David Zelag Goodman Movies
- 1960
Loosely based on a cult of assassins in early 19th-century India known as "thaga" (pronounced "tahg"), the villains in this routine, part-horror, part suspense story are causing problems in the East India Company and throughout Bombay. It seems that someone is stealing cargo from the company, and many people are unaccountably disappearing. But as usual, the colonial attitude prevails and one officer in the company is too focused on his goal of playing polo in England to see clearly, while the others are equally opaque. So it takes awhile before these Brits realize that the "thaga" cult is strangling the population and inducting new people into its rituals every day. As the assassins wreak havoc in Bombay, one of the company's officers is captured and slated for execution. The cult became so notorious and well-known in its day that the word "thug" entered into common English usage. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Rolfe, Allan Cuthbertson, (more)
- 1961
In this sequel to the first-season episode "Noise of Death", Henry Silva returns as drug kingpin Little Charlie Sebastino. After a little girl dies from an overdose, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) persuades the Chicago media to bear down on the city's illegal heroin traffic. Withering in the glare of publicity, the higher-ups in the Mob shut down Little Charlie's operation--leading to a bloody chain reaction of betrayal and revenge. The episode's stellar supporting cast includes Eduardo Cianelli and Will Kuluva as fraternal mob kingpins, Paula Raymond as Kuluva's two-timing wife, and Conrad Janis, miles removed from his mild-mannered portrayal of Pam Dawber's father on Mork and Mindy, as a dope-addicted jazz drummer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Now that the U.S. Government has come up with a method to denature industrial alcohol so that it cannot be used in the manufacture of whisky, bootlegger Wally Baltzer (a decidedly pre-Kojak Telly Savalas) orders his chemists to work day night to come up with an antidote. Finally, Baltzer minion Russell Shield (Joseph Wiseman), an embittered cripple determined to "get even" with the world, develops a formula that will reclaim the alcohol and allow business to proceed as usual. Ultimately, Shield utilizes his evil genius to take over Baltzer's business--only to meet his Waterloo in the form of a two-timing woman. (Incidentally, actor Joseph Wiseman's limp is not an affectation, but was the result of an injury sustained during his previous Untouchables appearance in the episode "The Tommy Karpeles Story"). ~ 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
After his legitimate business goes bust, former drug king Phil Melnick (Lou Polan) returns to his old opium-dealing racket. This time, however, Melnick has taken a partner: 19-year-old Johnny Lubin (James MacArthur), who hopes to be a millionaire before his 20th birthday--and who is willing to kill anyone who impedes his progress. Even the Mob finds the baby-faced Johnny too hard too handle. . .but Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) is not so easily daunted. Appearing as a debutante who becomes Johnny's unwitting drug courier is actress Carol Eastman, who under the nom de plume of Adrien Joyce would write the screenplay for the 1971 film Five Easy Pieces. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
After seizing control of the booze traffic in Chicago, Capone lieutenant Meyer Wartel (Robert Middleton) oversteps his bounds by murdering a reporter who had been crusading against him. The only person who can "finger" Wartel is Herman Kihn (George Voskovec), the gunsmith who fashioned the silencer used on the murder weapon. Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) advises Kihn to testify against Wartel, warning him that there is already a contract on his life. Meanwhile, professional assassin Pittsburg Phil (Rip Torn), a man truly in love with his work, prepares to pull off what he considers his "Masterpiece" by bumping off Kihn in full view of Ness and his fellow Untouchables--without making a sound. ~ 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
- 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
- 1963
Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) goes undercover again, this time motivated not so much by a sense of duty as by loyalty to his old friend Captain Johnson (Robert Bice). The captain's own son has been picked up in a drug raid, and Ness vows to track down the supplier of the illegal narcotics, a particularly slimy character named Peepers (Robert Ellenstein)--who turns out to be only a flunkey for the "big boy", Sal Rudin (Robert Emhardt). And that is how Ness ends up in New Orleans, wearing a bow tie and straw hat and impersonating a jazz musician named Artie Tresh. Unfortunately, Ness' cover may be blown when sexy singer Lorna Shaw (Jacqueline Scott) falls for the incognito Fed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Dean Stockwell stars as Pvt. Rob Lawson, the latest replacement sent to King Company. The men are aware of Lawson's reputation for raw, unbridled courage; indeed, some have called him a "one man army." But a war requires team players, and Sgt. Saunders (Vic Morrow) is worried that Lawson's long-wolf bravado will be more of a hindrance than a help. Ultimately, Lawson proves to be his own worst enemy--and the revelation may prove fatal to his comrades in arms. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Lovers and Other Strangers became a "sleeper" hit, based on a play by Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna. The story is essentially a series of vignettes and anecdotes, unified by an impending marriage. Father of the bride Hal (Gig Young) has problems with his long-suffering mistress, Cathy (Anne Jackson), who spends much of the film sitting on the toilet, crying her eyes out; Wilma (Anne Meara), the bride's sex-starved sister, can't wrest her husband, Johnny (Harry Guardino), away from the TV; and Frank (Richard S. Castellano), as the groom's father, slips comfortably into Bartlett's Familiar Quotations with his oft-repeated query "So what's the story?" Twelfth-billed Diane Keaton makes her film debut as a garrulous wedding guest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bea Arthur, Bonnie Bedelia, (more)
- 1970
- PG
Monte Walsh (Lee Marvin ) and his pal Chet Rollins (Jack Palance) are two over the hill cowboys seeking work in the town of Harmony, Arizona in the final days of the Old West. They take a job at the ranch of Cal Brennan (Jim Davis) and meet an old friend Shorty (Mitch Ryan). Monte goes off to visit old flame Martine (Jean Moreau), a saloon girl suffering from tuberculosis. The ranch closes and Chet marries Mary Eagle (Allyn Ann McLerie), a widow who owns a profitable hardware store. He tries to talk Monte in to giving up his cowboy life and settling down. He asks Martine to marry him, but she declines and cites her deteriorating health as the reason for her refusal. Monte goes on a drinking binge and rides a wild horse through town. He is indignant when a rodeo owner offers him a job. Monte states he would rather spit on himself that resort to such degrading work. Shorty is soon unemployed and guns down local lawman (LeRoy Johnson). Distraught after the death of his beloved Martine, Monte goes after Shorty when he guns down Chet. This film marks the directorial debut for cameraman William A. Fraker. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Marvin, Jeanne Moreau, (more)
Sam Peckinpah examines the instinctual capacity for violence in his controversial 1971 film, loosely based on the novel The Siege of Trencher's Farm. To avoid the Vietnam-era social chaos in the U.S., American mathematician David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) moves with his British wife, Amy (Susan George), to the isolated Cornish town where she grew up, but their presence provokes antagonism among the village's men. As the hostilities escalate from routine bullying to the gang rape of his wife, David finds his pacifistic self backed into a corner. When the hooligans attack his house, David finally resorts to the gruesome violence that he abhors. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, (more)
- 1974
Man on a Swing, purportedly based on a true case, is a puzzling crime thriller concerning a clairvoyant who helps find a murderer. After a murder is committed, supposed clairvoyant Franklin Wills goes to police Chief Lee Tucker (Cliff Robertson) and gives him details of the crime that he has seen in visions. The details are startlingly correct and could only have been known to the killer. Tucker, not convinced that Wills is indeed clairvoyant, begins to suspect him of the murder. Man on a Swing, directed by Frank Perry, over-complicates its central theme, distracting the viewer from the film's strong central theme, the ambiguity of Wills. Joel Grey gives an outstanding, scene-stealing performance in that role, giving Wills both menace and a surprising vulnerability. Cliff Robertson is far-less successful in his portrayal of the no-nonsense police chief. The film's ambiguous ending should increase the suspense of the film but instead further confuses the viewer. However, because of the superb performance of Grey, Man on a Swing is worth a view. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- 1975
- R
Previously filmed in 1942 as The Falcon Takes Over and in 1944 as Murder, My Sweet, Raymond Chandler's Farewell My Lovely was given its third cinematic go-round under its original title in 1975. Spouting the Chandlerish prose as if it were second nature, Robert Mitchum stars as 1940s private eye Philip Marlowe, hired by the goonish Moose Malloy (Jack O'Halloran) to locate his former girl friend. This involves Marlowe in the theft of a jade necklace, which in turn leads to murder. All roads seemingly lead to adventuress Mrs. Grayle (Charlotte Rampling), wealthily married but far from satisfied. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, (more)
In a hermetically sealed, post-apocalyptic urban environment several centuries hence, Logan 5 (Michael York) and his friend Francis 7 (Richard Jordan) lead unquestioning lives of hedonism. Entertainment comes in the form of casual sexual liaisons and gladiatorial games in which those who do not wish to undergo euthanasia at the age of 30 vie for the illusory chance of continued life. As "sandmen," Logan and Francis are charged with tracking down and killing "runners" -- those citizens who will submit to neither "renewal" (a peaceful death) nor "carousel" (a gladiatorial battle) when their time comes. When Logan grows intrigued by a beautiful young woman, Jessica 6 (Jenny Agutter), who plans to become a runner, he is forced to question the fundamental principles of his society. And when his superiors force him to pose as a runner himself to weed out Jessica's guerilla underground, Logan finds himself fleeing the city in search of a mythical place called Sanctuary where people are allowed to live out their natural spans. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael York, Richard Jordan, (more)
- 1977
- PG
Dick Richards directed this French Foreign Legion adventure that's at once parodies and pays tribute to the venerable Hollywood epics that preceded it. Gene Hackman stars as Major William Sherman Foster, a soldier who has been kicked out of West Point but has managed to obtain command of a group of Legionnaires after the end of World War I. His troops have been ordered to accompany an archeological expedition traveling to Morocco headed by Francois Marneau (Max von Sydow). Foster's motley band includes an on-the-lam cat burglar named Marco Segrain (Terence Hill), an ex-guardsman from the deposed Russian monarchy named Ivan (Jack O'Halloran), an adventure-seeking aristocrat named Fred Hastings (Paul Sherman), and an alluring beauty named Simone Picard (Catherine Deneuve). As the band makes their way to Morocco, they cross paths with the fervid and bloodthirsty Arab leader El Krim (Ian Holm), who vows to unite his people to expel foreigners from their land. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Max von Sydow, (more)
A shutterbug is haunted by psychic visions of the killer who is murdering all of her friends in this hit thriller. Intense and driven, successful photographer Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway) has made a name for herself by juxtaposing sex and violence in her glamorous photos. But at the height of her success -- and just as a media backlash is brewing -- she begins to experience daydreams from the point of view of a serial killer as he relentlessly stalks and murders her associates. Her unbalanced ex-husband (Raul Julia) seems like an obvious suspect, especially when his new girlfriend is murdered and he goes on the lam. But Laura is shocked by the prospect that the killer could be somebody out to discredit her work, which she views as an artistic commentary on the degradation of the modern world. Under the protection of police detective John Neville (Tommy Lee Jones), Laura is unable to save even one of her friends from a violent end. Soon, she finds herself inside the mind of the killer as he marches down a familiar hallway: the one outside her own door. Co-written by Halloween director John Carpenter, Eyes of Laura Mars also features character actors Brad Dourif and René Auberjonois. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
- 1979
Muhammad Ali made his TV-movie dramatic debut in this adaptation of Howard Fast's novel Freedom Road. Though some of the names are changed, the story concerns the true-life efforts of senators Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens to bring political order and racial equality to the post-Civil War South. Ali is cast as Gideon Jackson, an ex-slave who is elected to the U.S. senate during the Reconstruction Era. Interestingly enough, the character upon whom Jackson is based was depicted as the villain of D.W. Griffith's 1915 Civil War epic Birth of a Nation. Just as Griffth offered his own biased slant on the facts, so too did Fast rewrite history to promote his own political ideology. As for Muhammad Ali, his performance is no threat to Olivier, but he acts with sincerity and a commendable lack of bravado. Made for TV, Freedom Road represented the final film effort of Czechoslovakian director Jan Kadar. It was first telecast in two parts on October 29 and 30, 1979, an event that warranted a cover story in TV Guide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
- R
An Italian deli owner (Tom Skerritt) gets fed up with the petty hoodlums in his south Philadelphia neighborhood who have been terrorizing his friends. He decides to form a neighborhood watch group to fight off the crooks. While his intentions are the very best, the group of vigilantes he forms resorts to beating up offenders before bothering to call the police, the police themselves are irritated that the citizens are interfering, and the deli owner starts to like the publicity he is getting for his vigilante work. As things unravel, a television news crew is there to present all sides of the story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Skerritt, Patti LuPone, (more)
- 1983
- PG
In this melodramatic story, a college professor and his family experience trauma and tears when the professor discovers that his one-time lover in France has recently died and left a son behind -- his son. When the young boy shows up on the doorstep because the shocked father can only do what is right and offer him a home, the professor (Martin Sheen), his wife (Blythe Danner), and their children -- as well as the boy -- face new issues in a crisis that threatens the once-cohesive family. Both Sheen and Danner carry their roles beyond the sappy limitations of the script, but neither can change an unsatisfactory ending meant only to bring out another handkerchief. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Blythe Danner, (more)
Based on the famous comic strip, Sheena chronicles the adventures of the title character (Tanya Roberts), a fair-skinned orphan taken in by a kindly Zambouli priestess (Elizabeth of Toro, a real-life African queen) in a remote African village and trained in the ancient arts of makeup and hairstyling. When American newsmen Fletcher (Donovan Scott) and Vic (Ted Wass) travel to her homeland to cover a story on Prince Otwani (Trevor Thomas), they uncover his plot to assassinate his brother, the reigning prince (a renowned field-goal kicker), and frame the priestess for the crime. Sheena joins forces with the newsmen to stop him and restore order to the country. Although Roberts looks great in a loincloth, her assets alone cannot save this turkey; one wonders where the jungle princess manages to plug in her blow-dryer. This ridiculous film was panned across the board upon its release and subsequently bombed. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tanya Roberts, Ted Wass, (more)
Based on a novel by Jack Schaefer (writer of Shane), and previously filmed theatrically in 1970, the made-for-cable Monte Walsh is the still-timely saga of a dying way of life. Monte Walsh (Tom Selleck) and his friends are cowboys and bronco busters, plying their trade in the Wyoming Territory of 1892. Alas, the advance of civilization has all but rendered Monte and his comrades obsolete -- and with the increasing corporate buy-ups of Wyoming land, these relics of the Old West have practically nowhere else to go. Should Monte continue as before, seeking out the last of the wide open spaces, or should he follow the advice of his sweetheart Martine (Isabella Rosselini) and settle down in a steady job -- say, as a trick rider-roper in the traveling Wild West Show owned by impresario Colonel Wilson (Wallace Shawn)? This elegiac drama debuted January 17, 2003, on the TNT network as part of the cable service's "100 Years of Westerns" celebration. The teleplay is partially credited to one of the scripters of the 1970 film, Lukas Heller, who died in 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Selleck, Keith Carradine, (more)
