Darren McGavin Movies
A versatile leading and character actor who is equally adept at comedy as he is with drama, Darren McGavin has spent the bulk of his time on television and only occasionally appears in feature films. He also has extensive stage experience. McGavin attended a year of college and then moved to New York to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actor's Studio. He made his film debut in 1945 playing small supporting roles in such movies as A Song to Remember, Kiss and Tell, and She Wouldn't Say Yes. His film career did not really take flight until he appeared in Otto Preminger's The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, The Man With the Golden Arm, and David Lean's Summertime (all 1955). In 1957, he played the title role in the television detective drama Mike Hammer. In feature films, McGavin averaged a film or two per year; by 1967, he had switched to television movies like The Outsider (1967) and The Challengers (1968). In 1971, he played vampire-hunting investigative reporter Carl Kolchak in The Nightstalker, a popular television movie that successfully blended humor, suspense, and horror. McGavin's wise-cracking character then appeared in a sequel and in 1974 starred in the short-lived television series Kolchak: The Nightstalker. While with the show, McGavin directed a few episodes. He had already directed and produced Happy Mother's Day, Love George (aka Run, Stranger, Run) (1973). In 1983, McGavin played one of his most memorable roles, that of the foul-mouthed, somewhat discombobulated, but well-meaning father in the uproarious A Christmas Story. McGavin earned an Emmy in 1990 for his recurring role as Murphy Brown's father on the popular sitcom Murphy Brown (1988-1998). Throughout the '90s, McGavin slowed down and only occasionally performed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1971
Produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg, The Rookies was the pilot film for the popular early-1970s cop series of the same name. The story centers upon the training of three young rookie cops, played by Michael Ontkean, Georg Stanford Brown and Sam Melville. Darren McGavin is their tough-talking, golden-hearted superior officer. When the Rookies series proper debuted in 1972, Ontkean, Melville and Brown were retained in the cast, but Darren McGavin was replaced by Gerald S. O'Loughlin. Also replaced was Jennifer Billingsley as Sam Melville's wife; the new "Jill Danko" was Kate Jackson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Ontkean, Georg Stanford Brown, (more)
- 1971
A young Steven Spielberg helmed the made-for-TV Something Evil. Johnny Whitaker (Family Affair) is cast as Stevie Worden, an angelic child whose parents move into a foreboding Pennsylvania mansion. It isn't long before Stevie is possessed with the house's resident demonic spirit. In anticipation of The Exorcist and The Omen, the spirit within Stevie never lets anyone know when it's going to strike -- but everyone knows full well when it does. Spielberg evokes horror throughout by contrasting the most terrifying events with the plodding commonplace of day-to-day life. Something Evil was Spielberg's last TV-movie assignment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
A widow finds her life unbearably dull and so becomes a volunteer CIA agent. She is sent to Mexico City for her first assignment and though her intentions are good, she ends up tossed into a jail. This was one of actress Rosalind Russel's final films and is sadly, considered among her very worst. Using a penname, she also wrote the screenplay. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1970
This TV movie proposes that at some future date, America will be at loggerheads against some unnamed Asiatic power. Realizing that all-out nuclear war will decimate the planet, the two countries decide to boil down their argument to two combatants. Darren McGavin, an army malcontent, is the American "delegate', while martial-arts expert Mako is the Asian. They are place together on a small Pacific Island and ordered to duke it out on behalf of their countries--winner take all. According to the press release, both men learn "that there is a higher morality than temporary politics." The shamefaced director of The Challenge was able to hide behind the pseudonymous cognomen "Allan Smithee"; unfortunately Darren McGavin and Mako weren't offered that option. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
The press release for the TV movie Berlin Affair described how "an employee of a sophisticated international murder-for-hire syndicate is assigned to hunt down..." Fill in the blank. Is it (a) his wife, (b) his best friend, or (c) a good chili restaurant? If you answered "b", then you can fill in the rest of this predictable spy caper. Before murderer-for-hire Darren McGavin can finish his mission, he is drugged and beaten up by the bad guys, and romanced by pretty Pascale Petit. Also featured in Berlin Affair are Fritz Weaver, Claude Dauphin, and Berlin Itself. The film bears no relation to the 1985 theatrical espionager of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
The TV movie Tribes struck a responsive chord with young TV hounds of the early 1970s. Jan-Michael Vincent plays a long-haired hippie who, despite his anti-war sentiments, ends up in the Marines. Though forced to endure the torture of a buzz-cut, Vincent remains flippant and rebellious. Nail-hard drill instructor Darren McGavin is determined to "break" Vincent and transform him into a lean, mean fighting machine. It was all done before in Jack Webb's 1957 theatrical feature The DI, but Tribes had a timeliness lacking in the earlier film, thanks to the ongoing Vietnam crisis. Tracy Keenan Wynn (son of Keenan, grandson of Ed) and Marvin Schwartz won Emmy Awards for their teleplay. A big ratings success when it first aired November 10, 1970, Tribes was later released theatrically in England and Europe under the title The Soldier Who Declared Peace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Battle at Gannon's Bridge originated as an episode of the weekly TV series Name of the Game. Darren McGavin appears as ex-convict Eddie Gannon, who holds the lease on a converted church used as a halfway house for recently released prisoners. Renewal of the lease is endangered by a rash of unsolved crimes in the neighborhood. Gannon asks Crime magazine editor Dan Farrell (Robert Stack) to prove that none of his fellow ex-cons are responsible for the thefts. Battle at Gannon's Bridge was initially telecast October 9, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
The 48 Hour Mile is a "feature film" in terms of length only. In fact, it is comprised of two hour-long episodes from the 1968 TV series The Outsider. Darren McGavin stars as private eye David Ross, who after serving six years in prison on a trumped-up charge devotes the rest of his life to helping "outsiders" like himself. In the two Outsider installments cobbled together in The 48 Hour Mile, William Windom plays a millionaire with female trouble, and Carrie Snodgress portrays a neurotic young woman who hires Ross to find her missing twin sister. Of the two, the Snodgress episode is the best, by virtue of the actress' outstanding performance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Anatomy of a Crime is comprised of two episodes from the 1968-69 TV series The Outsider. Darren McGavin earns top billing as David Ross, an ex-cop who became a private eye after cooling his heels in prison on a trumped-up murder charge. Ever on the outside looking in, Ross only accepts case from other "outsiders" who've been wronged by Society. Most of the footage in Anatomy of a Crime consists of the 60-minute Outsider episode "There Was a Little Girl", wherein a young woman claims to be the kidnapped-in-infancy daughter of a wealthy industrialist. Joan Blondell, Simon Scott, and Dorothy Green do guest-star duty in this 1968 installment. Woven into the continuity of "There Was a Little Girl" are scenes from another 1968 episode, "Tell It Like It Was...and You're Dead." Marilyn Maxwell, Whitney Blake, Jackie Coogan, and Ted Knight play major roles in this story of an ex-burlesque queen who receives death threats after announcing plans to write a tell-all autobiography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
This 90-minute episode of TV's Name of the Game guest-stars Darren McGavin as roving reporter Sam Hardy. Sam's boss, Crime magazine publisher Glenn Howard (Gene Barry), sends Hardy and magazine researcher Peggy Maxwell (Susan St. James) on a dangerous fact-finding mission. Their quarry is American missile scientist Harry Roarke (James Whitmore). While it appears as though Harry has defected to Cuba, he may very well be hiding out in the States, in fear for his life. Goodbye Harry originally aired October 24, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- R
This film, set in the turn-of-the-century West, chronicles the exploits of a con-man and his very special dog. He uses the crafty canine in a bunco game. Unfortunately a tough widow beats him at his own game and now he must help her drive her turkeys to market. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1968
This drama chronicles the complexities of small-town politics after a murder occurs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Completed in 1968, the made-for-TV The Challengers wasn't telecast until one year later. This Grand Prix melodrama top-bills Darren McGavin as a veteran racer whose wife (Juliet Mills) wants him to retire. A secondary plot involves Sean Garrison and Nico Minardos, who carry their on-track rivalry into their private lives. Anne Baxter, Susan Clark, and Sal Mineo are also on hand to urge on the winners, comfort the losers, and spout the cliches. Location footage of the actual Grand Prix is the sole tangible asset of The Challengers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
The quest for a fortune gold bullion provides the impetus for this adventuresome crime drama set in Southwestern Africa. It all begins with a plane crash. The pilot barely survives. When he awakens he sees that he is near an abandoned, wreck of a wagon. He ends up taken in by a couple who talk about the wagon and its mysterious cargo. Soon after the pilot's return to Johannesburg, he finds that the wagon is purported to have been filled with gold. Excited, he, and others, including his son and his son's girl friend, return to the location and begin their search. Unfortunately, the couple who rescued him lie in wait and take them all hostage. For the second time in the story, the wife attempts to seduce the pilot and was with the first time, the pilot says no. Realizing that she was wrong to have done that, the repentant wife frees the captives, an act that costs her life. Later, the searchers find the treasure, but unfortunately, things are not as they seem to be and violence ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1967
The sacred gold seal of the Far Eastern nation of Kuala Rokat has been stolen. Masterminding the heist is American industrialist Taggart (Darren McGavin), who intends to hold on to the seal despite the danger of a major diplomatic breakdown. The IMF is assigned to recover the seal, a job that requires a trained cat named Rusty and a healthy dose of the occult. Written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, "The Seal" made its first network TV appearance on November 5 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1967
The Outsider is a refreshingly cynical TV detective drama, starring master cynic Darren McGavin. McGavin plays David Ross, a John MacDonaldesque private eye who virtually lives in his beat-up car and who spends most of his time eluding creditors. An ex-convict, Ross is prohibited from carrying a gun, which means that he gets beaten up on an average of once every ten minutes. Ross is hired by a theatre manager who suspects a female employee of embezzlement; the employee winds up dead, and Ross winds up Suspect Number One. Capped with an twist ending right out of Mickey Spillane, The Outsider was an excellent intro for the weekly TV series which followed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
This routine science-fiction saga concerns the crew of a rocket ship slated to travel to the red planet Mars. Mike (Darren McGavin) is the chief pilot who is assisted by the navigator Nick (Nick Adams). Using several scenes containing stock footage of McDonnell Air Force Base and Cape Kennedy, the crew takes off for their destination. Alice (Shirley Parker) is the wife who worries her husband Nick may not return. The action plods along for an hour, building to a climax in the final 27 minutes. The Forum Quorum provides the rock music for the feature, which supposedly was the last for Nick Adams before his sudden death at an early age. This feature is the initial film shot at Studio City in Miami, Florida. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Darren McGavin, Nick Adams, (more)
- 1965
The Great Sioux Massacre is an entertaining pack of lies about Custer's Last Stand. General Custer (Philip Carey) is herein depicted as a bastion of tolerance, whose efforts to secure fair treatment for the Indians lead to several confrontations with corrupt government officials. Custer is forced to retire, but is soon approached by a machiavellian senator (Don Haggerty) who convinces the General that he is presidential material. The best way to attain the White House, Custer reasons, is to wrest control of the upcoming Little Big Horn campaign from the officer in charge (Frank Ferguson). This, alas, proves to be "Yellow Hair's" undoing. The Great Sioux Massacre costars Joseph Cotten and Darren McGavin as Custer's fellow officers Reno and Benton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Cotten, Darren McGavin, (more)
- 1964
Social-climbing car thief Philadelphia Harry (Telly Savalas) thinks he's finally hit the big time when he steals a Rolls Royce belonging to millionaire Sheridan Westcott (Darren McGavin). But Harry's delight turns to dismay when he discovers the body of Westcott's wife in the back seat. Though he may be a thief, Harry would rather die than have people think he has stooped to murder -- and as it happens, death may be the only way out of this mess when Westcott, the real murderer, tells the police that his wife was still alive when the car was stolen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Darren McGavin, Telly Savalas, (more)
- 1964
Audie Murphy continued to make 1950s-style westerns into the 1960s. In Bullet for a Badman, Logan Keliher (Murphy) is framed for murder by onetime friend Sam Ward (Darren McGavin). Keliher escapes to mete out justice and to reclaim his former wife (Ruta Lee), whom Ward has married. The escapee gradually comes to realize that the true villain of the piece is not his ex-friend but instead his ex-wife. A Bullet for a Badman was shipped out to the lower halves of Universal's drive-in double bills for the 1963-64 season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audie Murphy, Darren McGavin, (more)
A young widow from Boston travels with her three children to Maine to enjoy their summer vacation. Margaret Carey (Dorothy McGuire) is helped by the friendly Osh Popham (Burl Ives), who finds the family a rent-free house vacated by a vacationing landowner. Daughter Nancy (Hayley Mills) catches the eye of a young schoolteacher, Digby (Michael J. Pollard). The owner of the summer house shows up from Europe unexpectedly, but keeps his identity a secret when he too falls for the young Nancy. The entire family gets to croon with Burl Ives in a folksy front-porch singalong. The townsfolk make the Careys feel at home to the point that they consider making the idyllic coastal town their permanent home. This Walt Disney film is lighthearted entertainment for the entire family. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hayley Mills, Burl Ives, (more)
- 1958
Case Against Brooklyn was based on an "expose" article by Ed Reid. Darren McGavin plays rookie cop Pete Harris, who goes undercover to help smash a Brooklyn bookie ring. The problem here as that the crooks have been bribing other cops to look the other way. As if Harris wasn't courting enough trouble by going up against his "own", he also falls in love with gambler's widow Lil Polombo (Maggie Hayes), even though he's already married to Jane Harris (Peggy McCay). Daniel B. Ullman's screenplay adheres to the facts as recorded by Ed Reid, right down to the semi-unhappy finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Darren McGavin, Maggie Hayes, (more)
- 1957
New York City is known for choosing colorful characters for its mayors. One its most illustrious was the wisecracking, dancing and singing Mayor James J. Walker (as played by Bob Hope in a rare, serious role) who helmed the Big Apple in the 1920s. This biopic chronicles his surprising rise to power and is adapted from a book by Gene Fowler. Walker owed his mayoral post to Tammany, a powerful political organization that used its tremendous clout to get him installed. Walker, who never takes his job seriously, then becomes a figurehead for Tammany, and while he is in power, corruption in the police force and other city offices runs rampant. Meanwhile Walker wrangles with his lover, dancer Betty Compton, and his jealous wife, from whom he is separated. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Vera Miles, (more)
