Horace McMahon Movies

Frank Sinatra gives a gritty performance in the crime thriller The Detective. When Teddy Leikman, the homosexual son of a politically connected department-store magnate, is murdered, detective Joe Leland (Frank Sinatra) is sent in to investigate. Leland drags in Teddy's psychotic former roommate Felix Tesla (Tony Musante) and forces a confession out of him; for his work on the case Leland gets a promotion, which troubles him. Afterwards, Norma MacIver (Jacqueline Bisset), the widow of a well-heeled accountant, comes to see Leland. Her husband was killed after falling off the grandstand at a racetrack -- but Norma thinks he was pushed. She asks Leland to investigate her husband's death. Reopening the case, Leland discovers that the police are opposed to him scratching around any further, and after an attempt on his life, he uncovers some startling evidence that may connect the two deaths. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Greenwich Village poet Duncan Kleist (Burgess Meredith) goes on a violent rampage early one morning, accosting people he meets for money and for help in mailing a parcel he's carrying. This leads to a confrontation with Stanley Dorkner (Herschel Bernardi). The two argue and fight, and Kleist is left to die on the street alone, his parcel gone and no witnesses to the assault. Detective Adam Flint (Paul Burke) leads the investigation -- but to determine who killed Kleist, he must first find out why he was killed. Flint interviews Mildred Pepper (Eileen Heckart), whom he lived with and abused for 20 years; Kleist's boyhood friend Kip Harris (Sanford Meisner), now a successful publisher, who wanted to see more of Kleist's work in print; Dorkner, to whom Kleist owed a 500-dollar bar tab; and the people with whom Kleist crossed paths on the last night of his life. The detective pieces together the tormented life of a shattered genius and finds out that Kleist had just been told that he had only days to live, a result of his alcoholism; he also learns that Kleist had planned to mail his unpublished manuscripts to his home town in Iowa, specifically to a woman he'd conjured up in his ramblings across the years named Gloria Christmas. Flint also discovers that the manuscripts were valuable enough to kill for -- and for Kleist to kill for. A humiliating confrontation with a young poet (Alan Alda) at Dorkner's tavern the night before Kleist's death had only brought matters to a head, and led to the murderous confrontation. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Off the air since its cancellation in the fall of 1959, the location-filmed cop drama Naked City returned to ABC's prime-time schedule on October 12, 1960. Originally a half-hour weekly, the series had been expanded to a full hour, and was seen on Wednesdays opposite a dramatic anthology on CBS and an antiseptic sitcom on NBC. Carried over from the half-hour version are Horace McMahon as veteran New York City cop Lt. Mike Parker, and Harry Bellaver as Frank Arcaro, who during the series' year-long hiatus had been promoted from patrolman to sergeant. New to the cast is Paul Burke as Parker's young partner Detective Adam Flint, and Nancy Malone as Flint's girlfriend Libby. Also new is the series' theme song "Somewhere in the Night," written by Billy May and Milton Raskin. Still filmed in its entirety in New York City, and as often as possible on authentic locations rather than inside studio walls, the new Naked City features a number of well-known actors in the supporting casts, among them Eli Wallach, Suzanne Pleshette, Leslie Nielsen, Claude Rains, Telly Savalas, Jack Lord, Dick York, Bruce Dern, Keir Dullea, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Roddy McDowall, Ed Asner, Peter Falk, Hume Cronyn, a good-looking youngster named Robert Redford, and, in his first major TV appearance, Dustin Hoffman (in the episode "Sweet Prince of Delaney Street)." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Only one of three films directed by screenwriter Charles Lederer, known for movies as disparate as The Thing (1951) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), this crime comedy-drama-musical obviously defies categorization. Mixing James Cagney as a gangster out to control a big union, with musical numbers and cute songs is about like mixing onions and vanilla pudding. Jake MacIllaney (Cagney) wants to be elected president of Longshoreman's union 26 and, being a top mob boss, is used to getting his way. He is not past almost any stunt or method of coercion to get votes. Dan Cabot (Roger Smith) is Jake's lawyer, and after Jake meets Cabot's wife Linda (Shirley Jones), he sets his sights on conquering her affections. Disregard the husband, he can be taken care of. Setting this to music introduces some entertaining songs (I'm Sorry -- I Want a Ferrari) but the seriousness of the mobster's immorality and power is hard to reconcile with a perky tune about not stealing the small stuff. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

"There are eight million stories in The Naked City...This has been one of them." These words were intoned by producer Mark Hellinger at the conclusion of The Naked City, a 1947 detective film lensed in its entirety in New York City (quite an innovation in those Hollywood-dominated years). The same words were heard as the coda in each episode of the TV series Naked City, which like its movie predecessor was entirely shot in the Big Apple. Technically, there were two TV series bearing the title Naked City. The first, which aired on ABC from September 30, 1958 through September 29, 1959, was a weekly, half-hour endeavor, starring John McIntire as veteran NYPD lieutenant John Muldoon and James Franciscus as his youthful partner, Detective Jim Halloran. While Muldoon spent virtually every hour of his day tracking down the various robbers, muggers and two-bit hoodlums in his jurisdiction, Halloran divided his time between his job and his home life with wife Janet (Suzanne Storrs). In a startling plot development, Muldoon was killed in a car chase on the episode originally telecast March 17, 1959, whereupon another seasoned veteran, Lt. Mike Parker (Horace McMahon) took over as Halloran's partner. Also seen during Naked City's initial run was Harry Bellaver as patrolman Frank Arcaro. After a year-long hiatus, Naked City returned to the ABC schedule on October 12, 1960, this time as an hour-long series with several new cast members. Horace McMahon was back as Lt. Parker, as was Harry Bellaver as Frank Arcaro, who in the interim had been promoted to sergeant. New to the series was Paul Burke in the "young partner" slot as Detective Adam Flint, while Nancy Malone was seen as Flint's loyal, ever-patient girlfriend, Libby. Both incarnations of Naked City were outfitted with bluesy, evocative theme songs, with George Duning composing the theme of the 1958 version and Billy May and Milton Raskin handling the 1960 theme. And both were overflowing with familiar faces in their supporting casts, with such actors as Sandy Dennis, Dustin Hoffman, and Jon Voight making their earliest filmed TV appearances. The hour-long version of Naked City ended its ABC run on September 11, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Jerry Lewis' first solo effort was also his first headlong plunge into pathos. The Delicate Delinquent stars Jerry as mixed-up teenaged janitor Sidney Pythias, a nice kid on the verge of throwing in with a not-so-nice street gang. Sensing potential in Sidney, police officer Mike Damon (Darren McGavin, in role originally intended for Lewis' ex-partner Dean Martin) takes the boy under his wing. To prove that Sidney can be weaned away from bad influences, Mike arranges for the boy to become a rookie cop, with fitfully hilarious results (the best scene, involving a monolingual Japanese gentleman, is also the most politically incorrect). Martha Hyer costars as an idealistic social worker with whom Mike (and briefly, Sidney) falls in love. The film's tenuous balance between juvenile-delinquent drama and slapstick comedy is never more pronounced than in the opening scene, wherein the clumsy Sidney, carrying a bulky garbage can, stumbles into the middle of a gang rumble. Though not Jerry Lewis' best film, Delicate Delinquent was a hit, proving he could carry a picture himself; as a bonus, Jerry gets to sing the significantly titled ditty "By Myself". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this gritty urban drama, war veteran Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) wants to begin his career as a teacher and is given an assignment at a boys high school in inner-city New York. However, he soon discovers the school is overrun by delinquents, led by Artie West (Vic Morrow), an insolent hood who likes to call Richard "Mr. Daddy-O." Artie and his gang steal, destroy property, refuse to respect authority, and threaten the female teachers with rape. While most of the faculty have given up and meekly let the delinquents do what they want, Dadier is determined to bring order back to his classroom, even after Artie's thugs threaten Richard's pregnant wife. Keep your eyes peeled for a bit part by Jameel Farah, years before he would change his name to Jamie Farr. Blackboard Jungle was also the first major studio film to use rock & roll on the soundtrack; the film's success kick-started sales of "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets, which helped to spark the rock & roll boom of the 1950s. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Duffy of San Quentin is an Allied Artists low-budgeter based on the life of the warden who first introduced reforms in the infamous California penal institution. Appalled by conditions in San Quentin, the grey-haired Duffy inaugurates a series of improvements. He also sets up an honor system, which brings him under fire from conservative law enforcement agencies. The lumpy, episodic continuity of Duffy of San Quentin is due to the fact that the film is comprised of an hour-long TV pilot film, padded out with hastily assembled new footage. While Duffy was consigned to TV within two years of its release, the film did well enough to engender a sequel, The Steel Cage (likewise a pilot film). Ironically, Paul Kelly, who stars as Duffy in both films, served a prison sentence for manslaughter in the 1920s. The British title of Duffy of San Quentin is Men Behind Bars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in 3D, Man in the Dark stars Edmond O'Brien as Steve Rawley, a man with a past. Thing of it is, Rawley knows nothing about that past: a former gangster, he underwent an operation that not only altered his appearance, but also wiped out all criminal tendencies--not to mention all memory of his past misdeeds. Rawley is kidnapped by his former mob cohorts, who demand that he cough up the $130,000 that he salted away during his gangster days. Audrey Totter co-stars as Peg Benedict, who loves Rawley for what he is, not what he was. Man in the Dark is a remake of the 1936 Ralph Bellamy vehicle The Man who Lived Twice. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this musical comedy, a young woman inherits a race horse. She wants to race it but encounters difficulty with its trainer who wants to be able to buy the horse for himself. To do so, he makes sure the horse keeps losing races. The woman refuses to sell it. Later, race track con artists try to scam her. The trainer comes to her aide, and soon they fall in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play Detective Story was praised for its realistic view of an event-filled day in a single police precinct station. The film, directed by meticulous taskmaster William Wyler, manages to retain this realism, even allowing for the star-turn performance of Kirk Douglas. A stickler for the letter of the law, Detective James McLeod (Douglas) is not averse to using strong-arm methods on criminals and witnesses alike in bringing lawbreakers to justice. He is particularly rough on a first-time offender (Craig Hill), on whom the rest of the force is willing to go easy because of the anguish of his girlfriend (Cathy O'Donnell). But McLeod's strongest invective is reserved for shady abortion doctor Karl Schneider (George MacReady); McLeod all but ruins the case against Schneider by beating him up in the patrol wagon. When McLeod discovers that his own wife (Eleanor Parker) had many years earlier lost a baby in one of Schneider's operations, and that the baby's father was gangster Tami Giacoppetti (Gerald Mohr), it is too much for the detective to bear. Punctuating the grim proceedings with brief moments of humor is future Oscar winner Lee Grant, reprising her stage role as a timorous shoplifter; it would be her last Hollywood assignment until the early 1960s, thanks to the iniquities of the blacklist. Despite small concessions to Hollywood censorship, Detective Story largely upheld the power of its theatrical original, and it forms a clear precursor to such latter-day urban police dramas as NYPD Blue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi