Robert Strauss Movies

The Danish Dagmar & Co. is better known by its American release title, Dagmar's Hot Pants Ltd. The heroine Dagmar Andersson, played by Diana Kjaer, is a successful prostitute who runs her establishment like a "Fortune 500" business. On the eve of her wedding, Dagmar plans to retire from the profession, but her faithful clients won't let her. Regarded as very steamy stuff back in 1971, Dagmar & Co. would probably be able to get by with an "R" rating today. Of interest is the presence in the cast of Hollywood veteran Robert Strauss, one of the first "name" actors to appear in this sort of exploitational fare. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Elly May has finally come of age (after five seasons of The Beverly Hillbillies, it's about time!) and the Clampetts are planning a mountain-style coming-out party for the girl. Fearing the worst, snooty Mrs. Drysdale draws up plans to sabotage the party. Robert Strauss guest-stars as the inappropriately yclept "Society Sandy." The series' 160th episode, "Elly Comes Out" made its original network appearance on February 15, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After 92 days with no rain, Oliver signs a deal with Mr. Haney (Pat Buttram), who claims to have a rainmaking machine. It turns out that the "machine" consists of a Native American rain-dancer named Chief Thundercloud (Robert Strauss). Ultimately, it rains cats and dogs, but Oliver insists that Haney had nothing to do with it -- and the matter goes all the way to court, where Haney sues Oliver for reneging on his contract. Oh, and did we mention the washed car and the sunflowers? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first installment of a two-part story, Robert Strauss is cast as Charlie Leach, a sleazy private detective. Hired by one of Darrin's clients to do a background check on Samantha, Charlie discovers that Sam is really a witch. But instead of reporting to his boss, Charlie makes a beeline to Sam, threatening to tell all if she doesn't pay him off. Written by Bernard Slade, part one of "Follow That Witch" was originally telecast on April 14, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, an aspiring actress pays her bills by working as a maid for various households. One of her employers is a wealthy and prominent publisher. After accidentally running into each other a number of times on the New York streets without recognizing each other, they begin to fall in love. She wants to take him home, but she is ashamed of her humble quarters. Believing that the publisher is out of town, she decides to take the lover to that apartment and pretend that it is hers. The lover/ publisher did have a business trip, but it was canceled. He decides to go along with her ruse and pretends that he has never been in his own apartment before. The trouble is, he now has no home to go home to; instead, he begins bunking with his business partner. In the end, both would-be lovers learn the truth, but they still refuse to tell each other that they know. Things get a little crazy, especially when the maid has all her girl friends dress up as hookers and come for a wild party at his apartment. He has the last laugh when they end up in jail. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This is the second of two Season Eight episodes in which a "special guest attorney" takes over from Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), who is ostensibly in Europe on business. This time the substitute is Perry's lawyer pal Ken Kramer (Barry Sullivan), who is hired by Lona Upton (Kathie Browne) to bail out her "friend "Maxine Nichols (Nina Shipman). It seems that Maxine has swiped a necklace worth $50,000 from Lona's half-sister Amy (Bettye Ackerman), who in turn is the widow of a yachtsman who'd died several years earlier under suspicious circumstances. But Lona isn't as kind-hearted as she seems: she hopes that Maxine will provide her with the combination to Amy's safe. Instead, Maxine is murdered and Lona is charged with the crime, prompting Kramer to figure out if someone else might have had a motive to bump off the "thermal thief." This episode was removed from the Perry Mason syndication package prepared in 1966, and was not seen again until the mid-1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hurriedly assembled to capitalize on the Paramount feature of the same name, Magna Pictures' Harlow was shot in less than two weeks, utilizing a glorified TV-kinescope process called Electronovision. Carol Lynley is physically an excellent choice to play 1930s Hollywood "platinum blonde" Jean Harlow, though she has little of Harlow's casual charisma. Pushed into a movie career by Mama Jean (Ginger Rogers) in order to support her dysfunctional family, Jean rises from 2-reel comedies to big-budget features in the space of a year. Though one of the highest-priced stars at MGM, Jean's fortune is rapidly depleted by her high-living (and, it is hinted, incestuous) stepfather Marino Bello (Barry Sullivan). Seeking happiness and security, Jean marries producer Paul Bern (Hurd Hatfield), only to have him commit suicide due to his impotence. Just when her misery is about to be ended by her marriage to movie star William Mansfield (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.)--a thinly disguised William Powell, who refused to allow his name or likeness to be used--Jean dies of uremia at the age of 26. If you can get past those miserable Laurel & Hardy imitators at the beginning of Harlow, you might be able to survive the rest of the picture, which gives a whole new meaning to the word "cheap." Watch for boxing champ Sonny Liston in a one-scene bit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Not a remake of the 1934 Helen Morgan vehicle of the same title, Frankie and Johnny stars Elvis Presley as Johnny, a Mississippi gambler, and Beverly Hillbillies regular Donna Douglas as his girl friend Frankie. In keeping with the old ballad, the romance of Frankie and Johnny is threatened by the intervention of seductress Nellie Bly (Nancy Kovack). Nellie brings Johnny luck at the gaming tables while Frankie sees red. Frankie and Johnny was written by onetime Marx Brothers contributor Nat Perrin and directed by future Tonight Show helmsman Fred de Cordova. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western adventure, a sheriff prepares to retire and finds himself forced to deal with his past when he is assigned to round up a gang of outlaws comprised of the sons of the man who raised him after his own parents were killed. The sheriff has to kill one of the desperadoes. The other he will transport to jail on the stage coach. He ends up waiting at the station owned by the parents of his ex-lover. The hapless lawman is watched over by a hired gun who is to make sure the sheriff does indeed deliver the criminal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This amusing romantic comedy concerns Dr. Gerald Boyer (James Garner), a successful gynecologist with a wife and two children. Wife Beverly (Doris Day) focuses on maintaining the household and watching the kids. One of Gerald's patients, Mrs. Fraleigh (Arlene Francis), overhears Beverly talking up a new product she's discovered called 'Happy Soap' - whose manufacturer just happens to be Mrs. Fraleigh's father-in-law, Old Tom Fraleigh (Reginald Owen). She introduces Beverly to him; hugely impressed, the old man offers her $80,000 a year to pitch a new product called "Happy Soap." Beverly's career takes her away from her family responsibilities and causes a series of comedic commotions for Gerald and the kids. He comes home from work one morning and accidentally drives his convertible into a freshly dug swimming pool ordered by Beverly without his knowledge. The furious physician throws a bevy of boxes of Happy Soap into the pool, causing the house to be engulfed in suds by morning (which the kids mistake for snow). The family maid Olivia (Zasu Pitts) is nearly driven crazy with the events and has many harried scenes of comedic frustration. Directed by Norman Jewison, this thouroughly engaging comedy was written by Larry Gelbart and Carl Reiner. Reiner provides the screenplay for the feature which turned out to be the last film appearance of Zasu Pitts. With her passing marked the end of a long and successful career as a comedic and well respected actress that began in 1917. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

"Gallegher's Sons" are a pair of pre-teen girls named Will (Eileen Chesis) and Charlie (Larrain Gillespie), who have been raised as boys by their chauvinistic father. When Gallegher dies, the girls are left to fend for themselves, which they do until they are discovered by passerby Hoss Cartwright. Taking it upon himself to transport the girls to their only surviving relative, Hoss is unaware that Will and Charlie are being pursued by a posse determined to recover a fortune in currency stolen by the light-fingered Gallegher. Also in the cast are Robert Strauss as Blake and Craig Curtis as Tully. Originally broadcast on December 9, 1962, "Gallegher's Sons" was written by Dick Nelson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sounding something like a standard '40s police story, this talkative but interesting murder mystery stars David Janssen of TV's The Fugitive series. Janssen plays Tom Alder, a gumshoe looking into the murder of the secretary of a shady Hollywood film star when he discovers that the murder is linked to the disappearance of an heiress. The heiress had a run-in with a sexually warped individual who later became a certain film star. Now Alder's problem is to investigate the link further -- even after he discovers that he himself has a connection to the story through someone he met in Tokyo during the Korean War. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide