John Hoyt Movies

Though he struck out rather spectacularly during his first visit to the Shady Rest, railroad troubleshooter Homer Bedloe (Charles Lane) has returned with a new scheme to put the Hooterville Cannonball out of commission. This time, Bedloe's fiendish plot involves a pair of VIPs, one of whom is played by veteran movie heavy John Hoyt, who later gained sitcom fame as the foxy grandpa on Gimme a Break. This episode has gained a latter-day prominence as being the first sitcom offering by the CBS network after its four-day coverage of the JFK assassination. Not surprisingly, the ratings were better than usual; viewers stunned by the tragedy of the previous weekend were certainly in the mood to forget about their troubles and have a good laugh! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Seriously injured in a fall, Hoss Cartwright is in desperate need of medical attention. Alas, the only available doctor is a man named Jones (DeForest Kelley), who has been sentenced to hang for murder. Ben Cartwright's pleas to Judge Grant (John Hoyt) to temporarily release Dr. Jones so that he can tend to Hoss' injuries fall upon deaf ears; after all, it was Grant's wife who was murdered by the condemned man. Rounding out the supporting cast are Lisabeth Hush as Karen Jones and Walter Sande as the Sheriff. Written by Frank Chase and Norman Jacobs, "The Decision" first aired on December 16, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While searching for an accused murderer named Ahab Tyson (George Matthews), Paladin (Richard Boone) is saddled with an unsolicited travelling companion, a religious zealot named Stryker (John Hoyt). It seems that Stryker's younger brother was killed by Tyson years earlier, and the rancher is determined to exact the traditional Old Testament "eye for an eye" punishment upon the fugitive. It now falls to Paladin to safely escort Tyson to trial without himself falling victim to Stryker's Biblical wrath. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Bart (Jack Kelly) and crooked peddler Cannonbaugh (John Dehner) have been captured by the same hostile tribe from whom Cannonbaugh had kidnapped the Indian girl Tawney (Sharon Hugueny). In order to secure his release, the peddler convinces the Indian chief to accept a "magic" necklace, which will render him impervious to gunshot wounds. Unfortunately, the chief now feels emboldened to attack a nearby Army fort--and unless Bart and Tawny act quickly, every man, woman and child in the fort will be massacred before the day is done. A young Chad Everett plays a minor role in this final episode of Maverick's fourth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Four of Maverick concludes with the series' only two-part episode. In Part One, Bart (Jack Kelly) purchases a wagonload of merchandise sight unseen from silver-tongued peddler Luther Cannonbaugh (John Dehner). Bart's plan to sell the merchandise at a nearby Army post hits a snag when he peeks into the wagon and finds a large supply of illegal liquor--as well as a bound and gagged Indian girl named Tawney (Sharon Hugueny). In his efforts to keep himself out of prison and avoid an all-out Indian war, Bart ends up captured by Tawney's tribe. Also held captive is the redoubtable Mr. Cannonbaugh, who thinks he has devised a foolproof scheme to save himself and Bart from being killed...and he's just the fool to prove it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally titled "Nobody Here but Us Martians," this darkly comic Twilight Zone episode was a rewrite of (and vast improvement upon) an unfilmed Rod Serling script from 1958, "The Night of the Big Rain." Having spotted what they think is a UFO, two highway patrolmen converge upon a roadside diner, where an interesting cross-section of humanity has gathered. The patrolmen plant the suggestion that one of the patrons is actually a "spy" from another planet, a suggestion scoffed at by such likely suspects as taciturn Mr. Ross (John Hoyt) and scraggly vagabond Avery (Jack Elam). The check-checkmate ending is one of the series' most memorable, thanks to the skillful underplaying of Barney Phillips as the diner's sarcastic counterman. "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" first aired May 26, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is a rebellious slave purchased by Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), owner of a school for gladiators. For the entertainment of corrupt Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Batiatus' gladiators are to stage a fight to the death. On the night before the event, the enslaved trainees are "rewarded" with female companionship. Spartacus' companion for the evening is Varinia (Jean Simmons), a slave from Brittania. When Spartacus later learns that Varinia has been sold to Crassus, he leads 78 fellow gladiators in revolt. Word of the rebellion spreads like wildfire, and soon Spartacus' army numbers in the hundreds. Escaping to join his cause is Varinia, who has fallen in love with Spartacus, and another of Crassus' house slaves, the sensitive Antoninus (Tony Curtis). The revolt becomes the principal cog in the wheel of a political struggle between Crassus and a more temperate senator named Gracchus (Charles Laughton). Anthony Mann was the original director of Spartacus, eventually replaced by Stanley Kubrick, who'd previously guided Douglas through Paths of Glory. The film received 4 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Ustinov. A crucial scene between Olivier and Curtis, removed from the 1967 reissue because of its subtle homosexual implications, was restored in 1991, with a newly recorded soundtrack featuring Curtis as his younger self and Anthony Hopkins standing in for the deceased Olivier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The scene is the magnificent but isolated home of scientist Dr. Loren (John Hoyt), his wife (Irene Tedrow), and their attractive young daughter Jana (Inger Stevens). To insulate himself from the world, Dr. Loren has created a household staff of robots, who cater to the Lorens' every whim. Eventually, Jana becomes fed up with her sheltered existence and demands that Dr. Loren dismantle all of his robots -- something which, for reasons made painfully clear in the episode's second act, he cannot bring himself to do. Written by Rod Serling, "The Lateness of the Hour" was the first of six Twilight Zone episodes to be shot on videotape, as part of an overall CBS economy drive. The episode originally aired December 2, 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Action director John Sturges had a few good films behind him (Bad Day at Black Rock, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral) and a few more to come (The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven) when he put together this colorful story of wartime romance. In addition to his talents as a director, this saga of an American Captain stationed with his Allied command in Burma during World War II is helped by a stellar cast. Frank Sinatra is Captain Tom Reynolds who is supposed to be battling the Japanese in Burma but gets side-tracked when his unit and his Kachin allies are attacked by Chiang Kai-shek's forces. In supporting roles are Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen (about to make his mark on the big screen), Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Brian Donlevy, and several others. After General Chiang's attack, Captain Reynolds leads the remainder of his men into Nationalist Chinese territory for a fast retaliation -- basically a wholesale slaughter. He is called on the carpet for this action later, and his would-be love, Carla Vesari (Lollobrigida) is suddenly faced with a decision to stay with her current man (Paul Heinreid) or take off for the unknown USA with the American Captain. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Conflicting views on how to handle juvenile delinquents are not convincingly brought across in this teen melodrama by Edward Cahn. Colonel Walton (John Hoyt) is the repressive head of an institution for young male juvenile delinquents. Responsibility for the deaths of two teens is indirectly laid on Walton's doorstep, and he is replaced by liberal-minded Dr. Paul Furman (Jerome Thor). Furman throws out the old rule book when he decides to change the attitude to the young men by housing female delinquents in the prison. Although warned against this action by a matron and the former warden, Furman goes ahead with his plan. The result is friction between two of the young men over two of the women, and an attempted rape, putting Furman's views and control in jeopardy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Perry (Raymond Burr) is suspicious when Rhoda Reynolds (Christine White) shows up in his office to ask advice on the legality of marriage, claiming she is doing so on behalf of "friends." As it turns out, Rhoda is being blackmailed by her shifty ex-husband Arthur Kane (Michael Emmet). When Kane is murdered, everyone is convinced that Rhoda is the guilty party--including Rhoda, who recalls striking him with a blunt object before rushing out of his apartment. Convinced that Rhoda is innocent, Perry tries to get at the truth by meticulously reconstructing the crime in the courtroom, with an alarm clock and a doorbell as key props. This episode is based on a 1934 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner, which was previously adapted as a theatrical feature in 1935 with Warren William as Mason--and a pre-stardom Errol Flynn as the murder victim! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Egged on by the irksome Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond), Wally (Tony Dow) insists upon being allowed to pick out his own new suit for an upcoming school dance. Reluctantly, Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June (Barbara Billingsley) allow him to do so. Sure enough, when Wally comes back from the clothing store, he's carrying a plaid, multi-pocketed monstrosity...and no power on Earth can persuade him to return it! (Too bad this episode was filmed in 1958: Had Wally waited eight more years or so, that suit would have been back in style.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fittingly directed by Illinois native and bad-guy filmmaker Don Siegel, this action-packed film stars Mickey Rooney as the unflinching, trigger-happy member of the infamous Dillinger gang that besieged the Midwest circa 1933. Rooney is Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis and Carolyn Jones his gun moll, Sue, in this fictionalized tale of a scrawny street tough turned psychotic gangster. After being released from prison, Nelson goes to work for mob boss Rocca (Ted De Corsia), who eventually recognizes that a madman is in his service and turns him in to the cops. Managing to elude capture, Nelson kills Rocca and takes Sue with him. He then joins Dillinger's gang in a series of savage robberies, obliterating anyone who gets in his way. Inevitably, FBI agents ambush and injure Nelson, who finally admits his own ruthlessness to himself and Sue, conceding that he would even murder children if necessary. He orders Sue to kill him before he commits any more savage acts. This is a coarse and deliberately aggressive film, distinguished by Rooney's frenzied performance as an unruly and deranged criminal. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide