Donald Spruance Movies
- 1977
Several adult members of the same high-school graduating class have turned up dead, killed by an assailant who wields a zip gun and leaves the word "Monkey" scrawled at each crime scene. The viewer is soon apprised of the fact that the murderer is one Charley Belasco (Gary Lockwood), fresh out of prison after serving 20 years for a crime he'd committed to qualify for membership in a teenage gang. It is up to Stone (Mike Douglas) and Keller (Richard Hatch) to figure out where the vengeance-driven "Monkey" Belasco plans to strike next! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1976
Hardbitten, hard-driving San Francisco police detectives Mike Stone (Karl Malden) and Steve Keller (Michael Douglas) may have finally met their match in the form of brash, bullying New York cop Bert D'Angelo (Paul Sorvino). Having arrived in the Bay Area to track down a runaway informant who may have set up his ex-partner for murder, D'Angelo breaks as many rules as humanly possible--but withal, he earns the grudging respect of his SFPD counterparts. Originally telecast on March 4, 1976, this episode was rather blatantly designed as the pilot for the weekly Streets of San Francisco spinoff Bert D'Angelo, Superstar, which had launched its single-season run some two weeks earlier on February 21. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1974
A Bay Area college campus is besieged by a mysterious sniper, who shoots the mistress of a prominent professor before killing the professor himself. Can it be that the prof's widow Mrs. Shaninger (Celeste Holm) knows more about the supposedly random killings than she's letting on? Featured in the cast as a disabled Vietnam veteran is star-in-the-making Nick Nolte. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1972
- PG
In this counter-culture melodrama, a youthful hitcher teams up with an aging vagabond on a lonely Southwestern road. The two are given a lift by an unemployed rocker. Soon the three find themselves at odds with assorted "establishment" characters until the old hobo has a fatal heart attack. As he dies, he asks to be buried on his old farm. Unfortunately, the newest owner refuses, so the rocker and the hitcher have the old guy cremated. They then scatter his ashes over the farm. Songs include: "Echos of the Road" (Stu Phillips, Bob Stone), "Electric Ethel" (Murphy and Castleman), and "Flowers For My Bed" (Nino Candido). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1971
Frequent F.B.I "guest villain" Louis Jourdan returns, this time in the role of enemy spy Henry Dulac. Determined to smash Dulac's espionage ring, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) goes undercover as another Red agent. Erskine subsquently finds himself caught in the crossfire when two warring spy factions clash over some top-secret tapes. Also in the cast is David Birney, who'd achieve TV stardom one year later in the sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1970
Suzanne Pleshette guest stars as Temple Alexander, a beautiful con artist who has targetted wealthy winery owner Harlan Franciscus (Gene Raymond) as her latest patsy. While romancing Harlan in preparation of fleecing him, Temple ends up genuinely falling in love with the man. This proves problematic when two of Temple's former accomplices catch up with her--and one of them plans to get even for an earlier double-cross. Cast as Franciscus' ill-mannered son is Larry Linville of M*A*S*H fame. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1965
Investigating the destruction of a group photo of several bank employees, Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) finds that the bank in question has a $100,000 shortage. The case narrows down to fugitive embezzler Charles Gates, played by guest star Jack Klugman (whose then-wife Brett Somers also appears as Mrs. Gates). Sensitive to the curious parallels between Gates' past life and his own, Erskine devises a scheme to play upon the fugitive's intense devotion to his family and thus bring him out in the open. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1964
As "Nick Peters", Kimble (David Janssen) lands a job with the wild-animal show owned by Barry Craft (Steve Forrest). Figuring out Kimble's true identity, the greedy Craft hopes to make his circus as famous as the Biograph Theater (where Dillinger met his doom) by arranging for the fugitive to be captured on the circus grounds in full view of the media. But Craft has not factored in the essential honesty and decency of elderly animal trainer Major Fielding (Laurence Naismith). This is the final episode of The Fugitive's second season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Deliberately casting his established screen image to the four winds, Cary Grant plays Walter Eckland, an unkempt, uncouth and unshaven beach bum in Father Goose. During World War II, Walter keeps busy relaying radio reports of Japanese air activity. But he's no hero, and in fact volunteered for this mission only because he's been promised a shipment of liquor by Australian naval officer Frank Houghton (Trevor Howard). Making matters worse for the misanthropic Eckland is the arrival of French schoolmistress Catherine Freneau (Leslie Caron) and her seven little-girl charges, whose plane has crashed nearby. The animosity between Walter and Catherine erupts into a slapping contest, with Walter dishing it out as well as taking it. Only when Catherine is bitten by a deadly snake does Walter express his affections for her. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cary Grant, Leslie Caron, (more)
The story of America's most notorious gangster mother is chronicled in this crime drama. The tale starts in Oklahoma during the Depression. It is she who encourages her sons to become criminals. So sage is her advice, that other infamous mobsters such as Dillinger, and Machine Gun Kelly come to her for advice. She and her outlaw progeny go on the lam until the police finally corner her in her richly appointed Florida hide-out. A bloody shoot-out ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
