Harry Townes Movies

In an unusual comedy by Joan Darling, Brian Dennehy and Anne Archer star as the Richard, a druggist, and his wife Peggy, a pair of debt-ridden parents who rebel against the system. Nothing goes right while they try to uphold the system, then things get even worse when they leave it. Richard decides to pull the plug on modernity when he cannot meet his utility bills and creditors are at his door like wolves. He shuts off the electricity and sets up candles, buys a goat, and digs a well in the back yard. He finally does hit water, but it happens to be the city's water main. Peggy is not quite as crazed as her husband so she goes to see a shrink -- who promptly dies on her. If anything can go wrong for Richard and Peggy, it will. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Borrowing themes established in Yojimbo and its Italian version A Fistful of Dollars, this action/fantasy film features the exploits of Kain (David Carradine), a drifter/holy-man/martial arts expert who comes upon a village divided into three parts: two clans fighting over control of a water well, and the impoverished masses who suffer at their hands. Since this village is on an imaginary planet with two suns that circle across the sky, water is a premium commodity. Sorceress Naja (Maria Socas) is alternately the captive of either one or the other of the embattled clans and obviously needs to be rescued. Just like Sanjuro, the samurai in Akira Kurosawa's classic film, Kain pits the two clans against each other so his own job of finishing off the bad guys and saving Naja will be less strenuous. The most memorable aspect of this low-budget film is a dancer who is not wearing a double-breasted suit, but should be. Like the two suns and the two clans, she also has two of each. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

After several deaths have occurred during routine surgical procedures, Quincy (Jack Klugman) begins an investigation of eminent surgeon Dr. Stanley Royce (Jose Ferrer), who had allegedly performed the fatal operations. It isn't that Royce has lost his touch--it's simply that he is signing off on surgeries in which he had no part. Confirming that Royce has been using less qualified resident surgeons as "ghosts" for operations which he was scheduled to perform himself, Quincy mounts a campaign to charge Royce with medical manslaughter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Condominium is a two-part, four-hour TV adaptation of the novel by John D. McDonald. The setting is a hastily constructed Florida high-rise, assembled at the least possible cost by its greedy owners. An oncoming hurricane threatens to topple the structure and its residents into the ocean. Various degrees of greed, lust, terror and concern are displayed by stars Steve Forrest, Dan Haggerty, Ralph Bellamy, Barbara Eden, Stuart Whitman, Jack Jones and Pamela Hensley. Produced for the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" series, Condominium was first made available to local stations on November 20, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A drug-dealing lawyer is murdered by mobsters, who go to great lengths to make his death look like an accident. When this fails, the killers blackmail the son of Dr. Gilbert Moore (Harry Townes) in order to force Moore to "rig" the autopsy of the dead man. Needless to say, the beleagured doctor is an old and trusted colleague of medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman), who ends up putting in a lot of overtime to save Moore from disgracing himself and to bring the murderers to justice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the best-selling memoirs of Lillian Rogers Parks, the NBC miniseries Backstairs at the White House traces over five decades of American political history as witnessed from the vantage point of the servants' quarters. Played by Tania Johnson as a teenager and by Leslie Uggams as an adult, Lillian Rogers Parks served for 52 years as a maidservant at the White House. Though crippled early on with polio, Lillian diligently and loyally stuck to her duties -- and her own rock-solid set of principles and ideals -- through eight highly different Presidential administrations, often (and occasionally reluctantly) acting as friend and confidante to the First Lady of the moment. The large and stellar cast included a number of top-rank film and TV actors, obviously having the time of their lives impersonating such presidents as William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, and their respective wives. Also in the cast were several African-American veterans from the landmark TV miniseries Roots. Earning 11 Emmy Award nominations, the nine-hour Backstairs at the White House was seen in five installments from January 29 to February 19, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Quincy (Jack Klugman) investigates when the mother and sister of apparent murder victim Peter Nielsen (Bruce Wright)--whom he has already officially declared dead--come forth to declare that the "dead" man is not only still alive, but has been in contact with them since the "killing." The investigation leads to a downtown messenger service, which turns out to be a front for an illegal drug ring. Appearing as the alleged victim's mother is Priscilla Pointer, in real life the mother of actress Amy Irving. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a patient (Harry Townes) accuses them of stealing his money, Roy (Kevin Tighe) and John (Randolph Mantooth) play detective to trap the real thief. Other more pressing emergencies involve a daring rescue from a plane about to explode, and a car crash that results both in blindness and a premature birth. Former Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In regular Jo Ann Worley) has a riotous cameo role as a neurotic woman who believes in "scream therapy". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Posing as an elderly and very grouchy English professor, Ironside (Raymond Burr) infiltrates a convalescent home where many strange deaths have occurred. To lure the killer out of hiding, Ed (Don Galloway) and Fran (Elizabeth Baur) impersonate Ironside's grown children, carefully dropping hints that they'd be better off if "dad" was no longer alive. Without giving away the ending, it can be noted that Ruth Roman delivers an outstanding performance as a grim-visaged nurse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dean Stockwell guest-stars as Mathew, a former Northern war hero and Congressional Medal of Honor Winner, now living a pauper's existence in Nevada. Ben Cartwright comes to Mathew's aid when the man is victimized by Seth Nagel (Harry Townes), a Southerner determined to avenge the loss of his home and family at the hands of the Yankees. The plot goes off on a rivetting tangent when Seth's daughter Lori (Susan Howard) befriends the beleagured Mathew. Written by Frank Chase, "The Medal" was originally broadcast on October 26, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Strategy of Terror began life as "In Darkness Waiting," a two-part 1964 installment of TV's Kraft Suspense Theatre. Newswoman Barbara Rush discovers that a right-wing extremist plans to kill four UN employees. No one believes her at first, but when she herself is attacked, a police officer Hugh O'Brian comes to the rescue. Of interest in this ersatz feature film are two members of the supporting cast. Frederick O'Neal, a leading light of African American theatre, is superb as a loquacious African UN delegate. And Neil Hamilton, onetime silent screen star and future Commissioner Gordon on TV's Batman, is surprisingly sinister as a pompous right-wing fanatic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock must save Lt. Sulu from a form of communal alien mind-control in this episode of the 1960s science fiction series. While undercover on a planet bearing an unusual resemblance to 20th-century Earth, Sulu falls victim to a device that brainwashes him into joining the planet's communal society. When Kirk and Spock travel to the surface, they discover that Sulu and the bulk of the planet's inhabitants are in thrall to an entity known as Landru. The Enterprise commanders band together with a small group of rebels, hoping to overthrow Landru and rescue their captured crewmate in the process. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This episode is set in a remote Oregon community plagued by a drought that has dragged on for over three months. A local religious sect headed by Adam MacDonald (John Anderson) has managed to incur the wrath of some bigoted townsfolk, who go out of their way to torment and persecute McDonald and his flock. But the case doesn't attract the attention of the FBI until a hate-maddened extortionist threatens to burn down the sect's settlement--an act which would also spell disaster for everyone else in the region. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide