Murray MacLeod Movies

Uptown (George Newbern) and Mad Mike (Christopher McDonald) are paramedic partners assigned to the tough South Central section of the city by their irate boss Captain Prescott (John P. Ryan). The duo uncovers a fiendish conspiracy that deals in harvesting internal organs from unwilling donors. They encounter street gangs and a female with a killer sex drive. This spoofing parody contains explicate language and brief nudity. Watch for veteran actor Ray Walston as the first patient suffering a heart attack. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Robert Desiderio stars in this TV movie as a Chinese food delivery man (the food is Chinese, not Desiderio). While on the job, he witnesses a murder. Since the killer was an international terrorist, Desiderio is pressed into duty by the US government. He is forced to moonlight as a spy, taking on seemingly trivial assignments that turn out to be of grave importance. That Moonlight was doomed from the start as the pilot for a series was indicated by the directorial credit given "Alan Smithee"--a pseudonym assumed whenever a director is so displeased by the end product that he (or she) desires to have his (or her) name removed from the credits. In this instance, two directors--Jackie Cooper and Rod Holcomb--preferred to remain anonymous. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charles Bronson switches from his traditional role as a vigilante to playing an actual lawman in this crime drama. Jeb Maynard (Bronson) is a border patrol agent who is trying to stem the tide of illegal aliens from Mexico into the United States. Jeb is hot on the trail of Hotchkiss (Ed Harris), a "coyote" who brings illegals into the United States for a hefty price and with little concern for their safety. But while Jeb is sworn to keep illegal immigrants out of America, he finds his relationship with Elena Morales (Karmin Murcelo) becoming more than professional. Elena is an illegal alien who wants to cooperate with Jeb by leading him to Hotchkiss, who smuggled her into the United States. But businesslike Jeb soon finds that the plight of Elena and her young son, who are desperate to build a better life for themselves, has touched a soft spot inside him. While the story may sound similar to the Tony Richardson/Jack Nicholson picture The Border, Borderline actually preceded it by two years. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

At the request of Rocky's old friend Peter Preli (Dabbs Greer), Jim (James Garner) agrees to deliver the ransom for Peter's kidnapped granddaughter Houston (Lane Bradbury). Soon afterward, Houston turns up safe and sound--and Peter is found murdered. Suspected of committing the crime, Jim tries to find out what really happened...and to determine if Houston, who'd been laboring under the false assumption that her grandfather was wealthy, is in some way responsible for the whole sorry affair. This episode was originally slated to air on February 6, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mixing humor and melodrama, this curiosity has a husband-and-wife detective duo investigating Satanic goings on in an American suburb, all the while bickering about their in-laws and other domestic problems. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide

The "O'Brien" of the title is Mrs. O'Brien (Lillian Bronson), the feisty old manager of the apartment building wherein resides Officer Pete Malloy (Martin Milner). Someone has stolen Mrs. O'Brien's purse, and she is determined that the police capture the thief--even if it means picketing the Rampart station, much to Pete's annoyance and embarrassment. This episode was originally scheduled to air on November 2, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Officer Jim Reed (Kent McCord) drives his colleagues to distraction with his new squeaky shoes. Be that as it may, Jim and his partner Pete Malloy (Kent McCord) have plenty of other things to occupy their time, including a bank robbery which morphs into a hostage situation, and a youngster (Moosie Drier) who is hiding in a building targeted for demolition. Featured in the guest cast are Dick Wilson, aka "Mr. Whipple" of bathroom-tissue commercial fame, and onetime silent-comedy ingenue Bartine Burkett. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally made for television, this story focuses on a woman selected for jury duty. During a murder trial, she discovers that the accused is the wrong man; she also finds that the real killer is after her. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Overlooked when it first aired February 18, 1972, the made-for-TV Evil Roy Slade has gained a loyal and protective cult following in the past 20 years. The film was the second pilot for a never-sold TV western spoof created by Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson, Sheriff Who?. Actually, it was the second and third pilot, since Evil Roy Slade has been cobbled together from two hour-long films. John Astin is terrific in the title role, playing an outlaw so repulsive that, when he was orphaned and left stranded in the desert as a baby, even the wolves didn't want him! As an adult, Evil Roy Slade can't resist "going the extra mile" in his nastiness: while robbing a bank, he stops to pilfer a fountain pen chained to one of the desks, and the next shot shows Slade riding off into the sunset, dragging the desk behind him. Attempting to reform for the sake of pretty schoolmarm Betsy Potter (Pamela Austin), Slade simply cannot curb his crooked tendencies, so it's up to Dick Shawn as singing Sheriff Bing Bell ("Will somebody please answer that door?") to bring the criminal to justice. Shawn previously appeared in the original 1967 Sheriff Who? pilot as the "fastest interior decorator in the West"; in both films, he's almost unbearably funny. The Marshall/Belson script is full of hilarious running gags and throwaway jokes. Our favorite bit concerns railroad magnate Mickey Rooney's legendary stubby index finger: "They still sing about it around campfires at night," claims Rooney--and indeed, they do. The supporting cast includes such never-fail laughgetters as Milton Berle, Henry Gibson, Dom DeLuise and Edie Adams; also, keep a lookout for John Ritter and Penny Marshall in unbilled bits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Ironside steps up his efforts to locate the kidnapped daughter of his former sweetheart Barbara Richards (Barbara Rush). Complicating the Chief's investigation is Barbara's husband Vic (Philip Carey), who can't get over the fact that his wife was in love with Ironside during a period of amnesia. Meanwhile, an ill-tempered rural lawman (Slim Pickens) also does his best to thwart Ironside's efforts to rescue the kidnap victim, lest all the credit for cracking the case go to an "out-of-towner". Featured in the supporting cast are such impressive talents as Dane Clark and Cloris Leachman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV movie stars Lee Majors as Andy Crocker, a disillusioned Vietnam veteran. His homecoming is hardly a hero's welcome: Andy finds that his girl friend is married, his business is in the toilet, and his friends and neighbors are reluctant to acknowledge his existence. Originally telecast November 18, 1969, this film was one of the first to tackle the issue of disenfranchised Nam soldiers who came trudging home to indifference and hostility. Wisely, it avoids the fistfights and gore that would attend the later unfortunate spate of "crazed Vietnam vet" pictures. Though it would seem to be self-contained, The Ballad of Andy Crocker was intended as the pilot for a weekly TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Johnny Taylor (Murray MacLeod) makes the rounds in Hollywood trying to peddle a screenplay given to him by his American army buddy in Vietnam. His attempts prove to be fruitless as he drifts into the life of a hermit on a Malibu beach. Johnny saves Diane (Lori Martin) from a motorcycle gang and discovers her father Vance Patton (William Windom) is a top film producer. She tries to convince daddy dearest to give the young man a shot at writing for films, but he refuses and castigates his daughter for being involved with an unknown. Vance ignores his wife Gloria (Jan Sterling) and Johnny is pursued by the homosexual agent Mori Thompson (Jan Murray) before the motorcycle gang returns for another round of fun and games. An LSD montage and a semi-nude exotic dancer spices up this feature about the hopes and shattered show-business dreams in a tarnished Tinseltown. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide