Norma Crane Movies

Norman Jewison's adaptation of the long-running Broadway musical is set in the Ukranian ghetto village of Anatevka (the film was actually lensed in Yugoslavia). Israeli actor Topol repeats his London stage role as Tevye the milkman, whose equilibrium is constantly being challenged by his poverty, the prejudicial attitudes of non-Jews, and the romantic entanglements of his five daughters. Whenever the weight of the world becomes too much for him, Tevye carries on lengthy conversations with God, who does not answer but is at least more willing to listen than the milkman's remonstrative wife Golde. After arranging a marriage between his oldest daughter Tzeitel and wealthy butcher Lazar Wolf, Tevye is forced to do some quick rearranging when the girl falls in love with poor tailor Motel Kamzoil. Fancying himself more broad-minded than his gentile oppressors, Tevye cannot accept the notion that his other daughter Chava would want to marry Fyedka, a non-Jew. And after shouting the praises of "tradition," Tevye must change his tune-and his entire life-when he and his neighbors are forced out of Anatevka by the Czar's minions. Topol's co-stars include Norma Crane as Golde, Yiddish theater legend Molly Picon as Yente the matchmaker, and Leonard Frey as Motel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nostalgia is selling angle of this made-for-TV suspenser. Someone is going around breaking into movie vaults and setting precious tins of rare film ablaze. An insurance investigator and a detective investigate this seemingly pointless crime. As it turns out, the "movie murderer" is an extortionist who was inadvertently filmed while committing a crime, thus he's anxiously burning every possible shred of evidence. It happens that the criminal is also an old-movie buff, which permits Universal Studios, producers of The Movie Murderer, to show off film clips from its MCA backlog--including snippets of W.C. Fields from International House, Gary Cooper from The Virginian, and Warner Oland from The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Officers Reed (Kent McCord) and Malloy (Martin Milner) have their hands full with a boisterous female alcoholic named Mae Pilaf (Norma Crane). After breaking up a barroom brawl in which Mae is involved, the two cops are summoned to an apartment where a shooting has occurred--and run into old Mae all over again. Can she be rehabilitated, or should Reed and Malloy just give Mae up as a bad job and move on to the next call? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the two-hour pilot film for the subsequent TV "occult" anthology, series creator Rod Serling hosts three macabre short stories, introducing each with a framed portrait in a nocturnal art gallery. The first story stars Roddy MacDowall as a covetous nephew who murders his uncle, suffering the consequence of being possessed by a family painting. The second story stars Joan Crawford as a blind, thoroughly despicable millionairess who purchases the eyes of down-and-out Tom Bosley in order to enjoy 12 precious hours of sight. The final tale involves a Nazi war criminal (Richard Kiley), who attempts to evade his pursuers by escaping into a painting in a museum. The middle sequence is by far the best, directed with youthful bravado by 21-year-old Steven Spielberg. An uneven package, Night Gallery was nonetheless infinitely superior to the series that followed, which suffered from too much network and studio interference and not enough Rod Serling. The Night Gallery pilot was first telecast November 8, 1969; the series ran from 1970 through 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

David Hurst guest stars as the tenacious old uncle of Sr. Bertrille's English-fracturing colleague Sr. Sixto (Shelley Morrison). Despite his utter lack of talent and success as a fisherman, Uncle stubbornly insists upon heading out to sea for one last big haul. Sr. Bertrille tries to help the old man by becoming an airborne "fish spotter," high-powered telescope and all. Written by John McGreevey, "A Fish Story" originally aired on January 11, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Convent San Tanco has become the home of a talking parrot with a very colorful -- and profane -- vocabulary. It is up to Sr. Bertrille to hide the dirty bird from the eyes and ears of the Reverend Mother. Step number two: Find a proper home for the feathered troublemaker. First broadcast on October 19, 1967, "Polly Wants a Cracked Head" was written by Richard DeRoy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Posing as "Leonard Hull", Kimble (David Janssen) journeys to a small Oklahoma town, where he is abruptly arrested by Sheriff Mayhew (Edward Asner). No, Mayhew hasn't recognized him as a fugitive from justice: Instead, the sheriff has mistaken Kimble for Leonard Hull (John Milford), who has escaped from the Witness Protection Program on the eve of testifying in a criminal trial. Upon arriving at the police station, Hull's wife Mavis (Norma Crane) surprisingly identifies Kimble as her husband. It turns out that Mavis wants Kimble to help her make good her husband's getaway before the Mob can catch up with him--a plan that may soon be scotched by a heaviliy disguised professional assassin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Making a rare TV appearance after falling victim to the 1950s Hollywood Blacklist, Larry Parks guest stars as minor hoodlum George "Blackie" Dallas, a character obviously inspired by real-life outlaw "Machine Gun" Kelly. Egged on by his ambitious wife Lily (Norma Crane), Dallas kidnaps millionaire Thomas Randall (Dabbs Greer) and holds him for ransom. Though he is unable to save Randall's life, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) still holds out hope that he can bring Blackie and Lily to justice--and to do this, he exploits the couple's personal problems with their young daughter Arlene (Judy Strangis). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steven Hill guest stars in this episode as flamboyant mobster Jack "Legs" Diamond. The Mob doesn't like the publicity stirred up by Diamond's many extramarital affairs, so they order him out of town for a spell while they orchestrate a scheme to smuggle $5 million worth of narcotics into the country. But Legs get wind of the plan and hijacks the valuable cargo, demanding a piece of the action from his disgruntled fellow hoods. Ultimately, Legs double-crosses himself by continuing to flaunt his affair with Follies dancer Dawn Dolan (Suzanne Storrs) in front of his embittered wife Alice (Norma Crane). Crime historians will have no trouble identifying the characters played by Oscar Beregi and Peter Whitney as thinly disguised versions of real-life scofflaws Arnold Rothstein and Big Bill Dwyer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

J. Carrol Naish guest stars as Mafia Don Giuseppe "Joe" Bucco, who is being pressured to step down from leadership by his associates. Stubbornly refusing to retire, Bucco suffers the consequences but still remains loyal to the Organization, balking at an invitation to cooperate with Federal agent Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) no matter what happens. The mayhem gets under way at the very beginning, in which a poor wretch is found hanging from a meat hook, and doesn't let up until the now-famous finale, in which Bucco literally has the last laugh from beyond the grave. Henry Silva makes his first series appearance as drug pusher Little Charlie Sebastino in this episode, which features an unbilled cameo by Harry Dean Stanton (and incidentally, this is the only Untouchables episode in which the Mafia is mentioned by name). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Laredo, Texas, Paladin (Richard Boone) forms a fast friendship with Sam Tuttle (Gene Lyons), a notoriously unbeatable gunfighter. Not long afterward, Paladin kills a man named Kovac (Alan Dexter), who happens to be Tuttle's host. Now, despite their fondness and respect for one another, Paladin and Tuttle may well be forced into a showdown--and both men know all too well that only one will emerge alive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Whenever a fire breaks out, Esther Quentin (Norma Crane) comes down with a fever. Eventually Esther tells her husband Bill (Grant Williams) that she has foreseen each of these fires, and that every one of them was set by her twin sister. Now she has envisioned her sister burning down an orphanage--whereupon the authorities race against time to evacuate the building. Only at the very end do we learn the whole story about Esther's mysterious (and highly incendiary) sibling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide