David McCallum Movies

Based on the children's books by Dan Santat, the Disney animated series The Replacements concerned itself with a pair of orphan children, Riley and Todd, who took it upon themselves to order two "normal" foster parents from the Fleemco Replacement Parent Organization. Instead, they ended up with a mom who was a British superspy named Agent K and a dad who was a foolhardly movie stuntman named Dick Daring. And oh yes, Riley and Todd also fell heir to a Knight Rider-style talking automobile named C.A.R.T.E.R., or C.A.R. for short (its voice was wittily supplied by former "Man from U.N.C.L.E." David McCallum). Offering two fast-paced adventures per half-hour episode, The Replacements premiered September 8, 2006, on cable's Disney Channel, and not long afterward joined the weekend-morning lineup on Disney's sister network ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Three of NCIs opens on a melancholy note, as the Naval Criminal Investigate Service team headed by the iconoclastic Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) mourns the death of team member Caitlin "Kate" Todd (Shana Alexander) at the hands of ruthless terrorist Ari (Rudolf Martin) (though actress Alexander had left the series, she would return in "ghostly" form once or twice). Gibbs' response to the loss is encapsulated in the title of the two-part season opener, "Kill Ari", which introduces Cote de Pablo as new NCI member Ziva David, a former Mossad officer who also has a score to settle with Ari. Another new regular is introduced in the episode "Silver War": Lauren Holly as NCIs director Jenny Shepard, who replaces former director Tom Morrow (Alan Dale) when the latter joins the Homeland Security department. Jenny's arrival adds a whole new dimension to the series, inasmuch as she had previously been the partner--and lover--of Leroy Gibbs. In addition to these newcomers, together with longtime series stalwarts Michael Weatherly (Tony DiNozzo), Pauley Perrette (Abigail Sciuto), Sean Murray (Tim McGee) and David McCallum (Donald "Ducky" Mallard), the third season also marks the debut appearances of recurring characters Stephanie Mello as Cynthia Summer and Muse Watson as Michael Franks. Throughout the season, the viewer is offered seconds-lasting flashbacks to the jealously guarded past of NCI team head Gibbs, culminating in the revelation that the first of his three wives was murdered, along with his daughter. This information comes to surface during the two-part finale "Hiatus", wherein Tony DiNozzo is put in charge of the team while Gibbs is recovering from a serious injury which may rob him of his memory--a tragedy that could not happen at a worse time, inasmuch as Gibbs is the only person who knows the modus operandi of a vicious terrorist group which threatens the lives of everyone whom the viewer cares about! Incidentally, there's a bit of benevolent nepotism afoot during NCI's third season. Appearing in key roles as Michael Bellisario and Troian Bellisario--the real-life offspring of series producer/creator Donald P. Bellisario. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With the inauguration of its second season, this popular "procedural" series streamlines its title, forsaking the cumbersome Navy NCIs: Naval Criminal Investigative Service for the more familiar NCIs. Joining series regulars Mark Harmon (Leroy Jethro Gibbs), Shana Alexander (Kate Todd), Michael Weatherly (Tony DiNozzo), Pauley Perrette (Abby Sciuto) and David McCallum ("Ducky" Mallard is former guest actor Sean Murray as MIT-educated lab tech Tim McGee, who is invited to join the NCI team by head man Gibbs himself. Amidst such story elements as kidnappings, serial killers, serial rapists, crop circles, mob hits, transsexuals, disembodied eyeballs and bikini contests, this season permits the viewer to learn just a tiny bit more about the clouded past lives of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard; we also meet for the first time Ducky's 96-year-old mother, played by Nina Foch (actually 80 years old at the time, and only nine years older than her "son" David McCallum!) And given the world climate, it isn't surprising that the Season Two episodes would make numerous pointed references to the Iraq War and the general unrest in the Middle East. Episodes of note include "Call of Silence", with Charles Durning in the Emmy-nominated role of a highly decorated marine who confesses to committing murder in the heat of battle--60 years earlier; "Doppelganger", which per its title amusingly featutres a team of Virginia law-enforcement officers who are virtual clones of the familier NCI-ers; and "SWAK", wherein team member Tony is among the victims of a bio-terrorist attack. The devastating season finale "Twilight" marks the return of the team's most formidable adversary, Hamad/Mossad double agent and terrorist Ari (Rudolf Martin), who among other acts of villainy coldbloodedly murders one of NCI's most popular leading characters! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bloodstains reveal that a model was murdered by one of her closest relatives. The detectives nail a suspect, the model's illegitimate daughter -- who promptly reveals that the chief witness to the crime is her own lawyer. This opens a legal can of worms when the lawyer argues that any communication between himself and the suspect is privileged, and cannot be used in court. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An ex-con becomes a paramedic in this drama that also contains messages about the plight of the elderly. Nickel has just been paroled to a work-release program where he is to work off his final year in an ambulance service at the local hospital in the retirement resort, Seabreeze. He learns to be a paramedic from his cynical trainer Brent who sensitively categorizes his patients as "lizards, sevens, and turkeys" (translated as old folks, corpses, and fakers). During training, he encounters many characters such as Igor Vostovic, a Russian emigre institutionalized against his will. Igor becomes a father figure to Nickel and guides him to the straight and narrow. Nickel also begins to fall for Francie who spends all her time caring for her sickly grandma. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Michael Winner directs a curious amalgam of his own Death Wish and Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45, in this intense, post-feminist serial-killer movie, based on the bestseller by Helen Zahavi. After an explosive love affair crashes and burns, Bella (Lia Williams) leaves London for Brighton, where she begins to receive a series of obscene telephone calls from her deranged neighbor. Soon her neighbor also begins to stalk her. When the local police refuse to help her, Bella determines to take the matter into her own hands. Finally, at the urging of a loony Asian clairvoyant (Ian Richardson), Bella sneaks into the stalker's apartment in the dead of night and beats him to death with a claw-hammer. And to Bella's surprise, she finds that she likes it. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this western, a senator from New Mexico, who was once a marshal, heads for London to find the one who killed his niece, a research scientist who had been looking into the activities of an international chemical company. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV Freedom Fighter is set in the divided Berlin of 1961. Tony Danza plays an idealistic American GI whose sweetheart is among those stranded in East Berlin by the erection of the Wall; he vows to help as many Easterners as possible escape to the freedom of the West. Other cast members include Sid Caesar as a philosophical holocaust survivor and David McCallum as a martinet Communist military officer. The film was lensed in West Berlin, one year before the Wall was bulldozed into oblivion. The script for Freedom Fighter was loosely based on The Berlin Wall, a book by Pierre Galante. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the few Greek filmmakers to work substantially in international productions, Nico Mastorakis has primarily been responsible for undistinguished genre efforts like Blood Tide, Grandma's House, and this thriller. Meg Foster stars as Sian, an American mystery writer who comes to an imposing villa in a small Greek town to work on her new book. The villa's proprietor (Robert Morley) warns her of the killer winds that sweep up at night, but the real killer Sian should be concerned about the handyman, played by Wings Hauser of Vice Squad. Hauser murders Elias and stalks Foster through the dark, windswept villa for the rest of the film, until he is dispatched with suitably histrionic aplomb. David McCallum and Steve Railsback show up as well. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

As indicated by its title, this classic episode reunites the former stars of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. Vaughn appears in his traditional A-Team role as the mysterious, manipulative General Stockwell, while McCallum is seen as Stockwell's former partner Ivan Trigorin, now a rogue agent who had sold out to the Other Side. Ivan kidnaps Stillwell and spirits him away to his headquarters at the Coastal Psychiatric Hospital, where he plans to exact a terrible revenge for Stillwell's supposed treachery. Normally, the A-Team would leave Stockwell to his fate, but if they ever hope to get a pardon, they'd better rescue him immediately--even if it requires Murdock (Dwight Schultz) to return to his former "nuttiness." The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair abounds with clever references to its source material, right down to Stillwell beginning a radio message with "Open Channel D"! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Apartment dweller Jan Francis has the uncomfortable feeling that she's being watched. Her instincts are on target: there's a peeping tom on the loose. But this is much, much more that a case of mere voyeurism. David McCallum costars in this British TV movie. The Corvini Inheritance debuted in America over the USA cable network on June 8, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide