Byron Foulger Movies
In the 1959 Twilight Zone episode "Walking Distance," Gig Young comments that he thinks he's seen drugstore counterman Byron Foulger before. "I've got that kind of face" was the counterman's reply. Indeed, Foulger's mustachioed, bespectacled, tremble-chinned, moon-shaped countenance was one of the most familiar faces ever to grace the screen. A graduate of the University of Utah, Foulger developed a taste for performing in community theatre, making his Broadway debut in the '20s. Foulger then toured with Moroni Olsen's stock company, which led him to the famed Pasadena Playhouse as both actor and director. In films from 1936, Foulger usually played whining milksops, weak-willed sycophants, sanctimonious sales clerks, shifty political appointees, and the occasional unsuspected murderer. In real life, the seemingly timorous actor was not very easily cowed; according to his friend Victor Jory, Foulger once threatened to punch out Errol Flynn at a party because he thought that Flynn was flirting with his wife (Mrs. Foulger was Dorothy Adams, a prolific movie and stage character actress). Usually unbilled in "A" productions, Foulger could count on meatier roles in such "B" pictures as The Man They Could Not Hang (1939) and The Panther's Claw (1943). In the Bowery Boys' Up in Smoke (1957), Foulger is superb as a gleeful, twinkly-eyed Satan. In addition to his film work, Byron Foulger built up quite a gallery of portrayals on television; one of his final stints was the recurring role of engineer Wendell Gibbs on the popular sitcom Petticoat Junction. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1970
The ongoing war between the planets Argon and Zinan is slated to be resolved in a winner-take-all battle, to be held on the "neutral" planet Earth. Among the six representatives of the two planets is Argon warrior Kyle (Lloyd Bridges), who upon assuming human form arrives in a sleepy California town. Kyle's militaristic resolve is challenged by the curious emotions stirred up via his relationship with local resident Sandy (Angie Dickinson). The Love War was originally telecast on March 10, 1970 as an "ABC Movie of the Week" presentation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
An offbeat 1970s black-comic Western with an all-star cast, this Joseph L. Mankiewicz film is set in 1883 in Arizona. Paris Pitman, Jr. (Kirk Douglas) is the leader of a band of outlaws that steals $500,000 from a wealthy businessman named Lomax (Arthur O'Connell). The other gang members die in a shootout, but Pitman escapes and hides the loot in women's underwear and drops it into a snake pit. After Lomax recognizes Pitman in a brothel, he is arrested by Sheriff Woodward Lopeman (Henry Fonda). At the territorial prison, Pitman bribes Warden Le Goff (Martin Gabel), offering him a share of the hidden money if he lets him escape. But before the scheme is carried through, the warden is killed by a prisoner. Lopeman becomes the new warden, and he is bent on ridding the prison of corruption. Pitman convinces Lopeman that he will cooperate with the reforms, then he uses the new freedoms given to him to plan an elaborate escape with several other men. The escape is to take place during an inspection by the governor. The screenwriting team for this film was Robert Benton and David Newman, who had penned the brilliant Bonnie and Clyde. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1970
Charley (Dan Blocker) is the kindly but simple-minded blacksmith who sends a year's earnings back East for a mail-order bride. When he and the town turn out for the woman's arrival at the train station, he is embarrassed when she never appears. The saddened giant plans to leave town. The townspeople recruit the new saloon-girl Sadie (Nanette Fabray) to pose as the bride-to-be so the residents will retain the services of the blacksmith. Jim Backus is the sheriff who runs for mayor. Wally Cox plays Mr. Bester, the henpecked husband of his harridan wife (Marge Champion). Mickey Rooney, Stubby Kaye, Iron Eyes Cody and Jack Cassidy also appear in this western comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dan Blocker, Nanette Fabray, (more)
- 1969
Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) may have finally gone too far when he arranges a race between the Hooterville Cannonball and a jitney bus (a glorified taxi). If Joe loses, he also loses the Shady Rest--and even worse, he will be forced to work as a bellboy at the Pixley Hotel. Hal Smith,better known as town drunk Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show, appears as Jug Gunderson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
Comic musician Jack Sheldon appears as self-styled fundraiser Freddie Kirby, who breezes into Hooterville with plans to raise money for a new church organ. The townsfolk eagerly agree to participate in Kirby's scheme to stage a benefit show, little suspecting that he intends to skip town with the dough the minute the final curtain falls. Steve (Mike Minor and the Bradley girls (Linda Kaye Henning, Meredith MacRae and Lori Saunders) sing "While Strolling Through the Park". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) and Steve (Mike Minor) have chosen Dr. Janet Craig (June Lockhart) to be godmother at the christening of baby Kathy Jo. It thus falls to Janet to select the godfather from five likely candidates: Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan), Doc Stuart (Regis Toomey), Sam Drucker (Frank Cady), Wendell Gibbs (Byron Foulger) and Bert Smedley (Olan Soule, temporarily in the role normally played by Paul Hartman). Unfortunately, the jealous jockeying for position amongst these five candidates results in a near-disaster. Mike Minor sings "The Lord's Prayer". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
After years of industrious laziness, Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) suddenly announces his retirement. This declaration results in a great deal of good-natured razzing from his friends: After all, what exactly is Joe retiring from? But everyone stops laughing when Joe, his feelings wounded, vows to leave Hooterville--and never come back! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
Hooterville is thrown into a tizzy when Dr. Janet Craig (June Lockhart) announces her plan to leave town in order to study with a noted neurologist. In a twinkling, everybody in the Valley has cooked up a scheme to keep her from going, ranging from feeble attempts at matchmaking to phony illnesses. The title of this episode Petticoat Junction refers to a last-minute surprise revelation involving new parents Betty Jo and Steve--which, even more surprisingly, is not followed up at all during the subsequent season! Linda Kaye Henning (Betty) and Mike Minor (Steve) sing "No Two People." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
Steve (Mike Minor) is given a lucrative job offer that will require him to move to New York. Will Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) be willing to bring herself and baby Kathy Jo along? The episode spends most of its running time watching Betty weigh the options--and also observing Betty's friends and family members trying to make up her mind for her! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
Impressionist Rich Little guest stars as Rick Wayne, a big-city comedian in whose nightclub act singer Billie Jo (Meredith MacRae) has been appearing. Bringing Rick home to meet the Hooterville folks, Billie soons comes to regret this gesture as the abrasive comic makes her friends and family members the butt of his jokes. Things reach the crisis stage when Rick tells Billie that he intends to do devastating takeoffs of everyone in town in his upcoming benefit show. Episode highlights include Rich Little's dead-on impersonations of series costars Edgar Buchanan and Byron Foulger, and Meredith MacRae's rendition of "When I Fall in Love". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
It looks as though the government will put Sam Drucker's (Frank Cady) post office out of commission. With uncharacteristic zeal, Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) organizes a delegation to march upon the Washington DC offices of his congressman to avert this disaster. Somehow or other, the delegation ends up at the door of the White House (but alas, Richard Nixon does not make a Laugh-In-style cameo appearance!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
Light-years removed from her work on Golden Girls, Betty White appears in this episode as Adelle Colby, Hooterville's attractive new librarian. When Adelle sets up a mobile library service on the Hooterville Cannonball, bachelors Joe (Edgar Buchanan), Sam (Frank Cady) and Bert (Paul Hartman) fall over themselves vying for her attention. This episode is a reworking of the second-season Petticoat Junction entry "Have Library, Will Travel". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
Hooterville's annual Founders Day celebration may be cancelled this year due to some serious generation-gap issues. It all begins when Selma Plout (Elvia Allman) declares that the Bradley girls' rock-n-roll tribute to her sainted Great Uncle Cyrus Plout is "indecent." But in true "Hey, kids, let's put on a show!" tradition, the young folks and the old folks finally reach an understanding--with a few surprise twists along the way. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
Mobile officer Pete Malloy (Kent McCord) is a bit tired of his partner Jim Reed (Kent McCord) extolling the joys of married life. In fact, Jim is more determined than ever to remain a bachelor after he and Pete are summoned to break up a rather vicious domestic dispute. Elsewhere, the two officers arrive at the scene of a car crash where a woman has been pinned under her vehicle, and chase down the perpetrators of a liquor store robbery. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
Season Six of Petticoat Junction begins as Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning, now billed under her full given name) and her husband Steve (Mike Minor) eagerly await the birth of their first baby. Unfortunately, a pall is cast over the proceedings when Steve insists that the baby be born in a fancy Baltimore hospital, thus inadvertently insulting Hooterville's resident medico Doc Stuart (Regis Toomey). Byron Foulger makes the first of several recurring appearances as Wendell Gibbs, the new engineer of the Hooterville Cannonball; curiously, the original TV Guide listings billed somebody named "Jack Jamieson" as Gibbs. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
The Bradley sisters, alias the "Singing Sweethearts", are signed sight unseen to perform on the TV show hosted by Buddy Buster (David Ketchum). But Buddy isn't very happy upon discovering that Betty Jo Bradley (Linda Kaye Henning)--who hadn't wanted to be on the show in the first place--is visibly pregnant. Sid Melton, better known as "Alf Monroe" on Petticoat Junction's spinoff series Green Acres, is seen as fast-talking talent agent Ted Swift. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
With train conductor Wendell Gibbs (Byron Foulger) fast asleep, no one is around to pilot the Hooterville Cannonball when the pregnant Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) begins feeling labor pains. Thus it is that Betty takes the controls of the train herself--with virtually everyone else in Hooterville--including Green Acres' Oliver (Eddie Albert) and Lisa (Eva Gabor)--on board as passengers. Although Bea Benadaret's voice is heard as Kate Bradley, the actress was not seen on-camera due to her illness, and a stand-in was used (Benaderet died on October 13, 1968, less than two weeks before this episode originally aired). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
Buddy Rogers and Richard Arlen, who costarred in the very first Oscar-winning movie Wings, are reunited in this episode. The two veteran actors show up in Hooterville Valley to save the Pixley Bijou Theater from demolition, agreeing to appear at the theater's premiere screening of Wings. . .some four decades after the film was originally released. Along the way, Arlen and Rogers agree to immortalize their footprints in cement--which dries a bit too soon! Several high-quality excerpts from Wings are shown, including the brief appearance of up-and-coming Gary Cooper as a doomed pilot. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
Continuing the story arc established in the previous episode, Dr. Janet Craig (June Lockhart) is still encountering opposition to her appointment in Hooterville. Hoping to win the confidence and support of the menfolk, Janet decides to forego her medical training and rely upon flattery and her natural feminine charms--to say nothing of her superior cooking skills. This is the last episode in which Bea Benaderet is credited in the opening titles (the actress died on October 13, 1968). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
June Lockhart makes her first series appearance as Dr. Janet Craig, the new replacement for Hooterville's Doc Stuart (Regis Toomey). Upon discovering that the town now has a female MD, the menfolk are none too pleased about it--nor are their jealous womenfolk! Although Bea Benaderet) is still billed in the opening credits, the actress died a month before this episode originally aired. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
Despite her reluctance, new mother Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning) agrees to out on the town with husband Steve (Mike Minor) for the first time since the birth of Kathy Jo. Self-appointed baby sitter Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) assures the couple that he'll never take his eyes off the baby. And, in his own inimitable fashion, Joe is true to his word: He brings Kathy Jo along to a poker game with the boys--and ends up in the same jail cell as the cooing infant! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
Although the rest of the community has been won over by Dr. Janet Craig (June Lockhart), Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) is still resistant to the notion of a lady MD. Hoping to force Janet out of Hooterville, Joe pretends to come down with an exotic and incurable illness of his own invention. But the laugh is on him when his "fake" malady turns out to be the real thing! This is the first episode not to mention Kate Bradley in the opening credits or the title song; actress Bea Benaderet had died on October 13, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
Charles Lane makes his final Petticoat Junction appearance in the role of nasty railroad executive Homer Bedloe. As the last gesture in his long-running efforts to scrap the Hooterville Cannonball, Bedloe has arranged the antique train engine to be replaced by an up-to-date bus service. This time, his scheme is foiled by two drop-ins from The Beverly Hillbillies: Granny Moses (Irene Ryan) and Miss Jane Hathaway (Nancy Kulp). This is episode is a followup of sorts to the Beverly Hillbillies installment of December 18, 1968, which featured Petticoat Junction regulars Lori Saunders, Meredith MacRae and Frank Cady. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1967
Having escaped the clutches of mad scientist Vito Scotti in the previous week's episode "Case of the Missing Monkee," the Monkees find themselves at the mercy of another demented doctor in "I Was a Teenage Monster." This time, the boys are hired by Dr. Mendoza (John Hoyt), who wants them to teach his Monster (a pre-James Bond Richard Kiel) how to dance and sing. When the boys are unable to do so, the Doc prepares to transfer their musical talents into the Monster, with the assistance of his giggling assistant Groot (Byron Foulger). Songs: "Your Auntie Grizelda", "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day", and the series' theme tune. Originally seen on January 16, 1967, "I Was a Teenage Monster" was written by Dave Evans, Gerald Gardner, and Dee Caruso, from a story by Evans. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1967
Not technically a feature film, Aliens from Another Planet consists of two 60-minute episodes from the vintage Irwin Allen sci-fi TV series The Time Tunnel. James Darren and Robert Colbert star as Tony Newman and Doug Phillips, two research scientists working on a huge, high-tech time machine. Sucked into the mechanism in Episode One, Doug and Tony are compelled to pay danger-laden visits to the past and future, courtesy of the 20th Century-Fox stock-footage department. The first episode included herein is Chase Through Time, originally telecast February 24, 1967, in which the Time Travellers are projected into the far distant future by an unhinged nuclear technician (played by no less than Robert Duvall). In the second installment, Visitors From Beyond the Stars (original air date: January 13, 1967), a group of extraterrestrials land on Earth in the year 1885. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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