Victor French Movies

"Gallegher's Sons" are a pair of pre-teen girls named Will (Eileen Chesis) and Charlie (Larrain Gillespie), who have been raised as boys by their chauvinistic father. When Gallegher dies, the girls are left to fend for themselves, which they do until they are discovered by passerby Hoss Cartwright. Taking it upon himself to transport the girls to their only surviving relative, Hoss is unaware that Will and Charlie are being pursued by a posse determined to recover a fortune in currency stolen by the light-fingered Gallegher. Also in the cast are Robert Strauss as Blake and Craig Curtis as Tully. Originally broadcast on December 9, 1962, "Gallegher's Sons" was written by Dick Nelson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Light on characterization and storyline, this routine wartime drama by director Robert Totten deals with a group of American soldiers and Italian partisans active in northern Italy during World War II. As the war continues around them, the two groups are first fighting separately. The American army patrol is bravely holding out against the Germans, but they are loosing men right and left and will not be able to continue like this for long. Meanwhile, the partisans are fighting their own battles. The two different sectors finally join forces, and for once the Germans have something to worry about. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

When Mrs. Brown (Pamela Britton) is made an honorary police officer, Martin (Ray Walston) offers her a pill intended to straighten out her scatterbrained behavior. As a result, Mrs. Brown becomes a super crimefighter, ticketing one and all for the slightest of infractions--and ultimately attempting to capture escaped criminal Mugs Carson (Victor French) single-handedly. Naturally, she makes a mess of things, and pretty soon practically everybody in the cast has been taken hostage, obliging Martin to come to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carol Lynley guest stars as Lynn Hallett, a troubled young woman mistakenly identified as a bank robber. Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is certain that Lynn is innocent, but before he can prove anything the frightened girl escapes custody. Now she is the travelling companion of Mike James (Peter Deuel), a genuine bank robber who intends to use the long-suffering Lynn as an accomplice in his next heist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Still determined to become the Robin Hood of Beverly Hills, Jethro has recruited a whole slew of new "Merrie Men," actually a band of hippies who are attracted to the Clampett millions. When Jethro renews his vow to rob from the rich and give to the poor, the hippies suggest that banker Drysdale would be an ideal "rich" candidate. Alan Reed Jr., who portrayed beatnik artist Sheldon Epps during the series' second season, is here cast as hippie leader Buddy, while veteran movie heavy Victor French is seen as Tony. The conclusion of a two-episode story arc, "Robin Hood and the Sheriff" first aired on October 4, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ben Cartwright hires a new horse trainer named Will Holt (Michael Murphy), who brings with him an Indian bride named Moon (Dawn Wells, fresh from her stint on Gilligan's Island). When the neighbors express vicious bigotry towards the interracial couple, the Cartwrights try to smooth over the problem. Meanwhile, Moon forms a strong bond with little Bridger Green (Bobby Riha), himself a victim of persecution at the hands of his cruel stepfather Aaron Gore (played by Victor French, long before he and Bonanza star Michael Landon appeared together in Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven). Written by William H. Wright and Carol Saraceno, "The Burning Sky" was originally telecast on January 28, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Famed anonymous director Alan Smithee (in this case a hybrid of Richard Totten and Don Siegel), directed this turgid western drama concerning Marshal Frank Patch (Richard Widmark), who, even though he has kept the peace in Cottonwood Springs for over twenty years, is now considered a local joke by the town liberals who want some new blood in the Marshall's Office. They get it when Patch shoots the drunken Luke Mills (James Lydon) in self-defense. Now the forces of progress really want Patch out. So much so that the local newspaper editor, Andrew Oxley (Kent Smith) demands his resignation. Patch not only refuses to quit but disgraces Oxley so badly in front of his son Will (Mercer Harris) that Oxley kills himself. Will is now out for blood, but Patch remains stoic, even when his old friend Lou (John Saxon) comes to town to advise him to quit. Patch refuses Lou's suggestion but decides to marry Claire (Lena Horne), the owner of the local saloon and whore house. But an uninvited guest attends the wedding ceremony --Will. And both Will and his gun are loaded. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This western saga finds Jess Wade (Elvis Presley) as a reformed gunfighter who is stalked and captured by his former band of outlaws. Vince (Victor French) is the heavy who orders Jess' cheek to be branded with a hot iron. The gang terrorizes a small town by threatening to use a gold-plated and jewel-encrusted Mexican cannon on the innocent population. Presley sings only one song (the title track) in the last dramatic role of his career. The feature has the look and feel of the popular spaghetti westerns of the time. This routine western would be followed by the truly gaugeable The Trouble With Girls and Change Of Habit. Presley revived his live performing career soon after the forgettable last two films and continued touring until his death on August 16th, 1977. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

John Wayne, in the last of his Civil War characterizations, portrays Cord McNally, a Union Army colonel who loses a gold shipment in a Confederate raid, during which a devoted young officer is also killed. After the end of the war, McNally bears no ill-will toward the leaders of the raid, Pierre Cordona (Jorge Rivero) and Tuscarora Phillips (Christopher Mitchum), who were acting as soldiers, but he still wants the two unknown men on the Union side who they say sold them the information about the gold shipments. A year later, McNally crosses paths with one of the men, now a deputy from Rio Lobo, who is about to take Shasta Delaney (Jennifer O'Neill), a seemingly innocent young woman, out of a neighboring town at gunpoint. A shootout ensues, in which McNally's man and three other Rio Lobo deputies are killed, with help from Cordona -- this makes McNally very interested in what's going on in Rio Lobo, and he decides to go there with Cordona and Shasta. They find a whole community under siege from their own sheriff, a sadistic ex-outlaw named Hendricks (Mike Henry). What follows is a series of confrontations and revelations that are alternately suspenseful, sadistic -- with maimings worthy of a spaghetti western and characters even getting blown to bits -- and even occasionally comical. But the pieces all tie together very neatly, despite a convoluted plot that's sort of Rio Bravo (made 11 years earlier, also starring Wayne and directed by Hawks, and scripted by Leigh Brackett) turned sideways and readjusted to a more cynical era. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Introduced in the earlier episode "Meena", the scraggly Calhouns make a return Bonanza appearance in the April 5, 1970 episode "The Horse Traders." Having struck it rich, unkempt miner Luke Calhoun (Dub Taylor) and his feisty daughter Meena (Ann Prentiss) now wear fancy clothes and reek of perfume. Magnanimously, Calhoun has allowed the three lamebrained outlaws who'd tried to steal his gold in the earlier episode-Jesse (Victor French), Owen (Robert Donner) and Virg (George Morgan)--to live on his property; in fact, Virg is now Meena's fiance. Ultimately, the ex-crooks wear out their welcome and are told to vacate the premises unless they find jobs. Before long, the three stupids have opened up a livery stable-just as Hoss and Joe Cartwright come to town, hoping to make some money in a hurry by selling a herd of valuable horses. "The Horse Traders" was written by Jack B. Sowards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

If you want to know what The Wild Bunch would have looked like with Blake Edwards rather than Sam Peckinpah in the director's chair, we submit for your approval Wild Rovers. William Holden and Ryan O'Neal play a couple of shiftless ranch hands who impulsively decide to rob a bank. They manage to make off with the money, but also incur the wrath of their former boss Karl Malden, who sends his two sons Tom Skerritt and Joe Don Baker out to bring back Holden and O'Neal, preferably dead. The film's climax is surprisingly melancholy for an Edwards film, but one can't deny that the ending grows logically from the events leading up to it. Severely edited by its distributor Warner Bros, Wild Rovers doesn't make a lot of sense in its release version; the director's cut, incorporated 30 minutes' worth of extra footage, is fortunately available on video. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide