Jean Engstrom Movies

In this religious movie, a married pair of television writers begin researching a script on restless teenagers and end up as born-again Christians. Meanwhile their own adolescent son runs away with a pregnant teen who is looking for the child's father. When she cannot, she tries to kill herself. Later, the son goes to a Billy Graham crusade with his dad, and he too is saved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Philanthropist Carleton Gage (Everett Glass) hires Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) to alter his will so that the orphanage he supports will remain open. Unfortunately, Gage lapses into a coma just before the will can be finalized. As Gage's life ebbs away, two of his beneficiaries, his cousin George (Jacques Aubuchon) and his employee Ernest Demming (John Morley) demand that the orphanage be shut down--while Gage's sister-in-law Joane Proctor (Jan Shepard) just as insists that the place will stay in business. By and by, Demming is murdered, and Joane is charged with the crime--meaning that Perry will have to redirect his energies to save Joane from being convicted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paladin (Richard Boone) receives a summons for help from Abel Hix, a legendary gunfighter nearing the end of his life. By the time Paladin arrives in Hix's home town, he finds that the old man's life has already ended, and not in a pretty fashion. It now falls to Paladin to make certain that Abel gets a decent funeral and burial, despite protests from certain less savory representatives of the local populace. Actor-songwriter Paul Tripp, former host of the classic TV's children's show Mr. I. Magination, appears as Reverend Harper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Cartwright boys' fraternal horseplay takes a painful turn when they accidentally injure their hired hand Jebediah Milbank (John Carradine). As Milbank recovers in Ben Cartwright's bedroom, Ben orders his rambunctious sons to tend to Jeb's unfinished responsibilities-and to that end, he dispatches Adam, Hoss and Joe to three different directions. Also appearing are Jena Engstrom as Ann, Claude Johnson as Paul, Denver Pyle as Theodore and John Qualen as Parley. First telecast October 1, 1961, "Springtime" was written by John Furia Jr.. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second of Jerry Lewis' directorial endeavors, The Errand Boy, like its predecessor The Bellboy, is essentially a series of "spot gags," some hilarious, others only moderately amusing. The gossamer-thin plot finds Morty Tashman (Lewis) being hired by the CEO of "Paramutuel Pictures" (Brian Donlevy) to spy on studio employees and report any incidents of wastefulness and sloth. This gives Morty a chance to wander all over the Paramutuel Pictures lot, inadvertently interfering with work in progress, encountering strange characters and inexplicable events, and overall making as much of a nuisance of himself as possible. Some of the better gags include Morty's chaotic behavior at the "wrap party" for a vainglorious movie queen (Iris Adrian); his attempts to eat lunch while a noisy battle scene from a war picture rages all around him; his misguided effort to dub in the singing voice of a tone-deaf actress; the "Mr. Baebrosenthal" bit; and Morty's tete-a-tete in the studio swimming pool with a scuba diver. The weakest scenes involve Morty's sugary encounters with the Ritts Puppets, and a smug curtain speech about the importance of laughmakers in this troubled world. The huge supporting cast includes such reliable chucklemeisters as Howard McNear, Sig Ruman, Milton Frome, Benny Rubin, Fritz Feld, Doodles Weaver, Joey Forman, Dick Wesson and Joe Besser; also making fleeting appearances are actress/writer/director Renee Taylor, veteran movie tough guy Mike Mazurki (in drag!), silent film comic Snub Pollard, and the four stars from TV's Bonanza. Even non-Jerry Lewis fans will come down with a case of loose chuckles while watching The Errand Boy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Boris Karloff amiably walks through his undemanding starring role in Voodoo Island. Lensed in Hawaii, the film casts Karloff as Phillip Knight, a professional skeptic who enjoys skewering those who believe in the supernatural. Accompanied by his secretary, Sara (Beverly Adams), Knight arrives on a tiny Pacific island to disprove claims that a voodoo curse has invested itself in the community. After several horrible murders, however, it looks as though there really is voodoo activity in the region. Characters essential to the action are Elisha Cook Jr. as a zombie-fied petty thief, and a rather surly carnivorous plant! Some prints of Voodoo Island have eliminated a subplot involving lesbian interior decorator Claire Winter (Jean Engstrom). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide