
John Dierkes
Actor · 1905 – 1975 · Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Dierkes was born on February 10, 1905 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended Brown University and subsequently went to work as an economist for the United States Department of State. In 1941 he joined the Red Cross and served in the Britain duringWorld War II. There he met director John Huston who recommended that he try Hollywood after the war. Instead, Dierkes went to work for the U.S. Treasury Department which coincidentally sent him to Hollywood to function as technical advisor for the film To the Ends of the Earth (1948). Because of his appearance and very tall frame (6 feet, 6 inches), Dierkes enjoyed a long career as a character actor, often portraying villains or soldiers. In the 1953 film Shane, Dierkes portrays villain Morgan Ryker, who is the last man shot by the title character, Shane, in the final bar room shootout. One of his more memorable scenes is in the 1960 film, The Alamo. Dierkes portrays a Tennessean named Jocko, who is torn between leaving before the attack to care for his blind wife, or staying to support the Texans' cause. Understanding that if Jocko stays to fight she will likely be widowed, Jocko's wife coaxes him to stay and defend the fort, despite her disability. Dierkes died in 1975 of emphesyma and was survived by his wife Cynthia, two sons, and two daughters.
Movies24
Movie7.7CrimeThrillerA border-town bombing draws Mexican investigator Miguel Vargas into a corruption-ridden police investigation led by crooked captain Hank Quinlan, setting off a deadly struggle over power, justice, and truth.
Touch of Evil
1958 · 1.6K votes
Movie7.3DramaWesternA weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.
Shane
1953 · 707 votes
Movie7.1WarAdventureThe legendary true story of a small band of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in hopeless combat against a massive army in order to prevent a tyrant from smashing the new Republic of Texas.
The Alamo
1960 · 411 votes
Movie6.2Science FictionActionDue to an experimental vaccine, Dr. Robert Neville is the only human survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. Besides him, only a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people remain; sensitive to light, and homicidally psychotic.
The Omega Man
1971 · 638 votes
Movie6.3ComedyHorrorA magician who has been turned into a raven turns to a former sorcerer for help.
The Raven
1963 · 287 votes
Movie6.6DramaWarThe story of a family of Quakers in Indiana in 1862. Their religious sect is strongly opposed to violence and war. It's not easy for them to meet the rules of their religion in everyday life but when Southern troops pass the area they are in real trouble. Should they fight, despite their peaceful attitude?
Friendly Persuasion
1956 · 145 votes
Movie6.8WesternDramaRunning from the law after a bank robbery in Mexico, Dad Longworth finds an opportunity to take the stolen gold and leave his partner Rio to be captured. Years later, Rio escapes from the prison where he has been since, and hunts down Dad for revenge. Dad is now a respectable sheriff in California, and has been living in fear of Rio's return.
One-Eyed Jacks
1961 · 262 votes
Movie6.7DramaHorrorScientists and US Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while investigating at a remote arctic outpost.
The Thing from Another World
1951 · 712 votes
Movie6.7WesternTexas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves known as Comancheros.
The Comancheros
1961 · 219 votes
Movie6.9WesternDramaJubal Troop is a cowboy who is found in a weakened condition, without a horse. He is given shelter at Shep Horgan's large ranch, where he quickly makes an enemy in foreman Pinky, a cattleman who accuses Jubal of carrying the smell of sheep.
Jubal
1956 · 92 votes
Movie6.7HorrorA man and his wife claim the mansion of his warlock ancestor burned alive in 1765.
The Haunted Palace
1963 · 202 votes
Movie7.3DramaMacbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth commits a treasonous act and takes the throne for himself.
Macbeth
1948 · 188 votes
Movie6.9DramaWesternWhenever it becomes known how good he is with guns, ex-gunman George and his wife Dora have to flee the town, in fear of all the gunmen who might want to challenge him. Unfortunately he again spills his secret when he's drunk. All citizens swear to keep his secret and support him to give up his guns forever -- but a boy tells the story to a gang of wanted criminals. Their leader threatens to burn down the whole town, if he doesn't duel him.
The Fastest Gun Alive
1956 · 66 votes
Movie5.3CrimeDramaA deported gangster trains an Italian convict to take over his operations in the U.S.
Johnny Cool
1963 · 23 votes
Movie6.6Science FictionThrillerA doctor uses special eye drops to give himself x-ray vision, but the new power has disastrous consequences.
X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes
1963 · 276 votes
Movie6.6AdventureRomanceThe Leiningen South American cocoa plantation is threatened by a 2-mile-wide, 20-mile-long column of army ants.
The Naked Jungle
1954 · 124 votes
Movie6.1WesternAfter a stagecoach holdup, Frank Slayton's notorious gang leave Ben Warren for dead and head off with his fiancée. Warren follows, and although none of the townspeople he comes across are prepared to help, he recruits two others who have sworn revenge on the ruthless Slayton.
Gun Fury
1953 · 50 votes
Movie6.2DramaRomanceLucas Marsh, an intern bent upon becoming a first-class doctor, not merely a successful one. He courts and marries the warm-hearted Kristina, not out of love but because she is highly knowledgeable in the skills of the operating room and because she has frugally put aside her savings through the years. She will be, as he shrewdly knows, a supportive wife in every way. She helps make him the success he wants to be and cheerfully moves with him to the small town in which he starts his practice. But as much as he tries to be a good husband to the undemanding Kristina, Marsh easily falls into the arms of a local siren and the patience of the long-sorrowing Kristina wears thin.
Not as a Stranger
1955 · 49 votes
Movie6.0WesternWhen a crooked sheriff murders his employer, William "Billy the Kid" Bonney decides to avenge the death by killing the man responsible, throwing the lives of everyone around him into turmoil, and endangering the General Amnesty set up by Governor Wallace to bring peace to the New Mexico Territory.
The Left Handed Gun
1958 · 122 votes
Movie6.5AdventureDramaDuring the War of 1812 against Britain: General Andrew Jackson has only 1,200 men left to defend New Orleans when he learns that a British fleet will arrive with 60 ships and 16,000 men to take the city. In this situation an island near the city becomes strategically important to both parties, but it's inhabited by the last big buccaneer: Jean Lafitte. Although Lafitte never attacks American ships, the governor hates him for selling merchandise without taxes - and is loved by the citizens for the same reason. When the big fight gets nearer, Lafitte is drawn between the fronts. His heart belongs to America, but his people urge him to join the party that's more likely to win.
The Buccaneer
1958 · 52 votes
Movie6.3HorrorDramaAn artist grows distant from his new wife as an irrational fear of premature burial consumes him.
The Premature Burial
1962 · 148 votes
Movie6.4WarHenry Fleming is a young Union soldier in the American Civil War. During his unit's first engagement, Henry flees the battlefield in fear. When he learns that the Union actually won the battle, shame over his cowardice leads him to lie to his friend Tom and the other soldiers, saying that he had been injured in battle. However, when he learns that his unit will be leading a charge against the enemy, Henry takes the opportunity to face his fears and redeem himself.
The Red Badge of Courage
1951 · 72 votes
Movie6.3WesternActionOpposing his commanding officer's decision to attack a group of innocent Indians and wipe them out, Lt. Frank Hewitt leaves his post and heads home to Texas. He knows that the attack will send all of the tribes on the warpath and he wants to forewarn everyone. He gets a chilly reception back home however. With most of the men away having enlisted in the Confederate army Frank, a Union officer, is seen by the local women as a traitor. He convinces them of the danger that lies ahead and trains them to repel the attack that will eventually come.
The Guns of Fort Petticoat
1957 · 36 votes
Movie6.3ComedyHorrorAs American policemen in London, Bud and Lou meet up with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1953 · 97 votes
Series11
TV7.1Action & AdventureWesternThe Rifleman is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show was filmed in black-and-white, half-hour episodes. "The Rifleman" aired on ABC from September 30, 1958 to April 8, 1963 as a production of Four Star Television. It was one of the first prime time series to have a widowed parent raise a child.
The Rifleman
1958 · 54 votes
TV7.2WesternDramaThe tale of trail boss Gil Favor and his trusty foreman Rowdy Yates as they drives cattle across the old west. Along the way they meet up with adventure and drama.
Rawhide
1959 · 49 votes
TV7.1WesternAction & AdventureWanted: Dead or Alive is an American Western television series starring Steve McQueen as the bounty hunter Josh Randall. It aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958–61. The black-and-white program was a spin-off of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown, a 1957–59 western series starring Robert Culp. Both series were produced by Four Star Television in association with CBS Television. The series launched McQueen into becoming the first television star to cross over into comparable status on the big screen.
Wanted: Dead or Alive
1958 · 38 votes
TV6.7WesternAction & AdventureGunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.
Gunsmoke
1955 · 119 votes
TV7.2WesternDramaJim Hardie helps Wells Fargo agents battle the bad guys.
Tales of Wells Fargo
1957 · 16 votes
TV6.6CrimeDramaPeter Gunn is an American private eye television series. Filmed in a film noir atmosphere and featuring Henry Mancini music that could tell you the action with your eyes closed, Peter Gunn worked in style. Known as Pete to his friends and simply as Gunn to his enemies, he did his job in a calm cool way.
Peter Gunn
1958 · 26 votes
TV6.5DramaTelephone Time is an American anthology drama series that aired on CBS in 1956, and on ABC from 1957 to 1958. The series features plays by John Nesbitt who hosted the first season. Frank C. Baxter hosted the 1957 and 1958 seasons. The program was directed by Arthur Hiller.
Telephone Time
1956 · 4 votes
- TV5.7Action & AdventureDrama
State Trooper is an American crime drama set in the 1950s American West, starring Rod Cameron as Rod Blake, an officer of the Nevada Department of Public Safety. The series aired 104 episodes in syndication from September 25, 1956, to June 25, 1959.
State Trooper
1956 · 7 votes
- TV6.7DramaComedy
Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.
Lux Video Theatre
1950 · 7 votes
TV6.0Action & AdventureDramaThe Aquanauts is an American adventure/drama series that aired on CBS in the 1960-1961 season. The series stars Keith Larsen, Jeremy Slate and Ron Ely.
The Aquanauts
1960 · 3 votes
TV7.2DramaComedySchlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to Schlitz Playhouse, beginning with the fall 1957 season.
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951 · 5 votes