Direction: Phil Karlson

The best movies, series, and documentaries directed by Phil Karlson. Explore exceptional titles that showcase a unique filmmaking vision.


Thunderhoof

1948 · Movie · 77 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Preston Foster · Mary Stuart · William Bishop

Plot 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...

7.5

24 votes

7.5

24 votes

Scandal Sheet

1952 · Movie · 82 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Broderick Crawford · Donna Reed · John Derek · Rosemary DeCamp

Plot A newspaper man takes over an ailing New York daily newspaper and revives it as a scandal sheet by staging a number of publicity stunts. The man's wife, whom he...

7.1

441 votes

7.1

441 votes

The Phenix City Story

1955 · Movie · 100 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast John McIntire · Richard Kiley · Kathryn Grant · Edward Andrews

Plot Based on actual events, The Phenix City Story tells the tale of a wide-open "Sin City" in Alabama where gambling, prostitution, and any number of other vices were tolerated openly...

7.1

572 votes

7.1

572 votes

99 River Street

1953 · Movie · 83 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast John Payne · Evelyn Keyes · Brad Dexter · Frank Faylen

Plot Having lost his heavyweight championship match, boxer Ernie Driscoll now drives a taxi for a living and earns the scorn of his nagging wife, Pauline, who blames him for her...

7.1

426 votes

7.1

426 votes

The Untouchables (TV Series)

1959 · Series · 60 min. · United States

Direction Walter Grauman · Stuart Rosenberg · Paul Wendkos · John Peyser

Cast Robert Stack · Nicholas Georgiade · Abel Fernandez · Paul Picerni

Plot TV Series (1959-1963). 4 Seasons. 119 Episodes. Special Agent Eliot Ness and his elite team of incorruptable agents battle organized crime in 1930s Chicago.

7.0

615 votes

7.0

615 votes

Kansas City Confidential

1952 · Movie · 99 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast John Payne · Preston Foster · Lee Van Cleef · Coleen Gray

Plot Phil Karlson's low budget, B-grade film noir, opens on a Kansas City armored-car robbery perpetrated by cynical, corrupt ex-policeman Timothy Foster. He devises an outrageous scheme: he will recruit three...

6.8

1K votes

6.8

1K votes

Gunman's Walk

1958 · Movie · 97 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Van Heflin · Tab Hunter · Kathryn Grant · James Darren

Plot Rancher Lee Hackett is one of the old breed, used to making his own laws and settling things with a gun. He has tried to make his two sons in...

6.7

330 votes

6.7

330 votes

The Brothers Rico

1957 · Movie · 92 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Richard Conte · Dianne Foster · Kathryn Grant · Larry Gates

Plot A reformed mob accountant tries to get to his gangster brother before the criminals can.

6.7

185 votes

6.7

185 votes

Tight Spot

1955 · Movie · 97 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Ginger Rogers · Edward G. Robinson · Brian Keith · Lucy Marlow

Plot Sherry Conley, a street tough and cynical woman with an unhappy family background, is taken from prison to a hotel, where the DA tries to convince her to testify against...

6.5

260 votes

6.5

260 votes

The Scarface Mob (TV)

1959 · Movie · 102 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Robert Stack · Keenan Wynn · Barbara Nichols · Pat Crowley

Plot Special Agent Eliot Ness (Robert Stack) forms The Untouchables, an elite squad of incorruptible lawmen, in order to bring down underworld kingpin Al Capone. First televised as a two-part episode...

6.4

46 votes

6.4

46 votes

Framed

1975 · Movie · 106 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Joe Don Baker · Conny Van Dyke · Gabriel Dell · John Marley

Plot Gambler Ron Lewis wins the jackpot but is ambushed later on the street outside. In self defense he kills a cop and is sentenced to four years of prison. He...

6.0

27 votes

6.0

27 votes

Key Witness

1960 · Movie · 82 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Jeffrey Hunter · Pat Crowley · Dennis Hopper · Joby Baker

Plot An average Los Angeles citizen witnesses a gang murder when he stops to use a telephone. Aware that he is the only witness against them, the gang members seek out...

6.0

64 votes

6.0

64 votes

The Secret Ways

1961 · Movie · 112 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson · Richard Widmark

Cast Richard Widmark · Sonja Ziemann · Charles Régnier · Walter Rilla

Plot Vienna, 1956. After Soviet tanks crush the Hungarian uprising, soldier-of-fortune Mike Reynolds is hired to help a threatened Hungarian scientist (Prof. Jansci) escape from Budapest. He and Julia, the professor's...

6.0

41 votes

6.0

41 votes

Hell's Island

1955 · Movie · 84 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast John Payne · Mary Murphy · Francis L. Sullivan · Eduardo Noriega

Plot 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.

5.9

36 votes

5.9

36 votes

Hell to Eternity

1960 · Movie · 131 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Jeffrey Hunter · David Janssen · Vic Damone · Patricia Owens

Plot 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.

5.7

87 votes

5.7

87 votes

Walking Tall

1973 · Movie · 125 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Joe Don Baker · Elizabeth Hartman · Gene Evans · Noah Beery Jr.

Plot Based on the life of Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser whom almost single-handily cleaned up his small town of crime and corruption, but at a personal cost of his family life...

5.6

233 votes

5.6

233 votes

Ben

1972 · Movie · 94 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Lee Montgomery · Joseph Campanella · Arthur O'Connell · Rosemary Murphy

Plot This sequel to the rampaging-rodent chiller Willard (1971) stars Lee H. Montgomery as young Danny Garrison, a neglected kid who finds a new little friend in Ben -- an intelligent...

5.5

117 votes

5.5

117 votes

The Big Cat

1949 · Movie · 75 min. · United States

5.5

46 votes

5.5

46 votes

Ladies of the Chorus

1948 · Movie · 61 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Adele Jergens · Marilyn Monroe · Rand Brooks · Nana Bryant

Plot Former burlesque star May and her daughter Peggy dance in the chorus. When May has a fight with featured dancer Bubbles, Bubbles leaves the show and Peggy takes her place....

5.5

76 votes

5.5

76 votes

Black Gold

1947 · Movie · 90 min. · United States

Direction Phil Karlson

Cast Anthony Quinn · Katherine DeMille · Raymond Hatton · Thurston Hall

Plot In the early 1920s, in the desert near the Texas-Mexico border, Charley Eagle (Anthony Quinn), is Indian who owns a small, hardscrabble ranch and is training a horse, "Black Hope,"....

5.5

26 votes

5.5

26 votes