Victor Izay Movies
- 1974
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
Actor/auteur Tom Laughlin created the character of Billy Jack in the motorcycle flick The Born Losers. Wandering Christlike through the Southwest, Native American Vietnam veteran Billy Jack -- soft-spoken, but well-versed in martial arts -- champions the cause of a progressive school run by Jean Roberts (Delores Taylor, Laughlin's real-life wife). The bigoted white townsfolk don't cotton to Jean's minority-group students, so they do everything they can to humiliate and physically abuse the kids. When one of her charges is cruelly coated with white flour, Billy Jack goes berserk. Thus begins an orgy of self-righteous violence, culminating with our hero being hunted down on a murder charge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, (more)
Self-made low-budget maven Theodore V. Mikels -- the brains behind such bottom-bill drive-in fare as The Corpse Grinders -- shot much of this tediously tacky mess (also known as Female Plasma Suckers) at his castle-like mansion in California. The castle serves as the base of operations for the lascivious witch queen Mara (the exotic Lila Zaborin) and her coven of curvaceous followers, whose weekend pastimes include, among other things, human sacrifices. The title would seem to suggest a kinky good time for Z-movie buffs, but this one is a real groaner, with static shots, fuzzy post-synched sound and shabby lighting. (Judging by those castle digs, Mikels should have been able to afford better equipment.) The end result is an exploitation movie that doesn't bother to exploit anything. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Humorist Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, makes his third Bonanza appearance, this time in the person of actor Ken Howard (fresh from his Broadway and Hollywood triumph in the musical 1776). As editor of the Virginia City Enterprise, Clemens is determined to prove that a government assayer is guilty of fraud and murder. Because he won't reveal his source in court, Clemens loses a libel suit, whereupon he enlists the aid of Ben and Joe Cartwright to bring the villain (who in the interim has committed another killing) to justice. The episode's closing scene, involving an outraged lady stagecoach passenger, is priceless. The supporting cast includes Dana Elcar as Merrick, Phil Kenneally as McNabb, Walter Burke as Campbell, Staats Cotsworth as Judge Hale, Richard Bull as Goodman, and Stacy Keach Sr. as Lawyer Prentiss. Written by Stanley Roberts, "The 26th Grave" was the first Bonanza episode to be filmed for the series' fourteenth season, but was shown as the eighth installment on October 31, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1965
TV certainly makes strange bedfellows, as witness this Branded episode featuring veteran film star Pat O'Brien and recording entrepeneur Dick Clark as those colorful 19th century showmen P.T. Barnum and J.A. Bailey! Angrily turning down Barnum's offer to showcase him as "the greatest coward on earth" in a new Wild West show, Jason McCord (Chuck Connors)--who'd met P.T. when he won a $50 prize by defeating a circus strong man--learns that his gesture is futile, since Barnum intends upon using McCord's name whether he gets permission or not. In order to prevent this from happening, Jason somehow stage-manages a merger between Barnum and his up-and-coming rival "J.A." (whose last name is not revealed until the end of the episode, as if there was any doubt!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Patricia Medina guest stars as Dr. Karen Miller, who has become an outcast on the frontier by virtue of her profession and her foreign birthplace. During a diptheria epidemic, Dr. Miller numbers among her patients another "outcast", namely ex-Army officer Jason McCord (Chuck Connors). As Jason struggles to recover from his illness, he decides to help Dr. Miller gain acceptance from the hostile settlers by acting as guinea pig for a new, untested serum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Southern California high school sweethearts Tom Pace and Holland are forbidden to be with each other, but through clandestine meetings continue their romance and end up marrying each other. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1972
Dr. Brackett (Robert Fuller suspects that a boy whom the paramedics have rescued from a deep hole is the victim of child abuse. The problem now is to convince the Court, a task made difficult by the hotshot attorney (Richard Jaeckel) hired by the boys' parents. Meanwhile, the station adopts a stray dog named Boot, who turns out to be a literal lifesaver. John Travolta makes his first network TV appearance as an imperiled hiker in this episode . ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Two gunshot victims are down in a liquor-store robbery, and the store owner (Victor Izay) is consumed by guilt over being forced to shoot the robber. As the paramedics deal with this crisis, Dr. Early has his hands full with a wino (Royal Dano) suffering from a particularly nasty case of "the shakes." Elsewhere, a hippie is bitten by a black widow spider; a pipefitter is trapped in a chemical plant accident; and a dog proves not to be the "best friend" of a female patient. And in less traumatic subplot, paramedic Johnny Gage (Randolph Mantooth) develops a hankering for a pretty student nurse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When a pair of ultra-competitive clerks at a discount super store discovers that a beautiful, newly-transferred cashier has a reputation for only dating employees who have won the coveted Employee of the Month award, their desperate efforts to earn the title and get the girl lead to a hilarious war of one-upmanship in this winner-takes-all comedy starring Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, and Dax Shepard. Zack Bradley (Cook) and Vince Downey (Shepard) have been working at the cavernous Super Club for ten years and counting, but while the ambitious Vince has advanced to the position of head cashier and landed 17 consecutive "E of M" awards, laid-back Zack is content to simply sit back and enjoy the company of his fellow box boys. Longtime rivals whose conflicting attitudes as to what constitutes success has led to more than a few conflicts, Vince and Zack find their bitter battle for Super Club supremacy coming to a head when attractive new employee Amy (Simpson) transfers over from another store. When word quickly spreads that Amy only has eyes for the cream of the crop, slacker Zack attempts to clean up his act and break free from his box boy roots while uptight Vince tries to impress by maintaining his top dog position and keep cool in the face of competition. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, (more)
- 1977
Though not readily apparent, Flight to Holocaust is the feature-length pilot film for a potential TV series. Crashing into the side of a high-rise building, an airplane is precariously wedged in the structure's 20th floor. Dispatched to rescue the survivors are a team of acrobatic troubleshooters, played by female circus performer Fawne Harriman and combat veterans Chris Mitchum, Patrick Wayne, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Paul Williams. As can be gathered by a perusal of the cast list, the film's gimmick was the presence of three second-generation Hollywood stars. After the initial telecast of Flight to Holocaust on March 27, 1977, NBC invited viewers to mail in their opinions of the film. Evidently the verdict was unanimous, since no weekly series resulted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Rock & roll mayhem characterizes this swinging 1960s musical that chronicles the adventures of a free-wheeling draft dodger who teams up with a biker and his movie-star-wannabe girl friend and heads for Tinseltown. Once there, the biker goes to meet his sister-the-go-go girl and her boss at the local disco. The manager approves of the aspiring starlet's moves and decides he will replace his drug-addicted lead dancer with her. Meanwhile, a club janitor learns that the biker, the club owner and another are murderous dope pushers. This causes trouble for the actress and the draft dodger. After extricating themselves from danger, the evader decides that he must screw up his courage and do his patriotic duty. Songs include: "Do You Want to Laugh or Cry?" "Hello, Michelle," "One Good Time, One Place," "You Gotta Come Down," "Cowboy Santa," "Minnie Shimmy" and "Strange Things." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
James Arness made his first appearance as Marshal Matt Dillon in eight years in the 1993 TV movie Gunsmoke: The Long Ride. Inasmuch as Amanda Blake (Kitty) and Milburn Stone (Doc) had passed on, and Dennis Weaver was disinclined to revive the role of Chester, big Jim pretty much goes it alone in this one. The plot is set in motion by a trio of murderous robbers. Matt Dillon chases after the threesome, while he in turn is being chased by a posse who thinks that Matt is the gang's boss. Featured in the cast are James Brolin as a helpful frontiersmen, and Ali McGraw as "Uncle" Jane Merkel (we're not about to explain that one). Gunsmoke: The Long Ride was originally telecast May 8, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Arness, James Brolin, (more)
- 1972
The police are stymied by a lack of witnesses and clues as they investigate the murder of a pretty coed in San Francisco park. Hoping to arouse the conscience of The Public, Ironside (Raymond Burr) appears on an all-night TV debate show, begging people to come forward with any information that might help collar the killer. The Chief hopes that he can either panic the perpetrator into tipping his hand, or play for time until his assistant Ed Brown (Don Galloway) can ferret out the one clue that will crack the case. Featured in the cast is a young Ed Begley Jr. (who undoubtedly was bicycling to the studio even back in those pre-Global Warming days). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Journalist Lawrence Vander (Paul Lambert) is murdered during a weekend retreat for the employees of Space Associates Ltd, a major defense contractor. It turns out that Vander was trying to track down ex-Nazi Max Keinermann, who may be working for Space Associates under an alias.. Accused of the murder is Harlan Merill (Dick Foran), who has a rather unsavory past of his own. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) dedicates himself to clearing Merrill's name--actually two names, since he is also using an alias--and solving the murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- PG
In this low-budget horror outing, a trio of druggie college students freak out when they see their own deaths. Things get even wilder when they actually begin dying. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This laughably-bad mess stars ubiquitous "Z"-movie journeyman John Carradine as Dr. DeMarco, a loony scientist whose original concept to build a humanoid robot for space missions is fouled somewhat by his choice of a psycho-killer's brain for his first subject. Instead of doing the sensible thing and retiring from the mad-doc profession, DeMarco chooses instead to build another robot to hunt down the last one. His efforts are only slightly hindered by a moronic CIA investigation (led by a hung-over Wendell Corey, in his final screen role) and the meddling of a cabal of communist spies under the direction of slinky dragon-lady Tura Satana (of Russ Meyer's Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!), apparently for the purpose of exploiting the solar-powered astro-man for military reasons. When the doc's lovely former lab assistant (she's since been replaced by a leering hunchback) is attacked by the first robot, he loses his solar cell and narrowly escapes destruction (by holding a flashlight to his head!), but in his hurried exit he leads the CIA right back to DeMarco's lab, where most of the surviving cast members bump each other off. Taking into account the obvious goofy editing (characters are seen standing around waiting for the shot to end) and abominable performances all around, director Ted V. Mikels (of the "Point-N-Shoot" school of filmmaking) would later achieve such cinematic heights as The Corpse Grinders and Blood Orgy of the She-Devils. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendell Corey, John Carradine, (more)
After the intense bloodshed of The Wild Bunch (1969), this comic western fable took the opposite approach to director Sam Peckinpah's continuing examination of the end of the West. Left for dead by a couple of lizard-slaughtering desperados in the middle of the desert, prospector Cable Hogue (Jason Robards) is saved by his unexpected discovery of water "where there wasn't any." Hogue turns the water hole, felicitously located near a stagecoach route, into a thriving business, creating a rest stop for a never-ending series of parched travelers. On his occasional trips to the closest town, he meets chipper prostitute Hildy (Stella Stevens), who joins him in his oasis, completing Hogue's little paradise. But even though Hogue may be able to succeed and avenge himself against his original attackers, there is one thing that he cannot stop: progress. Completed before The Wild Bunch was released, and replete with comical and even musical interludes, Peckinpah's gently picaresque telling of Hogue's rise and fall stands in distinct contrast to the visual violence of its predecessor. The underlying message about the cost of modernity, however, equals The Wild Bunch in seriousness. The callous randomness of Hogue's fate is as shocking as the Bunch's final blaze of glory; as in Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller from the same period, a tool of "civilization" provokes a most uncivilized end for an Old West dreamer. Although the film was as light-hearted in approach as the 1969 smash hit revisionist western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Warner Bros. mishandled the release and it did barely any business; Peckinpah returned to his trademark gore in his next film, the controversial Straw Dogs (1971). Still, The Ballad of Cable Hogue is less an anomaly for a master of violence than an ironically charming chapter in Peckinpah's career-long elegy to the western. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Robards, Jr., Stella Stevens, (more)
- 1976
Doing his best to control his jealousy, Jim (James Garner) agrees to do a job for Beth's last boyfriend Dave Delaroux (John Saxon). Jim's assignment is to check up on a suspicious financial transaction, tied in with the disappearance of some potentially incrimimnating checks. As the story progresses, it appears that Delaroux himself may be a criminal--but thanks to some clever canoodling, it is Jim who is set up to take the fall, with Beth (Gretchen Corbett) helpless to intervene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- R
Single Girls was also released as Private School. When that didn't work, it was shipped out as Bloody Friday, which pretty much summed things up. The late Claudia Jennings costars in this R-rated farrago, which deals with a group of sex-obsessed swingers who go on a Carribean holiday-cum-orgy. The revellers eventually tire of trading partners and thinking up new positions, so they turn to murder. "Murder" is right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
In one of his first acting roles, Arnold Schwarzenegger is typecast as professional bodybuilder Josef Schmidt. Anticipating Arnold's earliest, villainous film appearances, Schmidt is dangerously sensitive to criticism of his chosen profession--a sensitivity that leads inexorably to murder. Who'd have thought back in 1977 that Schwarzenegger would one day forsake the Streets of San Francisco to take up residence in the gubernatorial mansion in Sacramento? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- PG
After Billy Jack belatedly became a box-office smash two years after its original release and The Born Losers, the biker film in which Tom Laughlin created the Billy Jack character, had enjoyed a highly successful re-release, Tom Laughlin brought everyone's favorite martial arts hero turned Native American mystic back to the screen for a third go-round in The Trial of Billy Jack. As Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) awaits trial for murder, Jean Roberts (Delores Taylor) continues to operate her "Freedom School" on an Indian reservation, where the student-operated television station comes under fire for airing a series of hard-hitting political exposes (just how an alternative school run by threadbare hippies obtained cameras, broadcasting equipment and an FCC license is not explained here). The attempts to silence the student journalists and run Billy Jack out of town lead to a deadly confrontation between the kids and the National Guard. Tom Laughlin wrote and directed The Trial of Billy Jack, though on-screen credit is given to his son, Frank Laughlin; similarly, Laughlin also directed the first two films under the name T.C. Frank. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, (more)
- 1973
In the first half of The Waltons' two-part Season One finale (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) nervously looks forward to her first Easter dance. But her anticpation of this momentous event is eclipsed by a potential tragedy in the Walton household: Olivia (Michael Learned) has been stricken with polio. Though Dr. Vance grimly predicts that Olivia will never walk again, John-Boy (Richard Thomas) refuses to give up hope, and embarks upon a curious odyssey in desperate search of a miracle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Although she is becoming increasingly infirm and hard of hearing, Grandma Walton (Ellen Corby) stubbornly refuses to see a doctor. Grandma's intractability is more or less mirrored by 14-year-old Mary Ellen Walton (Judy Norton-Taylor), who wakes up one morning determined never again to be treated like a child. Unfortunately, Mary Ellen's declaration of independence may have negative results when she falls in love with a much-older college boy (James Carroll Jordan). The episode's closing narration clues us in to what the future holds in store for Mary Ellen--information which completely contradicts what will actually occur in such later Waltons episodes and TV-movies like Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Disaster strikes the Walton family when their house is gutted by a raging fire. While the neighbors help John (Ralph Waite) rebuild, Olivia (Michael Learned) arranges for several neighbors to shelter her children in the interim, causing a great deal of friction between the younger Waltons and their temporary "families." Meanwhile, John-Boy (Richard Thomas) despairs over the possibility that his nearly-completed novel has gone up in smoke--and is wracked with guilt over the likelihood that he himself caused the fire. This is the first half of a two-part story, originally telecast as a single two-hour episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
