Herbert Lytton Movies

The Seaview is assigned for tests of a new super-computer, with Crane (David Hedison) as an observer, alone aboard the ship. But once underway, he discovers that he's not alone on the submarine, and that something is terribly wrong with the computer and the test. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Charles Cromwell (Karl Weber), president-elect of Euclid College, arranges a meeting with Robert Haskell, who is handling a million-dollar college grant provided by wealthy James Vardon (Will Wright). Alas, the deal may be nullified if a woman named Maizie Frietag (Barbara Stuart) reveals Cromwell's unsavory past as "Curly Oliver." But the poor pedant's troubles are just beginning: Haskell is murdered, and Cromwell is charged with the killing. Sounds like Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is going to have to invade the sacred halls of Academia to clear his client. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Among the most popular TV Western series ever, Bonanza starred Lorne Green as Ben Cartwright and Michael Landon, Dan Blocker and Pernell Roberts as his sons Little Joe, Hoss and Adam. In this episode, "The Last Viking," aired in 1960, a friend of Ben, Gunnar Borgstrom, arrives to visit the Cartwrights en route to Canada. However, Ben is upset to find his pal is traveling with a gang out outlaws -- and becomes even more upset when Little Joe and his sweetheart are kidnapped by the fiends. Neville Brand appears as a guest star. This show is available on DVD as part of a five-episode box set. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The second season of Perry Mason begins when Perry (Raymond Burr) receives an unusual phone call from one George Hartley Beaumont (Ross Elliott). What makes it unusual is that Beaumont is dead--or at least he's supposed to be. Reported killed in a plane crash three years earler, Beaumont had actually missed the fatal flight, but decided to take advantage of his "demise" so his wife Laura (Jeanne Cooper) could collect his insurance, and so he could start life anew in Mexico with his girflriend Ruth (Joan Camden). Now he wants to come home and come clean--but before he can do so, someone stabs him to death. Now Perry takes it upon himself to clear Number One suspect Ruth of a murder charge. This is the first of several episodes in which Perry argues his case before a woman judge. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Vicki Gaye (Cyd Charisse) is a dancer at a night club in early 1930's Chicago. A healthy cynic who still possesses some ideals, she entertains no illusions about the "invitation" (or the $100 that goes with it) that she gets to a party hosted by mob kingpin Rico Angelo (Lee J. Cobb) -- but she still won't let Angelo's head torpedo Louis Canetto (John Ireland) get near her. Angelo's attorney Thomas Farrell (Robert Taylor) is another story -- he's a more complicated than the men he defends, and still enough of an idealist so that when he and Vicki cross swords about who is the worse hypocrite, it actually affects him. Farrell, whose right leg has been crippled from birth and getting worse, took the easy way to success by pursuing a criminal practice, including getting Canetto off a murder rap -- but after meeting Vicki he starts to see another path to take, and also embarks on a year of surgical procedures to cure the worst of the pain in his leg. And he comes out a new man, with a new plan in life, including starting over in a practice that doesn't involve criminal law. But Angelo plans on having Farrell fight an old friend, prosecutor Jeffrey Stewart (Kent Smith), who is trying to indict Angelo's associate Cooky La Motte (Corey Allen). Farrell resists, until Angelo threatens to harm Vicki -- and when the case and the trail blow up in both sides' faces, he finds himself caught between the mob and the law, with Vicki urging him to do the right thing. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

After he accidentally kills a man whom he assumes to be his wife's lover, wealthy Lloyd Ashley (Leslie Nielsen) engages his lawyer -- and best friend -- Mark Robeson (Barry Sullivan) to defend him in court. To bind the bargain, Ashley offers Robeson half of his four-million-dollar fortune. Only after he has been exonerated does Ashley discover that the man he killed was not the only victim in the whole affair. This is the first Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode to be directed by longtime Hitchcock associate Norman Lloyd. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When Bret (James Garner) is accused of robbery, he seeks out John Stacey (John Vivyan), the only man who can clear him. Alas, John may not live long enough to provide testimony for Bret's defense: he is slated for a showdown with notorious gunslinger Doc Holliday (Gerald Mohr), who isn't inclined to Bret talk him out of adding another notch to his handle. Film noir icon Marie Windsor has a plum role in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After witnessing an automobile accident, Perry (Raymond Burr) and Della (Barbara Hale) see a young Mexican woman fleeing the scene. Perry later discovers that the girl is exotic dancer Cherie Chi-Chi (played by Judy Tyler in one of her last appearances before her death in a real-life car accident). He also finds out that the girl is in big trouble, and the reason is a fellow named John Callender (Hugh Sanders), who is quite dead. Based on a 1947 novel by series creator Erle Stanley Gardner, this was the first Perry Mason episode to be filmed, but not the first shown. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While rustling some cattle, Army deserter Joe Trimble (Brian G. Hutton) shoots and kills a rancher just outside of Dodge. Matt (James Arness) insists upon forcing Trimble to stand trial before a civilian jury, even though Major Banker (Richard Keith) demands that the killer be turned over to him for a military court-martial. Unfortunately, Trimble is found not guilty, and it looks like the killer will return to the Army without receiving any punishment at all. But there's an ironic twist at the tail end of this story, which was adapted from the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of November 23, 1953. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Alfred Hitchcock himself directed the first half-hour episode of his long-running suspense anthology. Heading the cast of Revenge is Ralph Meeker as aircraft worker Carl Spann and Vera Miles (The Wrong Man, Psycho) as Carl's ballerina wife Elsa. Having given up his job to care for Elsa after she suffers a nervous breakdown, Carl comes home one day to find all the furniture overturned and his wife in a state of near-shock. She tells Carl that a man had broken into their home and assaulted her, but cannot remember any other details. Later on, while out on a drive with Carl, Elsa stares at a passing pedestrian and whispers, "That's him! That's the man!" -- whereupon the vengeful Carl prepares to take the law into his own hands. "Revenge" was re-filmed as part of the 1985 Alfred Hitchcock Presents revival, featuring Linda Purl in the Vera Miles role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Susan Hayward pulls out all the stops, and then some, in this cinemadaptation of singer Lillian Roth's autobiography I'll Cry Tomorrow. In as harshly realistic a manner as possible in the still censor-dominated Hollywood of 1955, the film recounts Roth's rise to fame, her precipitous fall and her tearful comeback. The fact that Roth loves not wisely but too well is only part of the problem (only two of her eight husbands are portrayed in the film); contributing factors to her self-destruction also included her witchlike "stage mother" (Jo Van Fleet) and the pressures of fame and fortune. The principal reason for Roth's fall from the height of fame to the depths of squalor and despair is booze -- at least until she begins to pull herself together with the help of Alcoholics-Anonymous representative Burt McGuire (Eddie Albert). The story concludes with a testimonial staged in Roth's honor on the TV series This is Your Life (the original of which still exists in kinescope form). Having been personally coached by the real Lillian Roth, Susan Hayward does an excellent job of copying the singer's unique style. Though Hayward did not win an Oscar for her performance, she did cop the "Best Actress" prize at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Director William "One Take" Beaudine never turned down a job from anyone. So when the Protestant Film Commission called him up to work on City Story, he was on the set bright and early the first morning of shooting, and was still there when production wrapped a week or so later. The plot concerns clergyman Warner Anderson, whose church is suffering from a dip in attendance. Trying to figure out how to attract the rough-hewn juvenile delinquent contingent, Anderson turns to an unusual source for advice. That source is young prison inmate June Kenney, who since her incarceration has seen the light and is spreading the Word to her fellow prisoners. The sincerity that went into City Story compensates for its seedy production values. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi