Robert Karnes Movies

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

Broadway musical star and celebrated concert singer Barbara Cook makes a rare TV appearance in this chilling episode. Bored with her boyfriend, party girl Barbie Hallem (Cook) decides to escape to her uncle's cabin in the woods. En route, Barbie is warned by café owner Ed Mungo (Robert Karnes) that Ed's brother Bennie (Vic Morrow), suspected of murdering his sweetheart, is still at large. Once at the cabin, Barbie is confronted by Bennie -- who tells her an entirely different story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Burt Reynolds appears in this episode as truck driver Bill Davis, who with his brother Andy is piloting a huge tanker through the desert. When the road is blocked by a stalled car, Bill and Andy climb out of their truck to offer assistance. The disabled auto turns out to be owned by a pair of kidnappers (Murray Hamilton, Robert Karnes) who are escaping with their female victim (Venetia Stevenson). Getting the drop on the Davis brothers, the kidnappers steal their tanker, leaving Bill, Andy and the girl to roast under the desert sun. Fortunately, good is rewarded and evil punished by episode's end -- with the fate of the villains proving most ironic in light of the "cargo" being hauled by the Davis boys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A faithful bank employee for 30 years, George Piper (Robert H. Harris) is goaded into thievery by his ne'er-do-well brother, Fred (Jerry Paris). Excited by the prospect of pulling off the "perfect crime," Piper does exactly what his brother suggests, adding murder to the mixture for good measure. His next step -- which proves to be his last -- is to locate the ideal hiding place for his ill-gotten gains. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having unofficially adopted Jamie, Ben is poised to make it official in court. His plans are scuttled by the arrival of Jamie's actual grandfather Callahan (Will Geer, who wants to take the boy back with him to Boston. Written by Jean Holloway, this Bonanza episode served as a reunion for Will Geer and Mitch Vogel, who'd previously costarred in the theatrical feature The Reivers. Also worth noting: The adroit usage of "flashback" footage from the previous episodes "A Matter of Faith" and "The Grand Swing", and the supporting appearance by a pre-stardom Robert Carradine. "A Home for Jamie" originally aired on December 19, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Four of Bonanza began on September 23, 1962 with what was intended to be a landmark episode. In "The First Born", Barry Coe plays Clay Stafford, a new ranchhand on the Ponderosa. Ordered to leave Virginia City after killing a man in self-defense (or so it seems), Clay reveals an astonishing secret: He is the son of Ben Cartwright's third wife Marie, and as such is the biological older brother of Ben's own son Joe. Although Ben and Joe take Clay at his word, the other Cartwright boys, Hoss and Adam are skeptical, and they intend to investigate Clay's strange story. As originally written by Judith and George W. George, "The First Born" was to have introduced Barry Coe as a new Bonanza costar. Reportedly, however, Coe's presence on the set caused friction among the series' established regular, and the notion of a "fifth Cartwright" was quietly dropped. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this documentary-inspired thriller, P.J. McNeal (James Stewart) is a reporter who is asked by his editor to look into a potential story: their newspaper has been carrying an ad offering a substantial reward for information regarding the murder of a policeman that occurred eleven years ago. It turns out the ad was placed by a cleaning woman named Tillie Wiecek (Kasia Orzazewski); her son Frank (Richard Conte) was convicted of the crime, but she is thoroughly convinced her son had nothing to do with the killing. McNeal doesn't believe for a moment that Frank could be innocent, but he sees a good human interest story in Tillie and writes a piece that receives a great deal of favorable attention. Brian Kelly (Lee J. Cobb), McNeal's editor, thinks there might be more to this story and asks P.J. to look into the original murder case. To McNeal's surprise, Frank passes a lie detector test in which he proclaims his innocence, and the more he digs into records on the case, the more he finds wrong with the original investigation; some evidence is missing, much is inconclusive, and the reporter begins to wonder if Frank might have been railroaded after all, or if the police might be trying to keep something quiet. Call Northside 777 was based on a true story. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Despite its Latino title, Casa Manana was an all-American production from Monogram studios. The title refers to the nightclub where songstress Linda (Virginia Welles) works. Linda's boyfriend Larry (Robert Clarke) has purchased the nitery, hoping to transform his lady love into a big star. The fly in the ointment is brutish Horace (Robert Karnes), who is also in love with Linda and who isn't too particular about the methods he uses to win her away from Larry. Guest stars in this musical melodrama include the Rio Brothers, Eddie Le Baron Orchestra, Spade Cooley, Yadira Jimenez, Zarco & D'Lores, the Mercer Brothers, Armando & Lita, Betty & Beverly, Olga Perez and Davis & Johnson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The opening scene of Robert Siodmak's grim film noir depicts police lieutenants Candella (Victor Mature) and Collins (Fred Clark) observing wounded cop killer Martin Rome (Richard Conte) receive last rites. Though Rome recovers, he still must elude Candella and Collins in his desperate attempt to escape his fate. Rome has two visitors in the hospital: his girlfriend, Teena (Debra Paget), who goes into hiding, and Niles (Berry Kroeger), a crooked lawyer. Niles tries to bribe Rome to take a jewel theft and homicide rap for a client of his since Rome is facing the electric chair anyway. When Rome refuses, Niles threatens to frame Teena as the client's female accomplice. Worried that Candella might find Teena, Rome breaks out of jail and goes to Niles' office to accept the offer, but he actually plans to leave the country with Teena. When Niles reneges, Rome kills him, but not before learning the accomplice's identity and discovering the stolen jewels in the lawyer's safe. Rome finds the accomplice, Rose Given (Hope Emerson), and offers to trade the jewelry for the means to leave the country. She agrees, and they arrange a meeting in the subway, but Rome informs Candella of the plan. When the police arrive, Candella is shot, Rose is arrested, and Rome escapes to meet up with Teena in a church. As he is trying to convince Teena to run away with him, a wounded Candella shows up and tells Teena how Rome uses people and that everyone who helped in his escape will be paying a price. Teena rejects Rome, and he runs again, only to be shot down by Candella. The moral order is ultimately restored, but no one has been left unscarred. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide

If you think that Oliver Stone invented the "political paranoia" movie, take a glance at Executive Action sometime. Based on Mark Lane's Rush to Judgment, the conspiracy theorist's bible, Executive Action perpetuates the popular urban legend that John F. Kennedy was assassinated at the behest of a right-wing cartel with military and industrial interests. The film further hypothesizes that Lee Harvey Oswald not only didn't pull the trigger, but was also set up as a disposable dupe (this notion wasn't even new in 1973). Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Will Geer play the sinister conspirators. In the film's coda, still photos of 18 witnesses to the assassination are shown, while the accompanying text informs us that all of these people had died between 1963 and 1973. We are further told that the odds against this coincidence are one in a trillion. When Oliver Stone's thematically similar JFK came out in 1991, viewers with long memories were quick to notice the eerie similarities between the Stone film and Executive Action -- right down to choice of camera angles. Hmmm....a conspiracy, perhaps? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One more stock western in a long line stretching back to the turn of the 20th century, this oater by peripatetic director Edward L. Cahn has nothing particularly distinctive in its story about a group of outlaws. Billy Wade (played by the athletic James Brown) is an ex-gunslinger who is approached by his outlaw brother Matt (Robert Karnes), not long out of prison, to help him with a big-time robbery. Matt forces Billy's participation with an offer he cannot refuse, unaware that Billy is actually working on the side of the law. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The love affair between two of Hollywood's greatest stars of the 1930s and '40s is recounted in this biopic. Clark Gable (James Brolin), the tough but quick-witted leading man often called "the King of Hollywood," meets tart-tongued comic actress Carole Lombard (Jill Clayburgh) at a party, and while the attraction between them isn't immediate (in fact they hate each other at first), as fate keeps bringing them together, they fall deeply in love. Gable is married at the time, and studio chief Louis B. Mayer (Allen Garfield) is afraid that his affair with Lombard will lead to a scandal that will destroy the career of his most valuable star, but Gable and Lombard weather the storm of negative publicity, and after Gable's wife grants him a divorce, he marries Lombard. However, their happy marriage is cut short by Lombard's tragic death as she was selling defense bonds during World War II. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Neighbors in suburban Los Angeles segue a meeting to stop freeway construction into a sexual romp. A housewife (Ann Summers) gives in to the primal urges of her neighbor, (Clark Gordon) an erotic novelist. While her husband (Bernard Barrow) is off with his mistress (Jennifer O'Neill) at a forest retreat, she decides to have some fun on her own. Her husband's business partner (Philip Pine) has his eyes on their nubile 19 year old daughter (Deirdre Lenihan) who heart and the rest of her body belongs to daddy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide