Tom Waters Movies
In exchange for being allowed to make his directorial debut in Grand Theft Auto, Ron Howard agreed to take no salary as a director, merely as star and co-screenwriter (with his dad Rance). The plot finds Sam Freeman (Howard) eloping with his heiress girlfriend Paula Powers (Nancy Morgan). Her mob-connected dad Bigby Powers (Barry Cahill) vehemently opposes the marriage, and isn't about to change his mind now that Sam has stolen his Rolls-Royce and sped off to Las Vegas with his daughter in tow. Marion Ross, Howard's Happy Days mom, turns in an offbeat supporting characterization. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ron Howard, Nancy Morgan, (more)
Designed for the regional family trade, Pony Express Rider is a fond harkback to the Saturday afternoon westerns of old. Stewart Paterson plays the title character, a young frontiersman hoping to avenge his father's death. He takes a job with the Pony Express mail service in hopes of running across his dad's murderer. The supporting cast is populated with such always-welcome reliables as Joan Caulfield, Henry Wilcoxon, Ken Curtis, Slim Pickens and Dub Taylor. Pony Express Rider was directed by Robert J. Totten, a specialist in episodic television horse operas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The Apple Dumpling Gang stars Bill Bixby as Russell Donovan, a slick frontier gambler. In Runyon-esque fashion, he is compelled to look after three precocious oprhaned kids. He can't handle the responsibilities alone, so he agrees to an in-name-only marriage to hoydenish stagecoach driver, Magnolia Dusty Clydesdale (Susan Clark). Fortuitously, they discover that a mine belonging to the kids' late father is worth millions. This brings several disreputable characters into the storyline: bumbling "nice" bandits Theodore Ogelvie and Amos (Don Knotts and Tim Conway), and deadly "bad" bandits headed by Frank Stillwell (Slim Pickens). Based on a novel by Jack M. Bickham, The Apple Dumpling Gang was successful enough to spawn a sequel-not to mention several future screen teamings for Don Knotts and Tim Conway. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bill Bixby, Susan Clark, (more)
- 1974
Taking time off from his villainous duties as "Wo Fat" on Hawaii Five-O, Khigh Deigh is no less sinister in this episode as a Hong-Kong based "fence" named John Chong. After a gang of hijackers led by Stan Chasen (Henry Silva) goes to a lot of trouble--including attempted murder--to steal an airborne cargo of blank travellers' checks, Chong double-crosses them by offering only a fraction of what he promised to pay for the checks. Meanwhile, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.conducts a wide-ranging search for the crooks, which comes to a rousing climax on the docks of Seattle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1972
Fireman Chet Kelly (Tim Donnelly) is determined to learn more about the Native American "roots" of his coworker John Gage (played by Randolph Mantooth, a real-life descendant of the Seminole tribe). Chet's efforts are momentarily abandoned as the emergency staff tackles a huge work load, including such crises as a residential water supply contaminated with a flammable liquid, a child trapped in a wrecked car by a drunk driver, and a construction worker shot down by a sniper--to say nothing of lesser dilemmas involving a too-tight girdle and a gumball machine. This episode marks one of the first TV appearances of the now-familiar rescue apparatus "Jaws of Life". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1972
One of Terrence Malick's early screenwriting efforts, this loosely-structured road movie finds a questionably sane long-distance trucker named Cooper (Alan Arkin) winding his way through the heart of America. An employee of a questionable hauling outfit who has been assigned to drive a newly hijacked rig to an as-of-yet undisclosed-location, Cooper quickly ditches his partner and points his eighteen-wheeler westward. Picking-up a hitchhiker (Paul Benedict) for some company in the cab, the unstable trucker's journey westward grows increasingly surreal as he runs into numerous eccentric characters, portrayed in cameo roles by such noted names as Ida Lupino, George Raft, Charles Durning, Loretta Swit, Richard Kiel and future director John Milius. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin, Paul Benedict, (more)
