Geoffrey Lewis Movies

No, nobody steals a skating rink in The Great Ice Rip-Off. The "ice" referred to in the title of this TV movie is a cache of diamonds, stolen by aging thief Gig Young and his entourage. Most of the story transpires during a bus ride from Seattle to San Diego, during which Young's various gang members come aboard with their share of the stolen booty. Lee J. Cobb plays one of the bus passengers, who happens to be an ex-cop with a suspicious nature. The climactic chase sequence in The Great Ice Rip-Off is handled con brio by director Dan Curtis--far removed from his earlier work on Dark Shadows. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When it seems as if nobody understands his grief over the death of the schoolroom guinea pig that had been left in his care, Jim-Bob (David W. Harper) runs away from home. Although he may be forced to miss a long-awaited public appearance by a prominent author, John-Boy (Richard Thomas) agrees to conduct a search for his missing brother. Ultimately, John-Boy catches up with Jim-Bob--and, much to his surprise, with the author! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Who are you?" the dwarf Mordecai (Billy Curtis) asks Clint Eastwood's Stranger at the end of Eastwood's 1973 western High Plains Drifter. "You know," he replies, before vanishing into the desert heat waves near California's Mono Lake. Adapting the amorally enigmatic and violent Man With No Name persona from his films with Sergio Leone, Eastwood's second film as director begins as his drifter emerges from that heat haze and rides into the odd lakefront settlement of Lago. Lago's residents are not particularly friendly, but once the Stranger shows his skills as a gunfighter, they beg him to defend them against a group of outlaws (led by Eastwood regular Geoffrey Lewis) who have a score to settle with the town. He agrees to train them in self-defense, but Mordecai and innkeeper's wife Sarah Belding (Verna Bloom) soon suspect that the Stranger has another, more personal agenda. By the time the Stranger makes the corrupt community paint their town red and re-name it "Hell," it is clear that he is not just another gunslinger. With its fragmented flashbacks and bizarre, austere locations, High Plains Drifter's stylistic eccentricity lends an air of unsettling eeriness to its revenge story, adding an uncanny slant to Eastwood's antiheroic westerner. Seminal western hero John Wayne was so offended by Eastwood's harshly revisionist view of a frontier town that he wrote to Eastwood, objecting that this was not what the spirit of the West was all about. Eastwood's audience, however, was not so put off, and an exhibitors' poll named Eastwood a top box-office draw for 1973. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Set during the Civil War, Bad Company stars Barry Brown as a Northern boy, Drew Dixon, who heads West to avoid getting drafted. He falls under the spell of Jake Rumsey (Jeff Bridges), an easygoing young con artist. Drew joins Jake's gang of boy bandits, who live by their wits and try to avoid confrontation with adult criminals like Big Joe (David Huddleston). It is Drew who must eventually save Jake from hanging, even though he realizes that his intervention could lead to his own execution. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Committed" was first telecast on January 22, 1972, the same day that the latest cast of Mission:Impossible appeared on the cover of TV Guide. Bert Freed guest stars as Syndicate chieftan Leon Chandler, whose trial for murder may end in acquittal thanks to the actions of a corrupt lieutenant governor. The key witness against Chandler, Nora Dawson (Susan Howard), is slowly being driven insane in a mob-controlled mental hospital. The IMF's mission: To infiltrate the hospital, rescue Nora, and expose Chandler's political stooge. Series regular Lynda Day George steals the show with her impersonation of a deranged woman. "Committed" was scripted by Arthur Weiss, from a story by Laurence Heath. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed for television, this story concerns a series of killings in the Louisiana bayou. The sheriff on the case believes that a werewolf is behind the murders. The film was adapted from a book by Leslie H. Whitten. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

While the train he is riding on is temporarily stalled by a blizzard, effusive old rancher Mr. Kilmer (Chill Wills) regales the other passengers with one of his tall tales. Throughout Kilmer's monologue, he is constantly interrupted by an obnoxious eight-year-old boy named Johnny (Peter Lazer). Finally, Kilmer offers Johnny a silver dollar if he can remain quiet for ten minutes. Dutifully, Johnny shuts up -- while outside, the blizzard rages on, and the search for an escaped mental patient continues. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide