John Alvin Movies

In this children's comedy, Hank Ketcham's enduring comic-strip character and his pals discover mysterious bones in their neighborhood. Paleontologists soon come to investigate and mayhem ensues. On video the film is titled: "Dennis the Menace: Dinosaur Hunter." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Season Three of Murder She Wrote begins with the first episode of a two-part story, in which mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) pays a visit to the Carmody Circus, an extremely small-time operation. It seems that Jessica has evidence that one of the circus' employees, a roustabout-clown who calls himself Carl, is actually her brother-in-law Neil (Jackie Cooper), who has long been presumed dead. No sooner does Jessica link up with Neil than the man is accused of murdering the circus' hateful manager Hank Sutter (Charles Napier). A young Courtney Cox appears as Neil's granddaughter, Carol Bannister. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Lizzie Borden took an axe/And gave her mother forty whacks/When she saw what she had done/She gave her father forty-one". New England spinster Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the charge of murdering her father and stepmother in 1892, but this made-for-TV movie, like most recreations of the murders and subsequent trial, adheres to the popular consensus that Borden was guilty. Elizabeth Montgomery takes a break from playing victims to portray the enigmatic Borden. The trial scenes are lifted directly from the original court records; scripter William Bast's speculation as to what really happened the night the elder Bordens were hacked to death is pure (but credible) conjecture. Accompanied by a "parental guidance suggested" tag, The Legend of Lizzie Borden was first broadcast February 10, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bill (Brian Keith) grimly assumes all responsibility when a bridge on which he was working collapses, costing millions of dollars. Overhearing Bill's financial woes, the kids conclude that the family is about to go broke. This explains why Cissy goes out and gets a part-time job, while Buffy and Jody hold an auction of their most precious possessions--and also launch a brisk dog-walking business. Featured in the pivotal role of Mr. McAllister is veteran movie heavy Horace McMahon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two escaped killers, Carter (John Saxon) and Bains (Don Stroud), burst into Ironside's office apartment, holding the Chief (Raymond Burr) and his policewoman assistant Eve (Barbara Anderson). The captives' only hope for survival rests with Ironside, who agrees to help the desperate fugitives formulate a foolproof escape plan. This nailbiting episode takes place entirely within the walls of Ironside's police-building headquarters (hence its title). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lucy's new neighbor Roger Gregory (John Howard) is an actor on a popular soap opera. Alas, Gregory is down in the dumps; the way the soap's plotline is going, it appears as though his character is going to be killed off. Outraged by this injustice, Lucy (Lucille Ball) intends to sneak a peek at an upcoming script for the show to see if her friend's job can be saved. Of course, this requires our heroine to relentlessly stalk the soap's head writer, Peter Shannon (played by comedian Jan Murray) -- and to do some fancy ad-libbing during the taping of Gregory's "final" episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

First shown on February 5, 1964, "The Race for Queen" was the fifth highest-rated episode of The Beverly Hillbillies. This time out, the Clampetts strike oil again, this time on their Beverly Hills property. Meanwhile, Elly May competes in the Miss Beverly Hills beauty contest. Robert Cummings, who starred in the previous Paul Henning-created series Love That Bob, appears as himself, while Susan Hart, a regular in the American-International beach pictures of the 1960s, is seen as Candy Davis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This romantic comedy opens with a resounding warning: its chief concerns are passion, bloodshed, desire, and death. "Everything," exclaims the narrator, "that makes life worth living." Irma La Douce (Shirley MacClaine) is Paris' most prosperous prostitute. Wise, endearing, and compulsively clad in green, Irma rules the rue Casanova. She triumphantly works the most coveted corner on a street where the cops gladly look the other way and the naughty johns leave tips. Her street is a content community of live and let live and good-natured desire, an Augean stable of human understanding. However, to upright Nester Patou (Jack Lemmon), the area's new policeman, genial wrongdoing is still wrongdoing. Freshly promoted from day patrol at a children's playground, the scrupulous Nestor arrests Irma and her colleagues in a bumbling, unauthorized raid. He takes pity on Irma, but harasses the guilty johns -- including the police captain. Promptly unemployed, Nester returns to the scene of his crime, the rue, and to Irma. After physically besting her pimp, Nester unwittingly takes his position. The two fall madly in love, but Nestor quickly grows jealous of Irma's patrons. Thus, he masquerades as a wealthy English aristocrat and becomes Irma's sole customer -- only to eventually grow violently jealous of himself. Soon enough, this formally righteous cop is comically jailed for his own brutal murder! As the film's prologue promises, Irma La Douce is a celebration of life from beginning to end -- unabashedly adoring lust, emotion, fervor and, above all, foolish love. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide

A serial killer (Grant Williams) and his therapy sessions with a psychologist are juxtaposed with his gruesome, successive murders in this standard thriller by director Owen Crump. The killer, Charles Campbell, is fixated on calling in his next murder to the Los Angeles police, confident that he will always elude capture. Dr. Janz (Onslow Stevens) might have his own views on that if Charles were to let him know how he really gets out his rage. In fact, the doctor himself is no more than a father figure to Charles -- not a good analogy considering that the killer hated his domineering dad. The question remains, will the LAPD stop the killer before the world is minus one psychologist? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

After she escapes from an asylum for alcoholics, Anne Gilrain (Gloria Talbott) is sent right back by her husband Tom (Liam Sullivan). Sensing that she is being mistreated by her husband, Anne's former boyfriend, comedian Charlie Hatch (Tommy Noonan), vows to "rescue" her. When Tom Gilrain is murdered, Charlie takes the rap for the crime, assuming that Anne is the guilty party--an assumption that proves quite problematic for attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The year is 1922, and it is raining rocks in the town of Chico, California. Shortly after this disturbing phenomenon, an anonymous phone call is placed to the local newspaper. The caller not only takes "credit" for the "heavy" rain, but also predicts the exact time for the next downpour. Could all this be tied in with an earlier incident in Washington, D.C, involving an odd self-proclaimed inventor who claims to have created a revolutionary formula for converting water into gasoline? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In order to pass through Comanche territory, the stranded passengers of a West-bound wagon train must sell the Indians their rifles in this western from Carl Hittleman. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Why would James Fader (Than Wyenn) walk up to a pawnbroker and offer to sell a ring worth thousands of dollars for only twenty bucks? That's the question that Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) would like to answer--immediately. But that answer won't come until the two detectives unearth considerable evidence of a recent jewel robbery, with a bus-depot rental locker providing a vital clue. Based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of November 2, 1954, this episode was later adapted by Richard Deming as a short story in a 1957 paperback anthology inspired by the Dragnet TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide