Phil Kenneally Movies
Star Gregory Peck went into MacArthur disliking the title character that he was slated to play, but emerged from the experience with a deeper understanding and respect for this complex historical figure. The film is framed in flashback, with an octogenarian General
Douglas MacArthur (Peck) making his final address before his alma mater of West Point. We flash back to the fall of Corregidor in 1942, with MacArthur promising "I shall return" to the beleaguered (and eventually imprisoned) American and Filipino troops. The story follows MacArthur's subsequent victories in the South Pacific, occasionally pausing to show us the General's omnipresent sense of "showmanship" (e.g. his wading ashore on the beaches of the Philippines for the benefit of the newsreel cameras). The greater part of the film involves MacArthur's attempts to restore dignity to the defeated postwar Japan, and to keep the Russian Communists from overtaking the orient as they had Eastern Europe. MacArthur is eventually fired from his post by President Truman after the general defies orders during the Korean conflict. MacArthur was intended as Universal's "answer" to 20th Century-Fox's enormously successful Patton (1970), but box-office returns were disappointing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Douglas MacArthur (Peck) making his final address before his alma mater of West Point. We flash back to the fall of Corregidor in 1942, with MacArthur promising "I shall return" to the beleaguered (and eventually imprisoned) American and Filipino troops. The story follows MacArthur's subsequent victories in the South Pacific, occasionally pausing to show us the General's omnipresent sense of "showmanship" (e.g. his wading ashore on the beaches of the Philippines for the benefit of the newsreel cameras). The greater part of the film involves MacArthur's attempts to restore dignity to the defeated postwar Japan, and to keep the Russian Communists from overtaking the orient as they had Eastern Europe. MacArthur is eventually fired from his post by President Truman after the general defies orders during the Korean conflict. MacArthur was intended as Universal's "answer" to 20th Century-Fox's enormously successful Patton (1970), but box-office returns were disappointing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Ed Flanders, (more)
- 1976
- PG
- Add Harry and Walter Go to New York to QueueAdd Harry and Walter Go to New York to top of Queue
Harry and Walter Go to New York was born of the theory that, the more stars and money that you throw into a film, the better the film will be. The theory has seldom been proven true, and it certainly wasn't in this case. Harry (James Caan) and Walter (Elliot Gould) are a third-rate vaudeville team, playing tank towns in turn-of-the-century USA. Thrown into the hoosegow on a petty-theft charge, our heroes make the acquaintance of big-time crook Adam Worth (Michael Caine). Once they're sprung, Harry and Walter follow Worth to New York, with the intention of pulling off a huge bank robbery. Lissa Chestnut (Diane Keaton), a bird-brained suffragette, is also mixed up in the proceedings though she never seems certain of who or what her character is from one scene to the next. The film's one tangible asset is its meticulous re-creation of 1890s New York, courtesy of art director Harry Horner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Caan, Elliott Gould, (more)
- 1976
In this crime drama, two dogged FBI agents are on the case to investigate one of the U.S.'s most infamous bank robberies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Darren McGavin, Leslie Nielsen, (more)
- 1973
- PG
A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death in this drama based on a novel by Donald E. Westlake. Earl Macklin (Robert Duvall) is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother. As it turns out, the bank that Earl and his brother hit was controlled by gangster Mailer (Robert Ryan). Macklin learns that he's on the mob's hit list as well, so he teams up with his old partner Cody (Joe Don Baker) to take on Mailer and his second in command, Jake Menner (Timothy Carey). The Outfit also features a top-notch supporting cast, including Karen Black, Sheree North, Joanna Cassidy, Richard Jaeckel, and Anita O'Day; Marie Windsor and Elisha Cook, Jr. also appear, 18 years after their memorable turn together in The Killing. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Duvall, Karen Black, (more)
- 1973
Leslie Nielsen guest stars as Edward Hudson, a former convict now leading a quiet, respectable life as a farmer. Unfortunately for Hudson, his home is invaded by his former cellmate Parrish (Lou Antonio), who has just stolen a valuable jeweled religious icon. Parrish insists that Hudson help him find a buyer for the "hot" merchandise--or else. In addition to the usual solid job by Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as FBI Inspector Lewis Erskine, this episode boasts a snarlingly vicious performance by starlet Susanne Benton (best known as the "heroine" of the cult fantasy film A Boy and His Dog) as Parrish's gun moll. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- PG
The "little cigars" are five midget criminals, masterminded by Billy Curtis. They team up with full-sized Angel Tompkins, a gangster's girlfriend who's on the lam from her homicidal "protector." Tompkins and the five little people form a travelling carnival as a front for their crooked activities. Two of the midgets kill off the mobsters who've been sent to rub out Tompkins; in gratitude, she begins an affair with Curtis. At first planning to desert the other midgets and abscond with their hard-earned stealings, Tompkins and Curtis have a change of heart, return the money to their chums, and ride off together for a most unusual romantic rendezvous. Though Little Cigars has been unfairly maligned by such "authoritive" books as The Golden Turkey Awards, the film is actually quite entertaining, and not nearly as exploitive of Little People as might be expected. Among the other well-known Hollywood midgets and dwarves in the cast are Angelo Rossitto, Felix Silla, and Jerry Maren. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Ironside (Raymond Burr) investigates a perversely amusing situation wherein an elusive criminal has been burglarizing other criminals. The trail of evidence leads to a halfway house for ex-cons, run by former jailbird Lou Karns (Pat Hingle). Though lighthearted in nature, the episode turns serious when the unknown thief steals money from the Mob, whereupon Karns and his "customers" may well be targeted for extermination. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
A low-security prison labor camp is about to be closed down due to the excessive brutality of the warden (Lee Frost), whose strict manner has embittered the convicts and damaged his career. The inmates are engaged in the production of formaldehyde, which they also use to get high by sniffing the fumes. While under the influence, a group of prisoners begin digging a secret escape tunnel, and they threaten their non-huffing bunkmates with death if anyone exposes their plan. The getaway attempt is thwarted by overzealous prison guards, and the escaping prisoners are shot down and buried in a nearby cemetery. However, the massive exposure to formaldehyde has a curious effect on the corpses; they won't stay dead and they crawl from their graves to exact bloody revenge upon the prison camp. The zombies arm themselves with axes, shovels, and dangerous lawn-care items from the prison tool shed, while the living convicts have to join forces with the warden and his guards in order to stay alive. Also known as Garden of the Dead. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Even while on the lam from the Feds, brash bank robber Larry Kulhane (Gerald O'Loughlin) masterminds another major heist. This time, Kulhane's prospective victim is elderly Ardyth Nolan (Jessica Tandy), who has recently come into possession of $200,000. Planning his caper with meticulous care, Kulhane has installed one of his accomplices as Ms. Nolan's butler, and another as the bofriend of the woman's impressionable granddaughter. The final stage of the plan is to murder the feisty but frail old lady--unless Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) can get to Ms. Nolan first. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
One of Terrence Malick's early screenwriting efforts, this loosely-structured road movie finds a questionably sane long-distance trucker named Cooper (Alan Arkin) winding his way through the heart of America. An employee of a questionable hauling outfit who has been assigned to drive a newly hijacked rig to an as-of-yet undisclosed-location, Cooper quickly ditches his partner and points his eighteen-wheeler westward. Picking-up a hitchhiker (Paul Benedict) for some company in the cab, the unstable trucker's journey westward grows increasingly surreal as he runs into numerous eccentric characters, portrayed in cameo roles by such noted names as Ida Lupino, George Raft, Charles Durning, Loretta Swit, Richard Kiel and future director John Milius. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin, Paul Benedict, (more)
- 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)
Recounting how the West was won through the eyes of a white man raised as a Native American, Arthur Penn's 1970 adaptation of Thomas Berger's satirical novel was a comic yet stinging allegory about the bloody results of American imperialism. As a misguided 20th-century historian listens, 121-year-old Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman) narrates the story of being the only white survivor of Custer's Last Stand. White orphan Crabb was adopted by the Cheyenne, renamed "Little Big Man," and raised in the ways of the "Human Beings" by paternal mentor Old Lodge Skins (Chief Dan George), accepting non-conformity and living peacefully with nature. Violently thrust into the white world, Jack meets a righteous preacher (Thayer David) and his wife (Faye Dunaway), tries to be a gunfighter under the tutelage of Wild Bill Hickock (Jeff Corey), and gets married. Returned to the Cheyenne by chance, Jack prefers life as a Human Being. The carnage wreaked by the white man in the Washita massacre and the lethal fallout from the egomania of General George A. Custer (Richard Mulligan) at Little Big Horn, however, show Crabb the horrific implications of Old Lodge Skins' sage observation, "There is an endless supply of White Men, but there has always been a limited number of Human Beings." ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, (more)
- 1969
Phyllis Thaxter guest-stars as widowed newspaper publisher Ruth Manning, yet another old friend of Ben Cartwright. Ben comes to Ruth's assistance when her newspaper is targeted for extinction by ruthless town boss Judge Seth Tabor (Simon Oakland). Featured in the cast are William Jordan as Leek, Hamilton Camp as Dobbs, Philip Kennealy as Sheriff Knox, Ken Mayer as North, Connie Sawyer as Mrs. Lewis, James Jeter as Cotton, Arthur Peterson as Dr. Adams, and Ed McCready as Purdy. Written by John Hawkins and Frank Chase, "The Clarion" first aired on February 9, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1961
A State Department worker must prove himself innocent of murder and of smuggling highly classified information to Bulgaria in this espionage drama. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The short but bloody career of one of the most infamous outlaws of the 1930s is chronicled in this drama. Charles Arthur Floyd (John Ericson) finds work on an oil rig after serving time for armed robbery, but when he becomes involved with a married woman, her husband swears revenge. Floyd's boss doesn't know that his new employee was a jailbird, and when the cuckolded husband breaks the news, Floyd is out of a job. With nowhere to go, Floyd heads back to his father's home in Oklahoma, but when he learns that a neighboring farmer killed his father, Floyd goes berserk and murders the farmer. Floyd recruits three fellow criminals, Al (Barry Newman), Baker (Philip Kenneally), and Curly (Carl York), and together they cut a swath through the nation, robbing banks and leaving bodies in their wake. A young Peter Falk appears in a minor role, as does Al Lewis, who later gained fame as Grandpa on the TV series The Munsters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Ericson, Barry Newman, (more)
- 1956
A mentally ill young woman honestly believes that she is the reincarnated lover of Crown Prince Rudolph, a woman who died with the prince in a suicide pact in 1889. Over the course of her treatment, her psychiatrist falls in love with her, but then she gets caught up in a trance and withdraws. It is only when she gets involved with a crazed killer who looks just like the dead prince, that she returns to normalcy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Elia Kazan directed this drama inspired by a true story. Karel Cernik (Fredric March) is the leader of a troupe of Czechoslovakian circus performers who have been plying their trade in Eastern Europe for years. When Czechoslovakia falls under Communist rule, the proud and independent Cernik finds that he is no longer free to operate his circus as he sees fit. Many of his performers are conscripted into military service, and his equipment and possessions are declared government property, though the state fails to maintain it properly, or even to give him access to the material to fix it himself. Finally, when Cernik's remaining performers are ordered to insert pro-Communist messages into their acts, he decides that he can take no more and begins making plans to escape to Bavaria during an upcoming tour. Cernik's plans hit a snag, however, when he learns that one of his performers is a spy for the Czech communists, working in collusion with government factotum Fesker (Adolphe Menjou). While politics are making a mess of his professional life, his daughter Tereza (Terry Moore) is complicating matters at home because of her romance with the handsome but unreliable lion tamer Joe Vosdek (Cameron Mitchell), much to the chagrin of both Karel and his wife Zama (Gloria Grahame). The Birnbach Circus troupe, along with a variety of other European carnival performers, appear as themselves in this film, lending the performances a keen authenticity. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Terry Moore, (more)
