James Daly Movies
American actor James Daly got his start while still a child by appearing in community theatre in his home-town of Wisconsin Rapids. After graduating from Cornell University in 1941, Daly worked his way up to Broadway in 1946 as Gary Merrill's understudy in Born Yesterday. He spent the next few years dividing his time between New York City and Wisconsin. It was in that state's capitol, Madison, that Daly's daughter Tyne was born; Tyne Daly later became a star in her own right, as did James' son Timothy. James Daly won the Theatre Guild award in 1950 for his work in a revival of Shaw's Major Barbara, and co-starred later that year with Helen Hayes in still another revival, The Glass Menagerie. Film work didn't give Daly the starring roles he'd enjoyed on Broadway, but from his first major film The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) onward, the actor secured a niche as a dependable character player. He also flourished in television, winning an Emmy award for the drama special "The Eagle and the Cage," playing the title role in the much-rebroadcast drama "Give Us Barabbas," and starring in two long-running weekly series, Foreign Intrigue and Medical Center. He also is well-remembered for his role in the TV anthology Twilight Zone where he portrayed a beleaguered Manhattan executive who imagines himself to a simpler and more peaceful time and place in the half-hour fantasy "A Stop at Willoughby." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The phenomenal success of the 1977 ABC miniseries Roots all but demanded a sequel to writer Alex Haley's epic story of his African and African-American forebears. Debuting February 18, 1979, Roots: The Next Generations picked up where its predecessor left off, with Haley's slave ancestors winning their freedom in the aftermath of the Civil War. Even so, life for black Americans was wrought with hardship and oppression thanks to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, the staunch refusal of the white power structure to pass anti-lynching laws, and the formation of the dreaded Jim Crow laws which legalized racial segregation in the South (and much of the North). Covering the period from 1882 to the mid-1970s, the miniseries first focuses on blacksmith Tom Harvey (Georg Stanford Brown), great-grandson of Kunta Kinte (the protagonist of the original Roots), and his family. Meanwhile, reacting to the marriage of his son to a black woman, anal-retentive Southern colonel Warner (Henry Fonda) begins setting the legal wheels in motion to deny blacks like Tom the right to vote and to hold "white" jobs. A few decades later, Tom's son-in-law encourages his fellow blacks to stand firm against the KKK's reign of terror. His labors on behalf of his race are rewarded when his daughter Bertha (Irene Cara) becomes the first descendant of Kunta Kinte to receive a college education. It is Bertha Palmer who weds the equally ambitious Simon Haley (Dorian Harewood), who goes on to serve in WWI and to organize farmers and sharecroppers during the Depression. Simon's son Alex (played at various ages by Kristoff St. John, Damon Evans, and finally James Earl Jones) is just as determined to succeed in a white man's world as his father, and to that end becomes a professional writer after his own service stint in the Coast Guard during WWII. At the height of his professional success (largely due to his having ghost-written the autobiography of Muslim activist Malcolm X), Alex Haley pays a visit to his boyhood hometown -- where, almost by accident, he receives the first clue to his heritage, a clue that will lead him on an odyssey of self-discovery, arriving full circle at Kunta Kinte's birthplace in Africa. Although the miniseries' "money scene" was Haley's nervous interview with American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell (Marlon Brando in a superb cameo turn), the climactic episode, in which Haley tearfully embraces the living African descendants of Kunta Kinte, is one of the most unforgettable moments in the history of network television. Running 12 episodes and 14 hours, Roots: The Next Generations concluded on February 25, 1979, playing to huge ratings all along the way and ultimately garnering several Emmy nominations (and one win). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Georg Stanford Brown, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1977
The Storyteller is a lukewarm exploration of a hot issue: TV violence. Martin Balsam plays a successful television writer who pens a tale in which one of the characters commits arson. A young and impressionable boy watches this TV drama--and shortly afterward dies in a fire of his own making. The boy's attorney, in concert with several politicians and "clean TV" advocates, holds Balsam's script responsible for the tragedy. As he works on his upcoming court appearance with a young attorney, Balsam does an inventory on his career, digging out every script he's ever written. Has he engendered violence as has been charged, or is he simply a working writer who gives audiences what they want? The Storyteller never really answers this question; the viewer is left to weigh the pros and cons of the issue right along with the perplexed Balsam. Made for TV, The Storyteller is a surprisingly toothless effort from the otherwise reliable writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link. Perhaps the authors were too close to the issue at hand (they'd been accused of fostering violence themselves from time to time) to give the subject the incisive treatment it deserved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Television newsman Harry Walsh (Leslie Nielsen) holds fast to the maxim "seeing is believing" in this political/medical thriller, with science-fiction overtones. Harry saw a well-known U.S. Senator (Bradford Dillman) have a car accident, and took video coverage on the scene. When he arrives at the hospital to follow up on the story, he is told that no such person is, or ever was there. Since the senator is a presidential hopeful, this is a very important story, and Harry keeps at it. His TV station, which ran a report on the accident, retracts the story with an apology when the senator's office calls with the story that the senator is on a fishing trip. Harry doesn't believe it. In a parallel story, the senator wakes up in a hospital with all sorts of transplanted organs, etc., when he should simply be dead. He discovers that his survival is part of a worldwide medical blackmail scheme involving world political leaders. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1970
This episode marks a rare joint appearance by actor James Daly and his daughter Tyne Daly. The elder Daly is cast as Judge McIntire, who is presently touring college campuses giving lectures about a controversial death sentence he'd levied eight years earlier. During a classroom re-enactment of the trial, McIntire is himself marked to death by an unknown party. Law student Mark (Don Mitchell) must rely upon his boss Ironside (Raymond Burr) to save the judge's life and ferreting out the would-be "executioner". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jack Ryan (Ryan O'Neal) is a cucumber picker who is fired after a fight with a Mexican-American (Victor Paul) co-worker. He finds work on a ranch owned by Ray Ritchie (James Daly). Soon his private secretary Nancy (Leigh Taylor-Young) is after Jack. She spends her free time in pursuit of hedonism and reckless pleasure by fornicating on tombstones and breaking hearts as well as windows. Sam Mirakian (Van Heflin) is the motel owner whose lonely resident (Lee Grant) makes a play for Jack. She ends up killing herself and Nancy ends up killing someone else for sheer pleasure. This forgettable and pointless movie -- one critic described it as "a rancid piece of trash" -- is O'Neal's big-screen debut. Some nudity required an "R" rating. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan O'Neal, Leigh Taylor-Young, (more)
- 1969
The Enterprise's quest to cure a deadly illness brings them into an encounter with a mysterious man who may not be what he appears in this episode of the 1960s science fiction series. The search for a cure for the illness, which has infected the crew of the Enterprise, leads the starship to seek out an isolated world that serves as home to a reclusive genius known as Flint. Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy visit the world in an attempt to acquire the cure. Negotiations sour, however, when Rayna, a female android who serves as Flint's "companion," falls in love with Kirk. This fact arouses anger and jealousy in Flint, who withholds the cure as a result. Matters become even more complicated when Spock discovers a shocking secret about the recluse's past, one which casts a whole new light on the nature of his wisdom. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- 1969
The initials stand for University Medical Center, where this TV movie was set (the University was actually UCLA, though not so named). The heads of the institution are Dr. Joseph Gannon (Richard Bradford), and Gannon's mentor and best friend Dr. Lee Forestman (Edward G. Robinson). Gannon performs a heart transplant on Forestman, a procedure that lands him in court. The plaintiff is the heart donor's widow, who claims that Gannon allowed her husband to die to save Forestman. When U.M.C. developed into the long-running weekly series Medical Center, Edward G. Robinson was busy elsewhere, Chad Everett replaced Richard Bradford as Gannon, and James Daly, third-billed in U.M.C., had been appointed the med center's chief of staff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Hollywood film favorite Gene Tierney makes a rare TV appearance in this episode, in which she plays one of three witnesses to a Mob murder. The victim was an ex-FBI agent who just before his death had informed Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) that the Mafia was in the process of taking over an isolated retirement village. Despite a marked lack of cooperation from the witnesses, Erskine endeavors to prevent their extermination at the hands of fugitive killer Leonard King (Ken Lynch). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
James Daly plays an American special operative who goes behind enemy lines during WW II. His mission: sabotage. Pier Angeli, Michael Wilding and Peter Van Eyck number among Daly's possible friends and foes. It's familiar territory, but suspenseful. We prefer the film's original title: Red Roses for the Fuhrer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Promising to smuggle wealthy Eastern Europeans across the Iron Curtain, banker Alfred Belzig 9James Daly) lures the hapless escapees to their deaths, then deposits the victims' money in his own bank to finance a neo-Nazi party. The IMF hopes to put Belzig out of business permanently by stealing his $3 million nest egg from his safety deposit box. Assisting the agents this time out is Paul Lebarre (Pierre Jalbert, a convicted bank robber who may not be entirely trustworthy. Originally telecast October 1 1967, "The Bank" was written by Brad Radnitz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1967
Enemy agent Peter Kiri (Sorrell Booke) has kidnapped US special envoy Wilson (James Daly) and replaced him with an exact lookalike named Gort. Kiri's plan is to discredit Wilson by having "him" behave in a disgraceful manner while on a delicate diplomatic assignment in a neutral nation. The IMF agents counter Kiri's scheme by providing their own Wilson impostor--a well-disguised Dan Briggs. Originally broadcast on March 25 1967, "Shock" was written by Laurence Heath. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1967
Roy Thinnes was the star of this 1967-1968 science fiction series, about an Earth poised on the brink of alien takeover. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1967
The F.B.I. begins its third season as Federal Inspector Lew Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) enters a poker game where the stakes are literally life and death. Working undercover, Erskine is playing with several high-ranking Mafia officers. His purpose: to prevent the assassination of mob chieftan Paul Nichols (Larry Gates)--and also to keep the unknown assassin from killing everyone else in the game! With this episode, William Reynolds becomes a regular as Special Agent Tom Colby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Saunders (Vic Morrow) and his squad are assigned to help engineer officer Captain Cole (James Daly) find a suitable location to build a bridge. At the same time, Cole's son Jack (James MacArthur), a war correspondent, has arrived in hopes of mending a long-standing rift between himself and his father. The situation comes to a head when the principal characters are trapped in a farmhouse surrounded by Germans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Arthur Miller's celebrated adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's powerful drama was brought to the small screen in this production staged for television. An Enemy of the People stars James Daly as a doctor living in a small town in Norway. The local economy depends on the success of a spa offering waters from a nearby spring, which are believed to have a healing effect. But the doctor discovers the waters are not only not healthy, they have been polluted with potentially deadly toxins; however, his attempts to alert the townspeople are challenged by the city fathers, who are more concerned with the financial health of the community than its physical well-being. Kate Reid and Philip Bosco appear in the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Using the alias Stephen Fitzgerald, con artist Andrew Cook (James Daly) has married the widow of a bank owner, embezzled the bank funds, and murdered his wife--a pattern he has followed for years in several other cities. Now the homicidal Cook has targeted wealthy Amy Hunter (Margaret Leighton) as his next victim, with both Amy's life and a million-dollar "prize" at stake. Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) must figure out the reason behind Fitzgerald's modus operandi in order to stop him before he can steal--and kill--again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Under the alias "Russell Jordan", Kimble (David Janssen) uses his medical skills to save the life of former mob boss Arthur Brame (James Daly). Eternally grateful, Brame plans to return the failure by killing Kimble's relentless pursuer Lt. Gerard (Barry Morse). The pulse-pounding climax takes place at Brame's mountain farm, where Kimble once again finds himself in the ironic position of keeping his worst enemy from meeting a horrible demise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Upon learning of the death of his father, fugitive Richard Kimble (David Janssen) arranges a secret meeting with his sister Donna (Jacqueline Scott) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. What Donna doesn't know is that her every move is being monitored by Mike Ballinger (James Daly), the prosecutor who presided over Kimble's murder trial. Figuring that something is afoot, Ballinger alerts Lt. Gerard (Barry Morse)--and it looks as if Kimble is finally going to be ensared in an inescapable trap. Lin McCarthy appears in this episode as the latest of several actors cast as Donna's long-suffering husband Len Taft. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
First telecast May 6, 1960, A Stop at Willoughby was scripter Rod Serling's favorite of the first-season Twilight Zone episodes. Plagued by a pushy boss (Howard I. Smith) and a vitriolic wife (Patricia Donahue), ulcerated businessman Gart Williams (James Daly) briefly dozes off while taking the commuter train home. When he awakens, the train has changed to a 19th century model -- as has the conductor, who invites Williams to get off at the peaceful, picture-postcard town of Willoughby. Watch for future Archie Bunker's Place regular Jason Wingreen in a small role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Daly, Patricia Donahue, (more)
- 1960
Give Us Barabbas! was originally telecast in color on March 26, 1961. The story begins during the trial of Jesus, conducted by Pontius Pilate (Dennis King). Giving the populace a choice between Jesus and the thief Barabbas (James Daly) as to whom will be crucified, the crowd shouts back "Give Us Barabbas!". Following the crucifixion, Barabbas undergoes a transformation; a thief no more, he spends the rest of his life atoning to the martyred Jesus. Written by Henry Denker, the 60-minute, videotaped Give Us Barabbas was the Easter offering of the long-running anthology Hallmark Hall of Fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
The career of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun (Curt Jurgens) is the focus of this film. Supposedly bullied by the Nazis into working for the Third Reich, the end of the war leaves the rocket man with a decision to take his talents to either Russia or the United States. He chooses the U. S., but controversy follows the gifted scientist wherever he goes. Some resent his collaborations with the Nazis, while others in the government are more than willing to turn their heads in deference to his genius. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Curd Jürgens, Victoria Shaw, (more)
- 1957
Adapting a made-for-TV play that he had directed for the screen, John Frankenheimer made his feature film debut with this sensitive father-son drama. Tom Ditmar (James Daly) is a movie studio executive who has a strained relationship with his teenaged son Hal (James MacArthur). Hal is arrested after an incident in a movie theater in which he was provoked into slugging the manager, Grubbs (Whit Bissell). Hal is rude to the police officer, Sergeant Shipley (James Gregory). Tom Ditmar gets the charges dropped but doesn't believe his son's story. Hal goes back to talk to Grubbs to try to get him to tell his father what really happened. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James MacArthur, Kim Hunter, (more)
- 1956
For its final program of the 1955-56 season, the prestigious CBS Sunday-afternoon anthology Omnibus offered a 90-minute salute to animation, featuring two distinctly different segments. Dominating the proceedings is a dramatization of the court-martial of Col. Billy Mitchell, which has previously served as the basis for a Gary Cooper feature film. After making public attacks on the Navy's antiquated policy regarding aviation warfare, Mitchell was in October of 1925, brought up on charges by his superior officers. In a tense courtroom climax, Mitchell (played by James Daly, the father of contemporary actors Tim Daly and Tyne Daly) details the deficincies of the Navy's attitude towards air power by predicting a future bombing raid on the Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii--by the Japanese.Jack Lord, still several years removed from Hawaii 5-0, appears as Major Allen Gullion. The second half of this broadcast consisted of a documentary film, The Daily Life of a Test Pilot, focusing on Major Stuart R. Childs of Edwards Air Force base, California. This Omnibus season closer was hosted by the ubiquitous Alistair Cooke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
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In this 1955 Otto Preminger film, Gary Cooper stars as World War I hero Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. The film recounts Mitchell's efforts to prove the viability of a strong air force. The hidebound military higher-ups refuse to finance aviation any further, figuring that the strength of the United States lies in its navy. When a friend is killed by flying a faulty plane, Mitchell charges the War and Navy department with incompetence and criminal negligence. When the brass tries to quietly court-martial Mitchell, they are forced into the open by the strength of public opinion, largely in Mitchell's favor. Subjected to the grilling of prosecutor Alan Guillon (Rod Steiger) during his trial, Mitchell sticks to his guns, even outlining a potential Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor unless the military wises up and strengthens its air power. Elizabeth Montgomery makes her film debut in the role of Margaret Landsdowne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Charles Bickford, (more)
