Tom Ewell Movies

In this comedy, an auto mechanic and a horse trainer successfully steal $30,000 from a bank and squander it. They buy a race horse with the remainder, but need money to train it, so they rob another bank and are caught this time. The bank takes over ownership of the horse, which becomes a big winner. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide

Wealthy Walter Pelham (Tom Ewell) finds out that someone is going around impersonating him. Hoping to foil his "double," Pelham goes to great and strenuous lengths, changing his own appearance, his personal habits and quirks, and even his handwriting. Unfortunately, the impostor always seems to be one step ahead of Mr. Pelham -- and it looks as the though the phony will be successful in completely taking over the life of the genuine article. "The Case of Mr. Pelham" is one of a handful of Alfred Hitchcock Presents installments directed by Hitchcock himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Back at the Front is the second of two film comedies based on the wartime cartoons of Bill Mauldin. As in Up Front, the principal characters are woebegone GIs Willie and Joe: Tom Ewell is back as Willie, but Harvey Lembeck replaces David Wayne as Joe. The original purpose of Mauldin's newspaper cartoons--to give enlisted men a surreptitious means of blowing off steam concerning the iniquities of war and the occasional idiocies of their officers--is completely ignored in Back at the Front. Instead, we are offered a very standard spy plot set in postwar Tokyo, involving femme fatale Mari Blanchard and a shipment of booby-trapped food tins. Back at the Front could have been done just as well with Abbott and Costello--better, in fact. Watch in the closing scenes for David Janssen, playing a one-line bit as a rookie soldier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Created by Stephen J. Cannell, the weekly, hour-long crime series Baretta rose from the ashes of 1973's Toma, a short-lived weekly based on the exploits of David Toma, a real-life undercover cop with a penchant for elaborate disguises. For the "new" series, only two vestiges of the original Toma remained: Lead character Tony Baretta was an undercover detective, and he revelled in adopting bizarre costumes and eccentric "alternate" personalities. Otherwise, the two characters could not have been further apart. Remaining faithful to its source, Toma featured a tough but compassionate New Jersey cop who, though he preferred to buck the system and argue with his superior officers when pursuing a case, generally played by the rules; he also had a loving wife and two darling children, and lived in a modest but comfortable and well-appointed home. Conversely, Tony Baretta was a logical extension of Robert Blake, the bantam-cock actor who played the role. Like Blake, the streewise Baretta was fiercely, almost violently independent, bending and breaking the rules whenever possible and making no secret of his disdain for the by-the-book instincts of his superiors. And if Toma was diligent in his pursuit of lawbreakers, Baretta was downright savage; one suspects that he would have blown them to bits had he possessed the appropriate hardware. Also, unlike family man Toma, Baretta was single and a loner, his one bid for domestic bliss having been destroyed when his erstwhile fiancée was killed in the very first episode. Almost as if he was doing penance for allowing himself to be happy, Baretta lived in a rundown flophouse, managed by disheveled former cop Billy Truman. Outside of Billy and his pet cockatoo Fred, Baretta had no close friends: Certainly there was no love lost between himself and his commanding officer Insp. Shiller (Dana Elcar), while Tony's favorite street informant Rooster (Michael D. Roberts) was not exactly the sort of fellow one could call a bosom companion. Baretta was unceremoniously tossed into ABC's Friday-night schedule beginning January 17, 1975, as a midseason replacement for the canceled Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Clearly, the network felt that the series was expendable, inasmuch as it was slated opposite NBC's ratings magnet Police Woman. Within a few weeks, however, Baretta developed a respectable following, most of which was engendered by press reports of star Robert Blake's tiltings with the "suits" (his word for network executives) over the series' violence quotient and overall authenticity. By the time the series had completed its inaugural 12-episode run, Baretta was a shoo-in for renewal -- and Robert Blake had earned enough clout to start calling the shots so far as program content and casting choices were concerned. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Shelley Duvall guest stars as Aggie, an incredibly naïve young waitress. Aggie is the only witness when a cop accidentally kills his girlfriend. Preying upon Aggie's childlike faith in the infallibility of authority figures, the killer persuades her to finger another man as the culprit -- but undercover detective Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) smells a rat. This was the final episode of Baretta's second season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sanford and Son regular Whitman Mayo guest stars as John Rich, a ghetto father whose son is "on the junk." Witnessing the murder of the dope pusher who hooked his son, John takes credit for the killing, thereby becoming a neighborhood hero. He also becomes the next target of the pusher's real killers, obliging undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) to come to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kim Hunter guest stars as Crazy Annie, a skid row derelict. Undercover detective Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) invades the shadowy, squalid world of Annie and her fellow down-and-outers as he searches for an elusive killer. Before he quite knows what has happened, Baretta is kidnapped by Annie, who is convinced that the cop is her long-lost son. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Most of this episode is related in flashbacks, as undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) reads a suicide note left behind by a close friend. The bulk of the story concerns policewoman Pat Harley (Anjanette Comer), who had teamed up with Baretta to investigate the death of her husband, likewise a police officer. The investigation dredges up frustrating memories of Pat's private turmoils, culminating in a shattering climax. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "heavy" in this episode is a crooked federal narcotics agent. Enjoying a brisk sideline of peddling dope during his off-hours, the agent commits murder when one of his customers discovers his true identity. Meanwhile, undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) tries to root out the rotten apple in the law-enforcement barrel. Originally slated to air on January 5, 1977, "Don't Kill the Sparrow" was bumped forward to January 12. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Much against his better judgment, undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) allows his girlfriend Andrea (Ann Prentiss), a freelance photographer, to tag along with him on his latest investigation. Somewhere along the line, Andrea stumbles upon a sack containing 500,000 dollars in Syndicate money. Hoping to scoop her journalistic rivals, the girl discreetly hides the loot -- thereby virtually signing a death warrant for herself and Baretta. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) maintains a 24-hour surveillance on drug kingpin Durone (John Marley), who is expecting a multi-million-dollar shipment. Durone knows that he's being watched, and Baretta knows that he knows. The relentless undercover cop is also fully aware that Durone is in mourning for his recently deceased wife -- a fact that Baretta hopes will break the aging drug lord's spirit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Samantha Eggar guest stars as daycare worker Laurie Eckhardt, the newest girlfriend of undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake). Things become tense when Laurie is paid a visit by an escaped murderer. Clearly, she and the escapee have a close personal bond, but until Laurie admits what that bond is, her life is in danger -- and not even Baretta can help her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide