Gage Clarke Movies

Suffering under the tyranny of his nasty boss, Sylvester Tupper (Wendell Holmes), investment broker Herbert J. Wiggam (Dick York) devises a scheme to get even -- and to make a profit in the bargain. Together with two other disgruntled employees, Wiggam steals a 565,000-dollar bond that has been delivered to the office. Alas, although the trio successfully pulls off the heist, the valuable bond is lost -- and for a while, it looks like only the office cleaning lady will profit from the amateur crooks' bumbling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Riding out of a small town, Bart (Jack Kelly) is surprised to find that his saddle bag is bulging. And no wonder: the bag is stuffed with money stolen from the town's bank. Accused of being a thief, Bart is determined to prove that the real culprit is banker Cyrus Murdock (Tol Avery)--but first he'll have to figure out how to avoid getting captured and/or killed by the bank robbers and the posse members who are hot on his trail. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although Jack Kelly was the sole star of Maverick as the tongue-in-cheek western series entered its fifth and final season, he continued to share on-screen billing with James Garner--who, despite having left the series at the end of Season Three, was still being represented by reruns of his best episodes. Only thirteen new episodes were shot for Season Five, all starring Kelly as frontier gambler Bart Maverick. In the opener, Bart is cheated out of $5000 by suave con artist Pearly Gates (Mike Road). Likewise swindled by Gates is his partner in crime Marla (Kathleen Crowley), who's out for blood after Pearly jilts her at the altar. Thus, Marla teams with Bart to track Pearly down and make him pay for his sins...presuming, of course, that he won't able to sweet-talk his way out of his predicament, as he has done on so many previous occasions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and his buddy Gilbert (Stephen Talbot) conspire to make "funny faces" when their class picture is taken. But when the flash-bulb goes off, Beaver is the only one who is contorting his face and sticking out his tongue! Undoubtedly, dad Ward (Hugh Beaumont) is going to blow his top when he finds out that his son is responsible for "wrecking" the photo session. In the end, however, Beaver is rescued by the unexpected intervention of classmate Myrtle Jarvis (who doesn't even get a mention in the closing credits). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Seven-year-old Peggy Smith (Laurie Perreau) has spent most of her life at the exclusive Westcroft Boarding School. Her tuition has been paid by an unknown person, who has also sent Peggy a doll each year. Curious about her benefactor, and wishing to find out who her parents were, little Peggy consults attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). It turns out that Peggy is the granddaughter of wealthy recluse Courtney Jeffers (Francis X. Bushman), whose hard heart melts the moment he sets eyes on the child. But no sooner has Jeffers acknowledged that Peggy is his granddaughter than he is bludgeoned to death--and the person accused of the crime is Linda Osborne (played by Maggie Mahoney, real-life mother of actress Sally Field), who at Peggy's request is defended by Perry during the inevitable courtroom intrigues. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After purchasing a riverboat from Scotsman Gillespie MacKenzie (Jack Livesey, Bret finds out that MacKenzie has already sold the same boat to seven other people--including his old nemesis, the combustible Modesty Blaine (Mona Freeman). Rather than fight over the matter, the eight owners decide to take the boat to Memphis for resale. En route, the members of the party are killed off one by one by a mysterious assailant...who seems to be deliberately saving Bret and Modesty for his final victims. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Eleanor H. Porter's story of Pollyanna, "The Glad Girl," was first filmed in 1920 by Mary Pickford. While entertaining, the Pickford version tended to reduce the supporting characters to stereotypes. Disney's 1960 remake of Pollyanna wisely offers three-dimensional characterizations, enhancing the charm and believability of the story. In her first Disney film (indeed, her first American film), Hayley Mills stars as Pollyanna, an orphan girl sent to live with her wealthy aunt Polly (Jane Wyman). A humorless sort, Aunt Polly is taken aback by Pollyanna's insistence upon seeing the happy side of everything. With her best friend and fellow orphan, Jimmy Bean (Kevin "Moochie" Corcoran), Pollyanna spreads her sunshine all over town, transforming such local curmudgeons as hypochondriac Mrs. Snow (Agnes Moorehead), hellfire-and-brimstone Reverend Ford (Karl Malden), and reclusive Mr. Pendergast (Adolphe Menjou) into positive, life-affirming sorts. This she does not by being simpering or syrupy, but by applying common sense and refusing to indulge anyone's self-pity. Only Aunt Polly refuses to warm up. As the owner of the town orphanage, Aunt Polly will not hear of having a new, more modern facility built, and when handsome Dr. Chilton (Richard Egan) stages a charity bazaar in defiance of Aunt Polly, Pollyanna is forbidden to attend. She escapes to the bazaar by climbing down the tree next to her upstairs window; but when trying to return home, Pollyanna falls and injures her legs. Facing possible permanent paralysis, the "Glad Girl" is for the first time disconsolate and pessimistic. Her spirits are uplifted by the townsfolk whom she's helped, and finally by Aunt Polly, who's realized the folly of her stubbornness. Ebulliently optimistic once more, Pollyanna leaves town for an operation, as the townsfolk cheer her up and cheer her on. Possibly because it was perceived as having only little-girl appeal (a false perception indeed), Pollyanna was not the big hit that it should have been in 1960. Its latter-day reputation as one of Disney's finest features rests primarily on its many successful television showings. The film was remade for television with an all-black cast as Polly in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Singer-comedian Dennis Day is herein cast against type as miserly Alexander Gifford, who after coming into a huge sum of money secretly deposits the cash in five different banks to keep it a secret from his wife, Jennifer (Alice Backes). Alas, she does find out, and tells him that she will divorce him unless she's allowed to freely spend the money. Planning to have his wife murdered, Alexander balks when he discovers that most professional hitmen charge an exorbitant fee -- so he decides to cut corners by pulling off the dirty deed himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Grim, almost unbearably intense, I Want To Live is the story of the life and execution of Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward) a perjurer, prostitute, liar and drug addict. The product of a broken home, Graham works as a shill, luring gullible men into crooked card games. She attempts to go straight, marries the wrong man, and has a baby. When her life falls apart, she returns to her former profession and is involved in a murder. Despite her claims of innocence, she is convicted and executed. Robert Wise directs the uniformly fine cast with grim efficiency, telling Graham's story in a series of adroitly crafted scenes that won him a well-deserved Academy Award nomination. However, the film belongs to Susan Hayward who gives a intense, shattering performance without one false note. Her performance is so grimly focused that she is, at times, almost unbearable to watch. The final scenes, which lead up to Graham's execution, are exhausting in their emotional intensity as the audience is spared nothing of Graham's agony, despair and desperation when she finally loses the long battle to save her life. Whether one sees Graham as a murderer or a hapless victim of society, the power and relentless, sordid reality of her story leaves an indelible memory in the mind of the viewer. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

In this reworking of the earlier episode "The Jeweled Gun", attractive widow Margaret Ross (Catherine McLeod) asks Bret (James Garner) to provide protection while she heads to a Montana bank, there to deposit a large sum of money. Margaret claims to be worried that the men who killed her husband will try to steal the cash. In the course of the journey, Bret discovers that Margaret's money is counterfeit and her story is probably bogus--a disturbing realization, especially since he has fallen in love with her. Featured in the cast is Luis Delgado, the brother-in-law of Maverick producer-creator Roy Huggins and a semi-regular as Officer Billings on James Garner's later TV series The Rockford Files. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A young, brunette Angie Dickinson appears in this episode as Rose, the daughter of an Arapaho Indian chief and the new wife of rowdy frontiersman Big Dan Daggit (Peter Whitney). Appalled that Big Dan has married a "squaw", hotel owner Dobie (Gage Clarke) manages to stir up hatred against the Daggits. When later on Rose is kidnapped and beaten by a pair of young punks, Big Dan holds Dobie responsible. Hoping to avoid any further violence, Matt and Chester tell Big Dan that they'll handle the punishment of Rose's assaulters--but it is Rose herself who metes out retribution. This episode is adapted from the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of January 22, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fury at Showdown stars John Derek as a gunfighter who hopes to hang up his guns and live the peaceful life of a cattle ranch. Settling down on his new spread with his brother Nick Adams, Derek finds that he can't live down his reputation. When his brother is murdered on the orders of land-grabbing lawyer Gage Clarke, Derek is forced to strap on his guns again. But Clarke, one step ahead of our hero, tries to save himself from prosecution by kidnapping Derek's girlfriend Carolyn Craig. As the title indicates, a showdown is inevitable, though not as predictable as one might suspect. Fury at Showdown was adapted from a novel by Lucas Todd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide