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
In 4 for Texas, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin star as Zack Thomas and Joe Jarrett, a pair of rival mountebanks who spend most of the film battling over who will control the gambling and wenching in 1870 Galveston. Though they'd as soon cut each other's throats than cooperate, Zack and Joe are forced to unite against a pair of common enemies: crooked banker Harvey Burden (played by Victor Buono, a favorite of director Robert Aldrich) and cold-blooded outlaw/hired-gun Matson (Charles Bronson, virtually the only person in the film who takes his role seriously). The heroes also battle over the affections of well-endowed heroines Elya Carlson (Anita Ekberg) and Maxine Richter (Ursula Andress), both of whom are sharp-witted businesswomen who match Zack and Joe scam for scam. The Three Stooges show up for a moment, in which they repeat their "point to the right" and "State of Texas" routines, and get into a fracas with feisty little old lady Jesslyn Fax. Also making guest appearances are Arthur Godfrey and Teddy Buckner and His All Stars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, (more)
- 1950
A Ticket to Tomahawk has sometimes been described as a musical western satire, but in fact is more "straight" western than anything else--not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. Dan Dailey plays a travelling medicine show entrepreneur who comes to the aid of fast-shootin' Anne Baxter, daughter of a railroad man. Stagecoach line representative Rory Calhoun is doing everything he can to prevent a new train service from winning a Colorado territory franchise. The whole affair boils down to a race between the train and Calhoun's coaches. The film's never-take-a-breath action scenes are played out against some of the most gorgeous Colorado scenery ever captured on Technicolor. A Ticket to Tomahawk has achieved latter-day fame due to the unbilled presence of Marilyn Monroe as one of Dan Dailey's chorus gals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Dailey, Anne Baxter, (more)
- 1950
The year is 1942. Ensign Chuck Palmer (Tyrone Power) is stranded in the Japanese-occupied Philippines after his ship is torpedoed. Linking up with several other American refugees, Palmer helps the Filipinos organize a resistance movement against the enemy. They even manage to construct a few jerry-built radio stations to keep tabs on Japanese fleet movements. Hard to believe that Palmer finds romance under these trying circumstances, but he does, in the form of Jeanne Martinez (Micheline Presle), the wife of a Filipino war hero. Based on the novel by Ira Wolfert, American Guerilla in the Philippines is directed with unvarnished efficiency by Fritz Lang. Standouts in the supporting cast include Tom Ewell as Tyrone Power's wisecracking buddy and Robert Barrat as General Douglas MacArthur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Micheline Presle, (more)
- 1953
Ann Sheridan landed the leading role in Benedict Bogeaus Productions/RKO Radio's Appointment in Honduras as part of a legal settlement arising from Sheridan's being dropped from RKO's My Forbidden Past (1951). Set in Central America, the plotline resembles a Republic serial, with Ms. Sheridan and leading man Glenn Ford facing such perils as man-eating fish, alligators, outsized hornets and a jungle brushfire. Ford's involvement in the proceedings comes about when he is hired to make certain that a huge sum of cash reaches an ousted South American political leader. Sheridan and her husband Zachary Scott are taken hostage by Ford's crooked employers and forced to go along. Guess who survives the ordeal and who doesn't. Jacques Tourneur's gutsy direction and Joseph Biroc's vivid Technicolor photography conspire to make Appointment in Honduras seem more expensive than it was. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Ann Sheridan, (more)
- 1955
Bearing very little relation to the 1937 Paramount musical of the same name, Artists and Models is a lavish, girl-filled vehicle for the popular team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Martin plays Rick Todd, a comic-book artist who is under fire from his publisher (Eddie Mayehoff), who complains that Rick's work isn't gory enough. Lewis plays Eugene Fullstack, Rick's roommate, who while asleep dreams up elaborate comic-book plots and garishly costumed superheroes. Eugene's nightmares help Rick become a success; meanwhile, our two heroes romance their luscious neighbors, artist Dorothy Malone and rambunctious model Shirley MacLaine (who during one song wrestles Eugene to the floor and sits on his chest!) Eugene's overworked imagination somehow attracts the attention of a group of Russian spies, who attempt to abduct Eugene during the annual Artists and Models Ball. Director Frank Tashlin uses Artists and Models as an excuse for some of the wildest sight-gags seen in a mid-1950s film. At one point, the director contrives to stuff a gag in Shirley MacLaine's mouth. Tashlin also exhibits his ongoing fascination with female breasts and legs by giving ample screen time to the natural attributes of co-stars Anita Ekberg and Eva Gabor. One of the best of the Martin/Lewis efforts, Artists and Models suffers only from being about 20 minutes too long. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, (more)
- 1957
Fittingly directed by Illinois native and bad-guy filmmaker Don Siegel, this action-packed film stars Mickey Rooney as the unflinching, trigger-happy member of the infamous Dillinger gang that besieged the Midwest circa 1933. Rooney is Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis and Carolyn Jones his gun moll, Sue, in this fictionalized tale of a scrawny street tough turned psychotic gangster. After being released from prison, Nelson goes to work for mob boss Rocca (Ted De Corsia), who eventually recognizes that a madman is in his service and turns him in to the cops. Managing to elude capture, Nelson kills Rocca and takes Sue with him. He then joins Dillinger's gang in a series of savage robberies, obliterating anyone who gets in his way. Inevitably, FBI agents ambush and injure Nelson, who finally admits his own ruthlessness to himself and Sue, conceding that he would even murder children if necessary. He orders Sue to kill him before he commits any more savage acts. This is a coarse and deliberately aggressive film, distinguished by Rooney's frenzied performance as an unruly and deranged criminal. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Carolyn Jones, (more)
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
- 1951
Richard Walton Tully's war-horse theatrical drama Bird of Paradise was filmed twice in Hollywood. This second version stars Louis Jourdan as French sailor of fortune Andre Lawrence, who joins his Polynesian friend, Tenga (Jeff Chandler), on a visit to the South Seas. Once he's arrived in the tropical paradise, Andre falls in love with Chandler's nubile sister, Kalua (Debra Paget). Alas, their romance brings only disaster to all concerned. To appease the gods and prevent a volcanic eruption that will destroy her home and people, the girl offers herself up as a sacrifice. This Technicolor remake of Bird of Paradise prevented the TV release of the superior 1932 version, which starred Joel McCrea and Dolores Del Rio; only when the 1932 film lapsed into public domain was it afforded TV exposure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Jourdan, Debra Paget, (more)
- 1967
The rest of the Ponderosa men are astonished when Hoss Cartwright shows up reeking of cologne and dressed to the nines. It is all part of Hoss' scheme to prove that mercenary saloon gal Dolly Bantree (Lola Albright) only loves grungy miner Buford Buckelew (Jack Elam) for his money. Paul Brineger, fresh from his lengthy stint on Rawhide, appears as Rev. Written by Robert V. Barron, "A Bride for Buford" first aired January 15, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1970
Jack Elam plays the title role in this Bonanza episode from December 20, 1970. Belying his nickname, Honest John is a prevaricating drifter, who over the protests of the Cartwrights has settled on the Ponderosa. Banking on the trust and friendship of young Jamie, Honest John finds himself in a predicament when Jamie insists that they both leave the Ponderosa and spend the rest of their lives together in carefree vagabondage. Yes, Jamie is in for yet another disillusionment, but there's an additional twist. "Honest John" was written by Arthur Heineman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 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)
- 1961
Forced to shoot and kill tresspasser Jeb Hoad, Joe Cartwright is set upon by Jeb's wildcat daughter Willow (Anita Sands). Managing to subdue the girl, Joe brings her back to the Ponderosa, where, feeling responsible for her, he tries to transform her into a "proper" lady with the help of the ranch's female staffers. Meanwhile, Willow's mother, whip-wielding Kentucky mountaineer Maud Hoad (Katherine Warren), vows to wipe out the Cartwright clan-and she is backed up by the guns and brawn of her goonish son Dodie (Jack Elam). First telecast January 14, 1961, "The Spitfire" was written by Ward Hawkins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
(Burt Reynolds) as J.J. McClure takes off across the country again in this rickety sequel to Cannonball Run. A sheik has offered $1,000,000 to the first driver to reach a destination in Connecticut from Redondo Beach, California, inspiring J.J. and others to go for the gold. With cameos from more name performers than any dozen films together, (Frank Sinatra and the rat pack, Telly Savalas, Susan Anton, Shirley MacLaine, Jackie Chan, Sid Caesar, Marilu Henner, Catherine Bach, etc., etc., etc.), the movie becomes a pastiche and is executed as though no rehearsals were required, or ever happened. A disparate group of people racing to get a lot of money was first successfully exploited in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, a much better film, and with just as many cameos, in fact. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, (more)
Filmed on location at Montana's Glacier National Park, Cattle Queen of Montana makes excellent use of the diverse talents of Barbara Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan. Stanwyck is cast as Sierra Nevada Jones, who hopes to stake her claim in the cattle business despite opposition from hostile land barons. She is helped along by government agent Farrell, even though he's officially on hand to find out who's been inciting the local Indian tribes into attacking the whites. Lance Fuller delivers a well-balanced performance as Colorados, a college-educated Indian chief who hopes to bring peace to the land. Long a fixture of TV's Late Late Shows, Cattle Queen of Montana was briefly reissued theatrically when Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Ronald Reagan, (more)
- 1953
Director Don Siegel keeps the events in Count the Hours moving so quickly that no one has time to ponder the film's huge lapses in logic. MacDonald Carey stars as a defense attorney Doug Madison who races against time to save migrant ranchhand George Braden (John Craven) from execution. While Madison tells himself that his motives are altruistic, there are those who believe that the lawyer has designs on Braden's wife, Ellen (Teresa Wright). Sacrificing everything in the pursuit of justice, Madison finally finds the crucial evidence that will free his client--if he can deliver the goods, and the actual murderer, before the switch is thrown in the death house. Produced by Benedict Bogeaus, whose wife Dolores Moran plays a supporting role, Count the Hours was somewhat pointlessly retitled Every Hour Counts when released in England. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Teresa Wright, MacDonald Carey, (more)
- 1970
- PG
Frank Sinatra stars in this bawdy western satire as Dingus Magee, a would-be outlaw who robs Hoke Birdsill (George Kennedy) while Hoke is en route to Yerkey's Hole, New Mexico. Hoke reports the theft to Belle Knops (Anne Jackson), the mayor of Yerkey's Hole and proprietor of the town's biggest business, a brothel favored by the enlisted men at the nearby Army fort. Belle appoints Hoke as the new deputy, and he tracks down Magee as he's enjoying a roll in the bushes with Anna (Michele Carey), a very friendly Indian maid. Hoke brings in Magee, but Anna then helps him escape; Belle uses Magee's unscheduled release to convince the commanding officers at the Army base that an Indian uprising is imminent, and that their planned relocation to Little Big Horn (where they hope to arrive before Gen. Custer and his troops) might be a bit premature (not to mention bad for her business). Soon Hoke is after Magee for robbing a stage and stealing the strongbox (which, of course, he can't open), the Indians are after Magee for running off with Anna, a sexually repressed schoolmarm named Prudence (Lois Nettleton) is after Magee after he awakens the woman within her, and John Wesley Hardin (Jack Elam) is after Magee, well, just because. "Catch-22" author Joseph Heller co-wrote the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, George Kennedy, (more)
- 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
- 1957
Dragoon Wells Massacre is a topnotch western from the Allied Artists factory. Barry Sullivan stars as wanted killer Link Ferris, who at the beginning of the film is arrested by marshal Bill Haney (Trevor Bardette). Dennis O'Keefe co-stars as Cavalry officer Matt Riordan, assigned to escort Ferris to prison through hostile Indian country. It comes to pass that hero and villain -- and their respective entourages -- are forced to rely upon each other to survive an Apache attack (led by western-flick veteran John War Eagle) at Dragoon Wells. Mona Freeman and Katy Jurado offer interesting performances within their stock heroine requirements, while Sebastian Cabot is sublimely cast as a shifty trader. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Sullivan, Dennis O'Keefe, (more)
- 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
- 1959
A well-dressed older man drives a car along the winding mountain road adjacent to the Grand Canyon. Another man lies in wait for him where the road ends. They fight, and the car and one of the men plunge into the mile-deep gorge. Thus begins a series of four killings that fall into the lap of newly hired Mojave County deputy Les Martin (Cornel Wilde) and his boss, Sheriff Edwards (Edgar Buchanan). Les is an experienced homicide detective trying to redeem himself and his career after a series of personal tragedies and professional disasters, unsteady in his confidence and uncertain of his ability -- the only people he's especially close to are the sheriff who hired him and Scotty (Mickey Shaughnessy), the big-hearted keeper of the local tavern. And complicating his investigation of the murder case at hand is his constant crossing of paths with the beautiful, wealthy Janice Kendon (Victoria Shaw), who seems to have a knack for turning up around every corner of this case. He has to sort out his feelings about her and work out what the murders have to do with the one clue left behind by one of the victims, about the "dancing bucket" that carries men and material more than 7,000 feet across the mile-high chasm. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cornel Wilde, Victoria Shaw, (more)
- 1965
It looks like curtains for Captain Parmenter (Ken Berry) when he manages to offend the notorious outlaw Sam Urp (played by veteran western heavy Jack Elam). The fastest gun in Kansas, Urp challenges Parmenter to a shoot-out. How will the combined efforts of O'Rourke (Forrest Tucker), Agarn (Larry Storch) and Wrangler Jane (Melody Patterson) prevent Parmenter from biting the dust? Series semi-regular Don Diamond, usually seen as Crazy Cat, is here billed merely as "Brave." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1951
A curious toddler creates trouble when he finds bank robbers' loot in this comedy. His recently paroled father, and his grandmother about have heart attacks when the tot brings home the cash in his wagon. Unfortunately, the babe is unable to tell then where he got the money. Now the family must decide what to do with the hot loot. The mother wants to burn it. The grandma wants to keep it. The parolee decides to take it to the police without his family's knowledge. Trouble ensues when the crooks show up looking for the dough. The two-year old finds granny's gun and shoots the robbers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Ewell, Julie Adams, (more)
Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda headline this western in which an old lawman (Stewart) attempts to keep his town safe from a band of recent returnees from the Missouri range wars and their villainous leader (Fonda), who threaten to destroy it with their drunken revelry. The old sheriff usually avoids the town, preferring to live on the outskirts of town with his pregnant wife. He is a bit of a pacifist, and when he sees what the outlaws are doing to the peaceful little village, he decides he must intervene, as no one in town seems to have the grit to fight back. At first the lawman attempts to reason with the outlaws. He fails at this, and even more violence ensues, forcing the sheriff to use a stronger form of persuasion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1977
- PG
Grayeagle is a barely disguised reworking of John Ford's The Searchers, with Ford stock company alumnus Ben Johnson essaying the John Wayne role, and Lana Wood playing a character not unlike the one portrayed by her sister Natalie in the earlier film. The major difference is that Grayeagle is told largely from the Indians' point of view. Johnson plays John Colter, who devotes his life to tracking down Cheyenne brave Grayeagle (Alex Cord), the kidnapper of his daughter Beth (Lana Wood). One of the new plot wrinkles is the revelation that Cheyenne Chief Running Wolf (Paul Fix), and not Colter, is Beth's real father, so who's rescuing whom from what? Other veteran performers participating in Grayeagle are Jack Elam and Iron Eyes Cody, while producer-director-writer Charles Pierce also shows up in a small role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Johnson, Iron Eyes Cody, (more)
