X Brands Movies
- 1979
Robin Strand stars as a female narcotics cop transferred to an all-male police squad assigned to patrol the California beaches. Strand's assignment ends almost before it begins when she is targeted for assassination by the Mob. First telecast April 30, 1979, Beach Patrol was supposed to have been the first episode of a weekly series. It wasn't. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Strand, Jonathan Frakes, (more)
- 1976
Based on the exploits of real-life 1830s frontiersman James Bridger, this TV movie was supposed to have graduated to a weekly series, but the fates were against it. James Wainwright plays the title role with Gary Cooper-like stoicism. John Anderson guest stars as President Andrew Jackson, who orders Bridger to blaze a trail from Wyoming to California. The film is extremely disorganized, suggesting that it was cobbled together from several shorter Bridger episodes. Moreover, the film was rather choppily pared down from 100 minutes to 78. When Bridger rescues Sally Field from bandits, we don't even know who her character is or why the hero is so interested in her plight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A bounty hunter holds dear the memory of his son who was killed by outlaws several years before. One day he kills a crook and then takes in his son, who swears vengeance upon his adopted father. This western chronicles their adventures together. The bounty hunter is happy with his new charge and so retires to resume his previous profession as a horse breeder. Things go well until the town sheriff is shot and the breeder's adopted son blames the crime upon him. But he is innocent and so rides out to prove it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Dana Wynter, (more)
- 1973
After a hard day in the field, John (Randolph Mantooth) returns to his bunk at the station, only to find that it has become the new home of a stray cat and her kittens. This week's emergency roster includes an old codger who is stuck in the bear trap he'd set to capture a thief; a burning airplane, with two passengers trapped inside; a gas leak at an elementary school; a near-fatal boating mishap; and a really bad case of stage fright. Virginia Gregg, a loyal member of producer Jack Webb's "stock company", appears as Zelda Zack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Scripted by Rick Husky from a story by Sam Roeca, "Trapped" is a radical departure from the usual Mission:Impossible format. Things start traditionally enough, as the IMF sets about to recover an $8 million army payroll from a family of smugglers: Joe, Arthur and Doug Stafford (Tom Tully, Jon Cypher, and Bert Convy). But the odds change dramatically when Phelps is hit on the head and loses his memory--then wanders straight into a trap set by the crooks. "Trapped" first aired on February 26, 1972, as the final episode of Mission:Impossible's sixth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Greg Morris, (more)
- 1970
Sidelined by a fractured wrist, Officer Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) pulls what he regards as "light duty", a night-desk shift with attractive policewoman Doris Mills (Beth Brickell). But things go from light to dark in a hurry when the two officers are confronted by a armed sniper who demands that his criminal brother be released from jail immediately. Luckily, Pete's regular partner Officer Jim Reed (Kent McCord) is on hand to help his comrades survive this terrifying ordeal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Christopher Wren's classic adventure story is brought to the screen for the third time in this version, which featured several popular television stars of the day. Beau Geste (Guy Stockwell) is forced to take the blame for a crime he didn't commit in order to protect the good name of his family; he and his brother John (Doug McClure) flee the country to avoid capture and join the French Foreign Legion. Under the leadership of the sadistic Sgt. Major Dagineau (Telly Savalas), Beau and John must battle Arab troops as they try to clear their names. For this more budget-minded adaptation of the story, the three Geste brothers were whittled down to two; Wren's story wasn't filmed again until Marty Feldman's send-up of the Foreign Legion epics, The Last Remake of Beau Geste, appeared in 1977. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Stockwell, Doug McClure, (more)
- 1965
Joe Cartwright and his friend Tuck (Warren Vanders) vie for the attentions of pretty Easterner Lucy Melviney (Brenda Scott), a sheltered young girl whose view of the world has been formed by the romantic literature she reads. When Lucinda is targeted for abduction by a renegade band of Paiutes, Joe and Tuck are determined to protect the girl from the harsh truths of the real world. Complicating matters is the fact that the renegades are led by Joe's boyhood chum Sharp Tongue (X Brands). Written by Mort R. Lewis, "The Far, Far Better Thing" originally aired on January 10, 1965. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1965
Approaching a ghost town in answer to a job offer, Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) finds he has walked into a trap. The only residents of the town are religious fanatic Joshua Murdock (John Dehner) and his deranged sons Micah (Paul Brent) and Malachi (a pre-Dallas Jim Davis). Convinced that McCord's "cowardice" at Bitter Creek has caused the town's ruin, Murdock prepares to exact a revenge of Biblical proportions. Featured as Grey Eagle is prolific Native American actor Iron Eyes Cody, best remembered as the "weeping Indian" in a famous series of anti-littering public service announcements. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Predictable and a little slow and labyrinthian, this western features Bill Williams as Temple Houston, a gun-toting D.A. whose heart lies with the cause of justice but whose actions toward that end can be controversial. Bigelow (Grant Richards) is a railroad agent who frames a Cherokee chief (as usual, played by a very non-Cherokee Ted de Corsia) for the murder of the Indian Commissioner. The crafty Bigelow wants the Cherokee nation to declare war, which would make their lands automatically available for use by the railroad according to an 1867 treaty. Temple Houston has to prosecute the Chief, a long-time friend, and although he wins his case the story is not over yet. As he soon discovers, the Chief is most decidedly innocent. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Williams, Gloria Talbott, (more)
- 1959
In this run-of-the-mill western, one of the few films directed by producer Wallace MacDonald, a rancher has been falsely accused of murdering his wife and escapes from prison to seek revenge. Robert Knapp is the rancher Gil Reardon who knows that the saloon owner Ben (Walter Coy) and his cohorts are responsible for his wife's violent death. After he escapes from a New Mexico jail, Gil is helped by a Native American woman (Jana Davi) to cross the desert and arrive back home in Laredo, though that does not happen without incident. All that remains is the final showdown. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Knapp, Jana Davi, (more)
This trite, low-budget western stars Victor Mature as Ben Lassiter, a former Confederate soldier who is traveling to the Western U.S. with his daughter Abbey (Reba Waters) just after the Civil War. Their journey is interrupted by a group of Union soldiers on patrol and the recent war casts its shadow over this encounter. Beth Drury (Elaine Stewart) is riding along with the group of Union soldiers and soon she and Lassiter become romantically entangled. Throw in her rabid, anti-Confederate sister and a few hostile Native Americans, and the story is complete with the usual characters and antagonisms. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Elaine Stewart, (more)
- 1958
This episode marks the first Maverick appearances of urbane swindler Gentleman Jack Darby (Richard Long) and Southern-fried dance hall gal Cindy Lou Brown. Through a series of incredible plot convolutions, Cindy Lou helps Gentleman Jack switch places with Bart, so that Jack can abscond with $1000. But Cindy Lou has a change of heart, and decides to help Bart recover the loot. (Trivia alert: guest stars Richard Long and Arlene Howell were later reteamed on the Warner Bros. TV detective series Bourbon Street Beat). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
A wild young buck settles down and becomes a decent fellow after he falls in love with a sweet young girl in this youth drama. He is a delinquent with a reputation when they meet. During their first date, they end up at the police station. Her protective parents are outraged and forbid her to see him again. Soon they are seeing each other on the sly, and fortunately her natural goodness begins to rub off and he changes his ways. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Damon, Lili Gentle, (more)
- 1956
Not to be confused with the popular David Zuckor comedy from the late '80s that starred Leslie Nielson, 1956's Naked Gun chronicles the adventures of a bored insurance salesman who spices up his drab life by heading to the Mexican jungle to search for an ancient Aztec treasure and return it to its rightful heir. Unfortunately, the treasure is cursed and creates all kinds of problems for the fellow. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
