Michael Connors Movies
Born Krekor Ohanian, American actor Mike Connors was born and raised in the heavily Armenian community of Fresno, California. He studied law at UCLA, but distinguished himself in sports (he'd gotten in on a basketball scholarship). While in the Air Force, Connors switched his career goals to acting on the advice of producer/director William Wellman, who'd remembered Connors' college athletic activities. Hollywood changed young Mr. Ohanian's last name to Connors, and since this was the era of "Rocks" and "Tabs" it was decided that the actor needed a suitably rugged first name. So Connors spent his first few acting years as Touch Connors, a nickname he'd gotten while playing college football. His first picture was the Joan Crawford vehicle Sudden Fear (1952) but handsome hunks were a glut on the market in the early '50s, so Connors found himself in "B" pictures, mostly at bargain-basement American International studios. Renaming himself "Mike," Connors was able to secure the lead role as an undercover agent on the 1959 detective series Tightrope. The series was a hit but was dropped from the network due to complaints about excessive violence, though it cleaned up in syndication for years afterward. After a few strong but non-starring roles in such films as Good Neighbor Sam (1963) and Where Love Has Gone (1964), Connors landed the title role in Mannix (1967), a weekly TV actioner about a trouble-prone private eye. For the next eight high-rated seasons, Connors' Joe Mannix was beaten up, shot at, cold-cocked and nearly run over in those ubiquitous underground parking lots each and every week. The series ran in over 70 foreign countries, allowing Connors a generous chunk of profits percentages in addition to his lofty weekly salary-- which became loftier each time that the actor announced plans to retire. Mike Connors has starred in the 1981 series Today's FBI and filmed a cop-show pilot titled Ohanian (playing a character with his own real name), but nothing has quite captured the public's fancy, or been as lucrative in reruns, as Connors' chef d'ouevre series Mannix. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
During World War II, a Military Air Transport Command DC-3 piloted by a civilian crew is forced down in northern Labrador. The five men, led by Dooley (John Wayne), have barely any food and almost no way to keep warm, and their power supply is fading fast, but they have to find a way of staying alive until search planes find them. At first, even Dooley is overwhelmed by the responsibility for his crew's safety, and he is too lax in handling them -- but after one man dies, frozen to death just steps from help, he takes over and pushes his men and himself to the limits of their endurance; he even seems ready to crack himself at one moment. Meanwhile, the men who fly with Dooley push themselves and their machines past their endurance limits searching the arctic wastes for the downed plane. Island in the Sky -- based on the book by Ernest K. Gann (perhaps the best aviation novel ever written), which was, in turn, based on a true incident that happened during the war -- is one of the most startling movies in Wayne's output. He doesn't even look like the "star" John Wayne, but like a real pilot, and the cast, made up of familiar faces, all look like the real article; indeed, this movie should have been in the running for Academy Awards for costuming and makeup, just for making these familiar performers, such as Lloyd Nolan (in maybe his best performance) and Andy Devine (ditto), look like real pilots and ordinary men, rather than familiar actors. You end up feeling like you're watching a documentary, and the effect is bracing and unsettling, and dramatically unparalleled in Wayne's entire output. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Lloyd Nolan, (more)
- 1953
Dan Duryea essays a rare sympathetic role in the Columbia programmer Sky Commandos. At first glance, however, Duryea seems to be the villain. Cast as a martinet air force officer, he drives his men mercilessly, earning the enmity of practically everyone under his command. But through a series of flashbacks, the audience learns that the officer is actually a sensitive, honorable man, who goes through hell whenever one of his "boys" is killed. In one of her last major film roles, Frances Gifford plays a savvy female war correspondent -- while in one of his first roles, Touch Connors (later known as Mike Connors) portrays Duryea's hotheaded co-pilot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Duryea, Frances Gifford, (more)
- 1953
U.S. security agent John Ireland suspects that someone is smuggling atomic devices into America. When he makes his report, Ireland is assured by his superiors that nothing untoward is going on. In fact, the higher-ups have had the wool pulled over their eyes by a clever Communist saboteur, who is assembling a super-bomb, with plans to detonate the doomsday weapon somewhere in the States. If we had to have cold-war thrillers, replete with Commie bad guys wearing baggy suits and calling everyone "Comrade", it's too bad that all of these films weren't as entertaining as Columbia's The 49th Man. The original story was written by Ivan Tors, later the producer of such classic TV series as Science Fiction Theater and Sea Hunt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Ireland, Richard Denning, (more)
- 1954
The best way to described the economically assembled religious picture Day of Triumph is "sincere". Though the film details the Last Days of Jesus Christ (Robert Wilson), top billing is bestowed upon Lee J. Cobb as Zadok, leader of the Zealots. The all-character-actor cast includes James Griffith as Judas, Tyler McVey as Peter, Lowell Gilmore as Pilate and veteran western heavy Anthony Warde as Barabbas. The biggest "name" in the cast is Joanne Dru as Mary Magdalene, while relative newcomer Touch (later Michael) Connors appears as Andrew. The film was directed by Irving Pichel, who'd previously helmed the independently produced religious drama Martin Luther. Once an annual Easter TV attraction, Day of Triumph has in recent years been relegated to limited exposure on America's UHF religious stations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee J. Cobb, Robert Wilson, (more)
Swamp Diamonds is the family-trade title for the sweaty Roger Corman crime melodrama Swamp Women. Policewoman Carole Mathews dons her torpedo bra and tight jeans to infiltrate a dangerous all-female criminal gang, currently serving time in a Louisiana Prison. The ladies escape and head to the swamp, where they've hidden a fortune in diamonds. Along the way, they kidnap geologist Touch Connors (later known as Mike Connors). For a while, it looks as though the girls will get away with their perfidy and Connors will end up as alligator bait, but Mathews saves the day. The supporting cast of Swamp Diamonds is a roll-call of 1950s "tough broads": Marie Windsor, Beverly Garland, Susan Cummings, Jil Jarmyn. Watch for Jonathan Haze, future star of Little Shop of Horrors, and Ed Nelson, future talk-show host and politician, in minor roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Windsor, Carole Mathews, (more)
- 1955
Twinkle in God's Eye, Mickey Rooney's second personal production for Republic Pictures, is at the very least an improvement upon the first (The Atomic Kid). More subdued than usual, Rooney stars as Rev. Macklin, a greenhorn clergyman who tries to spread the Good Word to a rowdy western town. Intending to rebuild a church recently destroyed by Indians, Macklin faces tough opposition from the local gambling hall owner (Hugh O'Brian), not to mention a trigger-happy outlaw (Don Barry). Using faith rather than fisticuffs, the reverend manages to win over his opposition, beginning with golden-hearted dance hall gal Laura (Colleen Gray). Though certain latter-day wiseguys have drubbed Mickey Rooney for this very mild western drama, Twinkle in God's Eye is more entertaining than its reputation would indicate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Coleen Gray, (more)
- 1956
Though Mickey Rooney is listed as coproducer of Jaguar, the star of the proceedings is East Indian actor Sabu, here cast as a young South American. Though raised in a civilized atmosphere, Juano (Sabu) cannot quite shake the savage instincts of his jungle-bred forefathers. When he is falsely accused of three murders, Juano is willing to believe that he committed the crimes thanks to the influence of a powerful narcotic. It turns out that our hero has been set up as a fall guy, but he goes through hell and back before he can prove his innocence. Jaguar was scripted by John Fenton Murray, who later specialized in such TV sitcomery as McHale's Navy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
The Day the World Ended was filmmaker Roger Corman's modest entree into the realm of science fiction. The film begins at "The End"--or rather, the years following an all-out atomic war. A group of survivors find refuge in a well-protected valley owned by Maddison (Paul Birch) and his daughter Louise (Lori Nelson). Conflicts of a romantic nature erupt among Louise and her two erstwhile suitors, gun-wielding Tony (Touch--later Mike--Connors) and geologist Rick (Richard Denning), but these are shunted aside when it develops that the valley is infested with mutated, radioactive animals. Before long, a few similarly mutated human beings begin wandering into view (one of these is played by Jonathan Haze, the future star of Corman's Little Shop of Horrors). Carefully staying within its limited budget, The Day the World Ended is a well-crafted, thought-provoking apocalyptic fable. The film was inadequately remade in 1966 as Year 2889. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, (more)
Based on the Holy Scriptures, with additional dialogue by several other hands, The Ten Commandments was the last film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The story relates the life of Moses, from the time he was discovered in the bullrushes as an infant by the pharoah's daughter, to his long, hard struggle to free the Hebrews from their slavery at the hands of the Egyptians. Moses (Charlton Heston) starts out "in solid" as Pharoah's adopted son (and a whiz at designing pyramids, dispensing such construction-site advice as "Blood makes poor mortar"), but when he discovers his true Hebrew heritage, he attempts to make life easier for his people. Banished by his jealous half-brother Rameses (Yul Brynner), Moses returns fully bearded to Pharoah's court, warning that he's had a message from God and that the Egyptians had better free the Hebrews post-haste if they know what's good for them. Only after the Deadly Plagues have decimated Egypt does Rameses give in. As the Hebrews reach the Red Sea, they discover that Rameses has gone back on his word and plans to have them all killed. But Moses rescues his people with a little Divine legerdemain by parting the Seas. Later, Moses is again confronted by God on Mt. Sinai, who delivers unto him the Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, the Hebrews, led by the duplicitous Dathan (Edward G. Robinson), are forgetting their religion and behaving like libertines. "Where's your Moses now?" brays Dathan in the manner of a Lower East Side gangster. He soon finds out. DeMille's The Ten Commandments may not be the most subtle and sophisticated entertainment ever concocted, but it tells its story with a clarity and vitality that few Biblical scholars have ever been able to duplicate. It is very likely the most eventful 219 minutes ever recorded to film--and who's to say that Nefertiri (Anne Baxter) didn't make speeches like, "Oh, Moses, Moses, you splendid, stubborn, adorable fool"? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, (more)
- 1957
One of the least-known of the American-International "B" westerns of the 1950s, Flesh and the Spur offers the spectacle of the inimitable John Agar in a dual role. When his twin brother Mathew is killed, Luke Random goes gunnin' for his brother's murderer. Along the way, he teams up with gunslinger Stacey (Touch Connors, aka Mike Connors), who is also seeking out an old enemy. Five points to anyone who guesses before the fadeout who Mathew Random's killer turns out to be. Written by A-I regular Charles B. Griffith, Flesh and the Spur was originally released on a double bill with Naked Paradise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Agar, Marla English, (more)
- 1957
Convicted murderer Clete Overton (Ed Kemmer) escapes from jail on the eve of his hanging. Bart tries to prove Cleve's innocence when the fugitive insists that he was charged on circumstantial evidence. Unfortunately, someone is determined that Clete remain under the shadow of the noose--and that someone is willing to kill Bart to make sure that the execution goes on as scheduled. Featured in the guest cast is future Mannix star Michael Connors, former Make Room for Daddy regular Sherry Jackson, and soap opera diva Jeanne Cooper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Bret (James Garner) befriends a charming young couple, Molly Gleason (Karen Steele) and Ralph Jordan (a pre-Mannix Michael Connors). Alas, what Molly and Ralph currently have in mind is not so charming. The two lovebirds intend to use the trusting Bret as the fall guy for a bank robbery --and the plan requires Bret to be killed and Molly to tearfully identify him as Ralph. Though filmed as the pilot episode of Maverick, "Point Blank" was originally shown as the series' second telecast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Advertised as an out-and-out horror picture, Voodoo Woman is more of a "greed and revenge" melodrama than anything else. Mad scientist Dr. Roland Gerard (Tom Conway) squirrels himself away in the jungle, hoping to create a race of super-beings. What he comes up with is a passel of hideous-looking female monstrosities, one of whom is played by ace monster creator Paul Blaisdell (who, last time we looked, was a guy). The film goes off on a slightly different tangent when mercenary murderess Marilyn Blanchard (Marla English) invades Dr. Gerard's private domain. It is inevitable that Gerard will transform Marilyn into a monster, leading to a lively if barely credible finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marla English, Tom Conway, (more)
- 1958
In this low-budget crime drama a runaway girl joins a gang of jewel thieves and finds herself leading an exciting luxurious life until her older sister shows up during a caper and gets her and the rest of the gang in trouble. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Murphy, Norma Eberhardt, (more)
- 1958
American-International's Suicide Battalion was filmed virtually simultaneously with the studio's Jet Attack; both films were originally released on a double bill. Michael Connors plays Lt. Matt McCormick, who leads the eponymous battalion on a suicide mission in the Philippines during WW II. Their objective: to destroy valuable American documents, left behind when the area was evacuated just before the Japanese takeover. Before long, only two of the volunteers are left alive to complete the mission -- and they're none too fond of each other. Hawaiian entertainer Hilo Hattie unexpectedly shows up as the proprietress of a native saloon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Connors, John Ashley, (more)
- 1958
This video offers a double dose of war dramas. The first Suicide Battalion chronicles the courage of two GIs who risk everything to cross enemy lines and bring back secret documents from an outpost overrun by the enemy. The second Hell Squad follows the exploits of five Yankee soldiers who must make their way through the vast North African desert and survive constant attacks from the Nazis, desert raiders, and other foes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Historically, one of the members of the infamous Dalton Brothers outlaw gang, Emmet Dalton, did escape with his life after that fateful 1892 shootout in Coffeyville, Kansas. He lived to a ripe old age, touring the country and lecturing on the evils of dishonesty. In the 1960 low-budgeter The Dalton That Got Away, Emmet is played by future Mannix star Michael Connors. As depicted herein, Emmet's post-bandit activities are heaps more exciting than we've been led to believe. The preponderance of Latino names in the cast and crew of The Dalton That Got Away lead us to conclude that the film was not lensed in Kansas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Frank Pagano, mobster and head of Pagano Enterprises, needs to lose $500,000 within thirty days to avoid paying a large sum in income taxes. Deciding on an ingenious plot to produce a flop television pilot, he hires Philipe Fontaine (Maurice Chevalier), a fizzled star who can no longer find work. Philipe's screen-girl is to be played by Angela (Jayne Mansfield), a prostitute aspiring to be an actress--who also happens to be quite close to Frank. Though Philipe tries his best to make what he can of the role, the project seems doomed under the direction of inept Pandowski (Akim Tamiroff). When Philipe finds out what is really going on, he sneaks a copy of the project to the Venice Film Festival as a comedy feature--slightly setting Frank's plan askew. Shot in Rome and Venice, this comedy based on a story by independent producer Ron Gorton took three years to finish. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jayne Mansfield, Michael Connors, (more)
- 1962
In hiding ever since his gang was wiped out in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Bugs Moran (George J. Wilke) is surprised when he is visited by a dead man. Actually, Eddie O'Gara (Michael Connors) is very much alive; it's just that everyone assumed he'd been killed by his fellow hoodlums when he dropped out of sight three years ago. Though Moran dismisses O'Gara as a two-bit punk, he is most receptive when Eddie comes up with a plan to put Bugs back on top again. Meanwhile, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) searches high and low for both Moran and O'Gara, certain that at least one of them will be mad enough at their former enemies to help the Feds smash the Chicago Underworld once and for all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Disgusted by the smarminess of his 1963 vehicle Under the Yum Yum Tree, Jack Lemmon vowed that his next effort would be a wholesome family picture. Good Neighbor Sam is suitable for all ages, to be sure, but that doesn't stop producer-writer-director David Swift from injecting plenty of double-entendre dialogue and harmlessly risque situations. Lemmon plays ad executive Sam Bissell, happily married to all-American blonde Minerva (Dorothy Provine). Anxious to land the Nurdlinger's milk account, Sam is carefully scrutinized by the prudish Simon Nurdlinger (Edward G. Robinson), a staunch advocate of old-fashioned family values.
Meanwhile, Minerva welcomes her old school friend, sexy Janet Langerlof (Romy Schneider) into her home. Janet is in line to inherit a fortune, but only if she's married. Unfortunately, Janet is currently separated from her insanely jealous spouse Howard Ebbets (Michael Connors), so big-hearted Minerva volunteers Sam to pose as Janet's husband. The ensuing comic complications come to a head when Nurdlinger elects Sam and Janet as the nation's ideal "married" couple, and posts their pictures on billboards all over town! Some of the smaller pleasures in this film are provided by Louis Nye as a high-tech private eye, Barbara Nichols as a squeaky-voiced call girl, Robert Q. Lewis as Sam's lascivious neighbor, and an uncredited Gil Lamb as a genial wino. An amusing running gag involved the Hertz "man in the driver's seat" commercials of the 1960s has sometimes been cut from TV prints of Good Neighbor Sam. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Meanwhile, Minerva welcomes her old school friend, sexy Janet Langerlof (Romy Schneider) into her home. Janet is in line to inherit a fortune, but only if she's married. Unfortunately, Janet is currently separated from her insanely jealous spouse Howard Ebbets (Michael Connors), so big-hearted Minerva volunteers Sam to pose as Janet's husband. The ensuing comic complications come to a head when Nurdlinger elects Sam and Janet as the nation's ideal "married" couple, and posts their pictures on billboards all over town! Some of the smaller pleasures in this film are provided by Louis Nye as a high-tech private eye, Barbara Nichols as a squeaky-voiced call girl, Robert Q. Lewis as Sam's lascivious neighbor, and an uncredited Gil Lamb as a genial wino. An amusing running gag involved the Hertz "man in the driver's seat" commercials of the 1960s has sometimes been cut from TV prints of Good Neighbor Sam. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Romy Schneider, (more)
- 1964
Based on the novel by Harold Robbins, comes this family drama from director Edward Dmytryk. Adapted for the the screen by John Michael Hayes, the film follows the events that befall Luke Miller (Michael Connors) when he discovers that his daughter, Danielle (Joey Heatherton), has been arrested for murdering his ex-wife Valerie's (Susan Hayward) new lover. As Danielle's trial unfurls, and the sordid events of the family's past are brought into the open, Luke is forced to address and relive several of the painful events that led to the family's present state. Also starring Bette Davis as Valerie's mother and a pre-Star Trek DeForest Kelley, Where Love Has Gone netted Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn, the songwriters behind the film's title song. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Hayward, Bette Davis, (more)
- 1965
Of the two competing Jean Harlow biopics released in 1965, producer Joseph E. Levine's Harlow is the more slickly professional, though neither film is exactly a cinematic landmark. Carroll Baker plays 1930s "platinum blonde" Jean Harlow, who, in keeping with the portrait painted by biographer Irving Schulman and Arthur Landau (upon whose book this film is based) was a forlorn waif tossed around like a football by the predatory males of wicked old Hollywood. Prodded by a hellish stage mother (Angela Lansbury) and an implicitly incestuous stepfather (Raf Vallone), Harlow rises to the pinnacle of movie stardom but never finds true happiness. The wedding-night revelation that her new husband, producer Paul Bern (Peter Lawford), is impotent is just another devastating blow for the poor girl. After all she goes through in the film, Harlow's premature death at age 26 is almost a relief. The only person who truly, deeply, sincerely cares about her is her lovable agent Arthur Landau (played by lovable Red Buttons) who, it will be remembered, co-authored the original Harlow book. Movie buffs will derive some perverse pleasure by the script's many distortions of the facts. Whatever its shortcomings, Harlow posted a huge profit for Joe Levine and Paramount Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll Baker, Martin Balsam, (more)
- 1965
A pair of American Allied fliers (Michael Connor and Robert Redford in his second feature film appearance) are shot down in a small German village near the end of WW II and end up captured and held prisoner in the wine cellar of a lonely old man (Alec Guiness). The old man likes having the two around and so endeavors to keep them in his cellar even though the war is over. The two remain there for seven years and while they wait, the old man regales them with tales of a wonderful Nazi world. The strange plot of this comedy is based on a novel by Robert Shaw. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Connors, Robert Redford, (more)
- 1966
An evil scientist attempts to use his newly designed satellite to sterlize everyone on earth. Fortunately two savvy secret agents are set on the case to stop him. Basically this is a low grade, low budget Italian mish-mash of comedy and spy films. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Connors, Dorothy Provine, (more)
- 1966
Outbound from a small town recently besieged by Indians, a stagecoach carries several diverse characters. They include rummy sawbones Josiah Boone (Bing Crosby), dance-hall girl and prostitute Dallas (Ann-Margret), embezzling bank clerk Gatewood (Robert Cummings), pregnant army officer's wife Lucy Mallory (Stefanie Powers), policeman Curly (Van Heflin), and several others. En route, the drunken Doc Boone is forced to sober up and deliver Lucy's baby, and the travelers are joined by Ringo (Alex Cord), an outlaw falsely accused of killing his own father and brother. Despite being arrested by Curly, Ringo helps fight off Indians and falls for Dallas. Once the coach reaches its destination, Luke Plummer (Keenan Wynn) and his two sons, the real killers of Ringo's family, shoot Gatewood for his stolen loot and wound Curly. A showdown between the Plummers and Ringo is inevitable. Famed painter Norman Rockwell, who rendered cast portraits for the film's closing credits sequence, appears in a brief cameo. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann-Margret, Red Buttons, (more)
