William Conrad Movies

It's late Thursday night at the local paper and a savvy city editor, a world-weary but upright writer, and a beleagured copy boy prepare to put the next day's paper to bed. Suddenly two stories come over the wire. In the first, a young girl has gotten lost in the city's storm drains, and her life is endangered when a terrible storm erupts and the sewers begin to fill with runoff. In the second, the grandson of the writer is among a team of missing Air Force pilots who were attempting to set a record flying from Hawaii to Washington, DC. This suspenseful, newsroom drama chronicles the ways in which these situations affect the workers as they try to get the paper out on time. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Alcatraz: America's Toughest Prison unfolds the fascinating history of this legendary federal prison established to house the nation's most notorious criminals. Situated on an island surrounded by the shark-infested waters of the San Francisco Bay, the facility incarcerated 1,545 men from 1934 to its closing in 1963. This documentary looks at some of the celebrity criminals who were housed at Alcatraz, including gang leader Al Capone. Capone spent more than four years in Alcatraz cells. Another famous resident, Machine Gun Kelly, remained at Alcatraz for 17 years. Inmate Robert Franklin Stroud, known as "The Birdman" of Alcatraz, developed an international reputation while imprisoned. The violent Stroud received his nickname for his devotion to his hobby, the study of birds. The film also features interviews with ex-cons and actual footage of the 1960s takeover of Alcatraz by Native Americans. ~ Sally Barber, Rovi

In this light drama, Clark Gable once again played his stock-in-trade role of a rogue with a heart of gold. Charlie King (Gable) runs a casino, but, in a business that thrives among the unscrupulous, Charlie takes pride in running an honest game and treating his customers with fairness and respect. However, Charlie's wife Lon (Alexis Smith) doesn't care if he runs a fair game -- she regards gambling as a dirty and corrupt business, and no matter how honest Charlie may be, he's still involved in a wicked activity. Charlie's son Paul (Darryl Hickman) is also against him; when Paul gets in trouble and Charlie bails him out of jail, he refuses to leave with him, instead going home with mother. Charlie invites Paul to see what his casino is like, and Lon agrees that Paul should know just what his father does. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Insurance investigator Richard Cutting (Patrick O'Neal) is summoned to look into the sinking of some ships owned by wealthy shipping-magnate Curt Valayan (John Gielgud). Traveling to Switzerland, he interviews the owner and finds that his henchmen Matt (Herbert Lom) and the Big Man (Leon Greene) may be on Curt's payroll but are definitely looking out for their own interests. One agent has already been killed, and the local police inspector Ruff (Oscar Homolka) briefs Richard on the situation. Dominique (Joan Hackett) is on her way to provide some valuable information before being violently murdered. Richard tries to keep himself alive in a foreign country as he tries to solve the crimes. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In December of 1944, the Allied high command is convinced that German forces in Belgium are in a low state of readiness, and perhaps even about to withdraw. Only one officer on the front lines, intelligence specialist Lt. Col. Kiley (Henry Fonda), believes otherwise -- that the Germans are actually planning an attack. His opinion is rejected by his immediate superior (Dana Andrews) and his commanding general (Robert Ryan). Kiley spots several suspicious signs of German activity behind enemy lines on a reconnaissance flight, and he is at the front looking for evidence when the German counter-offensive starts. Taking advantage of Allied unpreparedness and a weather front that grounds all aircraft, their heavy tank units, supported by infantry, roll over the American forces, assaulting the lines at five different points in an attempt to ultimately divide the Allied forces in the west. The German top tank officer, Colonel Hessler (Robert Shaw), has planned his operation perfectly, but he is in a race against time, to take as much territory as possible before the weather front moves out and American aircraft can fly again, and to capture the American fuel supplies so that the offensive can continue right to the port of Antwerp. He has the total dedication of his men, but engenders doubts from his aide, Conrad (Hans-Christian Blech), who is weary of the fighting and wonders what it is all for. Meanwhile, Kiley is trying to uncover the weak spot in the German offensive, and he crosses paths with several other key players in this drama: Charles Bronson as a combat officer charged with the defense of the collapsing American position, James MacArthur as a neophyte lieutenant who becomes a leader, and Telly Savalas as a conniving sergeant in command of a tank who unexpectedly finds a nobler, less mercenary side of himself. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

This riveting 1947 drama, regarded by many as the greatest boxing movie of all time, centers on a former pugilist who looks back on his life in and out of the ring and realizes that self-respect is a more important prize than winning. John Garfield is Charlie Davis, a former boxing champion who began fighting in order to save himself and his mother from poverty after his father was killed in a mob-related bombing. William Conrad plays Quinn, a veteran boxer-turned-trainer who discovers that Davis has the potential to be a professional fighter. Eager to take on all contenders, Davis eventually defeats the world champion, but winning has cost him more than he bargained for. He falls in with the mob and takes to a life of easy women and plentiful booze, winning easy bouts with second-rate opponents. In the end, Davis realizes the error of his ways -- but is it too late? With all the odds against him, and knowing that the fight has already been fixed, Davis is forced to make the choice between what's expected of him and what he expects of himself. The fight sequences were filmed on roller skates with a hand-held camera, adding a realism that strengthens the film's verisimilitude. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

William Conrad stars as corpulent private eye Frank Cannon in this 2-hour pilot for the subsequent Cannon series. He responds to a plea for assistance from ex-flame Vera Miles (an actress who was in practically every pilot film made between 1965 and 1975). She is the prime suspect in the murder of her husband, and has also become the target of vicious anonymous phone calls. Cannon's investigation unearths a hotbed of small-town corruption. Cannon was first telecast March 26, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Chubasco (Christopher Jones) is a wayward youth who is given a choice by the presiding judge. His choices are go to jail or take an honest job on a fishing boat. He chooses to set sail, leaving behind his girl Bunny (Susan Strasberg) and her father Sebastian (Richard Egan), who obviously has it out for the wayward teen. He works on a tuna boat, learning to break free of a life of crime. He also meets a bordello madame named Angela (Ann Sothern) who may or may not be his mother. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Improvisational director Robert Altman hadn't yet found his cinematic "voice" when he helmed the conformist, stick-to-the-script Countdown. James Caan is top-billed as a scientist who is chosen over astronaut Robert Duvall for the upcoming NASA moon shot. In their haste to beat the Russians to the moon, the NASA folks have tried to sidestep several safety measures, but doctor Charles Aidman sees to it that every possible precaution is taken. When Caan makes it to the lunar surface, he stumbles upon gruesome evidence that the Russians had sent up a secret expedition themselves--and had fatally ignored all those extra security precautions which he's been subject to. Ted Knight, who received some of his best pre-Mary Tyler Moore roles in Altman's TV work, co-stars in Countdown. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

On the whole, the MGM B product of the 1950s contained some of the studio's best-ever "small" pictures. Filmed on location in the Louisana swamplands, Cry of the Hunted boils down to an extended chase, with escaped convict Vittorio Gassman as the fox and sheriff Barry Sullivan as the hound. Sullivan's deputy William Conrad secretly hopes that Gassman will get away, so that he, Conrad, can step into his boss' job. Polly Bergen is the requisite love interest, effectively deglamourized to fit in with her soggy surroundings. Cry of the Hunted is directed with flair by Joseph H. Lewis, who always managed to rise above the slimmest of budgets and the barest of production values. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Director Mervyn Leroy lends a burnished MGM gloss to this sordid tale of infidelity among rich New York East Siders. Barbara Stanwyck stars as Jessie Bourne, a charming society woman whose finds out that her husband Brandon (James Mason) is guiltily indulging in an illicit affair with the earthy Isobel Lorrison (Ava Gardner). Jessie bears her husband's indiscretion with a gallant dignity, and when Isabelle is killed, Jesse realizes that she doesn't care for Brandon anyway. Van Heflin is also on hand as ex-cop Mark Dwyer, who admires Jessie's stoic dignity. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

In this film noir, five college students laughingly devise a perfect plan for robbing a casino in Reno. At first they do it just to pass the time, but one of them is deeply in debt and becoming increasingly distraught about it. He successfully cajoles his peers into carrying through with their plans. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Switching from black and white to color for its fourth and final season, The Fugitive otherwise follows the patten established during its first three years on the air. Wrongly condemned to death for the murder of his wife, Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) has managed to escape custody, and is presently travelling all over the country, assuming innumerable aliases and tackling a variety of odd jobs, all the while searching for the real murderer, a one-armed criminal named Fred Johnson (Bill Raisch). Meanwhile, police lieutenant Philip Gerard (Barry Morse), from whom Kimble had escaped during a train wreck, persists in his own lonely mission, to track down and recapture the fugitive doctor. Though enough evidence has surfaced to indicate that Kimble was telling the truth about the One-Armed Man, and despite his own gut feelings about the whole affair, the duty-bound Gerard is still determined to see that "justice" is served and that Kimble will be shipped off to Death Row. Throughout Season Four, the distance between Kimble and Fred Johnson, and between Gerard and Kimble, continues to narrow, leading inexorably to the now-legendary two part series finale, in which Kimble, learning that Johnson has been arrested in LA on a separate crime, agrees to surrender to Gerard. Unfortunately, Johnson escapes, and for a while it looks as though Kimble's goose is cooked. Instead, Gerard is persuaded to allow Kimble to chase after Johnson himself, in hopes of extracting a confession. The climax finds Kimble and Johnson perilously perched on a high water tower in a deserted amusement park. Johnson confesses to the murder, but before he can repeat his confession to Gerard, he falls to his death. Has Kimble finally run out of options? Don't be too sure. . . Originally telecast on August 29, 1967, The Fugitive's final episode was seen by 72 percent of all American viewers, establishing a ratings record that would remain unbroken for the next thirteen years! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi