Peter Mamakos Movies

In The Man With Bogart's Face, an affectionate send-up of the Bogart detective films of the 1940s, Robert Sacchi plays a man who idolizes Humphrey Bogart so much he has his features altered to look exactly like his idol. He then opens up a detective agency under the name Sam Marlowe (an amalgam of the names of Bogart's characters from The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep). Sam hires the Duchess (Misty Rowe) as his secretary ("She looked like Marilyn Monroe and made about as much sense as Gracie Allen") and "Sam Marlowe, Private Eye" is in business. Sam gets a meager response until a shooting puts his picture in the paper and business starts to flourish. Particularly attracted to Marlowe's services are a collection of characters -- Gena (Michelle Phillips), an attractive Gene Tierney type; Commodore Anastas (Victor Buono), a Greek shipping tycoon and Sidney Greenstreet lookalike; and the mysterious Mr. Zebra (Herbert Lom doing a Peter Lorre imitation). They are all trying to find the famous Eyes of Alexander -- a priceless set of stones from a statue of Alexander the Great. Also on hand are old Hollywood pros George Raft, Yvonne DeCarlo and Mike Mazurki. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Zohra Lampert delivers a colorful performance as Marina Sheldon, a Gypsy fortune teller who, while trying to pass some counterfeit money, witnesses a bank robbery. Figuring that there's more profit in thievery than in crystal-gazing, Marina steals a mug shot of the robber from police files, uses the man to organize her own gang, and formulates a scheme to knock over six banks simultaneously--right under the nose of Lt. Kojak (Telly Savalas). Appearing as one of the crooks is a young Lane Smith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Nightfall" is the code name of a widespread terrorist attack planned by a secret organization called the Pendulum. The IMF must learn the nature of the attack, and also bring down Pendulum leader Gunnar Malstrom (Dean Stockwell). As an interesting change of pace, the viewer is given far more plot information than the IMF in the course of the story. Written by Calvin Clements Jr. and originally telecast on February 22, 1973, "The Pendulum" was the last Mission:Impossible episode to be filmed, though not the last to be aired. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Television newsman Harry Walsh (Leslie Nielsen) holds fast to the maxim "seeing is believing" in this political/medical thriller, with science-fiction overtones. Harry saw a well-known U.S. Senator (Bradford Dillman) have a car accident, and took video coverage on the scene. When he arrives at the hospital to follow up on the story, he is told that no such person is, or ever was there. Since the senator is a presidential hopeful, this is a very important story, and Harry keeps at it. His TV station, which ran a report on the accident, retracts the story with an apology when the senator's office calls with the story that the senator is on a fishing trip. Harry doesn't believe it. In a parallel story, the senator wakes up in a hospital with all sorts of transplanted organs, etc., when he should simply be dead. He discovers that his survival is part of a worldwide medical blackmail scheme involving world political leaders. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Anthony Quinn plays Matsoukas, a Greek/American ne'er do well, living in Chicago with his long-suffering wife Caliope (Irene Papas). When Matsoukas discovers that his son (Radames Pera) is dying, he decides that the boy needs to get out of the Windy City and recuperate in the more agreeable climate of Greece. All he needs is the money for the plane fare. One by one, Matsoukas' sources of income dry up until he is forced to fix a dice game in order to raise the cash. It is his wife who finally puts up the money by stealing from her own mother. Matsoukas makes the trip but realizes it would be better if he remain in Greece so as not to further humiliate the loyal Caliope. Inger Stevens co-stars as Quinn's mistress, while Sam Levene plays an old pal whose offer to put up the needed money evaporates when he suddenly drops dead. A Dream of Kings was adapted by Harry Mark Petrakis from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter stars Alan Arkin as John Singer, who is deaf. Singer moves from a small town in order to be close to his institutionalized friend Antonapoulos (Chuck McCann), who is deaf and mentally impaired. Singer rents a room with a family whose father, Mr. Kelly (Biff McGuire), is unable to earn a living due to a serious injury. His teen-aged daughter Mick (Sondra Locke, in her film debut) is at first resentful of Singer's presence, but he ingratiates himself by introducing her to classical music (which he can "feel," if not hear). Singer likewise tries to brighten the lives of such unfortunates as alcoholic Blount (Stacy Keach Jr., also making his first film appearance), dying black doctor Copeland (Percy Rodriguez), and Copeland's poverty-stricken daughter (Cicely Tyson). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beach parties abound in this youthful adventure that centers on two surfers-turned-detective as they look into the mysterious theft of a priceless Chinese scroll. Musical highlights include Little Richard singing "Scuba Party", and The Cascades with "There's a New World Opening for Me". The film is alternately titled Never Steal Anything Wet. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

With Bill returning home from an assignment in Beirut, Mr. French decides to impress his boss by cooking him an authentic Lebanese meal--and to that end he takes lessons from female restaurant owner Nural Shpeni (Magda Harout). Unfortunately, Nural's brothers insist that, according to Lebanese tradition, Mr. French is now obligated to marry their sister! It takes the wry diplomacy of another Lebanese gentleman, Dr. Sakis (Abraham Sofaer), to rescue Mr. French from a trip down the aisle. This episode is noteworthy for the fact that virtually every supporting character is Middle Eastern, including the cop on the beat (played by future Alice costar Vic Tayback; it also marks the final TV appearance of veteran character actor Nestor Paiva (Creature from the Black Lagoon et. al.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first person the audience sees in Ship of Fools is dwarf Michael Dunn, who speaks to viewers directly and acts as a Greek chorus throughout the film. It begins on the deck of an ocean liner travelling from Vera Cruz to Bremerhaven. The time is the 1930s, so close and yet so far from war. The cross-section of humanity on board includes ship's doctor Oscar Werner, Spanish political activist Simone Signoret, aging coquette Vivien Leigh, hedonistic baseball player Lee Marvin, philosophical Jew Heinz Ruhmann, a smattering of pro- and anti-Hitlerites (Jose Ferrer plays the nastiest and most vocal "pro") and young lovers George Segal and Elizabeth Ashley. Yes, it's Grand Hotel at sea, a feast for stargazers and an endurance test for those who aren't comfortable with non-stop speechmaking. Despite such lines as "What can the Nazis do? Kill all six million of us?," Ship of Fools manages to stay afloat throughout its 148 minutes. Michael Dunn was nominated for an Academy Award for his interlocutory characterization; the rest of the performances range from brilliant to merely filling up the room. Other Oscars were presented to cinematographer Ernest Lazslo and to the art-direction staff. Ship of Fools was adapted by Abby Mann from the novel by Katharine Ann Porter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this different type of gangster farce with a few flaws here and there, Robert Preston is Steve Blair, a superlative con artist whose sidekick Paul Ferris (Tony Randall) is a boozy writer currently working on a cartoon. Steve gets the idea of producing a movie based on Genesis in the Bible and brings Paul into the scheme as a scripter. He finds financial backing in the form of $2,000,000 from gangster Tony Dallas (Walter Matthau) who is none too happy when the final product flops with a resounding crash. Anxious to find a safe spot to hide out, Steve and Paul make their way to a Greek island where Steve is inspired by another brilliant idea for a scam that just might work, knowing full well that the gangster is sure to show up sooner or later. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Posing as "Johnny Sherman", Richard Kimble (David Janssen) befriends his fellow worker Gus Priamos (Gilbert Roland), who manages to learn Kimble's true identity as a fugitive from justice. Upon finding out that he has but a short time to live, Gus volunteers to pose as Kimble to throw Lt. Girard (Barry Morse) off the trail. This Gus does not out of friendship, but to make an impression on his much-younger girlfriend Sophie (Madlyn Rhue)--who up till now has proven mighty difficult to impress. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this violent western, a Mexican gunslinger is permanently disabled while trying to save his boy from the hangman's noose. After the incident, the former gunfighter is sentenced to four years in prison. Following his release, he gets revenge upon the lawman responsible for his conviction by abducting eight people. He informs the sheriff that he will kill one hostage every ten minutes until he comes to see him. Following the death of three people, the sheriff finally agrees, the story ends on a brutal and ironic note. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The 1962 theatrical release of The Scarface Mob was created from the first two episodes of the famously popular 1959 TV series, The Untouchables. It stars Robert Stack as the courageous agent whose job is to corral the powerful mobster Al Capone. Nevill Brand plays Capone and Walter Winchell adds flavor as the Dragnet-style narrator. ~ All Movie Guide