Kent McCord Movies
Supporting actor Kent McCord is best known for co-starring in the long-running series Adam-12 (1968-1975). McCord made his film debut in the made-for-television movie The Outsider (1967). Following the demise of Adam-12, McCord continued appearing in TV films and in low-budget features such as Unsub (1985) and Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1972
Season five of Adam-12 boasts a number of fascinating guest stars, backing up series leads Martin Milner (as Officer Pete Malloy) and Kent McCord (as Officer Jim Reed). The season opener "Dirt Duel" features Micky Dolenz, late of The Monkees. "The Beast" offers an acting opportunity to Donna Douglas, the former Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies. And "The Late Baby" is a treasure trove of second-generation talent, not only featuring Adam-12 regular Gary Crosby (son of Bing) but also brother and sister Frank Sinatra Jr. and Christina Sinatra. Also worth noting is the series' first two-part episode, "Clear With a Civilian." And finally, there is "Lost and Found," a "crossover" episode co-starring several regulars from the Jack Webb-produced series Emergency!: Julie London, Bobby Troup, Robert Fuller, Randolph Mantooth, and Kevin Tighe. Although Adam-12 had reached its ratings peak the previous season, the series still finished strong at the end of season five, ranking as America's 11th most-watched program. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Milner, Kent McCord, (more)
Just as L.A. cop Jim Reed (Kent McCord) was promoted from rookie to full officer during the third season of Adam-12, so too does Reed's older partner Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) enjoy a boost in pay and rank during the season's fourth season. Malloy is promoted to policeman three this year, one notch below sergeant. Noteworthy season four episodes include "The Sniper," originally telecast October 6, 1971, which is actually the first half of a two-part story, which was concluded two days later on another Jack Webb-produced series, The D.A.. Also, real-life husband and wife Bill Williams and Barbara Hale (the parents of actor William Katt) appear together in the episode "Pick-Up," while George O'Hanlon, best known to cartoon buffs as the voice of George Jetson, is seen as a drunk in "Extortion." And in the series' 100th installment, "Who Won," the ageless Dick Clark makes a rare dramatic appearance. Adam-12 closed out its fourth season with the series' best-ever ratings, ranking as America's 8th most popular program. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Milner, Kent McCord, (more)
As Adam-12 begins its third season, former rookie cop Jim Reed (Kent McCord) is promoted to full officer. No one is happier about this promotion than Jim's crusty veteran partner Pete Malloy (Martin Milner), who has regarded Reed as an equal all along. The supporting cast this season includes such series stalwarts as William Boyett as Sgt. McDonald and Gary Crosby as Officer Ed Wells. The one "new" cast member, Claude Johnson as Officer Norm Green, isn't new at all: during the past season, actor Johnson was seen from time to time in a similar role, as Officer Brinkman. Also, there are a number of noteworthy guest stars, including film noir regular Marie Windsor, legendary comedian Morey Amsterdam, and former singing star Dorothy Shay (aka "The Park Avenue Hillbilly"). The season's best episode is "Log 105 - Elegy for a Pig." Narrated by Pete Malloy, the episode recounts the last hours in the life of Pete's former partner, who had been killed in the line of duty. In other episodes, the partners must deal with street gangs, arsonists, a car-theft ring using beautiful girls as come-ons, game poachers, a misguided band of militants, and at least one naked motorist! Although it was fashionable amongst certain "hip" circles to deride Adam-12 as corny and reactionary, the public at large certainly didn't feel that way: the series ended its third season as America's 12th highest-rated program. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Milner, Kent McCord, (more)
- 1969
Filmed in 1966 (when screenwriter Richard Breen was still around), this made-for-TV feature marked the return of Jack Webb's classic 1950s cop series Dragnet after a seven-year absence. Ordered to cut his vacation short, Sgt. Joe Friday (played by Jack Webb) is assigned to investigate the mysterious disappeances of two beautiful models and a pretty young war widow. In concert with partner Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan), Friday does his best to follow the trail of evidence, only to be continually stymied by contradictory or reluctant eyewitnesses. Before arriving at the disturbing conclusion that the missing girls have been the victims of a voyeuristic serial killer, Joe and Bill manage to solve another, unrelated murder involving a visiting Frenchman. Several members of Jack Webb's radio and TV Dragnet stock company are cast in colorful supporting roles, including Virginia Gregg, Victor Perrin, and Herb Ellis, while L.A. Dodgers catcher John Roseboro is seen as a fellow cop. A powerful opening sequence and an thrilling action climax more than compensate for the unevenness of the script (the last such by veteran Webb collaborator Richard Breen) and the occasional pokiness of the direction. Although this 97-minute Dragnet was good enough to convince NBC to revive the vintage Jack Webb series on a weekly, half-hour basis (it ran successfully for three seasons), the film itself was shelved for several years, not making its network TV debut until January 27, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Officer Jim Reed (Kent McCord) is still on probationary status with the LAPD as Adam-12 begins its second season. However, Jim is lucky indeed that he has a partner as experienced and generous as Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) to show him the ropes. It is during this season that we meet Reed's wife Jean (here played by Mikki Jamison) for the first time. In fact, Jean has a baby, and a beaming Malloy is named the kid's godfather. The partners' various assignments involve a crooked cop, a bank robbery, a tense hostage situation, an uncomfortable liaison with a gung-ho SWAT team, a courtroom date, and a few dust-ups with typical Dragnet-style longhairs who regard all cops as "pigs." Just a typical year in the lives of two sublimely typical LAPD officers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Milner, Kent McCord, (more)
- 1968
Elveron is one of those corruption-ridden towns just ripe for reforming by idealists like doctor James Franciscus. He has tried to conduct business honestly, while all the powerful folks around him have pulled strings and paid off authorities to keep certain awkward business and personal deals under the rug. But now, a murder trial involving important people threatens to become one more farcical cover-up. Franciscus vows that the truth will be heard, despite strongarm threats from crooked law officer Leslie Nielsen. The fact that Shadow Over Elveron is a 1968 TV movie should leave no doubt as to the outcome for this strident little civics lesson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Season one of Adam-12 gets underway with admirable rapidity, with the episode "Log 1: The Impossible Mission," directed by series creator Jack Webb. The opener details the first day on the job for rookie LAPD cop Jim Reed (Kent McCord), who has been teamed with crusty veteran Pete Malloy (Marvin Miller). Although Malloy is still bitter over the fact that his previous partner had been killed a few weeks earlier, he takes Reed under his wing and helps the youngster survive his shakedown cruise with flying colors. Later episodes find Reed and Malloy piloting their squad car to a variety of assignments, coming in close contact with drug pushers, burglars, abusive spouses, and stalkers. Many of the first-season installments deal with Reed's adjustment to his new job. In "Log 91 -- You're Not the First Guy's Had the Problem," Jim learns the hard way how to keep his emotions separate from his work when one of his best friends is seriously wounded. And in "Log 33 -- It All Happened So Fast," Reed is forced to kill a man in the line of duty for the first time. In the interests of fairness, however, Malloy also has his bad days. In "Log 112 -- You Blew It," Pete gives a speeding motorist a break and lets him go without a citation -- only to find out that the man had several warrants for robbery and weapons charges against him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Milner, Kent McCord, (more)
- 1968
In this thriller, Jonathan Fields (Bradford Dillman) awakens in a strange apartment and finds a dead woman floating in the bathtub after he suffered an LSD-flashback the night before. Finding blood upon his hand, he can only wonder how he is involved in the woman's death. He hires private detective Arthur Belding (Harry Guardino) who has him take another dose of LSD in order to see if he can remember what had happened. They learn that Fields' co-worker Lew Haley (Pat Hingle) had slipped acid into his coffee as part of a blackmail conspiracy. Haley was after his girlfriend and after his job in a government think tank. They also learn that his supervisor Dr. Arkroyd (Victor Jory) had been in a relationship with the deceased woman. She too was being blackmailed by Haley, who killed her when she threatened to call the cops. Dr. Arkroyd knew about it all and did nothing. Eventually Fields and Haley fight it out. The blackmailer ends up crashing through a high-rise window and falling to the unforgiving pavement below. Hope Lang, Susan Saint James, James Doohan and Michael J. Pollard also star in this psychedelic murder mystery. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Guardino, Bradford Dillman, (more)
- 1968
After registering well in supporting roles in such Bob Hope farces as Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number and Eight on the Lam, raucous comedienne Phyllis Diller attempted to carry a picture all by herself. Alas, Did You Hear the One About the Travelling Saleslady? proved to be as bad as its title. Borrowing elements previously utilized in Joan Davis' Travelling Saleswoman (1950) and the Ginger Rogers-Carol Channing vehicle The First Travelling Saleslady (1956), the film casts Diller as a player-piano saleslady, dispatched to the Wild West. TV-sitcom perennials Bob Denver and Joe Flynn offer their usual overplayed support; at times they're funnier than Diller, though that's not saying much. The film's highlight is a cattle stampede, which should give you some idea. Did You Hear the One... was scripted by John Fenton Murray, soon to be a mainstay of such Sid & Marty Krofft kiddie fare as The Bugaloos and Lidsville; compared to the Diller film, the Krofft stuff was a step upward. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phyllis Diller, Joe Flynn, (more)
- 1967
With the series' premise (a wheelchair-bound detective) already established in a two-hour TV pilot film, Ironside launches its first season with a minimum of exposition and a maximum of fast action. Now living in his third-floor office at police headquarters, former San Francisco police chief Robert T. Ironside (Raymond Burr) doggedly disregards his semi-invalid status and continues to solve crimes with an elite three-person staff, consisting of Det. Sgt. Ed Brown (Don Galloway), policewoman Eve Whitfield (Barbara Anderson) and Ironside's bodyguard-general factotum Mark Sanger (Don Mitchell). In this episode, Ironside and company try to solve a racetrack robbery that occurred virtually under their noses. With only one firm clue (a crashed car) to go on, Ironside detemines that the robbery was an inside job...but who was the inside man? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
The Outsider is a refreshingly cynical TV detective drama, starring master cynic Darren McGavin. McGavin plays David Ross, a John MacDonaldesque private eye who virtually lives in his beat-up car and who spends most of his time eluding creditors. An ex-convict, Ross is prohibited from carrying a gun, which means that he gets beaten up on an average of once every ten minutes. Ross is hired by a theatre manager who suspects a female employee of embezzlement; the employee winds up dead, and Ross winds up Suspect Number One. Capped with an twist ending right out of Mickey Spillane, The Outsider was an excellent intro for the weekly TV series which followed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
