Bruce Dern Movies

James Garner is a nothing short of a delight in this western spoof that stands western clichés on their ears. The film takes place in the small western town of Calender, a town that experiences a gold rush when gold is discovered in an open grave by Prudy Perkins (Joan Hackett). As gold prospectors flood in and out of town, the Danby clan, anxious to take advantage of the situation (since their ranch blocks the main road out of town) levies a 20% tribute on every gold shipment that passes through. Three sheriffs have been dispatched by the Danbys, and they control the town. Into this situation, on his way to Australia, rides Jason McCullough (Garner). McCullough is an easy-going sort who just happens to be a crack shot. The town rapidly makes him sheriff. His first line of business is to break up a fight and to arrest Joe Danby (Bruce Dern) for murder. As McCullouch settles down in the Perkins boarding house, Pa Danby (Walter Brennan) plots to spring his son from jail. But when all his mechanizations fail to gain Joe's release, Pa Danby gathers together all the Danbys in the surrounding countryside to head into Calender to get rid of McCullough. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A total of nine Academy Award nominations went to this wildly acclaimed, allegorical drama set amongst the contestants in a marathon dance contest during the Great Depression. Gig Young stars as Rocky, the obnoxious emcee for a dance marathon that offers prize money of $1,500, a small fortune during hard economic times that brings out the worst in several participants. Among them are Gloria Beatty (Jane Fonda), a malcontent who's partnered with a drifter, Robert Syverton (Michael Sarrazin); a pregnant farm girl (Bonnie Bedelia) and her husband (Bruce Dern); a sailor (Red Buttons); and an aspiring actress (Susannah York). As the marathon winds into a staggering second month, suspicion, doubt and insecurity rages among the competitors and even the decaying and increasingly manipulative Rocky, leading to a shocking crime. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

One man must take on a band of roving outlaws in this Harley-fueled variation on High Noon. Paul Collier (Cameron Mitchell) is an architect who has decided to ask his girlfriend Karen (Diane Ladd), who is with child, for her hand in marriage. However, during a trip to the beach with Karen, Paul is confronted by J.J. (Bruce Dern), an old high school friend who has fallen in with a motorcycle gang, the Rebels. The Rebels take one look at Karen and claim her for themselves, staging drag races to determine who will have the right to her, and J.J. is unable (or unwilling) to stop them. Furious and betrayed, Paul tries to round up the townspeople in hopes of outnumbering the Rebels, but he is soon forced to rescue Karen on his own. Shot in 1967, Rebel Rousers also features Jack Nicholson as a biker named Bunny; the film was shelved until 1969, when Nicholson's star-making turns in Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces gave his name (and the film) stronger marquee power. Also keep an eye peeled for Harry Dean Stanton as another one of the Rebels. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

William Windom guest stars as Frank Converse, an embezzler who hopes to elude the FBI by crossing the Canadian border. Unfortunately, Virgil Phipps (Bruce Dern), Converse's driver, knows about the stolen money and demands a piece of the action, thereby setting the stage for a deadly showdown. The evening's acting honors are claimed by Lee Meriwether as Converse's invalid wife Marian, who spends the entire episode encased in an iron lung. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ex-lawman turned rancher Jed Cooper (Clint Eastwood) is moving a small herd of cattle when a group of nine men on horseback, led by Captain Wilson (Ed Begley Sr.), ride up and accuse him of having stolen the cattle and killed their owner. Refusing to believe his account, they string him up by the neck and leave him for dead, but they don't do the job right. Cooper is dangling there, barely alive, a few minutes later when Deputy U.S. Marshal Bliss (Ben Johnson) spots him and cuts him down. He survives the next few days in Bliss' tumbleweed wagon with the other prisoners, and is later cleared of any wrongdoing and released by Judge Fenton (Pat Hingle), just in time to witness the hanging of the man who really murdered the owner of the cattle and took Cooper's money. Cooper still wants revenge on the nine men who tried to hang him, but Fenton insists that he leave the bringing of them to justice to his deputy marshals. As it happens, Fenton is in desperate need of deputy marshals for the territory that he oversees, and he also knows that Cooper was a good lawman. Cooper, in turn, is now broke and in need of a job, and does want to see justice done. They strike an uneasy bargain, Cooper agreeing to wear a badge and bring in the men he's looking for -- alive -- for trial. The latter proves easier said than done, however, when the first of them that he spots tries to draw on him when he makes the arrest. One of the hanging party, Jenkins (Bob Steele), soon turns himself in and provides the names of the others. Cooper takes Stone (Alan Hale Jr.) alive, but the hapless blacksmith is later shot by the local sheriff (Charles McGraw) while trying to escape. The other men, led by Wilson, have no intention of dying, or even being brought to trial, without a fight. Two of them go on the run out of the territory, while Wilson and two of the others decide to take the law into their own hands once again. Meanwhile, Cooper becomes a hero when he single-handedly brings back a trio of rustlers who are also guilty of murder. This leads to Cooper's first confrontation with Judge Fenton, who, in a gripping scene, explains why it is essential that he be as seemingly quick to hang a man as he is. Unless the people are convinced that the law will do its job -- including hanging men who deserve it -- they will keep taking the law into their own hands and there will be more lynch mobs like the one that tried to kill Cooper. In the course of his quest for justice, Cooper also makes the acquaintance of Rachel (Inger Stevens), a young woman with her own search for justice, haunted by her own ghosts, and the two of them are drawn together, no more so than when Wilson and two of the others try to gun Cooper down in cold blood. The final confrontation between Cooper and Wilson escalates in violence to its savage, irony-laced conclusion. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Rambling along at its own measured pace, Will Penny is a vivid western character study, completely dominated by the rapport between stars (Charlton Heston) and (Joan Hackett). Heston plays Will Penny, an aging and impoverished cowboy. With his cohorts Blue (Lee Majors) and Dutchy (Anthony Zerbe), the trio sets out to find employment before winter sets in. Their job search is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Preacher Quint, a vicious Bible-thumping bandit (Donald Pleasance) and his moronic, sadistic sons. Dutchy gets wounded in the fight and Blue stays with him in a small town nearby to nurse him back to health. Will gets a job on a ranch, and though he is supposed to keep squatters off the land, he can't kick out Catherine (Joan Hackett) and her little son (Jon Gries). She herself is en route to join her husband, an Oregon farmer. Despite her wedding vows, Catherine finds herself drawn to Penny -- who makes no unwarranted move towards the woman, but is equally attracted to her. Then the murderous Quint and his sons reappear to exact their revenge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"A rootin', tootin', but sincere picture" was the advertising tag for the comedy western Waterhole No. 3. James Coburn plays the likeably amoral hero, who'll go to any lengths to get his mitts on a treasure map. Like his principal rival, renegade confederate cavalryman Claude Akins, Coburn knows that a fortune in gold bullion is hidden near a desert waterhole; the trick is finding the damned thing. Along the way, Coburn humiliates redneck sheriff Carroll O'Connor and "has his way" with O'Connor's far from unwilling daughter Maggie Blye. When Blye, cast aside by Coburn in favor of his treasure quest, screams rape, Coburn replies that his only crime is "assault with a friendly weapon." Just try to get that bit past an audience in 1996. Supervised by Blake Edwards, Waterhole No. 3 is agreeably irreverent, though a little editing here and there wouldn't have hurt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jason (Chuck Connors) rescues a white girl (Zeme North) dressed in Indian garb, who has been staked out in a clearing near the corpse of an Indian brave. Despite the girl's delirium, Jason soon discovers that she is the victim of three crazed wolf hunters, one of whom intends to claim her as "his woman" even if he has kill her--and Jason--to do so. The principal villain in this tense melodrama is played by Bruce Dern, essaying yet another of those slavering psychotics that he played so well in his pre-stardom days. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bruce Dern guest stars as Hutch, the vicious leader of a motorcycle gang known as The Devil's Disciples. Abducting Richard Kimble (David Janssen), Hutch plans to use the fugitive as a fall guy in a scheme to murder the old man who was indirectly responsible for the death of a gang member. Kimble's only hope for escape is in the hands of cyclist Don (Lou Antonio) and his girlfriend Penny (Diana Hyland), who are slightly less sociopathic than Hutch. In addition to its "Hell's Angels" trappings, this 1960s time capsule also manages to weave the Vietnam War into the storyline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An unusually long pre-credits sequence establishes the roots of faded Southern belle Charlotte's (Bette Davis) insanity; she'd been witness to the dismemberment murder of her fiance (Bruce Dern) and the suicide of the murderer, her own father (Victor Buono). Years later, Charlotte remains a recluse in her decaying southern mansion, zealously guarding the secret of her father's guilt; she is cared for by her slatternly housekeeper (Agnes Moorehead). When her house is targeted for demolition, Charlotte fears that this will uncover her lover's body parts and thus confirm that her father was a murderer. She desperately summons her seemingly sweet-tempered cousin Miriam (Olivia De Havilland) to help her fight off the house's destruction. Miriam brings along the family doctor (Joseph Cotten) to calm Charlotte's frayed nerves. When Charlotte begins to be plagued by horrific visions of the homicide/suicide of so long ago, it appears that she has gone completely insane. But soon we learn who is behind these delusions...and why. Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte was intended by director Robert Aldrich as a follow-up to the successful Joan Crawford/Bette Davis horror piece Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962). Ms. Crawford was originally slated to play Miriam, but became seriously ill shortly before filming started. Davis, who disliked Crawford intensely, suggested that the role of Miriam be filled by her best friend, De Havilland. On the first day of shooting, Davis and DeHavilland pulled a "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" routine by toasting one another with Coca-Cola--a catty observation of the fact that Joan Crawford's husband was an executive with the Pepsi Cola company! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On the run from both Lt. Gerard (Barry Morse) and a rural sheriff (Dabbs Greer), Kimble (David Janssen) ends up on a patch of land controlled by a family of murderous moonshiners. The Sheriff refuses to venture any further in their pursuit of Kimble, warning Gerard of terrible consequences should he cross the path of Tully (R.G. Armstrong), the family's brutish patriarch. When Tully's daughter Elvy (Sharon Farrell) is found beaten, Gerard is falsely accused of the crime, kidnapped, and subjected to a kangaroo court. Having won the family's trust by saving the life of eldest son Cody (Bruce Dern), Kimble is now the only person capable of preventing the "execution" of his worst enemy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Housewife Marcia Fowler (Felicia Farr) has become the target of an obscene telephone caller, but the authorities are unable to catch the culprit. Marcia suspects that her tormentor is Roy Bullock (Bruce Dern), a shifty-eyed young man new to the neighborhood, who has all the characteristics of a peeping Tom. Trouble is, Roy has managed to ingratiate himself with Marcia's husband, Jack (David White), who begins to wonder if his wife is only imagining those phone calls. At her wit's end, Marcia makes a desperate move to expose Roy once and for all. This episode represents the first collaboration between producer Alfred Hitchcock and actor Bruce Dern, who ultimately starred in Hitch's final theatrical feature Family Plot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide