James Anderson Movies

After the intense bloodshed of The Wild Bunch (1969), this comic western fable took the opposite approach to director Sam Peckinpah's continuing examination of the end of the West. Left for dead by a couple of lizard-slaughtering desperados in the middle of the desert, prospector Cable Hogue (Jason Robards) is saved by his unexpected discovery of water "where there wasn't any." Hogue turns the water hole, felicitously located near a stagecoach route, into a thriving business, creating a rest stop for a never-ending series of parched travelers. On his occasional trips to the closest town, he meets chipper prostitute Hildy (Stella Stevens), who joins him in his oasis, completing Hogue's little paradise. But even though Hogue may be able to succeed and avenge himself against his original attackers, there is one thing that he cannot stop: progress. Completed before The Wild Bunch was released, and replete with comical and even musical interludes, Peckinpah's gently picaresque telling of Hogue's rise and fall stands in distinct contrast to the visual violence of its predecessor. The underlying message about the cost of modernity, however, equals The Wild Bunch in seriousness. The callous randomness of Hogue's fate is as shocking as the Bunch's final blaze of glory; as in Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller from the same period, a tool of "civilization" provokes a most uncivilized end for an Old West dreamer. Although the film was as light-hearted in approach as the 1969 smash hit revisionist western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Warner Bros. mishandled the release and it did barely any business; Peckinpah returned to his trademark gore in his next film, the controversial Straw Dogs (1971). Still, The Ballad of Cable Hogue is less an anomaly for a master of violence than an ironically charming chapter in Peckinpah's career-long elegy to the western. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Jason (Chuck Connors) rides into a small town to visit Frank Allison (John Anderson), who once saved his life. Unfortunately, the reunion is neither happy nor lengthy: Allison is scheduled to be hanged the next day. It now falls to Jason to prevent Allison's embittered son Lon (Beau Bridges) from exacting revenge against the townsfolk for his father's execution. Featured in the cast is Whitney Blake, the mother of actress Meredith Baxter and the co-creator (with husband Alan Manings) of the long-running sitcom One Day at a Time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Brig is a literal filmization of the 1964 Living Theater presentation written by Ken Brown. The play is set in a Marine Corps prison, with tense facial expressions and sudden outbursts of brutality supplanting dialogue for most part. Ken Brown traces the degeneration of one prisoner (Warren Finnerty) from a normal human being to little more than an animal. Shot in one single night with a hand-held camera, The Brig won the "best documentary" award at Venice Film Festival. The 120-minute version proved impossible for most mainstream audiences to endure; current prints run 57 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Written by Eric Norden and Frank Arno, "Little Man-Ten Feet Tall" focuses on the relationship between Ponderosa ranchhand Nick Biancci (Ross Martin) and Nick's impressionable young son Mario (Michael Davis. Though Mario is prepared to fulfill Nick's dreams by becoming a concert guitarist, he changes his mind when he sees his father being intimidated by his fellow ranchhands. Thoroughly disillusioned, Mario latches onto a new "role model"-Hoss Cartwright. Denver Pyle appears as the Sheriff, while other roles are filled by James Anderson, Lane Bradford and Bern Hoffman. "Little Man-Ten Feet Tall" was originally telecast on May 26, 1963, as the final episode of Bonanza's fourth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unable to get through to a particularly hostile patient, psychiatrist Peter Falk goes to gray-haired senior shrink Sidney Poitier for advice. This prompts Poitier to recall his experiences during World War II. While working on behalf of the government, Poitier was assigned the case of psycho Nazi sympathizer Bobby Darin. A complex flashback structure reveals the various influences that led to Darin's warped state of mind and to his life of crime. Poitier perceives that Darin is potentially dangerous, and insists that he needs further treatment. The government sees things differently, and allows Darin, who on the surface shows signs of recovery, to leave the hospital. The horrible results of this decision serve to convince Poitier to follow his own gut feelings no matter what his fellow "experts" might advise, and to continue probing even the most recalcitrant or deceptively "cured" of patients. Essentially a conformist psychological melodrama, Pressure Point truly comes to life whenever Bobby Darin is on the screen. His performance was outstanding, far better than his Oscar-nominated turn in 1963's Captain Newman MD. Unfortunately, the critics were aligned against Darin, possibly because of the singer/actor's well-publicized arrogance; Judith Crist went so far as to compare Darin to Dr. Samuel Johnson's walking dog, quipping that the most remarkable aspect of Darin's performance was not that he did it well, but that he did it at all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Riding into a dusty Arkansas town, Paladin is greeted with the spectacle of a man chained in the street. The hapless prisoner turns out to be Dr. Simeon Loving (Donald Randolph), accused of murder by self-appointed "hanging judge" Elroy Greenleaf (Harold J. Stone). At the risk of his own neck, Paladin offers to act as Dr. Loving's defense counsel to save the man from the gallows--even though the wily Judge Greenleaf has pretty much stacked the deck against the prisoner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

En route to Monterey, Paladin (Richard Boone) is detained by a group of men who let him pass only when satisfied that he has never heard of someone named Vernon Good. Upon arrival, Paladin is met by an ill-tempered priest (Albert Salmi)--and by Vernon Good (John Mauldin), who has taken refuge in the priest's mission to avoid a lynch mob. Needless to say, Vernon's problem quickly becomes Paladin's problem--if the priest is willing to let it be so. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fourth episode of Walt Disney's eight-part miniseries The Swamp Fox, Continental Army guerilla leader Francis Marion (Leslie Nielsen) feels responsible when his nephew Gabe is killed by the Tories. Letting revenge outweigh his duty to his men, Marion personally sets out to kill Gabe's murderer, Amos Briggs (John Anderson). As a result of Marion's dereliction, the Redcoats seize control of South Carolina's valuable salt supply, necessitating a desperate last-minute raid against British fortifications. "Day of Reckoning" originally aired as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) breathing down his neck, Mig Torrance (Mike Kellin), head of With a large and thriving prostitution racket, moves his base of operations south of the Mexican border. Though Mig refuses to dirty his hands with firearms, he has no qualms about dispatching his minions to gun down anyone who threatens his business; as a result, the hookers victimized by Torrance are unwilling to cooperate with the Feds. In the end, Ness must bank upon the courage of feisty retired madam Mrs. B (Betty Field)--and the cowardice of Torrance's sniveling kid brother Ernie (a decidedly pre-Bewitched Dick York). "The White Slavers" boasts a higher dead-body count than any other Untouchables episode...and also features the single most brutal act of violence in the series' history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Hargrove Finance Company has been robbed and Frank Anderson (James Anderson) lies dead. Identified by witnesses as one of the robbers, old Pop Renzi (Eduardo Ciannelli) is accused of murder. At the behest of Renzi's little grandson Nicky (Bobby Clark), Perry (Raymond Burr) agrees to handle Pop's defense--which proves a formidable task indeed, thanks to the obstreperous attitude of the dead man's sexy widow Iris (Nita Talbot). Veteran movie "gunsel" Elisha Cook Jr. appears in this episode, which was directed by the prolific Buzz Kulik. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A young woman plays with a divining rod and ends up finding much more than water in this horror movie. Instead of the desired liquid, the woman finds a 400-year-old human head, and it is still alive. The horrific creature, seeing that the woman is properly innocent, hypnotizes her into looking for the rest of his body. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After a dying outlaw confesses to a crime for which Jedd Ferris (Richard Crane) has been sentenced to jail, Bret (James Garner) sets upon the task of securing Jedd's release. Trouble is, Jedd's wife Martha (Joan Vohs) is coveted by a tough customer named Ben Maxwell (Richard Webb), who will stop at nothing to make certain that Jedd remains behind bars. The first Maverick episode directed by series "regular" Douglas Heyes, "The Long Hunt" is a particular treat for fans of 1950s TV science-fiction shows, inasmuch as Richard Webb, aka "Captain Midnight", is cast as the bitter enemy of Richard Crane, aka "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide