Harry Landers Movies

In this drama, a young man dreams of being a Hollywood screenwriter and so heads for Tinseltown where he encounters many twists and turns on the road to success.. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Quincy (Jack Klugman) investigates when the mother and sister of apparent murder victim Peter Nielsen (Bruce Wright)--whom he has already officially declared dead--come forth to declare that the "dead" man is not only still alive, but has been in contact with them since the "killing." The investigation leads to a downtown messenger service, which turns out to be a front for an illegal drug ring. Appearing as the alleged victim's mother is Priscilla Pointer, in real life the mother of actress Amy Irving. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The final episode of the original network run of the landmark 1960s science fiction series, this installment of Star Trek begins with the Enterprise's Captain Kirk paying a visit to a distant planet to see Dr. Janice Lester, a former friend and fellow officer who is now ill. Dr. Lester's illness proves to be a ruse, however, when she attacks Kirk. When the felled Captain awakes, he finds himself the subject of a body-switching experiment that places his mind in the body of Dr. Lester. Meanwhile, Dr. Lester, in Kirk's body, has gone to enact her life-long dream of commanding a starship, a dream which was denied to her because she is a woman. Mr. Spock soon realizes the truth of Dr. Lester's masquerade, and he and the real Kirk -- still in Dr. Lester's body -- must prove their claims before they are executed at the false Kirk's orders. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Occasionally listed as In Enemy Hands (evidently a working title), In Enemy Country is a war film with "A" ambitions and a TV-movie budget. Wartime secret agents Col. Charles Waslow-Carton (Tony Franciosa) and Lt. Col. Philip Braden (Guy Stockwell) infiltrate enemy lines, posing as POWs. Their mission is to destroy a deadly new type of torpedo, hidden in a Nazi stronghold in France. Their contact is Denise Marchois (Anjanette Comer), whom Waslow-Carton had coerced into marrying a German baron (Paul Hubschmid) before the outbreak of war, thus allowing her to continue her spying activities unimpeded. Upon the completion of their mission, Marchois chooses to remain behind with her husband, whom she has grown to love. Too many peripheral characters, way too many plot twists, and a "French" village obviously constructed on the Universal back lot: for these and other reasons, In Enemy Country is a must to avoid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

DA Rudolph Cox (Leslie Nielsen) hopes to use the testimony of stoolie Lou Heinz (Bernard Kates) to put mobster Mac Davis (Harold J. Stone) away for keeps. Unfortunately, Heinz's cover is blown and he is marked for death. Even more unfortunately, the most important official in town seems to be in Davis' pocket -- which means that Cox's dreams of becoming a major political figure are in just as much danger as the hapless Heinz. This is the final episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents' sixth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A newspaper headline prompts Clete Vine (John Craven) to recall an incident in his childhood, 35 years ago. Growing up in a gang-infested neighborhood, young Clete (played by Glenn Walken, the brother of Christopher Walken) idolizes local mob boss Mr. Rose (Dennis Patrick), while Clete's best friend, Iggy (Barry Gordon), reserves his idolatry for his own father (Biff Elliot). When both boys witness Rose in the act of killing a man, Clete is intimidated into silence, but Iggy immediately heads to the police -- thereby setting off a four-decade marathon of duplicity, disillusionment, and death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "mutual admiration society" consisting of actor James Cagney and actor/director Robert Montgomery culminated in the 1960 film The Gallant Hours. Cagney stars as war hero Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey. On the verge of retirement, Halsey recalls his most fateful wartime experience: his five-week showdown between himself and Japanese Admiral Yamamoto (James T. Goto) in 1942. In command of the American naval forces in the Pacific, Halsey scores a crucial, tide-turning victory at Guadalcanal. In concentrating on the participants rather than the battle itself, The Gallant Hours is a character study of a remarkable American. The a cappella "score" performed by Ken Darby and the King's Men Quartet is a matter of taste. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Arizona, Paladin (Richard Boone) crosses the path of Calvary major Wilson (Warren Stevens), who claims to have attended West Point at the same time that Paladin left that institution in disgrace. Hired to escort Wilson and his troops to locate the elusive Maricopa chief Gerada, Paladin is told that the Cavalry wants to sign a peace treaty with the hostile Indian leader. But it soon becomes obvious that the mission is being fueled by a bad case of "gold fever"--and for a while, it looks as though Paladin will not emerge from this adventure alive. The part of Gerada is played by Berlin-born character actor Henry Brandon, previously seen as the sinister Scar in the classic John Ford western The Searchers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title of this episode refers to a curious chemical process created by college student Marv Adams (Gary Vinson). Alas, Marv may not only be a drowning duck but a dead duck when he is charged with the murder of unscrupulous private detective Donald Briggs (Harry Landers). Acting as Marv's defense counsel, Perry (Raymond Burr) learns that Briggs was hired by Clyde Waters (Victor Sutherland), the father of Marv's fiancee Helen (Carolyn Craig)--and that Marv's father was Ben Devereaux, who was executed for murder 18 years ago, a fact that Briggs was trying to use to his advantage in extorting money from several other people connected with the case. This episode is based on a 1942 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alfred Hitchcock's second directorial effort for his popular suspense anthology is one of the series' best ever episodes. Joseph Cotten stars as William Callew, a hard-nosed and hard-hearted businessman who holds in contempt such human failings as sentiment, pity, and tears. While racing to keep an appointment in New York, Callew is involved in a spectacular car accident. Awakening, he finds that he is completely paralyzed, unable to move or speak -- though we hear his every thought on the soundtrack. Everyone who comes across Callew assumes that he is dead, including the police and the coroner...and as the episode draws to its conclusion, the horrified Callew is being wheeled into the autopsy room of the morgue! "Breakdown" was re-filmed for the 1985 revival of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, with John Heard in the Joseph Cotten role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Laid up with a broken leg, photojournalist L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to his tiny, sweltering courtyard apartment. To pass the time between visits from his nurse (Thelma Ritter) and his fashion model girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), the binocular-wielding Jeffries stares through the rear window of his apartment at the goings-on in the other apartments around his courtyard. As he watches his neighbors, he assigns them such roles and character names as "Miss Torso" (Georgine Darcy), a professional dancer with a healthy social life or "Miss Lonelyhearts" (Judith Evelyn), a middle-aged woman who entertains nonexistent gentlemen callers. Of particular interest is seemingly mild-mannered travelling salesman Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), who is saddled with a nagging, invalid wife. One afternoon, Thorwald pulls down his window shade, and his wife's incessant bray comes to a sudden halt. Out of boredom, Jeffries casually concocts a scenario in which Thorwald has murdered his wife and disposed of the body in gruesome fashion. Trouble is, Jeffries' musings just might happen to be the truth. One of Alfred Hitchcock's very best efforts, Rear Window is a crackling suspense film that also ranks with Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960) as one of the movies' most trenchant dissections of voyeurism. As in most Hitchcock films, the protagonist is a seemingly ordinary man who gets himself in trouble for his secret desires. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide