Bob Hoy Movies
Gary Coleman stars as the title character, the bratty son of wealthy parents, who is kidnapped by a pair of bumbling crooks. The experience winds up teaching the pampered boy the realities of childhood. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Coleman, Paul Le Mat, (more)
James (Jason Bateman) befriends Gideon (played by Peter Billingsley of A Christmas Story fame), the new kid in school. Alas, when the other students make fun of Gideon's stammer, James bows to peer pressure and joins in on the ridicule. Heartbroken, Gideon runs away, and it is up to James' adoptive mother, Caroline (Karen Grassle), to set things right. Also figuring prominently in the outcome of this story is a wild dog whom James met while on a visit to Minneapolis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
The authorities are placed on high alert when Lane Garrison (Blake Marison), advance man for a notorious assassin, is accidentally killed in an explosion a few days before a major political convention in Los Angeles. Among those monitoring the situation is medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman), who is dating reporter Kate Miles (Devon Ericson). It seems obvious to Kate that one of governmental officials scheduled to appear at the convention is slated for extermination--and the more Quincy listens to her theories, the more he begins to wonder just how much Kate really knows about what will happen next. Originally scheduled to air on March 4, 1981, this episode was filmed at LA's Ambassador Hotel, where Robert F. Kennedy was killed in 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmed on location at Alcatraz Island, this two-part "whole story" actually concentrates on a handful of the denizens behind the cold grey walls of "The Rock". Michael Beck plays the real-life Clarence Carnes, an Oklahoma Choctaw Indian said to be the youngest man ever incarcerated in the notorious maximum security prison. Serving a 99-year sentence for a gas station holdup and murder, Carnes makes periodic attempts to escape, the final attempt being the most violent. Many of the subordinate characters are fictional (as are most of the details concerning Carnes' escape efforts); the one exception is Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz", here portrayed by Art Carney as a gentle, kindly philosopher. Telly Savalas, a costar of the Burt Lancaster vehicle Birdman of Alcatraz, also guest starred in the 1980 film. Originally titled Alcatraz and Clarence Carnes, this made-for-TV movie wavers between gritty realism and "I'm bustin' outta here!" artifice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Beck, Telly Savalas, (more)
Bo and Luke Duke (John Schneider and Tom Wopat) find themselves actually working alongside Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (James Best) for a change in this episode from the long-running action- comedy series The Dukes of Hazzard. However, the Duke boys quickly discover this is no great honor; they've been recruited to help move a prisoner from the Hazzard County jail to another location nearby, not knowing that he's considered dangerous and has friends who want to help him escape. The Dukes of Hazzard: Deputy Dukes was first aired on April 13, 1979. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Originally made for television, this western concerns three unjustly convicted female prisoners. While being transported to prison, their guards die of water poisoning and a former contract killer helps them survive. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
Though not readily apparent, Flight to Holocaust is the feature-length pilot film for a potential TV series. Crashing into the side of a high-rise building, an airplane is precariously wedged in the structure's 20th floor. Dispatched to rescue the survivors are a team of acrobatic troubleshooters, played by female circus performer Fawne Harriman and combat veterans Chris Mitchum, Patrick Wayne, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Paul Williams. As can be gathered by a perusal of the cast list, the film's gimmick was the presence of three second-generation Hollywood stars. After the initial telecast of Flight to Holocaust on March 27, 1977, NBC invited viewers to mail in their opinions of the film. Evidently the verdict was unanimous, since no weekly series resulted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

- 1976
- PG
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Melvin Frank's burlesque amalgam of McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Wagonmaster teams George Segal and Goldie Hawn as Charlie Malloy, a happy-go-lucky card shark, and Amanda Quaid, an ingratiating dance hall hooker, who want to go to Salt Lake City. Pursued by a gang of outlaws, Charlie and Amanda join up with a wagon train of Mormons who are also heading to Salt Lake City. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Segal, Goldie Hawn, (more)
Clint Eastwood's fifth film as a director and eighth Western as a star (ninth if you count Paint Your Wagon), The Outlaw Josey Wales chronicles the hero's violent journey westward after the Civil War. With fresh memoris of his family's slaughter by Red Leg soldier Terrill (Bill McKinney), Confederate Josey Wales (Eastwood) refuses to join his captain Fletcher (John Vernon) and the rest of his comrades in surrender to a U.S. Army regiment. Deemed a dangerous outlaw after a bloody one-man battle with that regiment, Josey is pursued by U.S. cavalry soldiers led by the unwilling Fletcher and the murderous Terrill, as well as by bounty hunters who eventually learn how coolly lethal Wales can be. Despite his desire to remain a lone fugitive, Josey soon has a crew of travelling companions that includes Cherokee Lone Watie (Chief Dan George) and the pretty Laura Lee (Sondra Locke) and her vigorous Grandma Sarah (Paula Trueman), settlers on their way to a ranch near ghost town Santa Rio. The few Santa Rio residents welcome the group, but their peace and Josey's burgeoning romance with Laura Lee are soon interrupted by Terrill's arrival. A skillfully violent man of few, well-chosen words, Josey Wales resembles Eastwood's previous Western heroes in Sergio Leone's trilogy, A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966). However, the emphasis on friends and family served notice that, in the words of one critic, "the Man With No Name doesn't live here anymore." Indeed, Josey Wales would be Eastwood's last western before 1985's Pale Rider. Although it did not garner similar critical praise when it was released, Eastwood considers The Outlaw Josey Wales to be the equal of the Oscar-winning Unforgiven (1992). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Chief Dan George, (more)
Having lived most of his life on a farm, Johnny Johnson (Mitch Vogel) sets out to experience what the world has to offer. Mr. Edwards (Victor French) tags along to make sure that Johnny doesn't get in over his head. Even so, Johnny succumbs to the charms of a young barmaid named Mimi (Jane Alice Brandon) -- losing his heart and most of his money in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
The made-for-TV Barbary Coast is a tongue-in-cheek western in the Maverick tradition, produced by a former writer-director of that series, Douglas Heyes. Dennis Cole plays Cash Conover, a San Francisco saloonkeeper of the 1870s. William Shatner co-stars as Jeff Cable, an undercover policeman who works hand in glove with Conover to fight crime on the Coast. Conover and Cable team up with the lovely Cleo (Lynda Day George) to tackle a vicious mob, headed by one Diamond Jack Bannister (Michael Ansara). Throwing a bit of Wild Wild West into the stew, Cable pops up from time to time wearing disguises and sporting outrageous accents. First telecast May 4, 1975, Barbary Coast was the pilot for the short-lived TV series of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Gilbert Wright's novel Madman's Chain had already been adapted to television by Alcoa/Goodyear Theatre by the time that Cry in the Wilderness premiered March 26, 1974. While the first version, titled Chain and the River, was a moderately suspenseful half hour, Cry in the Wilderness manages to keep viewers on the very edges of their seats for a full 74 minutes. George Kennedy stars as a farmer who is bitten by a rabid skunk. To protect his family from the madness that he is sure will overtake him, Kennedy has his wife Joanna Pettet chain him to a post in their barn. Left alone, Kennedy discovers that the dam has burst, and that his farm will soon be consumed by flood. The climactic deluge was largely (and superbly) created in the lab by special effects maestro Albert Whitlock. Cry in the Wilderness premiered March 26, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Guest star Kim Hunter is cast as brilliant but superstitious master criminal Hannah O'Connel, who engineers a million-dollar bullion heist with her sons Thomas (Robert Hogan) and Robert (Solomon Sturges. The O'Connels escape to the safety of a remote Caribbean island which has no extradition treaty with the United States. To lure Hannah back to America for prosecution, the IMF rigs up a phony murder and an apparent haunting. Buck Houghton, for many years the producer of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, wrote the story for this episode, and collaborated on the script with another TV notable, Stephen Kandel. "Incarcerate" first aired on January 5, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Greg Morris, (more)
Call to Danger was a title that had already been applied to two unsold pilot films before this TV movie made its first appearance in February of 1973. Like the previous 1968 Call to Danger, the 1973 film stars Peter Graves as a federal agent who enlists "ordinary" people to solve crimes. Headquartered in Washington DC (where most of this film was shot), Graves selects his erstwhile agents by means of a computer. The case at hand is the retrieval of an underworld informer who has been kidnapped. Peter Graves appeared in Call to Danger even while his series Mission: Impossible was in production; there was talk that Mission: Impossible would soon be cancelled, and Graves wanted a pilot film to fall back on. Come September of 1973, there was neither hide nor hair of Mission: Impossible, Call to Danger or Peter Graves on any network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this horror sequel from the director of Count Yorga, Vampire, a member of an American voodoo cult revives the fanged Prince Manuwalde (William Marshall), only to become his slave. Manuwalde then puts the bite on various victims, but finds himself fixating on pretty Lisa (Pam Grier), a voodoo princess whom he believes can finally put his soul to rest. Lynne Moody, Nicholas Worth, and Bernie Hamilton are among the familiar cast, but the various occult trappings seem somewhat out of place in the modern Los Angeles setting and the production values are pretty shabby. Blaxploitation and camp fans should still find it mildly amusing, however, and Shakespearean actor Marshall is a lot of fun as the obsessive vampire. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Marshall, Pam Grier, (more)
The all-purpose science fiction title Earth 2 was utilized in 1971 for this TV pilot film. Producer/writers Allan Balter and William Read Woodfield consulted both NASA and the Rockwell Corporation to guarantee a modicum of authenticity for their futuristic teleplay. The story takes place in "Earth II", a self-contained space station orbiting the earth which houses 2000 people. Gary Lockwood, star of 2001: A Space Odyssey, appears as the commander of the station (note to fans of "Alvin and the Chipmunks": Lockwood's character name is David Seville!) The anecdotal plot explores the everyday operations of Earth II and the various trials and tribulations of its denizens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In Sheriff Coffee's absence, Joe Cartwright is called upon to escort prisoner Hank Simmons (Michael Witney) through a particularly rugged patch of terrain. Trouble is, Simmons knows the area far better than Joe. Things get even tougher for the youngest Cartwright as the charismatic Simmons banks upon his friendship with a Mexican family who may or may not be Joe's only hope for survival. Also in the cast are Manuel Padilla as Pedro, Morgan Woodward as Moorehouse, and Priscilla Garcia as Maria. Originally broadcast on October 17, 1971, "The Prisoners" was written by Arthur Heinemann. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) and Colby (William Reynolds) go undercover as dockworkers during a bitter fisherman's strike. It is obvious that the Mob is stirring up all the trouble, the better to take over the fisherman's union. A key player in the intrigue is ruthless labor leader Big Julio, played by veteran movie heavy Joseph Wiseman (Dr. No). Much of this episode was filmed on location at Inyo Habor near Fort Bragg, California. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

















