David Levinson Movies

The first season of The Invisible Man begins as lifelong criminal and chiseler Darien Fawkes (Vincent Ventresca), facing life imprisonment courtesy of the "three strikes you're out" law, agrees to be paroled in the custody of his scientist brother Kevin (David Burke), who is conducting secret invisibility experiments on behalf of a shadowy (and perennially underfunded) government agency called--well, The Agency. No sooner has Kevin planted a quicksilver-filled "invisibility gland" in Darien's neck than terrorists burst in and murder the hapless scientist. As a result, Darien is left with the awkward gland permanently grafted to his person, enabling him to disappear from view whenever he becomes terribly frightened (which is often!). Unfortunately, Darien now faces the likelihood of succumbing to "Quicksilver Madness" unless he is regular injected with a temporary antidote by gorgeous government scientist Claire Keeply, aka The Keeper (Shannon Kenny). Thus, Darien is in no position to refuse an offer from The Agency's head man The Official (Eddie Jones) to use his invisibility on behalf of the United States' counterespionage activities--if he had refused, the antidote doses would have been immediately cut off (and of course there would have been no series). In the course of Season One, reluctant spy Darien is teamed with slovenly, neurotic veteran agent Bobby Howes (Paul Ben-Victor) and is regularly menaced by the sinister Chrysalis organization, whose minions include terrorists Arnaud DeThiel (Joel Bissonette) and Jarod Stark (Spencer Garrett). Darien also faces the danger of sudden exposure whenever a severe change in temperature renders him visible at the most inopportune moments. Season highlights included the poignant episode "Ralph", in which Darien pretends to be the imaginary friend of a little girl traumatized by witness an assassination; "Impetus", wherein Darien's troubles are doubled when he contacts a disease that causes rapid aging; "Liberty and Larceny", guest-starring Priscilla Barnes as Darien's criminal mentor Liz, who hopes to use his invisibility to her advantage; and "Ghost of a Chance" in which Darien poses as a ghost in order to persuade a South American prime minister to vote against a dangerous weapons system--only to face extermination at the hands of a real ghost! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV effort, a pair of thrillseekers become lovers with a penchant for high-risk erotic games. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

The fifth and final season of Hart to Hart is something of a retrospective: "Two Harts are Better Than One finds millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his journalist wife Jennifer (Stefanie Powers) recalling the day they first met--and also recall how they were nearly killed on the occasion! As the season rolls on, the Harts encounter danger at a polo game and a fox hunt; Jonathan unwittingly boards a fighter jet triggered to explode in midair, and later has a slightly less lethal game of doubles with tennis legend Martina Navratilova (in another episode, Tai Babilonia skates in for a cameo role); a Grecian vacation is "highlighted" by a deadly cross-country car race; a stopover in Rhodes involves the Harts with homicidal smugglers; and Ray Milland returns as Jennifer's father Stephen Edwards, this time the target of extermination by a nutcase claiming to be his long-lost illegitimate daughter. The series' 100th episode finds Jennifer hiding in a convent to avoid being offed by gangsters; the following week she barely has time to catch her breath when she is stalked by a demented stage manager during a charity stage show. The Harts' loyal chauffeur-protecter Max (Lionel Stander) is spotlighted in an episode in which he falls for a victimized pensioner, played by Dorothy Lamour. And still another movie great, June Allyson, plays a penpal of Max who is deluded into thinking the old reprobate is a millionaire. A decade after its cancellation in 1984, Hart to Hart would return in the form of eighth feature-length TV specials. The last of the original series' hour-long episodes, "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch", guest stars Patrick MacNee in the story of a 20 million dollar jewel theft--and guess which couple finds themselves smack in the middle of the situation? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV suspenser stars Suzanne Pleshette as famous soap opera writer Carla Webber. Carla turns detective when the cast members of her program begin dying under mysterious circumstances. Barry Newman plays the investigating detective, while Robert Vaughn and Patrick O'Neal are special guest suspects. The film's principal attraction (and a hardly unexpected one) is the presence in the supporting cast of then-current soap opera stars: All My Children's Peter Bergman, General Hospital's Stuart Damon and Robin Mattson, Ryan's Hope's John Gabriel, and One Life to Live's Robert S. Woods. Fantasies was first networkcast January 18, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Three of Hart to Hart begins with the emphasis on Max (Lionel Stander), the ratchet-voiced chauffeur and general factotum of millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his globetrotting journalist wife Jennifer Hart (Stefanie Powers). An amateur horticulturalist, Max creates a rose which he names after Jennifer--but, as usual, the situation becomes "guns and roses" thanks to a homicidal flower expert. Later in the season, the Harts go on one of those vacations which they always hope will take them far, far away from murder and mayhem; alas, after their car breaks down in Acapulco, the couple is swiftly embroiled in a plot to assassinate a political leader. Still later the couple finds themselves in a variation on Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, which not only boasts a nifty whodunit plotline, but also accommodates guest appearances by Carol Lynley, Bernie Kopell (The Love Boat), Ron Glass (Barney Miller), David Doyle (Charlie's Angels and even Florence Henderson! And speak of guest stars: Magician Harry Blackstone does a villainous turn in an episode aptly titled "Murder Up Their Sleeve"; a pre-"Freddie Krueger" Robert Englund shows up in a story involving a glamous singer and a costume made of stolen jewels; future movie headliner Ed Harris is a key figure in an episode in which Jonathan is blinded by a psycho specializing in using poisonous chemicals to kill his victims; and Ray Milland makes his first appearance as Jennifer's father in an adventure wherein "daddy" turns out to have quite a checkered past. Later episodes involve a defecting Russian ballerina, a demented Souther Belle, dirty work in the vineyards of Jonathan's winery, a misdelivered suit leading to the proverbial body in the hotel room, a packet of valuable baseball cards which almost spells three outs for Jonathan and Jennifer. And in Hart to Hart's third-season finale, Jonathan and Jennifer are sucked up in an elaborate insurance fraud in which phony car accidents result in very real deaths. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No sooner have millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his journalist wife Jennifer (Stefanie Powers) have been introduced in the feature-length pilot episode of Hart to Hart than the couple is indulging in their favorite hobby, amateur sleuthing; it's all for a good cause of course, inasmuch as the Harts are hoping to solve the murder of an old friend at a so-called health spa. One week after the pilot aired on ABC, the Hart to Hart series proper got under way with its first 22 episodes. Frequently in harm's way during this inaugural season is the glamorous Jennifer Hart, who in the official season opener is targeted for death by a person claiming to be her cousin; a few weeks later, a looney lady (Kathleen Lloyd) who has long fantasized about being Jennifer decides to eliminate the "original"; and further down the line, Jennifer unwittingly signs her own death warrant when she commissions a portrait of herself. Both Jennifer and Jonathan are neck-deep in peril on several occasions, usually when they try to get away for a bit of rest and relaxation: for example, a vacation in Mexico goes sour when the Harts find themselves fugitives from both the local constabulary and a gang of drug dealers; a skiing weekend in Vail goes downhill when Jonathan and Jennifer are marked for death by electrocution; and a luxury cruise culminates with the Harts stuck in the middle of a blood feud between two rival teams of jewel thieves! And on separate occasions, an antique auto and a Buddha statue plunge the protagonists into the world of international espionage. In other adventures, the Harts adopt clever disguises to hunt down a killer of prostitutes; Madelyn Rhue guest stars as the latest girlfriend of the Harts' crusty chauffeur Max (Lionel Stander), and like most of Max's amours she turns out to be a crook; Jonathan is forced into a "duel a mort" with a sadistic fencing champ; the couple's pet dog Freeway dashes off to parts unknown with vital murder evidence clamped between his teeth; and a psychic employee of Hart industries bids fair to send Jonathan and Jennifer to the next world a bit ahead of schedule. Somehow or other, Jonathan and Jennifer survive to appear in the season finale, which concerns a scheming playboy who literally "plays" people like chess pieces. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Angels find themselves the apparent targets of an unknown assassin. To find out the reason, and to flush out their would-be murderer, our heroines pretend that Sabrina (Kate Jackson) was killed during the attempt on her life. Alas, by the time the Angels realize that the killer's real target is their boss, Charlie Townsend, they've managed to entrap themselves in Charlie's mansion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Of the two rape-oriented TV movies of the 1973-74 season, A Case of Rape, first telecast February 20, 1974, is far and away the finer film (the other was the compelling but contrived Cry Rape). Elizabeth Montgomery stars as a housewife who is sexually assaulted not once but twice by a so-called family friend (Cliff Potts). The rape is only the beginning of a long cycle of humiliation and self-doubt: the investigating police are dismissive of Montgomery's charges, the female defense attorney (Rosemary Murphy) tries to put the victim on trial, and Montgomery's reputation and marriage (to Ronny Cox) are irrevocably damaged. Though things don't go well for her in the courtroom, Montgomery emerges from the experience a stronger and more self-reliant person, unwilling to allow herself to be destroyed by outside influences. Don't miss the final confrontation between raper and rapist after the trial--an underplayed but bone-chilling vignette. Had not Cicely Tyson sewn up the Emmy with The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Elizabeth Montgomery would certainly have copped the prize with A Case of Rape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Priest Killer was the second TV pilot film starring George Kennedy as Sarge, a cop-turned-priest-turned-amateur-cop (the first was The Badge or the Cross). This second effort served as the first 2-hour episode of the Sarge series proper on September 14, 1971. The case at hand: an unknown assassin is going around killing Catholic priests for no discernible reason. Sarge tries to solve the mystery, but finds he's shorthanded. He turns to another TV detective, Robert Ironside (Raymond Burr) for help--a rare instance of a "crossover" in a TV movie, and one carefully calculated to pump up the ratings of Sarge, which needed all the pumping it could get. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

If nothing else, this episode proves that Beaver (Jerry Mathers) no longer regards girls as "creepy." With the big eighth grade dance rapidly approaching, Beaver accepts the invitation to escort pretty Peggy McIntosh (played by Veronica Cartwright, who used to be Violet Rutherford a few seasons back). The fun begins when Beav tries to weasel out of his commitment to Peggy when another girl, Melinda Nielson (Charla Doherty), asks to be his date for the very same dance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide