Direction: Phil Karlson
The best movies, series, and documentaries directed by Phil Karlson. Explore exceptional titles that showcase a unique filmmaking vision.
Titles found: 54
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
Direction Phil Karlson
Cast Lon McCallister · Peggy Ann Garner · Preston Foster · Forrest Tucker
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