Michael Ansara Movies

Sol Madrid isn't a western, as might be gathered, but a drug-ring melodrama. David McCallum shows up early in the film as a spaced-out junkie. But Man From UNCLE fans need not worry: McCallum is actually an undercover agent, looking for the source of heroin being trafficked by the Mafia. The top man in the Mexican-based narcotics operation is the man you'd least likely expect -- especially when one remembers the sort of roles the guilty party had previously played in his long career. Based on Robert Wilder's novel Fruit of the Poppy, this went out to British moviehouses under the title The Heroin Gang. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of I Dream of Jeannie's second season--and the first to be filmed in color--Jeannie (Barbara Eden) arranges a sentimental journey for herself and her master Tony (Larry Hagman) on the desert island where they first met one year ago. This time, however, the ancient bottle that Tony stumbles upon contains the evil Blue Djinn (played by Barbara Eden's then husband Michael Ansara), who'd imprisoned Jeannie in her bottle 2000 years ago--and who is forsworn to kill the girl's new master! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kathleen Nolan guest stars as Gerry O'Toole, who shows up at the Stephenses' doorstep claiming to be Darrin's relative from Ireland. But Samantha knows better; Gerry is really an Irish wood nymph, determined to plague Darrin because of the sins of his ancestor, who killed Gerry's master, Rufus the Red (Michael Ansara). To set things right, Sam goes back in time to prevent the deadly deed. Written by Ed Jurist, "A Most Unusual Wood Nymph" originally aired on October 13, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A fifteen-year-old Kurt Russell appears in this episode as Quano, the 11-year-old prince of a faraway planet. Accompanied by his father, the Ruler (Michael Ansara), Quano arrives on the Robinsons' planet, where the two aliens challenge John (Guy Williams) and Will (Bill Mumy) to a test of superiority. The two Robinson men accept the challenge, little realizing that if they win, the rest of their family loses. . .their lives! This episode allows Guy Williams to show off the swordfighting prowess that had distinguished his previous TV stint as Zorro. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmmaker George Stevens chose Monument Valley, Utah for his exterior sequences in The Greatest Story Ever Told, this ($20 million) adaptation of Fulton Oursler's best-selling book. The "Greatest Story" is, of course, the life of Jesus Christ, played herein by Max Von Sydow. The large supporting cast includes Dorothy McGuire as Mary, Claude Rains as Herod the Great, Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas, Charlton Heston as John the Baptist, Donald Pleasence as Satan (identified only as "The Dark Hermit"), David McCallum as Judas Iscariot, Sidney Poitier as Simon of Cyrene, Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate and Martin Landau as Caiaphas. Even Robert Blake as Simon the Zealot, Jamie Farr as Thaddaeus, and motorcyle-flick veteran Richard Bakalyan as Dismas, the repentant thief, are well-suited to their roles. Originally roadshown at 260 minutes, Greatest Story Ever Told was later available in a 195-minute version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though it was made in 1964, this romantic farce was not released until 1971. It stars an aging Ginger Rogers as a prosperous madam who teams up with the crooked town mayor (Ray Milland) and tries to trick one of her "girls" into revealing the location of a famous hidden treasure. The prostitute the two pick on (Barbara Eden) is pregnant and they try to convince her that she has witnessed a miracle. Unfortunately for the schemers, their scheme backfires. During production, the film underwent many changes and was shelved due to a dispute over editing. When it was finally released it bombed and is now considered most notable for containing the screen debut of actor Elliot Gould, who plays a deaf mute. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When contact is established between Earth and the planet Chroma, located ten light years away, an exchange is proposed between inhabitants of the two worlds. This is to be done by matter-transmitter, using technology provided by the Chromoites -- as it is a dangerous experiment, the first Earth subject, Chino Rivera (Henry Silva), is chosen from the ranks of convicts serving life sentences. As it turns out, both Rivera, who is twice as smart and three times more clever than the project director, Dr. Kellander (Michael Higgins), and the Chromoite visitor, a walking, human-sized crustacean, immensely strong, with nasty claw-like appendages and various openings that gulp, suck, and grind, are up to something other than what they're supposed to be doing, possibly involving murder. Rivera is injured in an escape attempt before he can be transmitted and, while recovering, attempts another breakout, only to find himself accused of killing one of the scientists on the project. Only one of his captors, Dr. Julia Harrison (Diana Sands), believes that he is innocent, and suspects that something far more sinister than even murder is taking place. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The Soviet Union launches a satellite carrying a nuclear reactor that goes out of control and comes down off the coast of California. The Seaview is assigned to pick up a pair of Russian technicians equipped to deactivate the reactor -- but the distrust between the two sides may doom the mission. And complicating matters even more for Seaview and her crew is the fact that the Soviet satellite was brought down by sabotage in their own ranks -- and there may be further attempts to sabotage the mission. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Nick Bousso (Mario Roccuzzo), the son of mob-connected cab driver Mario Bousso (A.G. Vigganza), has sworn vengeance against Elliot Ness for killing Mario in a raid. Taking advantage of Nick's anger, mob boss Gus Marco (Luther Adler) and "Purple Gang" functionary Charlie Steuben (Michael Ansara) intend to use the boy to bait a trap for Ness--not counting on the possiblity that Nicky might have a last-minute change of heart. Joe De Santis makes his first series appearance as hard-of-hearing Mob "troubleshooter" Louie Latito, one of the few people in the world capable of using a hearing aid as a weapon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michael Curtiz's The Comancheros was a deceptively complex movie -- so enjoyable, that it masked some of the best character development seen in a John Wayne vehicle that was not directed by John Ford or Howard Hawks, and so well made that it got by with some of the most violent action seen in a major studio release of the era. It also bridged the gap between Ford's The Searchers and the upbeat buddy movies of the late '60s and '70s (The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, etc.). It's 1843 in the Republic of Texas, and Jake Cutter (John Wayne) is a two-fisted Texas Ranger who runs across a gang of white renegades, called the Comancheros, who are trading guns and other contraband with marauding Comanches from a secret hideout in Mexico. Substituting for a repentant gun-runner, he goes undercover as a partner with Crow (Lee Marvin), a vicious half-breed who is a contact man with the Comancheros and knows the whereabouts of their hideout in Mexico. But Crow manages to get himself killed, and Cutter is forced to throw in with Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman), a bystander who also happens to be an itinerant gambler wanted for killing a man in a duel in New Orleans, to complete his mission. It turns out that Regret is a more decent man than most, and he and Cutter, despite some different outlooks on right and wrong, take a liking to each other. Their quest eventually takes them south of the border, where they find the Comancheros and their leader, Graile (Nehemiah Persoff), a bitter, brilliant cripple -- think of The Sea Wolf's Wolf Larsen in a wheelchair -- who has established a landlocked pirate society, and his daughter Pilar (Ina Balin). The only thing that keeps Cutter and Regret alive when they enter the camp is that Pilar and Regret have a history, and she still has feelings for him, enough so that she won't tell what she knows about Cutter and who he is. The two men must play on Graile's greed and Pilar's love in the explosive surroundings of the Comancheros' camp, while figuring out a way to stay alive long enough to get word to the rangers about where they are -- and to survive the attack that must inevitably follow.

Director Michael Curtiz was ill for part of the shoot, and Wayne took up the slack, but The Comancheros displays some of the same freewheeling charm and deep passions that informed classic films of his such as Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and The Sea Hawk. Wayne and Whitman between them manage to evoke some of the rambunctiousness of Errol Flynn, and when Balin (one of the sexiest leading ladies ever to grace a John Wayne movie) arrives onscreen, the testosterone level shoots up even higher and the sexual sparks fly. The film's 105 minutes go by very fast, and this is a movie whose ending comes almost too soon. Curtiz's final film is one that leaves audiences with a smile, but also wanting more, which was a pretty good way to go out. John Wayne's daughter, Aissa Wayne (who subsequently went into a law career) appears in a small role. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In his second solo starring film after breaking with Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis plays cartoonist George Baker's classic GI misfit The Sad Sack. Lewis' constitutional inability to do anything right brings him under the scrutiny of gorgeous Army psychiatrist Phyllis Kirk. She discovers that Lewis possesses a photographic memory, making him valuable enough to be transferred to a top secret assignment in Morocco. Assigned along with buddies David Wayne and Joe Mantell to guard a new weapon, Lewis deviates from his task when he falls in love with sexy nightclub performer Lilliane Montevecchi. She spurns him, so the heartbroken Lewis deserts the army and joins the Foreign Legion. When enemy spy Peter Lorre discovers that Lewis has memorized the assembly instructions for the secret weapon, he and his minions kidnap Lewis, Wayne and Mantell. With the help of Montevecchi, Lewis thwarts the baddies and becomes a hero--but within minutes, he's fouled up again, so it's back to permanent KP duty. Jerry Lewis still needed a straight-man foil at the time of The Sad Sack so Paramount provided him with David Wayne and Joe Mantell. By the time Geisha Boy rolled around in 1958, Lewis was finally able to carry a picture by himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fred MacMurray plays the head of an outlaw band trying to escape across the Mexican border. The gang is able to elude the law and to navigate the rough terrain, but the flight comes to a halt in an all-but-deserted desert town. Here MacMurray and company are forced to stave off an Indian attack, during which several of the bandits prove to be less venal than they seem. The buildup to the attack seems to take forever, indicating that the producers may have had High Noon and Gunfight at the OK Corrall. It's likely that Fred MacMurray would have ground out budget westerns for the remainder of his career had not Walt Disney and My Three Sons come along. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide