Ken Lynch Movies

Rocky (Noah Beery Jr.) decides to open up a roadside restaurant with a chance acquaintance named Vinnie Whithead (Ken Lynch). From the outset of this enterprise, Rocky can't help but notice that an elderly man is watching every move he and Vinnie make. . .and no sooner has the restaurant opened than someone breaks into the joint. Investigating, Jim (James Garner) discovers that Vinnie is a retired mob boss, and that his trail has been dogged for the last 50 years by retired federal officer Eddie LaSalle (Victor Jory). Somehow, all this is tied in with a lawsuit brought about by Bruce Woodstock (Jess Nadelman), a total stranger who has managed to fall off the roof of Jim's trailer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For its seventh and final season on the air, McCloud was cut back from 120 to 90 minutes per episode, as were the other rotating components of The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie, which this season included Columbo, McMillan, Quincy, M.E., and (Lanigan's Rabbi). Dennis Weaver is back in his familiar Stetson and sheepskin coat as Sam McCloud, a New Mexico lawmaker transplanted to New York City, in season seven's quota of six new episodes. First up is "Bonnie and McCloud," in which McCloud's girlfriend apparently commits cold-blooded murder before a battery of eyewitnesses. This is followed by "It Was the Fight Before Christmas," wherein a pall is cast over the Yuletide season when McCloud is targeted for assassination. Things aren't much better for our hero when he is framed for the murder of a drug-dealing hackie in "The Great Taxi Cab Stampede." On the lighter side, McCloud and his boss Chief Clifford (J.D. Cannon) go undercover as bodyguards for a country & western singer (Hoyt Axton) touring the Soviet Union in "The Moscow Connection." In another international jaunt, McCloud heads to the U.K. to track down Irish terrorists in "London Bridges." And in the series finale, McCloud follows a trail of corpses, all drained of their blood, in "McCloud Meets Dracula." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season six of McCloud finds the venerable series still a component of the weekly NBC Sunday Mystery Movie anthology, appearing in rotation with Columbo, McMillan and Wife, and McCoy. The first of the season's seven episodes (each running two hours) is "The Park Avenue Pirates," in which transplanted New Mexico lawman Sam McCloud (Dennis Weaver) takes on racketeers who have assumed control of a Manhattan record company. In "Showdown at Times Square," McCloud helps an aging Native American (Chief Dan George) save his grandson from a vicious street gang. In "Fire!," McCloud's sweetheart, journalist Chris Coughlin (Diana Muldaur), is victimized by an arsonist. A gang of paroled bank robbers convince themselves that McCloud has absconded with their stolen loot in "Three Guns for New York." In "Our Man in the Harem," a beauty pageant serves as a front for a gang of kidnappers in the employ of a Middle Eastern potentate. McCloud and his police colleagues face a terrifying variety of crises during a crippling snowstorm in "The Day New York Turned Blue." And in the season finale "Night of the Shark," McCloud tangles with American mobsters -- in Sydney, Australia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

McCloud enters its fifth season as a stalwart component of the weekly anthology The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie, this year appearing in rotation with Columbo, McMillan and Wife, and Amy Prentiss. Nine episodes are offered this season rather than the usual five; and as a bonus, each episode runs a full two hours, briefly abandoning the series' previous 90-minute length. The opening episode is "The Barefoot Girls of Bleecker Street," in which New Mexico lawman Sam McCloud (Dennis Weaver), on "temporary" assignment in New York City, interrupts an ongoing robbery investigation to help a runaway unwed mother and her baby. Next up is "The Gang That Stole Manhattan," in which a team of clever crooks pretends to be filming a movie on location in New York as a cover for an intricately plotted robbery. In "Shivaree on Delancy Street," McCloud's police-sergeant friend Broadhurst (Terry Carter) is accused of being involved in a numbers racket, compelling Sam to go witness-hunting in Miami. Assigned to the NYPD mounted unit in "The 42nd Street Cavalry," unrefined cowboy McCloud marshals his "troops" to ride down a band of dangerous militants. In "The Concrete Jungle Caper," Sam goes undercover as a convict to trap an international drug dealer. In "The Man With the Golden Hat," someone is determined to steal McCloud's precious Stetson -- and he wants to know why. "Lady on the Run" takes McCloud to Mexico City to prevents a vengeful woman with murder on her mind from being murdered herself, "Sharks!" finds the cops following the wrong trail while tracking down some murderous loan sharks. And in the season's last offering, "Return to the Alamo," McCloud's journalist girlfriend Chris Coughlin (Diana Muldaur) returns to the Big Apple just as all hell breaks loose, with McCloud, subbing for an ailing Chief Clifford (J.D. Cannon), taking desperate measures to save the life of a drug-addicted newborn infant -- and to prevent a group of "peace" activists from blowing up the whole city! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this film, also released under the title I Want Her Dead, Katie Lewis (Twiggy) and her husband Ben (Michael Witney) discover that they are the targets of a mysterious killer who leaves the letter W at the scene of their near-fatal "accidents." While trying to avoid death, the couple must struggle to discover where the source of these attacks stems from. This movie was Twiggy's first film appearance. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

The 90-minute crime series McCloud remained a component of The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie as it entered its fourth season, still appearing in rotation with Columbo, McMillan and Wife, and Hec Ramsey. It goes without saying that Dennis Weaver continues to fill the boots of Sam McCloud, a New Mexico deputy sheriff plying his trade as a special police operative at Manhattan's Precinct Twenty-Seven. The first of the season's five episodes is "Butch Cassidy Rides Again," featuring veteran actors Pat O'Brien and Lloyd Nolan in the story of an elderly gang of outlaws who have horned in on a practice robbery staged by the NYPD. "The Solid Gold Swingers" involves McCloud with a disappearing corpse, a high-priced madam who caters only to VIPs, and a shadowy serial killer. In "McCloud in Paradise," Sam's superior Chief Clifford (J.D. Cannon) is framed for murder while attending a police conference in Hawaii. "The Colorado Cattle Caper" concerns a shipment of contaminated beef which might very well spark an outbreak of botulism in New York. And in the season's final offering, "This Must Be the Alamo," McCloud's police crony Sgt. Broadhurst is left in charge of the cop shop during a heat wave which culminates in an all-out assault on Precinct Twenty-Seven. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Willie Dynamite (Roscoe Orman) is a Manhattan pimp whose life and career are documented in this blaxploitation flick. Willie makes it to the top of his precarious profession, only to hit rock bottom again in record time. In her last movie role, Diana Sands plays an ex-hooker who becomes a social worker. She tries to get Willie to clean up his act before it's too late. Willie Dynamite was produced by Richard Zanuck and David Brown, who shortly afterward collaborated on a more upbeat project, The Sting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season three of McCloud finds the 90-minute series securely installed as one of the four rotating components of The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie, along with Columbo, McMillan and Wife, and Hec Ramsey. Dennis Weaver is back as Sam McCloud, a Southwestern deputy sheriff applying his unorthodox crime-busting skills in the concrete canyons of New York City. Likewise returning are J.D. Cannon as McCloud's long-suffering boss, Chief Peter Clifford; Terry Carter as Sgt. Broadhurst, who frequently finds himself tagging along whenever McCloud is on the scent of a miscreant; and, in a handful of episodes, Diana Muldaur as journalist Chris Coughlin, McCloud's erstwhile girlfriend. New to the cast this season is Ken Lynch as Police Sergeant Grover. Five episodes are served up this season, beginning with "The New Mexican Connection," in which McCloud butts heads with an outspoken civil libertarian (played by Jackie Cooper) who wangles the release of a dangerous murder suspect (portrayed by Ricky Nelson). Next on the roster is "The Barefoot Stewardess Caper," wherein a group of attractive air hostesses launch a second career as a team of burglars. In "The Park Avenue Rustlers," McCloud is reluctantly assigned a female partner (Brenda Vaccaro) while going after a vicious gang of auto thieves. In "Showdown at the End of the World," our hero matches wits with an up-and-coming mobster who is using beautiful models as drug "mules." And finally, in "Million Dollar Roundup," McCloud gets swept up in a frantic search for The Saracen Horse, a priceless jewel-encrusted artifact. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Janice Rule guest stars as prostitute Beverly Landau, who after leaving her latest "John" is attacked and knifed by a religious fanatic who preys on San Francisco's "working girls" in a perverse attempt to save their souls. Three women have already been murdered by the fanatic, and as the sole survivor Beverly is placed under protective custody at the Hotel Kennedy, with Inspector Steve Keller (Michael Douglas) determined to keep the woman alive long enough to testify--if indeed she intends to do so. Among the locations utilized in this episode are Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Savage Run was originally telecast as Run Simon Run (after bearing the working title The Tradition of Simon Zuniga). Burt Reynolds stars in this made-for-TV movie as a Papago Indian, who returns to his people after serving a long sentence for a crime he didn't commit. To clear himself of the murder of his own brother, Reynolds begins a long and bloody search for the actual killer. Inger Stevens made her final film appearance in this 74-minute Aaron Spelling production. Run Simon Run was first shown December 1, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wounded and in a state of shock, Officer Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) is held captive by two escaped convicts in a small café. Malloy's partner is told that unless he frees the convicts' comrade from jail, Pete will be killed. It is at this point that the department's S.W.A.T. team swings into action--and this being a Jack Webb production, the viewer is given a crash course on this elite unit's modus operandi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this detective drama, a struggling private detective is hired to protect a millionaire's mistress. After repeated attempts on her life, the PI moves her, the tycoon, and his family to the Bahamas. There, another attempt is made to kill the mistress, but this time the detective kills the murderer -- who turns out to be the tycoon's business partner. The detective is incarcerated for his crime, but is then released. Upon his parole he discovers that the family his abandoned him and that he was framed for the death. He eventually confronts the conspirators who end up killing each other during a struggle in their offices. This frees the detective who takes off to look for better assignments. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide