Dennis Cross Movies

Ironside (Raymond Burr) investigates the mysterious disappearance of Michael Brandon (Ted Hartley), a brilliant scientist who was working on a top-secret missile project at the Gregory Institute. There are those who are convinced that Brandon has defected to the Soviets or Red Chinese, but his wife Ellie (Hildy Brooks) is adamant in her belief that her husband had met with foul play. Should Ironside trust Mrs. Brandon or the evidence of own eyes--and can there be someone else at Gregory Institute involved in the mystery? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Bounty Man is Clint Walker, back in the saddle some nine years after the cancellation of his TV series Cheyenne. Walker is hired to bring in his quarry dead or alive, and in the past has had no qualms about choosing the latter option. Now he is in competition with hard-bitten Richard Basehart in tracking down a young murderer (John Ericson)--and now he begins to ask himself questions about the morality of his profession. Though there's no authentication of this opinion, The Bounty Man sure looks like a series pilot. It was originally telecast October 21, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A widow finds her life unbearably dull and so becomes a volunteer CIA agent. She is sent to Mexico City for her first assignment and though her intentions are good, she ends up tossed into a jail. This was one of actress Rosalind Russel's final films and is sadly, considered among her very worst. Using a penname, she also wrote the screenplay. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Wayne Newton is the hero of the warm-hearted family feature 80 Steps to Jonah. The piping-voiced Newton is accused of car thievery, but who could doubt the sincerity of that angelic face? On the lam from the cops, he takes a job at a summer camp for blind children. Passing himself off as the new handyman the camp is expecting, the fugitive quickly ingratiates himself with the kids. Soon the cops come calling, but the falsely accused man is rescued by a last-minute confession. Veteran producer/director Gerd Oswald, previously a specialist in taut crime mellers, unexpectedly goes "cute" on 80 Steps to Jonah, though the end result is better than it deserves to be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot) had planned to take his meticulously organized vacation in an Old West tourist town all by himself. Unfortunately, circumstances dictate that he must bring Buffy (Anissa Jones) and Cissy (Kathy Garver) along for the ride. As a result, French's plans are ruined -- but this turns out not to be such a bad thing after all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Herman (Fred Gwynne) decides to buy a car for niece Marilyn (Pat Priest). This brings him to the used-car establishment run by Fair Deal Dan (played by impressionist Frank Gorshin), who not unexpectedly belies his name by selling Herman a lemon. Even worse, the car is stolen, and Herman finds himself a fugitive from justice. Featured in the cast is Johnny Silver as a character named Blinky, a full three years before the diminutive Silver donned the costume of "Dr. Blinkey" on Sid and Marty Krofft's H.R. Pufnstuf. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having taken one of Grandpa's 24-hour sleeping pills, Herman (Fred Gwynne) falls asleep at the county museum while waiting to pick up his niece Marilyn (Pat Priest). The next morning, the museum curators find Herman comfortably ensconsed in an Egyptian sarcophagus--and immediately jump to the conclusion that the moribund Munster is actually the mummy of King Amenhotep IV! Future One Day at a Time costar Pat Harrington Jr. appears as Mr. Thatcher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pat Hingle guest stars as Mike Decker, a Chicago newspaper columnist who has always believed in the innocence of accused murderer Richard Kimble (David Janssen). Managing to make contact with the fugitive Kimble, Decker agrees to mount a widespread search for the elusive One-Armed Man (Bill Raisch) who actually committed the murder. The fly in the ointment is Mike's alcoholic wife Paula, whose reckless behavior may end up betraying Kimble to his relentless pursuer Lt. Gerard (Barry Morse). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Like many American International films of its era, How to Make a Monster was sold to distributors on the basis of its title alone: only after theatrical play dates had been established did anyone get around to writing a script! Robert H. Harris plays Pete Drummond, who according to the script has been chief makeup man at American-International for 25 years, or approximately 20 years before the studio was actually established. When the studio is sold, Pete is brusquely informed that neither he nor his monster creations -- notably the Teenage Werewolf and Teenage Frankenstein -- will be required any longer, inasmuch as American International is going to concentrate on musicals from now on. Angered and humiliated, Pete takes revenge on the callous studio heads by hypnotizing a couple of actors (Gary Clarke and Gary Conway) into believing that they're genuine monsters. Under Pete's control, the two thespians begin committing murders left and right, wreaking havoc throughout the American International lot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) is a cynical newspaper columnist in San Francisco, handling women's advice -- by chance one day, the paper's city editor assigns her to cover the woman's angle on the arrival of a pair of L.A. police detectives, Capt. Manny Alidos (Royal Dano) and Lt. Bill Doyle (Sterling Hayden), on the hunt for a murder suspect known to be hiding somewhere in the city. They're both pretty button-down types and seem like fish-out-of-water in the more easy-going Frisco, and Kathy quickly clashes with them both, especially when her column appealing to the missing suspect as a woman yields serious dual results -- not only does Kathy boost her profile and readership, but the missing suspect makes contact and is ultimately brought in; in the process, Kathy goes from journalistic back-bencher to media star. That would be the end of the issue, except that Kathy and Bill have become attracted to each other amid their clashes, parries, and thrusts, and decide to get married -- she spurns the offer of a job in New York to move to Los Angeles and settle down to the life of a wife and homemaker. But that proves impossible -- Kathy quickly chafes at what she regards as the empty vacuous chatter of her fellow detective wives' lives and social interactions, and also her place in their pecking order as determined by their husbands' ranks and assignments (and Bill just doesn't rate high enough). Her own life suddenly cut off from career and ambition, and an ability to act on either, she becomes fixated on Bill's career and advancing it and him as a substitute. She contrives to cross paths socially with Alice Pope (Fay Wray), the wife of Inspector Tony Pope (Raymond Burr), who is both the head of an elite detective unit and the top man in her husband's division, and is soon not only getting Bill invited to parties with Pope and the police commissioner, but also cutting her husband's boss Manny Alidos and his wife Sara (Virginia Grey), to whom she's taken a special dislike, out of those same events.
It's not quite enough, however, and Kathy starts socializing on her own with Tony Pope, on Bill's behalf, and the two soon have their own relationship. Bill is still too much of a nice guy, and not careerist enough or assertive enough -- until she feigns distress at receiving poison-pen letters accusing her of having an affair with Pope, and blames Manny and Sara. This drives Bill to confront and assault Alidos, leading to a hearing in Pope's office where the chief of the division -- now very much beholden to Bill for Kathy's sake -- comes down on Bill's side. When the smoke clears, Manny is bounced back into uniform and Bill is made acting captain and put in charge of the homicide unit that Alidos formerly headed. Bill is on his way, and so is Kathy and Pope's relationship. But Pope proves to be a distressingly honorable and loyal man -- when his wife's health takes a turn for the worse, he decides to put in for retirement, and Kathy wants him to recommend Bill as his replacement. He considers it but decides that regardless of what he's done outside of his marriage, the department is too important to compromise the detective division, and that Bill just doesn't have what it takes to head it. Kathy is too deep in her strategy to back off, and also feels betrayed by Pope; now pushed over the edge, she contrives to threaten him with a gun, and is prepared to make good on her threat. Ironically enough, Bill may get his shot yet at heading the division, as he's head of homicide and takes personal charge of the biggest case the department has seen in years -- bringing in Tony Pope's killer. The only question is if and how he can put together the clues and pieces of the puzzle leading back to Kathy. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The dying words of his friend Ben Williams sends Matt (James Arness) on a mission of justice to the town of Elkador. He knows that somewhere in town, Ben's killer Lou Shippen (Paul Lambert) is hiding. Trouble is, the hostile townfolk have formed a protective circle around the fugitive--and to make matters worse, Matt wouldn't know Shippen even if he saw him. This episode is based on the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of October 23, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Yorky (Jeff Silver), a white boy raised by Indians, is saved from a charge of horse stealing when he is offered home and shelter by kindly farmer Seldon (Malcolm Atterbury). Though there are several people in town who'd sooner see Yorky hang, Matt Dillon (James Arness) is willing to go along with Selden and give the boy another chance. But when a horse trader arrives in Dodge with some suspiciously familiar-looking merchandise, it appears that Selden's faith in Yorky has been disastrously misplaced. This episode is adapted from the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of October 17, 1953. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide