Tom Atkins Movies

While attending the opening ceremonies of a Naval museum named in his honor, Rear Admiral Burgess McKenzie (Albert Paulsen), an old comrade in arms of medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman), suddenly drops dead. Peforming the autopsy, Quincy discovers that a microchip has been implanted in the Admiral's body, suggesting that he might have been involved in treasonous activities. The plot thickens when several people demand that Quincy turn over the corpse and the chip--including three ladies all claiming to be McKenzie's widow. This semicomic episode is capped by a supremely silly but highly appropriate punchline. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Following the phenomenal box-office success of his seminal horror classic Halloween, director John Carpenter teamed up with producer Debra Hill for a second independent horror project, this time in the mode of an old-fashioned ghost story. The end result was The Fog, a spooky romp about a dark secret that returns to haunt the Pacific fishing community of Antonio Bay on the 100th anniversary of the town's charter. Carpenter sets the mood in the film's prologue, which features grizzled old sea salt Mr. Machen (John Houseman) spinning ghost stories for a group of local children. For his final tale, he recounts the legend of the Elizabeth Dane -- a ship which crashed 100 years ago against the very rocks upon which the children are sitting. Meanwhile, as the clock strikes midnight on the fateful anniversary of that disaster, eerie phenomena begin to plague the town as a dense fog bank creeps toward the bay. Seeming to appear from nowhere and emitting a ghostly glow, the fog surrounds a small trawler filled with drunken fishermen, who glimpse the vague outline of a decrepit sailing vessel before being brutally killed by shadowy figures brandishing hooks and swords. That morning, news of their disappearance is relayed to the town by Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau), owner and operator of the local radio station. The news reaches the wife of one of the fishermen, city councilwoman Kathy Williams (Janet Leigh) and local boy Nick Castle (Tom Atkins), who takes a trip out to the abandoned boat to investigate, accompanied by teenage drifter Elizabeth Solley (Jamie Lee Curtis). As the day progresses, a grim series of events paints a decidedly unpleasant picture of Antonio Bay's founders, and foreshadows the ghostly retribution that awaits the town's present-day residents. When Mrs. Williams visits local priest Fr. Malone (Hal Holbrook) about a benediction for that night's centennial ceremony, he relates a ghastly tale discovered in his grandfather's journal, which details the town fathers' decision to murder a group of lepers who had planned to build a commune outside of Antonio Bay. Just as the night's proceedings are haunted by the horrors of the past, the ghosts of the murdered dead have returned to seek symbolic revenge by claiming the lives of six townspeople, arriving amid the ominous fog bank which has completely engulfed Antonio Bay. Carpenter reportedly shot and inserted additional gory scenes after the original 'PG' cut failed to impress preview audiences. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The short-lived TV series Skag was introduced with a 3-hour premiere on January 6, 1980. Karl Malden stars as Pete "Skag" Skagska, Pittsburgh steel mill foreman and family man. In the pilot, Skag attempts to deal with several family crises: his father's debilitating stroke, his strained relationships between himself and his two grown sons, and his daughter's sexual misadventures. Suddenly a new crisis looms: Skag himself suffers a stroke, and it looks as though he'll be inactive for a long and indeterminate period. Piper Laurie co-stars as Skag's supportive (but not always patient) wife Jo. While the subsequent Skag series never really took off, this pilot film earned six Emmy nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paul Clemens plays the real-life Peter Reilly, who in September of 1973 was charged with the mutilation and murder of his mother. The confused 18-year-old signs a confession after being told that he's flunked a lie detector test. Later renouncing the confession, Reilly demands a reopening of his case. The citizens of Peter's home town of Canaan, CT, who'd been willing to see the boy thrown in jail for life when the case first hit the papers, now rally around the youth, insisting that his constitutional rights have been violated. New evidence uncovered by a sympathetic detective enables Peter to press his case. Stefanie Powers plays Joan Barthel, the Canaan resident and free-lance journalist who chronicled Peter's bid for freedom. The made-for-TV A Death in Canaan was first telecast March 1, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Not long after Jim (James Garner) hides his .38 in a cookie jar, he is charged with murder when the weapon is used in a gas station holdup. Can the pilfering of the pistol have anything to do with Viola Wenke (Nora Marlowe), the new cleaning lady that Rocky (Noah Beery Jr.) talked Jim into hiring? Perhaps--but first the detective must figure out the connection between the murder of a gas station attendant and a radical paramilitary group headed by one Lee Ronstadt (Adrienne Marden). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A botched robbery provides the basis of this romantic comedy. The caper was performed by three unemployed Vietnam vets desperate for cash. Unfortunately, two of them are captured during the getaway. The third vet continues to flee and stuffs the loot in a convenient mailbox. A dishonest barkeeper and a crazed artist witness this and try to get the money for themselves. The barman needs it to pay back some Mafiosi. The artists find herself attracted to the veteran and so decides to help him get it back from the bartender. The two succeed and then board an ocean liner, where they bump into the president of the bank the veteran robbed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Doing his best to control his jealousy, Jim (James Garner) agrees to do a job for Beth's last boyfriend Dave Delaroux (John Saxon). Jim's assignment is to check up on a suspicious financial transaction, tied in with the disappearance of some potentially incrimimnating checks. As the story progresses, it appears that Delaroux himself may be a criminal--but thanks to some clever canoodling, it is Jim who is set up to take the fall, with Beth (Gretchen Corbett) helpless to intervene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An amiable con man pulls a scam on the corrupt leader of a fund-raising campaign for a major charity in this lively drama. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A woman identifying herself as Jennifer Sandstrom claims that her sister's death was not a suicide as reported, and hires Jim (James Garner) to find out for sure. It doesn't take long for Jim to determine that his client has not been entirely honest and up-front--and indeed, she isn't even "Jennifer Sandstrom", but instead a private eye named Christina Dusseau (Stefanie Powers). Using Jim to keep the authorities at bay, Christine is trying to crack an insurance scam instigated by a crooked lawyer. But thanks to Christina's somewhat underhanded methods, both she and Jim may end up dead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jim (James Garner) is baffled by the sudden disappearance of his girlfriend Karen (Pat Delaney). Even more disturbing is the fact that Karen's next-door neighbor was found murdered at the same time Karen vanished. Investigating, Jim discovers that both Karen and her neighbor had something in common: Michael Cordeen (Alan Miller) a man with apparent mob connections. But by the time he has made this discovery, someone else has been killed...and that "someone else" was likewise linked to Cordeen. This episode is based on Thin Air, a mystery novel by Howard Browne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Introduced as a 90-minute TV movie in March of 1974, The Rockford Files began its weekly, hour-long series run in September of that year. The opening episode, "The Kirkoff Case," finds ex-con turned private eye Jim Rockford (James Garner) trying to prove that his earnest but obnoxious young client (played by James Woods, Garner's later co-star in the made-for-TV feature My Name is Bill W.) did not murder his parents as claimed. In the first season's second episode, Gretchen Corbett is introduced as Jim's lawyer girlfriend Beth Davenport, who hires our hero to clear her client of a murder charge. Throughout the rest of the season, Jim is aided and abetted by his crusty dad Rocky (Noah Beery Jr.), his likeable (if not entirely honest) former cellmate Angel (Stuart Margolin), and, reluctantly, by his police-department contact Detective Dennis Becker (Joe Santos). Meanwhile, Dennis' superior Lt. Alex Diehl (Tom Atkins) can't shake himself of the conviction that Jim's prison record was somehow deserved -- especially when the private eye utilizes unorthodox methods to get results. Although the main focus is on star Garner, season one of The Rockford Files affords generous screen space to a variety of guest stars. A pre-Cagney and Lacey Sharon Gless is seen along with Joseph Cotten in the two-part "This Case is Closed"; a young Jill Clayburgh shows up in "The Big Ripoff"; Joan Van Ark (Dallas) and Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky & Hutch) are seen in "Find Me if You Can"; Shelley Fabares, halfway between The Donna Reed Show and Coach, guests in "Caledonia -- It's Worth a Fortune"; Linda Evans, likewise 'twixt and 'tween The Big Valley and Dynasty, appears in "Claire"; and future Bionic Woman Lindsay Wagner can be seen in "Aura Lee, Farewell." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Owl and the Pussycat began life as a two-character Broadway play by Bill Manhoff, about a stuffy author who entered into an explosive relationship with his neighbor, a foulmouthed, freewheeling prostitute. Manhoff wrote the part of the hooker for a black actress, but all that changed when Barbra Streisand was cast in the role for the film version. George Segal portrays the male lead, and the play's two-character austerity was expanded to a cast of 19 speaking parts. Beyond the added characters (including Robert Klein as Segal's swinging roommate), the heart and soul of the film is the Segal-Streisand relationship; he is utterly appalled by her lifestyle, she is turned off by his prudishness, and both are made for each other. The Owl and the Pussycat was adapted for the screen by Buck Henry, who shows up in a cameo role in one of the bookstore scenes. The film represented the last work of cinematographer Harry Stradling, who'd previously photographed Streisand in Funny Girl; Stradling died during production, and was replaced by Ernest Laszlo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide