William Dysart Movies

New York Nights is a boring, poorly acted adaptation of the much more successful La Ronde by Max Ophül -- ironically barred for four years by the New York State censorship board when it was first released in 1950. The story sequence is the key to the film; nine episodes each have a character from the preceding episode in a new romantic liaison, until the last character ends up with the one at the beginning. These nine scenarios are somewhere below the suds of soap-opera and above the explicit sex of porn movies. Many different directors in different countries have tried their own versions of La Ronde (based on a play by Arthur Schnitzler with much more success than this version by Simon Nuchtern. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the seven-part story "The Ambassadors of Death," the returning astronauts from the Mars Probe 7 project have apparently been kidnapped. In the course of U.N.I.T.'s investigation, Liz Shaw (Caroline John) notices that the amount of radiation in the recovery capsule would have been fatal to an ordinary human being. But before she can act upon this information, Liz is kidnapped herself. Written by Don Houghton, "The Ambassadors of Death, Episode 3" originally aired on April 4, 1970. Filmed in color, this episode presently exists in black-and-white only. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fifth episode of the seven-part story "The Ambassadors of Death," the mystery surrounding Mars Probe 7 deepens. It is now clear that the astronauts involved in the probe have been replaced by alien duplicates. Warned that the earth will be destroyed if the duplicates -- referred to as "ambassadors" by their superior -- are not returned to their own planet, the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) concludes that someone on earth is trying to cause an interplanetary war for his own evil purposes. Written by Don Houghton, "The Ambassadors of Death, Episode 5" originally aired on April 18, 1970. Filmed in color, this episode presently exists in black-and-white only. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A special group of navy divers is created when a disabled Nazi warship is discovered in a fjord in Norway. Commander Bolton (James Caan) is the Canadian expert designated to train the new unit. Their mission is to plant a bomb on the warship as it undergoes repairs. The hard-driving Bolton encounters resentment from the British soldiers he trains, but he ultimately earns their respect as a leader. Their intense training operation is interrupted by an attack of Nazi paratroopers just before the unit leaves for Norway. Spectacular underwater photography is seen in this World War II adventure story based on an actual mission. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

John LeCarre's Call for the Dead was the basis for this gloomy, complex spy story. James Mason plays a British secret agent puzzled by the sudden suicide of Foreign Office higher-up Robert Flemyng. Mason had worked on Flemyng's security clearance himself, and can't fathom what personality quirk he might have missed. The agent suspects that the dead man's wife (Simone Signoret), a concentration camp survivor, may hold the answer to Flemyng's despair, but the Foreign Office wants Mason to drop the case. Mason hires retiring Inspector Harry Andrews to do some private detective work. What Mason and Andrews find out is more insidious than they've imagined; worse, Mason is saddled with a new dilemma--his wife (Harriet Andersson) has been unfaithful with a colleague (Maximillian Schell). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ricochet originated as an hour-long episode of the TV anthology series Dick Powell Theatre. Van Heflin plays a tough Marine sergeant facing a crisis of conscience. A young Marine recruit has died under Heflin's command during basic training. Though the victim perished because he didn't follow orders, Heflin feels responsible for the death--and the other recruits heartily concur in this opinion. Ricochet first aired October 3, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide