The three films are The Bribe, 1949, Ride, Vaquero! 1953 and Knights of the Round Table, 1953.  Ava Gardner co-stars in all three.

The Bribe, 1949, is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Thursday, August 8 at 6:00 a.m. est.  Closed captioned.  The Bribe has a minimal story but great actors including Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton and Vincent Price.  The chemistry between Mr. Taylor and Ms. Gardner  is sizzling.  They became lovers during the production and had to go to his mother’s house to make love because they would have been recognized anywhere else.

Ava Gardner, Robert Taylor

“The Bribe” is one of the forties film noir entries, and I love it! Top stars of the era include Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton, and Vincent Price. It is a story of an honest cop, Rigby played with remarkable insight, by Robert Taylor, who falls in love with a suspect (Ava Gardner), and can’t make up his mind on if she is guilty or innocent. John Hodiak is the husband, who is a former fly boy turned crook. Charles Laughton is at his sinister best as the “pie shaped man” who is hired by Vincent Price to pay off Rigby. Laughton dogs Rigby, knowing that he is in love with Gardner, till he caves in and decides to take a bribe to save his love. As in many film noir, only Taylor’s last name is used, we never know Rigby’s first name, interesting. Taylor is very convincing as a man torn between love and honor. He is so conflicted, that you feel sorry for him, wishing that Ava would just run away with him before he turns crook himself. She drugs him and makes sure he can’t stop the crooks, but he recovers, and confronts her, not realizing the trouble she is in herself. In the end, love and honor conquer all. There is a spectacular fireworks ending, that is reminiscent of “Ride the Pink Horse.” All in all the love scenes are sincere, probably because Taylor and Gardner were having an affair at the time of filming, despite the fact that Taylor was very married to Barbara Stanwyck. Quintessential film noir. Review by mamalv for IMDB.

Some behind the scenes photos:

Robert Taylor and Ava Gardner rehearsing a beach scene.

Mr. Taylor and Ms. Gardner

Mr. Taylor and Ms. Gardner with director Robert Z. Leonard.

Left to right: Mr. Taylor with Vincent Price; Charles Laughton; John Hodiak

Robert Taylor

Ride, Vaquero! (1953) is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Thursday, August 8 at 12 noon.  Closed captioned.

Ava Gardner and Robert Taylor

By keeping quiet, speaking only when necessary Robert Taylor as Rio gives one of his best performances. All through the film you try to guess what he is thinking. He was adopted by the mother of Esqueda (Anthony Quinn) and Quinn loves and respects him. The real surprise is Howard Keel, who only used to do musicals, coming out so well as King Cameron, a man who is obstinate about building a cattle empire. Cameron is married to Cordelia (Ava Gardner) and as soon as she arrives in a river boat, and they go to their ranch, trouble starts because it has been burnt by Esqueda. Why did Esqueda do it? Because he knows that if he allows anybody to do well in business in that area, others will come and eventually he, who is a bandit will have to run away or be hanged. Quinn is great as Esqueda, just that makes the film worth seeing. Taylor, who was the second man to Quinn in the gang, eventually leaves him to help Keel, because deep down he knows his brother is becoming a crazy monster and unconsciously he is in love with Ava. But when she kisses him, he slaps her because he knows it is wrong. He is a torn man, with all those feelings and not knowing exactly what to do about it. Excellent film, not to be missed. IMDB review by tmwest from Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Some behind-the-scenes photos:

Left to right: Robert Taylor, Dore Schary, J. Farrow, Howard Keel; Robert Taylor; J. Farrrow, Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner

Left to right: Mr. Taylor and Ms. Gardner

Left to right: Mr. Taylor and Ms. Gardner; Howard Keel, Mr. Taylor, Ms. Gardner; 2 of Ms. Gardner’s costumes from the film.

Knights of the Round Table, 1952, is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Thursday, August 8 at 4 p.m. est. Closed captioned.

The film was highly successful costing $2,616,000.00 and making a profit of $1,641,000.00 or $14,536,985.95 in today’s money.

Mel Ferrer, Ava Gardner, Stanley Baker, Anne Crawford, Felix Aylmer, Robert Taylor and Maureen Swanson.

This is a fine example of ’50’s style epics. Big name cast, colorful costumes,flashy swordplay, beautiful damsels and wild inaccuracies. The great Robert Taylor, who starred in several historical movies, is the honorable Sir Lancelot, a far more noble and pure portrayal than was recorded in all the legends, Ava Gardner is the stunningly beautiful Queen Guinevere, the ever dependable Felix Aylmer is the mysterious Merlin, Mel Ferer is a somewhat subdued and less than charismatic King Arthur. See it for the spectacle, costumes, word-play filled dialog and over the top Stanley Baker as Sir Mordred. Lancelot’s joust with Niall Mac Ginnis is very well done. 8 stars for pure eye filling entertainment value. Review by Wayner50 (United States) for the IMDB.

Some behind the scenes photos:

Left to right: phoning; photos; coffee; Mr. Taylor with Stanley Baker

Left to right: Mr. Taylor in armor (which he hated).

Left to right: Mr. Taylor with Mel Ferrer; Maureen Swanson; waiting for instructions.

Left to right: Robert Taylor and his co-star and friend and sometime lover Ava Gardner.

Left to right: Mr. Taylor with Richard Thorpe; taking a break; enjoying a ride on his huge horse.