Thom Carney Movies
- 1968
Most of this episode was filmed on location at California's Riverside Raceway. Having financed his racing activities by selling his garage business to the Mob, John Stanton (Tom Bosley is now under pressure to do the Mob's bidding--or else. FBI agent Colby (Stephen Elliott) goes undercover as a racer (and puts his life on the line in the bargain) to find out what the villains are up to. Featured as a minor hoodlum is Stanley Clements, the former "Duke" of the 1950s Bowery Boys comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Harry Lucas (Jim Hutton) is a U.S. Mint employee who scrambles to recover $50,000 he accidentally destroyed in this underrated comedy of errors. After he mistakenly throws the money down the garbage disposal, a frantic Harry recruits retired mint employee Pop Gillis (Walter Brennan) to cook up a hot new batch of cold cash. The two have to hire a bunch of colorful crooks to pull off the caper. Soon the money paid out far exceeds the total of the original loss. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Hutton, Dorothy Provine, (more)
- 1967
When Andy enrolls him in an expensive boys' camp, Opie befriends wealthy young Billy Hollander (Don Wyndham). Worried that his son's head will be turned by Billy's opulent lifestyle, Andy warns Opie not to start "putting on airs." But when he meets Billy's parents (Joyce Van Patten and Sandy Kenyon), Andy blithely ignores his own advice. First broadcast on October 9, 1967, "Opie Steps Up in Class" was written by Joe Bonaduce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
It looks as though the Mayberry Band's annual trip to the state band competition in Charlotte will be cancelled. Characteristically, Mayor Stoner has refused to allocate the necessary funds for the trip, insisting that the town band is "a disgrace." Will Andy's old bandleader pal Bobby Fleet (Joe Sirola) come to the rescue? Wirtten by Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum, "The Mayberry Band" was first broadcast on November 19, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Spinsters Jennifer and Clarabelle Morrison (Charity Grace and Gladys Hurlbut), Mayberry's self-appointed moral arbiters, take it upon themselves to impose their own brand of Prohibition on the town. With Barney's assistance, the Morrison sisters begin rounding up every moonshiner in the county. But the ladies' motives are not entirely altruistic, as Sheriff Andy's son Opie discovers when he happens upon a mason jar full of home brew. Written by Jack Elinson and Charles Stewart, "Alcohol and Old Lace" first aired on January 30, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Though set in the 1930s, this episode is clearly based on the infamous Appalachin Mafia conference of 1957. Gangsters Al Seeger (Richard Conte) and Joe "The Teacher" Kulak (Oscar Beregi) call a summit meeting to establish a consolidation of all organized crime in the U.S., the better to take over the enterprises of the Capone mob. Though Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) would love to bust this meeting and arrest everyone, he has no evidence to back him up. All this changes when Seegar orders the ice-house murder of Maxie Schramm (Milton Selzer), the "turncoat" husband of Seegar's mistress Roxie (Susan Oliver). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are on the prowl for the criminals who have been robbing all-night restaurants throughout LA. As usual, Friday demands "just the facts"--and he gets them from one robbery victim, who supplies serial numbers for the stolen cash. This episode features a rare sympathetic portrayal by veteran movie and TV "heavy" Ben Welden, who is perhaps best known for his recurring appearances on the original Superman series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
An armored mail truck has been held up by three masked bandits, and 22 sacks of registered mail have been stolen. Though badly beaten, mail guard Bud Huston (Don Warren) is able to recall that one of the bandits was referred to as "Sid." But the clue that enables Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) to close in on the outlaws is a $20 bill that has somehow ended up in the possession of a petty thief. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of May 15, 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Thanks to the false testimony of freight owner Will Stanhope (Lewis Martin), Ed Stacy (Ed Nelson) was wrongly sent to prison. Now that Stacy has been paroled, Stanhope hires Paladin (Richard Boone), ostensibly to protect him from the ex-convict's wrath. But since Stanhope had previously hired Paladin to help him imprison Stacy the first time around, the erudite gunslinger suspects that it is not Stanhope whose life is truly in peril. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Richard Vanaman (Arthur Franz) was secure in the belief that he was up for a promotion at the investment firm where he works. Alas, someone seems determined to sabotage him--and worse, he is targeted by a blackmailer. But this is not the end of Vanaman's woes: when Sylvia Welles (Joyce Meadows) is murdered, he is arrested for the crime--and now Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must somehow make sense of the whole sordid affair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
This episode is a one-part adaptation of a two-part Dragnet radio broadcast, originally heard on July 20 and 27, 1950. Detectives Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) spend the better part of a year tracking down ex-convict Frank Cheney, also known as "The Gentleman Bandit" because of his wealthy upbringing. Cheney is suspected of masterminding a robbery in San Diego, in which $12,000 was sotlen and a man was killed. After months and months of false leads, the two detectives are finally able to locate the elusive Cheney thanks to a clue provided by the bandit's millionaire grandfather. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
- Add It! The Terror from Beyond Space to QueueAdd It! The Terror from Beyond Space to top of Queue
One of the best of the medium-budgeted science fiction flicks of the 1950s, It! The Terror from Beyond Space is set in "the future" (1973, to be exact). An rescue ship travels out to Mars to retrieve the only survivor of a space probe that has experienced some sort of cataclysm. That survivor, Col Ed Carruthers (Marshall Thompson) is accused of murdering his fellow crewmen. But Ed claims that the killer was a Martian monster, and hopes to prove his assertions by signing up for a second journey to the Red Planet. Before long, the crew members of this second expedition are being systematically killed off, and it looks as though Ed is up to his old tricks. As it turns out, however, Ed was telling the truth: there is a monster on board, the savage descendant of the once-mighty Martian civilization, who snuck on board when an irresponsible crew member left the door open. The monster stays alive by absorbing the vital body fluids of its victims-and there seems to be no way to stop this parasitic creature! If the plot of It! The Terror from Beyond Space seems vaguely familiar, it is because it was one of the primary inspirations for the 1979 sci-fi classic Alien. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marshall Thompson, Shawn Smith, (more)
- 1955
Kidnapers Harry (Claude Akins) and Rudy (Dick Paxton) summon Doc (Milburn Stone) to their shack to tend the wounds of their victim Hank Worth, the son of a wealthy rancher. When Hank dies, the outlaws are prepared to kill Doc, but he gives his word of honor not to reveal their whereabouts if they let him go (no, Doc isn't begging for his life; it is just that he's the only physician within 400 miles of Dodge). Ultimately, Doc's promise may put Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness)--an old friend of Hank Worth's father--in mortal danger. This episode is based on the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of October 1, 1953. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Cell 2455 Death Row is based on the autobiography of condemned prisoner and "jailhouse lawyer" Caryl Chessman. William Campbell plays the Chessman counterpart, here renamed Whit. A seriously disturbed misfit, Whit begins a life of crime, culminating in sexual assault as the "Lover's Lane Bandit." Condemned to the gas chamber at San Quentin, Whit spends six years fighting his sentence, gradually winning the support and sometimes the respect of various legal experts. The film ends in 1955 (the year of its production), some five years before Caryl Chessman's ultimate execution; accordingly, the film's "open-ended" finale has been removed from many TV prints. A more thorough and incisive study of the Chessman case was offered in the made-for-TV movie Kill Me If You Can, which starred Alan Alda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Campbell, Marian Carr, (more)
- 1941
In this musical comedy, a motley band of musicians have only their extreme poverty in common. They end up writing a hit and getting a recording contract. The trouble is, the composer's works are never played without another band member doctoring them up to make them swingier. Fortunately, the composer isn't too averse to the changes as he has just won the heart of the beauty who sings his revamped songs. Songs include: "Where Did You Get That Girl?" (Harry Puck, Bert Kalmar, sung by Helen Parrish), "Sergeant Swing," "Rug-Cuttin' Romeo" (Milton Rosen, Everett Carter). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Errol, Helen Parrish, (more)
