Doug Johnson Movies

Jason Higgs (Sidney Poitier) is an angry black man who plans to rob a factory payroll. With the help of his accomplices Dennis (Al Freeman Jr.) and his white girlfriend Cathy (Joanna Shimkus), a racially motivated demonstration diverts attention from the crooks while they rob the safe. Jason is somewhat of a modern-day Robin Hood who wishes to use the money to help the children of incarcerated soul brothers. He only places his hope in the youth who have not been sullied or scalded by the hatred of racial prejudice. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Sam Greenlee's cult favorite novel of political unrest was brought to the screen in this drama, which also earned a small but loyal following. A congressman hoping to attract African-American voters during an election year decides to make political hay by pointing out that the Central Intelligence Agency has no black agents. Bowing to subsequent public pressure, the CIA admits a number of black applicants to their training program, but they purposefully make the process difficult and unpleasant enough to winnow out nearly all the African-American students. Dan Freeman (Lawrence Cook), a strong, intelligent but soft-spoken man, somehow makes it through the gauntlet to become the black CIA agent; however, rather than being given important field assignments, Freeman is put in charge of the agency's copying machines and gives tours of their facilities to give the offices a progressive front for visitors. After a few years, Freeman leaves the agency to move back to his hometown of Chicago and do work with the community...at least that's what he tells his superiors. In fact, Freeman has used his time at the CIA collecting information on how to launch a political revolution, and not long after he arrives in the Windy City, he begins recruiting an army of leftist radicals and black nationalists fed up with the system. With their help, Freeman launches the first stage of an armed revolt with the stated goal of bringing the white-dominated power structure to its knees. The Spook Who Sat by the Door was a rare feature directorial assignment for Ivan Dixon, best known as an actor (he played Sgt. "Kinch" Kinchloe on Hogan's Heroes), Dixon has an extensive resume of directorial credits, but primarily in episodic television. Spook is his second theatrical release. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) are intrigued when an off-duty officer makes a citizen's arrest of a female shoplifter (Pamela Jones). The woman insists that she has resorted to stealing in order to feed her starving baby. As it turns out, the woman is indeed caring for an infant--but it isn't hers. When all the facts come to light, Jim and Pete race against time to avert a tragedy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) think that something fishy is going on where they're summoned to two different accident scenes. In both instances, the same tow truck pulls up to haul off the damaged vehicle--and the same witness comes forth to tell what he saw. Sure enough, there's a con job going on, and Jim and Pete join forces with the Bunco division to nab the perpetrators. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While visiting a local laundromat, off-duty police officer Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) cannot help but notice that a shaggy-haired young man seems to be monopolizing all of the washing machines. It turns out that this busy customer is using those machines to dry his stash of marijuana. In case there was every any doubt that Adam-12 was a Jack Webb production, this episode should dispell it. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After the excellent audience response to their teaming in Silver Streak, Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor reunited for this zany comedy. Wilder and Pryor play a couple of out-of-work numbskulls who take a promotional job that requires them to dress up like gigantic woodpeckers. Unfortunately, a pair of thieves, likewise decked out in woodpecker suits, pull off a bank job not long after Wilder and Pryor make their first public appearance. The boys are arrested and sentenced to 120 years each (at this point, we know we're not dealing with real life). After a concerted (and hilarious) effort to make the best of things "in stir," Wilder and Pryor break out of jail, hoping to track down the genuine thieves. The mess never really works itself out, suggesting that perhaps the stars had a Stir Crazy II lurking in the recesses of their minds. Written by Bruce Jay Friedman and directed by Sidney Poitier, it never did spawn a sequel, though a TV series spin-off, starring Larry Riley and Joseph Guzaldo, briefly surfaced in 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lindsay Wagner stars as Callie, who battles her way up the ladder from waitress to fabulously wealthy Texas socialite. The price for her success is her son Randy, played by Jameson Parker. Though wielding great power, Callie is nearly powerless in her efforts to keep Randy away from beautiful young schemer Michelle Pfeiffer. The film's many intrigues result in a sensational murder trial. Made for TV, Callie and Son was originally seen October 13, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ten years after the original Chained Heat (1983), this follow-up appeared, more of a remake than a sequel to the first film. Kimberley Kates stars as Alex Morrison, an American tourist in Prague, Czechoslovakia, who is unjustly arrested and incarcerated at Razik Prison. There, the bodacious, drug-addicted warden Magda Kassar (Brigitte Nielsen) rules with an iron fist and the help of her sadistic assistant, Rosa Schmidt (Jana Svandova), a prisoner who has become a trustee. It seems that Magda and Rosa have set up the beautiful Alex, the latest in a long line of physically attractive women they've ensnared at the prison for use as unwilling prostitutes at a nearby casino and as actresses in cheap porn films. While Alex befriends a fellow newcomer, Tina (Lucie Benes) and a transvestite named Bobo (David Buonantony), her sister Susan (Kari Whitman) attempts to get help on the outside from an American diplomat. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi