Jean Hale Movies
Supporting actress Jean Hale first appeared onscreen in 1964. ~ All Movie Guide
This made-for-TV thriller stars Ben Gazzara as a publishing magnate framed for murdering the call girl with whom he was having an affair. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1989
In this black comedy, a wealthy but flaky family tries to deal with their lives after their bizarre father suffers a fatal heart-attack on Thanksgiving and falls face first into the turkey. Now the family must somehow get their act together enough to pay bills and make funeral arrangements. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The "pals" of the title, played by Don Ameche and George C. Scott, are Army chums living a sedentary retirement. Occasionally the twosome becomes a threesome when Scott's mother Sylvia Sidney shows up. All three are resigned to living out their lives on fixed incomes in a Georgia trailer park-and then, Ameche and Scott discover a large sum of money in an abandoned car. Well, "large" is putting it mildly: they find nearly four million bucks. They also find a heap of trouble when mobster James Greene, who'd stashed the cash in the first place, starts nosing around. The made-for-TV Pals was originally telecast February 28, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
When Sheriff Walker (Stuart Randall) of Muddy Creek is murdered, Ben and Joe Cartwright volunteer to guard prisoner Luke Harper (Joe Don Baker). Fearful of retaliation from Harper's gang, the townspeople refuse to assist Ben and Joe, going so far as to desert the town. The only remaining citizens are Walker's widow (Ann Doran), an old man (Jon Lormer) and his grandson Tommy (played by future Bonanza regular Mitch Vogel, and town trollop Casey Collins (Jean Hale). Written by Alf Harris (and, possibly, inspired by such theatrical westerns as Stagecoachand Rio Bravo), "The Real People of Muddy Creek" first aired on October 6, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
Derek Flint (James Coburn) is back in this James Bond-styled spy spoof sequel to Our Man Flint. Flint's boss Cramden (Lee J. Cobb) assigns him to stop a group of felonious females on the Virgin Islands who hope to take over the world; the bad femmes are kidnapping astronauts and replacing them with doubles to gain access to the world's missile sites. Andrew Duggan plays the U.S. President and his nefarious double. The feature was typical of the spoofs that followed in the wake of the successful James Bond spy films of the 1960s. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Coburn, Lee J. Cobb, (more)
- 1967
- Add The St. Valentine's Day Massacre to QueueAdd The St. Valentine's Day Massacre to top of Queue
Schlockmeister Roger Corman produced this graphically violent chronicle of the Chicago gangster wars of the 1920s and the events that lead to the bloody title showdown between rival mobsters Al Capone (Jason Robards) and Bugs Moran (Ralph Meeker) that marked a brutal end to a terrifying era. Fred Steiner's film score is effectively mixed with popular songs from the 1920s, and the re-creation of gangster-era Chicago is a credit to the set designers. Historic and insightful narration is dramatically provided by Paul Frees, giving the film the flavor of a docudrama. Jean Hale plays Moran's gun moll, who is mercilessly kneed in the stomach while arguing over a fur coat. Though The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was heralded by critics at the time of its initial release, their opinion of the film has changed with each decade as they waver on the cinematic value of all of Corman's work. Audiences continue to relish the film, which is often shown on the anniversary of the bloody executions. Watch for Jack Nicholson as one of the unfortunate victims. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Robards, Jr., George Segal, (more)
- 1966
A heartless actor scrambles to the top of show business' sleazy summit in this drama. Frank Fane (Stephen Boyd) is a Hollywood leading man who is desperate to boost his career by winning an Academy Award, and he doesn't care who he has to betray to achieve his goals -- including his former best friend and PR man, Hymie Kelly (Tony Bennett), lonely acting coach Sophie Cantaro (Eleanor Parker), slimy agent Kappy Kapstetter (Milton Berle), and long-suffering girlfriend Kay Bergdahl (Elke Sommer). However, as Frank waits for his name to be called, certain that victory is in his grasp, fate has a little secret in store for him. The Oscar marked Tony Bennett's onscreen acting debut. The screenplay, based on the novel by Richard Sale, was written in part by award-winning author Harlan Ellison, who is known to often take comical potshots at the film, which he considers a low point in his career. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Boyd, Elke Sommer, (more)
- 1966
Hogan wants to find out why three female American USO entertainers are being held by the Gestapo. He learns that the girls accidentally stumbled upon a secret Nazi V-2 rocket site, thus need desperately to be smuggled into England. Complicating matters are a collapsed escape tunnel and the amorous inclinations of Col. Klink and Sgt. Schultz. The solution: An elaborate masquerade, with Hogan's heroes posing as Hogan's heroines. Jean Hale, Jayne Massey, and Jackie Joseph appear respectively as Kathy, Ginger, and Charlene. Written by Arthur Julian, "I Look Better in Basic Black" was first telecast on April 1, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, (more)
- 1965
Moving to a new Sunday-night timeslot opposite Bonanza for its ninth and final season, Perry Mason gets the ball rolling as Perry (Raymond Burr) is requested by a judge (Dan Tobin) to handle the defense of Carla Chaney (Jean Hale) a destitute young woman with a really nasty attitude. Charged with the murder of two-bit journalist Gerald Havens, Carla has failed to convince three previous lawyers that she is innocent, especially since her fingerprints were all over the murder weapon. But Perry is willing to take a chance, and immediately set about to locate the mysterious "laughing lady" whom Carla claims to have seen standing over the corpse. With this episode, Richard Anderson becomes a regular as Lt. Steve Drumm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
In this comedy, another entry in the slapstick series based on a popular TV show, meek little Ensign Parker finds himself getting promoted for no apparent reason. He gets himself rip-roarin' drunk one night and finds himself wearing an Air Force uniform and mistaken for a big-wig. He continues to mess up, but to no avail, no matter what he does, he continues to get promoted. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Flynn, Tim Conway, (more)
- 1965
Starlet Reggie Lansfield (Jean Hale) is hired as a stand-in for Victoria Dawn (Patrice Wymore), a once-popular actress and swimming star who plans to revitalize her career by staging a spectacular publicity stunt. Posing as Victoria, Reggie is to swim the entire length of the Catalina Channel--but the stunt is spoiled when the girl is rescued by boat captain Charlie Shaw (played by Bill Williams, the husband of Perry Mason costar Barbara Hale. Nor is this the end of Reggie's troubles: Victoria turns up murdered, and the hapless "double" is charged with the crime. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) dives into the case to prevent Reggie from going belly-up at San Quentin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Marion Brown (Teresa Wright) of Cleveland, OH, travels to Newark, NJ, there to meet and murder Bernice Brown (Jean Hale). It seems that Marion has discovered that her traveling-salesman husband (Dan Duryea) is a bigamist, and she is determined to knock off not only his "second" wife but also his "third" spouse, Lucille (Linda Lawson). Making matters worse for the peripatetic Mr. Brown is the fact that every time Marion strikes, he loses yet another source of income to feed his gambling habit...but the absolute worst is still to come. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Teresa Wright, Dan Duryea, (more)
- 1964
Working as a fruit picker for wealthy citrus grower Leland Hagerman (Byron Morrow), Kimble (David Janssen)--alias "Jim Wallace"--promises his dying boss that he'll look after Hagerman's ne'er-do-well son Blaine (Ben Piazza). This proves difficult when, upon Blaine's return home, he turns out to be an arrogant leech who is universally despised by his late father's employees. Ultimately, Kimble sides with Blaine's stepmother Flo (Celeste Holm) to prevent the wastrel from illegally gaining full control of the family business. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In this western, the trouble begins when a rancher's mother and father are killed by a young outlaw and his family who want his land. The son returns the favor and slaughters them. As the father lies dying, he manages to hire three gunslingers to track the boy down. The boy is a good shot though and kills two of the hired guns and then flees into Indian territory. There he meets an old miner, his wife and their daughter. The remaining gunslinger finds him, but is taken prisoner by the miner. Later, the saucy wife makes a pass at the young man, but he rejects her. In retaliation, she frees the gunman, steals her husband's gold and takes off. She ends up being killed by the Indians. Meanwhile, the daughter, the miner, and the rancher's son are busy fighting off an attack of their own. They then ride off after the fleeing gunman whose horse is so laden down with gold that it collapses. This allows the son to shoot him dead. Afterwards, the son and the miner's daughter get hitched and live happily ever after. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Young, Dan Duryea, (more)
This stark but interesting low-budget thriller stars Lee Philips as Elliot Freeman, a veteran of the Korean War who has returned home to New England and is following his muse as an artist. Freeman inherited a fortune from his wealthy father and is earning an impressive reputation for his paintings, but he remains a tense and moody individual. Freeman had a brief fling with one of his nude models, Dolores (Kaye Elhardt), but she's also been dating Charlie Perone (James Farentino), a beefy truck driver described as "the Stanley Kowalski of the laundry set." When Dolores is stabbed to death, both Freeman and Perone are suspects, and while brassy bar girl Silvia (Sylvia Miles) is willing to provide an alibi for Charlie, Elliot isn't so lucky, and things get even more complicated when a handful of students from a nearby women's college his sister attends turn up dead under the same circumstances as Dolores. Along with early screen appearances from Sylvia Miles, James Farentino, and Dick Van Patten (yep, the Eight Is Enough guy), Violent Midnight also features some fleeting nudity that probably kept it out of a few drive-ins in 1963 but insured big crowds for those that did screen it. Violent Midnight was also screened under the titles Black Autumn and Psychomania (not to be confused with Don Sharp's amazing 1972 film Psychomania, about a gang of undead bikers). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Philips, Shepperd Strudwick, (more)
- 1963
Hoping to use a home-built cyclotron to create a fusion of silicone and cobalt in order to reactive his spaceship, Martin (Ray Walston) enlists the aid of 13-year-old scientific genius Donald Mumford (Flip Mark). Martin also comes to Donald's aid in the boy's ongoing war of egos with his jealous mentor Dr. Jackson (Jerome Cowan--while Tim (Bill Bixby) dallies with Donald's pretty guardian Jeanine (Jean Hale). Watch for perennial Three Stooges foil Emil Sitka ("Hold hands, you lovebirds") in the role of a workman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
