Lawrence W. Butler

Movies

Marooned
Special Effects
After spending several months in an orbiting lab, three astronauts prepare to return to Earth only to find their de-orbit thrusters won't activate. After initially thinking they might have to abandon them in orbit, NASA decides to launch a daring rescue. Their plans are complicated by a Hurricane headed towards the launch site—and a shrinking air supply in the astronauts' capsule.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Visual Effects
A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter brings home a fiancé who is black.
Assault on a Queen
Special Effects
A group of adventurers refloat a WWII German submarine and prepare to use it to pull a very large heist; The Queen Mary which they plan to rob on the high seas.
20 Million Miles to Earth
Special Effects
When the first manned flight to Venus returns to Earth, the rocket crash-lands in the Mediterranean near a small Italian fishing village. The locals manage to save one of the astronauts Colonel Calder, the mission commander. A young boy also recovers what turns out to be a specimen of an alien creature. Growing at a fantastic rate, it manages to escape and eventually threatens the city of Rome.
The Caine Mutiny
Special Effects
When a US Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardize his ship, the first officer relieves him of command and faces court martial for mutiny.
Gilda
Special Effects
A gambler discovers an old flame while in Argentina, but she's married to his new boss.
Tonight and Every Night
Visual Effects
An American girl falls for an RAF pilot while performing at a British music hall.
Crime by Night
Visual Effects Director
A private eye and his secretary probe a murder and find an international spy.
Destination Tokyo
Special Effects
During World War II, Captain Cassidy and his crew of submariners are ordered into Tokyo Bay on a secret mission. They are to gather information in advance of the planned bombing of Tokyo. Along the way, the crew learn about each other as they face the enemy and some of them lose their lives.
Edge of Darkness
Special Effects
The film pivots around the local Norwegian doctor and his family. The doctor's wife (Ruth Gordon) wants to hold on to the pretence of gracious living and ignore their German occupiers. The doctor, Martin Stensgard (Walter Huston), would also prefer to stay neutral, but is torn. His brother-in-law, the wealthy owner of the local fish cannery, collaborates with the Nazis. The doctor's daughter, Karen (Ann Sheridan), is involved with the resistance and with its leader Gunnar Brogge (Errol Flynn). The doctor's son has just returned to town, having been sent down from the university, and is soon influenced by his Nazi-sympathizer uncle. Captain Koenig (Helmut Dantine), the young German commandant of the occupying garrison, whose fanatic determination to do everything by the book and spoutings about the invincibility of the Reich hides a growing fear of a local uprising.
Casablanca
Special Effects
In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.
Jungle Book
Special Effects
Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book is given the full treatment in this lavish retelling filled with huge sets, exotic animals, a large cast and the incomparable Sabu, starring as Mowgli, the young orphan boy raised by wolves. Curious to reconnect with his human village, Mowgli returns only to find disappointment in the greed and treachery of man. Over time, Mowgli and the village members do grow to trust one another, but not before the village finds itself under siege. It's up to Mowgli and his jungle friends to save the day.
To Be or Not to Be
Special Effects
During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
Lydia
Special Effects
Lydia MacMillan, a wealthy woman who has never married, invites several men her own age to her home to reminisce about the times when they were young and courted her. In memory, each romance seemed splendid and destined for happiness, but in each case, Lydia realizes, the truth was less romantic, and ill-starred.
The Thief of Bagdad
Special Effects
When Prince Ahmad is blinded and cast out of Bagdad by the nefarious Jaffar, he joins forces with the scrappy thief Abu to win back his royal place, as well as the heart of a beautiful princess.
The Man Who Could Work Miracles
Special Effects
An ordinary man, while vigorously asserting the impossibility of miracles, suddenly discovers that he can perform them.
Things to Come
Special Effects Assistant
The story of a century: a decades-long second World War leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and attempts space travel.