Tom Sawyer Movies
- 1996
This episode is a showcase for semi-regular Louis Herthum, here essaying his usual role as Cabot Cove's deputy sheriff Andy Bloom. Having just purchased a house, Andy realizes that there are several things wrong with the structure, and he vents his anger upon the former owner. Not long afterward, the ex-owner is killed--and the murder weapon is found in Andy's car. It is up to Jessica (Angela Lansbury to get to the bottom of the case, which becomes even dicier when a second person is murdered. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Jessica's enterprising nephew Grady (Michael Horton) has become the partner of a pair of high-pressure land developers (John D'Aquino, Mary Gordon Murray) who have swept into Cabot Cove with grandiose plans of building an elaborate resort/marina complex. As local investors eagerly line up to get in on the project, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) cannot help but suspect that the whole enterprise seems to good to be true. It looks like her instincts are right on target when the wife (Katherine Cannnon) of one of the biggest investors dies in a suspicious car accident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Once again, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) joins forces with Chicago P.I. Charlie Garrett (Wayne Rogers), this time at a New York cultural museum. At first, Jessica and Charlie are on opposite sides as they bid against each other during an auction for a rare manuscript allegedly written by "Sherlock Holmes" creator Arthur Conan-Doyle. Before long, however, the two sleuths are following the clues surrounding the murder of a notorious art forger suspected of copying a stolen Degas painting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) heads to the resort community of Aspen, Colorado, where dwells her old friend Laney Boswell (Leigh Taylor-Young). In time-honored Murder, She Wrote tradition, Laney's husband Grant turns up murdered, and a mountain of evidence points to the poor woman as the culprit. Also in Aspen is Chicago PI Charlie Garrett (Wayne Rogers), who curiously turns down Jessica's offer to help solve the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Wayne Rogers returns as Chicago PI Charlie Garrett, who journeys to Martinique in search of a missing woman. What follows for Charlie is an unanticipated romance--and a murder charge. Coincidentally, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is also in Martinique, and she offers to help Charlie clear his name and solve the mystery...partly out of friendship, and partly because she feels responsible for the victim's death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The people of Cabot Cove are thrown for a loop when Seth Hazlitt (William Windom) suddenly disappears. Making matters all the more disturbing are the blood stains in his office, and the evidence that Seth's body was dragged somewhere by parties unknown. All the same, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) can't quite dismiss her intuition that Seth is still alive (and no fair peeking at the cast lists of future episodes to figure out what happens next!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
A Chicago mobster is ticked off when he loses $900,000 to a petty burglar. In fact, the mobster is so angry that he dispatches a hit man to bump off the thief--except that the hit man is himself killed. Suspected in this murder is a friend of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who in turn joins forces with Chicago private eye Charlie Garrett (Wayne Rogers) to find out who's really guilty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Unscrupulous media mogul Harrison M. Kane (Alan Thicke) is murdered. The main suspect is writer Dean Richards (Scott Valentine), a freelance contributor to one of Kane's rivals--and in whose sauna bath Kane's body was found. But as Jessica investigates the case, it becomes apparent that there's an elusive "phantom killer" at large. Perhaps it is significant that at least one of the episode's main characters goes under two different names (Only perhaps?) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Having solved many another murder case in the past, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is finally given a crack at the JFK assassination! It seems that a Dallas private eye disappeared at the same time that Kennedy was shot, and now, thirty years later, there is positive proof that the P.I. was also murdered. Jessica suspects that the two killings may have been connected--and as a bonus, both may be linked to a current case that she is working on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Molly Hagan is cast as Dana Ballard, a former research assistant of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury)--and a pathological liar. When Dana's current employer is killed and she is accused of the crime, she begs Jessica to clear her name. But Jessica can't help wondering if Dana is merely weaving another web of lies...and that, in direct opposition to the standard Murder, She Wrote formula, she is guilty after all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Arriving at Kennedy International Airport, a confused Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is kidnapped by the minions of respected philanthropist Maxwell Hagen (Ken Howard). After being released, Jessica complains to the authorities, who refuse to believe her story, or at least act as if they don't believe her. It turns out that Jessica was mistaken for another woman, a government "mole" who was fleeing for her life--and when that woman turns up murdered, Jessica is determined to bring the culprit to justice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
We're back in Cabot Cove for this episode, in which Jessica's friend Dr. Seth Hazlitt (William Windom) is facing a malpractice suit. It seems that the family of the late owner of Cabot Cove's computer company died of bleeding ulcers while under Seth's care. However, there is something about this death that doesn't quite add up, and Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is determined to find out what that is--while clearing Seth's name, of course. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Returning to New York after a brief absence, Jessica learns to her chagrin that she has been introduced in cartoon form as "Jessica Fox" ("I'll just follow my nose") in a comic strip specializing in political satire. Unfortunately, "Jessica Fox" has been making a number of libelous statements, prompting several important people to threaten Jessica with legal action. In her determination to take the comic strip's creator to task, Jessica is plunged into a maelstrom of blackmail and murder. Featured in the cast as a ink-stained cartoonist is Mell Lazarus, creator of the popular comic strips "Miss Peach" and "Momma." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Len Cariou makes his first series episode in nearly two years in the recurring role of suave and slightly untrustworthy British secret agent Michael Hagarty (formerly "Haggerty", at least according to the TV Guide listings). This time Hagarty is in Washington at the same time that his old friend Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is also paying a visit. Returning to her hotel room, Jessica discovers that the place has been ransacked and a KGB agent named Yuri Lermentov (Theodore Bikel) is lying dead on the floor. She has also unwittingly come into possession of a list compiled by Lermentov--a list that will result in her own demise unless Hagarty takes a hand in matters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
In the seventh-season finale of Murder She Wrote, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) joins forces with her old friend, Boston PI Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach), to solve a murder. The victim was Nick Culhane (Pat Harrington Jr.) a former writer turned spokesman for a major beer manufacturing firm. It turns out that at the time of his death, Nick had been working on an expose of dirty doings within the powerful brewing family who had hired him! Featured in the cast is former US Postmaster General Anthony Frank...as a mailman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
For the first time in Murder She Wrote history, a murderer whom Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) had turned over to the police in a previous episode makes a comeback appearance. The man in question is Jessica's first publisher (and erstwhile sweetheart!) Preston Giles (Arthur Hill), who had been exposed as the killer in the series' very first episode. Released on parole, Preston goes back to work at a high-level corporation. Although Jessica had hoped to avoid a reunion with Giles, she is unable to do so when he is accused of murdering his company's duplicitous financial controller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Brenda Vaccaro is featured as Sheila Kowalski Finley, a freewheeling society matron who has the cute habit of taking jewelry that doesn't belong to her. When her husband's chauffeur is murdered during a political fundraiser, Sheila is among the suspects, if for no other reason than she was carrying on an affair with the dead man. Inasmuch as she is an old friend of Sheila, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) sets herself to finding out who really "dun it"--and the suspects this time include the chaffeur's OTHER clandestine lover! (Be assured that Sheila's kleptomania will be deftly worked into the plotline). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
While Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is off vacationing somewhere, her nephew Grady (Michael Horton) and his pregnant wife Donna (Debbie Zipp) agree to take care of Jessica's house. Unfortunately, in past episodes Grady could barely take a breath without getting mixed up in murder, and this episode is no exception: the victim is a peg-legged sailor, who is killed smack in the middle of Jessica's living room! As indicated by the episode's title, the key to the mystery is a valuable artifact...and this time it's up to Grady rather than his aunt to crack the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
The sixth-season opener of Murder She Wrote takes place in Athens, where mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is reunited with suave but inherently untrustworthy British secret agent Michael Haggerty (Len Cariou). In order to help Haggerty rescue a kidnapped fellow spy, Jessica reluctantly agrees to pose as Haggerty's wife. Before long, our heroine finds herself up to her neck in peril, especially after the authorities find a dead body in her hotel room. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
The citizens of Cabot Cove are terrified by the arrival of young Irene Terhune (Julian Donald), an apparent practitioner of black magic. Rumors are rife that Irene is actually the ghost of Annie Gorman, a local witch who had supposedly died centuries ago. Inevitably, murder rears it ugly head and Irene (or Annie) is held responsible, but Jessica (Angela Lansbury) refuses to hum along with the old song "It's Witchcraft." And yes, that's future political satirist Bill Maher in the role of Rick Rivers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Buddy Hackett and Steve Lawrence guest star as Murray Gruen and Mack Howard, a famous comedy team that has been dissolved for years because of a bitter feud between the two men. In a true "Romeo and Juliet" situation, Murray's daughter Corrie (Beth Windsor) and Mack's son Kip (a decidedly pre-ER George Clooney) fall in love. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) hopes to use the wedding of Corrie and Kip as an opportunity to patch up the differences between Gruen and Howard--but this proves rather difficult when one of the two aging comics is stabbed to death! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Eugene Roche is cast as veteran reporter Billy Simms, yet another longtime friend of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). While recovering from a heart attack, Billy expresses the wish that something very, very bad would happen to the slimy publisher who took over Billy's former newspaper and turned it into a trashy tabloid. Sure enough, the publisher is murdered, casting suspicion not only on Billy but also Jessica, whose reputation had recently been slimed by the newspaper. Gretchen Corbett delivers a sharply honed performance as aggressive police investigator Lt. Caruso. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Over the protests of several local residents, shady tycoon Henderson Wheatley (John Ericson) intends to build a high-rise hotel in Cabot Cove. During excavation, a set of bones comes to surface, supposedly belonging to Revolutionary war hero Joshua Peabody. Almost immediately, those who oppose the hotel insist that the land be consecrated as a national monument, while others insist that those aren't Peabody's bones at all. Whatever the case, it soon develops that the centuries-old remains are those of a murder victim--and before long, Wheatley himself is murdered. William Windom makes his first series appearance as Dr. Seth Hazlitt, an old friend of heroine Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury)...and a likely suspect in the killing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Celebrated Broadway musical star Vivian Blaine is cast as--what else?--a celebrated Broadway musical star, named Rita Bristol. Headling a new production costarring her daughter Patti (Lorna Luft) and produced by her son Barry (Gregg Henry), Rita is among those expressing concern when an aspiring actress is seriously wounded by an apparent mugger. Likewise on the scene is Jessica (Angela Lansbury), who suspects that the mugging is a set-up job--and who ends up going into her sleuth act when a murder occurs. Also on the call-sheet in this episode are a couple of show-biz newcomers named Milton Berle and Robert Morse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Richard MacKenzie makes a return visit in the role of Archie Bunker's black-sheep brother, Fred (originally called Alfred in the 1978 episode "Archie's Brother"). Still hoping for a reconciliation with Archie, Alfred arrives at the Bunker household with his new bride, Katherine (Elissa Leeds), in tow. But this occasion makes Archie madder than ever -- Katherine is barely 18 years old. Scripted by Bob Schiller and Bob Weisskopf, "The Return of Archie's Brother" originally aired on March 11, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
