Chuck Connors Movies
Chuck Connors attended Seton Hall University before embarking on a career in professional sports. He first played basketball with the Boston Celtics, then baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. Hardly a spectacular player -- while with the Cubbies, he hit .233 in 70 games -- Connors was eventually shipped off to Chicago's Pacific Coast League farm team, the L.A. Angels. Here his reputation rested more on his cut-up antics than his ball-playing prowess. While going through his usual routine of performing cartwheels while rounding the bases, Connors was spotted by a Hollywood director, who arranged for Connors to play a one-line bit as a highway patrolman in the 1952 Tracy-Hepburn vehicle Pat and Mike. Finding acting an agreeable and comparatively less strenuous way to make a living, Connors gave up baseball for films and television. One of his first roles of consequence was as a comic hillbilly on the memorable Superman TV episode "Flight to the North." In films, Connors played a variety of heavies, including raspy-voiced gangster Johnny O in Designing Woman (1957) and swaggering bully Buck Hannassy in The Big Country (1958). He switched to the Good Guys in 1958, when he was cast as frontiersman-family man Lucas McCain on the popular TV Western series The Rifleman. During the series' five-year run, he managed to make several worthwhile starring appearances in films: he was seen in the title role of Geronimo (1962), which also featured his second wife, Kamala Devi, and originated the role of Porter Ricks in the 1963 film version of Flipper. After Rifleman folded, Connors co-starred with Ben Gazzara in the one-season dramatic series Arrest and Trial (1963), a 90-minute precursor to Law and Order. He enjoyed a longer run as Jason McCord, an ex-Army officer falsely accused of cowardice on the weekly Branded (1965-1966). His next TV project, Cowboy in Africa, never got past 13 episodes. In 1972, Connors acted as host/narrator of Thrill Seekers, a 52-week syndicated TV documentary. Then followed a great many TV guest-star roles and B-pictures of the Tourist Trap (1980) variety. He was never more delightfully over the top than as the curiously accented 2,000-year-old lycanthrope Janos Skorzeny in the Fox Network's Werewolf (1987). Shortly before his death from lung cancer at age 71, Chuck Connors revived his Rifleman character Lucas McCain for the star-studded made-for-TV Western The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1993). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Writer/director Percy Adlon's offbeat tale of the friendship between two unusual women: an East German emigre who works as a librarian in Alaska, and a taciturn pipeline worker. ~ Nicole Gagne, Rovi
- Starring:
- k.d. lang, Rosel Zech, (more)
- 1991
- R
Fred Williamson directed and stars in this average action film as Col. Wright, who teams up with a paroled thief (Bo Svenson) and the former lover of a Colombian druglord to rescue the kidnapped World Security Ambassador. Henry Silva is the kingpin, and the film is full of nudity and violence, but fails to engage much interest. Despite a veteran cast which includes Chuck Connors, Sonny Landham, and Van Johnson, gratuitous strippers and prostitutes provide much of the visual interest. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- 1991
In this action thriller, Reb Brown plays a DEA operative sent to South America to rescue a kidnapped drug czar and bring him back to the U.S. to face justice. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- 1991
- Add The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw to Queue Add The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw to top of Queue
The fourth of Kenny Rogers' Gambler TV movies, 1991's The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw is regarded by many Western diehards as the best. This time, gambler Brady Hawkes is en route to a high-stakes poker game in San Francisco. His travelling companions are a trouble-prone frontier Romeo (Rick Rossovich) and a feisty ex-saloon gal (Reba McEntire). Never mind that: The real attraction of Luck of the Draw is its enormous guest-star lineup of famous TV cowboy heroes of yore: Gene "Bat Masterson" Barry, Hugh "Wyatt Earp" O'Brien, Brian "The Westerner" Keith, Chuck "The Rifleman" Connors, Jack "Maverick" Kelly, Clint "Cheyenne" Walker, David "Kung Fu" Carradine, and "Virginian" co-stars James Drury and Doug McClure. The first portion of this two-part movie concentrates on setting up the plot; Part two is the card game itself, preceded by a boxing match refereed by Bat Masterson (Gene Barry). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kenny Rogers, Reba McEntire, (more)
- 1990
Featuring eye-popping skiing footage, this downhill drama centers on three friends who head to Utah for their annual ski trip. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1990
The made-for-cable sci-fi thriller High Desert Kill is about three hunters and a cowboy (Chuck Connors) who become the prey of a group of predatory aliens while they are on a trip to New Mexico. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
- 1988
- PG
The made-for-TV Once Upon a Texas Train offers us the once-in-a-lifetime teaming of Richard Widmark, Willie Nelson and Angie Dickinson. Nelson plays a veteran outlaw who robs a bank less than 6 hours after being paroled from jail. He uses the money to reunite his old gang, then sets about to repeat the train robbery that had gotten him arrested 20 years earlier. This time, however, Nelson is himself targetted for theft by a young, hungrier band of desperadoes. Widmark plays the lawman who caught Nelson before and intends to do so again. Written and directed by the reliable Burt Kennedy, Once Upon a Texas Train premiered January 3, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
- R
The Bastards (led by Fred Williamson) venture into the jungles of Vietnam with the intent of killing as many Vietcong as possible. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miles O'Keeffe, Fred Williamson, (more)
- 1988
- R
In this exploitation film, a group of violent neo-Nazis invade a small town, causing murder and destruction wherever they go. However, when the skinheads make the mistake of murdering a tough man's girlfriend, he sets out to avenge her death ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- 1988
A pre-Will and Grace Megan Mullally guest stars in this episode as Molly Connors, the feisty daughter of West Virginia coal miner Eben Connors (Denver Pyle). When Eben dies in a suspicious mining accident, Molly sweeps into town to accuse the mine's owner of being responsible for her dad's death. Shortly thereafter, the owner is found murdered--and the murder weapon, a rifle, is located in Molly's car. All that is preventing Molly from being torn to pieces by the hostile local citizens is the presence of the girl's former creative-writing teacher Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who as usual suspects that someone else has perpetrated the foul deed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1987
Police Chief Rawlings (Chuck Conners) defends the town of Kokomo, Indiana from an invasion of Libyan terrorists in this grade "B" action feature. The villains attack a nuclear power plant and hold a high-school class hostage. Rawlings' negotiations are comically taken from Dog Day Afternoon as he tries to diffuse the volatile situation, and he trains the high-school students in guerilla warfare to battle the invaders. A thrilling car chase is one of the highlights of the film. Conners, the former pro baseball player-turned-actor, once again dons his Brooklyn Dodger jacket for this picture. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chuck Connors, Brodie Greer, (more)
- 1987
Werewolf was the pilot film for the Fox network TV series of the same name. John J. York plays Eric, a handsome young man who is bitten by a werewolf. He must find the source of the lycanthropic bloodline if he's to save himself from a lifetime of requiring sudden shaves and baying at the moon. Offering to help Eric is sea captain Chuck Connors, who turns out to be the centuries-old wolfman whom York seeks. Adding to our hero's travails is a bounty hunter by the name of Alamo Joe (Lance Le Gault). We're tipped to the fact that we shouldn't take Werewolf all that seriously by the character name given Chuck Connors: Janos Skorzeny, the same name as the vampire portrayed by Barry Atwater in the classic 1971 TV movie The Night Stalker. Werewolf premiered on July 11, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1986
Chuck Connors stars in this routine martial arts feature as the Colonel. He sends agents Sonny (Mike Kelly) and Dennis (George Nichols) to Taiwan in search of microfilm containing experiments on genetic engineering. The agents soon find themselves up against Japanese killers known as the Sakura who plan to sell United States secrets to the Soviet Union. Sonny and Dennis train with a martial arts master in order to fight the enemy and obtain the coveted microfilm. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chuck Connors, Mike Kelly, (more)
- 1986
- PG13
Offering an updated take on William Golding's Lord of the Flies, complete with anti-fascist metaphors, this drama is set at a summer camp where the kids rise up against their counselors and start running things themselves. It is based on a novel by William Butler, The Butterfly Revolution. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chuck Connors, Charles Stratton, (more)
- 1985
Based on a series of suspense novels by Robert B. Parker, the weekly, hour-long Spenser: For Hire starred Robert Urich as the title character. The TV series was filmed on location in Boston, the home-based of private investigator Spenser (no other name), who in addition to being wily and resourceful was also highly principled and scrupulously honest: In other words, he had no qualms about turning the legal tables on his own clients if he found out they were actually guilty or lying to him. No matter what the situation, Spenser meant what he said and said what he meant, even if he framed his responses in the form of philosophical quotations. Backing Spenser's words was his tactiturn African American street contact and "enforcer", the likewise single-named Hawk (Avery Brooks), who though he always carried a giant Magnum gun seldom needed weaponry to cow the villains into submission (this character was later spun off into his own series, A Man Called Hawk). In the series' first and third seasons, Spenser's lady friend was guidance counselor Susan Silverman, played by Barbara Stock; during Susan's absence in Season Two, Spenser kept time with a former enemy turned friend, assistant district attorney Rita Fiori (Carolyn McCormick). Our hero's contacts at the police department were hard-nosed Lt. Martin Quirk (Richard Jaeckel), who liked Spenser, and slovenly Sgt. Frank Belson (Ron McLarty), who didn't. The 66-episode Spenser: For Hire was broadcast by ABC from September 20, 1985 through September 3, 1988, followed by four made-for-TV "Spenser" movies, filmed between 1993 and 1995. A sixth such film was scheduled for 2000,but was cancelled upon the death of star Robert Urich. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Urich, Avery Brooks, (more)
- 1985
Over the protests of several local residents, shady tycoon Henderson Wheatley (John Ericson) intends to build a high-rise hotel in Cabot Cove. During excavation, a set of bones comes to surface, supposedly belonging to Revolutionary war hero Joshua Peabody. Almost immediately, those who oppose the hotel insist that the land be consecrated as a national monument, while others insist that those aren't Peabody's bones at all. Whatever the case, it soon develops that the centuries-old remains are those of a murder victim--and before long, Wheatley himself is murdered. William Windom makes his first series appearance as Dr. Seth Hazlitt, an old friend of heroine Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury)...and a likely suspect in the killing. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1985
- R
Filmed in 1982 but unreleased until after the success of 1983's Valley Girl, this is a low-budget mix of valley-speak, trendiness, and message. In the end, it may have proved too difficult to combine dialogue such as "grody to the max," sex scenes, a bubbly teenager or two, the noble objective of saving an orphanage, and a rambling plot and still come out ahead. Saving the orphanage involves an unrealistic scheme to steal money from cocaine dealers, while other problems involve how to convince your boyfriend to have sex with you -- another stretch of reality. Flaws in this film do not include the acting on the part of the teens (Jill Carroll, Sharon Lea, and others) which is not to be faulted. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jill Carroll, Michelle Laurita, (more)
With the Jerry Zucker-Jim Abrahams-David Zucker team absent, this sequel to the cash-cow 1980 spoof Airplane once again finds garrulous man-with-a-past Ted Striker (Robert Hays) compelled to take over the controls of crippled aircraft, all the while trying to patch up his relationship with stewardess Elaine (Julie Hagerty). This time, the first passenger space shuttle is launched into orbit -- and takes off for the moon - but the on-board computer malfunctions and sends the craft hurtling toward the sun, threatening the lives of everyone on board. Lloyd Bridges and Peter Graves return from the first Airplane, while William Shatner, Chad Everett, Sonny Bono, Raymond Burr and Chuck Conners join the cast, as they too lampoon their established images. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, (more)
- 1982
A wilderness-loving man must clear himself of a wrongful murder charge and rescue his daughter who may be sent to an orphanage in this made-for-TV movie. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dan Haggerty, Chuck Connors, (more)
- 1982
In this well-acted but very standard action thriller, Spanish police chief O'Donnell Max von Sydow) hires the tough mercenary David (Jorge Rivero) with the code name "Eagle" to infiltrate an international drug cartel. Carmen (Maud Adams), a policewoman, is to be David's contact. The plot thickens as the drug smugglers, headed by McFadden (George Peppard), also plan on selling nuclear materials to countries like Libya. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jorge Rivero, Maud Adams, (more)
- 1982
This is a soap opera about a rich, suave, but self-aggrandizing villain and the women who either love or hate him. The melodrama sudses up with Ernie Stoddard's (Tony Curtis) determination to bring legal gambling to an island off the California coast and a local councilman's equally strong determination to stop him. The catch is Stoddard's ex-wife Erin (Carol Lynley) is now married to the councilman, but her heart still skips a beat when Stoddard walks into the room. The councilman is her third husband; her first, Stoddard's partner, was apparently killed by parties unknown. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Carol Lynley, (more)
A double disaster film with both an American and a Japanese cast, Virus presents some pretty wild probabilities to viewers. First of all, a virus has been developed that gets loose and starts to destroy humanity on a grand scale. The only people who are remotely safe are a group of eight hundred men and eight women on Antarctica. Since the President of the United States warns them by radio communications not to accept anyone into their area who has been contaminated, the men and women are somewhat prepared. That does not mean they are ready to handle the crew of a Russian submarine that seeks refuge with them. The second disaster is nuclear, and part of the suspense lies in whether or not it will be ultimately averted -- and who, if any, will survive all this. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sonny Chiba, Chuck Connors, (more)
- 1981
Treasure hunters from around the world race to Mexico after a Middle Eastern luxury yacht explodes, sending a fortune in gold to the bottom of the ocean. An agent (Chuck Connors) must stop the ruthless fortune hunters. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- 1980
An Arizona ranch set on top of a copper deposit is the focus of mercenary neighbors who plot to get rid of the resident family. ~ Rovi
In this horror outing, a seemingly abandoned desert gas station turns out to be a grotesque museum filled with murderous mannequins who come to life when visitors come to call. The ill-fated "guests" are lured in by a strange siren's song. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chuck Connors, Jon Van Ness, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.