Harry Guardino Movies

On the eve of his execution for a crime he didn't commit, Gerald Daniels (Harry Guardino) makes one last request: a typewriter. Angrily, Daniels pounds out a damning critique of D.A. Bernard Butler (Hugh Marlowe), the man who had sent him to death row. Daniels reveals that, not only did Butler prosecute him unfairly, but that the D.A. had previously condemned an innocent man for a murder that Butler had actually committed! "Is this the sort of man you want for governor?" Daniels asks at the conclusion of his embittered harangue -- just before an ironic twist caps this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The usually sobersided TV adventure series Name of the Game went comically wacko with the 90-minute episode Appointment in Palermo. Series regular Gene Barry plays Crime magazine publisher Glenn Howard, who finds himself mistaken for a Sicilian patriarch. He is kidnapped by one of the families involved in a centuries-old blood feud. Don't look for heavy emoting or hidden messages here--the episode joyfully descends into all-out slapstick. Directed by Ben Gazzara and costarring Harry Guardino, Brenda Vaccaro and Joe DeSantis, Appointment in Palermo was first telecast February 26, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although Gary's Old Towne Tap is under new ownership, the gang at Cheers intends to reinvigorate its war of practical jokes against the rival pub. Alas, Gary's taciturn owner (Harry Guardino) doesn't find the pranks very funny -- but then, not too many mobsters are known for their sense of humor. Senator John Kerry appears as himself in the opening scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"You've got to ask yourself a question: 'do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" Dirty Harry provoked a critical uproar in 1971 for its "fascist" message about the power of one, as it also elevated Clint Eastwood to superstar status through his most enduring screen persona. Harry Callahan (Eastwood, in a role meant for Frank Sinatra) is a sardonic, hard-working San Francisco cop who can't finish his lunch without having to foil a bank robbery with his 44 Magnum, "the most powerful handgun in the world." When hippie-esque psycho Scorpio (Andy Robinson) goes on a killing spree, Harry and new partner Chico (Reni Santoni) are assigned to hunt him down, but not before the Mayor (John Vernon) and Lt. Bressler (Harry Guardino) admonish Callahan about his heavy-handed tactics. Racing against a deadline to save a kidnap victim from suffocating to death and unbothered by the niceties of Miranda rights and search warrants, Callahan brings in Scorpio, only to see him released on technicalities. "The law's crazy," opines Harry in disgust, before taking it upon himself to ensure that Scorpio doesn't kill again. Directed in violent and efficient fashion by Don Siegel, with a propulsive score by Lalo Schifrin, Dirty Harry was the fourth Siegel-Eastwood collaboration after Coogan's Bluff (1968), Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), and The Beguiled (1970). Critics at the time strongly objected to the heroic image of a cop's violations of a suspect's Miranda rights, forcing Siegel and Eastwood to deny that they were right-wing reactionaries. All the same, Dirty Harry proved to be highly popular and spawned four sequels: Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983), and The Dead Pool (1988). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

A piece of made-for-television hack work that suddenly became sort of topical 23 years later, with the attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Evening in Byzantium was a two-part made-for-TV feature based very loosely on Irwin Shaw's best-seller. The book involved intrigue and romance at the Cannes Film Festival, but the television producers evidently thought that this did not justify a two-night prime time movie event, so they added a story about Middle Eastern terrorists using the Cannes Film Festival as part of a larger plot to attack the West. Glenn Ford plays Jesse Craig, a down-on-his-luck producer with a film project in mind involving terrorists, who goes to Cannes to raise money and finds himself dealing with his ex-wife (Shirley Jones) and romancing Erin Gray. But before too long, he uncovers a plot by real terrorists to replace commercial airliners in flight (blowing them out of the sky and taking over their authorized flight paths) with specially converted airliners and bomb targets in the United States. Also on hand is Vince Edwards, playing an actor with a radical political agenda, who is alarmed that Ford's proposed film parallels his own terrorist plans; Michael Cole as Ford's associate; Eddie Albert and Gloria De Haven as a couple with ties to the movie business; Harry Guardino as a skeptical American security officer; and Marcel Hillaire as the French police inspector trying to unravel the terrorists plans. It's all very silly, though played very sincerely by most of the cast, and none of the plot described is less plausible than the notion that Glenn Ford and Erin Gray could ignore the 36-year difference in their ages. Evening in Byzantium was originally shown in August of 1978 as part of the syndicated Operation Prime Time programming series, intended to compete with the three networks. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Once branded himself by the House Un-American Activities Committee, award-winning director Martin Ritt focuses on the cruel branding of five women in this standard wartime drama. Some of his better-known films (The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, Norma Rae) also deal with the question of social and ethical choices in the face of pressure. In this story, the savagery of the Yugoslav partisans as they fight off Nazi occupation forces is also vented on five women accused of Nazi sympathies because of their sexual association with one German officer. The women (played by Silvana Mangano, Vera Miles, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jeanne Moreau, and Carla Gravina) have their heads shaved in order to brand them as traitors. What the partisans did to the German officer (Steve Forrest) in revenge for sleeping with these women was much worse. Intermittently shocking, the film with its excess cruelty and hatreds stands as a good indictment against war and its causes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The Dorothy Uhnak novel The Ledger was the basis of Get Christie Love! The title character, played by former Laugh-In regular Teresa Graves, is the first black woman to be hired by a big-city police force. Christie Love proves her value to her fellow officers by going undercover to smash a drug ring. First telecast January 22, 1974, Get Christie Love! served as the pilot film for the weekly TV series of the same name. That series ran from September 11, 1974 until July 18, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally titled Giving Birth, Having Babies was the first of three pilot films for a TV series that eventually appeared under the title Julie Farr MD. In omnibus fashion, the film focuses in on four couples and their reactions to impending parenthood. Essentially, this is a feature-length "commercial" for the Lamaze method of natural childbirth. Adrienne Barbeau plays Lamaze-class supervisor Allie Duggin, while the mommies-to-be are portrayed by Karen Valentine (as tennis pro Beth Paterno), Jessica Walter (as middle-aged Sally McNamara), Linda Purl (as teenager Laura Gorman) and Vicki Lawrence (as unwed mother Grace Fontrell). Having Babies was originally telecast October 17, 1976. It was followed by Having Babies II in 1977, Having Babies III in 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this bizarre drama, an inmate on death row has one final request before his impending hanging: he wants to spend the night with a woman. The police bring him a suicidal prostitute. After a night of lovemaking, the two decide they are in love and are married by the prison chaplain. This eases his torment about going to the gallows. Just before he is to be killed, he describes a dream he had where the rope breaks during the hanging, the death bell rings, and he is freed. As he prays for his miracle the death bell tolls and the film fades to black. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Hunter (Fred Dryer) is given the responsibility of mentoring fledgling detective Jack Ryan (Eric Larson)--the son of his own mentor, police commissioner Bill Ryan (Harry Guardino). Unfortunately, during the search for a robber-murderer who preys upon businessman at check-cashing stores, young Jack commits a number of serious errors. Regretfully, Hunter must inform Jack that he hasn't got what it takes to be a cop--but how can he bring himself to break the news to the boy's father? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this thriller, Jonathan Fields (Bradford Dillman) awakens in a strange apartment and finds a dead woman floating in the bathtub after he suffered an LSD-flashback the night before. Finding blood upon his hand, he can only wonder how he is involved in the woman's death. He hires private detective Arthur Belding (Harry Guardino) who has him take another dose of LSD in order to see if he can remember what had happened. They learn that Fields' co-worker Lew Haley (Pat Hingle) had slipped acid into his coffee as part of a blackmail conspiracy. Haley was after his girlfriend and after his job in a government think tank. They also learn that his supervisor Dr. Arkroyd (Victor Jory) had been in a relationship with the deceased woman. She too was being blackmailed by Haley, who killed her when she threatened to call the cops. Dr. Arkroyd knew about it all and did nothing. Eventually Fields and Haley fight it out. The blackmailer ends up crashing through a high-rise window and falling to the unforgiving pavement below. Hope Lang, Susan Saint James, James Doohan and Michael J. Pollard also star in this psychedelic murder mystery. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer, Detective Ben Fiore (Harry Guardino) decides to take care of some unfinished business before cashing in his chips. With nothing to lose, Fiore begins an intensive manhunt for the killer of his partner Eddie Ryan (Jed Allen)--and at the same time he reveals his long-suppressed ardor for Eddie's widow Ellen (Joanne Linville). Despite the dying detective's effort to hide his illness from everyone, Lt. Kojak (Telly Savalas) senses that there's something very strange going on, especially considering that the late Eddie Ryan was frankly not worthy of Fiore's intense loyalty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's a seemingly peaceful spring morning in New York City -- graduation day at the Police Academy -- and Police Commissioner Anthony X. Russell (Henry Fonda) is looking forward to giving a speech to the new officers. But all isn't well: Russell's been given apparently incontrovertible evidence that his oldest friend, Chief Inspector Charles Kane (James Whitmore), is shaking down a bar owner, and a black minister (Raymond St. Jacques) is claiming that his son was brutalized when he was picked up for questioning in a rape/assault case. Then Russell gets a call informing him that two first-grade detectives, Daniel Madigan (Richard Widmark) and Rocco Bonaro (Harry Guardino), allowed small-time hood Barney Benesch (Steve Ihnat) to get the drop on them, steal their guns, and escape while they were trying to pick him up for questioning at the request of Brooklyn detectives -- and Benesch is now a suspect in that earlier murder in Brooklyn. Madigan has other problems, including the fact that the commissioner -- his ex-captain -- doesn't trust him, always believing him to be a loose cannon who has taken advantage of the badge in accepting favors and cutting corners where peoples' rights were concerned. Madigan also has a beautiful, upwardly mobile wife (Inger Stevens) who loves him but can't abide all the time his job takes him away from her or crimps her socializing; and he has never fully gotten over Jonesy (Sheree North), a saloon singer he knew before he was married. Madigan and Bonaro are given 72 hours to bring in Benesch and begin beating the bushes for leads. They get help from "Midget" Castiglione (Michael Dunn), a bookmaker and an old enemy of Benesch's, and a nervous, long-haired punk named Hughie (Don Stroud). While the clock ticks away on Madigan's and Bonaro's careers, the commissioner must decide how to deal with Kane, whose father -- also a police officer -- was like his own, and he must also fathom how a four-star chief could be involved with anything as tawdry as pressuring a tavern owner. Russell genuinely believes that there must be "one standard, one rule" for any member of the department, but in the course of this one weekend, he finds this notion shattered by what he discovers about Madigan, King, and himself. Meanwhile, Benesch is still on the loose, acting like a complete psycho and a threat to anyone who crosses his path. Russell's and Madigan's paths finally cross personally, as the detective proves -- and the commissioner discovers -- just how good a cop he is. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide