Bettye Ackerman Movies
- 1994
- PG
This made-for-video adventure is aimed squarely at younger audiences. The energetic quintet of pygmy dinosaurs that formed the basis of Prehysteria, returns, this time with an entirely different cast of people. Their exploits begin after they escape from their pen and leave the farm where they first hatch. Unfortunately, they blunder into a raisin shipment and end up sent to the home of rich but lonely boy Brandon Wellington (Kevin Connors). He shares his newest "toys" with his tomboy neighbor Naomi (Jennifer Harte). Trouble comes when Brandon's stuffy housekeeper Mrs. Winters learns that she is terribly allergic to his diminutive reptiles. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Connors, Jennifer Harte, (more)
- 1993
- R
Bud Cort's directorial debut is a dark comedy about a romantic obsession that leads to tragedy, featuring a wide array of cameo performances including James Brolin, Carol Kane, Rhea Perlman, Martin Mull, Andrea Martin, Woody Harrelson, Timothy Leary, and Gena Rowlands. Cort is Ted Whitley, a local poet celebrity in Venice Beach, California, who spends his time drifting along the boardwalk and delivering his beat poetry inspirations at a local dive. As he sits on a pier composing his latest art work, a vision of incredible beauty --Linda Turner (Kim Adams)-- strolls by in a bikini and Ted is immediately smitten. Linda turns out to be the manager of the agency that Ted has used to try to find a new apartment. He flatters her with his attentions and his poetic rambles. For her part, she likes Ted but doesn't consider him romantic material. Ted misinterprets Linda's friendliness for amorousness and when Linda tries to back off from Ted, Ted cannot be stopped. His out-of-control obsession for Linda turns Linda's once-friendly demeanor into one of terror. But Ted continues stalking her until tragedy strikes. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Cort, James Brolin, (more)
- 1983
Robert Conrad plays a long-married husband suffering from perceived boredom. In traditional male-menopause fashion, Conrad walks out on his family in search of greener pastures. Before waking up and smelling the coffee, he has a brief affair with the much-younger Ann Dusenberry. Respectively cast as Conrad's wife and daughter, Jennifer Warren and Mary Crosby are a lot more understanding than our "hero" deserves. Produced by General Hospital mentor Gloria Monty, the made-for-TV Confessions of a Married Man premiered on January 31, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Featuring a reunion of most of the cast of the long-running family series, The Waltons, this touching drama centers on the attempt of the now grown and scattered brood of Olivia and John Walton to regroup for an old fashioned family holiday. Unfortunately, John-Boy is not among them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1981
The Waltons comes to the end of its 221-episode run with this episode, in which John-Boy heads to New York to learn the fate of his third novel. Upon discovering that the book has been rejected, John-Boy is too proud to return home in defeat, even though he is flat broke. And back on Waltons' Mountain, the redoubtable Baldwin sisters decide to hold a "life celebration" ball, inviting all of their old finishing school classmates--very few of whom are still above ground. Not surprisingly, the final words in this final episode are eloquently spoken by series creator Earl Hamner Jr.. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
In this drama, union organizers, desperate to control the lumber and mining empire of a wealthy family, resort to sabotage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Doctors' Private Lives was the 2-hour pilot film for the shortlived TV series of the same name. Ed Nelson and John Gavin star as, respectively, chief surgeon Dr. Michael Wise and cardiovascular unit chief Dr. Jeffrey Latimer. The drama arises from the ongoing clash of egos between these two medical giants. Nelson and Gavin were carried over to the series, as was Randolph Powell as Dr. Rick Calder. The guest cast includes Bettye Ackerman, who had ironically costarred in an earlier hospital series, Ben Casey (Ackerman was the wife of Sam "Dr. Zorba" Jaffee). Doctors' Private Lives premiered March 20, 1978; the series itself ran from April 5 to 28, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
As John-Boy heads to New York to find out if his novel has been accepted for publication, he recalls the events leading to this critical and anxious moment. Presented as "flashback" are choice excerpts from the previous episodes "The Typewriter", "The Literary Man" and "The Burnout". This final episode of The Waltons' fifth season also marks the final regular appearance of Richard Thomas as John-Boy Walton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Filmed as the 72-minute pilot episode for the weekly ABC adventure series, The Feather and Father Gang, Never Con a Killer was held back from view until May 13, 1977, by which time the series proper had already been on for two months...and had already been canceled. Stefanie Powers and Harold Gould star as gorgeous attorney, Toni "Feather" Danton, and Toni's reformed con man father, Harry Danton. Figuring that the best way to catch a crook is to think like a crook, Toni and her dad concoct an elaborate sting operation to bring dishonest horseplayer E. J. Valerian (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) to justice. False identities, clever disguises and deft "switches" are the order of the day in this pleasant trifle, which when it was shown on ABC was not advertised as a movie, but instead as just another Feather and Father Gang episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
A mental hospital is the scene of several strange and unexplained deaths. Hoping to determine the reason for the carnage--and to flush out a possible murderer--Steve Keller (Mike Douglas) goes undercover as a mental patient, after police doctor Murchison (Fred Sadoff) administers a drug that will temporarily transform Keller into a raving lunatic! Once he's inside the asylum, the detective finds that it is next to impossible to get out...alive. Among the supporting players are two former TV-series regulars: December Bride's Frances Rafferty and Ben Casey's Bettye Ackerman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
While performing with a street-theater troupe, Ironside's goddaughter Peggy Lynch (Kathleen Quinlan) witnesses a murder. Rather than summon the police, Peggy allows her boyfriend Jamie (Ron Thompson) to talk her into running away. Ironside (Raymond Burr) scours the city in search of the girl, not knowing that the real reason for her flight is because her boyfriend is a wanted car thief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Heat of Anger is about a sharp female lawyer who defends a businessman charged with the murder of a blue-collar construction worker. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1970
With the Feds in hot pursuit, narcotics peddler Arthur Majors (played by a cast-against-type William Shatner) needs a safe place to hide. Relocating in a small town, Majors worms his way into the confidence of lonely widow Mary Binyon (Bettye Ackerman) and her rebellious daughter Shelly (Astrid Warner). Unfortunately, a drug distributor whom Majors has betrayed has vowed to kill him--meaning that both Mary and Shelly will end up in the crossfire unless Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) can catch up with the fugitive in time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
The body of a young woman is found in a San Francisco park, and the evidence points to a notorious but unidentified criminal abortionist (this episode was of course filmed long before Roe-v-Wade). In order to flush out the criminal, Eve (Barbara Anderson) dons an elaborate disguise--including a brunette wig--and poses as an unwed pregnant girl. Will Ironside (Raymond Burr) and his team be able to trap the villain before Eve becomes the next victim? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Rascal, the Sterling North novel that has been a longtime fixture of Scholastic Magazine book clubs, was given Tiffany treatment by the Disney studios in 1969. Bill Mumy plays young Sterling North, whose Wisconsin childhood is enriched through his friendship with a stray raccoon. Though lacking the emotional depth of the novel, the film is distinguished by the lovingly detailed outdoor photography that has always been a Disney hallmark. Likewise a "regular" in the Disney canon are scenes of animals wreaking comic destruction and wild chase sequences, and Rascal does not flag when offering these. A favorite of the Saturday matinee circuit, Rascal has in recent years become a standard weekend TV offering whenever a sports event is rained out or otherwise delayed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Forrest, Bill Mumy, (more)
- 1969
Con artist Carl Beaumont (Steve Ihnat) and nurse Angela Reese (Joanna Moore) have worked out a "perfect" scam: Angela determines which of her female patients has the most money, whereupon Beaumont moves in and swindles the targeted lady out of her savings--then kills her before she can talk. Unfortunately for Beaumont, his most recent victim lived long enough to point FBI Inspector Lew Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in the right direction. But will Erskine be able to move quickly enough to save Beaumont's newest "mark", Sarah Whittaker (Mildred Dunnock), from sharing the same fate as the others? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
15 years after defecting to the Communists, disillusioned American atomic scientist John Streyer (Richard Kiley) secretly returns to the United States. Not surprisingly, Streyer's homecoming is greeted with outright hostility by former friends and loved ones--and worse, a Red assassin has surfaced with orders to kill him. Arthur Ward (Philip Abbott), the boss of FBI inspector Lew Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), makes it his personal mission to locate Streyer before the killer does. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Melvyn Douglas made his TV-movie debut in Companions in Nightmare. Douglas plays a famous psychiatrist who conducts a group-therapy session with several high-priced professionals. One of the patients turns out to be a murderer; the truth will come out, and it will be a shocker. Gig Young, Anne Baxter, Patrick O'Neal, Dana Wynter and Leslie Nielsen are among the special guest suspects (aren't they always?) Filmed late in 1967, Companions in Nightmare was first telecast on November 23, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
The ninth season of Bonanza began on September 17, 1967 with the episode titled "Second Chance". Ben Cartwright joins an army patrol to rescue his sons Hoss and Joe, who are presently at the mercy of renegade Indians. The boys are pinned down with a wagon party, consisting almost exclusively of society's outcasts: A group of thieves, two women of checkered reputation, a dying man, and a coward (appropriately enough, this episode went into production as "The Losers"). Also in the cast are James Gregory as Mulvaney, Bettye Ackerman as Estelle, Joe De Santis as Dawson, Douglas Kennedy as Frazier, Zane Zachery as Anna, and Ken Drake as Breck. Written by John Hawkins and Paul Sneider, "Second Chance" was one of several "classic" episodes rebroadcast during the Spring and Summer of 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1966
Sleazy George Emory (Ted DeCorsia) presents retired general Roger Brandon with an offer he may not be able to refuse: Unless Brandon steps down as head of an anti-crime commission, Emory will make public several compromising photographs of Brandon's wife Laura (Bettye Ackerman). Much to Emory's surprise, Brandon calls his bluff--only to be rewarded for his courageous stand when he is framed for Emory's murder. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must save Brandon from execution without exposing Mrs. Brandon to public humiliation...a tricky proposition indeed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
This is the second of two Season Eight episodes in which a "special guest attorney" takes over from Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), who is ostensibly in Europe on business. This time the substitute is Perry's lawyer pal Ken Kramer (Barry Sullivan), who is hired by Lona Upton (Kathie Browne) to bail out her "friend "Maxine Nichols (Nina Shipman). It seems that Maxine has swiped a necklace worth $50,000 from Lona's half-sister Amy (Bettye Ackerman), who in turn is the widow of a yachtsman who'd died several years earlier under suspicious circumstances. But Lona isn't as kind-hearted as she seems: she hopes that Maxine will provide her with the combination to Amy's safe. Instead, Maxine is murdered and Lona is charged with the crime, prompting Kramer to figure out if someone else might have had a motive to bump off the "thermal thief." This episode was removed from the Perry Mason syndication package prepared in 1966, and was not seen again until the mid-1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
