Dana Andrews Movies

This pseudo-documentary on the life of President John F. Kennedy stars Robert Hogan as the President, James F. Kelly as Robert Kennedy, and Kenneth Mars as Lyndon Johnson, and includes some actual documentary footage intercut with the major dramatic events in Kennedy's Presidential career. Because the depictions of the Kennedys are not as strong as the real-life brothers, the actual footage and the factual accounting of well-known events are more convincing than the fictionalized time inventing private conversations in the Oval Office or elsewhere. Robert Guillaume as Martin Luther King, Jr. in the segment on the Cuban missile crisis presents a dignified and noble portrayal of the slain religious leader, and his performance stands out against the more mediocre portrayal of the private personae of the assassinated Kennedys. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

1977's Last Hurrah is a TV-movie remake of the 1958 John Ford film of the same name. Both versions are based on the Edwin O'Connor novel about the last days of flamboyant, larcenous Mayor Frank Skeffington--based upon the equally colorful, equally underhanded Boston mayor James Curley. Carroll O'Connor plays Skeffington in the 1977 version (it was Spencer Tracy back in 1958). O'Connor spends the bulk of the film trying in manners both subtle and strongarm to win re-election--and to race the clock against his own failing health. While the 1958 Last Hurrah is superior, the 1977 Hurrah has the saving grace of Carroll O'Connor's exuberant performance; O'Connor also wrote the script for this remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Just one year before directing his breakthrough film, 1976's The Omen, filmmaker Richard Donner helmed this made-for-television drama about an ex-con, played by Tony Lo Bianco. After his release from prison, parolee Pete Mackey (Lo Bianco) is faced with a number of obstacles in his attempts to go straight and readjust to the outside world. But when a new reabilitation program lands him in a job as a parole agent himself, things become more complicated than he expected. Also starring Ed Lauter and Tim Thomerson, Shadow in the Streets first aired on NBC on January 28, 1975. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Aging socialite Athena Champion (Kim Hunter) desperately seeks out the aid of her friend Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr). Several elderly men have recently been murdered--all of them old boyfriends of Athena who had attended her debutante's ball. Suffering from the early stages of Alzheimers', Athena is worried that she may have killed the victims without knowing it--and she wants Ironside to determine whether she is innocent or guilty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this unusually serious episode, Dana Andrews guest-stars as Harv Mullen, ex-convict. Recently released from prison, Harv drops in on his old friend Bill (Brian Keith), hoping to get a job. Unfortunately, Harv's visit is marred by the self-conscious behavior of twins Buffy (Anissa Jones) and Jody (Johnnie Whitaker), who regard him as a threat; by Cissy (Kathy Garver), who idealistically aspires to "rehabilitate" the man; and by Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot), who will have nothing to do with a former lawbreaker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

During the early days of World War II, while the United States was massing its forces for the war, England hastily plans commando raids against the German forces to keep them at bay until America's troops enter the war. As a part of this plan, the Allies create the 1st Special Service Force to plan and carry out an attack on Norway in order to tie up the German forces. This commando force of Canadian soldiers and American GIs is headed by Lt. Col. Robert T. Frederick (William Holden), a paper-pusher given his first field command. Antagonism immediately erupts between Canadian Maj. Alan Crown (Cliff Robertson) and American Maj. Cliff Bricker (Vince Edwards). But Frederick utilizes their mutual dislike as a basis for a rivalry that turns this rag-tag group of misfits into a disciplined fighting force. But now that Frederick's men are ready to fight, Frederick receives word that the Norway mission has been canceled. After appealing to Washington for another assignment for the commandos, the brigade is sent on a patrol near the German lines in southern Italy. The brigade captures an enemy-held village and is then given the seemingly impossible task of taking Mt. La Difensa. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a blackmailer constructs a complex plan to utilize the influence of his victim to facilitate the stealing of diamonds. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Johnny Reno (Dana Andrews) is a US Marshall who is bushwhacked by outlaws on his way to Stone Junction, Kansas. Joe Connors (Tom Drake) and his brother Ab (Dale Van Sickle) mistakenly believe the lawman is after them and fire on Reno, and Reno captures Joe after Ab is killed in the gun battle. The two face an angry mob in a town where local Sheriff Hodges (Lon Chaney, Jr.) is in cahoots with the corrupt Mayor Jess Yates (Lyle Bettger). Although Reno believes Joe may have killed an innocent Indian, he must protect the prisoner from the growing mob that threatens to lynch the man before his trial. Jane Russell plays Johnny's sweetheart Nona, owner of the local saloon. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A scientist trying to better mankind nearly destroys the world as we know it in this sci-fi thriller. Dr. Stephen Sorensen (Dana Andrews) is doing research in geo-thermal energy; he's convinced that if men can find a way to drill through the earth's outer crust into the molten magma near the center, the heat can be harnessed and used to warm dwellings around the world. His assistant, Ted Rampion (Kieron Moore), is skeptical about this idea and believes that there could be dire consequences, but Sorensen boldly moves ahead with his plan, prodded by his secret knowledge that he suffers from a terminal illness and might not live long enough to undergo a longer testing period. However, Rampion's fears soon prove well founded when Sorensen's drilling causes a large crack in the earth which begins to rapidly expand, threatening to split the world in two with disastrous consequences. Crack in the World was praised on initial release for its intelligent approach and solid special effects work. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In Harm's Way, based on James Bassett's novel Harm's Way, has enough plot in it for four movies or a good miniseries (when it was shown on network television in prime time, it was broken into two very full nights). On the morning of December 7, 1941, a heavy cruiser, commanded by Captain Rockwell Torrey (John Wayne), and the destroyer Cassidy, under acting commander Lieutenant (jg) William McConnell (Thomas Tryon), are two of a handful of ships that escape the destruction of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Under Torrey's command, the tiny fleet of a dozen ships carries out its orders to seek out and engage the enemy fleet. But lack of fuel and a daring maneuver (but tragic miscalculation) by Torrey causes his ship to be seriously damaged. He's relieved of command and assigned to a desk job routing convoys in the shakeup following the attack, and his exec and oldest friend, Commander Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas), is reassigned after a brawl, the result of his anger after identifying the body of his wife (Barbara Bouchet) who was killed during the attack while cavorting with an Marine Corps officer.

Torrey's shore assignment leads him to reestablish contact on a very hostile level with his estranged son, Ensign Jere Torrey (Brandon de Wilde), from his long-ended marriage; he establishes a romantic relationship with Lt. Maggie Haynes (Patricia Neal), a navy nurse; and he also befriends Commander Egan Powell (Burgess Meredith), a special-intelligence officer. Partly as a result of his contact with Powell, Torrey is chosen by the commander of the Pacific Fleet (Henry Fonda) to salvage an essential operation called Sky Hook, which has become bogged down through the indecisiveness of its area commander, Vice Admiral Broderick (Dana Andrews). Promoted to rear admiral, with Eddington -- who'd been rotting away on a shore assignment, drunk most of the time -- assigned as his chief of staff, Torrey gets Sky Hook rolling and finally finds his purpose in this war, gaining the belated admiration of his son in the process. Eddington is similarly motivated but is still haunted by the violent, ultimately self-destructive demons that blighted his marriage and his life -- he is particularly attracted to a young nurse, Annalee Dohrn (Jill Haworth), not knowing that she is already involved romantically with Jere Torrey. Meanwhile, McConnell survives the sinking of his ship and is ordered to join Torrey's staff. Matters all come to a head when the Japanese begin a counter-offensive to Torrey's planned troop landing. And just at the time Torrey needs his men at their best, Eddington's violence and rage boil to the surface in a way that will destroy him and blight both men's lives. In a final attempt at redemption, Eddington provides Torrey with the information he needs to set up a battle that he has at least a chance of winning, pitting his small task group of destroyers and cruisers against the Japanese task force led by the Yamato, the largest battleship ever built. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In December of 1944, the Allied high command is convinced that German forces in Belgium are in a low state of readiness, and perhaps even about to withdraw. Only one officer on the front lines, intelligence specialist Lt. Col. Kiley (Henry Fonda), believes otherwise -- that the Germans are actually planning an attack. His opinion is rejected by his immediate superior (Dana Andrews) and his commanding general (Robert Ryan). Kiley spots several suspicious signs of German activity behind enemy lines on a reconnaissance flight, and he is at the front looking for evidence when the German counter-offensive starts. Taking advantage of Allied unpreparedness and a weather front that grounds all aircraft, their heavy tank units, supported by infantry, roll over the American forces, assaulting the lines at five different points in an attempt to ultimately divide the Allied forces in the west. The German top tank officer, Colonel Hessler (Robert Shaw), has planned his operation perfectly, but he is in a race against time, to take as much territory as possible before the weather front moves out and American aircraft can fly again, and to capture the American fuel supplies so that the offensive can continue right to the port of Antwerp. He has the total dedication of his men, but engenders doubts from his aide, Conrad (Hans-Christian Blech), who is weary of the fighting and wonders what it is all for. Meanwhile, Kiley is trying to uncover the weak spot in the German offensive, and he crosses paths with several other key players in this drama: Charles Bronson as a combat officer charged with the defense of the collapsing American position, James MacArthur as a neophyte lieutenant who becomes a leader, and Telly Savalas as a conniving sergeant in command of a tank who unexpectedly finds a nobler, less mercenary side of himself. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Disillusioned with the present, Paul Driscoll (Dana Andrews) builds a time machine and heads to the past, hoping to correct mankind's mistakes. Failing spectacularly in this endeavor, he elects to take up permanent residence in the small town of Homeville, Indiana, circa 1881, where he hopes to live out his life in quiet contentment. Alas, despite his herculean efforts not to alter the course of history, that is just what he ends up doing. As originally written by Rod Serling, this hour-long Twilight Zone episode opened with a lengthy philosophical discussion between Driscoll and his mentor Dr. Harvey. This was adjudged too dull for TV consumption, thus a new opening was dreamed up wherein Driscoll was shown trying to prevent the sinking of the Lusitania and the rise of Hitler's Nazi Party. Accordingly, the role of Dr. Harvey was diminished, obliging proposed costar Joseph Schildkraut to drop out of the episode. The final version of "No Time Like the Past" premiered March 7, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide