John Kerr Movies

The focus in this episode is on Robert Donner) as police informer TeeJay, a familiar if not always welcome figure at the Rampart division. Officers Reed (Kent McCord) and Malloy (Martin Milner) are somewhat surprised when TeeJay is hauled into jail, suspected of assault and robbery. Though the two cops do what they can to help him, TeeJay's past history as a drug addict works against him. John Kerr, best known for his sensitive potrayals in such films as Tea and Sympathy and South Pacific, is here cast as a neighborhood priest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This slow-moving occult thriller has Pamela Sue Martin and hubbie Tim Matheson menaced by a coven of witches when they move to an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Director Carl Schenkel -- who went on to make the interesting Knight Moves -- does the best he can with a tedious script and a lot of miscasting, but it doesn't make the movie any more interesting. It looks like a who's who of '80s sitcoms, with Woody Harrelson, Jeff Conaway, and Inga Swenson along for the evil doings, but some viewers will be rolling on the floor when they see Leave It to Beaver's Barbara Billingsley as a 300-year-old witch. The highlight of the film is an exploding church, which may just be loud enough to wake you up so you can rewind the tape. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

The third film version of Robert E. Sherwood's play Waterloo Bridge, Gaby is also the most antiseptic of the three. In the original 1931 film, Mae Clarke is cast as a British streetwalker who falls despearately and tragically in love with aristocratic military officer Douglass Montgomery. In the cleaned-up 1940 version, Vivien Leigh plays a ballerina who becomes a prostitute only after being informed that her lover, British "landed gentry" officer Robert Taylor, was killed in battle. In the 1956 edition, Leslie Caron is once again a ballerina at the outset, who once again turns to the World's Oldest Profession when she believes that her sweetheart, American GI John Kerr, has been killed during the D-Day invasion. The source material has been dry-cleaned to the extent that the heroine is permitted a happy ending, something she was flatly denied in the first two versions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This low-budget swashbuckling film is not in the same league with the Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn portrayals, but still fun if the viewer doesn't do comparisons. Standard Robin Hood plot. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Producer/director Joshua Logan's long-awaited filmization of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Pulitzer Prize winning musical South Pacific was not the classic that everyone hoped it would be, principally because of some curious creative choices made by the production personnel. Adapted from James A. Michener's best-selling novel Tales of the South Pacific, the film stars Mitzi Gaynor as WAVE officer Nellie Forbush, who while stationed overseas during World War II falls in love with wealthy French planter Emile De Becque (Rosanno Brazzi). The Navy would like DeBecque to help them in a reconnaissance mission against the Japanese, but he refuses; having run away from the outside world after killing a man in his home town, De Becque sees no reason to become involved in a war which he did not start and in which he has no interest. But when Nellie, her inbred bigotry aroused when she discovers that Emile has two mixed-race children, refuses his proposal of marriage, DeBecque, having nothing to lose, agrees to go on the mission. His partner in this venture is Lt. Joseph Cable (John Kerr), who like Nellie is a victim of prejudicial feelings; Cable has previously thrown away a chance at lasting happiness by refusing to marry Liat (France Nuyen), the dark-skinned daughter of Tokinese trader Bloody Mary (Juanita Hall). When Cable is killed and DeBecque is seemingly lost in battle, Nellie, realizing the stupidity of her racism, prays for Emile's safe return. The dramatic elements of South Pacific are offset by the low-comedy antics of "Big Dealer" seabee Luther Billis (Ray Walston). Outside of Walston and Hall, both repeating their stage characterizations, South Pacific suffers from a largely noncharismatic cast. Mitzi Gaynor never rises above cuteness in the difficult role of Nellie Forbush, while Rosanno Brazzi (whose singing is dubbed by Giorgio Tozzi) seems to be striking poses rather than acting as Emile DeBecque. These casting deficiencies might have been ignored had not South Pacific been laboring under an additional handicap: director Joshua Logan's decision to use colored filters in several key scenes, representing the emotions experienced by the actors. The constant color shift is more unsettling than attractive, drawing attention to Logan's technique and thereby taking the audience "out" of the picture. With all this going against it, however, South Pacific has much to be treasured. For one thing, all of Rodgers & Hammerstein's immortal songs--"Some Enchanted Evening," "Bali H'ai," "There is Nothing Like a Dame," "I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy," "Younger Than Springtime" etc.--are retained, and, as a bonus, a song cut from the original stage production, "My Girl Back Home," is revived herein. In addition, the film is a bonanza for movie buffs who enjoy playing "spot the bit player:" among the supporting-cast ranks are Tom McLaughlin, Ron Ely, Doug McClure, John Gabriel and James Stacy (rumors persist that Joan Fontaine shows up unbilled as a nurse, but we've yet to spot her). Though artistically disappointing, South Pacific ended up one of the biggest box-office gold mines of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Overworked private nurse Stella Crosson (Dana Wynter) is relieved when a new assistant shows up to help her care for wealthy invalid Glendon Baker (John Kerr). Stella's happiness is, however, somewhat mitigated when she hears that a serial killer of nurses has struck in the neighborhood. Things get worse when the power goes out in Baker's house and the rest of the staff is nowhere to be found -- and it appears that someone has already attacked Stella's assistant. This episode originally aired amidst a flurry of publicity wherein the producers allegedly posted a guard on duty at the studio during filming, and the script was delivered to the actors with the last three pages missing, so that no one could reveal the shocking finale (although a casual perusal of the cast list gives the game away for showbiz-trivia buffs). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

William Gibson's novel The Cobweb was brought to the screen by MGM with an impressive, hand-picked cast. Richard Widmark plays the head of a posh psychiatric clinic. Widmark's wife Gloria Grahame jockeys for the honor of selecting new drapes for the hospital's library. One wouldn't think that such a trivial decision would spark so much melodrama; but thanks to those drapes, we are allowed to probe the disturbed psyches of martinet business affairs director Lillian Gish, philandering doctor Charles Boyer, lonely activities director Lauren Bacall, and suicidal patient John Kerr. Oscar Levant, who spent most of his life in and out of "little white rooms", is ideally cast as a neurotic musician, while Fay Wray has a superb cameo as Boyer's long-suffering wife. Cobweb served as the screen debuts for both John Kerr and Susan Strasberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After the seemingly random murder of a civil servant, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) follows the trail of clues to a Communist-funded news service based in Mexico City. What follows is a maelstrom of intrigue involving a possible defector, an eccentric collector of antiques, and a "mole" planted in the American Embassy in Vienna. The acting honors in this episode are won hands-down by the magnificent Viveca Lindfors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The FBI launches a search for the thieves who stripped the abandoned car owned by wealthy kidnap victim John Graham (Jim McMullan). Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) hopes that the thieves may have witnessed the crime and will be able to identify the abductor. Meanwhile, efforts to negotiate Graham's safe release hit a snag when the victim's brother Philip (Russell Johnson) refuses to pay the $300,000 ransom. In a fascinating bit of casting, the uncle-and-nephew team of kidnappers is played by Edward Asner and Martin Sheen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A fugitive from the FBI, Frank Welles (Steve Ihnat) has also been marked for death by a Mafia hitman. Despite the danger involved, Welles makes a stopover in San Diego, intending to wreak vengeance against the man whom he holds responsible for the death of his best friend's daughter. Thus, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is placed in the position of protecting not only Welles but also Welles' intended victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Enemy agents hope to persuade defecting cabinet official Victor Dorman (David Frankham) to return to his own country--or, failing that, they plan to have him killed. For this purpose, the bad guys engage the services of Nicholas Blok (Eric Braeden), a coldblooded troubleshooter who specializes in abduction and assassination. Blok endeavors to force his prey into the open by kidnapping Dorman's daughter Katrina (Dinah Anne Rogers)--and he has no intention of allowing FBI Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) to get in his way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the third of four New Avengers episodes filmed in Canada, Steed (Patrick MacNee), Gambit (Gareth Hunt) and Purdey (Joanna Lumley) are assigned to guard an antique automobile known as Emily. It seems that the old car contains the only known fingerprints of an elusive secret agent known only as (what else?) The Fox. Perhaps because it was played purely for laughs, "Emily" emerged as the top-rated New Avengers episode of the 1977-78 season--not to mention the highest rated Avengers installment of all time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide