Robert Casper Movies
- 1989
The emphasis in this episode is not on Jessica (Angela Lansbury) but on her old friend, indefatigable LA homicide detective Jake Ballinger (Barry Newman). Refusing to give up his own personal investigation of a "closed" murder case, Jake is forcibly relocated to a small college town, there to teach a course in criminology. Of course, Ballinger intends to continue pursuing his investigation, this time with help of his students--all two of them (he'd scared the rest of the class away on the first day of the semester!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Director Stan Dragoti, whose forte is plumbing the depths of the male psyche, plumbs those depths once again in She's Out of Control. Tony Danza stars as Doug Simpson, a broadcasting executive who has trouble adjusting to the fact that his fifteen-year-old daughter Katie (Ami Dolenz) is blossoming into a sexual being. This realization kicks in after his fiancee Janet (Catherine Hicks) takes Katie for a makeover; suddenly she appears before Doug looking like a sultry super model. Now Doug is unable to look at his daughter as anything other than as a sexy chick, and he spends his time fending off packs of horny suitors while dictating morality to Katie. It finally gets to the point where Doug consults with television psychiatrist Dr. Fishbinder (Wallace Shawn), who recommends that Doug read a book he has written for single fathers, advising him, "If you're a slow reader, you better put your daughter on the pill." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Danza, Catherine Hicks, (more)
- 1986
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is appointed foreman of the jury in an apparently "open and shut" murder trial. The accused claims that he killed the victim in self-defense, when said victim found the accused in bed with his wife. Half of the jury is for conviction, half for acquittal; as for Jessica, she is convinced that there is more to the case than meets the eye. Indeed, she believes that more than one murder is in play here--and as usual, she's right! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
At the height of a four-day torrential downpour, a mudslide unearths a body in a mountaintop cemetary. Peforming lab tests on the corpse, Quincy (Jack Klugman) discovers that the death may have been due to typhoid--and that this body and several others were buried illegally. In his frantic efforts to determine the truth behind this mystery, and to avoid a widespread epidemic, Quincy once again runs up against the brick wall of bureaucracy (to say nothing of that old municipal ritual popularly known as "C.Y.A.") ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This made-for-television film Winds of Kitty Hawk, chronicles the efforts of the Wright Brothers to become the first men to build a functioning, motor-powered airplane, as well as their rivalry with Glenn Curtiss. While the movie is a little too leisurely paced, the aerial sequences are excellent. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Soft-hearted (and frequently soft-headed) Laverne (Penny Marshall) rescues a decripit old horse named Buttercup from the glue factory. With no other hiding place available, Laverne squirrels Buttercup away in her bedroom, much to the dismay of roommate Shirley (Cindy Williams). Can it be possible that the nag's fate rests in the grimy hands of Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander)? (Trivia alert: the name of the horse's owner is Mr. Pioli--and tonight's episode was written by Judy Pioli Ervin). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Will Mackenzie makes the first of several series appearances as mercurial travel agent Larry Bondurant. The office is abuzz with speculation and trepidation when Carol announces her engagement to a man whom she met on a blind date -- 12 hours earlier. Others in the cast are Robert Casper as Judge Tanner, Pat Cranshaw as the Old Gentleman, and Vince Milana and Ric Mancini as the moving men. Written by Gordon and Lynne Farr, "Carol's Wedding" was the first Bob Newhart Show episode filmed for the 1975-1976 season, but was not shown until October 18, 1975, when the season was already six weeks old. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, (more)
- 1972
Donna Mills was still in her "imperiled heroine" career stage when she starred in the made-for-TV The Bait. Mills is a policewoman who goes incognito to solves a baffling series of rape-murders. Almost as deadly as the rapist is the sexism Mills must suffer from her superior officer (Michael Constantine)--which at times is played for laughs. Based on a novel by former policewoman Dorothy Uhnak, who must have been appalled at the liberties taken with her work by this film, The Bait was the pilot for an unlaunched weekly TV series. Sidenote (courtesy of TV-movie historian Lee Goldberg): Noam Pitlik, a guest star in The Bait, would later direct several episodes of the police sitcom Barney Miller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
In the fourth episode of a seven-part story arc, Samantha and Darrin are vacationing in Italy when Sam discovers that Esmerelda was the one who caused the tower of Pisa to lean way back in the 15th century. In endeavoring to make up for her past blunders, Esmerelda succeeds only in ruining the Pisa tourist trade. Everything is resolved by yet another "blast into the past," courtesy of Sam. Originally seen on October 6, 1971, "Samantha's Not So Leaning Tower of Pisa" was written by Ed Jurist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick Sargent, (more)
- 1962
Washed out of an upcoming Moon project, civilian astronaut Mitchell Heller (Robert Bray) has plenty of reason to despise the man responsible, Maj. Gen. Addison Brand (a pre-stardom James Coburn). Not only has Heller stolen his job and his girlfriend, but he also may have swiped an invention on which Heller has been working for years. Thus, when Brand is murdered, the police think that Heller is the culprit. In his efforts to clear Heller, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) immerses himself in the brave new world of Astronautics--while a reluctant Paul Drake (William Hopper) participates in a simulated space-capsule flight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
This is a routine drama about Leo Mack (Frankie Vaughn) a good-for-nothing, aspiring actor who goes to Hollywood and then ruins one life after another. Based on a stage play by the late Garson Kanin and adapted by his brother, scripters Michael Kanin and his wife Fay Kanin, the story is one long series of disasters wrought by Leo. Alleviated by several pop songs, Leo first wrecks the relationships between five young men who had been living equitably together in a bachelor pad. He goes on to mess up his budding romance with Ursula (Juliet Prowse) and Anne (Martha Hyer) and continues in that way until fame is almost certain. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juliet Prowse, Frankie Vaughan, (more)
- 1961
Hired to inventory the Bowden estate, Ralph Duncan (Vaughn Taylor), a none-too-bright civil servant, decides to impress his wife Helen by bringing home $153,000 in old greenbacks that he has found on the Bowden property. Of course, Duncan intends to return the money the next morning; unfortunately, the cash is stolen by his no-good cousin Charley (Robert Casper). Not only is poor Duncan accused of theft, but he's also charged with the murder of one Lloyd Farrell (Liam Sullivan)--and it is at this point that Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) enters the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Based on author James T. Farrell's trilogy written between 1932 and 1935 and later combined into a one-volume Studs Lonigan book, this less than two-hour film does not quite do justice to the literary whole. Studs (Christopher Knight) is raised on Chicago's infamous South Side, an Irish kid when prejudice against the Irish was still around and hanging tough was the norm in impoverished neighborhoods. Once he leaves grade school behind and enters high school, a world of "wenching," fights, drinking, and wild parties starts to open up. By 1929, Studs is trapped into a marriage he comes to hate and as the decade of the '30s begins, he is still trying to be as tough as he can. But as he learns, no one can out-tough the Great Depression. At times confusing and histrionic and wordy (not to mention censored to fit a 1960s unspoken coda), Studs Lonigan falls short of the pithy, emotional, rugged world of Farrell's Irish hoodlum. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Knight, Frank Gorshin, (more)
- 1959
The fourth season of Maverick gets under way minus the series' popular star James Garner, who'd vacated the role of frontier gambler Bret Maverick after a contract dispute with Warner Bros.. Garner's costar Jack Kelly is still on hand as Bret's brother Bart Maverick, along with a newcomer to these parts: future "James Bond" Roger Moore in the role of Bart's British cousin Beau Maverick, the "white sheep" of the Maverick clan. No sooner has Beau arrived in the American West than he agrees--for a price, of course--to pose as Freddie Bogner (Robert Casper, scion of a wealthy and aristocratic European family. But the $4000 that Beau is to collect for this assignment may not be worth the danger involved when he is kidnapped by an ill-tempered gent with a long-standing grudge against the real Freddie. Featured in the cast is Max Baer Jr., still two years away from TV immortality as Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
