Sammy Reese Movies
The winner of the 1967 Oscar for Best Picture (as well as four other Oscars), In the Heat of the Night is set in a small Mississippi town where an unusual murder has been committed. Rod Steiger plays sheriff Bill Gillespie, a good lawman despite his racial prejudices. When Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), a well-dressed northern African-American, comes to town, Gillespie instinctively puts him under arrest as a murder suspect. Tibbs reveals himself to be a Philadelphia police detective; after he and Gillespie come to a grudging understanding of one another, Tibbs offers to help in Gillespie's investigation. As the case progresses, both Gillespie and Tibbs betray a tendency to jump to culture-dictated conclusions. Still, the case is solved thanks to the informal teamwork of the two law officers. Based on the novel by John Ball, In the Heat of the Night inspired two sequels, both starring Poiter as Virgil Tibbs. In 1987, a TV series version of In the Heat of the Night appeared, with Carroll O'Connor as Gillespie and Howard Rollins as Tibbs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, (more)
- 1966
Novice fisherman Howard Sprague joins Mayberry's veteran anglers on the first day of fishing season. Almost immediately, Howard hooks "Old Sam", the legendary silver carp of Myers Lake. In so doing, Howard almost single-handedly destroys the morale of the town. Originally broadcast on November 28, 1966, "Big Fish in a Small Town" was one of several top-rank Andy Griffith Show episodes written by Bill Idelson and Sam Bobrick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Howard McNear
James Clavell incorporated a few of his own experiences as a British POW in his novel King Rat. Bryan Forbes' film version stars George Segal as the mastermind of all black market operations in a Japanese prison camp. He is called "King Rat" because of his breeding of rodents to serve as food for his emaciated fellow prisoners; the nickname also alludes to Segal's shifty personality. British officer James Fox helps Segal expand his operation to include trading with the Japanese officers. Though on surface level a thoroughly selfish sort, Segal saves the ailing Fox's life by wangling precious antibiotics from the guards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Segal, Tom Courtenay, (more)
- 1964
Alfred Hitchcock inaugurated the tenth and final season of his popular TV suspense anthology by moving from CBS to NBC -- only three years after switching from NBC to CBS. Season ten's initial offering stars a young Dennis Hopper as farm boy Verge Likens, whose father has been killed in a barroom brawl by corrupt political boss Riley McGrath (Robert Emhardt). After McGrath managed to get off scot-free, Verge completely disappeared from view, but not before vowing to avenge his dad. As time passes, everyone forgets all about Verge, including McGrath, who calmly enters his favorite barbershop one day to get a shave. It just so happens that the barber has hired a new assistant: a young fellow by the name of Verge Likens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Fonda, Robert Emhardt, (more)
- 1964
The seventh volume in a collection culled from the 1963-1965 science fiction anthology series focuses on a surveillance system, popular throughout the globe, which is actually the product of alien technology. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Pat Buttram (he was Mr. Haney on Green Acres) brings a macabre twist to his standard country-bumpkin characterization in this bone-chilling episode. Visiting a traveling carnival, farmer Charlie Hill (Buttram) is fascinated by one of the exhibits: a huge jar, filled with water and mysterious floating objects. Convinced that the jar possesses magical qualities, Charlie purchases the object and brings it home, putting it on display for his friends and neighbors -- who are equally fascinated, even mesmerized, by the jar's eerie "properties." All of this brouhaha annoys Charlie's promiscuous young wife, Thedy Sue (Collin Wilcox), who plans to expose the jar as a fake and humiliate Charlie in public just before running off with her current boyfriend. James Bridges earned an Emmy nomination for his adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story The Jar, which also boasts an appropriately eerie minimalist musical score by frequent Alfred Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat Buttram, Collin Wilcox, (more)
- 1963
Ben Wister (Fess Parker), sheriff of the small town of Linvale, is besieged by phone calls from the widowed Mrs. Logan (Phyllis Thaxter), who insists that her next-door neighbor Harry Jarvis (Gary Merrill) has murdered his wife and buried her in his backyard. When Wister investigates, Jarvis tells him that his wife has walked out on him, and that he had dug a hole in his yard to bury his dead dog. Further investigation would seem to prove Jarvis' innocence -- a turn of events that has a mighty interesting effect on Mrs. Logan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Merrill, Fess Parker, (more)
