Robert McQueeney Movies

The murder of a stockbroker tips Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) to Organized Crime's latest racket: obtaining valuable stock certificates which are then used as collateral for large Mob loans. At the center of this scheme is the beautiful but treacherous Meredith Schader (Michele Carey), who targets vulnerable male stockbrokers, pretends to fall in love with them, then blackmails them into doing the Mob's bidding. Meredith's latest victim is wealthy but lonely Val Palmer (Barry Nelson), who is blissfully unaware that he is being set up for the worst fall of his life. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John Saxon makes the first of three Bonanza appearances as Steve Friday, a former Ponderosa ranchhand turned gunfighter. Putting his own life on the line, Joe Cartwright tries to save an ailing Friday from a paid assassin, hired by the powerful and revenge-driven Judge Wyllit (Ford Rainey). Featured in the cast are Robert Phillips as Jakes, James Davidson as Cole Berry, and Robert McQueeney as Enos Low. Written by Herbert Kastle and John Hawkins, "Black Friday" was originally seen on Sunday, January 22, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though written by Sam Peckinpah (he adapted the film from a novel by Hoffman Birney), the direction of The Glory Guys was entrusted to the competent but perfunctory Arnold Laven. Cavalry captain Demas Harrod (Tom Tryon) and his faithful scout Sol Rogers (Harve Presnell) are placed under the command of xenophobic general Frederick McCabe (Andrew Duggan), who hates Indians almost as much as his own men hate him. When not preparing to decimate every Native American in their path, Harrod and Rogers carry on a rivalry over the hand of pretty Lou (Senta Berger; another authentic Wild West type). The novelty of the film is that the Indians, rather than the cavalry, win the final battle. Despite a few bursts of cinematic creativity from Laven in the climactic scenes, it still would have been more interesting to see how Sam Peckinpah would have handled The Glory Guys. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Prolific director Joseph Pevney is better known for his next venture -- the Star Trek television series -- than this conventional docudrama on mobster "Dutch" Schultz (played by Vic Morrow). Rather than take the focus of 1997's Hoodlum, in which Schultz's attempt to move into Harlem is thwarted, the events leading to the demise of the nearly illiterate, Bronx-born, "king of beer" are stressed. His affair with Iris Murphy (Leslie Parrish) also gets front-and-center treatment when Iris leaves her policeman husband to hook up with Schultz, only to degenerate into alcoholism. To the credit of the director, the repugnant Schultz (whose real name was Arthur Flegenheimer) is not romanticized, even though the legend of his "buried treasure" and the literary non-sequitur of his famous, 1935 deathbed ramblings would tend to lure anyone into digressions. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Theatrical "angel" (and former gangster!) Frank Brooks (Stacy Harris) is charged with the murder of playwright Ernest Royce (Jerome Cowan), who has been killed in the same manner as the main character in one of his unproduced plays. It turns out that Royce has based his play on the real-life murder of underworld figure Rick Valponi back in 1947. In order to clear Brooks in court, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must locate the "lost last act" of Royce's play, which may not only solve the present crime but also the one that occurred 22 years earlier. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Paul Drake (William Hopper) is hired to keep an eye on a lonely-hearts classified ad placed by heiress Marilyn Cartwright (Kathleen Crowley). No, Marilyn isn't looking for love: she's looking for con artist "Country Boy" Barnaby (L.Q. Jones), the man who drove her sister to suicide. All Marilyn wants to do is trap Barnaby into exposing himself as a crook--but when he turns up murdered, she finds herself accused of the crime. Inevitably, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is brought in to prove the girl's innocence. This episode is based on a 1948 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi