Peter Lazer Movies
Yes, Paul Newman is a blue-eyed Indian in Hombre, but this apparent ethnic error is carefully justified in the body of the story. Newman plays a white man who was raised by the Apaches, and ever since has straddled two worlds, feeling truly comfortable in neither. While riding a stagecoach, Newman is subject to the racial bias of banker Fredric March and his snooty wife Barbara Rush. In truth, March is an embezzler, and has no reason to feel superior to anyone. This fact comes out when the coach is held up by murderous bandit-chief Richard Boone. When the passengers fight back, Boone takes Rush as a hostage. Newman, who by rights should be supremely satisfied that his tormentors are themselves tormented, proves himself the bravest of the passengers, sacrificing his own life to save Rush and put an end to Boone's reign of terror. Hombre is based on a novel by suspense specialist Elmore Leonard. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Fredric March, (more)
Pinocchio meets Nurtle the Twurtle after Gepetto changes the boy back into a puppet for insubordinate behavior in this animated sci-fi children's story. Nurtle and Pinocchio embark on a trip to Mars and battle the alien white whale Astro in hopes of saving the Earth from attack by the menacing space-mammal. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Arnold Stang, Conrad Jameson, (more)
- 1963
In this crime drama, an American gangster heads to Athens to find his ex-wife whom he abandoned nine years ago after his son was born. He finds her married to a wealthy architect who is interested in inheriting his wife's family fortune. Unfortunately, that is what the gangster is also after--and he will stop at nothing to get it. He then meets his little son and learns that the boy dislikes his step-dad. The gangster then promises to help the boy find his real dad; he further convinces him to put poison in step-daddy's thermos. The boy then realizes that this was terribly wrong; he enlists the aid of a deaf-mute friend who runs to the construction site to keep him from drinking it. Unfortunately, the boys are caught by the gangster, who tells the boy the truth. Somehow the lads escape with the gangster in hot pursuit. He follows them up 15 flights of scaffolding to the architect's favorite lunch spot. He and the gangster get into a fight, and the architect is wounded. The deaf-mute takes up the fight and ends up falling. Eventually the gangster turns himself in leaving the boy to make peace with his step-father at his friend's funeral... ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1959
Suburbanites Bill and Cynthia Fortnam (Steve Dunne, Beatrice Straight) are a tad surprised when their 11-year-old son, Tom (Peter Lazer), receives a special-delivery package. The package turns out to contain mushroom seeds, which the industrious Tom plants and cultivates in the cellar. Although Bill is nervous about the quality of the mushrooms, they turn out to be addictively delicious; in fact, it would not be inaccurate to say that the mushrooms are "out of this world." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1958
While the train he is riding on is temporarily stalled by a blizzard, effusive old rancher Mr. Kilmer (Chill Wills) regales the other passengers with one of his tall tales. Throughout Kilmer's monologue, he is constantly interrupted by an obnoxious eight-year-old boy named Johnny (Peter Lazer). Finally, Kilmer offers Johnny a silver dollar if he can remain quiet for ten minutes. Dutifully, Johnny shuts up -- while outside, the blizzard rages on, and the search for an escaped mental patient continues. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1957
This second presentation of the classic dramatic anthology Du Pont Show of the Month is a lavishly mounted adaptation of Mark Twain's historical novel The Prince and the Pauper. Although virtually every film version of this work has either cast twin boys in the roles of young Prince Edward and his ragamuffin lookalike Tom Canty, or has employed split-screen photography to convey the impression that one child actor is actually two different people, this production aired live and was unable to recruit twins at such short notice. Thus, Rex Thompson, best known for his portrayal of Prince Chulanlongkorn in The King and I, plays Edward, while the remarkably similar-looking Johnny Washbrook, previously the star of the TV series My Friend Flicka, plays Tom. Twain's familiar plot remains intact, with the royal Edward and the peasant Tom trading places, leading to all manner of complications for the high- and lowborn citizens of 16th century England. Heading what was advertised as "a cast of 60" is Christopher Plummer as Sir Miles Herndon, who while seeking revenge against the brother who betrayed him befriends the incognito Prince Edward; Hurd Hatfield as that evil sibling, Sir John; Rosemary Harris as the brothers' mutual sweetheart Lady Edith; and Sir Cedric Hardwycke as the scheming Earl of Hartford, who knows that the youngster claiming to be the Prince of England isn't anything of the kind. Also seen is a very young Patty Duke as Edward's sister Princess Elizabeth. "he Prince and the Pauper" was adapted for television by Leslie Slote, who spent much of the 1950s fronting for fellow writers who had been blacklisted. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, Rosemary Harris, (more)
