Marian Collier Movies

Harry Hamlin plays a cop on the trail of a psychotic killer who just may be his lover, in Under Investigation. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Lethal Weapon 2 re-teams Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as, respectively, "loose cannon" L.A. detective Martin Riggs and his partner, the cautious family man Roger Murtaugh. The villain this time is a South African diplomat (Joss Ackland) who doubles as a drug dealer. Though Riggs knows what's going on thanks to characterless character witness Joe Pesci, he can't touch the villain because of "diplomatic immunity." After perils too numerous to mention, Riggs and Murtaugh shoot it out with the heavies on the deck of a South African cargo ship. Lethal Weapon 2, of course, contains as one of its comic high-points a now famous suspense scene: Mel Gibson agonizingly attempting to extricate a terrified Danny Glover from a booby-trapped toilet seat. Director Richard Donner, Gibson, Glover, and Joe Pesci would be reunited three years later for Lethal Weapon 3 and in 1998 for Lethal Weapon 4. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Paramedic John Gage (Randolph Mantooth) devises a strategy to win at cards so that he won't be continually saddled with kitchen duty. On a less trivial note, John's partner Roy Gage (Kevin Tighe) "talks down" the son (Buddy Foster) of an airplane pilot who has suffered a heart attack in midflight. Other cases include a truck driver with a cerebral hemmorhage, an overturned tanker, a very persistent would-be suicide, and a really bad drug trip (something of a specialty for series producer Jack Webb). Ron Pinkard makes his first appearance as Dr. Mike Morton. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This infamously violent British Western stars Gene Hackman as Brandt Ruger, a wealthy rancher who goes away on a hunting trip with a group of friends. While he's gone, a thug named Frank Calder (Oliver Reed) kidnaps Melissa (Candice Bergen), Brandt's wife, under the mistaken impression that she's a schoolteacher and will be able to teach him to read. Despite being taken against her will, in time Melissa begins to develop feelings for Calder, who in his way cares for her more than her husband, who treats her like a possession. Melissa has fallen in love with Calder by the time Brandt returns. However, Brandt is enraged over the abduction of his wife, and sets out on a new hunting trip, with Calder and his men as his prey. Noted character actors G.D. Spradlin and L.Q. Jones round out the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This military comedy finds chief petty officer Doc Willoughby (Doug McClure) on board the submarine U.S.S. Bustard. He spends the majority of his off-duty time chasing women, getting in fights and trying to stay one step ahead of the irascible commanding officer. He scatters cockroaches in the captain's quarters in an attempt to gain shore leave to make time with a pretty female. Nancy Kwan is the Japanese nurse who is his love interest, and James Whitmore is the infuriated commander who suspects but is unable to pin anything on the resourceful CPO. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Worried that her widowed daddy Russ (Don Porter) is working too hard, Gidget (Sally Field) suggests that he spend a relaxing day watching a surfing contest at Malibu. But Gidget soon has reason to regret her suggestion when Russ makes the acquaintance of the beautiful Sally Combs (Marian Collier), who has all the characteristics of a (shudder!) gold-digger. Harvey Korman makes a brief appearance as a police officer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Beaver (Jerry Mathers) is thrilled that he's been chosen to appear on "Teen-Age Forum," a local television discussion show. On the day Beaver is scheduled to make his TV debut, his parents tune in, his friends tune in, and his teacher and principal tune in. But where's Beaver? Well, it seems that no one told him (or anyone else) that the show is taped a week in advance.... ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on real incidents in the life and death of Lt. Joseph Petrosino (Ernest Borgnine) of the New York police force, this tale set between 1906-1909 details the history of the lieutenant's fight to prove Sicilian Mafia involvement in crimes in his city. Lt. Petrosino has a series of dangerous close calls as he distinguishes himself by saving singer Enrico Caruso from a Mafia bomb outside the Metropolitan Opera, and by also saving the father of Adelina (Zohra Lampert) the woman he loves. Several other exploits eventually lead to Petrosino's trip to Sicily to nail evidence for the Mafia's activities in New York, and for a final meeting with destiny. This represented the last screen credit of scenarist Bertram Millhauser, who died in 1958; he had received his penultimate credit nine years before that, on the 1949 Tokyo Joe. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The launching pad for Billy Wilder's comedy classic was a rusty old German farce, Fanfares of Love, whose two main characters were male musicians so desperate to get a job that they disguise themselves as women and play with an all-girl band in gangster-dominated 1929 Chicago. In this version, musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) lose their jobs when a speakeasy owned by mob boss Spats Columbo (George Raft) is raided by prohibition agent Mulligan (Pat O'Brien). Several weeks later, on February 14th, Joe and Jerry get a job perfroming in Urbana and end up witnessing a gangland massacre in a parking garage. Fearing that they will be next on the mobsters' hit lists, Joe devises an ingenious plan for disguising their identities. Soon they are all dolled up and performing as Josephine and Daphne in Sweet Sue's all-girl orchestra. En route to Florida by train with Sweet Sue's band, the boys (girls?) make the acquaintance of Sue's lead singer Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe, in what may be her best performance). Joe and Jerry immediately fall in love, though of course their new feminine identities prevent them from acting on their desires. Still, they are determined to woo her, and they enact an elaborate series of gender-bending ruses complicated by the fact that flirtatious millionaire Osgood Fielding (Joe E. Brown) has fallen in love with "Daphne." The plot gets even thicker when Spats Columbo and his boys show up in Florida. Nominated for several Oscars, Some Like It Hot ended up the biggest moneymaking comedy up to 1959. Full of hilarious set pieces and movie in-jokes, it has not tarnished with time and in fact seems to get better with each passing year, as its cross-dressing humor keeps it only more and more up-to-date. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A wild young buck settles down and becomes a decent fellow after he falls in love with a sweet young girl in this youth drama. He is a delinquent with a reputation when they meet. During their first date, they end up at the police station. Her protective parents are outraged and forbid her to see him again. Soon they are seeing each other on the sly, and fortunately her natural goodness begins to rub off and he changes his ways. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi