Tony Epper Movies

After getting caught cheating his bookmaking boss over a high-stakes pinball wager, Neil Gallagher (Ken Marshall) leaves his Corpus Christi home for Los Angeles, hoping to make it big as a folk rock balladeer. With best friend Henry (Harvey Lewis) in tow as his manager, Neil finds only failure, but when they come across a streetsmart 14-year-old pinball whiz named Tilt (Brooke Shields), he envisions a plan to get rich quick and save face in his hometown. Impressed by Neil's music, Tilt agrees to hitchhike with him to Texas, thinking she's helping to raise money for a demo tape. They stop by roadside arcades along the way to hustle petty gamblers into betting against the unassuming teen's pinball prowess. When the duo hit home with cash in their pockets, Neil brazenly challenges his former employer, an obese pinball champion known as "the Whale" (Charles Durning), to a 400-dollar game against the unbeatable Tilt. What Neil doesn't realize is that Tilt has caught on to his manipulation and lies, and all his big plans are going to blow up in his face when Tilt and the Whale secretly hold their own late-night pinball tourney. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

George Pal's final film is a kiddie action saga based on the popular comic strip and action book series by Kenneth Robeson. Ron Ely is all flash and charmless brawn as the blonde-haired superhero Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze. When his father is mysteriously murdered, Savage gathers together five of his cronies -- The Amazing Five -- to head off on an expedition to South America to find some answers. There he battles Captain Seas (Paul Wexler) and "the green death." Along the way, he charms native girl Mona (Pamela Hensley), who immediately falls for the blonde chiselhead. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The fourth Planet of the Apes film is set in 1991, 20 years since the assassination of talking, time-traveling apes Cornelius and Zira at the end of Escape From the Planet of the Apes. The couple's infant son, Caesar (Roddy McDowall), has grown to adulthood in the care of kindly circus owner Armando (Ricardo Montalban). Meanwhile, a plague has wiped all dogs and cats from the face of the Earth; speechless primitive apes have therefore been domesticated and turned into first pets, then servants of humankind. Caesar becomes outraged at the treatment of these simian slaves and accidentally reveals his powers of speech in front of the militaristic authorities, who kill Armando when he tries to protect his friend's identity. His cover blown, Caesar kick-starts a revolution that pits chimps against humans, paving the way for eventual ape ascendency. Caesar was the second of McDowall's three Planet of the Apes characters; he also portrayed Cornelius in the first and third films and Galen in the short-lived 1974 television series. After taking over the franchise with this picture, Hollywood veteran J. Lee Thompson would become the only director to helm two Planet of the Apes films when he returned for the fifth and final installment. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel, Valdez is Coming stars Burt Lancaster in the title role. A scrupulously honest Mexican-American marshal, Bob Valdez is double-crossed and humiliated by wealthy, unscrupulous rancher Jon Cypher. Since Cypher has the law on his side, Valdez is obliged to mete out his own justice. He kidnaps Cypher's mistress Susan Clark to force the rancher's hand. At first, Cypher is able to rally a group of tough hombres against Valdez, but one by one they side with the marshal. Director Edwin Sherin, who'd helmed the Broadway production of The Great White Hope, makes several rather anachronistic points regarding the film's racial issues; on the other hand, Valdez is Coming is one of the most-authentic looking westerns ever made-right down to the deglamorization of Susan Clark, who in a 1950s film might have looked as though she'd just visited a frontier branch of Max Factor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two young men pretend to be gay when they are asked to pay a visit to the local draft board. Danny (Kevin Coughlin) and his pal Elliot (Larry Casey) camp it up in front of Army recruiter Dixon (Jack Starrett). When the two return to their apartment to celebrate with their girlfriends, they are shadowed by the suspicious officer. Danny and Elliot move into an apartment complex that caters to homosexuals. Comedy ensues when the two must pretend to be gay and confusion reigns among family and friends. The two end up losing their girlfriends but have a secret admirer in the macho military man this ribald comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This sixth in the "Ma and Pa Kettle" series produced by Universal stars (as usual) Marjorie Main as Ma and Percy Kilbride as Pa. After a whirlwind international tour, the contest-winning rustics and their fifteen children return to their old farm. The eldest Kettle son (Brett Halsey) has a chance of winning a scholarship prize to a prestigious university, prompting the Kettles to try to impress a representative (Alan Mobray) of the magazine offering the scholarship. The magazine man is arrogant beyond belief, but a warm and fuzzy Christmas celebration humanizes the pompous visitor, so everything ends happily (after the expected slapstick finale, that is!) Considered the best of the "Kettle" series, Ma and Pa Kettle at Home is worth the admission price if only to hear the veddy British Alan Mobray say the word "Ma". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide