Burr de Benning Movies

Cornel Wilde produced, directed, and stars in this sincere, hard-edged look at World War II that doesn't flinch from the horrors of battle. The action takes place during a single American campaign to take an island held by the Japanese. Brief flashbacks to civilian life are the only escape from the gritty, dreary setting. The usual cliché characters are replaced by new ones, such as the captain (Wilde) who loves his wife but hates the war, the sergeant (Rip Torn) who gets sadistic pleasure out of battle, the minister's son (Patrick Wolfe) who keeps remembering the girl he left back home, and the Southern illiterate (Burr DeBenning) who finds a place for himself in the Marines. The screenplay (from a 1945 novel by Peter Bowman) avoids stereotypes yet doesn't make any of these men into fleshed-out characters. Still, the acting is solid and Wilde deserves commendation for taking a harsh, unromanticized look at the Big One, over thirty years before Steven Spielberg did it with Saving Private Ryan. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

FBI Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) agrees to act as go-between for jeweler Victor Toler (played by eminent Shakespearian Maurice Evans), who wants to ransom a fortune in stolen diamonds. This requires the Inspector to take a crash course in the diamond business, the better to convince the villains that he is a genuine gem expert rather than a federal agent. Featured in the supporting cast is future Rookies star George Stanford Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having captured seven of the nine men responsible for a two-million-dollar armored car robbery, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is anxious to locate the other two men--and of course, the money. Meanwhile, Anita Hale (Anne Helm), the wife of "robber number eight" Emory Hale (Murray Hamilton), becomes convinced that she is dying, and thus wants to join her fugitive husband for a final reunion. This proves to a break for Erskine, who follows the unwitting Anita to Mexico--but what has happened to the "ninth man" who masterminded the robbery? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In her third Bonanza appearance, Mariette Hartley is here cast as Jennifer, the daughter of Ben Cartwright's old friend Harry Carlis (John McLiam). Slated to be wed to influential banker Tuttle Ames (Burr DeBennings, Jennifer leaves her intended at the altar and makes a beeline to the Ponderosa, insisting that she's been in love with Ben all her life. Even though Ben refuses to marry the girl, the vengeful Ames does everything in his power to destroy the Cartwright's financial empire. B.W. Sandefur's script makes a passing reference to Ben's son Adam, who hadn't been seen on Bonanza for nearly five years when "Is There Any Man Here?" first aired on February 8, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anyone who adopts the initials "J.C." as a nickname probably has a Messianic complex. In Iron Horseman, the hero, the head of a motorcycle gang, wigs out on LSD. While day-tripping, he has a prophetic religious vision. This leads him back to his home town, where he challenges the local church leaders-even unto knocking down chairs and tables in righteous anger, just like....you know. Originally titled J.C., this cinematic epiphany was directed by its star, William McGaha; the better-known cast members include Joanna Moore and Slim Pickens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jesse Royce Landis, who in an earlier episode played the aunt of Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr), is here cast as business executive Margaret Brainard, the widow of one of Ironside's oldest friends. When Margaret's purse is stolen, she asks Ironside to solve the crime--and to keep secret that the purse contained $200,000 worth of rare jewels. As it turns out, the real reason that Margaret wants Ironside to personally handle the case is that she is lonely and hopes that the Chief will keep her company! Featured in the cast is Solomon Sturges, the son of famed filmmaker Preston Sturges. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even while on the lam from the Feds, brash bank robber Larry Kulhane (Gerald O'Loughlin) masterminds another major heist. This time, Kulhane's prospective victim is elderly Ardyth Nolan (Jessica Tandy), who has recently come into possession of $200,000. Planning his caper with meticulous care, Kulhane has installed one of his accomplices as Ms. Nolan's butler, and another as the bofriend of the woman's impressionable granddaughter. The final stage of the plan is to murder the feisty but frail old lady--unless Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) can get to Ms. Nolan first. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A genuine DC-9 was used in this episode to simulate a wrecked aircraft. The purpose for this crash is to set up a tense situation, wherein convicted murderer John Stahl (Vic Morrow) is set loose in the Lake Tahoe area. Meanwhile, Stahl's captors Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) and Colby (William Reynolds), seriously injured in the plane crash, must fend for themselves in the treacherous wilderness--and also avoid being picked off like sitting ducks by the deranged Stahl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Taking time off from his villainous duties as "Wo Fat" on Hawaii Five-O, Khigh Deigh is no less sinister in this episode as a Hong-Kong based "fence" named John Chong. After a gang of hijackers led by Stan Chasen (Henry Silva) goes to a lot of trouble--including attempted murder--to steal an airborne cargo of blank travellers' checks, Chong double-crosses them by offering only a fraction of what he promised to pay for the checks. Meanwhile, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.conducts a wide-ranging search for the crooks, which comes to a rousing climax on the docks of Seattle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Queen is a luxury cruise ship, "played" by the Queen Mary in this made-for-TV thriller. The villain has it in for one of the ship's millionaire passengers. Accordingly, he (or she-we're not telling) plans to destroy the vessel and everyone on board. The producer of this all-star disasterfest was-drum roll, please-Irwin Allen. TV movie "regulars" John Gay and David Lowell Rich served as scripter and director, respectively, for Adventures of the Queen, which first sailed into American homes on February 14, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ex-crime reporter turned novelist Raymond St. Ives (Charles Bronson) is drawn back into the world of his former profession by wealthy Abner Procane (John Houseman). St. Ives is hired to locate a stolen set of ledgers that, if made public, could trigger an all-out mob war. Amazingly, St. Ives fails to recognize who his real friends and enemies are in the course of his investigation, and it takes all his mental and physical resources to keep from being exterminated. One of the characters who isn't all that she seems is sexy Janet Whistler (Jacqueline Bisset). While the "main" cast is serviceable, the lineup of future stars in minor roles (Daniel J. Travanti, Jeff Goldblum, Robert Englund, Michael Lerner) is fascinating. Based on The Procane Chronicle, a novel by Oliver Bleeck. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Essentially a seedy '70s version of The Quatermass Experiment, this painfully cheap production from writer/director William Sachs involves the horrific plight of returning astronaut Steve West (Alex Rebar), the sole survivor of a disastrous expedition to the rings of Saturn. The fatal outcome of the mission apparently involved the discovery of a space-borne virus, or radiation, or something (it's never made quite clear) that killed the rest of the crew and is causing West's flesh to melt and slough off his body. For reasons unexplained, the only relief from the pain of his condition can be found by consuming live human cells. After munching on a few bystanders, West escapes into the surrounding woods, pursued by NASA researcher Dr. Nelson (Burr DeBenning) and a disorganized posse of military monster-hunters. Unable to stop his rapid dissolution or resist his cannibalistic urges, West agonizes over his dilemma (as indicated by laughable scenes of Rebar trying to register emotional anguish through layers of goop), but he still finds time to terrorize a few locals, including the topless Rainbeaux Smith and a pair of comic-relief oldsters trying to score some lemons. The film's notorious ad campaign rallied the makeup FX work of Rick Baker, but his talents are largely wasted thanks to AIP's frantic cost-cutting and a truncated shooting schedule that forewent many of Baker's elaborate prosthetics in favor of a cheap latex mask covered with gallons of syrup. Future Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme contributes a brief cameo. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

We'll confess not to having seen The Amazing Captain Nemo, principally because we can't find it anywhere. It's our loss, because it certainly sounds fascinating. Jose Ferrer stars as Nemo, the demented but essentially well-meaning technological genius created by Jules Verne in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. In what seems to have been a one-time-only occasion, Ferrer costars with his namesake Mel Ferrer. Also in the star-heavy cast is Burgess Meredith as an eccentric professor and Lynda Day George as the all-around heroine. The film was largely photographed by Lamar Boren, the undersea expert responsible for the soggy cinematography of Creature from the Black Lagoon and Flipper. Given the cast and the director (Alex March), we suspect that The Amazing Captain Nemo was filmed for television, then deflected to theaters to make back its cost. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide