Casey Adams Movies

Hoping to rid Mayberry of that old eyesore cannon in the town square, Sheriff Andy fabricates a tall tale about the cannon's "celebrated" history to a potential buyer. The scheme backfires when Andy's son Opie begins to imitate his father's propensity for stretching the truth. Casey Adams, later billed as Max Showalter, plays the out-of-town buyer. Written by Jack Elinson and Charles Stewart, "The Horse Trader" originally aired on January 9, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a storm at sea threatens to sink the freighter "Janeel Trader", first officer Jerry Griffin orders a million dollars' worth of cargo to be dumped overboard, taking full responsibility for what he regards as a life-saving act. But when returns to shore, Jerry must face charges brought by a maritime court. The only man who can clear Griffin is Captain Bancroft (Robert Armstrong); unfortunately, Bancroft is murdered and Griffin is accused of the crime. This turns out to be a real "out-of-town" assignment for Griffin's civilian attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). Wesley Lau makes his first series appearance as Lt. Anderson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After unjustly serving six years for murder, Riley Morgan (Dean Harens) is released from prison when merchant seaman Burt Stokes (Casey Adams), who could have cleared Riley disappeared just before the trial, suddenly returns. But the story is far from over: Morgan's exoneration somehow leads to an extortion scheme and a second murder, with Stokes as the victim. Charged with the crime is Morgan's ex-wife Lorraine (Coleen Gray), who fortunately is a client of Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). Paul Langton is cast as Deputy DA Telford, the first of several temporary replacements for absentee series regular William Talman (Hamilton Burger). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Despite an ad campaign wherein RKO Radio congratulated itself for its "guts", this long-delayed film version of Norman Mailer's bestselling WW2 novel The Naked and the Dead still had to pull most of its punches (especially when it came to four-letter words). Aldo Ray heads the cast as sadistic sergeant Croft, who'd as soon kill one of his own men as he would the Japanese. Sensitive, moralistic Lieutenant Hearn (Cliff Robertson) tries to put a leash on Croft, but he's ordered to keep out of the situation by psychotic General Cummings (Raymond Massey), who is convinced that soldiers will fight harder the more they hate their superiors. The film wavers uncomfortably between excessive violence and excessive moralizing, with time out for a few ill-conceived slapstick setpieces (including an outsized barroom brawl) and romantic interludes with such zaftig beauties as stripteaser Lili (Lili St. Cyr) and good-time girl Mildred (Barbara Nichols). In one of his first film appearances, comedian Joey Bishop plays Pvt. Roth, whose reaction to Sgt. Croft's relentless anti-semitism culminates in a spectacular death scene. Distribution of The Naked and the Dead was taken over from the failing RKO Radio operation by Warner Bros., who also changed the name of the film's widescreen process from SuperScope to WarnerScope. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lt. Dick Chasen (Casey Adams) narrates the strange story of Charles "Butcher" Benton (Lon Chaney, Jr.), a condemned man who came back for revenge. In prison, Butcher refuses to reveal to his crooked lawyer Lowe (Ross Elliott) where he hid $600,000 from a bank robbery. Even though he's due to be executed, Butcher vows revenge on Lowe and his partners, Squeamy (Marvin Ellis) and Joe (Ken Terrell). Lowe visits stripper Eva (Marion Carr), to whom Butcher has sent a map of the spot in the Los Angeles sewer system where he hid the loot, but Lowe opens the letter first, and secretly takes the map. After the execution, Butcher's body is taken to San Francisco scientist Prof. Bradshaw (Robert Shayne) who's trying for a cure for cancer, but instead his experiments bring Butcher back to life. His cellular structure has been increased to the point where he's nearly indestructible, and he is incredibly strong. He kills the scientist and his assistant, and heads for Los Angeles. When stripper Eva turns out to be very different from the person he was expecting, Dick becomes attracted to her. Butcher, who can no longer speak, arrives and learns she doesn't have the map. Aware of Butcher's vow, he tries to inform Squeamy, but Butcher kills both Squeamy and Joe. The panic-stricken Lowe punches a cop and gets tossed in jail as a way of hiding from Butcher; when the cops threaten to release him, he talks and reveals the map. Butcher overhears Dick and the others planning to take care of him with flamethrowers, but just as he finds the loot, he's hit with a bazooka and blasted with the flamethrowers. Hideously burned, he leaves the sewers and climbs to the top of a big crane, which runs into high tension wires, and Butcher is disintegrated. And in the end, Dick and Eva get together. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

"You've never SEEN Gregory Peck until you've seen him in CINEMASCOPE." So read the publicity hype for 20th Century-Fox's Night People. Actually, Peck is his usual solid, stoic self as Col. Van Dyke, a CIA officer stationed in West Berlin. When an American soldier is kidnapped by the Soviets in the Eastern sector, Van Dyke is verbally assaulted by the soldier's influential industrialist father Leatherby (Broderick Crawford), who demands that something be done immediately. The Colonel realizes that it's not as simple as that: in return for the soldier, he is expected to turn over an elderly couple, both former anti-Nazi activists, to the East Germans, who will probably execute the couple. Leatherby backs off a bit when he meets the couple, then agrees to let Van Dyke handle the crisis in the most diplomatic manner possible. Things come to a head when the Colonel discovers that one of his trusted aides (Anita Bjork) is in league with the Soviets. Filmed on location in Germany, Night People is capped by a deliciously ironic coda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Coadapted by The Gordons from their novel Case File FBI, Down Three Dark Streets stars Broderick Crawford as a no-nonsense FBI agent. Hoping to avenge the death of his partner Kenneth Tobey, Crawford almost single-handedly takes on the three investigations which Tobey had been pursuing. One involves a gang of car thieves; the second concerns a fugitive gangster; and the third deals with an extortion racket. Of the three leading ladies--Martha Hyer, Ruth Roman, Marisa Pavan--Ms. Pavan turns the most fascinating performance as the blind witness to a murder. The climax is staged around the fabled "Hollywood" sign that dominates the hills bordering the film capital. Most of the production personnel involved with Down Three Dark Streets would later set up shop at Dick Powell's Four Star Productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although a few character names and minor details are different, Vicki is a fairly faithful remake of the 1941 murder melodrama I Wake Up Screaming. The title character, Vicki Lynn, played by Jean Peters, is a waitress who is transformed into a top fashion model by press agent Steve Christopher (Elliot Reid). When Vicki is murdered, psychotic detective Ed Cornell (Richard Boone) tries to pin the blame on Christopher. In fact, Cornell knows who the real killer is, but he was so desperately (and hopelessly) in love with the dead girl that he intends to railroad Christopher into the electric chair. With the help of Vicki's sister (Jeanne Crain), Christopher tracks down the genuine culprit and exposes Cornell for the nutcase that he is. Featured in the cast is future TV producer Aaron Spelling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Belated honeymooners Polly (Jean Peters) and Ray Cutler (Casey Adams) arrive at their Niagara Falls cottage only to find that Rose (Marilyn Monroe) and George Loomis (Joseph Cotten) have not yet checked out. Though the Cutlers temporarily take another cabin, the lives of the two couples are bound together for the next two days. Polly discovers that Rose is having an affair and that George, though emotionally unstable, has good reason for his jealous rage. George accurately suspects that Rose openly flaunts her sexuality to make him act crazy in front of witnesses. This is part of Rose's plan: her lover Patrick (Richard Allan) will kill George and make it look like suicide or a disappearance. Instead, George kills Patrick, and he returns to kill Rose, but finds Polly instead. As she had been sympathetic to him, he asks her not to tell anyone that he is alive so he can simply disappear. But, realizing that he wants to kill Rose, Polly informs the police. What follows is escalating terror, with George stalking Rose, Rose desperately trying to leave town, the police searching for both of them, and finally George and Polly adrift in a boat heading for the precipice. In Henry Hathaway's Technicolor film noir, Niagara Falls serves as an apt metaphor for the destructive power of out-of-control carnal and murderous obsessions. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide

James Cagney signed on to play Captain Flagg in 20th Century Fox's 1952 remake of the 1926 classic What Price Glory after being told that the old property was being converted into a musical. By the time Cagney learned that Fox had no intention of adding songs and dances to the venerable Maxwell Anderson/Laurence Stallings stage piece, it was too late to pull out, so he decided to grin (sometimes) and bear it. Under the direction of John Ford, the potent anti-war message of the original play is blunted, while the drunken rowdiness of Capt. Flagg and his friendly enemy Sergeant Quirt (Dan Dailey) was played for all it was worth and then some. Much of the brawling is over the affections of vivacious barmaid Charmaine, played by Corinne Calvet. Contrasting the rough-hewn hijinks of Flagg, Quirt and their fellow Marines on the fields and in the villages of World War I-era France is the doomed romance between private Robert Wagner and French lass Marisa Pavan. (Why does Wagner get to sing, while Cagney and Dailey do not?) Barry Norton, who played Wagner's role in the original What Price Glory? appears in the remake as a priest. Norton is unbilled, as are such familiar faces as Harry Morgan, Paul Fix, Henry Kulky, and John Ford "regulars" Dan Borzage and Bill Henry. Falling well short of classic status, the Technicolor remake of What Price Glory? is kept alive by the marvelous roughneck rapport between James Cagney and Dan Dailey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide