Kathleen Freeman Movies

Claudia Jennings stars as Karen Walker, a woman who sets her sights for roller derby success. Released a few months after Raquel Welch's Kansas City Bomber, Unholy Rollers gives the Welch film a run for its money, despite its exploitation budget, by adding nudity and lesbianism. After being sexually harassed by her loutish boss at the factory, Karen walks out of her job and tries out for the roller derby. She quickly wins a spot on the team and rises to the top, intent on ignoring the violence and grandstanding and concentrating on winning games. Although her teammates dislike her, Karen becomes a hit with the roller derby fans. But soon, her desire for victory becomes an obsession and she ends up losing not only her cool but also most of her clothes. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Michael Conrad, some ten years' removed from Hill Street Blues, co-stars in the excessively violent Head On. Conrad and Michael Witney play a couple of emotionally disturbed ex-soldiers who wander from town to town, wreaking havoc wherever they go. At one point, they rape Lori Saunders, who in less troublesome times was one of the Petticoat Junction girls. Finally, Conrad receives his comeuppance at the hands of a vengeful lumberjack. There may be a redeeming social value to Head On, but you might have to sandblast for it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Western action/comedy is told in the same tongue-in-cheek manner as its predecessor, Support Your Local Sheriff. Goldie (Marie Windsor), a madam, is a formidable woman, and Latigo Smith (James Garner) knows perfectly well that his disreputable ways will be trimmed considerably should she succeed in marrying him. Instead, he escapes from her and winds up in the town of Purgatory. The town's inhabitants have been expecting the arrival of Swifty Morgan (Chuck Connors), the famous gunfighter. All things being equal, Latigo is happy to be mistaken for Morgan's sidekick, while Jug May (Jack Elam) impersonates Morgan himself. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a three-part story arc, the Clampetts are still in Washington, DC, still determined to hand over their entire fortune to the president as a means of ending America's pollution crisis. Con man Shifty Shafer (Phil Silvers) hopes to get a piece of the Clampetts' financial pie by selling Jed a choice piece of D.C. real estate -- the Capitol building! Not content with the $2 million in his pocket, Shafer overplays his hand by "selling" Jed the rest of Washington's famous monuments. Kathleen Freeman is cast as Shifty's wife Flo. Filmed on location, "Jed Buys the Capitol" first aired on September 29, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story arc, con man Shifty Shafer (Phil Silver) has inveigled Jed Clampett into yet another risky investment. This time, Shafer has convinced Jed to bankroll a drilling project, designed to siphon the smog from Los Angeles! In the course of events, both Shifty and his wife Flo (Kathleen Freeman) are compelled to impersonate Mexicans -- musical comedy accents and all. "Honesty Is the Best Policy" originally aired on March 18, 1970, as the final episode of The Beverly Hillbillies' eighth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of a three-part story arc, the Clampetts arrive in Washington, DC, where they plan to donate their entire fortune to the cause of ending air pollution in America. Though they intend to pay a visit to President Nixon, they are sidetracked by their old acquaintance Honest John -- actually, con artist Shifty Shafer (Phil Silvers). Claiming to be deeply touched by the Clampetts' ecological sentiments, Shafer schemes to deeply touch the Clampetts to the tune of several million bucks. Kathleen Freeman appears as Shifty Shafer's equally crooked wife Flo. Largely filmed on location, "The Clampetts in Washington" originally aired on September 22, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After the intense bloodshed of The Wild Bunch (1969), this comic western fable took the opposite approach to director Sam Peckinpah's continuing examination of the end of the West. Left for dead by a couple of lizard-slaughtering desperados in the middle of the desert, prospector Cable Hogue (Jason Robards) is saved by his unexpected discovery of water "where there wasn't any." Hogue turns the water hole, felicitously located near a stagecoach route, into a thriving business, creating a rest stop for a never-ending series of parched travelers. On his occasional trips to the closest town, he meets chipper prostitute Hildy (Stella Stevens), who joins him in his oasis, completing Hogue's little paradise. But even though Hogue may be able to succeed and avenge himself against his original attackers, there is one thing that he cannot stop: progress. Completed before The Wild Bunch was released, and replete with comical and even musical interludes, Peckinpah's gently picaresque telling of Hogue's rise and fall stands in distinct contrast to the visual violence of its predecessor. The underlying message about the cost of modernity, however, equals The Wild Bunch in seriousness. The callous randomness of Hogue's fate is as shocking as the Bunch's final blaze of glory; as in Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller from the same period, a tool of "civilization" provokes a most uncivilized end for an Old West dreamer. Although the film was as light-hearted in approach as the 1969 smash hit revisionist western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Warner Bros. mishandled the release and it did barely any business; Peckinpah returned to his trademark gore in his next film, the controversial Straw Dogs (1971). Still, The Ballad of Cable Hogue is less an anomaly for a master of violence than an ironically charming chapter in Peckinpah's career-long elegy to the western. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

James Garner is a nothing short of a delight in this western spoof that stands western clichés on their ears. The film takes place in the small western town of Calender, a town that experiences a gold rush when gold is discovered in an open grave by Prudy Perkins (Joan Hackett). As gold prospectors flood in and out of town, the Danby clan, anxious to take advantage of the situation (since their ranch blocks the main road out of town) levies a 20% tribute on every gold shipment that passes through. Three sheriffs have been dispatched by the Danbys, and they control the town. Into this situation, on his way to Australia, rides Jason McCullough (Garner). McCullough is an easy-going sort who just happens to be a crack shot. The town rapidly makes him sheriff. His first line of business is to break up a fight and to arrest Joe Danby (Bruce Dern) for murder. As McCullouch settles down in the Perkins boarding house, Pa Danby (Walter Brennan) plots to spring his son from jail. But when all his mechanizations fail to gain Joe's release, Pa Danby gathers together all the Danbys in the surrounding countryside to head into Calender to get rid of McCullough. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this comic western, Flagg (Robert Mitchum) is a veteran marshal forced to retire by the pompous Mayor Wilker (Martin Balsam). McKay (George Kennedy) is a wily gunslinger. The two combine forces to stop a young band of outlaws from robbing the train when it pulls into the station. Flagg warns the mayor of the upcoming attempt but is not taken seriously by the town politician. McKay and Flagg ride out to warn the train of the impending crime, which finds McKay facing members of his own gang in a traditional western showdown. David and John Carradine appear in this feature along with Tina Louise and Lois Nettleton. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Kathleen Freeman returns to the role of General Burkhalter's homely sister Gertrude Linkmeier, after briefly relinquishing the character to Alice Ghostley in the fourth-season episode "Watch the Trains Go By." Hoping to negotiate the release of captured Underground agent Maria Hoffman (Wendy Wilson), Hogan and his men kidnap Gertrude as a hostage. Though Burkhalter is outraged, Klink is secretly delighted; at least now he won't be railroaded into marrying the General's Wagnerian sibling. Written by Laurence Marks, "Unfair Exchange" first aired on October 24, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Once again, General Burkhalter tries to marry off his Wagnerian sister Gertrude (Kathleen Freeman) to Colonel Klink. The General installs Gertrude as Klink's temporary secretary, which causes problems with Hogan's latest sabotage operation. But Hogan has something else to worry about -- a Gestapo spy has infiltrated his ranks. Frequent series guest star Woodrow Parfrey appears as Hugo Hindman. Written by Bill Davenport, "Casanova Klink" was first telecast on October 14, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With the series' premise (a wheelchair-bound detective) already established in a two-hour TV pilot film, Ironside launches its first season with a minimum of exposition and a maximum of fast action. Now living in his third-floor office at police headquarters, former San Francisco police chief Robert T. Ironside (Raymond Burr) doggedly disregards his semi-invalid status and continues to solve crimes with an elite three-person staff, consisting of Det. Sgt. Ed Brown (Don Galloway), policewoman Eve Whitfield (Barbara Anderson) and Ironside's bodyguard-general factotum Mark Sanger (Don Mitchell). In this episode, Ironside and company try to solve a racetrack robbery that occurred virtually under their noses. With only one firm clue (a crashed car) to go on, Ironside detemines that the robbery was an inside job...but who was the inside man? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Feeling confined by his military duties, Tony (Larry Hagman) seriously considers an offer to resign from NASA and accept a lucrative job with an aeronautics firm in Ohio. Naturally, neither Jeannie (Barbara Eden) nor Roger (Bill Daily) are keen on Tony making such a crucial move. To convince her Master to remain in Cocoa Beach--and in uniform--Jeannie magically conjures up a vision of what a disaster civilian life would be for Tony. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide