Michael Constantine Movies
Though frequently cast in Jewish roles, actor Michael Constantine was actually of Greek extraction. The son of a steel worker, Constantine studied acting with such prominent mentors as Howard DaSilva. The prematurely balding Constantine was playing character roles on and off Broadway in his mid-twenties (he was the Darrow counterpart in the original production of Compulsion), supplementing his income as a night watchman and shooting-gallery barker. In 1959, slightly weary of being ignored by callous Broadway producers and casting directors, Constantine appeared in his first film, The Last Mile (1959), thereby launching a cinematic career that has endured into the mid-1990s. Michael Constantine is perhaps best known for his extensive TV work, notably his four-season (1969-1974) stint as long-suffering high school principal Seymour Kaufman on Room 222 and his starring appearance as night-court magistrate Matthew J. Sirota on the brief 1976 sitcom Sirota's Court. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1964
Hate hangs heavy in the air in the small midwestern town where accused murderer Jagger (Terry Becker) is sentenced to hang at sunrise. But there's a slight hitch in these plans -- though it is already mid-afternoon, the sun has failed to rise. Written by Rod Serling, this heavy-handed Twilight Zone episode may be the first filmed TV drama to make reference to the recent Kennedy assassination. Michael Constantine, Ivan Dixon, and George Lindsey ("Goober" on The Andy Griffith Show) are among the participants in "I Am the Night - Color Me Black," which made its network debut on March 27, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Constantine, Paul Fix, (more)
- 1964
Slim and svelte Dianne Adler (Mary Ann Mobley), a hometown girlfriend of Della Street (Barbara Hale), has launched a career as a model. Harrison Boring (Paul Gilbert) hands Dianne the most unusual assignment of her career: For 200 dollars per week, she is to gain a great deal of weight! It seems that Boring is promoting a line of clothes for full-figured women, and he needs a hefty model with "name" value. What Della can't understand is why Dianne would have signed a contract which forfeits 50% of everything she makes over her regular salary to the enterprising Boring. It's a good thing that Della brings this to the attention of her boss Perry Mason (Raymond Burr)--who ends up defending Dianne on a murder charge when Boring is killed. This episode is based on a 1962 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In Volume 46 of a collection culled from the 1963-1965 science fiction anthology television series, a group of travelers embark on a trip through space and are joined by a mysterious creature made of light. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In his second Fugitive guest appearance, Jack Klugman is cast as Gus Hendrick, owner of a trucking firm where Kimble (David Janssen)--alias "Bill Douglas"--is currently employed. Though heavily in debt, Gus continues to support his late partner's family, feeling guilty for the man's death. Unable to further provide funds for his partner's lazy, avaricious widow Lucia (Geraldine Brooks), Gus is receptive to a fraud scheme concocted by his false friend Ernie (Michael Constantine)--and as usual, Kimble is caught in the middle of all the intrigue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In this comedy, an introverted journalist for a prominent magazine is assigned to do a story on "Little America" in Antarctica. Once there he gets in all sorts of trouble with the army, a rival, and the penguin Milton Fox. He also finds himself embroiled in a plot to ship some Kiwi women to the base, and in the attempted defections of a number of Russian scientists. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Maharis, Robert Morse, (more)
- 1963
In this different type of gangster farce with a few flaws here and there, Robert Preston is Steve Blair, a superlative con artist whose sidekick Paul Ferris (Tony Randall) is a boozy writer currently working on a cartoon. Steve gets the idea of producing a movie based on Genesis in the Bible and brings Paul into the scheme as a scripter. He finds financial backing in the form of $2,000,000 from gangster Tony Dallas (Walter Matthau) who is none too happy when the final product flops with a resounding crash. Anxious to find a safe spot to hide out, Steve and Paul make their way to a Greek island where Steve is inspired by another brilliant idea for a scam that just might work, knowing full well that the gangster is sure to show up sooner or later. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Preston, Tony Randall, (more)
- 1963
In this crime drama, naive Lonnie allows a Spanish revolutionary and his henchman to rent his car. Unfortuantely, the duo use the car to escape after pulling off a diamond heist (the money will be used help support the Spaniard's cause). Lonnie begins investigating and along the way learns that his long-lost love has also joined the cause and works as a hooker to make her own financial contributions. Later, the Spaniard captures Lonnie and makes him drive the boat they commandeered. Also on board is the former owner's lovely daughter, with whom Lonnie falls in love. Together, Lonnie and the girl manage to stop the criminal activities of the "revolutionary" for good. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) heads to Boston to locate the source for the bootleg champagne that is flooding into Chicago's speakeasies. Ness is convinced that Ira Bauer (Richard Conte), a blind fishing magnate who enjoys such "exercises of the mind" as reading, playing chess, and outwitting the Feds, is the mastermind behind the illegal booze. But how does Bauer manage to ship out his product without arousing suspicion? The answer turns out to be a chilling one--in every sense of the word. This Season Four episode was originally filmed for Untouchables' third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Nick Moses (Harry Guardino) breaks the code of the Mob by bumping off another gangster without permission. Grimly, Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon) informs Moses that the only way he can save himself is to assassinate Federal agent Elliot Ness--and he is given a very limited space of time to pull off the deed. Featured in the cast of this nailbiter are Peter Mamakos and Herman Rudin, playing the same two hoodlums (albeit with different character names) whom we saw Frank Nitti gun down in a barbershop in the series' very first episode "The Empty Chair". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Someone is trying to corner the market in illegal champagne before New Year's Eve of 1932--a last-ditch effort to turn a huge profit before the repeal of Prohibition goes into effect. The ensuing intrigues involve French champagne manufacturer Michel Vitton (Barry Morse), mob-connected restauranteur Barney Loomis (Robert Middleton) and Barney's covetous nephew Ed Wald (Michael Constantine). Cast as a deaf-mute assassin named Birdie is future Oscar winner George Kennedy), who during a confrontation scene with series star Robert Stack Ness applies so much physical force that Stack actually passes out on camera--an incident over which the two actors (good friends in real life) would invariably share a laugh in the years to come. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
With Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) raiding the Syndicate's distilleries left and right, Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon) is forced to devise a new method of distribution. Enter ex-convict Matt Bass (Telly Savalas), who'd been Nitti's boss back in the "bad old days." Bass and his partner Jason Fiddler (Milton Selzer) have devised a foolproof scheme to get the illegal booze delivered, using a vast network of underground pipes. Nitti isn't interested, so Bass proposes his scheme to a rival bootleger, Seth Otis (Michael Constantine)--and we all know what happens when anyone tries to get the better of Frank Nitti. This third-season episode was originally slated to air during Season Two. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
As The Hustler's "Fast" Eddie Felson, Paul Newman created a classic antihero, charismatic but fundamentally flawed, and nobody's role model. A pool player from Oakland, CA, as good as anyone who ever picked up a cue, Eddie has an Achilles' heel: arrogance. It's not enough for him to win: he must force his opponent to acknowledge his superiority. The movie follows Eddie from his match against billiards champ Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) as he falls in love with Sarah (Piper Laurie), an alcoholic would-be writer and sometime prostitute, and falls under the spell of Bert Gordon (George C. Scott), a successful gambler who offers to take Eddie under his wing and teach him how to play in the big time. However, when Sarah joins Eddie and Bert on a trip to Louisville for a high-stakes match with a dandy named Findlay (Murray Hamilton), the consequences prove tragic. Along with a classic performance by Newman, The Hustler also features turns by Scott, Laurie, and Gleason, in a rare dramatic role. Cameos from pool champ Willie Mosconi and boxer Jake LaMotta add to the atmosphere of Harry Horner's grubby production design and Eugen Schüfftan's camerawork. Director Robert Rossen, who had been working in films since 1937, was to direct only one more film, Lilith (1964), before his death in 1966. In 1986, Newman returned to the role of "Fast" Eddie in Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money, for which he finally earned an Academy Award as Best Actor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, (more)
- 1961
Victor Salazar (Pat Hingle) is a "junk man" in every sense of the word, using his scrap-metal business as a front to distribute illegal drugs. In his efforts to get the goods on Salazar, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) gets into a fracas with the junk man's torpedo Barney Howell (Pat Hingle), unaware that Howell is actually an undercover Federal narcotics agent. But even though Salazar unwittingly has a Fed in his operation, he may actually less to fear from Barney than from his "trusted" associate Steve Ballard (Edward Binns), who is plotting to double-cross Salazar and skip town with all the profits. Character actor Than Wyenn is particularly repulsive in the role of crooked chemist Martin Pegler, who peddles heroin-laced candy to innocent schoolkids. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
A late '50s upgrade of the 1931 film by the same title, this version of trouble on death row by Howard Koch is more violent than its predecessor -- a hint of the trend toward shock for its own sake that would one day dominate action films and thrillers. The setting is a cell block of nine inmates scheduled for execution and the first half of the drama focuses on the horror of that last walk. A grim death in the electric chair is in no way glossed over. All nine prisoners are more appealing than any single guard, giving rise to the question of whether or not the men should exchange places. Then "Killer" John Mears (Mickey Rooney) comes along. His vicious attitude infects the environment and his plans to break out of prison are the catalyst for tragedy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Clifford David, (more)
Some beautiful Mediterranean scenery is bloodied up in Killing in the Sun. The film's motivating factor is a smuggling operation that assumes gargantuan proportions. Crooks from three different countries are actively involved, resulting in the expected falling-outs and bump-offs. Henry Silva and Michael Constantine are the most recognizable faces in the cast. Killing in the Sun is distinguished by stronger characterizations than we've come to expect in films of this nature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
