Namu, The Killer Whale

The usual 'boy and his killer whale' tale receives a slightly different spin in this superior family offering, with Lansing as the naturalist who gives sanctuary to the eponymous ocean-going predator in his own cove, only to meet strong opposition from fishermen worried about their salmon stocks. Not as glossy as the latter-day Free Willy, but it passes - quite attractively and unsentimentally. Laslo Benedek who began his career as a camera assistant at UFA in the early '30s is best remembered as the director of Marlon Brando's The Wild One (he was also responsible for a Frank Sinatra musical titled The Kissing Bandit).