Robert Culp Movies
Robert Culp attended several West Coast colleges while training for a dramatic career. At 21, Culp made his Broadway debut in He Who Gets Slapped. Within six years, he was starring in his own TV Western, Trackdown. During the two-year run of this program, Culp began writing scripts, a habit he'd carry over to other series, notably The Rifleman and Gunsmoke. He made his first film in 1963, thereafter appearing sporadically on the big screen, most memorably as one of the four leads in the satirical Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1968). In 1965, Culp and comedian Bill Cosby were co-starred on the popular TV series I Spy. During the second of I Spy's three seasons, Culp made his directorial debut; he went on to helm episodes for several other TV programs, as well as the 1972 theatrical feature Hickey and Boggs, in which he was reunited with Cosby. He then essayed the semicomic role of CIA chief Bill Maxwell on the weekly TVer The Greatest American Hero (1980-1982), and played such film character roles as the President in The Pelican Brief (1993). Culp co-starred with Cosby for a 1994 I Spy TV-movie reunion. Married four times, Robert Culp's third wife was Eurasian actress France Nuyen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1975
A Cry for Help (working title: End of the Line) stars Robert Culp as an acerbic, Don Imus-like radio talk show host. When one of his callers, an anxious young woman, threatens to kill herself, Culp laughs it off. Later, however, he realizes that the girl wasn't kidding, and mounts a frantic effort-with the help of his loyal audience-to locate the would-be suicide. Richard Levinson and William Link's script stretches the tension level to the snapping point, and you'll love every minute of it. Made for television, A Cry for Help originally aired February 12, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- R
A mid-life crisis takes a strange turn in this horror movie. The terror begins when a city couple decide to escape the hub-bub and crime and start new lives in the husband's great-grandfather's mansion located in the isolated North Woods. They are not there long before the wife finds herself tempted by a dashing ghost. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
This surprisingly warm-and-fuzzy episode is narrated by child actress Evelyn Rudie, here cast as minister's daughter Hildegarde Fell. Against the wishes of her father (Hugh Marlowe), Hildegarde insists upon trying to make friends with crabby old John Anderson (Cedric Hardwicke), an elderly recluse whom everyone in town assumes to be a former judge, famous for his harsh and merciless sentences. Only after Anderson's death does the wide-eyed Hildegarde reveal the unvarnished truth about the "greatly beloved" man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Angie Dickinson returns as a sexy Depression-era mother who joins forces with her equally attractive daughters for a crime spree through the South as they seek to avenge the death of her husband. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angie Dickinson, Robert Culp, (more)
"Consider the possibilities," read the ads for Paul Mazursky's 1969 satirical comedy about what happens when the sexual revolution hits affluent bourgeois life. After a weekend of "beautiful" emotional honesty at an Esalen-type retreat, married wannabe hipsters Bob (Robert Culp) and Carol (Natalie Wood) return to their well-heeled Los Angeles life determined to apply the principles of free love and complete openness to their marriage. To the respective curiosity and repulsion of their married best friends, Ted (Elliott Gould) and Alice (Dyan Cannon), Bob and Carol have affairs that they happily reveal to everyone. Inspired by all that openness during the quartet's trip to Vegas, Ted admits an affair of his own, provoking the outraged Alice to demand that this new ethos be taken to its obvious conclusion: a mate-sharing foursome. Once they're bedded down and ready to go, however, they start to have second thoughts. Without sacrificing authenticity for comedy, first-time director Mazursky and co-writer/producer Larry Tucker delve into the confusion of the Eisenhower generation when faced with the temptations of the counterculture. Too old to be hippies and too young to be fogies, the would-be California swingers sincerely attempt to try on the lifestyle, but it never looks quite right. A then-controversial example of the New Permissiveness both onscreen and off, Bob & Carol debuted at the New York Film Festival to great praise, particularly for Gould and Cannon. Whether they wanted to laugh at their elders' faux looseness or see what their peers might be doing, audiences turned Bob & Carol into a substantial hit, and its observations about marriage and sex remain humorously sharp even if the encounter group jargon is past its vogue. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, (more)
- 1961
Robert Culp guest-stars as former gunfighter Ed Payson. When he tries to buy supplies from general store owner Will Cass (Dabbs Greer), he is coldly refused service; it seems that, before hanging up his guns, Ed killed Will's son. Befriending Ed, Adam Cartwright tries to mollify Cass, but things only go from bad to worse. Others in the cast include Ray Daley (Billy Buckley), Abbagail Shelton (Sally), Robert Christopher (Cahill), and Richard Rosmini (Jamie). Originally shown on October 29, 1961, "Broken Ballad" was written by John T. Kelley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1976
- R
Director Bob Clark would graduate from the Canadian Breaking Point to such films as Porky's and A Christmas Story, proving beyond a doubt that it is possible to overcome a bad start. Bo Svenson stars as a mild-mannered teacher--glasses and all. He witnesses a mob murder, whereupon he is put into a witness protection program by cop (Robert Culp). When mobsters show up to rub out Svenson, the authorities are helpless, so suddenly "Mr. Peepers" becomes "Rambo". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bo Svenson, Robert Culp, (more)
- 1985
In this Stephen Cannell-produced pilot for a potential TV detective series, Mac Davis plays an ex-highway patrolman and Joseph Cortese an ex-trucker, related by marriage. Their wives were twin sisters--were, because in addition to all the other "ex" qualifications in their lives, Davis and Cortese are ex-husbands. Still pals after their group divorce, the boys become private eyes. Their first case is to get the goods on a shady tycoon (Robert Culp), who happens to be their former father-in-law. Brothers-in-Law was the first Steven J. Cannell independent production which failed to sell as a series, but it wouldn't be the last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Where Columbo (Peter Falk) goes, can murder be far behind? In Columbo Goes to College, the rumpled TV sleuth shows up on campus as a guest lecturer on criminology. His visit coincides with the machinations of two rich and arrogant frat boys (Justin Rowe and Cooper Redman) who utilize "remote control" to kill the professor who's threatened to expel them. In the tradition of Compulsion, the snide young killers flaunt their intellectual superiority before the seemingly ingenuous Columbo. No wonder these boys were on the verge of flunking out--they'd never bothered to check up on Columbo's previous track record for convictions. Outside of the novel setting, Columbo Goes to College is a by-rote rehash of an old formula; even Peter Falk seems bored. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
In this youthful film, to juvenile delinquents must spend a year in a military academy. They immediately begin driving their superior officers crazy. The film is also titled Combat Academy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Culp, Keith Gordon, (more)
- 1963
Accused of cowardice in battle by Sgt. John Metcalf (guest star Robert Culp), Pvt. Kirby (Jack Hogan) faces both a court martial and a firing squad. Though Kirby insists that he retreated during a battle on Hill 256 in the face of heavy machine-gun fire, Metcalf claims that no such guns existed. With only 48 hours at their disposal, Saunders (Vic Morrow) and Caje (Pierre Jalbert) make a treacherous return visit to Hill 256, in search of the evidence that will free their comrade. Though series costar Rick Jason does not appear in this episode, future regular Conlan Carter, aka "Doc", shows up as an MP. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Cynthia Is Alive and Living in Avalon is a rare comic episode from the usually dead-serious TV series Name of the Game. Cynthia (Barbara Feldon) is an elusive jet-setter who has of late become a political activist. She refuses all interviews and keeps hidden in a rambling house on the island of Avalon. At the urging of his pal Mickey Rooney, reporter Robert Culp decides to make a name for himself by getting the exclusive story on Cynthia. For some reason, this October 2, 1970 Name of the Game installment was given far more press and promotional coverage than was customary for the series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Whilst traveling about the Midwestern region of the United States, cellist Gerard Huxley (Jean-Hugues Anglade) meets two young women, sisters Megan (Connie Nielsen) and Dominique (Mia Kirshner). The women learn that their father has passed on and decide to go to Seattle to inform their mother (Anne Archer) of her newly attained widow status, dragging the naïve Gerard with them. The sisters turn out to have a bad streak a mile wide -- violence and death are left in the trio's tracks, including the killing of a judge (Robert Culp). Even though Gerard is guilty of little more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he is in a precarious situation now that he is traveling with killers and, eventually, everyone involved must answer for their deeds. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Hugues Anglade, Connie Nielsen, (more)
- 1964
While a corrupt people rule the planet, a man travels back in time to 200 years past to defeat the enemy. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1993
Dissolute Civil War surgeon Doc Eli (Robert Culp) is now barnstorming with his own "Kickapoo Indian Miracle Elixir" medicine show. At first regarding Eli as a charlatan, Dr. Mike (Jane Seymour) is forced to rely on his long-dormant surgical skills when Myra (Helene Udy) falls victim to an ovarian cyst. Similarly, Sully (Joe Lando) tries to "redeem" a disillusioned Cheyenne named Franklin (Pato Hoffman). As a bonus, two of the series' prominent supporting characters get engaged in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Lando, Chad Allen, (more)
- 1975
When an anonymous girl calls in saying that she is going to commit suicide, a radio announcer must garner the help of all of his radio audience to help find her to prevent her accomplishing it. This is made more difficult by the fact that he is an unpopular announcer. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Having already exhausted the dramatic possibilities of fire with The Towering Inferno, producer Irwin Allen turns to water in the made-for-TV Flood! The film is set in a small community, conveniently (for the purposes of the plot) located near a huge earthen dam. As the flood waters rise and the dam threatens to collapse, we are made privy to the individual reactions of such all-star victims-to-be as Robert Culp, Martin Milner, Richard Basehart, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Hershey, Teresa Wright and Carol Lynley. As in Inferno, helicopter pilots come to the rescue. Most of the film was shot in Eugene, Oregon. Flood! first aired on November 24, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Colonial America provides the backdrop for the adventures of a peddler who comes from the wilderness into the meetings of the founding fathers. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1979
- PG
The very healthy looking Susan Anton is appropriately cast in Goldengirl. The daughter of a former Olympic athlete, Goldengirl (that's her name!) has been groomed for athletic competition since childhood. Her hero worship of her dad (Curt Jurgens) comes to an abrupt end when she finds out that he was an intimate of Adolf Hitler and that, through experimentation, he has converted his darling daughter into a near android. Somehow, Goldengirl must regain her humanity and sustain her integrity in the face of a myriad of celebrity endorsement deals. Originally intended as a two-part TV movie to be run in conjunction with the 1980 Olympics, Goldengirl was re-edited and released theatrically when the U.S. pulled out of competition. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Anton, James Coburn, (more)
- 1978
Originally titled Stories from the Bible, Greatest Heroes of the Bible was designed as a seven-part TV miniseries; evidently the specter of low ratings forced the network execs to telescope the presentation into four installments. The series began with the story of David (Roger Kern) and Goliath (Ted Cassidy). Next we were offered the tale of Samson (John Beck) and Delilah (Ann Turkel). The Flood was next on the agenda, with Lew Ayres as Noah. This was followed by Joshua (Robert Culp) at the walls of Jericho. Moses (John Marley) was the central character in the next chapter, followed by Solomon (Tom Hallick) and Bathsheba (Carol Lawrence). The story of Joseph (Sam Bottoms) and his Brethren rounded out the presentation. While other miniseries prided themselves on being lensed in Europe and the Mid-East, Greatest Stories of the Bible declared itself as an "All American Production;" for example, Canyon City, Utah, stood in for Jericho. This miniseries was telecast November 19, 20, 21 and 22, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- R
It's hard to discern the filmmakers' true point of view on Hannie Caulder. On one hand, you've got the heavily somber story of Raquel Welch's efforts to exact vengeance on the men who raped her and killed her husband. On the other hand, you've got the leisurely-paced, lightly amusing sequences in which saddle-tramp Robert Culp tries to teach Welch how to be a gunslinger in her own right. And on the third hand (and who's got one of those?), you are offered the goofy Three-Stooges-like antics of the principle villains: Ernest Borgnine, Strother Martin and Jack Elam. This British-financed western features one-time sexpot Diana Dors as a zoftic madam and an uncredited Stephen Boyd as an ineffectual preacher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raquel Welch, Robert Culp, (more)
- 1983
To land a job as a sports reporter, a young woman must disguise herself as a man. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
The stars of the witty TV series I Spy were reunited for this downbeat crime thriller, which takes a much darker and more violent look at the lives of two detectives for hire. Al Hickey (Bill Cosby) and Frank Boggs (Robert Culp) are a pair of private eyes who are approached by an attorney to find his girlfriend, who has gone missing. Their investigation leads them to a large sum of money from a Pittsburgh bank robbery. It seems that the woman in question has married the leader of a leftist radical group, which is now trying to find a buyer for the tainted money. An attempt to recover both the money and the girl goes awry when Hickey and Boggs infiltrate a meeting with the radicals; the girl slips away and takes the burgled cash with her. Adding to the disaster, the meeting tips off the identity of the detectives to mobsters dealing with the radicals, and the gangsters execute Hickey's wife in an effort to keep him away from their activities. Hickey and Boggs also features Rosalind Cash, Michael Moriarity, Vincent Gardenia, Isabel Sanford, and James Woods. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Cosby, Robert Culp, (more)
