Lynda Day George Movies
Actress Lynda Day George was quite busy on TV in guest-starring roles throughout the 1960s. Before she officially changed her professional name from "Day" to "Day George" -- to acknowledge her marriage to actor Christopher George -- Day George was a regular on The Silent Force, a 1970 Mission: Impossible clone. Ironically, one year later she was cast on the real Mission: Impossible as undercover operative Casey, a role she retained until the series' cancellation in 1973. While she has appeared in the occasional theatrical film, most of Day George's best work could be seen in such small-screen miniseries as Rich Man, Poor Man, Once an Eagle, and Roots. In the early '80s, Lynda Day George began turning down network roles to devote her energies to religious television, remaining active in this field long after the death of her husband in 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1973
In this murder mystery, a young model saw the crime, but is unable to get the authorities to believe her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Halfway through its seventh and final season on CBS, Mission: Impossible moved from its 10:00 p.m. Saturday-night slot to an earlier berth on Friday evening. Nor was this the only change implemented during the series' terminal year on the air. Having sent the Impossible Missions Force all over the world to thwart a variety of evil dictators, international drug lords, and other such exotic vermin, the series' producers spent most of season seven in the United States, where the IMF team focused on the minions of organized crime -- a reflection, perhaps, of the popularity of the theatrical feature The Godfather. Also, the series' familiar, ritualistic opening sequence, in which IMF leader Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) would receive his instructions via a self-destructing tape recorder, then methodically thumb through a stack of photos to pick the team members best suited for the job at hand, was by now a relic of the past. Most of the seventh-season episodes begin with a "teaser," usually violent in nature, which sets up the premise before the IMF team has even entered the scene. Of the cast members, only Greg Morris as electronics whiz Barney Collier and Peter Lupus as all-purpose muscleman Willie Armitage have been with the series from its very first season in 1966. Peter Graves is now in his sixth season as Jim Phelps, while Lynda Day George is only two years into her portrayal of the IMF's female member, Lisa Casey. As it turned out, George would be unavailable for a number of episodes this seasons, obliging the producers to bring in Barbara Anderson, late of Ironside, as Lisa's off-and-on replacement Mimi Davis. Although the series' final episodes are not quite of the same caliber as its earlier installments, a handful of seventh-season episodes are still well worth having. Highlights include "Break!," in which Phelps relies upon Barney's electronic knowhow to pose as a pool hustler and infiltrate a vicious gambling ring headed by guest star Robert Conrad; "Leona," with singer Robert Goulet cast against type as a cuckolded mob boss; "Encore," offering the equally unorthodox casting of William Shatner as a cocaine dealer; and the series finale, "Imitation," with Barbara McNair as a sleek jewel thief who falls in love with Barney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Lynda Day George, (more)
- 1972
In this drama a newspaper publisher begins to doubt the guilt of a hero convicted of murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Still being seen on Saturday nights -- albeit in a later time slot -- Mission: Impossible entered its sixth season with hopes that its ever-diminishing ratings (brought about by the defection of its two most popular regulars, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain) would take an upward turn. In this spirit, the series offers some of its best-ever episodes during season six, notably "Encore," in which the IMF team literally recreates the year 1937 on a Hollywood backlot in order to convince an aging gangster (William Shatner) that he has gone back in time, thus coercing him to confess to a long-unsolved crime; "The Visitors," wherein the team stages a disturbingly realistic extraterrestrial invasion to expose the mob connections of a powerful media mogul (Steve Forrest); and "Invasion," with Kevin McCarthy as a traitor who is hoodwinked into believing that the United States has become a military dictatorship. Of the familiar series regulars, Peter Graves still heads the cast as IMF leader Jim Phelps, Greg Morris continues to essay the role of electronics whiz Barney Collier, and Peter Lupus remains on hand as muscle-man Willie Armitage. Missing this season are Lesley Ann Warren as the team's versatile female member Dana Lambert, replaced by Lynda Day George as Lisa Casey; and Leonard Nimoy as master of disguise Paris, replaced by nobody. Although the six-year-old Mission: Impossible easily out-rated its NBC and ABC competition -- Saturday Night at the Movies and The Persuaders, respectively -- the series was still a far cry from its 11th place ratings peak during the series' third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Lynda Day George, (more)
- 1970
The made-for-TV The Sheriff borrows a bit from the premise of the theatrical feature film Tick Tick Tick (71). Ossie Davis plays an African-American county sheriff, stationed in a small California mountain village; his wife is played by Davis' real-life spouse Ruby Dee. Kaz Garas portrays the sheriff's white deputy, and Lynda Day appears as Garas' wife. Davis' case at hand is the rape of a black coed by a white insurance salesman, which sparks racial polarization in the previously peaceful community. The Sheriff was the pilot for a TV series which was left at the gate by disinterested sponsors. A few months later, another failed pilot on similar lines was developed: Crosscurrent, starring Robert Hooks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, (more)
- 1969
Filmed in 1969 as Set This Town on Fire, the made-for-TV The Profane Comedy didn't make it to the tube until 1973. Chuck Connors has the leading role as a small town hero, recently exonerated of a manslaughter conviction when an old drunkard confesses to the crime. Now Connors is back in his home town and running for mayor. Carl Betz is a local newspaper editor who was instrumental in gaining Connors' freedom; but as subsequent events unfold, Betz begins to wonder if he's been duped. The Profane Comedy takes a while getting started, but moves along rapidly once Carl Betz wises up. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
The direction of Michael Ritchie, who later piloted such films as Downhill Racer, Smile and The Bad News Bears, is disappointingly commonplace in the made-for-TV Sound of Anger. Burl Ives is an expensive lawyer hired to pursue the defense on a murder case. The victim was a wealthy man; the accused are the man's daughter and her lover. Confronted by the sister of the male suspect, Ives confesses that he's been told to defend only the daughter and allow the lover to twist slowly in the wind. He rectifies this set-up as the case progresses. In addition to Burl Ives, Sound of Anger also starred James Farentino; both actors would appear in the spin-off series, The Lawyers (one of three rotating series on the umbrella weekly The Bold Ones). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
This is an uneven melodrama on the tragic life of Pima Indian Ira Hayes, one of the men who raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima. The story picks up with Hayes (Tony Curtis) leaving his reservation in Arizona to join the Marines, enter boot camp, and start to adapt to the life of a Marine. Hayes becomes good friends with Sorenson (James Franciscus), and it is this friendship that sustains him in a white man's world. But as time goes by and the moment immortalized on Iwo Jima ends, Hayes goes into a decline, being unconvinced there was any heroism involved in his actions during the war and never being able to adjust to civilian life. At this point in time, no one recognized the afflictions common to all soldiers after long years in battle, and the death of Sorenson is blamed for Hayes' downfall. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, James Franciscus, (more)
