John McNamara Movies

 

A remake of the popular 1960s TV series of the same name (which had previously spawned a smash-hit 1993 theatrical feature), CBS' The Fugitive stakes out the old familiar ground. This time out, former Wings star Timothy Daly is cast as Dr. Richard Kimble, who was falsely accused of murdering his wife. Despite his protestations that he'd seen a "one-armed man" fleeing the murder scene, and apparently lacking the financial wherewithal to hire a lawyer like Alan Dershowitz or Johnny Cochran, Kimble was found guilty and sentenced to the electric chair. En route to prison, Kimble managed to escape during a train wreck, and he spends the rest of the series traveling from town to town, adopting a variety of aliases and professions, and helping those whose lives he touches. All the while, Kimble pursues the elusive One-Armed Man (Stephen Lang), even as he himself is being pursued by dogged, single-minded Police Lieutenant Gerard (played by Mykelti Williamson, best known as Bubba Blue in the 1994 Oscar-winner Forrest Gump). Infinitely more expensive and special-effects-laden than its TV predecessor, this "retro" series makes up in energy and high-tech visuals what it lacks in originality. The Fugitive revival began (literally) running on October 6, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

An innocent law student gets accused of murdering a mob chief's son when a casino poker game turns into a fistfight that ends with a fatality. Soon the mob and the corrupt local police are after the kid whose only respite in this film is a short romance with a new-found sweetheart. ~ Rovi

In this Disney comedy, an unemployed, destitute actress tries to save her dog after it eats too much junk food during a shoot for a dog-food commercial. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The plot gets under way when artist Jack Culross (Britt Lomond) fakes his own suicide so that his paintings will increase in value. Upon discovering that her husband is still alive, Culross' wife Edna (Lori March) tracks him down and angrily confronts him. Not long afterward, Culross is found dead for real, and Edna is charged with the crime. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must find out who else knew of Culross' phony suicide--and who else hated him enough to kill him. With this episode, Wesley Lau becomes a regular as Lt. Anderson, though in many episodes he is still billed among the supporting players. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The story of America's most notorious gangster mother is chronicled in this crime drama. The tale starts in Oklahoma during the Depression. It is she who encourages her sons to become criminals. So sage is her advice, that other infamous mobsters such as Dillinger, and Machine Gun Kelly come to her for advice. She and her outlaw progeny go on the lam until the police finally corner her in her richly appointed Florida hide-out. A bloody shoot-out ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Originally released as The Return of Dracula (and also known by the irrelevant title The Fantastic Disappearing Man), this interesting vampire variant on Shadow of a Doubt finds the infamous Count (Francis Lederer) leaving his castle digs in Transylvania and departing for the United States after killing an artist and assuming his identity. Passing himself off as a distant relative, he settles in with the Mayberry family in California, where he begins seeking fresh victims. The suspicions of young Rachel Mayberry (Norma Eberhardt) regarding her pale visitor's eerie nocturnal habits prove well-founded after the mysterious death of her best friend, and she soon discovers her own ghastly role in the Count's master plan; her only hope lies with an expatriate police inspector, who may be familiar with the ways of the undead. Played refreshingly straight, this modest Universal production benefits from Lederer's compelling performance as the seductive Count and several unique plot twists (including a blind girl who becomes sighted on turning into a vampire). ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

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, Rovi

This uproariously bad monster mess is set on a remote tropical island, where a native prince places a curse on the elders just prior to his execution for breaking tribal law, promising to return from the dead for revenge. He does, of course -- but he can only manage to return from the grave as a giant walking tree. (His obvious displeasure with having assumed this shape is indicated by the tree-thing's permanently constipated expression.) There is some indication given that his resurrection has something to do with atomic testing taking place on the island, but this is obviously incidental to the real plot, which treats viewers to endless scenes of natives running in horror from a shambling, ticked-off rubber stump. In print, this sounds like broad comedy material, but the only laughs to be found in this clunker are purely unintentional. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi