John Furlong Movies
- 1975
The death of police rookie Dave Banning has been ruled accidental by the authorities, but Dave's grieving mother Kate (Edith Atwater) is convinced that her son was murdered. Although Kate cannot afford his $200-per-day fee, Jim (James Garner) agrees to help her learn the truth behind her son's death. Subsequently, Jim uncovers evidence of illegal drug trafficking within the police department--but try telling that to the ever-antagonistic Lt. Alex Diehl (Tom Atkins), who lives for the day that he can send Jim back into the slammer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- R
Peter Hyams made his feature-film directing debut with this clumsily paced crime film concerning two Los Angeles vice-squad detectives. Michael Keneely (Eliott Gould) is the swaggering non-conformist and Patrick Farrel (Robert Blake) is the cocky follower. The two cops live for their work and spend most of their time busting call girls, massage parlor employees, and homosexuals. Keneely and Farrel eventually come to the conclusion that every criminal act in Los Angeles is due to the efforts of crime lord Carl Rizzo (Allen Garfield). The boys begin to harass Rizzo to the point of distraction, but their singular attempts to arrest Rizzo cause them to become the targets of, not only the criminal population, but the police force as well. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Robert Blake, (more)
This third film version of the 1928 Ben Hecht/Charlie MacArthur Broadway hit The Front Page was the first one permitted to utilize all the salty profanities in the original play. Director Billy Wilder cast his two favorite leading men, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, as ace reporter Hildy Johnson and ruthless newspaper editor Walter Burns, respectively. The plot of the Hecht/MacArthur play remains intact: Burns pulls every underhanded game in the book to prevent Johnson from leaving his Chicago paper to get married, and in so doing the two journalists uncover a cesspool of political corruption, centered around the planned execution of anarchist Earl Williams (Austin Pendleton). Carol Burnett has an extended cameo as Williams' tart girlfriend, Mollie Malloy. The Front Page was remade for a fourth time in 1988 as Switching Channels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, (more)
- 1973
Joseph Wambaugh, the ex-cop turned novelist whose Police Story began its TV run in 1973, was responsible for the like-vintage TV miniseries The Blue Knight. William Holden stars as Bumper Morgan, a 50 year old cop on the verge of mandatory retirement. Morgan's last four days with the LAPD are packed with incident, notably the trackdown of the brutal murderer of a prostitute. Lee Remick plays Morgan's faithful lady friend, who is anxious for her man to retire but who will tolerate no criticism from anyone of the job the police are doing. Emmies went to William Holden, director Robert Butler and editors Marjorie and Gene Fowler Jr., while Lee Remick received an Emmy nomination. The film itself is derivative at times (one chunk of dialogue is lifted bodily from the Jane Fonda vehicle Klute), but otherwise is as realistic a portrayal of police work as TV censors would allow in 1973. Originally telecast in four one-hour installments, Blue Knight was cut to 103 minutes for syndication; a second Blue Knight TV movie, filmed in 1975 and starring George Kennedy as Bumper Morgan, served as the pilot for a short-lived TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
It goes without saying that the 1973 TV-movie version of Double Indemnity doesn't come within shouting distance of the classic 1944 theatrical-movie version. Still, the basic story is a solid one, and the actors are eager to please. Richard Crenna plays the old Fred MacMurray role of Walter Neff, the slightly larcenous insurance salesman inveigled into an elaborate murder/fraud scheme by sexy Phyllis Dietrichson (Samantha Eggar, replacing the 1944 version's Barbara Stanwyck). The scheme almost goes off without a hitch, but Walter's boss Barton Keyes (Lee J. Cobb; originally Edward G. Robinson) has this "stinking" hunch-and besides, you can't trust Phyllis as far as you can throw her. Originally telecast October 13, 1973, Double Indemnity is based on the Raymond Chandler-Billy Wilder script for the 1944 film, which in turn was adapted from James M. Cain's Three of a Kind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Paul (Paul Lockwood) is a strip club owner, with a sexually repressed wife, who has been fulfilling his needs at the local brothel. Main madam Claire (Lavelle Roby) hatches a plan to keep him busy with whiskey and sex while a pair of thugs (Duncan McLeod and Robert Rudelson) hide out in the men's room after closing time to try their luck at cracking the safe. Paul gets a little out of hand at the whorehouse, so he's knocked out and dragged back home to his disgusted wife, Kelly (Anne Chapman). Meanwhile, the club's main attraction quits and bartender Ray (Gordon Wescourt) calls up, prompting the frustrated, confused Kelly to try her hand at the striptease herself while her drunken husband sleeps it off. She's a hit, with Ray at least, who seduces her and takes her back to his swimming pool, leaving the safecrackers free to ply their trade. When Paul sobers up and finds that his wife is missing, he heads for the club, not realizing the danger that awaits him. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- 1965
California McKinney (John Furlong) is hitchhiking to the state he was named for after serving a five-year sentence for manslaughter. He runs out of money in Spooner, MO, and finds work at a farm run by Lute Wade (Stuart Lancaster) and his niece, Hannah Brenshaw (Antoinette Christiani). All Calif wants is to do is work quietly until he can save enough money to keep on moving, but Hannah's drunken husband, Sidney (Hal Hopper), takes it upon himself to verbally and physically abuse him, as he does his own wife and any one else who crosses his path. Sidney spends most of his time drinking corn liquor at the local whorehouse and bragging about his plans to sell the farm after the sickly Uncle Lute dies. However, the goodhearted Calif and the long-suffering Hannah are falling in love, and Lute arranges his will so that Sidney can't lay claim to the estate after his death. The desperate Sidney plots with the local preacher (Franklin Bolger) to exploit the small town's gossipy nature with lies about Hannah's virtue, though his conniving is undone when he commits an insane, jealous crime and finds himself the target of a bloodthirsty vigilante group. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hal Hopper
