Gene Nelson Movies
Nineteen-year-old Leander Berg billed himself as Gene Berg when he made his professional debut as a skater in Sonja Henie's LA-based ice show. He was still Gene Berg when, while serving in World War II, he was featured as a dancer in the 1942 Broadway revue This is the Army. It wasn't until the 1948 stage musical Lend an Ear that Gene Berg reemerged as Gene Nelson. Signed to a 20th Century-Fox contract in 1947, Nelson co-starred in several of that studio's Technicolor song-and-dance fests, then moved on to the musical unit at Warner Bros. His best-known filmusical assignment was as high-kickin' cowpoke Will Parker in the 1955 superproduction Oklahoma. After briefly attempting to establish himself in dramatic roles, Nelson turned to directing. He called the shots in several Sam Katzman productions of the 1960s, notably the Elvis Presley vehicles Kissin' Cousins (1963) and Harum Scarum (1965), and the 1965 Hank Williams Sr. biopic Your Cheatin' Heart. He also directed dozens of TV episodes, working on such weeklies as The Rifleman, The Donna Reed Show and Mod Squad. There was talk that a serious injury in the mid-1950s had forced Gene Nelson to forego dancing in favor of directing; if so, he was sufficiently recovered in the 1970s, displaying his still-impressive terpsichorean skills in the Broadway musicals Follies and Good News. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1987
During a non-stop flight to London, a valuable necklace is stolen and the courier hired to guard the necklace is poisoned. One of the passengers is Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who of course offers her services to Scotland Yard as they try to retrieve the gems and catch the killer. Among the main characters in this melodrama are a famous actress, a taciturn former police officer, and a furtive-looking tourist couple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Based on actual events from 1948 and made into a TV movie in 1983, this story concerns a corrupt Georgia businessman (Andy Griffith) who murders an employee and thinks he has gotten away with it. The local lawman (Johnny Cash) has other plans, but needs to gather enough evidence to prove his case. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
In this biting comedy satirizing Hollywood cynicism from writer-director Blake Edwards, Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan) is a motion picture director whose career is on the skids. Having just completed a family musical that is sure to be a $30 million flop, Felix knows that his days are numbered and tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide. When he recovers, Felix suddenly has a brainstorm and hatches a scheme to buy the film back from his studio and lens new scenes that will turn it into a pornographic movie with big stars, a sure-fire box office winner. In order to pull it off, he'll need to convince his female lead and wife, Sally Miles (Julie Andrews, not coincidentally the director's real-life wife) to defy her wholesome, squeaky-clean public image by baring her breasts on film. S.O.B. (1981) was the final film of legendary actor William Holden. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Andrews, William Holden, (more)
- 1979
Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love is the true story of Barry and Suzi Kaufman and their autistic 3-year-old son Ruan. The boy is high-functioning but erratic, with long periods of hyperactivity followed by lengthy interludes of withdrawal. The "experts" give up, but the Kaufmans don't. They decide to monitor their son 24 hours a day to figure out what makes him tick, to discern his likes and dislikes, and to try to find some means of breaking into his nearly impenetrable private world. The superlative performances of James Farentino and Kathryn Harrold as the Kaufmans are matched by the portrayal of Ruan by twin child actors Michael and Casey Adams (the grandchildren of famed film director King Vidor). Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love was originally telecast as an "NBC Theater" presentation, as part of the network's 1978 "Year of the Child" celebration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Farentino, Kathryn Harrold, (more)
- 1978
At the height of a four-day torrential downpour, a mudslide unearths a body in a mountaintop cemetary. Peforming lab tests on the corpse, Quincy (Jack Klugman) discovers that the death may have been due to typhoid--and that this body and several others were buried illegally. In his frantic efforts to determine the truth behind this mystery, and to avoid a widespread epidemic, Quincy once again runs up against the brick wall of bureaucracy (to say nothing of that old municipal ritual popularly known as "C.Y.A.") ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Ross Martin guest stars as Damien, a nightclub psychic who lately has been experiencing disturbing visions of fire and flame. Ironside (Raymond Burr) becomes interested in what Damien has seen (and what he WILL see) when the psychic insists that he can predict where an arsonist who is terrorized San Francisco will strike next--but are Damien's powers real, or is there something more sinister afoot? Ironically, this episode was written by one Judy Burns! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Letters begins with the crash of a U.S. mail plane. One year later, cheerful postman Henry Jones delivers the long-delayed letters. These overdue missives profoundly affect the lives of (a) a man who's deserted his wife; (b) a woman anxious to break up her daughter's romance; and (c) a pianist who'd sell his soul for success. The guest star roster of this TV movie includes John Forsythe, Jane Powell, Lesley Ann Warren, Ida Lupino, Ben Murphy, Pamela Franklin, and Leslie Nielsen. Both Letters and its sequel Letters From Lost Lovers (1973) were intended as pilot films for a never-sold TV anthology series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cloris Leachman and Martin Balsam star in this TV movie as an over-forty married couple, both of whom maintain busy outside careers. Content with their peaceful, childless existence, the couple is thrown for a loop when, after 18 years of marriage, Leachman becomes pregnant. Beyond the understandable concerns over the health of her baby, she is not keen on the prospect of giving up her job--nor is she particularly responsive to the misguided advice of her friends and family. A Brand New Life premiered on February 20, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
The family in "flight" is played by Rod Taylor, Dina Merrill and Kristoffer Tabori. While taking an airborne vacation to Mexico, the family crash-lands somewhere in the Baja peninsula. Having taken the vacation as a means to patch up a variety of differences, the family is forced to pull together to survive. At times, however, it looks like no one will return to tell the tale. Made for television, Family Flight debuted October 25, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Desperate for money to keep their troubled marriage afloat, Frank and Elizabeth Colling (Larry Blyden, Lois Nettleton) kidnap 7-year-old Jimmy Bowden (Brian Dewey) and hold him for ransom. Ironically, while the kidnapping merely intensifies Elizabeth's neuroses and exacerbates Frank's drinking problem, the ordeal brings the victim's estranged parents Anne (Joan Hotchkiss) and James (Lee Bergere) closer together. This F.B.I. episode is unique in at least one respect: the truck seen in the opening sequence is a Dodge rather than a Ford! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
In a desperate effort to escape from his Mafia bosses, Walter Hazlett (Tim O'Connor) hijacks a plane and demands to be flown to Cuba. Hoping to save the life of a wounded man on board the plane, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) tries to persuade Hazlett to give himself up. Meanwhile, Hazlett's daughter Ginny (Charlotte Stewart), who can't bring herself to believe that her father is a criminal, is targetted by Mob kidnappers who plan to use her to bring her father out in the open. Dabney Coleman is seen as the plane's beleagured pilot, while future M*A*S*H regular Larry Linville also plays a key role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Hoping to squeeze money out of his father Gar Shelton (Carl Betz), embittered teenager Terry Shelton (Jeff Bridges fakes his own kidnapping. Inevitably, Terry's scheme backfires when one of his accomplices decides to play for keeps. Meanwhile, Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) has troubles of his own with the elder Shelton, who stubbornly insists upon handling the ransom drop without the help of the FBI--thereby ending up in the kidnappers' clutches as well. First networkcast on October 5, 1969, this episode originally ended as star Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) explained the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, and also the described the inner workings of the National Crime Information Center. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
In this post WW II comedy, a Nazi-hating German baroness takes care of a deluded American officer who thinks he is still at war. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) launches a search for the "inside man" who has masterminded a series of meticulously planned robberies in New York's diamond district. Piecing the clues together, Erskine concludes that at least one of the men who pulled off the most recent heist is a trained athlete--very likely a well-known circus performer. A terrific shootout at an airport baggage terminal caps this exciting episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
A group of highly powerful aliens abduct Captain Kirk and several other members of the Enterprise crew for their own mysterious purposes in this episode from the second season of the popular science-fiction series. The aliens divert Kirk, Chekhov, and Uhura to their home planet of Triskelion. There they are forcibly enslaved and compelled to undergo a violent training process to prepare them for their new roles as gladiators, publicly battling to the death against each other for the aliens' enjoyment. Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, Mr. Spock traces the missing trio of crew members to Triskelion, and attempts to organize a rescue mission. However, the Enterprise's efforts may prove useless if Kirk and others are unable to find a way to escape from their captors. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- 1968
When the skeleton of a shooting victim is unearthed by the Feds, Mafia functionary John Duqesne (a pre-superstardom Burt Reynolds) begins to tremble. He's currently trying to beat one murder rap,and now he's faced with charges for another killing ten years earlier. Further worrying Duquesne is the fact that the Mob has ordered the extermination of the one witness who could seal his doom--his ex-wife Irene (Diana Muldaur). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
This musical comedy pokes fun at the music industry as it tells of the romantic travails of two popular singers thrust together by an ingenious promoter/matchmaker as a publicity stunt. The young male needs to revive his flagging career while the female singer is trying to get her big break; so both of them reluctantly go along with their manager's harebrained scheme. You can guess what happens next. Songs include: "The Cool Ones," "A Bad Woman's Love," "Whiz Bam Opener," "This Town," "High," "Up Your Totem Pole with Love," "Tantrum," and ""Where Did I Go Wrong?"" ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roddy McDowall, Debbie Watson, (more)
- 1967
The death of an ex-serviceman appears to be accidental, but Ironside (Raymond Burr) suspects murder when he finds six GI dog-tag numbers scratched in the dead man's watch case. It turns out that five former soldiers are desperately trying to cover up their complicity in a robbery which occurred several years before. Ironside's assistant Ed risks his job--and his life--to bring the criminals to justice. Martial arts icon Bruce Lee appears as a karate instructor in this episode, which is climaxed by a heart-pounding showdown in San Francisco's huge cable-car barn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Having previously played a homicidal kidnapper during The F.B.I.'s inaugural season, Wayne Rogers upholds his villainous tradition in this episode as a bigoted extortionist. Harboring a pathological hatred for all Latinos, Tyler Cray (Rogers) devises a nasty method of extorting $200,000 from a Mexican-American rancher (Ray Avila). Can this be the same Wayne Rogers who appeared as an upright federal agent in the 1975 TV movie Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan? Stephen Brooks makes his final series appearance as Special Agent Jim Rhodes in this, the last episode of The F. B.I.'s second season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Taking time off from Lost in Space, Billy Mumy guests as Custer Jamison, an 8-year-old neighbor boy who considers astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) as his personal hero. Dropping in unannounced at Tony's house, Custer witnesses Jeannie (Barbara Eden) floating about in mid-air. When the kid tells his parents about this, Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke) offers to psychoanalyze Custer, hoping to prove once and for all that something very strange is going on the Nelson household. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
J. Carroll Naish guest stars as Jeannie's great-grandfather, Bilejik the Djinn. Upon learning that Tony (Larry Hagman) is involved in an experiment to extract fresh water from salt water, Jeannie (Barbara Eden) summons forth Bilejik, who invented the same process back in ancient times. Of course, the formula that the old Djinn comes up with has a very strange taste--and effect. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
The three astronauts chosen by NASA to make America's first spacewalk are Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman), Roger Healey (Bill Daily) and George Conway (yes, that's Dabney Coleman). Unfortunately, it looks as though Tony will be scrubbed from the mission thanks to a nervous Jeannie (Barbara Eden), who is worried that he will never return to earth. In order to "save" her Master, Jeannie causes all sorts of mischief during Tony's psychiatric exam--conducted, of course, by the ever suspicious Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
The ubiquitous Jeannie (Barbara Eden) pops up uninvited at a party on board a yacht which Tony (Larry Hagman) is attending. Angrily, Tony reprimands Jeannie, whereupon she disappears in a puff a smoke. Alas, when Tony is unable to account for Jeannie's whereabouts later on, he ends up in jail on a murder charge! Watch for Richard Webb, TV's onetime "Captain Midnight", as Colonel Brady, and for Sandra Gould, Bewitched's future Gladys Kravitz, as a cleaning lady. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
While working as a technical consultant on a film about astronauts, Tony (Larry Hagman) begins going out with the star, gorgeous Rita Mitchell (Nancy Kovack). Seething with jealousy, Jeannie (Barbara Eden) decides to win Tony back by going into the movies herself. There's only one teeny-tiny problem: Genies can't be photographed! This is the first episode to open with the now-familiar animated "Dancing Genie" credit titles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Although Tony is by now accustomed to Jeannie, it embarrasses him to have her waiting on him hand and foot like a slave--harem outfit and all. Ever anxious to please her Master, Jeannie decides to become a 100% American Woman, using information gleaned from a magazine article. Naturally, in her eagerness to do everything right, our heroine succeeds primarily in doing everything wrong, beginning with her efforts to land an "ordinary" job. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
