David Spenser Movies

In this family drama, a white Southerner discovers that his family history isn't what he thought it was -- with the fact that he's half-black only one of his many surprises. Earl Pilcher, Jr. (Robert Duvall) runs a gas station in Arkansas; he's a typical middle-aged Southern man who likes his pickup truck and loves his momma. Shortly after his mother's death, he receives some very unexpected news; she wasn't really his mother after all. It seems that years ago, Earl Sr. (James N. Harrell) raped the family's African-American maid, Willie Mae, who nine months later died while giving birth to Earl Jr. To avoid further scandal, Mrs. Pilcher simply raised Earl Jr. as her own. While the family has kept the matter a secret all these years, Earl Jr. has a half-brother living in Chicago, and it was his mother's wish that the two should some day meet and become friends. Earl travels to Chicago and tracks down Ray Murdock (James Earl Jones), a veteran police officer and Willie Mae's other son. Earl Jr. quickly learns that Ray has little interest in getting to know him better; he knows all the facts behind the matter, and he's always blamed Earl for the death of his mother. However, Earl Jr. isn't used to life in a big city up north, and after he's mugged and carjacked, Ray grudgingly takes in his half-brother, letting him stay in the home he shares with his son Virgil (Michael Beach) and Aunt T. (Irma P. Hall), who raised Ray as a boy. A Family Thing was written by Billy Bob Thornton shortly before his breakthrough as writer, director, and star of Sling Blade. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this war drama, an Army intelligence officer stationed in Saigon labors to discover the identity of the double-agent in his department who has been sending classified information to the Soviets. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) arrives at the Det-sen monastery in Tibet, sometime in the mid-'30s. Almost immediately, a colleague of one Professor Travers (Jack Watling) is murdered, and the Doctor finds himself the number one suspect. Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, the six-part adventure "The Abominable Snowmen" was filmed in North Wales, a surprisingly suitable substitute for the rocks and rills of ancient Tibet. The first episode originally aired on September 30, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fifth episode of the six-part story "The Abominable Snowmen," the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) continues to face great danger at the Det-sen monastery in Tibet. His only hope for survival is to banish the Great Intelligence, an alien force bent on world domination, from the earth's Solar System. Unfortunately, the Intelligence holds prisoner the soul of the Doctor's very old friend Padmasambhava (Wolfe Morris), the creator of a race of robotic Yetis. Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, "The Abominable Snowmen, Episode 5" first aired on October 28, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the six-part story "The Abominable Snowmen," the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) has learned that the Tibetan monastery of Det-sen is being held in thrall by the malevolent Great Intelligence. He also now knows that his alien adversary intends to use an army of Yeti robots to take over the world. But he doesn't what to do about it -- especially since one of his oldest friends is unwillingly mixed up in the intrigue. Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, "The Abominable Snowmen, Episode 3" first aired on October 14, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on Jules Verne's novel Captain Grant's Children, In Search of the Castaways is a roller-coaster of a Disney film, making up in excitement what it lacks in credibility or coherence. Hayley Mills and Keith Hamshere play the children of long-missing ship's captain Jack Gwillim. By chance, a note stuffed in a bottle comes to the attention of the kids and professor Maurice Chevalier; the note contains the fragment of a map, which suggests that Gwillim is somewhere in South America. Only after enduring a series of life-threatening adventures do Chevalier and the kids discover that they should have been in Australia all along! Once they're finally in the correct corner of the world, our protagonists are bedeviled by gunrunner George Sanders, the fellow who'd set the captain adrift. With the help of Wilfrid Brambell, a looney ex-crew member of the captain's (and the fellow who sent the bottled message), Chevalier, Mills and Hamshere are finally reunited with Gwillim--and as a bonus, Mills has found a boy friend, in the person of Michael Anderson. It's typical of the crazy-quilt approach taken by In Search of the Castaways that Maurice Chevalier decides to sing a cheery song in a moment of dire peril. Even so, the film was ideal Saturday-matinee fodder for the kiddie trade in 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide