Ned Glass Movies

This episode runs the gamut from comedy to tragedy for LAPD mobile officers Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord). On the lighter side, the two cops break up a loud and nasty argument between a pair of "peace and love" cultists. Thing take a grimmer turn when the officers answer a call for help from a hysterical babysitter, and arrive on the scene of a calamitous swimming-pool accident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Banyon is an A-number-one detective yarn set (very accurately) in the 1930s. Robert Forster, emulating John Garfield in virtually every scene, plays private eye Miles C. Banyon. Right now he's in dutch because a beautiful young woman has been found murdered--and Banyon's gun was the murder weapon. This state of affairs plunges the detective into a maelstrom of deceit and double-cross involving (among many elements) a Winchell-style radio commentator (Jose Ferrer), a paroled big-time gangster, a scar-faced assassin, and a Nazi Bund camp. Once he solves the main mystery, Banyon is faced with the unhappy Maltese Falcon task of exposing a close friend as a murderer. First telecast March 15, 1971, Banyon spawned a brief TV series one year later, with Robert Forster still in the lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Blackbeard's Ghost was one of the first Disney productions released after Walt's death. Peter Ustinov stars as the eponymous wraith, who returns to Earth to come to aid of his descendant, elderly Elsa Lanchester. The villains want to kick Lanchester and her friends out of their group home so that they can build a crooked casino. Good guy Dean Jones evokes the spirit of Blackbeard to thwart the bad guys. The supporting cast ranges from Richard Deacon to Gil Lamb, while Peter Ellenshaw performs the visual effects with mattes, miniatures, and process screens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 14-season run of Bonanza began with this introductory episode, originally aired on September 12, 1959, entitled "A Rose for Lotta." Guest star Yvonne DeCarlo) plays renowned entertainer Lotta Crabtree, who finds herself duped into a plot against the Cartwright family and their ranch, the Ponderosa, located outside of Virginia City, Nevada. A cartel of businessmen led by Alpheus Troy (George Macready), Aaron Hopper (Barry Kelley) and George Garvey (Willis Bouchey), have been pressuring patriarch Ben Cartwright (Lorne Green) to sign over all the timber on the Ponderosa, to provide lumber that is essential for the continued operation of their mines; but Ben is equally adamant in his opposition, as the trees are essential to the future of the ranch and the land. Troy decides to use Lotta Crabtree as bait, to entice one of the Cartwright sons into Virginia City, where he plans to take them hostage and force Ben Cartwright to deal. Hot-headed youngest son Joe Cartwright (Michael Landon) falls the hardest for Lotta, goes to call on her, and finds himself trapped. But Troy hasn't reckoned with how the Cartwrights stick together, how far Ben and older sons Adam (Pernell Roberts) and Hoss (Dan Blocker) will go to protect one of their own -- even facing down a hired killer -- or just how resourceful Joe can be, even on the run, unarmed, from a pair of thugs who don't seem bright enough to know that they need him alive, or to avoid wrecking half the town. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Callaway Went Thataway is an amiable spoof of early television's "Hopalong Cassidy" craze. Fred MacMurray and Dorothy McGuire star as Mike Frye and Deborah Patterson, advertising copywriters who have pulled off quite a coup by purchasing the old "Smokey Callaway" Westerns for TV. Trouble begins when the sponsor wants to meet up with Callaway (Howard Keel) and sign him to a long-term contract. But Smokey, a notorious boozer and womanizer, has dropped out of sight and left for parts unknown. In desperation, Mike and Debbie hire a Callaway look-alike named Stretch Barnes (also Howard Keel), whom they give a crash course in the art of being a boyhood idol ("You're a cowboy star. You have two expressions: hat on and hat off"). Barnes not only pulls off the ruse with the greatest of ease, but also takes his responsibilities to his young fans quite seriously. The plot thickens when the real Smoky Callaway emerges from a ten-year bender to demand a piece of the action. Callaway Went Thataway is full of wonderful moments, not least of which is a climactic fistfight between Callaway and Barnes, adroitly edited and photographed so as to make it appear that Howard Keel is actually punching out himself! The supporting cast includes future TV favorites Jesse White, Stan Freberg, and Hugh Beaumont (unbilled), while several MGM stars make surprise cameo appearances. Perhaps to avoid potential lawsuits, the film ends with a timorous disclaimer, stating that most Western stars are generous, upstanding individuals -- and not at all like the bibulous, mercenary Smoky Callaway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Crossfire stars James Franciscus as police officer Rossi, who is thrown off the force for possession of narcotics. Disgraced in the eyes of everyone, including his own partner, Rossi descends into a life of crime. But--and this will come as a shock to anyone who's never seen a Humphrey Bogart picture--the drug bust was fabricated to allow Rossi to function as an undercover operative. His job: Locate and arrest the syndicate Big Boy. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Rossi's late brother was a mob functionary. Crossfire was yet another TV pilot film for yet another unsold James Franciscus weekly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bank teller Lee Remick is accosted in her garage one dark night by asthmatic psycho Ross Martin. He forces her to go through with an elaborate robbery scheme, threatening to kill Lee's teen-aged sister Stefanie Powers if the police are summoned. FBI agent Glenn Ford suspects that something is amiss and advises Lee to play along with Martin, hoping in this way to capture this dangerous criminal with a minimum of bloodshed. Unfortunately, Martin is as clever as he is deadly, always managing to stay one step ahead of Ford. The now-famous climax of Experiment in Terror finds the feds closing in on Martin during a crowded night baseball game at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. Experiment in Terror is based on the Gordons' novel Operation Terror. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A mentally ill young woman honestly believes that she is the reincarnated lover of Crown Prince Rudolph, a woman who died with the prince in a suicide pact in 1889. Over the course of her treatment, her psychiatrist falls in love with her, but then she gets caught up in a trance and withdraws. It is only when she gets involved with a crazed killer who looks just like the dead prince, that she returns to normalcy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

John Hoyt guest stars as Rex Proctor, a politically ambitious Washington bureaucrat. Arriving in Dodge City, Proctor insists that Marshall Matt Dillon (James Arness) is all wrong in his approach to law and order. Using his political clout, Proctor takes over as the town's peacekeeper, imposing innumerable "Eastern" rules and regulations that are totally out of place in the Wild West. Despite Matt's protest, Proctor refuses to listen to reason--and his stubbornness may cost him his life. This episode is based on the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of January 29, 1956. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Travelling photographer Professor Jacoby (Sebastian Cabot) is treated like a celebrity during his visit to Dodge City, with the locals showing up in droves to have their pictures taken. What Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) doesn't realize (at least not at first) is that Jacoby is a ruthless self-promoter, determined to make himself nationally famous with his "wild west" pictures--even if it means provoking a gunfight in which an innocent man is killed. But the Professor gets his just desserts at the hands of some Indians who take violent offense at his photographic intrusions. This episode is based on the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of May 6, 1956. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Twice every year, wealthy mountaineer Shep Montrose (Roy Barcroft) invades a small town, throws money in every direction, and wreaks havoc upon the townsfolk and their property. The locals like the fact that Shep is so generous, but they're tired of cleaning up the damage he leaves in his wake. With Shep scheduled to make another of his calamitous weekend visit, Paladin (Richard Boone) is hired to curb the mountain man's predilection for violence--if he can survive the assignment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hogan helps beautiful underground contact Heidi Eberhadt (Marj Dusay) escape to London. But after successfully completing this mission, Hogan receives word that Heidi might be a double agent. Character actor Ned Glass is seen as the owner of the delicatessen used by Hogan as a drop point, while frequent Hogan's Heroes supporting player Milton Selzer is cast as Otto von Krubner. First telecast on November 23, 1968, "Guess Who Came to Dinner" was written by Arthur Julian. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide