Ham Larsen Movies
- 1981
The Wilders are in for quite a time when Almanzo's brother Royal (Woody Eney) decides to take a vacation -- and deposits his troublesome sons, Myron (Ham Larsen) and Rupert (Rossie Harris), in the home of Almanzo (Dean Butler) and Laura (Melissa Gilbert). Before long, the nasty nephews have turned the household topsy-turvy with their practical jokes and pranks. It falls to Laura to put the kiddies in their place with some trickery of her own. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
Disgusted with city life, the family Robinson decides to chuck it all and head for the Rockies. There they find that rural living can be just as hectic, with hungry bears as well as the forestry service after them. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Logan, Susan Damante-Shaw, (more)
- 1978
Steve McQueen served as both star and executive producer for this film version of the drama by Henrik Ibsen, which was adapted by Arthur Miller. When Dr. Thomas Stockmann (McQueen) discovers that a tannery has dangerously polluted a hot spring in his community, he feels that it is his duty to share this information with the people. However, a number of prominent citizens (including Stockmann) intended to use the hot springs as the centerpiece of a health spa, and Tom's brother Peter (Charles Durning), the town's mayor, contends that a clean-up of the spring would be impractical, expensive, and would scare off potential customers. Stockmann is still eager to share his story with the community, but the town council is determined to silence him, and in time they turn public opinion against him. The outcry against Stockmann's activism eventually ruins his medical practice and drives a wedge between Stockmann and his wife Catherine (Bibi Andersson). While An Enemy of the People became a pet project for McQueen, it received indifferent reviews and poor distribution, opening in only a few scattered American cities several years after it was completed. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve McQueen, Charles Durning, (more)
- 1977
- G
- Add Further Adventures of the Wilderness Family to QueueAdd Further Adventures of the Wilderness Family to top of Queue
The redundantly-titled Further Adventures of the Wilderness Family, Part 2, is the 1977 follow-up to the successful 1974 independently distributed film (aka a "four-waller") Adventures of the Wilderness Family. The titular family, appropriately named Robinson, is once more headed by Robert Logan. The film contains the usual quota of brushes with danger and shots of cute woodland creatures, with the added complication of a bout of pneumonia suffered by Mrs. Robinson (Susan D. Shaw). Barry Williams, of Brady Bunch fame, sings the tunes heard on the soundtrack. Marketed on a theater-to-theater basis in the same manner as its predecessor, Further Adventures of the Wilderness Family scored a hit--resulting in yet another sequel, Mountain Family Robinson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Logan, Susan Shaw, (more)
- 1976
- G
- Add The Adventures of the Wilderness Family to QueueAdd The Adventures of the Wilderness Family to top of Queue
The Adventures of the Wilderness Family was among the first-and the most successful-of the family-oriented films of the 1970s. Robert F. Logan plays a city-dwelling construction worker who decides to kick over the traces and head to the mountains. His family-wife Susan Damante Shaw, children Holleye Holmes and Ham Larsen-are at first resistant, but soon they learn to love the Great Outdoors as much as Logan. The film's highlights include an up-close-and-personal confrontation with a hungry bear. Successfully released on a city-by-city, limited-run basis all over the US, The Adventures of the Wilderness Family was popular enough to spawn two sequels...not to mention innumerable ripoffs. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
