Jack Elam Movies
A graduate of Santa Monica Junior College, Jack Elam spent the immediate post-World War II years as an accountant, numbering several important Hollywood stars among his clients. Already blind in one eye from a childhood fight, Elam was in danger of losing the sight in his other eye as a result of his demanding profession. Several of his show business friends suggested that Elam give acting a try; Elam would be a natural as a villain. A natural he was, and throughout the 1950s Elam cemented his reputation as one of the meanest-looking and most reliable "heavies" in the movies. Few of his screen roles gave him the opportunity to display his natural wit and sense of comic timing, but inklings of these skills were evident in his first regular TV series assignments: The Dakotas and Temple Houston, both 1963. In 1967, Elam was given his first all-out comedy role in Support Your Local Sheriff, after which he found his villainous assignments dwindling and his comic jobs increasing. Elam starred as the patriarch of an itinerant Southwestern family in the 1974 TV series The Texas Wheelers (his sons were played by Gary Busey and Mark Hamill), and in 1979 he played a benign Frankenstein-monster type in the weekly horror spoof Struck By Lightning. Later TV series in the Elam manifest included Detective in the House (1985) and Easy Street (1987). Of course Elam would also crack up audiences in the 1980s with his roles in Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II. Though well established as a comic actor, Elam would never completely abandon the western genre that had sustained him in the 1950s and 1960s; in 1993, a proud Elam was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Two short years later the longitme star would essay his final screen role in the made for television western Bonanza: Under Attack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
None of the original cast members of the long-running (1959-73) TV western series Bonanza are on hand for the 1993 TV movie Bonanza: The Return. However, Michael Landon Jr., son of the series' "Little Joe," shows up as Joe's son Benj Cartwright; and Dirk Blocker, son of Dan "Hoss" Blocker, has a supporting role as a journalist. One of the Cartwrights in this film is a woman. Her name is Sara Cartwright, and she's portrayed by Emily Warfield. Set in 1905, the descendants of the original Ponderosa bunch take on an evil strip-mining tycoon, played by Dean Stockwell. A well-directed climax aboard a speeding train caps this enjoyable "retro" film. When it was first telecast on November 28, 1993, Bonanza: The Return was preceded by a nostalgic one-hour special devoted to the old series, Back to Bonanza. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Johnson, Michael Landon, Jr., (more)
- 1992
Something stinks in tiny Norman, Texas and New York detective Kelly, who has come to attend the funeral of his brother-in-law, is determined to find out what it is. Much of the problem stems from the control a San Antonio gangster has over the town's lawmen. This actioner chronicles Kelly's crusade to clean up the dirty little town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Nearly three decades after climbing the top-ten charts with his ballad "Big Bad John", Jimmy Dean stars in a film version of the song. Dean doesn't play the title character, though; that honor goes to ex-footballer Doug English. After killing a man who needed killing, Big Bad John loses himself by going to work in a treacherous Colorado coal mine. A whole slew of plot complications later, the film finally gets around to the gist of the song, with Big Bad John saving the lives of his fellow miners at the price of his own. For the record, Dean plays a sheriff who reluctantly pursues the fugitive John all over the country. Also in the cast is Ned Beatty, playing an abusive father to end all abusive fathers, and Jack Elam and Bob Hopkins, doing their usual. Big Bad John was directed by Burt Kennedy, an old hand at backwoods melodramas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two 19th Century outlaws attempt to outrun a variety of pursuers after stealing a large cache of gold in this high-energy caper starring Willie Nelson, Delta Burke, Alfonso Arau, and Jack Elam. It's not easy to outrun pursuing Indians, bandits, and Federal Agents when you're being weighed down by a substantial stash of precious ore, and after being taken into custody by Mexican authorities the quick thinking thieves enlist the aid of a scheming madam and her loyal band of prostitutes in reclaiming their treasure and eluding the long arm of the law. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Dynamite & Gold is the videocassette title of the made-for-TV western comedy Where the Hell's That Gold? Willie Nelson plays a bank robber, Delta Burke his "moll" and Jack Elam and all-around gol-durned sidewinder. The three stars scrounge for a hidden fortune in stolen gold, fending off other outlaw gangs and Mexican revolutionaries (among them famed Latino actor/director Alfonso Arau). The story's high point, a wild train ride, takes place somewhere in mid-film. Where the Hell's That Gold was written and directed by western stalwart Burt Kennedy; it originally aired November 13, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
The made-for-TV Once Upon a Texas Train offers us the once-in-a-lifetime teaming of Richard Widmark, Willie Nelson and Angie Dickinson. Nelson plays a veteran outlaw who robs a bank less than 6 hours after being paroled from jail. He uses the money to reunite his old gang, then sets about to repeat the train robbery that had gotten him arrested 20 years earlier. This time, however, Nelson is himself targetted for theft by a young, hungrier band of desperadoes. Widmark plays the lawman who caught Nelson before and intends to do so again. Written and directed by the reliable Burt Kennedy, Once Upon a Texas Train premiered January 3, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Barry Bostwick is top-billed in the made-for-TV western Down the Long Hills, but the largest role in the film goes to Thomas Wilson Brown, playing Bostwick's teenaged son. Travelling westward by wagon train, Brown and fellow teen Lisa McFarlane find themselves the sole survivors of an Indian massacre. The two youngsters head into the wilds of Utah in the company of a magnificent red stallion. The situation is hardly idyllic: Brown and McFarlane must not only elude a pair of rustlers (Bo Hopkins and Michael Wren) who covet the horse, but also must steer clear of a huge, rampaging grizzly bear. In honor of contractual commitments, this film was originally telecast on the Disney Channel cable service under the title Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
In this actioner, good ninjas bring an international diamond smuggler to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Jack Elam enjoys a rare top-billed starring role in The Aurora Encounter. The heavily bearded Elam plays a 19th century Texas eccentric who besottedly welcomes a space alien (Mickey Hays) into his home. Upon learning of these nocturnal visits, newspaper editor Carol Bagdasarian (the wife of Alvin and the Chipmunks producer Ross Bagdasarian Jr.) begins writing them up in her paper. She then reports these curious sightings to the governor, played by none other than former Little Rascal Spanky McFarland. The Governer feigns disbelief, but sends ranger Will Mitchell to investigate, with orders to shoot any and all extraterrestrials on sight. Meanwhile, the space visitor proves to be a friendly one by rescuing three locals from a mine cave-in. Bagdasarian and the townsfolk attempt to signal the visitor and let him know that they mean him no harm, but they haven't reckoned with the trigger-happy Mitchell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Elam, Peter Brown, (more)
- 1983
Silent Sentence was originally released as A Knife for the Ladies. Either way, it was no cause for dancing in the streets. The film is set in a western mining town. The generally unseen villain is a serial killer of prostitutes. And you thought that Jack the Ripper was British! Jack Elam and Ruth Roman are among the able actors picking up pocket change in Silent Sentence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
This made-for-TV follow-up to 1980's The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything stars Lee Purcell and Philip MacHale as Bonnie Lee Beaumont and Kirby Winter, roles created in the earlier film by Pam Dawber and Robert Hays. Once more, the hapless Kirby is the possessor of a magic watch that can stop time all around him--and once more, the watch causes him and his fiancee Bonnie Lee nothing but trouble. This time, hero and heroine are pitted against evil land baron Hoover Hess III (Burton Gilliam), who isn't above committing foul play to get what he wants. What Hoover wants, by the way, is a patch of valuable land owned by Bonnie Lee's mother (Carol Lawrence). Among the singular pleasures in this whimsical adventure yarn is the appearance of Jerry Mathers, Beaver Cleaver himself, as one of the bad guys! Based on characters created by John D. MacDonald, The Girl, the Gold Watch and Dynamite was first syndicated to local TV stations May 21, 1984, as part of the "Operation Prime Time" series. It was offered as both a 2-hour movie, and as a series of five half-hour programs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
An ethnically mixed cast, and a curious political point of view, brings a little variety into a tired old formula. African American William Freeman plays the chief ninja this time out. Freeman spends his time rooting out gangsters in Taiwan. He then beats them senseless while dispensing quotations from Chairman Mao. The action scenes are well up to par, though the proselytizing is a little precious. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The made-for-television western The Sacketts combines the plotlines from two seperate Louis L'Amour novels, The Daybreakers and The Sacketts. In this film, the three Tennessee-raised Sackett brothers migrate to the West following the conclusion of the Civil War. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This fun film is based upon the classic O. Henry tale about a bratty kid who kidnappers find to be more than they can handle, so they're happy to de-kidnap him. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1978
Alternately titled Lacy and the Mississippi Queen and Kate and the Mississippi Queen, this made-for-TV Western stars Kathleen Lloyd as cowgirl Kate Lacy and Debra Feuer as Kate's half-sister, female gunslinger Queenie. After their father is murdered, Kate and Queenie team up to track down the train robbers responsible for the killing. This leads to a part-time job for the girls as they work as detectives for the Union Pacific railroad, while tending their ranch in their off hours. The pilot for an unsold TV series, Lacy and the Mississippi Queen made its NBC debut on May 17, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Designed for the regional family trade, Pony Express Rider is a fond harkback to the Saturday afternoon westerns of old. Stewart Paterson plays the title character, a young frontiersman hoping to avenge his father's death. He takes a job with the Pony Express mail service in hopes of running across his dad's murderer. The supporting cast is populated with such always-welcome reliables as Joan Caulfield, Henry Wilcoxon, Ken Curtis, Slim Pickens and Dub Taylor. Pony Express Rider was directed by Robert J. Totten, a specialist in episodic television horse operas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Joe Camp, the writer and director of Benji, tried his hand with another breed of animal in this comedy. A U.S. Cavalry unit in Texas is having a hard time dealing with horses who aren't acclimated to the hot, dry weather, so it becomes the subject of an experiment -- instead of horses, the cavalry men will be issued camels, with hapless Howard Clemmons (James Hampton) put in charge of training the soldiers to handle their new mounts. While no one is happy with the arrangement at first, in time the soldiers become quite fond of their camels, so they're quite upset when the experiment is declared a failure and they're ordered to let the camels go free. Hawmps! also starred Western stalwarts Slim Pickens, Denver Pyle, and Jack Elam; well-known animal trainer Frank Inn has a bit part as a cook. Hawmps! was originally released at 126 minutes, though it was soon trimmed to 113 minutes; the shorter version is the only one in circulation at this time.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Hampton, Christopher Connelly, (more)
- 1976
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The third and final TV-movie in the "Joshua Cabe" saga, this ABC effort stars John McIntire as rascally rancher-turned-sheriff Joshua Cabe, a role played by Buddy Ebsen in the original The Daughters of Joshua Cabe) and by Dan Dailey in The Daughters of Joshua Cabe Return. This time out, Cabe is accused of a murder he didn't commit and carted off to jail, there to await hanging. Coming to his rescue are Joshua's "daughters"--actually three unrelated shady ladies named Charity (Liberty Williams), Ada (Renne Jarrett) and Mae (Lezlie Dalton)--who devise a brilliant and thoroughly unbelievable escape plan. The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe aired on May 29, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
It's still the same old story...but what a story. This umpteenth filmization of the classic Mark Twain novel stars Ron Howard as Huck and Donny Most as Tom Sawyer. After faking his own murder to escape his brutish Pap (played by Howard's real-life father Rance), Huck and fugitive slave Jim (Antonio Fargas) fashion a raft and head off down the Mississippi. The darker elements and sociological commentary of the Twain original are carefully excised from this version, the better to allow more time for the antics of those "royal" rapscallions, the King (Jack Elam) and the Duke (Merle Haggard). Mark Twain himself makes a guest appearance, in the person of Royal Dano. Filmed along the Sacramento River in California (a frequent movie "stand-in" for the Mississippi), Huckleberry Finn was first broadcast March 25, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
This half-hour sequel to the famous O. Henry tale The Ransom of Red Chief finds our hero, the little boy who pretends to be a legendary American Indian named Red Chief, using his powers of deception to outwit a group of con artists. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The made-for-TV Shootout in a One-Dog Town is a rare foray into straight-faced adventure by "comedy western" specialist Burt Kennedy. Richard Crenna stars as a banker in a heat-parched Southwestern town. Richard Egan and his gang mosey into town with the barely concealed intention of relieving the bank of $200,000. With everyone else in town shaking in their cracked boots, Crenna decides to thwart the robbery on his own. Filmed in Durango, Mexico, Shootout in a One-Dog Town was written by Larry Cohen, better known for such horror exercises as It's Alive and Q. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
This comedy western is the failed pilot for a TV series based on the 1971 feature film Skin Game. Like the original, this tells the story of two bungling con artists, one white the other black, who ride around trying to collect an outlaw bounty and outsmart slave traders. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
