George Chandler Movies
Comic actor George Chandler entered the University of Illinois after World War I service, paying for his education by playing in an orchestra. He continued moonlighting in the entertainment world in the early 1920s, working as an insurance salesman by day and performing at night. By the end of the decade he was a seasoned vaudevillian, touring with a one-man-band act called "George Chandler, the Musical Nut." He began making films in 1927, appearing almost exclusively in comedies; perhaps his best-known appearance of the early 1930s was as W.C.Fields' prodigal son Chester in the 1932 2-reeler The Fatal Glass of Beer. Chandler became something of a good-luck charm for director William Wellman, who cast the actor in comedy bits in many of his films; Wellman reserved a juicy supporting role for Chandler as Ginger Rogers' no-good husband in Roxie Hart (1942). In all, Chandler made some 330 movie appearances. In the early 1950s, Chandler served two years as president of the Screen Actors Guild, ruffling the hair of many prestigious stars and producers with his strongly held political views. From 1958 through 1959, George Chandler was featured as Uncle Petrie on the Lassie TV series, and in 1961 he starred in a CBS sitcom that he'd helped develop, Ichabod and Me. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1976
Jeff Griffin (Peter Falk) is dying of cancer. Sarah Phoenix (Jill Clayburgh) is suffering from terminal leukemia. Ignored or reviled by their respective families, Griffin and Phoenix turn to each other for emotional support. Deciding to live their last months to the fullest, they indulge in outrageous, childish public behavior and vent their anger at their conditions full-force, knowing full well that they won't have to answer for their silliness or rage. They also fall in love with each other. The only proviso to their relationship is that Griffin must promise not to visit Phoenix in her final days, and vice versa. Written by John Hill, Griffin and Phoenix: A Love Story was first telecast on February 27, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Jill Clayburgh, (more)
- 1976
Grandpa Walton (Will Geer) never passes up an opporutnity to regale the kids with memories of his adventures during the Spanish Civil War, when--as he tells it--he stood side by side with Teddy Roosevelt while charging up San Juan Hill. Why then, is Grandpa so reluctant to attend a reunion of his fellow war veterans. And just who is that mysterious stranger shadowing Grandpa's every move? This intrigue tends to overshadow the episode's secondary storyline, in which Ben (Eric Scott) goes into the hunting business for fun (?) and profit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This fast-paced Disney endeavor stars Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann as two adolescents with acute psychic powers. The kids are actually space aliens, but suffer from amnesia and are unaware of their origins. Pursued by greedy business-mogul Ray Milland, who wants to harness their special powers for his benefit, Kim and Ike are rescued by likeable camper Eddie Albert. He and the kids escape to the mountain of the title when Albert's RV suddenly acquires the power of flight. In 1978, the film spawned the sequel Return from Witch Mountain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Albert, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1974
There's definitely something in the air when a pungent perfume bottle smashes in the back seat of Adam-12. Despite the all-pervading stench, Officers Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) valiantly remain on the job. Unforutnately, most of their calls turn out to be false alarms, notably a reported burglary at a church--which may have been committed by the parish minister (Stuart Nesbit. Featured in the cast is another longtime member of producer Jack Webb's "stock company", Olan Soule. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Chaddock (Barry Sullivan) is the straight-shooting marshall of Gloryhole, Montana. Wealthy rancher Rep Marlowe (Wendell Corey) practically owns the town by way of his gambling saloons, shady land deals and hired guns who intimidate the law-abiding citizens. Sheriff Tangley (Lon Chaney Jr.) calls on Chaddock when Marlowe holds the town hostage by damming the river and cutting off the water supply. Barbara Hale plays Sarah Cody, whose young son is killed by gunfire in the ensuing melee. The saloon girl Nora (Joan Caulfield) is a former schoolteacher forced into her tawdry occupation by the menacing Marlowe in this routine western film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Sullivan, Joan Caulfield, (more)
- 1967
With the series' premise (a wheelchair-bound detective) already established in a two-hour TV pilot film, Ironside launches its first season with a minimum of exposition and a maximum of fast action. Now living in his third-floor office at police headquarters, former San Francisco police chief Robert T. Ironside (Raymond Burr) doggedly disregards his semi-invalid status and continues to solve crimes with an elite three-person staff, consisting of Det. Sgt. Ed Brown (Don Galloway), policewoman Eve Whitfield (Barbara Anderson) and Ironside's bodyguard-general factotum Mark Sanger (Don Mitchell). In this episode, Ironside and company try to solve a racetrack robbery that occurred virtually under their noses. With only one firm clue (a crashed car) to go on, Ironside detemines that the robbery was an inside job...but who was the inside man? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Bonanza's final eighth-season offering, "The Greedy Ones" first aired on May 14, 1967. Rumors are flying that old prospector Gus Schultz has struck it rich on the Ponderosa. As a result, Ben Cartwright must contend with a veritable batallion of greedy gold hunters. The worst of the lot is avaricious mining tycoon Shasta (Robert Middleton), who will stop at nothing to get his mitts on the gold-which may not even exist! "The Greedy Ones" was written by James Amesbury. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
Luther Heggs (Don Knotts) is a typesetter at a newspaper who longs for a chance to be a reporter. Editor Beckett (Dick Sargent) gives Luther his big break and assigns him to spend the night in a house generally considered to be haunted. The situation allows a broad canvas for Knotts to react to sight gags with the special brand of eye-popping nervousness that made him a star. Former Playboy Bunny Joan Staley plays the pretty girlfriend of star reporter Ollie Skip Homeier. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Knotts, Joan Staley, (more)
- 1966
A spotted horse follows Oliver home. Oliver tells Lisa that a spotted horse has followed him home. Lisa looks for herself, and sees no spotted horse. In fact, Lisa never sees the spotted horse when Oliver does, leading her to conclude that he's seeing spots before his eyes, and thus is in dire need of psychiatric help! This episode was meant to air later in Green Acres' first season, but was bumped up as a replacement for the scheduled episode "The Rains Came." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Jim Walker Rory Calhoun is a hero who fights Indians and crooks who plan a series of stagecoach robberies in this routine western. He defends the honor of a woman (Corinne Calvet) wrongly accused of having a bad reputation. Johnny Mack Brown plays the local Sheriff Ben Hall, with Lon Chaney, Jr. as the friendly stagecoach driver Charlie Russell. Watch for DeForest Kelley in a pre-Star Trek role as a crazed gunman. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Corinne Calvet, (more)
- 1966
This first episode of a two-part story serves to introduce Mike Minor in the role of handsome cropduster Steve Elliott. While flying over the Shady Rest Hotel, Steve catches a tantalizing glimpse of the three Bradley girls swimming "au naturel" in the local water tower--and as a result he crash-lands his plane! Feeling responsible for the accident, the Bradley sisters do their best to help Steve recuperate from his injuries--and also aggressively vie for his attentions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Though he's most famous for his portrayal of Victor Laszlo in 1942's Casablanca, actor Paul Henreid took a few turns behind the camera as evidenced by this 1964 thriller starring Bette Davis as twins Margaret DeLorca and Edith Phillips. After landing the beau they both sought after by falsely claiming she was pregnant, Margaret lives a life of luxury as the wife of a wealthy man. Now, 20 years later, a broke and lonely Edith has returned for revenge. After killing the recently widowed Margaret, Edith assumes her identity with plans of living the life she feels she's deserved all along. But in order to pull it off, she'll have to play the role of Margaret connivingly enough to fool her servants as well as a local playboy and the police. Dead Ringer was remade in 1986 as Killer in the Mirror, a made-for-television movie starring Ann Jillian. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Karl Malden, (more)
- 1964
This is the first of numerous westerns produced by A.C. Lyles which became famous not for their stories but for who played in them--all the stars being veterans not often seen on the screen anymore. As far as plot line, essentially we have a badguy who has become a good guy (read that ex gunfighter turned judge) and meets his past in his own court room. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dale Robertson, Yvonne De Carlo, (more)
- 1961
Jack Carson stars as Harvey Hunnicutt, a fast-talking used car salesman to whom The Truth is a total stranger. Hunnicutt's prevaricating nature undergoes a terrifying about-face when a spooky old man (George Chandler sells Harvey a dilapidated Model A Ford -- one which compels its owner to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The punchline of this episode will be amusing only to those who lived through the darkest days of the Cold War (though a passing reference to "Jack Kennedy" has been excised from most existing prints). Future Laugh-In regular Arte Johnson appears as Hunnicutt's long-suffering assistant. One of six Twilight Zone episodes shot on videotape, "The Whole Truth" was written by Rod Serling and was initially telecast on January 20, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Carson, Loring Smith, (more)
- 1957
In this western, the trouble begins when a ruthless outlaw impersonates a mine owner. When the sheriff begins to suspect him, the badguy kills him. A government agent, working undercover replaces the sheriff, exposes the crook and wins the love of a purty gal in the process. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel McCrea, Mark Stevens, (more)
- 1957
After several years' absence from the screen, the vivacious Betty Hutton made a somewhat tepid comeback in Spring Reunion. The scene is a medium-sized Midwestern town, where Maggie Brewster (Hutton) is reacquainted with her high-school flame Fred Davis (Dana Andrews) during a class reunion. The first time around, Maggie turned down Fred at the behest of her wealthy, domineering father (Robert Simon). When Fred proposes a second time, history threatens to repeat itself -- at least until the lachrymose finale. Silent screen star Laura La Plante also makes a return to the screen as Maggie's understanding mother. Rumor has it that the barely saleable Spring Reunion was deliberately designed as a tax write-off by the accountants for Kirk Douglas' Bryna Productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Andrews, Betty Hutton, (more)
- 1957
Broadway musical star and celebrated concert singer Barbara Cook makes a rare TV appearance in this chilling episode. Bored with her boyfriend, party girl Barbie Hallem (Cook) decides to escape to her uncle's cabin in the woods. En route, Barbie is warned by café owner Ed Mungo (Robert Karnes) that Ed's brother Bennie (Vic Morrow), suspected of murdering his sweetheart, is still at large. Once at the cabin, Barbie is confronted by Bennie -- who tells her an entirely different story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
Criminal Arnold Woodman (Herburt Vigran) and his two confederates planet 20,000 dollars in stolen money on Inspector Henderson (Robert Shayne), then threaten to accuse him of taking a bribe unless he does what they tell him. Playing for time, Henderson agrees to follow orders, which does not sit well with his reporter friend Clark Kent (George Reeves). Nor do things bode well for Kent's alter ego Superman, who has been targeted for extinction by Woodman through the deployment of a sure-fire doomsday weapon (well, it seemed like it was sure-fire on the drawing board, anyway!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
In this comedy sequel to Wonderful Town (a popular Broadway musical), Kim, a museum worker from Providence, Rhode Island, inherits half ownership of a Las Vegas hotel when her father dies. She and her Aunt Clara go there to learn more about it. Unfortunately, just before they arrive, the other owner, Ether Ferguson, gambles the hotel away. When Kim and Clara arrive, Kim is led to believe that the hotel she co-owns is the Flamingo Hotel which is really owned by Victor Monte. Victor finds the naive lass charming and so allows the delusion to persist. Eventually they fall in love. Songs include: "An Occasional Man," "Take a Chance," "We're Alone," "The Girl Rush," "Champagne," "Birmingham," "Out of Doors," "Choose Your Partner," and "My Hillbilly Heart." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosalind Russell, Fernando Lamas, (more)
- 1955
Longtime B-western favorites Tex Ritter and Ray "Crash" Corrigan are among the supporting players of the Columbia oater Apache Ambush. Star of the proceedings is Bill Williams, cast as Indian scout James Kingston. In the last days of the Civil War, President Lincoln (James Griffith) selects Kingston and two other men -- cattle driver O'Roarke (Ray Teal) and "reconstructed" Confederate major McGuire (Don C. Harvey) -- to help speed along a major cattle shipment from Texas to the Northern states. One of the obstacles facing the three men is Mexican fanatic Joaquin Jironza (Alex Montoya), who wants to get his hands on the Henry Repeating Rifles which Kingston and his confreres carry with them. Undermining the good guys is embittered ex-rebel Lee Parker (Richard Jaeckel), who is in cahoots with Jironza. So much happens in the first five reels that the titular Indian ambush is almost anticlimactic (a warning to more sensitive viewers: neither the Apaches nor the Mexicans are shown in a particularly sympathetic light). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Williams, Richard Jaeckel, (more)
- 1955
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) respond to a call from the LAPD's San Fernando Valley division. Several new homes in the district have been robbed by a thief with a bizarre MO: he only targets people who own pet birds--which he brutally kills on every occasion. Following the grim trail of clues, the two detectives catch up with a young man whose cheerful demeanor masks an all-consuming hatred for our feathered friends. One of the most popular black-and-white Dragnet episodes on the current public-domain home video market, "The Big Bird" was adapted from a radio drama originally broadcast on February 1, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Future TV western star Chuck Connors appears in this classic episode as a gangly hillbilly who happens to be named Sylvester J. Superman. Arriving in Metropolis to seek his fortune, the clueless Sylvester answers a classified ad for the "real" Superman (George Reeves), and before long has been hired by a woman named Marge (Marjorie Owens) to deliver a lemon meringue pie to her fiancé Steve (Richard Garland), stationed at a remote Air Force weather base in Alaska. Meanwhile, gangster Leftover Louie (who else but Ben Welden?) has wagered $25,000 that he can convince his schoolmate Marge to bake him a fresh lemon meringue pie, even though she can't stand the sight of him. Inevitably, these two plot strands are intertwined, as a hopelessly confused Steve welcomes the vacuous Sylvester, a gun-toting Louie, and the honest-to-goodness Superman into his tiny snowbound shack! "Flight to the North" may not be the best Superman episode of all time, but it's certainly the funniest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
For The High and the Mighty, director William Wellman made a point of using Cinemascope to heighten the dramatic content of a confined screen space -- in this instance, the cockpit of a plane in flight. Copilot Dan Roman (John Wayne) seems a lot more in control of things than Captain John Sullivan (Robert Stack) when the plane loses an engine during a flight from Honolulu to San Francisco. Wellman crosscuts from the tension in the cockpit to the various subplots involving the plane's passengers, among them May Holst (Claire Trevor), Lydia Rice (Laraine Day), Howard Rice (John Howard), Sally McKee (Jan Sterling), Ed Joseph (Phil Harris), and Humphrey Agnew (Sidney Blackmer) (as a character named Humphrey Agnew -- a remarkable prescient cognomen given the future of the U.S. vice presidency!). Adapted by Ernest K. Gann from his best-selling novel, The High and the Mighty was one of the first (and most profitable) entries in the "terror in the sky" genre. Its theme music, written by Dimitri Tiomkin and whistled incessantly by John Wayne in the film, would later become a best-selling hit throughout the world. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Claire Trevor, (more)
- 1954
Rails into Laramie is one of the more obscure Universal-International western programmers of the 1950s, but this is no reflection on its entertainment value. John Payne stars as "town tamer" Jefferson Harder, who intends to clean up the wide-open community of Laramie. Everyone knows that the outlaw gang headed by Jim Shanessy (Dan Duryea) is responsible for preventing the railroad from building a line into Laramie, but Shanessy always manages to intimidate the all-male juries into releasing him. He and saloon-hall gal Lou Carter (Mari Blanchard) want to keep the rails out of Laramie so that both can pursue their criminal activities unabated. But when Lou switches sides and aligns herself with Harder, it's the beginning of the end for the scurrilous Shanessy. The film's resolution is "borrowed" from the 1941 western The Lady From Cheyenne and works just as well here as it did in the earlier picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Payne, Mari Blanchard, (more)
- 1954
Like its predecessor Duffy of San Quentin, The Steel Cage is made up of episodes from a never-telecast TV series based on the career of progressive prison warden Clinton T. Duffy. Paul Kelly plays Duffy, while his wife is portrayed by Maureen O'Sullivan. Divided into three separate playlets, the film begins with the semi-comic story of an ill-tempered chef (Walter Slezak) who is railroaded into San Quentin by a gourmet prisoner. The second story concerns a tense hostage situation fomented by would-be escapees John Ireland and Lawrence Tierney. The closing story deals with an incarcerated painter (Kenneth Tobey), whose belief in God is renewed by an idealistic young priest (Arthur Franz). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Kelly, Maureen O'Sullivan, (more)
