Marvin J. Chomsky Movies

Captain Kirk faces one of his more unexpected challenges in this third-season episode of the enduringly popular science-fiction series: saving the Enterprise from the malicious influence of a group of children. While visiting a distant research outpost, the starship finds the aftermath of a bloody massacre, which only the colony's children survived. These children, oddly unaffected by the violence around them, are brought aboard the Enterprise, where they proceed to win over the hearts of the ship's crew. Captain Kirk, however, soon realizes that these children are in fact controlling the crew's minds. Kirk discovers that the children are being used by an alien being known as Gorgon, who intends to take over the Enterprise. He naturally attempts to stop the impending takeover but finds himself opposed by his own crew, who have fallen victim to the children's control. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This episode finds Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock exploring the planet Sarpeidon, whose sun is about to go nova. They discover cities and other components of an advanced civilization, but no inhabitants save one, a mysterious man (Ian Wolfe) who identifies himself as the "librarian." They learn that the "library" is a time portal, and that the inhabitants have escaped the doom of their world by taking new lives in past eras. Kirk accidentally steps through the portal and becomes trapped in this world's equivalent of the 17th century, and accused of witchcraft; Spock and McCoy, in turn, are stranded in the planet's brutal ice age, where they meet Zarabeth (Mariette Hartley), an unwilling prisoner of that era. Kirk must try to avoid execution, while Spock -- quickly reverting to his primordial Vulcan nature, brutal and lustful, as a result of moving into the past -- finds his growing love for Zarabeth interfering with his efforts at escape. And that escape becomes even more imperative when they learn that because of the particular way they were transported, they can only survive for a matter of hours. ~ All Movie Guide

The fate of a Middle Eastern nation hangs in the balance as terrorist Ismet El Kabir (Michael Tolan) is scheduled to be pardoned from prison. The IMF must prevent Kabir's release, thereby forcing him into an escape attempt that will cost him his life. The plan involves the infiltration of Kabir's terrorist organization--and yet another of the IMF's patented "prison break-ins". Written by Laurence Heath, "Terror" made its network broadcast debut on February 15, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

George Hamilton produced and stars in this appealing bio-pic about real-life stunt daredevil Evel Knievel. Knievel's famous motorcycle stunts and early life are remembered in flashback by the performer in the moments before a big jump. The cast includes familiar drive-in movie faces like Vic Tayback, Sue Lyon, Cheryl Rainbeaux Smith, and Dub Taylor, and much of it was filmed on location in Knievel's hometown of Butte, Montana. Though Hamilton is quite good in the lead, most fans prefer the real thing -- Knievel portraying himself in the later Viva Knievel! (1978). ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Fresh from his Broadway triumph in The Boys in the Band, Leonard Frey guest-stars as Thomas Burke, a pscyhopathic doctor who brainwashes underworld fugitives into becoming political assassins, then committing suicide before the cops catch up with them. The IMF must not only put Burke out of commission, but also his boss, Syndicate chieftan Alex Pierson (Donald Moffat. Originally broadcast on October 9, 1971, "Mindbend" was written by James D. Buchanan and Ronald Austin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Forming an unholy alliance, mobsters Frank Mason (Frank Mason) and Edward Trask (Richard Jaeckel) have been successfully modernizing, computerizing and (violently) streamlining the Syndicate's gambling activities. The IMF is assigned to break up the relationship between the two master criminals. The plan calls for Phelps to pose as the owner of a prize racehorse, and for Casey to impersonate a wealthy racetrack aficionado. Written by Edward J. Lasko, "Run for the Money" was originally broadcast on December 11, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

Sam Cade was the first feature-length "movie" put together from episodes of Cade's County, the early '70s series starring Glenn Ford as a modern-day sheriff in Madrid County, CA. In the first half, directed by Marvin Chomsky, Cade finds himself targeted for assassination when he's scheduled to testify in the trial of a mob kingpin -- what he doesn't know is that the assassin is one of his oldest friends (Darren McGavin), who is romancing another old friend (Loretta Swit) with a troubled past and using Cade's determination and his investigative skills to set him up for a hit. In the second half, directed by Richard Donner, Cade gets a tip that the mob has planned an assassination on a retired crime boss (Edward Asner) living in the county, who is so bull-headed and distrustful of the law that he won't accept any help or provide any information on who the killers might be, even though he's putting his own daughter (Shelley Fabares) at risk. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Fresh from her eight-season run on Bewitched, Elizabeth Montgomery embarked upon a whole new career as everyone's favorite TV-movie star in the ABC production Mrs. Sundance. Shamelessly promoted as a sequel to the movie megahit Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the film cast Montgomery as Sundance's schoolteacher widow Etta Place, the role played in the earlier movie by Katherine Ross. Like her outlaw husband, Etta finds herself on the lam from the law, with a $10,000 bounty on her head. Resigned to spending the rest of her life in hiding, Etta is ultimately flushed out by the rumor that Sundance is still very much alive (In truth, the authorities never found Etta Place, and even the date of her death is shrouded in mystery). Lensed on location near Lone Pine, California, the film represented the first on-screen teaming of Elizabeth Montgomery and her real-life future husband Robert Foxworth. Mrs. Sundance premiered January 15, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Live a Little, Steal a Lot and You Can't Steal Love were both alternate titles for the fact-based crime caper Murph the Surph. In the early 1960s, a "celebrity beach bum" named Jack Murphy--aka Murph the Surph--helped mastermind the stealing of the Star of India sapphire from the American Museum of Natural History. The film concentrates on the sociopathic pre-theft activities of Murphy (played by Don Stroud) and his partner in crime Allan Kuhn (excellently impersonated by Robert Conrad). The hollowness of Murph and Kuhn's Miami Beach lifestyle is offset with their never-ending search for "kicks"--the last of which earned them both stiff prison terms. Live a Little, Steal a Lot successfully plays its material for laughs throughout, but in the end both erstwhile criminals seem more pathetic than amusing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This somewhat clunkily titled TV movie was an offshoot of producer Quinn Martin's series The FBI. Robert Foxworth plays Depression-era desperado Alvin Karpis, who for nearly five years eluded capture while committing bank robberies, kidnappings and murders. Karpis finally comes acropper when the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover (Harris Yulin) enters the case. Since this film was made long before Hoover became every filmmaker's favorite historical villain, he is depicted in shining-knight terms, a sharp contrast to the loathsome Karpis. Producer Martin had planned to produce six to nine additional TV-movies based on authentic FBI files, but dropped the project after only three entries. The FBI Vs. Alvin Karpis was first telecast November 8, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Attack on Terror: The FBI Versus the Ku Klux Klan is a fact-based, two-part TV movie. The film is a dramatization of the murders of three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964. The FBI, personified herein by southern operative Wayne Rogers, is brought in to investigate the trio's disappearance. Upon the discovery of the bodies on August 2, 1964, the feds follow a trail of (admittedly skimpy) evidence which leads to the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, headed by the virulent Glen Tuttle (Rip Torn). The first part of Attack on Terror was originally telecast February 20, 1975. The film was based on the book by Don Whitehead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide