Tom Lowell Movies
- 1984
Attack on Fear was based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of newspaper articles by Dave and Cathy Mitchell. Paul Michael Glaser and Linda Kelsey play the Michaels, who labor away at a tiny California daily. Upon hearing of iniquities at the famed Santa Monica drug-rehab center Synanon, the Michaels begin publishing their evidence. Despite legal pressure from Synanon and bizarre anonymously mailed threats, the Mitchells' story results in a major investigation of the revered institution. Completed in 1982, the made-for-TV Attack on Fear was not telecast until October of 1984, and then only after (presumably) being reshaped to satisfy Synanon's battery of attorneys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Written by Paul Schneider, "Ride the Wind" was Bonanza's first two-part story. Ben Cartwright is willing to provide Charles Ludlow (Victor Jory) with money to help finance the new Pony Express service, but isn't keen on allowing his son Joe to join Ludlow's riders. Nor is the Paiute Indian tribe amenable to allowing the Pony Express to go across their land. Exacerbating the problem is Ludlow's assistant, Curtis Wade (Rod Cameron), who hopes to make a name for himself as an Indian fighter. The story is sufficiently exciting to make one forget that the real Pony Express had been disbanded some three years before the events depicted in this episode. Part One of "Ride the Wind" first aired on January 16, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1966
In Part Two of "Ride the Wind", Curtis Wade (Rod Cameron takes over from the late Charles Ludlow as head of the new Pony Express service. Determined to keep the service running and to finish the route despite attacks by the Paiutes, Wade is driven not so much by duty as by his ego, which has been fuelded by exploitive Eastern journalist Tully (DeForrest Kelley. Wade's delusions of grandeur may prove fatal for Joe Cartwright, who has signed on as a Pony Express rider despite the protests of his father Ben. Tom Lowell appears as Charles Ludlow's son Jabez, who ends up as the story's eleventh-hour problem solver. Written by Paul Schneider, the second half of the two-part "Ride the Wind" was originally broadcast on January 23, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
The jumbo-sized Baker family are back in this sequel to the 2003 box-office hit Cheaper by the Dozen. College football coach Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and his wife, author Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt), have decided its time they took their sizable brood of 12 children on a summer vacation, and so they pack up the cars and take the kids to Lake Winnetka for some camping. Not all the kids are happy about this, but the one who is really annoyed turns out to be Tom, who discovers his old rival Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy) is also staying near the lake. Jimmy and his trophy wife, Sarina (Carmen Electra), also have a large family of eight children, and Jimmy and Tom seem intent upon one-upping each other at every opportunity. As the tensions mount, the Baker family and the Murtaugh clan face off in a not-so-good-natured series of family games to determine which of the parents have the greater bragging rights. In addition to Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, the actors playing the 12 Baker children from the 2003 film return for Cheaper by the Dozen 2, including Hilary Duff, Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, and Kevin Schmidt. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Eugene Levy, (more)
- 1962
The most successful of network television's many WWII dramatic series of the '60s, Combat!, ran for five seasons on ABC -- or roughly one year longer than the war lasted! Set in the months following D-Day, the weekly, hour-long series focused on King Company, a platoon of American GIs battling their way through Southern Europe, encountering action, adventure, humor, heartbreak and dozens of guest stars along the way. Throughout the series' run, King Company was headed by gritty, taciturn Sgt. Chip Saunders (Vic Morrow) and his superior officer, cool and courageous Lt. Gil Hanley (Rick Jason). Though several soldiers were attached to the platoon from one season to the next, the most enduring of the supporting players were Pierre Jalbert as Paul "Caje" Lemay, Jack Hogan as "Wild Man" Kirby, and Dick Peabody as PFC Littlejohn. Some of the better episodes were directed by such Hollywood heavyweights as Robert Altman and Burt Kennedy. Filmed in glorious black-and-white during its first four seasons -- the better to accommodate newsreel footage of actual wartime battles -- Combat! switched to color for its fifth and final season on the air. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1963
As Combat! moves into its second season, the men of King Company welcome several new "regular" platoon members, notably Private Billy Nelson (Tom Lowell) and PFC Littlejohn (Dick Peabody). Also, the platoon's resident medical aidman Walton has been replaced by a man who prefers to be known only as "Doc" (Conlan Carter). Even so, Sgt. Chip Saunders (Vic Morrow) and Lt. Gil Hanley (Rick Jason) remain firmly in charge as the men make their way through occupied France in the wake of D-Day. Among the season's 32 episodes are the series' first two-part adventures, "The Long Way Home" and "What are the Bugles Blowin'. As for guest stars, this season offers such notables as Lee Marvin, James Caan, James Coburn, Leonard Nimoy -- and on distinctly opposite sides of the age spectrum, Eddie Albert as a fiftyish WWI doughboy who is unaware that a whole new war is raging about him, and Beau Bridges as a green private who tries to hide the fact that he is merely 15 years old. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1962
Tab Hunter guest stars as Del Packer, a famous baseball pitcher who has joined King Company as a draftee. Sgt. Saunders (Vic Morrow) is the only member of the platoon who isn't starstruck by the celebrity in their midst, grimly demanding that Packer be treated just like any other GI. But this proves difficult when the ballplayer reveals himself to be a profoundly--and even dangerously--troubled man. A particularly violent climax caps this terse character study, in which familiar supporting actors Bernard Fox and Eric Braeden (then known as Hans Gudegast appear unbilled. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- G
- Add Escape from the Planet of the Apes to QueueAdd Escape from the Planet of the Apes to top of Queue
Escape From the Planet of the Apes is the third in the series of films based upon the Planet of the Apes characters created by novelist Pierre Boulle. At the end of the second film, the centuries-in-the-future world colonized by simians was destroyed, but apes Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and Zira (Kim Hunter) were able to escape in the space vessel left behind by 20th century astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston). Cornelius and Zira pass through another time warp, finding themselves in the Earth of the 1970s. When they reveal their ability to speak, the apes are first treated as curiosities, then as threats when the government, believing the story that the Earth will eventually be inherited by monkeys, tries to prevent the birth of Zira's baby. They are ultimately given shelter by sympathetic circus owner Armando (Ricardo Montalban). This film was followed by the fourth "Apes" entry, 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, (more)
- 1969
After seeing one school friend after another getting married, 18-year-old Cissy (Kathy Garver) begins fretting that she'll end up an old maid. So far as she is concerned, there's only one way to avoid this ignominous fate: Cissy and her boyfriend Gregg (Gregg Fedderson) must announce their engagement immediately, whether Gregg wants to or not! Featured in the cast is Page Forsythe, daughter of future Dynasty star John Forsythe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
In the opening episode of Green Acres' fifth season, Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor) anxiously prepares for the arrival of her "mudder." No, she isn't expecting a race horse, but instead her jet-setting Hungarian mother (Lilia Skala), who descends upon the Douglas farm in the company of her Japanese manservant Kyoto (Jerry Fujikawa) and settles in for a three-week stay. Although all of Hooterville is on pins and needles over the presence of so illustrious a visitor, Lisa's husband Oliver (Eddie Albert) is outraged that his mother-in-law has turned his household upside down. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lilia Skala, Jerry Fujikawa, (more)
- 1970
This episode begins at the headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service, where the agents take time from bleeding taxpayers dry to recall the case of the "Hooterville Refund Fraud." The whole mess was inadvertently caused by Oliver Douglas (Eddie Albert), who had encouraged his fellow farmers to contact the IRS with refund requests. Though Oliver's intentions were honest, most of the requests were not -- and as a result, the citizens of Hooterville became the delighted (and undeserving) recipients of a 500,000 dollar tax refund! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay Jostyn, Hal Smith, (more)
- 1971
Oliver (Eddie Albert) and Lisa (Eva Gabor) are given an offer they can't refuse: a free paint job for their house and barn. Of course, there are a few strings attached -- namely, the Douglases will have to allow the paint company extending this offer to use the side of their barn for an advertising poster. The fact that this event coincides with Lisa's disastrous efforts to cook spaghetti should be a tip-off that paint is not the only element that will end up coating the Douglases' walls. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Lowell, Robert Nichols, (more)
Following up his blockbuster action hit Mr. and Mrs. Smith, director Doug Liman turns to an entirely new genre -- sci-fi -- for this tale of an underground world of teleporters. Based on the novel by Steven Gould, Jumper concerns David (Hayden Christensen), a young man who quite literally wills himself away from his grim family life by teleporting to another place with the power of his mind. Years later, David is using his powers to raid bank vaults, seduce girls in London, lunch on the pyramids, and surf in Fiji. But he soon discovers that he is not the only one bestowed with this unique gift, and all is not well in the world of jumpers. There are people out there, such as Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), who view jumpers as a threat to all humankind, and have made it their mission in life to eliminate them. After jumping back to Michigan to get reacquainted with his long lost love, Millie (Rachel Bilson), David makes the acquaintance of experienced jumper Griffin (Jamie Bell). Informed by Griffin of a secret between jumpers and a shadowy group that seeks to destroy them, the pair soon finds themselves facing off against a legion of murderous opponents who won't stop fighting until every last jumper has been eliminated. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, (more)
Screenwriter Nunnally Johnson adapted the novel by author Edward Streeter, whose work was also the basis of Father of the Bride (1950), into this domestic comedy. James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara star as Roger and Peggy Hobbs, a St. Louis couple with a large brood who desire a seaside vacation. Renting a cottage by the ocean is just the first step in a summer fraught with disasters, including a couch potato son, a shy daughter with newly installed braces, a pair of grown daughters who have married badly, and a local yachtsman with eyes for Peggy. Not to mention the ramshackle state of the shoreline abode, Roger and Peggy's new grandparent status, and incidents involving a sexy neighbor, a sailboat regatta and bird watching. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, (more)
A woman realizes that friends can be lovers, but now has to convince the friend in question in this romantic comedy. Michael O'Neal (Dermot Mulroney) and Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) were romantically involved in college, and after breaking up, they have managed to remain close friends. For years, Julianne and Michael have had a pledge that if both were single when they turned 28, they would get married. Shortly before her 28th birthday, Julianne is lamenting the sad state of her love life when she gets a call from Michael, who announces that he has important news. Julianne is convinced that Michael is going to ask her to marry him, and she is crestfallen when he announces that he's engaged to Kimmy Wallace (Cameron Diaz). Kimmy seems like the perfect woman for Michael; she's sweet, pretty, bright, and adores Michael, and her wealthy family is just as fond of him as she is. But now that Julianne has realized how much she loves Michael, she's not about to give him up without a fight -- and isn't afraid to fight dirty. Julianne's uneasy ally in the battle for Michael's affections is her friend and editor George Downes (Rupert Everett), a cheerfully out-of-the-closet homosexual who is not prepared when Julianne asks him to pose as her boyfriend. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, (more)
In this darkly comic film noir from writer/director David Atkins, Steve Martin revisits dentistry -- an occupation he'd explored 15 years prior, in the camp musical Little Shop of Horrors. Novocaine casts Martin as a much more mild-mannered D.D.S., Dr. Frank Sangster. Engaged to a prim and delicate hygienist, Jean (Laura Dern), Sangster leads a placid, upper-middle class existence, save for the occasional visit from his deadbeat artist brother Harlan (Elias Koteas). But Sangster finds his life turned inside out from the moment the alluring Susan (Helena Bonham Carter) plops down in his reclining vinyl chair: Complaining about her molars, she's really more interested in the refrigerator of narcotics the good dentist keeps on hand for his patients in pain. Once they manage to get Sangster's guard down, Susan and her brother (Scott Caan) rob him blind -- and worse yet, frame him for the theft. When a dead body turns up in Sangster's sleek suburban home, he finds that clearing his name will be a difficult proposition indeed. Novocaine marks the directorial debut of screenwriter Atkins, who first made his mark with the script for Emir Kusturica's oddball cult favorite Arizona Dream (1993). ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Helena Bonham Carter, (more)
- 1964
Dr. Gregory Pelham (Peter Hobbs) specializes in discreetly treating high-profile alcoholics. This business reaps quite a profit, so much so that someone decides to cash in on it by kidnapping Pelham's son David (Tom Lowell) and holding him for ransom. As it turns out, the kidnapping is a hoax--but the murder of Joe Velvet (Ron Kennedy), for which Dr. Pelham is charged, is all too real. If ever there was a case for Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), this is it! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
While vacationing in the small town of Price Hill, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) agrees to speak before the local board of education on behalf of English teacher Jane Wardman (Mona Freeman), who may lose her job because of an anonymous letter accusing her of "playing around" with her male students. Things get worse for Jane when local barkeep Gus Wiler (Chris Alcaide) is killed, and the townsfolk are reminded of an earlier incident wherein a troubled student befriended by Jane likewise died under mysterious circumstances. The outcome of the story takes place during an impromptu hearing in the school gymnasium, presided over by avuncular judge Edward Dally (the ever-popular Edgar Buchanan). This episode is based on "The Man with Half a Face", a short story by Hugh Pentecost. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
While being held in a small-town jail for a minor traffic infraction, Qiuincy (Jack Klugman barely escapes with his life when the jail catches fire--but four other prisoners aren't so lucky. Though Quincy's autopsy indicates that at least one of the four dead inmates was the victim of foul play, the local authorities insist that all the deaths were accidental. Convinced that a cover-up is in the works, Quincy sets out to prove his theory by teaming up with town doctor Carl Jessup (Duncan Gamble)--who suffers mightily for his cooperation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The acclaimed graphic novel from crime writer Max Allan Collins becomes this big budget Dreamworks drama from director Sam Mendes and screenwriter David Self. Tom Hanks stars as Michael Sullivan, a morally conflicted Depression-era hit man committing murder in the name of his employer, John Rooney (Paul Newman). A kindly, aging Irish crime boss who raised Sullivan as his surrogate son, Rooney is affiliated with Al Capone in Chicago and thus wields great power in the "Tri-Cities" of Moline, IL; Rock Island, IL; and Davenport, IA. Curious about his father's mysterious profession, Sullivan's son, Michael Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin), stows away in his father's automobile one night and witnesses the execution of a man at the hands of Sullivan and Rooney's biological son, Connor (Daniel Craig). Although Michael keeps his promise to remain silent about what he's seen, the paranoid and unstable Connor tries to wipe out the entire Sullivan clan anyway, succeeding only in killing Sullivan's wife, Annie (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and youngest son, Peter (Liam Aiken). Enraged at this and another surprise betrayal by the Rooneys, Sullivan embarks on a path of bloody retribution, Michael in tow. Although he intends to leave his boy with relatives in the rural town of Perdition once the coast is clear, he ends up exposing Michael to the goriest aspects of his talents, slaughtering former associates as he dodges contract assassin Maguire (Jude Law) and cripples the cash flow of the Rooney and Capone organizations through a series of bank robberies, attempting to force either mob family to offer up the sequestered Connor as a sacrifice. Inspired by the popular Japanese comic book series Lone Wolf and Cub and based loosely on an episode from the life and career of notorious real-life crime figures John and Connor Looney, Road to Perdition co-stars Stanley Tucci as legendary Chicago mobster Frank Nitti. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, (more)
Though overlong even for a Hayley Mills vehicle, That Darn Cat is an expert blend of laughs and suspense. The eponymous feline is D.C., a Siamese belonging to sisters Hayley Mills and Dorothy Provine. One evening, D.C. comes flouncing home with a lady's wristwatch attached to her neck. The watch contains an unfinished plea for help scribbled on its back, written by Grayson Hall, a bank teller held captive in a neighboring house by robbers Neville Brand and Frank Gorshin. Mills and Provine contact the FBI, who send agent Dean Jones (who's allergic to cats) to investigate. In their efforts to locate and rescue Hall and capture the crooks, Jones and the two sisters embark upon a series of slapstick misadventures involving an unending stream of top character actors. The highlight is a lengthy sequence at the drive-in movie theatre managed by ulcerated Richard Deacon. That Darn Cat is based on Undercover Cat, a somewhat more serious suspense novel by The Gordons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hayley Mills, Dean Jones, (more)
- 1963
Hoping to arrange a profitable marriage between his son Al (Don Galloway) and wealthy vineyard owner Kitty Norris (Laura Devon), wine merchant Luis Aguilar (Gilbert Roland) ends up disowning Al when the boy insists upon marrying another girl. Later on, Al's wife becomes pregnant, compelling him to return home and beg his father for money. Luis agrees -- but only if Al can outdrink Luis in an all-night binge. Inevitably, this "wager" ends in murder, with Luis' long-suffering secretary, Ruth (Laraine Day), taking a hand in matters. (Incidentally, Ruth is not the "Joyful Woman" of the title.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gilbert Roland, Laraine Day, (more)
- 1980
The science-fiction and detective-story genres are combined in the made-for-TV The Aliens are Coming. Tom Mason plays an astrophysicist who is convinced that malevolent extraterrestrials are in our midst. It is Mason's contention that the invaders have assumed human form, in preparation for world conquest (sound familiar?) Originally telecast March 2, 1980, The Aliens are Coming later showed up in an expanded version as a two-parter, shown on NBC over two consecutive weekends. The project began as a TV pilot film titled Alien Force. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The inept Ensign Garland (Robert Morse) battles a trio of jewel thieves in this Walt Disney comedy. Garland starts by spilling paint on the lovely Kate Fairchild (Stephanie Powers). Harry (Phil Silvers), Max (Norman Fell) and Charlie (Mickey Shaughnessy) try to recover the jewels accidentally dumped by Garland into a picnic basket. Garland's superior is Commander Taylor (Don Ameche), who hounds the harried ensign for being a constant bumbler. Jason Bennett (Wally Cox) is the playboy who has replaced his yacht engine with a wine cellar. Character actors Joe E. Ross and Al Lewis witness the sight gags and react to the seafaring shenanigans. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Morse, Stefanie Powers, (more)
Edward Dmytryk brings Harold Robbins' trashy, dirt-dishing Hollywood best-seller to the screen with George Peppard starring as Jonas Cord, a rancidly-sketched portrait of Howard Hughes. In 1925, when his father dies of a stroke, Jonas inherits the Cord Chemical factory, a manufacturer of dynamite and other explosives. Jonas proceeds with several cut-throat transactions, making a settlement with his sexy stepmother Rina (Carroll Baker) and liquidating the stock owned by cowhand Nevada Smith (Alan Ladd, in his final American film role). With the help of Mac McAllister (Lew Ayres), his father's attorney, Jonas builds his father's company into a multi-million dollar business, expanding into plastics and aeronautics. Meanwhile, Rina has become a top fashion model and movie star and Nevada Smith has parlayed his laconic demeanor into a career as a popular silent film cowboy idol. Jonas then marries, then ignores, the well-meaning Monica Winthrop (Elizabeth Ashley), and ruins her father's company in the process. Then, with the advent of sound films, Jonas helps Nevada Smith through the sound film crisis by offering financial backing for a film to star both Nevada and his ex-mother-in-law Rina. Jonas decides to direct the film himself, hoping to seduce Rina. But Jonas's insensitive and egomaniacal behavior causes Monica to leave him. Jonas invests all his time in film production but the alcoholic Rina dies in a car accident. The owners of the film studio -- Bernard B. Norman (Martin Balsam) and Dan Pierce (Robert Cummings) -- want to sell the studio to Jonas but hide the fact that Rina, the studio's biggest star, has died. Jonas buys the studio and when he finds his biggest asset is gone, he goes on a drunken binge. But Jonas quickly meets call girl Jennie Denton (Martha Hyer), who he decides to turn into a superstar modeled upon Rina. Despite having made her a star, Jonas's vile treatment of Jennie repulses both her and his old friend Nevada Smith, and Smith decides it's time to beat some sense into Jonas's head. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Peppard, Alan Ladd, (more)
