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Robert Brown Movies

Beefy British character actor Robert Brown should not be confused with the actor of the same name who starred in TV's Here Come the Brides (1968-1969), nor with film editor Robert N. "Toby" Brown. In films from 1955's Helen of Troy, Brown specialized in roughneck costume roles, such as the Chief of Rowers in Ben-Hur (1959) and Talbot in Billy Budd (1962). In the 1957 Roger Moore TV series Ivanhoe, Brown was appropriately cast as Gurth. After playing Admiral Hargreaves in the 1977 James Bond entry The Spy Who Loved Me, Robert Brown succeeded Bernard Lee as Bond's immediate superior "M", essaying the role for the first time in Octopussy (1983) and for the last time in A View to a Kill (1989). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
2000  
 
Add Pink Pumpkins At Dawn to Queue Add Pink Pumpkins At Dawn to top of Queue  
Veteran short film director Rick Onorato makes his feature debut with this tragicomedy. Disenfranchised youth Brian (Chris Gunn), who has an affinity for guns, stumbles upon lonely middle-class housewife Melanie (Dominique Debroux) while painting in the woods. Just as it seems as though Brian is going to waste his entire high school, he forms an odd attachment to the woman. That is, until tragedy strikes. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

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Starring:
Robert Brown
 
1995  
R  
In this crime thriller, a detective's face is destroyed when he is shot by a hit man. With nothing left to lose, the gumshoe agrees to undergo radical reconstructive surgery so that he can resemble an FBI fugitive who has connections to the Russian mob. The ensuing plan of action involves a rendezvous with a Russian operative and the pilfering of a valuable microchip. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Lorenzo LamasRae Dawn Chong, (more)
 
1989  
PG13  
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For his second outing as James Bond, Timothy Dalton is working on his own rather than on behalf of the British Secret Service in this follow-up to The Living Daylights). When his American friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison), an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration, is seriously injured by drug dealer Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi), 007 is out for blood. There is precious little time for the usual Bondian quippery and campiness, resulting in a marked increase in bloodletting (including the "implosion" of secondary villain Anthony Zerbe). A climactic highway chase involving an oil tanker and a helicopter is the highlight, as well as Benecio Del Toro in an early role as the psychotic henchman Dario. Licence to Kill's intensified taste for violence lessened Bond's box-office value, and helped keep 007 off the screen for another six years before Pierce Brosnan took up the mantle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Timothy DaltonCarey Lowell, (more)
 
1987  
R  
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A cop discovers that there's something unusual about his new partner in this unusual sci-fi thriller. A seemingly well-mannered stock broker one day snaps, robbing a bank, stealing a Ferrari, and driving straight into a police barricade without any thought for his own safety, and he's mowed down by a hail of bullets. The detective assigned to the case, Tom Beck (Michael Nouri), thinks that he notices a strange look in the eye of the thief, but when FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan) informs Tom that he's also been assigned to the case, he thinks that he sees the same curious look in Lloyd's eyes as well. Lloyd also has an odd way of carrying himself, as if he's not entirely in control of his own body, and in time, Tom discovers what the two men have in common -- both are actually aliens from another planet. They are creatures from another world capable of entering a human (or animal) body at will and using it as a vessel as long as they need. When the stockbroker died, the rogue alien simply crept into another body to begin his crime spree all over again. Lloyd has been sent to Earth to bring the thief's reign of terror to a halt and has taken over the body of an FBI agent with that in mind. A major cult favorite, The Hidden also features Clu Gulager, Ed O'Ross, and Claudia Christian. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Michael NouriKyle MacLachlan, (more)
 
1987  
PG  
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The Living Daylights represents the first appearance by Timothy Dalton as "Bond...James Bond." Based loosely on an obscure Ian Fleming short story, the film finds Bond assigned to aid in the defection of KGB agent Jeroen Krabbe. 007 must prevent an unknown sniper from killing Krabbe before he can reach the West. The mysterious assailant turns out to be the luscious Maryam d'Abo, who, as it turns out, is not all that she seems. The plot wends its way through a scheme to trade several million dollars' worth of diamonds for weapons, which will be shipped off to mercenaries worldwide. The climax takes place high above the clouds in a cargo plane loaded with opium. Dalton would play Bond one more time in License to Kill (1989) before handing the franchise over to Pierce Brosnan, who was slated to star in Daylights but ended up being held back by a TV contract with Remington Steele. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Timothy DaltonMaryam D'Abo, (more)
 
1986  
 
A wicked band of ninjas make money importing illegal drugs until the government tries to stop them. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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1985  
 
Carroll O'Connor stars as NYPD chief of detectives Frank Nolan in Brass. The script, pseudonymously cowritten by O'Connor and Alvin Boretz, dramatizes two real-life incidents: a sniper attack on Penn Station and a murder in the CBS network parking lot. Though consigned to a desk job, Nolan insists upon hitting the streets to solve the crimes at hand. Vincent Gardenia, who'd previously costarred with Carroll O'Connor on All in the Family as Archie Bunker's next-door neighbor, appears as Chief Mike Maldonato. The director was former actor Corey Allen, best remembered as James Dean's "chicken run" opponent in Rebel Without a Cause. Intended as the pilot for a weekly series, Brass debuted September 11, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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1985  
PG  
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Secret Agent 007 must stop a megalomaniacal technology mogul from destroying Silicon Valley in this fourteenth episode of the long-running James Bond series. Computer baron Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) is planning to trigger a major California earthquake in order to wipe out his competitors. Bond is dispatched to stop him in Europe, where he is partnered with Sir Godfrey Tibbet (Patrick MacNee). Sent in to slow down Bond and Company is Max Zorin's sadistic and murderous sidekick May Day (Grace Jones), the first of two Bond girls in the film (the other being Tanya Roberts). The expected high-wire confrontations ensue, including a parachute jump off the Eiffel Tower, a drive through the streets of Paris with a car cut in half, and a life-or-death struggle with a blimp on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. This production is most notable for the fact that it marked the final appearance of Roger Moore as the dashing Bond. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

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Starring:
Roger MooreChristopher Walken, (more)
 
1983  
PG  
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This (13th) time around, 007 (once again played by Roger Moore) receives the usual call to come and visit M when another agent drops off a fake Faberge jeweled egg at the British embassy in East Berlin and is later killed at a traveling circus. Suspicions mount when the assistant manager of the circus Kamal (Louis Jourdan), outbids Bond for the real Faberge piece at Sotheby's. Bond follows Kamal to India where the superspy thwarts many an ingenious attack and encounters the antiheroine of the title (Maud Adams), an international smuggler who runs the circus as a cover for her illegal operations. It does not take long to figure out that Orlov (Steven Berkoff), a decidedly rank Russian general is planning to raise enough money with the fake Faberges to detonate a nuclear bomb in Europe and then defeat NATO forces once and for all in conventional warfare. John Glen returns again to handle directing duties, the second of five Bond films he lensed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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Starring:
Roger MooreMaud Adams, (more)
 
1981  
PG  
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Libyan leader Moummar Quaddafi financed this desert epic about a Libyan hero who helped his nation fend off an Italian invasion in 1929. Anthony Quinn stars as Omar Mukhtar, who organizes Libyan forces to hold off the encroaching Italian troops under General Rodolfo Graziana (Oliver Reed), who are trying to gain a foothold on Libyan soil under direct orders from the Italian dictator Mussolini (Rod Steiger). With the persistence of Mukhtar, the Libyans, battling the tanks and guns of the Italian army with their Bedouin troops on horseback, managed to hold off y the Italians for twenty years, until Mukhtar was finally captured and executed. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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Starring:
Anthony QuinnOliver Reed, (more)
 
1980  
 
Elizabeth Huddle plays a Vermont widow suffering from terminal cancer. As hard as it is for Huddle to condition herself to her fate, it is twice as difficult for her brooding lover (Christopher Lloyd), her sister (Leslie Paxton) and her daughter (Laurie Prange). The film studies not only the individual reactions of those around the dying woman, but also how her cancer affects the intertwining relationships. Director Michael Roemer, had previously helmed a similarly-themed documentary, titled simply Dying. Pilgrim Farewell was first presented as the PBS American Playhouse entry of March 23, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Elizabeth HuddleChristopher Lloyd, (more)
 
1978  
PG  
Also known as Seven Cities to Atlantis, this is a youth-oriented, British-produced adventure fantasy which uses rather ordinary special effects. In Victorian England, an explorer, Greg Collinson (Doug McClure), leads an unlikely expedition to discover the lost continent of Atlantis. Among the team are scientists Professor Aitken (Donald Boisset) and son Charles (Peter Gilmore). The crew members mutiny, setting their sights on the legendary treasures of Atlantis. The ship is attacked by sea monsters and a giant octopus. Sinking to the bottom of the sea, the explorers find that Atlantis is populated by intelligent beings from another planet who enslave shipwrecked sailors. The aliens' goal is to create a fascist state that will rule the world, and they want to recruit Charles to help them. Delphine (Lea Brodie), the daughter of one of the shipwrecked slaves, helps the heroes find a high priestess, Atsil (Cyd Charisse), who holds the key to their chances of escaping. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

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Starring:
Doug McClurePeter Gilmore, (more)
 
1977  
PG  
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Though not Ian Fleming's most famous James Bond novel, 1962's The Spy Who Loved Me was distinguished by the unique device of telling the story from the heroine's point of view; in fact, Bond doesn't make an appearance until the book is two-thirds over. This would hardly work in the film world's Bond franchise, so the original austere plotline of the novel was eschewed altogether in favor of a labyrinthine story involving outer-space extortion. The leading lady, a "hard-luck kid" in the original, is now sexy Russian secret agent Barbara Bach, who joins forces with Bond (Roger Moore, making his third appearance as 007) to foil yet another megalomaniac villain (Curt Jurgens), who plans to threaten New York City with nuclear weaponry. Beyond the eye-popping opening ski-jump sequence, the film's best scenes involve seven-foot-two Richard Kiel as steel-toothed henchman Jaws. Fifteen scriptwriters worked on The Spy Who Loved Me; only two were credited, including Bond-film veteran Richard Maibaum. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Roger MooreBarbara Bach, (more)
 
1976  
PG  
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This handsomely-mounted historical epic concerns the birth of the Islamic faith and the story of the prophet Mohammed -- who, in accordance with the tenants of Islam, is never seen or heard (any physical depiction of the prophet is considered a heinous sin within the faith). In Mecca in the 7th century, Mohammed is visited by a vision of the Angel Gabriel, who urges him to lead the people of Mecca to cast aside the 300 idols of Kaaba and instead worship the one true God. Speaking out against the corrupt political and military leaders who rule Mecca, Mohammed and his followers struggle to worship God as they see fit, which eventually leads them into exile in Medina. However, one day God gives Mohammed a message to return to Mecca and take up arms against their oppressors -- while recruiting as many followers as they can along the way. With the help of his uncle, a brave warrior named Hamza (Anthony Quinn), Mohammed and his followers return to Mecca to liberate the city in the name of God. The Message (originally screened in the U.S. as Mohammed, Messenger of God) proved to be highly controversial during its production and initial release. Unfounded rumors had it that Mohammed would not only be depicted in the film, but that he was to be played by Charlton Heston or Peter O'Toole. This resulted in angry protests by Muslim extremists, until director Moustapha Akkad hired a staff of respected Islamic clerics as technical advisors. The advisors butted heads with Akkad, and they quit the production, which led the Moroccan government to withdraw their permission to film in their country. In time, Akkad ended up shooting on location in Libya under the sponsorship of Muammar Qaddafi, which presented a whole new set of political and practical problems for the filmmakers. Finally, when the film was scheduled to premier in the U.S., another Muslim extremist group staged a siege against the Washington D.C. chapter of the B'nai B'rith under the mistaken belief that Anthony Quinn played Mohammed in the film, threatening to blow up the building and its inhabitants unless the film's opening was cancelled. The standoff was resolved without explosion or injuries, though the film's American box office prospects never recovered from the unfortunate controversy. The Message was shot in two versions, one in English and one in Arabic (entitled Al-Ris-Alah), with different actors taking over some of the roles due to language requirements. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Anthony QuinnIrene Papas, (more)
 
1972  
R  
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Hammer Films apply their characteristic Gothic touch to this offbeat psychological thriller about a bombastic 19th-century Baron (Robert Hardy) who keeps his two adult offspring imprisoned in the family estate, convinced they are afflicted by an evil curse of madness passed down from their late mother. Unfortunately, they're not the only ones to worry about: it seems a spate of recent murders in the surrounding village are being committed by his son (Shane Briant), who is being manipulated by his father's deranged will to leave the castle and act out Dad's twisted, violent fantasies. Superb photography and good use of locations lend a rich atmosphere to this psycho-costume-drama, and Patrick Magee turns in a good performance as the family doctor (somewhat reminiscent of his role in Coppola's Dementia 13). Director Peter Sykes keeps the horror fairly subdued until the bloody "shock" ending, which seems to spoil the mood a bit. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

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1971  
 
1,000 Convicts and a Woman was the lurid alternate title to the British skinflick Fun and Games. Alexandra Hay, whose two talents are on display throughout, plays the daughter of prison warden Neil Hallett. She abuses her position by assuming other positions with prisoners and guards alike, then swearing them to secrecy lest she broadcast ugly rumors about them to her unsuspecting daddy. Tired of being mere sexual playthings, two convicts set a trap that will show Hay for the strumpet that she is. Politically correct? Don't be silly. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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1970  
 
In the fifth episode of an eight-part story arc, the Stephens family -- and most of their witch-and-warlock relatives -- are still paying a visit to Salem, MA, where most of the episode was filmed. Entranced by the community's Fisherman's Memorial statue, Samanatha's lookalike cousin, Serena, brings the statue to life and installs a bronzed Darrin in the monument's place. Robert Brown, late of Here Come the Brides, appears as the humanized statue, John Gallaudet is seen as Darrin's new client, umbrella manufacturer Barrows, and comedian/folksinger Jud Strunk shows up as a Maitre D'. Written by Bernie Kahn, "Darrin on a Pedestal" first aired on October 22, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Elizabeth MontgomeryDick Sargent, (more)
 
1968  
 
Robert Brown, David Soul, and Bobby Sherman were the stars of Here Come The Brides, which ran on ABC from September of 1968 until April of 1970, portraying Jason, Joshua, and Jeremy Bolt, respectively. The three brothers, living in Seattle in the year 1865, own nearby Bridal Veil Mountain. Left to them by their parents, who died some years before -- while Joshua and Jeremy were very young boys -- the mountain is a potentially vast source of timber, and provides employment for much of the area. But in the opening episode, the Bolts are about to lose all of their loggers because of the sheer remoteness of the Pacific Northwest, and the lack of one thing that the men regard as essential: Women -- more specifically, young, respectable, marriageable women. Jason Bolt (Robert Brown) strikes a bargain with the loggers: He'll bring 100 women to Seattle, all of marriageable age and seeking husbands, who will stay at least a year, if the men will keep working. In order to raise the money for the voyage east, the Bolts are forced to take a loan from Aaron Stempel (Mark Lenard), the owner of the local sawmill, which comes with one pre-condition -- if any of the women leaves in less than a year, the Bolts will default on the loan and ownership of the mountain will pass to Stempel. Jason, Joshua, and Jeremy head to New Bedford, Massachusetts, a city left largely bereft of younger men in the wake of the ravages of the Civil War, and find women doing all sorts of jobs usually done by men -- the first time they meet Candy Pruitt (Bridget Hanley), she's doing maintenance on a fire engine. It requires some selling (and conning) by Jason to get 100 women to go west, on a broken-down mule boat commanded by Captain Roland Francis Clancy (Henry Beckman). They're disenchanted with the boat and the town that they find at the end of their journey, but Candy Pruitt, who becomes they're de facto leader, is persuaded to stay on and persuades the rest of the women to try it for a year. She also develops the beginnings of a romantic attraction to Jeremy Bolt (Bobby Sherman). The youngest and most sensitive of the brothers, Jeremy talks with a stutter, which tends to make him sound even less sure of himself than he really is. Joshua Bolt (David Soul), the middle brother, is often caught between Jeremy and oldest brother Jason, acting as an intermediary between the two. The series' conflicts are often resolved with help from Lottie Hatfield (Joan Blondell), the owner of the local saloon, who becomes something of a mother hen to the New Bedford women. The other key characters on the show included Aaron Stempel, the sawmill owner who, in the first season, often played the role of villain in his attempts to maneuver the Bolts into losing their bet and their mountain. Also prominent in many episodes was Big Swede (Bo Svenson), the strongest of the loggers, Biddie Cloom (Susan Tolsky), Candy Pruitt's closest friend, and Captain Clancy, the mule boat captain, whose interest in Miss Lottie brings him back to Seattle on a regular basis. Most of the episodes dealt with the Bolts struggling to meet quotas and keep the women happy, or the romantic conflicts that inevitably resulted from men and women living in relatively spartan conditions amid competing relationships, although there were also episodes that focused on the complex relationship between the Bolt brothers, and Jason's dual-role as sibling/patriarch; and other episodes that addressed issues of racism and other prejudices, amid the rapidly changing post-Civil War world. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

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1965  
PG13  
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This big-budget, big-studio espionage film is set in the last years of World War II. George Peppard, Tom Courtenay and Jeremy Kemp parachute into Germany, with orders to destroy the Nazis' rocket base at Peenemunde. Featuring Sophia Loren as the wife of the Nazi collaborator whom Peppard is pretending to be, Operation Crossbow failed badly in its first release; MGM, deciding that the title misled moviegoers into thinking that the picture was a "Robin Hood" derivation, cleared up matters by renaming the film The Great Spy Mission. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Sophia LorenGeorge Peppard, (more)
 
1965  
 
Diana Rigg made her first Avengers appearance as lissome "amateur agent" Emma Peel in this episode, which was originally broadcast on October 2, 1965. Written by Brian Clemens, the episode takes place in the village of Little Bazeley by the Sea, where several agents have vanished without a trace. Steed and Emma head to the tiny community, where they meet a wall of resistance from the locals. . .and a potentially horrible death during a nocturnal badger hunt. Scattered prints still exist of the unbroadcast version of this episode, in which Elizabeth Berridge played Emma. Curiously, "Town of No Return" was not the first Avengers installment to be telecast in America; instead, it was shown as the 21st in the series, on September 1, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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1965  
 
Escape by Night was originally released in Great Britain as Clash by Night, which was also the title of the Rupert Croft-Brooke novel on which it was based. Gangster boss Tom Bowman has been arrested and is being transported to prison in a bus containing several innocent "civilians." Bowman's old gang hijacks the bus to rescue their boss, then take refuge in an old barn. The gang holds off the authorities by threatening to torch the barn and all its occupants. The climactic conflagration is predictable, but its outcome isn't. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Terence LongdonJennifer Jayne, (more)
 
1964  
 
Lifelong parasite Rachel Gordon (Phyllis Hill) will be cut off without a cent by her rich Uncle Abner (Richard Hale) unless she immediately returns all the money she has syphoned from his bank account. Out of desperation, Rachel takes a shot at Albert while the man is sleeping. It turns out she needn't have bothered: Albert is already dead, and the police have charged his secretary--and main benificiary--Bruce Jay (John Napier). Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) knows that Bruce is innocent, and that Rachel wanted to be guilty but technically isn't...so whose alibi does he ultimately break down in court? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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1964  
 
Though based on two Edgar Allen Poe stories, Masque of the Red Death relies more upon its mood and atmosphere than its story values for its success. During a devastating 12th-century plague called "The Red Death," the decadent, devil-worshipping Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) holds court over a bizarre masked ball. Already established as a sadistic torturer, Prospero insists that his "guests" indulge in numerous depraved games, most of them ending with someone's death. Only two innocents are permitted to escape intact, but they go through the torments of the Damned to do so. Hazel Court is on hand as a Satanist who brands her breast for Price's bored amusement, while Patrick Magee is horribly burned to death by "Hop Frog" (Skip Martin), Price's demonic flunkey. The literally diabolical performance of Vincent Price is superbly complemented throughout by the crimson-dominated cinematography of Nicholas Roeg. Unlike many of Roger Corman's economical Price/Poe projects, The Masque of the Red Death boasts a generous budget, which the canny filmmaker exploits to the utmost. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Vincent PriceHazel Court, (more)
 
1963  
 
In this mystery, two friends go to Africa, but only one returns. That one, believing his partner dead, assumes his pal's identity in hope of getting his inheritance. Meanwhile, back in Africa, the true heir survives. When the imposter discovers that the heir is still alive, he plots his death. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

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1963  
 
Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) takes the case of self-made millionaire Otto Olney (John Larkin), who wants to sue art critic Colin Durant (John Larkin) for allegedly spreading rumors that the rare Gauguin painting recently purchased by Olney is a forgery. But Durant insists that he had never cast aspersions on Olney--and he offers to produce a witness, Maxine Lindsay (Erin O'Donnell), to prove his assertion. In his efforts to track down the elusive Maxine, Perry ends up in her bathroom--where Colin Durant, dead as a doornail, is taking his last shower! This episode is based on a 1962 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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