Märta Torén, George Sanders, Audrey Totter
Votes: 687
22. The Secret Ways (1961)
Approved | 112 min | Adventure, History, Mystery
During the 1956 Hungarian uprising, an American mercenary is hired to smuggle a Hungarian resistance leader out of Soviet-occupied Budapest.
Directors: Phil Karlson, Richard Widmark | Stars: Richard Widmark, Sonja Ziemann, Charles Regnier, Walter Rilla
Votes: 507
23. The Iroquois Trail (1950)
Approved | 86 min | Western
Hawkeye, an American scout, helps the British side in the French and Indian War, aided by his Indian blood brother Sagamore.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: George Montgomery, Brenda Marshall, Glenn Langan, Paul Cavanagh
Votes: 197
24. The Texas Rangers (1951)
Passed | 74 min | Western
In 1874, unable to eliminate a gang of notorious outlaws, the Texas Rangers hire two former convicts to assist with the tracking and the destruction of the Sam Bass gang.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: George Montgomery, Gale Storm, Jerome Courtland, Noah Beery Jr.
Votes: 455
25. Kid Galahad (1962)
Approved | 96 min | Drama, Musical, Sport
After completing his military service, Walter Gulick takes a job as a sparring partner at a gym, the owner of which sees potential in Walter as a professional fighter and takes him under his wing.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Elvis Presley, Gig Young, Lola Albright, Joan Blackman
Votes: 3,111 | Gross: $1.80M
26. Ladies of the Chorus (1948)
Approved | 61 min | Musical, Romance
A chorus girl falls in love with a wealthy young man, but their relationship is jeopardized by her mother's fears about the reaction of his family.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Adele Jergens, Marilyn Monroe, Rand Brooks, Nana Bryant
Votes: 1,583
27. Key Witness (1960)
Approved | 82 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In Los Angeles, a brave witness to murder agrees to testify in court against the street gang leader who's desperate to silence him.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Jeffrey Hunter, Pat Crowley, Dennis Hopper, Joby Baker
Votes: 367
28. Black Gold (1947)
Passed | 90 min | Drama, History, Sport
In the 1920s Texas, Indian farmer Charley Eagle is dreaming of winning the Kentucky Derby with his Black Hope horse but things change when oil is found on his land and the Black Gold colt is born.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Katherine DeMille, 'Ducky' Louie, Raymond Hatton
Votes: 231
29. Live Wires (1946)
Approved | 65 min | Comedy, Crime
Slip, who has difficulties in keeping any job for long, is hired by the District Attorney's office to serve summons and warrants to problematic citizens.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Mike Mazurki, Bobby Jordan
Votes: 419
30. The Brigand (1952)
Approved | 94 min | Adventure, Romance
In the 1800s, after an assassination attempt by Prince Ramon against the king of Mandorra, a brigand resembling the king surreptitiously impersonates the incapacitated monarch in order to throw off the plotters.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Anthony Dexter, Jody Lawrance, Gale Robbins, Anthony Quinn
Votes: 201
31. The Silencers (1966)
TV-PG | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Retired agent Matt Helm is re-activated in order to stop an evil organization from exploding an atom bomb over the USA and starting WWIII.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Dean Martin, Stella Stevens, Daliah Lavi, Victor Buono
Votes: 3,794
32. They Rode West (1954)
Approved | 84 min | Drama, Western
A young cavalry doctor, against orders, treats very sick Indians who are forced to stay on unhealthy land, which could lead to a war.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Robert Francis, Donna Reed, May Wynn, Philip Carey
Votes: 705
33. Lorna Doone (1951)
Approved | 88 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Set in 17th century England, a young woman falls in love with a humble villager whose community suffers under the rule of her despotic landowning family.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Barbara Hale, Richard Greene, Carl Benton Reid, William Bishop
Votes: 241
34. Hell's Island (1955)
Approved | 84 min | Adventure, Drama, Film-Noir
Down-on-his-luck Mike Cormack is hired to fly to a Caribbean island to retrieve a missing ruby. On the island, possibly involved with the ruby's disappearance, is his ex-girlfriend.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: John Payne, Mary Murphy, Francis L. Sullivan, Eduardo Noriega
Votes: 416
35. Ride the Wild Surf (1964)
TV-G | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
Fabian and Shelley Fabares are among the '60s stars surfing their way to paradise along the famous beaches on Hawaii's North Shore.
Directors: Don Taylor, Phil Karlson | Stars: Fabian, Shelley Fabares, Peter Brown, Barbara Eden
Votes: 802
36. 5 Against the House (1955)
Approved | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Four vets attending college on the GI Bill and a cabaret singer try to rob a Reno Casino and pull off the perfect crime.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Guy Madison, Kim Novak, Brian Keith, Alvy Moore
Votes: 2,055
37. Down Memory Lane (1949)
Passed | 70 min | Comedy, History, Music
This film is a compilation, with narration by Steve Allen, of comedies from the old Mack Sennett silent studio. Sennett, himself, appears in a cameo at the end of the film.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Steve Allen, Bing Crosby, W.C. Fields, Franklin Pangborn
Votes: 57
38. Hornets' Nest (1970)
R | 110 min | Action, Drama, War
In 1944, during a sabotage mission, the sole surviving U.S. paratrooper is saved by a group of Italian orphans who later aid him in blowing up a vital enemy dam.
Directors: Phil Karlson, Franco Cirino | Stars: Rock Hudson, Sylva Koscina, Sergio Fantoni, Giacomo Rossi Stuart
Votes: 1,121
39. Wife Wanted (1946)
Approved | 73 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Career-slipping movie star Carole Raymond (Kay Francis) buys in as a real estate partner of Jeff Caldwell (Paul Cavanagh). As it happens, through his secretary Nola Reed (Veda Ann Borg), ... See full summary »
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Kay Francis, Paul Cavanagh, Robert Shayne, Veda Ann Borg
Votes: 133
40. G.I. Honeymoon (1945)
Approved | 70 min | Comedy
The efforts of a young soldier and his new bride to make their marriage "official" are continually thwarted by a string of army "emergencies".
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Gale Storm, Peter Cookson, Arline Judge, Frank Jenks
Votes: 84
41. Rampage (1963)
Approved | 98 min | Adventure, Romance
In colonial Malaysia, British big game-hunter Otto Abbot and American trapper Harry Stanton clash over the ethics of catching versus killing animals and over Abbot's mistress, Anna.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Elsa Martinelli, Jack Hawkins, Sabu
Votes: 808
42. Mask of the Avenger (1951)
Approved | 83 min | Adventure, Drama, History
During the European revolutionary fervor of 1848, Italian Captain Renato Dimorna tries to avenge his father's death, goes against the corrupt local military governor Larocca and prevents an Austrian military invasion.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: John Derek, Anthony Quinn, Jody Lawrance, Arnold Moss
Votes: 302
43. The Big Cat (1949)
Approved | 75 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
1933. A city boy arrives in his late mother's birthplace to discover the locals have been pestered by drought, old fights and a cougar. He turns out to be pivotal in all of these.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Lon McCallister, Peggy Ann Garner, Preston Foster, Forrest Tucker
Votes: 263
44. The Wrecking Crew (1968)
PG | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Gold bullion worth USD 1 billion has been stolen from a hijacked train in Denmark. The main suspect is Count Massimo Contini. The US government sends Matt Helm, one of its top agents, to investigate and recover the gold.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Dean Martin, Elke Sommer, Sharon Tate, Nancy Kwan
Votes: 3,728
45. A Time for Killing (1967)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Western
Confederate POWs escape a Union camp and make for the Mexico border chased by Union troops with both parties oblivious to the fact that peace was declared.
Directors: Phil Karlson, Roger Corman | Stars: Inger Stevens, Glenn Ford, Paul Petersen, Timothy Carey
Votes: 1,102
46. The Missing Lady (1946)
Passed | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A jade statue, "The Missing Lady", is stolen and its owner killed. Lamont Cranston, alias the Shadow, sets out to catch the killer but is blamed for the murders himself as each time he ... See full summary »
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Kane Richmond, Barbara Read, George Chandler, James Flavin
Votes: 217
47. Ben (1972)
PG | 94 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A lonely boy befriends Ben, the leader of a violent swarm of killer rats.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Lee Montgomery, Joseph Campanella, Arthur O'Connell, Rosemary Murphy
Votes: 3,428 | Gross: $0.77M
48. Swing Parade of 1946 (1946)
Approved | 74 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A struggling young singer falls for a nightclub owner whose father, a millionaire, is trying to shut it down. Featuring The Three Stooges as waiters.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Gale Storm, Phil Regan, Moe Howard, Larry Fine
Votes: 439
49. Behind the Mask (1946)
Passed | 68 min | Mystery
Lamont Cranston, aka the Shadow, has his hands full as the murder of blackmailing reporter Jeff Mann is blamed on him. Not only does the real murderer seem one step ahead of him as Lamont ... See full summary »
Directors: Phil Karlson, William Beaudine | Stars: Kane Richmond, Barbara Read, George Chandler, Dorothea Kent
Votes: 228
50. There Goes Kelly (1945)
61 min | Mystery, Comedy
Two young men working as pages at a radio station try to get an audition for a girl they know who wants to be a singer. When the station's star singer is murdered, they decide to solve the crime themselves.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: Jackie Moran, Wanda McKay, Sidney Miller, Ralph Sanford
Votes: 54