Richard Webb Movies

It was the kids vs. the adults in the lively British game show Get Your Own Back. On each 15-minute episode, youngsters were pitted against older authority figures (parents, teachers, etc.) in a series of quizzes and contests. Whenever the adults lost, they were dumped in "the gunge," which looked a lot like the ubiquitous "slime" seen on the programs carried by the American Nickelodeon cable service. Created by Brian Marshall, Get Your Own Back was seen on BBC1 beginning in 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cashing in on director Larry Hagman's fame as star of Dallas, a canny distributor reissued Beware! the Blob (aka Son of Blob) with the come-on line "The Film That J.R. Shot!" Picking up where the original Blob (1958) left off, the film begins as the pudding-like goo thaws out and begins wreaking havoc on the civilized world. Steve McQueen, star of the first Blob, is understandably absent; this time the heroics are handled by Robert Walker Jr., who takes on the Blob himself when the local authorities fail. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Horror, comedy, and country corn combine when country singers Woody Weathrby and Boots Malone get caught in a big storm en route to the Nashville Jamboree and end up taking shelter in a creepy looking old mansion that is said to be haunted. Though plenty of spooky things go on there, the hapless hayseeds quickly figure out that the haunting has more to do with a ring of international agents led by the enigmatic and sly Madame Wong than it does the supernatural. The spies have made the abandoned building their headquarters as they endeavor to steal a valuable atomic secret. This was the final film of Basil Rathbone. It is also a sequel to Las Vegas Hillbillies (1966). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Prepared for television in 1966, Slaves of the Invisible Monster is the feature-length abridgement of the 1950 Republic serial The Invisible Monster (which explains the presence of several individuals in the cast who died in the 16-year interim). The story is set in motion by the Phantom Ruler (Stanley Price), who uses his power to make himself invisible for nefarious purposes. An insurance company investigator (played by Richard Webb, later TV's Captain Midnight) vows to put an end to the Phantom Ruler's crime spree. Originally, this took up 12 chapters; the feature version has only 100 minutes at its disposal, but still manages to incorporate most of the serial's best action highlights. Aline Towne co-stars as Webb's eminently kidnappable fiancée. Watch for John Hamilton, Perry White on the old Superman series, in an unbilled cameo as one of the Phantom Ruler's minions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Agar leads an American demolition squad into Italy to destroy a U.S. headquarters recently commandeered by Axis forces. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

While on a fishing vacation, Perry (Raymond Burr) rescues novelist Diana Carter (Bonnie Jones) from a watery grave. He must then save Diana from a charge of being an accomplice in a $50,000 jewel theft. And THEN, it's up to Perry to clear the girl on a charge of murdering Addison Powell. A forged note, hidden somewhere in a sunken yacht, is the vital piece of evidence on this occasion. "The Case of the Impetuous Imp" is based on Erle Stanley Gardner's novel The Case of the Negilgent Nymph, previously filmed under that title for Perry Mason's first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Git! tries very hard within its low-budget limits to offer Disney-style family entertainment. Jack Chaplain plays 17-year-old Deke, who rescues a woebegone Irish setter from a sorry demise. Teaming up with Elaine (Heather North), the daughter of widowed dog-breeder Andrew Garrett (Richard Webb), Deke tries to transform the pooch into a first-class hunting dog. Not that there aren't any setbacks: in fact, the film is virtually nothing but setbacks for the people the audience cares about. During its 92-minute running time, Git! manages to accommodate three songs, none of them as interesting as the dogs paraded before the camera. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

American "B"-movie mogul Jerry Warren can always be counted on to turn a cheap but fun horror import into a boring, unwatchable mess -- as proven by this tedious effort, originally produced in Mexico as The Aztec Mummy and later padded out with deadly-dull exposition. The original film is silly enough; the first of a popular Mexican series, it involves the awakening of the mummy Popoca to avenge the desecration of his tomb by infidels. As a cost-saving measure, instead of re-dubbing the Spanish dialogue, Warren added new scenes with American actors, who drone on about reincarnation and past-life regression and bring the action to a screeching halt. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

While working on a construction crew under the alias "Paul Beaumont", Kimble (David Janssen) befriends Jamie (Buck Taylor), a mentally challenged youth who has been hired for a menial job by crew boss Buck Harmon (Jack Klugman). Defending Jamie against the cruel taunts of his fellow workers, Kimble is also the only person to believe in the boy's innocence when he is accused of sexually assaulting Harmon's wife Ruth (Elizabeth Allen). Unfortunately, the beleaguered Harmon is pressured into hunting the runaway Jamie down like a dog--and possibly allowing the other workers to kill the boy when they catch up with him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Amidst a sea of late-1950s psychological westerns, The Phantom Stagecoach is almost refreshingly old-fashioned. The plot is motivated by an ongoing war between two rival stagecoach firms. Stagecoach owner Joe Patterson (Frank Ferguson) is as honest as the day is long, which is more than can be said for his competitor, Martin Maroon (Hugh Sanders). Using an armored stagecoach, Maroon sabotages Patterson's operation, never leaving behind any evidence that can be traced back to him. Operating undercover, Wells Fargo agent Glen Hayden (William Bishop) tries to put an end to Maroon's skullduggery, and along the way he falls in love with the villain's innocent niece Fran (Kathleen Crowley). Some amusing moments are provided by those grand old troupers Percy Helton and Maudie Prickett, while Richard Webb, TV's Captain Midnight, is cast against type as a reluctant baddie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bearing very little relation to the 1937 Paramount musical of the same name, Artists and Models is a lavish, girl-filled vehicle for the popular team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Martin plays Rick Todd, a comic-book artist who is under fire from his publisher (Eddie Mayehoff), who complains that Rick's work isn't gory enough. Lewis plays Eugene Fullstack, Rick's roommate, who while asleep dreams up elaborate comic-book plots and garishly costumed superheroes. Eugene's nightmares help Rick become a success; meanwhile, our two heroes romance their luscious neighbors, artist Dorothy Malone and rambunctious model Shirley MacLaine (who during one song wrestles Eugene to the floor and sits on his chest!) Eugene's overworked imagination somehow attracts the attention of a group of Russian spies, who attempt to abduct Eugene during the annual Artists and Models Ball. Director Frank Tashlin uses Artists and Models as an excuse for some of the wildest sight-gags seen in a mid-1950s film. At one point, the director contrives to stuff a gag in Shirley MacLaine's mouth. Tashlin also exhibits his ongoing fascination with female breasts and legs by giving ample screen time to the natural attributes of co-stars Anita Ekberg and Eva Gabor. One of the best of the Martin/Lewis efforts, Artists and Models suffers only from being about 20 minutes too long. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Veteran actor Richard Webb stars as the titular superhero, aided by his jet plane The Silver Dart, sidekick Ikky, and his all-children Secret Squadron. The series was retitled Jet Jackson, Flying Commando for syndication. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide

Gary Merrill heads the cast of the unorthodox western The Black Dakotas. The story is set during the Civil War, as President Lincoln tries to mollify the Sioux Indians in order to free up soldiers for more important fighting. Disguised as a Northerner, Brock Marsh (Gary Merrill) intercepts Lincoln's emissary and heads into Sioux territory himself, hoping to steal Union gold for the Southern cause, and to stir up an Indian war between the Sioux and the Dakotas, who have already cast their lot with the North. It soon develops that Marsh doesn't care who wins the war; he wants to abscond with the gold himself. Wanda Hendrix, who despite her divorce from Audie Murphy was still regularly employed in westerns, costars as the daughter of Southern spy Fay Roope, and the sweetheart of good-guy stagecoach driver John Bromfield. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide