Bernard Kates Movies

The first superhero ever, created by Lee Falk in 1936, gets another shot at movie stardom 60 years after achieving fame in comics and serials. Billy Zane stars as Kit Walker, who discovers that he's the 21st in a line of purple-clad African superheroes known as "The Phantom" or, to superstitious Bengalla Island natives, "the Ghost Who Walks." When he's not fighting the evil Singh Brotherhood with his faithful wolf Devil and white horse Hero, the Phantom lives in the hidden Skull Cave. Kit discovers that Xander Drax (Treat Williams), a slimy industrialist, is plotting to take over the world by uniting the three long lost magical Skulls of Touganda. So he travels to New York, where he finds allies in crusading newspaper publisher Dave (Bill Smitrovich) and his niece, Diana (Kristy Swanson), who's also Kit's ex-girlfriend. Kit and Diana tackle Drax's forces, including the conflicted Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones), in a quest for the Skulls that brings both sides back to Bengalla for a showdown. The Phantom's mixture of elaborate stunts with liberal doses of tongue-in-cheek humor was characteristic of screenwriter Jeffrey Boam, whose previous films included Innerspace (1987) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The owner of a gay bar is killed and a suspect is hauled in. The pregnant wife of Lt. Fancy (James McDaniel) goes into a very difficult labor. Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) investigates when a neighbor breaks out in a rash, ostensibly the result of a curse invoked by a crooked fortuneteller. And Dan Breen (Peter Boyle), the AA sponsor for Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), ignores Andy's advice and pays a visit to his disturbed son Danny (Enrico Colantoni) -- with tragic results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Goodman is cast as the Sultan of Swat, whose excesses -- especially drinking -- and private demons can (in this context) be excused in view of his genuine love of baseball. The facts never get in the way of a good story for screenwriter John Fusco; we're even offered the umpteenth rehash of "Little Johnny", the largely fanciful tale of the invalid boy who promises to get well if Babe hits him a homer (as in Pride of the Yankees, the cured Johnny makes return a appearance as grownup). The most amusing fabrication is the casting of narrow James Cromwell as the Babe's orphanage mentor Brother Mathias, who in real life weighed 300 pounds. Many of the characters are composites, notably Bruce Boxleitner's Jumpin' Joe Dugan. At least Ruth's two wives--Trini Alvarado as Helen, who suffers Babe's many peccadilloes and dies under strange circumstances, and Kelly McGillis as Claire, who keeps Babe on a very short leash-are depicted with a modicum of accuracy. The baseball sequences are well handled (though there could have been less slo-mo) while Elmer Bernstein's charmingly old-fashioned musical score is right in tune with the film's approach to its subject. The Babe is rated PG; had this been the whole truth and nothing but, and R rating would probably have been in order. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Batman and Robin" are the principal characters in the fact-based The Super Cops. Well, not the real Batman and Robin; these just happen to be the nicknames of two irrepressible New York City cops, Dave Greenberg (Ron Leibman) and Bob Hantz (David Selby). Flying in the face of departmental procedure and protocol, Greenberg and Hantz use bizarre (and often amusing) extreme methods to rid the streets of drug merchants. The two gonzo cops find an unexpected ally in the form of a prostitute named Sara (Sheila E. Frazer). Adapted by Lorenzo Semple Jr. (who coincidentally wrote the Batman TV pilot episode) from the best-selling book by L. H. Whitemore, The Super Cops features the genuine Dave Greenberg and Bob Hantz in minor roles...as cops, naturally. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Seriously injured in an explosion, Richard Kimble (David Janssen) awakens to find that he has lost all memory of his identity as a fugitive from justice. Hoping to help Kimble put the pieces back together are Dr. Towne (Ivan Dixon), an aloof neuropsychologist, and Margaret Ruskin (Betty Garrett), a warmhearted social worker. Using their patient's reference to a "one-armed man" as a clue to his identity, Towne and Margaret unwittingly contact Fred Johnson (Bill Raisch), the man who committed the murder for which Kimble has been charged. Now Kimble's own life is in danger --and he still doesn't know enough about himself to escape his fate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After the end of World War II, the world gradually became aware of the full extent of the war crimes perpetrated by the Third Reich. In 1948, a series of trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany, by an international tribunal, headed by American legal and military officials, with the intent of bringing to justice those guilty of crimes against humanity. However, by that time most of the major figures of the Nazi regime were either dead or long missing, and in the resulting legal proceedings American judges often found themselves confronting the question of how much responsibility someone held who had "just followed orders." Judgment at Nuremberg is a dramatized version of the proceedings at one of these trials, in which Judge Dan Haywood (Spencer Tracy) is overseeing the trials of four German judges -- most notably Dr. Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster) and Emil Hahn (Werner Klemperer) -- accused of knowingly sentencing innocent men to death in collusion with the Nazis. Representing the defense is attorney Hans Rolfe (Maximilian Schell), while prosecuting the accused is U.S. Col. Tad Lawson (Richard Widmark). As the trial goes on, both the visiting Americans and their reluctant German hosts often find themselves facing the legacy of the war, and how both of their nations have been irrevocably changed by it. Judgment at Nuremberg also features notable supporting performances by Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, and Montgomery Clift. Originally written and produced as a play for television, the screen version of Judgment at Nuremberg was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, with Maximilian Schell and Abby Mann taking home Oscars for (respectively) Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Having been on the side of the law as one of the original "Untouchables" in the series' two-part pilot film, Keenan Wynn returns in the despicably villainous role of Augie "The Banker" Ciamino. Terrorizing his fellow Italian immigrants into submission, Ciamino forces them to set up small stills in their homes, enabling him to ship thousands of gallons of bootleg booze right under the Feds' noses. In order to break Ciamino's back, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) must win the trust of the hapless immigrants. To this end, he enlists the aid of night-school English teacher Mr. Lee (Bernard Kates), who passes along coded messages via blackboard. Unfortunately, one of Mr. Lee's students, baker Renzo Raineri (Will Kuluva), has a son named Paul (Lee Phillips) who works as Ciamino's bookkeeper--and Paul isn't the sort of guy who can keep a secret. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On a cold and blizzardy night, a man named Lorca (Ricardo Montalban) saunters into the Last Chance Saloon in the Western town of Buffalo Bend. Upon realizing that a wanted poster for Lorca hangs on the saloon's wall, the patrons of the bar hold a raffle to see who will turn the outlaw in and collect the reward money. Surprisingly, Lorca seems amused to be the "prize" in the raffle, and even more so when the winner turns out to be a woman named Shasta Cooney (Constance Ford). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although this quickly made, routine drama has some future television talent acting in it (Barbara Eden, Gavin MacLeod, Ted Knight), the story wanders back and forth between straight drama and an unintentional parody. Martin (Nico Minardos) has just witnessed a murder and in order to protect him, the police establish him in relative obscurity in a suburban neighborhood. What Martin does not know is that one of the policemen is not what he seems, and the cop sets up the unsuspecting man as a target to be eliminated. This is another in a long list of similar dramas directed by Edward L. Cahn in 1960-61. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Gary Cooper stars in this broad naval farce, directed by Henry Hathaway and based upon a John W. Hazard New Yorker magazine story. Cooper plays Lieutenant John Harkness, a wet-behind-the ears naval lieutenant who is given command of his first ship. Unfortunately, not only is Harkness new to commanding a naval vessel, but the crew and his subordinate officers are also new at their jobs. Only two old deck hands know the score. And, while Harkness is trying to figure out naval protocol, he also has to deal with the contraption in the engine room, which turns out to be an elaborate steam engine that powers the ship. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide