Rick Jason Movies

Rob Lowe stars in this screwball comedy as Richard Dice, the college dropout who comes back home to St. Augustine, Florida to get his act together. He is selected for jury duty and falls for the defendant Molly Gilbert (Colleen Camp), a young woman he later recognizes as his grade-school sweetheart. Richard tries to gather the evidence that will lead to her acquittal. He is not alone in his pursuit of an elusive audiotape that recorded the murder for which Molly is on trial. Jessica James plays Richard's mother, who is courted by Freddie Boneflecker (Rick Jason). Johnny Cash sings some tunes co-written with director Peter Bogdanovich. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Blue Moon's daffy secretary Agnes Dipesto (Allyce Beasley) has won a free trip on a "mystery" train, in which she and the other passengers participate in solving a mystery. While bidding Agnes goodbye, her bosses David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) end up trapped on the train themselves. As usual, wherever David and Maddie go, a genuine mystery is sure to follow--and before long, one of the passengers, famed mystery writer J.B. Hartland (Rick Jason) turns up murdered! Among the guest stars is the ubiquitous Vincent Schiavelli, who at the time this episode originally aired was the husband of series regular Allyce Beasley). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This attenuated adaptation of Helen Van Slyke's novel stars Donna Reed (her first TV appearance in 12 years) as a widow with financial and domestic problems. Her adult daughter Stephanie Zimbalist has turned to drugs; her sons Michael Shannon and Tim Hutton have less severe but no less time-consuming personal difficulties; and her mother Mildred Dunnock is aloof and remonstrative. In addition, Reed is torn between two loves: old flame Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and doctor John Phillip Law, who is young enough to be her son. The above-mentioned plot contrivances would seem to be sufficient to fill the four hours (and two parts) of The Best Place to Be several times over; still, there's time enough left over for a tragedy to strike Reed's family before she finally settles down with the elder Zimbalist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two interesting figures in offbeat cinema -- director Matt Cimber (who was married to Jayne Mansfield and directed her final film before going on to a handful of expressive blaxploitation efforts) and screenwriter Robert Thom (who wrote Wild in the Streets and Bloody Mama) -- teamed up for this unusual portrait of one woman's descent into madness. Molly (Millie Perkins) is a woman who is haunted by vivid memories of abuse and molestation at the hands of her father, who was a ship's captain; now middle-aged, Molly is obsessed by the ocean and images associated with pirates and sailing lore, which fill her with both fascination and loathing. Molly dotes on her young nephews (Jean Pierre Camps and Mark Livingston) and often spins tall tales for them in which her father is a noble hero, but her sister, Cathy (Vanessa Brown), is not comfortable with her presence, and soon the boys are old enough to spend their time elsewhere. Single and lonely, Molly longs for a man, and is openly attracted to strong, burly types, but at the same time she bears a deep hatred for them, and sometimes murders and dismembers the men she lures into her home. However, given Molly's penchant for fantasy, how much of her story is real, and how much is the product of her twisted imagination? Shot in 1971 but not released until 1976, The Witch Who Came From the Sea was one of the first feature films for cinematographer Dean Cundey, who later went on to work with Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Another perfect crime is committed in this crime drama. This time, a tiny town finds itself terrorized and completely sealed off by seven strangely bearded men, who promptly begin stealing everything in sight. The only one who can save the town is the former sheriff. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Members of the Israeli Army and Security Services plan an attack on a Syrian prison to release Israeli commandos. Eli (Yehoram Gaon) joins Beno (Rick Jason) and Abie (Peter Braun) in the clandestine operation. They must divert the attention of the Syrian Major Heikal (Yoseph Shiloah) by leaking false information to the Syrians. Hebrew, Arabic and English are spoken in this tepid drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The Monk stars George Maharis as neither simian nor seminarian. Instead, he plays Gustavus "Gus" Monk, a San Francisco private eye/bodyguard created by Blake Edwards. The Monk is hired by an underworld lawyer (William Smithers) to deliver an envelope containing damning information about a powerful gangster. Monk isn't interested until he meets the lawyer's sexy wife (Janet Leigh)--and then he's off on a corpse-laden path of deceit and double-cross, with the man who hired him as Victim Number One. The Monk has a large cast of familiar faces (from Jack Albertson to Joe Besser) in its favor; unfortunately, this wasn't enough to secure a series sale for this one-shot TV pilot film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fifth season of Combat! turned out to be the series' last season on network television -- and the only season to be filmed in color. The opening episode, "The Gun," features a decidedly pre-M*A*S*H Wayne Rogers. A later installment, "The Losers," bears a striking resemblance to the theatrical feature The Dirty Dozen, even though it aired long before the movie was released! As always, viewers can revel in the low-key heroics of King Company leaders Sgt. Chip Saunders (Vic Morrow) and Lt. Gil Hanley (Rick Jason) as they guide the platoon to victory in Southern France in the waning months of WW2. In addition to the aforementioned Wayne Rogers, a stellar roster of guest stars appears in this valedictory Combat! season, among them former child actress Margaret O'Brien, Ricardo Montalban (as a gypsy), Robert Duvall (once more cast as a German) -- and, in the final episode "The Partisan," a young, raw and extremely talented Robert De Niro. ~ All Movie Guide

Charles Bronson delivers an impressively sensitive performance as Corporal Velasquez, a demolitions expert with a genius-level understanding of geology. While accompanying Velasquez on a mission to blow up a German observation post surrounded by rock, Saunders (Vic Morrow) can't help but notice that the Corporal is showing signs of hesitance and uncertainty. It seems that in addition to his other talents, Velasquez is a lover of fine art--and he is extremely reluctant to destroy the priceless paintings, statues and religious artifacts stashed within the targeted building. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Most of the men of King Company who were trudging through post D-day France during season two of Combat! are still in attendance for season three, except for Tom Lowell as Private Billy Nelson. Remaining firmly in charge of the platoon throughout all 32 episodes are Sgt. Chip Saunders (Vic Morrow) and Lt. Gil Hanley (Rick Jason). This years' quota of guest stars include Theodore Bikel, Mickey Rooney, Dan Duryea, Telly Savalas (as -- what else? -- a Greek colonel) and a young Robert Duvall (as a German lieutenant). Of special interest is the performance of Charles Bronson as a sensitive explosives expert who faces a crisis of conscience when assigned to blow up an enemy stronghold containing several priceless and irreplaceable works of art. ~ All Movie Guide

The opening episode of Combat's second season finds Sgt. Saunders (Vic Morrow) of King Company going head-to-head with Sgt. Marvin Turk (Lee Marvin), a sarcastic, hardbitten demolition expert with an intense hatred for Infantrymen. No sooner has Turk thoroughly alienated Saudners' platoon with his by-the-book autocracy than both sergeants are sent on a dangerous mission to destroy an enemy bridge. Throughout the assignment, the embittered Turk continues to rag Saunders, whom he holds responsible for the death of his previous partner. But though nasty and unrepetentant from start to finish, Turk knows his business--and by episode's end he has more than earned the respect of both Saunders and the audience. Conlan Carter makes his first regular appearance as "Doc". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Eddie Albert guest stars in this episode, playing--of all things--a middle-aged American farmer with a foreign-accented wife. But this is Combat, not Green Acres: Albert's character, a WW1 veteran named Phil, has been living in France with his French-born wife Marie (played by Alida Valli of The Third Man fame) ever since the Armistice. Unhinged by the ceaseless gunfire of WW2, Phil begins to imagine that he is still fighting The Great War--and so he dons his old uniform, marches into the countryside, and captures Sgt. Saunders (Vince Morrow), whom he believes to be a "Heinie" spy! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In flashback, Sgt. Saunders (Vic Morrow), Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason) and the men of King Company recall the events surrounding their landing at Omaha Beach on D-Day. Pre-invasion highlights include a battle between Saunders and Hanley over the affections of a pert English lass (Pat Dahl), and the efforts by wheeler-dealer Braddock (Shecky Greene) to win a cash pool by picking the correct date for the landing (he wins, but doesn't feel so lucky after all--and for good reason!) Once the men have established a beachhead, they are ordered to capture a farmhouse where several American paratroopers are being held prisoner. Most of this program is comprised of re-edited footage from Combat's hitherto unseen pilot episode, which explains the occasional discrepancies (for example, Hanley is still a sergeant, and supporting character Caje [Pierre Jalbert] is referred to as "Caddy"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide