Wendell Holmes Movies

Suffering under the tyranny of his nasty boss, Sylvester Tupper (Wendell Holmes), investment broker Herbert J. Wiggam (Dick York) devises a scheme to get even -- and to make a profit in the bargain. Together with two other disgruntled employees, Wiggam steals a 565,000-dollar bond that has been delivered to the office. Alas, although the trio successfully pulls off the heist, the valuable bond is lost -- and for a while, it looks like only the office cleaning lady will profit from the amateur crooks' bumbling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of Disney's most entertaining forays into live-action, this hit family comedy stars Fred MacMurray as a college professor so forgetful that he missed his own wedding twice. He creates an extremely resilient flying rubber, dubbed "Flubber," and manages to make his old Model-T bounce all the way to Washington, DC, where it is mistaken for a UFO, as well as helping the college basketball team win the big game with Flubber-powered sneakers. MacMurray is a lot of fun in the title role, ably supported by a cast including Tommy Kirk, Keenan Wynn and Leon Ames, although the central romance between MacMurray and huffy bride-to-be Nancy Olson gets a bit annoying in its repetitiveness. In all, however, this is one of the best children's films of the '60s, and is highly recommended. A sequel, Son of Flubber, followed, with a remake simply titled Flubber appearing in 1997. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

In danger of failing sixth-grade English, Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Gilbert (Stephen Talbot) submit to being tutored by Wally (Tony Dow). When it becomes obvious that the boys aren't grasping what he is telling them, Wally decides to let them practice on one of his old English tests. Inevitably, Beaver and Gilbert take an exam in school -- which of course turns out to be the exact same one that Wally had given them. Thus is set up a daunting dilemma: should the boys accept the "A"s they receive, or should they tell the whole truth about their sudden spurt of intelligence? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Arrested for embezzling 20,000 dollars, mild-mannered Milton Potter (Paul Hartman) immediately surrenders to the police, explaining that he is "not the running type." Sentenced to 12 years in jail, Milton is given several opportunities to shorten his sentence by revealing the whereabouts of the stolen money, but he refuses each time. And then, upon his release, Milton promptly returns every penny of the 20 grand. So what was in it for him? You'd be surprised. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first season of Bonanza came to an end on April 30, 1960, with the episode titled "Death at Dawn." Laurence Mascott's teleplay would seem to have been influenced by the like-vintage TV series The Untouchables, as a gang of 19th century gangsters holds Virginia City in thrall, forcing the citizens to buy protection lest "accidents" befall them. When a store owner is murdered by gang member Perkins (Gregory Walcott), the only witness, the victim's wife Beth (Nancy Deale), is terrorized into silence. Determined to bring Perkins to justice, Ben Cartwright offers Beth safe harbor at the Ponderosa-whereupon gang leader Sam Bryant (Robert Middleton) kidnaps Ben and offers to release him in exchange for Perkins. Featured in the cast are Morgan Woodward (Sheriff Biggs), Wendell Holmes (Judge Scribner), Paul Carr (McNeil), Peter Leeds (Norton), Hugh Sanders (Dr. Brahm), Anthony Joachim (The Hangman) and Jess Kirkpatrick (Kelly). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ward hires Andy Hadlock (Wendell Holmes), a "reformed" alcoholic, to paint the Cleaver house. To avoid any embarrassing situations with their sons Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow), Ward and June (Barbara Billingsley) decide to keep Andy's drinking problem a secret, and to hope that he won't fall off the wagon. Unfortunately, well-meaning Beaver takes such a liking to Andy that he gives him a present -- a bottle of his dad's brandy. This remarkable episode should put to rest the notion that Leave It to Beaver never dealt with controversial story material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A well-dressed older man drives a car along the winding mountain road adjacent to the Grand Canyon. Another man lies in wait for him where the road ends. They fight, and the car and one of the men plunge into the mile-deep gorge. Thus begins a series of four killings that fall into the lap of newly hired Mojave County deputy Les Martin (Cornel Wilde) and his boss, Sheriff Edwards (Edgar Buchanan). Les is an experienced homicide detective trying to redeem himself and his career after a series of personal tragedies and professional disasters, unsteady in his confidence and uncertain of his ability -- the only people he's especially close to are the sheriff who hired him and Scotty (Mickey Shaughnessy), the big-hearted keeper of the local tavern. And complicating his investigation of the murder case at hand is his constant crossing of paths with the beautiful, wealthy Janice Kendon (Victoria Shaw), who seems to have a knack for turning up around every corner of this case. He has to sort out his feelings about her and work out what the murders have to do with the one clue left behind by one of the victims, about the "dancing bucket" that carries men and material more than 7,000 feet across the mile-high chasm. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Mona Freeman makes her first series appearance as Modesty Blaine, whose gorgeous face and figure bely her larcenous nature and near-maniacal temperament. Riding into a mining camp infested with mice and other vermin, Bret (James Garner) gets involved in Modesty's scheme to purchase a pack of cats, then re-sell them to the miners. When it becomes obvious that he's been swindled, Bret tries to figure out a strategy to recoup his money, only to run afoul of a homicidal sheriff (Buddy Ebsen) and a black-clad gunslinger (Lance Fuller) who bears more than a slight resemblance to Have Gun--Will Travel's Paladin. A lively shootout in a graveyard caps this tongue-in-cheek entry, which features an amusing appearance by the ubiquitous Richard Deacon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After Judy Hensler (Jeri Weil) delivers a class report about her dad's courageous activities in WWII, Beaver (Jerry Mathers) informs his schoolmates that his dad Ward (Tony Dow) was likewise a war hero -- and in fact, he's got a whole bunch of neat medals and stuff. Only upon his arrival home does Beaver learn that, although his father did indeed serve in the South Pacific during the "big one," he was actually a Seabee -- an engineer who never saw combat. Facing the prospect of public humiliation, Beav concocts his wildest tall tale yet! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Three juvenile-delinquents launch a reign of terror upon those who witnessed a deadly auto accident in this exploitation drama. The kids got into trouble while joy-riding down a California road in a stolen car. For malicious fun, they deliberately sideswipe a car and then accidentally hit another car, causing all the passengers therein to die. The first couple they hit survives, and now, to keep the two from testifying, the punks begin terrorizing them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Springdale, NE, bank is held up and robbed by a well organized gang. One of the members is Eddie Campbell (Robert Vaughn), a onetime resident of the town and orphan who was brought up in part by Ben Cutler (Fred MacMurray), an ex-lawman-turned-rancher. While pursuing the robbers, the town marshal, Hiram Cain (Emile G. Meyer), is shot dead by Campbell, who in turn is wounded and captured by Cutler. The town council appoints Cutler as temporary marshal, and the prosecution seems like an open-and-shut case -- he begins to see signs of trouble when his own daughter Laurie (Joan Blackman), who was raised with Campbell and was once his sweetheart, refuses to believe that he's guilty of the crime. Ben's fiancée, Ruth (Maggie Hayes), also feels the boy deserves leniency, but the real trouble starts when Campbell's attorney, William Selby (Edmon Ryan), shows up; he first tries to compromise the jury pool by ingratiating himself with the asking the townspeople what we would now call "push" questions, about Campbell's being an orphan and a hard-luck case all of his life, under the guise of building his case. He's also just clever enough at the trial to shake the testimony of the five other witnesses to the shooting, but Cutler's testimony is enough to put the jury into the guilty column. Then Campbell starts working on the sympathy of Laurie and the townspeople who've been persuaded by his lawyer -- it's also been a long time since there's been a capital case like this in the state, and Cutler discovers that the townspeople and even the law may not be as ready to execute a killer as common sense says they should be. Cutler's and Ruth's romance is jeopardized, and he is pushed to the point of resigning when matters come to an explosive head. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

After he accidentally kills a man whom he assumes to be his wife's lover, wealthy Lloyd Ashley (Leslie Nielsen) engages his lawyer -- and best friend -- Mark Robeson (Barry Sullivan) to defend him in court. To bind the bargain, Ashley offers Robeson half of his four-million-dollar fortune. Only after he has been exonerated does Ashley discover that the man he killed was not the only victim in the whole affair. This is the first Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode to be directed by longtime Hitchcock associate Norman Lloyd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Until the House Un-American Activities Committee horned in, several postwar Hollywood films dealt with touchy "liberal" subject matter. Lost Boundaries stars Mel Ferrer as a light-skinned African-American, whose family is "passing" in an all-white New England community. When the truth comes out, the more bigoted neighbors demand the expulsion of Ferrer and his family. Considered pretty potent stuff in 1949, Lost Boundaries appears fairly conventional today, especially in its reluctance to cast a genuine black actor in the lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide