Anne Barton Movies

The oft-told story of the rise and fall of the James Younger gang is given the Dragnet treatment in The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid. With meticulous attention to detail, the film recreates the outlaw gang's most infamous escapade: the September 7, 1876, robbery of "the biggest bank west of the Mississippi" in Northfield, MN. Cliff Robertson plays Cole Younger, and Robert Duvall appears as Jesse James, herein depicted as a pair of vengeance-driven sociopaths, but no worse than the greedy railroad magnates who've driven them into a life of crime. Younger is also quite the manipulator, convincing the immigrant farmers of Northfield that the bank is completely impervious to robbery, thereby increasing the deposits that he intends to steal. Duvall's Jesse James is a cold-blooded murderer, but, like Younger, not without his own personal charm. The climactic raid is filmed cinéma vérité style, looking more like a haphazard CNN news event than a well-oiled machine (this film is not, thankfully, the standard "slick" Hollywood product). Though it drags in spots, The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid is a superb, iconoclastic reproduction of an era long past. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Now that he's driving, Wally (Tony Dow) wants a gasoline credit card. Ward (Hugh Beaumont) won't hear of it, telling Wally to rely on the money he has. Then Wally's battery goes dead in a faraway town, and he hasn't the necessary funds. So, now the question is, is Wally right, or is Ward? A good question -- and the huge bill from the gas station doesn't provide any easy answers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Althhough she is on her deathbed, wealthy Be Be Brent (Anne Barton) is sufficiently hale and hearty to enrage her relatives by leaving the bulk of her estate--one million dollars--to her nurse Hetty Randall (Anne Seymour). The family members hire Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) to contest the will, but instead he ends up with another murder case on his hands. This time, the victim is Justin Grover, and the accused is a girl named Madeline (Sherry Jackson)...whose last name is also Randall. Former "beefcake" leading man Jon Hall, who hadn't appeared on TV since 1958, came out of retirement to play a major role in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unable to get through to a particularly hostile patient, psychiatrist Peter Falk goes to gray-haired senior shrink Sidney Poitier for advice. This prompts Poitier to recall his experiences during World War II. While working on behalf of the government, Poitier was assigned the case of psycho Nazi sympathizer Bobby Darin. A complex flashback structure reveals the various influences that led to Darin's warped state of mind and to his life of crime. Poitier perceives that Darin is potentially dangerous, and insists that he needs further treatment. The government sees things differently, and allows Darin, who on the surface shows signs of recovery, to leave the hospital. The horrible results of this decision serve to convince Poitier to follow his own gut feelings no matter what his fellow "experts" might advise, and to continue probing even the most recalcitrant or deceptively "cured" of patients. Essentially a conformist psychological melodrama, Pressure Point truly comes to life whenever Bobby Darin is on the screen. His performance was outstanding, far better than his Oscar-nominated turn in 1963's Captain Newman MD. Unfortunately, the critics were aligned against Darin, possibly because of the singer/actor's well-publicized arrogance; Judith Crist went so far as to compare Darin to Dr. Samuel Johnson's walking dog, quipping that the most remarkable aspect of Darin's performance was not that he did it well, but that he did it at all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A neighborhood full of friendly people degenerates into a mob when Maple Street is suddenly plagued by strange and seemingly pre-planned power outages. Steve Brand (Claude Akins) tries to act as the voice of reason, but he is shouted down by his hotheaded neighbor Charlie (Jack Weston). Meanwhile, suspicion is cast upon young Tommy (Jan Handzlik), a science-fiction fanatic who apparently knows more than he should about the recurring power failures. Even after the passage of four decades, this Rod Serling-scripted Twilight Zone episode has lost none of its impact, and it is justifiably one of the series' best-remembered installments. Keep an eye out for future M*A*S*H producer-director Burt Metcalfe in a featured role. "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" originally aired March 4, 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Perennial loser Larry Benton (Wynn Pearce) is convinced that he has killed a guy named Mike during a poker-game argument. Actually, Larry is the victim of a blackmail scam, perpetrated by a shady customer named Johnny Clay. After Larry forges his brother Steve's name on a check to Johnny, the blackmailer is murdered, whereupon Steve (Dick Foran) tries to cover for his ne'er-do-well sibling. In his efforts to save Steve from the gas chamber, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) must prove that the "late" Mike is still alive--if indeed he IS still alive! This episode is based on a short story by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama is set inside a girl's reformatory. When one of the teens has a baby, the other girls rally together to conceal and care for the infant. The troubled young women soon become as a family until the guards discover the child and take it away. This angers the inmates who begin rioting and destroying their prison. During the scuffle, a young woman escapes and is able to join up with her lover. As they flee the police, their car crashes and both of them die. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The flourishing orchid business owned by Mildred Kimber (Anne Barton) may pass into the hands of unscrupulous florist Harry Marlow (Dan Seymour), who has arranged for Mildred's husband to lose all his money in a rigged poker game at the nightclub owned by Sam Lynk (Michael Emmett). Subsequently, Lynk is found poisoned to the death, and the evidence points to Mildred. Determined to prove Mildred's innocence, Perry (Raymond Burr) finds that DA Hamilton Burger (William Tallman) is more determined than ever to get a conviction--meaning that most of Perry's work will have to take place outside the courtroom! Based on a 1940 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner, this episode was remade in 1965 as "The Case of the Candy Queen." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dodge City is in a panic over rumors of an impending attack by the Pawnee Indians. Matt (James Arness) is skeptical of these rumors, since it doesn't seem logical that the Pawnees would announce their plans ahead of time. It turns out that the instigator of the panic is a man named Tewksbury (Robert Ellenstein)--who curiously enough has always been a friend of the Pawnees. The answer to this mystery may be provided by a solemn Indian maiden known as Quiet One (Anne Barton). This episode is adapted from the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of September 12, 1953. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide