Tippi Hedren Movies

Alfred Hitchcock Presents is the portmanteau pilot film for the subsequent TV revival of Hitchcock's celebrated anthology series of the 1950s and '60s. Four short tales are presented, each of them remakes of earlier Alfred Hitchcock programs. "Incident in a Small Jail," originally presented in 1961 with John Fiedler in the lead, stars Ned Beatty as a traveling salesman who finds himself sharing a jail cell with an accused rapist -- the target of an angry, indiscriminate lynch mob. "Man from the South," based on an oft-adapted Roald Dahl piece, stars John Huston as a cagey gambler who makes a grisly wager with novice Steven Bauer. The original 1959 Hitchcock version of this tale starred Peter Lorre and Steve McQueen; featured in the cast of the remake are former Hitchcock movie leading ladies Kim Novak and Tippi Hedren, as well as Hedren's daughter Melanie Griffith. "Bang, You're Dead" is a taut, tension-filled tale of a child who wanders around town with a loaded gun. The child is a little girl (Bianca Rose), but in the initial 1961 version the protagonist was a boy, played by Billy Mumy (who appears in this remake in a small role). The final playlet, "The Unlocked Window," is an abbreviated version of a story first shown on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1965. Bruce Davidson is featured in a virtual reprise of that beloved old Hitchcock protagonist Norman Bates. Each of the four stories in Alfred Hitchcock Presents had its own director -- in order of appearance, they are Joel Oliansky, Steve De Jarnatt, Randa Haines, and Fred Walton -- and all were narrated by co-star John Huston. The late Alfred Hitchcock opens and closes each playlet via colorized footage from the original series -- a bizarre touch that "The Master" might have approved of. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A ravenous werewolf (Kane Hodder) is stalking Los Angeles in search of newbie wolf, Josie (Samaire Armstrong), with whom he wants to mate and keep the species going. Detective Steve Turley (Ryan Alosio), one of the few humans hip to werewolves, tries to protect her and several of her friends who are in the werewolf's way. But for a few, their erotic nude photography session ends badly when the werewolf finds out where they are. How will Turley keep the wolf at bay? Hey, what are these silver bullets...? ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

This documentary is a loving look at the cinematic genius of Alfred Hitchcock. Speeding through much of his early British works, the film focuses on his American classics, such as Marnie, Vertigo, and particularly Psycho. The movie also neatly examines Hitchcock's signature touches, from his inevitable brief cameo to his famous MacGuffin. Kevin Spacey narrates, and there are interviews with such film figures as Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, and Janet Leigh. Dial H for Hitchcock was screened at the 1999 Denver Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Aris Iliopulos directed this campy comedy utilizing schlock filmmaker Ed Wood's last unproduced screenplay. Stock footage and old hygiene films are intercut with this near-silent story following a cross-dresser (Billy Zane), who escapes from the Casa de la Loco Sanitarium, manages to acquire some money, and then loses it at a funeral attended by eccentric mourners. He then seeks them out, killing them one by one. Some script instructions appear as titles. Bud Cort makes an uncredited appearance, and Wood aficionados can spot Kathy Wood (the filmmaker's daughter) in a walk-on, while Maila Nurmi re-creates her famed Vampira characterization. Larry Groupe's punk score alternates with standards by Nat "King" Cole and others. Shown at the Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In the Cold of the Night is an above-average erotic thriller, directed with superb visual style by Nico Mastorakis, but plagued by an uneven, derivative plot. Photographer Scott Bruin (Jeff Lester) is very successful but begins to have frightening visions of himself murdering a beautiful woman. When he meets the woman in those dreams, Kimberly (Adrienne Sachs), they begin a highly charged romance. When Scott becomes suspicious, he finds out information which leads to a "surprise" ending. In the Cold of the Night generated a great deal of controversy when it was originally released, and director Mastorakis had to cut the film to avoid an X rating. Despite the cuts and the weak plot, the extraordinary visual style of Mastorakis, and the haunting cinematography make In the Cold of the Night a treat for fans of erotic thrillers or anyone who appreciates technique and style in filmmaking. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Condemned as being a "disappointing" and "unworthy" Alfred Hitchcock effort at the time of its release, Marnie has since grown in stature; it is still considered a lesser Hitchcock, but a fascinating one. Tippi Hedren plays Marnie, a compulsive thief who cannot stand to be touched by any man. She also goes bonkers over the sight of the color red. Her new boss, Mark Rutland (Sean Connery) is intrigued by Marnie -- to such an extent that he blackmails her into marriage when he stumbles onto her breaking into his safe. Rutland is in his own way as "sick" as his wife because of his fetishist desire to cohabit with a thief. After innumerable plot twists and turns, Marnie is "cured" by a facile but mesmerizing flashback sequence involving her ex-hooker mother (Louise Latham). Among the critical carps aimed at Marnie was the complaint that the studio-bound sets -- particularly the waterfront locale where the film ends -- were tacky and artificial; curiously, this seeming "carelessness" adds to the queasy, off-setting mood that Hitchcock endeavored to sustain. Even when the direction seems to falter, the film is buoyed by the driving musical score of Bernard Herrmann (his last for Hitchcock). Among the supporting actors in Marnie are Mariette Hartley as a secretary and Bruce Dern as a sailor; twelve years later, Dern would star in Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1944, Angela Lansbury and Mickey Rooney both appeared in the classic racetrack film National Velvet. The two veterans are reunited in this story, which appropriately enough revolves around a thoroughbred horse, and two families who have staked everything in an upcoming race. When her old friend, horse trainer Matt Cleveland (Rooney), is murdered, Jessica (Lansbury) hits the trail of clues and collars the killer in the home stretch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The murder of a cosmetics company tycoon leads lawyer Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) into a strange case involving a new anti-aging concoction. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The cast from the popular television cornball comedy series are reunited when Oliver must save Hooterville from developers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

George Montgomery directs and stars in in this location-filmed adventure (for reasons unknown, TV prints credit the direction to one "Douglas K. Stone"). Montgomery heads to South Africa when he inherits a Johannesburg estate. But the place is run down, and the overseers seem surly and secretive. Having been a detective in the States, Montgomery puts his deductive skills to work. He soon learns that his estate is a front for a drug-smuggling operation. In between spurts of violence, Satan's Harvest is a disarmingly pleasant travelogue of South Africa. Tippi Hedren, then a resident of the region depicted herein, costars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this remake of a classic Hitchcock thriller, a niece begins believing that her beloved uncle is a cold-blooded killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide