Lonny Chapman Movies
University of Oklahoma alumnus Lonny Chapman inaugurated his professional acting career in 1948. While co-starring in the Broadway production of Come Back Little Sheba, Chapman arranged for his college chum Dennis Weaver to understudy for him. Weaver went on to TV fame as Chester on the Western series Gunsmoke, while Chapman prospered as a film character actor, playing such roles as Roy in East of Eden (1955), Rock in Baby Doll (1957), and Deke Carter in Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). On TV, Lonny Chapman starred as private eye Jeff Prior in the 1958 summer-replacement series The Investigator, and was featured as another detective, Frank Malloy, in the 1965 courtroom weekly For the People (1965). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Adapted from a novel by Theodore V. Olsen, The Stalking Moon opens in the Arizona of the Old West, as the U.S. calvary is in the process of relocating Native Americans to reservations. One of the calvary men is Sam Varner (Gregory Peck), an aging scout who is ready to retire to his New Mexico home after this mission. Varner is called upon to sneak into a small Apache camp in order to disarm the guards before the rest of his troupe rides in to round up the whole tribe. After the round-up, a white woman is discovered among the Americans. Her name is Sarah Carver (Eva Marie Saint), and she was captured ten years ago by a mysterious and vicious warrior named Salvaje (Nathaniel Narcsisco), who is not among those captured in the round-up. Held against her will, she now has a nine-year-old son by Salvaje. Although her English is very rusty from disuse, she lets Varner know that she and her son would like to be taken away from the tribe. He agrees to transport her to his home, and they set out together for New Mexico, having to overcome obstacles such as a sandstorm to get there. Along the way, they seem to sense that someone is following them, and after they arrive at Varner's cabin, they find themselves set upon by the vengeful Salvaje. Enlisting the aid of a half-breed scout Robert Forster that he raised from childhood, Varner tries to fend off Salvaje, who seems to be toying with them before moving in for the final kill. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Eva Marie Saint, (more)
John Sturges directed this sequel to his Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which is more of a melancholy character study than an action Western. The Edward Anhalt screenplay (based on Douglas D. Martin's Tombstone's Epitaph) traces Wyatt Earp's (James Garner) moral decline from a lawman with high ideals to a mean-spirited vigilante bent on personal revenge. Ironically, Doc Holliday (Jason Robards), an admitted lawless gambler, reacts to Earp's vengeful turnabout by becoming the moral force that Earp has rejected. When Earp's brothers are killed by goons employed by Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan), Earp becomes obsessed with vengeance and organizes a posse to track down the killers. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Jason Robards, Jr., (more)
- 1967
Guest star Eartha Kitt is cast as a petite circus contortionist named Tina. American agent Hughes (Lonny Chapman) has defected to the East, intending to sell top-secret information to the Communists. In order to retrieve that information, the IMF must penetrate an Iron Curtain embassy, via the air conditioning system--and that's where Tina comes in. Originally telecast on April 15 1967, "The Traitor" was written by Edward J. Lasko. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
This episode is something of a family affair, with John McIntire, his wife Jeanette Nolan and their son Tim McIntire) cast in key roles. As "Mike Johnson", Kimble (David Janssen) blends into a community of migrant workers, befriending the nomadic Kelly family. Arriving in the community, Lt. Gerard threatens Lester Kelly (John McIntire) with arrest unless he reveals Kimble's whereabouts. But before Gerard can move in for the capture, a hurricane sweeps through the area, forcing everyone to take refuge in a single, none-too-solid structure. Ultimately, Kimble finds himself in the ironic position of begging the migrants to donate blood in order to save Gerard's life--even while the storm continues to rage all around them. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Hoss Cartwright befriends philosophical drifter Will Smith (Lonny Chapman), a brilliant poet but a chronic alcoholic. Characteristically, Hoss tries to reform Will-only to discover that his new friend is not the rootless vagabond everyone thinks he is. Jorja Curtwright is cast as the obligatory "woman from the past," Lydia Evans (note that last name-it's an important plot point). Written by Donn Mullaly, "The Genius" was originally telecast on April 3, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1966
In this courtroom drama, a Mexican American judge must preside over the case of the town ne'er-do-well, who is accused of killing his wife. The film is set during the 1920s in the Southwest. The murderer is convicted and sentenced to hang, but on execution day, he has a fight and kills the hangman. At the same time, another man confesses. While this gets the first man freed for the first killing, he must now stand trial for the hangman's death. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Maharis, Laura Devon, (more)
- 1964
Wealthy Sumner Hodge (Philip Ober) accuses erstwhile folksinger Con Bolton (Paul Carr) of taking a shot at him. It seems that Hodge had threatened to disinherit his stepdaughter Irma (Natalie Trundy) unless she broke off her romance with Con. Later, Hodge is killed in an automobile "accident" caused by someone tampering with the brakes. Inevitably, Con is charged with the crime--and in mounting the boy's defense, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) arrives at the conclusion that the murder was actually a case of mistaken identity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
A major metropolis has been thrown into panic by a series of bomb threats. Making matters worse, an eccentric artist named James Bellington (Donnelly Rhodes) has shown up at various municipal buildings bearing a variety of ticking packages. In each instance, the contents of the package prove to be harmless, and the authorities are invariably forced to let Bellington go. The question: is Bellington a lunatic who is crying wolf so that he will ultimately be able to plant a real bomb -- or does he have another insidious scheme in mind? Watch for David Carradine at the end of this episode in an unbilled bit role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donnelly Rhodes, Lonny Chapman, (more)
The story begins as an innocuous romantic triangle involving wealthy, spoiled Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), handsome Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), and schoolteacher Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette). The human story begins in a San Francisco pet shop and culminates at the home of Mitch's mother (Jessica Tandy) at Bodega Bay, where the characters' sense of security is slowly eroded by the curious behavior of the birds in the area. At first, it's no more than a sea gull swooping down and pecking at Melanie's head. Things take a truly ugly turn when hundreds of birds converge on a children's party. There is never an explanation as to why the birds have run amok, but once the onslaught begins, there's virtually no letup. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, (more)
- 1961
Having quit his job as a newspaperman, Phillip Werris (Lonny Chapman) tries to make a go of a farm in Canada, but before long he and his wife Jan (Jena Engstrom) are flat broke. With no other option, Phillip decides to go back to writing, and begins turning out freelance articles. . .in his sleep. Curiouser still, the articles written by the slumbering journalist are about a pair of dead men whom Phillip has neither seen nor previously heard of--but whom he describes down to the smallest detail. This episode was remade on the sequel series Next Step Beyondin 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Tennessee Williams' 27 Wagons Full of Cotton was the basis for this steamy sex seriocomedy. Karl Malden stars as the doltish owner of a Southern cotton gin. He is married to luscious teenager Carroll Baker, who steadfastly refuses to sleep with her husband until she reaches the age of 20. Her nickname is "Baby Doll", a cognomen she does her best to live up to by lying in a crib-like bed and sucking her thumb. Enter crafty Sicilian Eli Wallach (who like supporting actor Rip Torn makes his film debut herein), who covets both Malden's wife and business. Malden's jealously sets fire to Wallach's business, compelling Wallach to try to claim Baby Doll as "compensation." Heavily admonished for its supposed filthiness in 1956 (it was condemned by the Legion of Decency, which did more harm to the Legion than to the film), Baby Doll seems a model of decorum today--so much so that it is regularly shown on the straight-laced American Movie Classics cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, (more)
This truncated screen version of John Steinbeck's best-seller was the first starring vehicle for explosive 1950s screen personality James Dean, who plays Cal Trask, the "bad" son of taciturn Salinas valley lettuce farmer Adam Trask (Raymond Massey). Although he means well, Cal can't stay out of trouble, nor is he able to match the esteem in which his father holds his "good" brother Aron (Richard Davalos). Only Aron's girlfriend Abra (Julie Harris) and kindly old sheriff Sam Burl Ives) can see the essential goodness in the troublesome Cal.
When Adam invests in a chancy and wholly unsuccessful method of shipping his crops east, his wealth plummets. In an effort to save the business, Cal obtains money from his estranged mother (the proprietor of a whorehouse) and invests it in a risky new bean crop. The gamble pays off (thanks in no small part to the war), but Adam refuses to take the money from Cal, and the resultant quarrel causes Adam to have a stroke. Released the same year as Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden provided Dean with his first Oscar nomination, for Best Actor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When Adam invests in a chancy and wholly unsuccessful method of shipping his crops east, his wealth plummets. In an effort to save the business, Cal obtains money from his estranged mother (the proprietor of a whorehouse) and invests it in a risky new bean crop. The gamble pays off (thanks in no small part to the war), but Adam refuses to take the money from Cal, and the resultant quarrel causes Adam to have a stroke. Released the same year as Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden provided Dean with his first Oscar nomination, for Best Actor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Harris, James Dean, (more)
Young at Heart is a soft-pedaled, musicalized remake of 1938's Four Daughters. Robert Keith takes over the Claude Rains role as paterfamilias to a family of musical prodigies, all girls: Doris Day, Dorothy Malone, Elizabeth Fraser (the fourth daughter was written out of proceedings, no great loss). Keith's new boarder Gig Young, a musical-comedy composer, becomes the three daughters' heart balm, whether he wants to our not. When he gets stuck creatively, Young invites his tempestuous pal Frank Sinatra to help him finish his score. Sinatra essays the old John Garfield role, retaining a generous supply of Garfield's chip-on-shoulder edginess. But whereas Garfield's character dies in Four Daughters, Sinatra survives for a happily-ever-after clinch with Doris Day. Most of the songs heard in Young at Heart were already standards in 1954--with the notable exception of the Johnny Richards-Carolyn Leigh title number, which of course became a part of Frank Sinatra's standard repertoire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, (more)
