Jack Grimes Movies
- 1974
This episode focuses on Lt. Carl Reese, the police-inspector friend of Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr) who is played on a recurring basis by Johnny Seven. Shortly after five pounds of heroin disappears while in the custody of Reese and his partner Don Borden (Sandy Ward), Borden is killed in a mysterious accident. Now Reese himself is suspected of collaborating with the drug dealers, and a swift conviction would seem to be a foregone conclusion. Despite the formidable opposition of the DA's office, Ironside is determined to clear Reese's name. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1973
Modern technology runs amok when a computer error enables Edith to collect a huge sum of money for a single prune-company promotional giveaway. Archie is delighted that Edith is the recipient of so much currency -- until another computer glitch declares that Archie is dead. The Bunkers' ensuing plunge into the world of bureaucracy and red tape is as hilariously frightening today as it was back in the pre-Personal Computer 1970s. Written by Michael Ross and Bernie West, "Archie and the Computer" originally aired on October 27, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
- 1971
- PG13
This comedy is notable as the final onscreen appearance (non-speaking) of Edward Everett Horton, a staple comic supporting actor from the early '30s onward. Dick Van Dyke plays an ambitious small-town minister who rallies the whole town to meet a challenge bet by a tobacco corporation. Cooked up by the tobacco company's public relations head (Bob Newhart), the bet is an offer to pay twenty five million dollars ($25,000,000.00) to any town that can quit smoking for the required period of time. Barnard Hughes is Dr. Proctor, a heart surgeon who has to be physically restrained to prevent him from smoking. Jean Stapleton is the mayor's wife, who swells visibly as her eating replaces cigarettes. Edward Everett Horton is eloquent as the mysterious tobacco tycoon who comes to observe the chaos first-hand. There is lots of frantic action as the townsfolk try to win the prize, and the tobacco company (which has no intention of paying off the bet) works to sabotage their efforts. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pippa Scott, Bob Newhart, (more)
- 1971
Season two of All in the Family commenced on September 18, 1971 with yet another taboo-banning episode. Scripted by Burt Styler and Norman Lear from a story by Styler, "The Saga of Cousin Oscar" dared to turn a subject as serious as death into a joke. No one in the Bunker family can abide freeloading cousin Oscar, least of all Archie. Thus, when Oscar has the audacity to drop dead in Archie and Edith's upstairs bedroom, poor Arch is stuck with the funeral expenses -- and the eulogy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
- 1969
- PG
Police Captain Matthews (George Peppard) believes he has successfully pinned a murder and rape conviction on Paul Sanderson (Robert F. Lyons) only to have the sentence overturned by the United States Supreme Court. When his wife Adele (Jean Seberg) is found murdered, Matthews finds himself on the other side of the law. The disillusioned suspect finds that his police cronies and friends have turned their backs on him, particularly when Senator Cole (Paul McGrath) goes on a much-publicized tirade against crime. Woodrow Wilson King (Richard Kiley) is the civil libertarian who has doubts about Sanderson's insanity defense and uncovers information about his sadistic alcoholic mother who lead him to become a murderous misogynist. Matthews feels something is not quite right when his police colleagues are all too eager to pin the crime on him in this engaging murder mystery. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- George Peppard, Jean Seberg, (more)
- 1967
Technically speaking, the Japanese anime adventure series Speed Racer has yielded only one season's worth of episodes -- but it's a big season, 52 half-hours strong! The re-dubbed and reedited American version of this property remains relatively faithful to the Japanese original, Mach Go Go Go, though some of the more violent passages have been muted or excised, and additional emphasis has been placed upon "comic relief" characters Spridal (the kid brother of hero Speed Racer) and Chim Chim the monkey. The opening episode not only introduces Speed Racer and his jet-powered Special Formula Mach 5 racing car, but is also generous enough to explain the functions of each of the seven buttons on the car's control panel: Button "A" activates the jets, "B" handles the special-grip tires in case of rugged roads, "C" starts the rotating saws that enable the car to cut through heavy foliage, "D" puts into place the mechanism that deflects bullets and other missiles, "E" switches on the long-range headlights, "F" is used for underwater driving (oxygen tanks, periscope, et al.) and "G" ships out the tiny robot bird which delivers messages to Speed's friends Trixie and Sparky, and to his mom and dad. Later episodes establish the omnipresence of the mysterious Racer X, who always seems to be on hand when one of the characters whom we care about is in danger; the annoying tendency of Spridal and Chim Chim to stow away in the Special Formula Mach 5 when Speed tells them to go home and stay out of trouble; and the astonishing number of criminals: enemy, spies, and other lowlifes who seem to have but a single purpose in mind: to destroy Speed's car, and Speed with it! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Grimes, Corinne Orr, (more)
- 1945
River Gang was another of Universal's attempts to tap the dramatic potential of their young singing star Gloria Jean. The actress plays Wendy, the niece of pawnbroker Uncle Bill (John Qualen). Outwardly a loveable teller of tall tales, Uncle Bill is actually the head of a robbery gang. When murder rears its ugly head, the impressionable Wendy discovers her uncle's perfidy for the first time-and faces the possibility of becoming the next murder victim. Young Keefe Brasselle plays Johnny, a neighborhood "tough" who turns out ot be the best friend Wendy could possibly have. River Gang was directed by Charles David, who ironically became the husband of Deanna Durbin, Gloria Jean's principal singing rival on the Universal lot. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gloria Jean, John Qualen, (more)
