William Campbell Movies

A common teenage ritual gets a new interpretation in this short comedy. Two high-school age guys pull up to the same stop light, and after plenty of engine revving and high-attitude staring, they agree to meet the next day for a drag race. However, what happens twenty-four hours later has nothing to do with hot rods. The Drag Race was directed by Will Campbell, who was then a student at Trinity High School in Euless, Texas. The film was an official selection at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival in a special program of works by Texas student filmmakers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A documentary that covers the life of country legend Waylon Jennings, from his beginnings to his breakthrough in the '70s. ~ All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), it looks like the wedding of Quincy (Jack Klugman) and Emily (Anita Gillette) will have to be postponed definitely. After all, Quincy cannot be bothered with mundane domestic details while he is busily investigating the possibility that elderly nursing-home resident Edna Brackett (Jeannette Nolan) murdered her husband after being given psychotronic drugs. Finally, the exasperated Emily issues an ultimatum to Quincy: get out of the lab immediately, or the wedding is off. (Incidentally, if you think that Quincy will at long last reveal his first name during the ceremony...think again). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Officer Dan Segal (Robert Drivas) makes it his mission in life to avenge the death of his gambler brother (Harry Davis), who was murdered by a professional hit man. In order to expose the "brains" behind the murder, Segal goes undercover, posing as a bookie and infiltrating an unusually nasty gambling ring. Featured in the cast is the late Claudia Jennings, the well-proportioned leading lady of many an R-rated action flick of the 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Surrounded by the authorities after a bungled attempt to break through a police checkpoint, five terrorists take several people hostage. Unless they are given safe passage out of San Francisco, the terrorists will detonate a bomb, killing themselves and their prisoners. Making the situation personal for investigating detective Mike Stone (Karl Malden) is that one of the hostages is his own partner Steve Keller (Michael Douglas). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Singer Bobby Sherman appears as Kenny Donaldson Jr., an arrogant young intern who makes a near-fatal diagnosis of a man who was injured in a chimney explosion. Dr. Brackett (Robert Fuller) figures out a suitable "punishment" for Donaldson, designed to teach the man a lesson and to improve his future performance. Elsewhere, the Ramparts emergency team encounters a pair of medical crises at an oil refinery tower...and a mailbox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Ironside (Raymond Burr) works in concert with attorney Ken Klaven (Cameron Mitchell) to secure the release of Walter Booth (William Campbell), whom the Chief had sent to prison on a manslaughter charge seven years before. Though now convinced of Booth's innocence, Ironside encounters a great deal of trouble persuading the DA's office. The Chief's only hope is to force a young woman to come forward with testimony she'd withheld during the original trial--but there are mysterious forces who are determined to silence both Ironside and his witness for keeps! Prominent in the supporting cast is Geraldine Brooks, who had played the sniper responsible for the Chief's confinement to a wheelchair in the original 1967 Ironside pilot film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ocean View High is an upscale suburban school in an otherwise unidentified community. It's 1971, the point when the sexual revolution started moving into full swing and even a lot of Middle America, at least on the two coasts, admitted the existence of same revolution. It seems like the guys and girls at Ocean View are all loving pretty freely, and that extends to the school's resident faculty hero, football coach/guidance counselor "Tiger" McDrew (Rock Hudson), who -- despite his being married, with a child -- has been bedding many of the prettiest girls at the school. The only kid seemingly not "getting any" is Ponce de Leon Harper (John David Carson), who is starting to get neurotic and suffer academically, so much so that he seeks advice from McDrew, especially where his new substitute teacher, Miss Smith (Angie Dickinson), is concerned. But then various girls start turning up at the school dead, in various states of undress, with cryptic notes pinned to intimate parts of their anatomy. The lunkhead county sheriff (Keenan Wynn) is forced to defer to a state police investigator (Telly Savalas), who starts nosing around the school and uncovers more than he bargained for in terms of libidinous students, among other problems. Meanwhile, Ponce finds his problem taken care of by Miss Smith, at McDrew's request. But there's still a killer stalking the school.

If the plot and ambience of this movie seems shocking today, that's because it would be. Made at the outset of the sexual revolution, this was MGM's desperate attempt to run with the times, in terms of depicting a high school where sexual relations between students are considered routine and even those between faculty and students are accepted as long as they're kept quiet. Anyone trying to make such a movie in 2006 would face threats of prosecution, investigation, etc., and probably find it impossible to get the movie booked into theaters; MGM didn't have that easy a time in 1971, though (amazingly) the movie has been shown on television. Precisely what director Roger Vadim brought to Gene Roddenberry's screenplay (based on a novel by Francis Pollini) is difficult to tell, though he at least makes the sleazy and tawdry, smirky sex scenes and leering camera shots flow smoothly -- screenplay, director, and cameraman alike are fixated on the female anatomy throughout, though not in as distinctive a manner as Russ Meyer and his attachment to breasts. The presence of a couple of Star Trek co-stars and supporting villains, James Doohan and William Campbell, also makes this especially weird to watch. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Ben Cartwright is determined to block the gubernatorial bid of John Faraday (Simon Scott), the corrupt stooge of crooked tycoon Sam Endicott (Sidney Blackmer). When Ben is shot by one of Endicott's henchmen, he decides to "play dead" until the convention, then expose both Endicott and Faraday as murderous scoundrels. But a monkey wrench is thrown into the works when an innocent man is arrested for Ben's "murder." Portions of David Rose's background music were later incorporated into the themes of the subsequent Michael Landon series Little House on the Prairie). Among the supporting players is George Gaynes, best known to latter-day viewers for his hilarious performances in the theatrical features Tootsie and Police Academy. First shown on March 3, 1968, "The Late Ben Cartwright" was written by Walter Black. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While the Enterprise is stopped at a space station to provide security for a valuable shipment of grain, Lt. Uhura purchases a new pet from ethically questionable station trader Cyrano Jones: a "tribble," which is basically a lovable, cooing ball of fur. The animals have some unexpected drawbacks, however; they have a ravenous appetite, and whenever they eat, they multiply themselves. Soon enough, the crew of the Enterprise finds themselves up to their necks in the furry creatures. This comes at about the worst possible time for the Enterprise, since a Klingon vessel has also arrived at the station, and the enemy crews are soon getting into barroom brawls. The tribble problem doesn't help the Enterprise's diplomatic effort much either, especially since the creatures don't like Klingons very much, and emit a high-pitched squawk whenever one comes near. This episode of the original Star Trek television series is particularly beloved for its charming humor; the tribbles themselves are so popular amongst Trek fans that they have reappeared in episodes of the animated series and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

In this bizarre drama set in Venice, California, a professional thief and a crazed artist conspire to steal a valuable Titian painting. Unfortunately, they are thwarted by a courageous stripper who is almost killed in the process. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This low-budget vampire quickie is distinguished mainly by the presence of director Stephanie Rothman, who emerged from Roger Corman's New World Pictures (for whom she directed the exploitation classic The Student Nurses) to become an acclaimed feminist filmmaker. The piecework story incorporates footage shot by original director Jack Hill, combined with incongruent elements from a Yugoslavian supernatural thriller titled Operation Titian which Corman obtained for a song, tied loosely together by new vampire material shot by Rothman. This may partially explain why the ancient Slavic vampire featured in the film decides to possess the body of a cheesecake photographer in California, who then murders his models in the name of Art. As one might imagine, this is pretty difficult to follow, but there are some good performances -- particularly from William Campbell as the haunted shutterbug -- and some fairly suspenseful scenes. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide