Roy Engel
In Kingdom of the Spiders a swarm of huge tarantulas, enraged by the misuse of pesticides, try to take over their part of the world. Dr. Robert Hansen (William Shatner), a local Arizona veterinarian joins forces with entomologist Diane Ashley (Tiffany Bolling) to keep the spider population under control. Woody Strode and Altovise Davis also appear as the owners of a neighboring ranch. Unstylishly directed by John Cardos and produced with a sense of humor by "Arachnid Productions," -- and despite bad dialogue, wooden acting and poor special effects -- Kingdom of the Spiders has become a cult classic and favorite of several generations of giant insect horror film buffs. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Tiffany Bolling, (more)
- 1974
Rummaging through a second-hand purse which she has purchased in anticipation of going to a dance with John-Boy's friend Mike (Ted Eccles), Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) finds a valuable ring. Allowing vanity to get the better of her, Mary Ellen decides to wear the ring to the dance, even as its previous owner Mrs. Breckenride (Adrienne Marden) announces that the ring is missing. A crisis ensues when our heroine loses the ring somewhere in the school gym--necessitating a nocturnal "burglary" involving two of the Walton kids. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Peter Haskell guest stars as Major Edward Selkirk, an ex-Army officer who hopes to wreak a peculiar brand a vengeance against the military. Invading a stockade, Haskell frees two prisoners, then enlists them in a bold and painstakingly preplanned scheme to steal an Army payroll. With only a handful of meager clues at his disposal, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) must somehow second-guess Selkirk's battle plan before it can be carried out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- G
Finding that he hasn't much time left to live, a man makes needed changes in his life with the help of an angel in this Disney feature. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
Young Tom Black Bull (Frederic Forrest) is a Ute Indian who ventures into the world of white men after the death of his parents. He winds up working at the rodeo. When hard-drinking Red Dillon (Richard Widmark) spots Tom's horse-handling skills, he makes him a bronco-riding star (and keeps the money for himself). Tom eventually tires of their exploitative relationship and sets out on his own, eventually winning a championship. Motivated perhaps by nostalgia, he later seeks Red out. Red, who is nearly dead from alcoholism, steals Tom's championship money to have one last spree. When Red dies, Tom genuinely mourns him and gives him Ute death rites before returning, now a seasoned man, to the reservation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Ed Nelson plays the episode's title character, aerospace engineer Walter Swenson. Fired from his job and in desperate need of money, Swenson decides to hack into the "impenetrable" electronically-controlled vault which stores his former employer's most valuable secrets. Though it is certain that many F.B.I. fans were able to catch up with this episode when it entered rerun syndication, when "The Engineer" first aired on October 29, 1972 most viewers were tuned to another channel, watching the network TV debut of Yellow Submarine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Sky Terror is the reissue title for Skyjacked, a 1972 MGM all-star adventure based on a novel by David Harper. Charlton Heston mans the controls of a Los Angeles-bound commercial airliner which is hijacked to Russia by an unknown miscreant. Even when the skyjacker, revealed to be passenger James Brolin, is subsequently subdued, the crew must contend with a hidden time bomb. The film is graced with a who's who of MGM contractees past and present, including Yvette Mimieux, Walter Pidgeon and Mike Henry. A flashback sequence contains one of the first examples of an American film coming to grips with how rudely our Vietnam veterans were ignored upon returning home; alas, this compassion quickly degenerates into the odious "crazed Vietnam vet" cliche. Footnote: The first network showing of Skyjacked was boycotted by TV stations owned by the Storer Corporation, which had a hard and fast rule against screening any film concerning a hijacked plane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, (more)
- 1971
With a barrage of cinematic distancing devices at hand (flashbacks and flash-forwards, super-imposed titles, missing frames, projectionist cue-marks placed in the wrong locations in a film reel), Dennis Hopper concocts a hallucinatory acid-trip concerning an American movie company making a western in Peru. In a remote mountain village in Peru, a Hollywood film company wraps up shooting a western and returns to California. Staying behind is a young stunt man, Kansas (Dennis Hopper). In the village, he takes up with the resident whore, Maria (Stella Garcia). At this point, the film flash-forwards to Kansas being crucified by the villagers. Back in the old time frame, the Peruvians decide that they want to make their own movie. Not having the necessary film equipment, but plenty of local raw material, the villagers construct the needed cameras, microphones, and sound recorders out of bamboo, and although the equipment is faked, the villagers substitute real, bloody violence for the make-believe violence of Hollywood. During this eruption of violence in the Peruvian village, the local priest (Tomas Milian) blames Kansas for the carnage. The priest decides that movies are the root of all worldly evil and convinces the villagers to seize Kansas. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Stella Garcia, (more)
In Lawman, Burt Lancaster is Jered Maddox, a dedicated marshal with an inflexible adherence to upholding the law at all costs. Riding into a nearby town to pick up a group of local carousers who, during a drunken spree, killed an old man, Maddox meets up with Vincent Bronson (Lee J. Cobb). Bronson is the local town boss, and Maddox discovers that the men he is looking for work for him. Unlike most western heavies, Maddox, although he is powerful and unscrupulous, abhors violence. But violence is something Maddox cultivates. A major confrontation between the reluctant Bronson and the intransigent Maddox builds -- particularly when Maddox enlists the help of weak-willed local sheriff Cotton Ryan (Robert Ryan). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, (more)
- 1970
Multi-talanted dwarf actor Michael Dunn guest-stars as George Marshall, a former circus midget who, fulfilling a promise to his late wife, gives up show business to lead a normal life in Virginia City. Despite the assistance of his friend Ben Cartwright, George is unable to secure employment because of his size, thus he turns to crime. The story reaches a climax when the daughter of George's chief tormenter, banker John Flint (Edward Binns), is trapped in a very narrow mine shaft. Written by directed by Bonanza star Michael Landon, "It's a Small World" first aired January 4, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1970
Among the assignments tackled by mobile officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) during today's shift is to stop a would-be suicide. Also, the duo goes after a gang of drag racers who've turned the streets of LA into their own personal racetrack, and a group of thieves who specialize in swiping radios. All this activity pales in comparison with Jim and Pete's most formidable task, to determined the veracity of a bomb threat--and ultimately, to locate the bomb. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
In her third Bonanza appearance, Mariette Hartley is here cast as Jennifer, the daughter of Ben Cartwright's old friend Harry Carlis (John McLiam). Slated to be wed to influential banker Tuttle Ames (Burr DeBennings, Jennifer leaves her intended at the altar and makes a beeline to the Ponderosa, insisting that she's been in love with Ben all her life. Even though Ben refuses to marry the girl, the vengeful Ames does everything in his power to destroy the Cartwright's financial empire. B.W. Sandefur's script makes a passing reference to Ben's son Adam, who hadn't been seen on Bonanza for nearly five years when "Is There Any Man Here?" first aired on February 8, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1969
Hal Holbrook guest stars as Christopher Seims, a prolific art forger who specializes in copies of famous oil paintings. The FBI becomes interested in Seims' activities when he gets enmeshed in a Mafia scheme to flood the market with expensive counterfeits. Meanwhile, Seims finds his future (and his life!) on the line when he becomes attracted to Susan Craig (Nan Martin), a wealthy but rather gullible art connoisseur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Having killed Federal officer Doug Mercer, criminal Gerald Wilson (Robert Duvall) manages to escape an FBI dragnet. Hoping to make it to Mexico, Wilson forces a thief named Jack Collins (Burr De Benning) to act as his accomplice. To make certain that Collins cooperates, Wilson holds the man fiancee Carolyn (Davey Davison) at gunpoint throughout their tortuous southward ordyssey. While Efrem Zimbalist Jr. is still nominally the star of The F.B.I., the series' producers devoted more magazine ad space to this episode's "special attraction": namely, the new 1970 Lincoln-Mercurys (guess who sponsored the show?) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
When Will Griner (Walter Barnes) is acquitted of murder, the angry townsfolk, convinced that the trial was rigged in Will's favor, organize a lynch mob. It is up to the Cartwrights, Candy, and Sherriff Coffee to protect Will throughout a long and violent night. Meanwhile, Ben quietly re-opens the murder case to see if, indeed, Will was as guilty as the townspeople claim. The supporting cast includes Guy Stockwell as John Degnan, Ellen Weston as Louise Thurston, Ted Gehring as Jim, Stacy Harris as Teague, Tyler McVey as Al, and Mills Watson as Pete. Written by Preston Wood, "Anatomy of a Lynching" was initially telecast on October 12, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1968
Originally telecast March 11, 1968, this episode served to introduce future Mayberry RFD star Ken Berry in the role of widowed farmer Sam Jones (in fact, it was Berry's second appearance on The Andy Griffith Show, but the first to be shown). When town councilman Herb Bradshaw retires, Sam and Emmett Clark both run for Bradshaw's vacant seat. Old Emmett is a tough and not altogether scrupulous campaigner, but Sam has the advantage of youth and sincerity-and more importantly, he has Andy in his corner. Former musical-comedy star Gil Lamb appears as Lou. "Sam for Town Council" was written by Dick Bensfield and Perry Grant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
The title character in this Mission: Impossible episode is Raymond Calder (Edmond O'Brien), the unscrupulous manufacturer of counterfeit drugs. Distressed that Calder has exploited the needs of the desperately ill, his former colleague Dr. McConnell (Noah Keen) conspires with the IMF agents to hoist Calder on his own petard. "The Counterfeiter" was one of several excellent episodes scripted by the team of William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, working from a story by Lily Woodfield and Joseph Gantman. It was first telecast on February 4, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1967
As "Tom Anderson", Kimble (Richard Kimble) finds himself sharing a freight car with a seriously wounded man named Bantam (Edward Asner). Kimble helps Bantam make his way to a remote mountain cabin, only to find out that his companion is the head of a bank-robbery gang, and that the cabin is the gang's hideout. Further complications arise when Bantam's cronies return, threatening dire consequences if their boss refuses to turn over the loot from their last job--which Bantam claims to have lost. Worse still, the gang is holding a widow (Georgann Johnson) and a lawman (James Broderick) hostage, forcing Kimble to give up his own escape plans until he can figure out a way to rescue his fellow captives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
The F.B.I. begins its third season as Federal Inspector Lew Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) enters a poker game where the stakes are literally life and death. Working undercover, Erskine is playing with several high-ranking Mafia officers. His purpose: to prevent the assassination of mob chieftan Paul Nichols (Larry Gates)--and also to keep the unknown assassin from killing everyone else in the game! With this episode, William Reynolds becomes a regular as Special Agent Tom Colby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Howard and Millie have decided to get married, and accordingly ask Andy and Helen to stand up at the wedding. All four Mayberryites purchase train tickets and head to Millie's home town of Wheeling, West Virginia. En route, however, the soon-to-be-bride and groom begin having second thoughts. Elizabeth Harrower and Steve Pendleton appear as Millie's mom and dad. Written by Joe Bonaduce, "Howard and Millie" was originally broadcast on November 27, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Dodson
- 1966
Scheduled to go on trial for fraud, Mark Tabor (J.D. Cannon) jumps bail, feigns a nervous breakdown, and takes refuge in a mental instution. Going undercover as a fellow mental patient, Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist) tries to figure out the motivation behind Tabor's actions. Meanwhile, the Syndicate dispatches a few hired guns to make certain that Tabor never testifies in court. Anthony Eisley, later seen in the recurring role of Special Agent Chet Randolph, is here cast as another FBI operative, Kirby Greene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Exposed to the beam of the Martian Regenerator, Mrs. Brown (Pamela Britton) inherits Martin's "sixth sense"--that is, his ability to see into the future. Taking advantage of her unique gift, Mrs. Brown becomes a newspaper reporter, and is soon the chief rival of resident newshound Tim (Bill Bixby). As Martin (Ray Walston) worries that Mrs. Brown may be on the verge of ascertaining his true identity, the story comes to a rousing resolution thanks to a clumsy Detective Brennan (Alan Hewitt)--not to mention an escaped lion! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Having been rejected as a police candidate for health reasons, Dale Hillman (Robert Drivas) exacts revenge against Police Chief John Stanford (Andrew Duggan) by kidnapping and murdering Stanford's daughter. Chasing after Hillman, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) finds out that the fugitive has been recruited by a group of far-right extremists. Infiltrating the group, Erskine hopes not only to prove Hillman's guilt but to end the extremists' hate campaign once and for all. This is the final episode of The F.B.I.'s first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
While on a dusting binge, Mrs. Brown (Pamela Britton) activates Martin's Personality Alternator--and is instantly transformed into a thief. Before the process can be reversed, Mrs. Brown hatches a scheme to steal the fabled Slotkin Diamond. As it turns out, someone has beaten her to it, but Mrs. Brown may be held responsible unless Martin (Ray Walston) does some quick thinking! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Not only is Ethel Andrews (Pippa Scott) jilted by her fiance Bruce Strickland (Hunt Powers) on her wedding day, but she is also blamed for a $50,000 theft masterminded by her erstwhile sweetheart. Fleeing town, Ethel ends up swapping identities with Peggy Sutton (Althea Milgrave), who is likewise on the lam. This proves to be yet another tragic blunder for Ethel when it turns out that Peggy is carrying $50,000 in the trunk of her car. Subsequently, the cops find the 50 grand, put two and two together, and charge poor Ethel with the murder of Bruce Strickland! It is up to Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) to end Ethel's incredible bad-luck streak and clear her of all charges. This is the second Perry Mason episode based on Erle Stanley Gardner's novel The Case of the Footloose Doll (the first was filmed under that title in 1959). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
