Alan Reynolds Movies

After an eight-year prison term for rape and assault, Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) is set free. Immediately making a beeline to Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck), the former prosecutor responsible for Cady's conviction, Cady laconically informs Sam that he intends to "pay back" the attorney for his years behind bars. Conducting a meticulous campaign of terror, Cady is careful to stay within the law. Sam, realizing that Cady intends to wreak vengeance by raping the attorney's wife (Polly Bergen) and daughter (Lori Martin), tries to put the ex-criminal behind bars, but has no grounds to do so. Chief Dutton (Martin Balsam) tries to help Sam with a few strong-arm tactics, but succeeds only in having the courts take Cady's side in the matter. Things come to a head when Sam moves his family to the "safety" of a remote houseboat on Cape Fear river. Cady shows up unannounced and is about to ravage Bowden's wife and daughter and when Sam turns the tables. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In an episode originally filmed for Maverick's third season--and originally intended as the fourth-season opener--Bret and Bart Maverick (James Garner, Jack Kelly) inherit a stagecoach line from their late Uncle Micah. Unfortunately, they have also inherited Micah's mountainous debts--and to make matters worse, the coach line is being systematically plundered by flamboyant highwayman Ramsey Plum (a pre-Beverly Hillbillies Buddy Ebsen). This episode marks the final series appearance of James Garner as Bret Maverick, though he would return to the role for a 1981 TV revival of Maverick, as well as a 1994 theatrical feature. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the midst of his campaign to bring statehood to his territory, Judge Somervell (John Litel) loses a suitcase which contains some rather volatile documents. The Judge is convinced that Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly) stole the suitcase--and so, apparently, is everyone else in the territory, including an enigmatic young woman named Janet (Bethel Leslie) and a quartet of homicidal thugs. After being kidnapped, beaten and accused of murder, Bart begins to realize that he'd better locate the missing papers in a real hurry...and also find out why they're so valuable. Veteran serial villain Roy Barcroft appears as a mercurial US Marshal. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It sure doesn't take Beaver Cleaver (Jerry Mathers) very long to get into trouble as Leave It to Beaver launches its first season on the air (and its only season on CBS). Matter of fact, Beav's in the doghouse in the very first episode -- or at least he thinks he is. When his teacher Miss Canfield (Diane Brewster) hands Beaver a sealed note to give to his mom and dad, his classmates Whitey (Stanley Fafara) and Judy (Jeri Weil) convince him that he's going to get expelled -- or, as he puts it, "spelled." Thus it is that Beav and big brother Wally go to great and inordinate lengths to hide the note from parents Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June (Barbara Billingsley). Like many other first-season episodes, this one opens with a "preview," narrated by Hugh Beaumont. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After visiting their Aunt Martha (Madge Kennedy), Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow) were supposed to use the money given them by their dad to purchase two train tickets home. Alas, their train is delayed, and in the interim the boys spend all their cash on hot dogs and ice cream. How are they going to get out of this one without getting clobbered? Watch for Bess Flowers, "queen of the Hollywood dress extras," in the train-station sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"I waited there with a dead head sitting on a dead spine waiting for the crack of doom." This is how young businessman Mason Bridges (Robert Horton) describes his predicament when he is forced to participate in a high-stakes poker game with wealthy client Sam Klinker (Robert Middleton). Though Bridges had intended to play only a few hands, Klinker bullies him into staying in the game, raising the stakes all along the way. Ultimately, the fate of Bridges' business -- and indeed, his future career -- rests in a single poker hand. "Crack of Doom" is based on a story by journalist Don Marquis, best known for his whimsical "Archy and Mehitabel" pieces. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Barry Fitzgerald, who made his film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's 1930 theatrical film Juno and the Paycock, guests in this episode as Stretch Sears, a recently paroled thief. With Christmas approaching, Stretch has no trouble landing a job as a Santa at a big department store. But it isn't the Yuletide spirit that is motivating Stretch; he intends to rob the store, and is using his job to case the joint. But the scheme goes off on a entirely different direction when "Santa" Sears makes the acquaintance of a juvenile delinquent known only as the Tenth Avenue Kid (played by Bobby Clark -- not the Broadway comedian of the same name). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Six GIs stationed in Asia secretly photograph the arcane rituals of a group of cobra worshippers. At the climax of the ceremony, the cult members turn themselves into snakes. The high priestess catches the soldiers spying and throws a curse upon them. This off-beat horror film follows what happens to the men after that. Soon after they return to the US, the vengeful priestess follows them and people begin to die from snake venom poisoning, adding credence to the strange tale told by a surviving GI to the police, who become less skeptical as more evidence is unearthed. More trouble follows when the serpentine goddess falls for the ex-soldier's roomie. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A storekeeper has been robbed and killed by two thieves, who have also wounded a police officer. The wife of the unfortunate storekeeper provides Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) with a vital clue: one of the thieves kept an unfolded handkerchief in his breast pocket. As often happens on this series, the perp's sloppiness proves to be his undoing. This episode was adapted from the Dragnet radio broadcast of June 22, 1954. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi