Clu Gulager Movies
Actor Clu Gulager started out as the latest in a long line of Brando/Dean "method" types in the late 1950s. Gulager's searing interpretation of Mad Dog Coll on a 1959 episode of The Untouchables, coupled with his multi-faceted portrayal of Billy the Kid on the TV western series The Tall Man (1960-62) gained him a brief fan following. He was also quite impressive as Lee Marvin's fellow hit man in The Killers (1964), which would have been the very first made-for-TV movie had not its excessive violence necessitated a theatrical release. Turning prematurely gray in the late 1960s, Gulager went on to play flinty authority figures on such weekly series as The Survivors (1969), San Francisco International Airport (1971) and The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove (1979). He was also seen in numerous miniseries, most prominently as Lt. Merrick in Once an Eagle (1976) and General Sheridan in North and South II (1986). One of his better big-screen roles was Abilene in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971). Briefly entertaining notions of becoming a film director, Clu Gulager helmed the obscure 1969 short subject A Day with the Boys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1967
When wealthy landowner John Sullivan, Sr. Arch Johnson and his airplane pilot are reported missing in Brazil, Sullivan's three sons (Martin Milner, Linden Chiles, and Don Quine) begin to search for the missing men in the wilds of the Amazon jungle. They battle headhunters, jungle animals, and sinister revolutionary forces trying to topple the government. The film is a Universal pilot for a proposed television series that never materialized, and it is apparent why the series never took off after watching the forgettable feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Milner, Linden Chiles, (more)
- 1966
Based on the popular novel by Joseph Krumgold, And Now Miguel is an easygoing yarn about a small boy with a big dream. Miguel (Pat Cardi), a shepherd's son, hopes some day to himself shepherd the flocks of sheep that has been managed by his family for so many years. Filmed mostly out-of-doors, the film benefits from the natural scenic beauty of New Mexico. The plot itself tends to be pokey, especially whenever the camera lingers on shots of sheep grazing, sheep moving from pasture to pasture, and sheep being shorn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Ansara, Guy Stockwell, (more)
- 1964
Don Siegel directed this intensely pessimistic re-make of Robert Siodmak's 1946 film noir masterpiece The Killers, based upon a story by Ernest Hemingway. As the story opens two professional looking men in business suits -- Charlie (Lee Marvin) and Lee (Clu Gulager) -- push their way into a school for the blind and terrorize a secretary until she reveals the whereabouts of Johnny North (John Cassavetes). When Charlie and Lee trace Johnny to an automobile repair class, Johnny just stands there as the two men gun him down. Afterwards, Charlie wonders why Johnny just stood there, accepting his death. He also starts to wonder about his hefty paycheck for the murder and rumors that Johnny was involved in a million-dollar heist. He decides to pay Johnny's old friend Earl Sylvester (Claude Akins) a visit at his auto shop in Florida. Earl recalls the summer day long ago when former race car driver Johnny caught the eye of the rich and beautiful Sheila Farr (Angie Dickinson). Johnny has been preparing for a race, but Sheila's attentions sidetrack him. The day of the big race, Earl notices that Sheila is visited by a group of rich gangsters, headed by Browning (Ronald Reagan, in a very surprising performance). During the race, Johnny is involved in a terrible crash, effectively ending his racing career. However, it seems Browning is arranging a mail heist and hires Johnny to drive the getaway car. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, (more)
- 1962
Carol Lynley stars as Sister Pamela, a young novitiate who is robbed of a priceless statue of St. Francis entrusted to her care. Suffering a crisis of faith, Sister Pamela leaves the order, intending to track down the thief and recover the statue. The events that follow involve a young outlaw named Jimmy Bresson (Clu Gulager), a duplicitious pawnbroker named Wormer (Don Hanmer), and an ostensibly reformed gangster named Downey (Robert Armstrong). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Clu Gulager delivers a deliciously over-the-top performance as demented gangster Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, who spends most of the episode settling scores with mob boss Dutch Schultz (Lawrence Dobkin), in his first series appearance. Kidnapping Schultz' lieutenant Lefty Gallagher (Richard Carlyle), Coll demands a huge ransom, whereupon Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) is alerted to the dropoff point. Unfortunately, everyone loses in this little drama: Lefty is killed in cold blood, Schultz double-crosses Coll, and Ness inadvertently allows "Mad Dog" to slip through his fingers. More determined than ever to get even with Schultz, Coll ends up kidnapping a race horse upon which "The Dutchman" has wagered heavily in the upcoming Kentucky Derby (Incidentally, the "Southern Mansion" seen in the climactic sequence is actually the façade of Gone With the Wind's Tara, which was still standing intact on Desilu's Culver City backlot). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Escaped convict Rod Collins (Clu Gulager) heads for the home of his pen pal, the niece of Margaret Lowen (Katherine Squire). Fortunately for the police, Rod has left his pen pal's picture and letters back in his cell, enabling them to contact Margaret and ask her assistance in bringing the fugitive to justice. But once Rod shows up at Margaret's doorstep and insists upon meeting her niece, the situation takes an unexpected turn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Storming into a bar, an angry young man named Davie Logan (Clint Kimbrough) shocks the patrons by announcing that someone is going to die at 11 p.m. Even more startling is Davie's assertion that he himself has been "dead" for five years, but is on the verge of being "reborn." The outcome of the story is predicated on the fact that Davie's no-good father deserted him and his mother...five years ago. Look for a very young Michael J. Pollard in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Roy Carter, the ex-convict previously played by Scott Marlowein the episode the "Hanging of Roy Carter", returns in this episode with Clu Gulager in the role. Enlisting the aid of Paladin (Richard Boone), Roy sets out to rescue former prison chaplain Robert April (formerly played by John Larch and now enacted by Larry Blake), who was instrumental in saving Roy from the gallows. April has been captured by an escaped convict, and now the two men are hidden somewhere in the mountains--which have been blanketed by a blizzard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
