Dana Elcar Movies
Brusque character actor Dana Elcar was usually assigned roles calling for blunt imperiousness. He became especially handy in films and TV shows of the 1970s, portraying curt, dour, meticulously groomed authority figures at odds with dishevelled "hippie" and "gonzo" types. Elcar's first film after many years' stage work was 1968's Pendulum; other film credits include Soldier Blue (1969), W.C.Fields and Me (1976), and The Nude Bomb (1980). In 1985, Dana Elcar was cast as Peter Thornton, boss of troubleshooting Richard Dean Anderson, on the TV series MacGiver; Elcar continued playing the role into the 1990s, at which time the actor's real-life blindness required him to incorporate dark glasses and a cane into his characterization. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1971
- PG
A Gunfight was the first mainstream American film to be produced by an Indian tribe -- specifically, the Jicarilla Apaches of New Mexico. Kirk Douglas and Johnny Cash star as Will and Abe, two long-in-tooth gunfighters with nary a dime between them. Although Will and Abe are fast friends, they agree to a winner-take-all showdown, selling tickets to the momentous event. The townspeople are certain that Will is going to win the shootout, but he knows that it would be a fatal mistake to underestimate Abe. Standing on the sidelines is Will's wife Nora (Jane Alexander), who seems curiously disinterested in the outcome, even though she may become a widow before the day is over. Despite the financial input of the Jicarilla tribe, A Gunfight has nothing to do with Indians; perhaps the tribe just wanted to put together a good, old-fashioned western, sans any social commentary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Johnny Cash, (more)
- 1971
Broadway musical star Joel Grey appears in this episode as jockey Eddie Yeager, who is suspected of throwing several horse races. Ironside (Raymond Burr) wonders if Eddie is the real culprit, or if the brains of the operation is a certain Scott Bradley (played by TV's former "Tarzan" Ron Ely). Complicating matters is the fact that Bradley is the ex-fiance of Ironside's assistant Eve (Barbara Anderson). Featured in the cast is future movie-studio executive Sherry Lansing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
The Death of Me Yet opens in a typical American small town that turns out to be in the middle of the Soviet Union. As we all know from those Jack Webb-narrated documentaries of the 1950s, the rascally Russians have set up these ersatz American communities in order to train their agents to subtly infiltrate the good ol' USA. The agent of choice in this TV movie is Doug McClure, who poses as a supposedly respectable newspaper editor in a genuine American small town. Darren McGavin plays the US government agent who arrives in town and shakes things up by asking all sorts of probing questions about the above-suspicion Mr. McClure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- R
Based on a novel by William Inge, this drama follows the attempts of two doctors to help a 35-year-old educator deal with a brutal rape. The incident is complicated by the fact that she was a virgin when it happened and that her attacker was a man she had been trying to help. The racial implications of the story may be offensive to many audience members. The film is also known as The Sin, The Shaming, and Secret Yearnings (on video). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Heywood, Donald Pleasence, (more)
- 1971
Crusty Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr) exhibits the warmer side of his personality when his foster daughter Chong Lee (Miko Mayama) arrives from Korea. The girl announces her plans to marry Korean youth Kwangsoo Yung (Soon-Teck Oh), and asks the Chief to stand up at her wedding. But Ironside suspects that Chong Lee's cash-poor fiance is not the fine, upstanding boy that she thinks he is--and that he may in fact be inextricably linked to a recent robbery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
A widow finds her life unbearably dull and so becomes a volunteer CIA agent. She is sent to Mexico City for her first assignment and though her intentions are good, she ends up tossed into a jail. This was one of actress Rosalind Russel's final films and is sadly, considered among her very worst. Using a penname, she also wrote the screenplay. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Andrew Duggan guest stars as Frank Connor, a small-town crusading journalist determined to the topple the criminal empire of racketeer Duke Bergan (Scott Marlowe). After an attempt is made on Conner's life, the FBI offers protection to the man while Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) searches for the proof necessary to put the bad guys behind bars. It all boils down to a single solitary clue: A uniquely shaped contact lens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
When an Indian agent is assaulted on a reservation, it's a federal crime demanding the attention of the FBI. Thus it is that Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) investigates several mining accidents near a sacred Indian burial ground--accidents that the locals have chalked up to supernatural activity. Filmed on location at California's Mono Crater Park, this episode marks one of the final pre-M*A*S*H appearances of Wayne Rogers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A cavalry unit in Colorado is conducting two important cargoes to Fort Reunion, home of the 11th Colorado Volunteers: Cresta Marybelle Lee (Candice Bergen), the fiancée of an officer in the unit until two years ago, when she was taken by the Cheyenne, and who just escaped; and Captain Battles (Dana Elcar), the paymaster, with a strongbox containing gold. The men are tired -- almost asleep in their saddles -- and frustrated, and doubly so by the presence of Cresta, whose beauty and reputation (by virtue of living two years with "savages") is driving them to distraction; all except for Honus Gant (Peter Strauss), a neophyte trooper and wide-eyed innocent. The detachment is ambushed by a Cheyenne war party and the only survivors are Cresta and Honus, who learn to tolerate each other as they struggle across the wilderness and the desert in search of help. An encounter with white trader Isaac Q. Cumber (Donald Pleasence), a profiteer who is running guns to the Indians, nearly results in their deaths, and Honus is seriously wounded.
Cresta goes off in search of help and is picked up by a cavalry scout and brought to the 11th Colorado, whose commanding officer, Col. Iverson (John Anderson), is planning a punitive strike against a peaceful Cheyenne encampment over the massacre of the paymaster's party. Cresta tries to secure help for Honus but Iverson is too busy planning bloodshed, and her fiancé, Lt. McNair (Bob Carraway), is just too eager to pick up where he left off with her to listen to her warnings. She rides out on her own and returns to the village where she'd spent the previous two years, while Honus manages to survive to reach Iverson. He ends up along for the assault on the village, which takes place despite the chieftain Spotted Wolf (Jorge Rivera) flying a flag of truce and an American flag given him at a previous negotiation with the whites. The Native Americans defend themselves when fired upon with artillery and rifles, and all hell breaks lose -- virtually all of the men in the village are killed in the first assault, and then the soldiers spot the women, children, and old men, and there begins an orgy of rape, mutilation, beheadings, dismemberment, and torture before Honus' horrified eyes by joyously shrieking soldiers. Cresta kills a soldier who tries to rape her and intends to die with her Native American family but is pulled out, only to watch the slaughter continue. In the end, Honus is left to be marched back to Fort Reunion as a prisoner for trying to stop the killing, and Iverson expresses pride and satisfaction at what he's done, while Cresta and a tiny handful of survivors -- almost all old men and women -- watch in mute horror and anger. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Cresta goes off in search of help and is picked up by a cavalry scout and brought to the 11th Colorado, whose commanding officer, Col. Iverson (John Anderson), is planning a punitive strike against a peaceful Cheyenne encampment over the massacre of the paymaster's party. Cresta tries to secure help for Honus but Iverson is too busy planning bloodshed, and her fiancé, Lt. McNair (Bob Carraway), is just too eager to pick up where he left off with her to listen to her warnings. She rides out on her own and returns to the village where she'd spent the previous two years, while Honus manages to survive to reach Iverson. He ends up along for the assault on the village, which takes place despite the chieftain Spotted Wolf (Jorge Rivera) flying a flag of truce and an American flag given him at a previous negotiation with the whites. The Native Americans defend themselves when fired upon with artillery and rifles, and all hell breaks lose -- virtually all of the men in the village are killed in the first assault, and then the soldiers spot the women, children, and old men, and there begins an orgy of rape, mutilation, beheadings, dismemberment, and torture before Honus' horrified eyes by joyously shrieking soldiers. Cresta kills a soldier who tries to rape her and intends to die with her Native American family but is pulled out, only to watch the slaughter continue. In the end, Honus is left to be marched back to Fort Reunion as a prisoner for trying to stop the killing, and Iverson expresses pride and satisfaction at what he's done, while Cresta and a tiny handful of survivors -- almost all old men and women -- watch in mute horror and anger. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss, (more)
- 1970
San Francisco International is a multiplotted drama set at the titular air transport center. Several storylines intersect at various junctures: A $3,000,000 cargo plane robbery, a teenaged boy commandeering an aircraft, and a violent confrontation between a nasty businessman and a an airheaded hippie. Presiding over these major and minor crises is airport manager Pernell Roberts. When San Francisco International became the TV series San Francisco International Airport, Lloyd Bridges stepped into the Van Johnson role. The series, which ran from 1970 to 1971, was part of NBC's Four in One umbrella weekly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- PG
False Witness is the British title of the American thriller Zigzag, which in turn was partially inspired by the 1950 film D.O.A. George Kennedy plays an insurance investigator who learns that he is dying from a brain tumor. Hoping to provide for his family, Kennedy confesses to a murder he didn't commit, thereby collecting the reward money. During his murder trial, Kennedy collapses and is rushed to the hospital. Subjected to laser surgery, he emerges from the hospital completely cured--and now he must unravel the airtight case he's contrived against himself in court. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Kennedy, Anne Jackson, (more)
- 1970
George Kennedy plays a tough San Diego police sergeant who quits the force when his wife is killed. He becomes a priest, and is assigned to a parish in his old precinct. Champing at the bit, "Sarge", as the priestly Kennedy is known to his friends, offers his investigative talents to the local constabulary. Sarge gets down to business immediately by solving a tricky homicide case. Badge or the Cross was the pilot film for George Kennedy's subsequent TV series Sarge, which ran for a single season in 1971-72. The film was originally titled Sarge: The Badge or the Cross, and has sometimes been telecast simply as Sarge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Looking like a high-school junior, Michael Douglas plays a college professor in Adam at 6 AM. Tired of academia, Douglas opts for the supposed tranquility of rural Missouri. After working as farm hand for a few weeks, he realizes that his "normal" neighbors are as screwed up as any of his more sophisticated friends. To punch up the film's leisurely screenplay, a great deal of sex talk is injected, which may have sounded daring in 1970 but which plays like an episode of Married: With Children nowadays. Adam at 6 AM is blessed with a superb supporting cast: among the secondary actors is 1940s leading lady Anne Gwynne, making a one-time-only film comeback. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Lee Purcell, (more)
- 1970
In order to smash an international drug cartel, the IMF must stop the three men involving in an intricate smuggling route. Sal Mineo plays Mel Bracken, the Los Angeles distributor of the illicit drugs; Dana Elcaris seen as C.W. Cameron, the midwestern drug manufacturer; and Robert Alda rounds out the guest-star roster as the cartel's middleman, Maximillian. To break up this triumvirate, the IMF organizes an incredibly complex counter-conspiracy. Written by Jackson Gillis, "Flip Side" was orginally broadcast on September 26, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Leonard Nimoy, (more)
- 1969
The made-for-TV Deadlock stars Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Sam Danforth (since this is long before the Police Squad era, Nielsen plays it straight). The white Danforth finds himself at ideological loggerheads with black district attorney Leslie Washburn (Hari Rhodes). Racial tensions are escalated when a black ghetto kid is killed by a cop, and a white reporter covering the case also turns up dead. Future stars Fred Williamson and James McEachin show up in supporting roles. First telecast February 22, 1969, Deadlock served as the pilot episode for The Professionals, a single-season component of NBC's rotating series The Bold Ones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
The FBI is summoned when a murder occurs on an Indian reservation. A local band of young Native American activists have accused a group of miners of ordering the killing, so that the miners can seize full control of the land. But Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) suspects the presence of a third party who is playing one side against the other. (Incidentally, in typical late-1960s Hollywood fashion the three main Indian characters are played by non-Indian actors), ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- PG
Police Captain Matthews (George Peppard) believes he has successfully pinned a murder and rape conviction on Paul Sanderson (Robert F. Lyons) only to have the sentence overturned by the United States Supreme Court. When his wife Adele (Jean Seberg) is found murdered, Matthews finds himself on the other side of the law. The disillusioned suspect finds that his police cronies and friends have turned their backs on him, particularly when Senator Cole (Paul McGrath) goes on a much-publicized tirade against crime. Woodrow Wilson King (Richard Kiley) is the civil libertarian who has doubts about Sanderson's insanity defense and uncovers information about his sadistic alcoholic mother who lead him to become a murderous misogynist. Matthews feels something is not quite right when his police colleagues are all too eager to pin the crime on him in this engaging murder mystery. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Peppard, Jean Seberg, (more)
- 1969
Ironside (Raymond Burr) and Mark (Don Mitchell) show up at a prison, ostensibly to receive information about a recent crime. Instead, the pair has been lured into a trap by three desperate convicts who intend to use the Chief's van to make their getaway. How can Ironside turn this situation around to his advantage--especially since the convicts are also holding hostage the wife (Virginia Gregg) of the prison's warden (Arthur Space. Contrary to previously published reports, the role of convict Terry Wilson is not played by former child star Jackie Coogan, but instead by Coogan's son Jackie Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Murder One was the pilot film for the Jack Webb-produced TV series The D.A. Howard Duff plays the title role, with Robert Conrad his able-bodied deputy. The indictment they must prepare for the Grand Jury is that of nurse Diane Baker. Several of Baker's husbands and relatives have met untimely deaths, and it appears that the good nurse has been dispatching the victims with overdoses of insulin. While Murder One was first telecast on December 8, 1969, the D.A. series itself wouldn't premiere until nearly two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- PG
Gordon Parks' adaptation of his own novel The Learning Tree stars Kyle Johnson as Newt, a black teenager living in 1920s Kansas. He is an intelligent even-tempered young man who meets the many racial prejudices he faces with composure and pride. His best friend Marcus (Alex Clarke) is hot-headed and prone to react emotionally when confronted with life's problems. Newt gets into a difficult situation when he witnesses a murder and must decide if he should come forward to clear the man being framed for the crime. Doing so would forever change his own life, as well as Marcus'. In 1989, the film was selected to the National Film Registry in the Library of Congress. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kyle Johnson, Alex Clarke, (more)
- 1969
Self-reliant 14-year-old Coley (Kevin Burchett) inherits a valuable gold mine from his otherwise luckless father. Having spent most of his life being rejected by the adult world, Coley suddenly finds himself in the middle of a custody tug-of-war between his long-estranged mother Margaret Claybourne (Patricia Smith) and his greedy uncle Caleb Melton (Dana Elcar). The Cartwrights' efforts to help the boy choose between his mother and uncle are stymied by the fact that Coley hates both potential guardians with equal fervor. Originally telecast on April 20, 1969, "Speak No Evil" was written by B.W. Sandefur and Norman Katkov. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1969
The Whole World Is Watching is a TV movie starring Burl Ives, Joseph Campanella and James Farentino as a high-profile law partnership. They take on the case of student activist Rick Ely, who is accused of killing a campus cop during a riot. Basking in the publicity for his cause, Ely refuses to take the stand in his own defense. This leaves the lawyers but one alternative: to locate the only eyewitness, another radical with reasons of his own for keeping silent. Taking hold of a hot issue and provocative title, The Whole World Is Watching cops out by trying too hard to be fair to everyone. This film and the subsequent Sound of Anger were both pilot films for The Lawyers one-third of the rotating NBC weekly series The Bold Ones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- G
Cashing in on the popularity of their comedy series Laugh-In, comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin team up ala Abbott and Costello in this spoof of old horror movies and mysteries. Rowan plays a pornographic film producer and Martin plays his star, who is having trouble sleeping at night and seriously suspects that he has become a werewolf. To verify this, the two travel to a "haunted" Gothic Long Island mansion and end up embroiled with Julie Newmar while searching, amidst a series of murders, for a missing diamond. Rowan and Martin's television show was hip and funny. Alas, this film is neither and bombed at the box-office. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, (more)
The Boston Strangler adopts the split-screen technique then in vogue (see also The Thomas Crown Affair) to relate the true story of self-confessed mass murderer Albert DeSalvo. Adapted by Edward Anhalt from the book by Gerold Frank, the film covers the years 1962 to 1964, during which time a dozen women were raped and murdered in the Boston area. State-appointed officer John Bottomly (Henry Fonda) arrests as many known sex offenders as he can get his hands on in hopes of finding a clue as to the Boston Strangler's identity. As these things often happen, the police come across the necessary evidence through pure luck. Well-played by Tony Curtis (whose makeup is startling), DeSalvo himself does not appear until an hour into the film. When caught, the schizophrenic DeSalvo insists that he knows nothing of the murders. Under interrogation and hypnosis, his homicidal impulses are exposed. Meticulously cast, The Boston Strangler offers excellent vignettes by Sally Kellerman as the Strangler's only surviving victim and by Hurd Hatfield as an erudite sex pervert. When Boston Strangler was first shown on TV in 1974, a voice-over coda was added, noting that Albert DeSalvo was stabbed to death in prison on November 26, 1973, and that many experts were convinced that he was not the killer but that his confessions were the product of a delusional mind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1968
A gang of hoodlums ambush a messenger and a guard for a Wall Street brokerage firm, stealing $400,000 in securities. The guard is killed, but the crooks allow the messenger to go free, and for good reason: The messenger is Paul Thorpe (Robert Walker Jr.), the nephew of a powerful Mafia boss. Refusing to come forward as a witness for fear of being implicated in the crime, Paul succeeds only in causing a lot more trouble for himself and his fiancee Charlene (Patricia Harty). Watch for future Brady Bunch star Barry Williams in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
