John McIntire Movies

One by-product of two consecutive Oscar wins is that Tom Hanks no longer has to appear in such potboilers as Turner and Hooch. Hanks plays Turner, a meticulously groomed, excruciatingly well-organized detective working in a small California coastal town. When local "character" Amos Reed (John McIntire) is murdered by drug smugglers, the only witness is Reed's slobbery, smelly mutt, Hooch. You're way ahead of us, folks: Turner, who despises dogs in general and Hooch in particular, is compelled to put the cantankerous dog up as his house guest. Also easily predictable is the fact that Turner and Hooch will, by the next-to-last reel, become boon companions. To its credit, the film has an abundance of laughs and thrills...but, gee, that ending! Neither terrific nor terrible, Turner and Hooch is a pleasant time-filler; we do wish, however, that more time had been spent on the budding romance between Turner and veterinarian Emily Carson (Mare Winningham). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Much to the surprise of the Night Court staff, Dan Fielding's parents, whom he insisted were dead, show up in New York City, fresh from Paris, Texas. It quickly becomes obvious why Dan (John Larroquette) had tried to obliterate his parents' existence: Not only are they "trailer trash", but they're also Democrats! Cast as the elder Elmores (not "Fieldings", but "Elmores"--and Dan isn't really "Dan" either!) are real-life husband and wife John McIntire and Jeanette Nolan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Juvenile actor Henry Thomas, late of E.T., is the star of Cloak and Dagger. Given to telling whoppers, Thomas finds himself in a boy-who-cried-wolf dilemma when he overhears two spies plotting to smuggle valuable info out of the US. When he can't get his own father Dabney Coleman to believe him, Thomas turns disconsolately to a computer game called "Cloak and Dagger" and begins to fantasize, imagining that he is in cahoots with secret agent Jack Flack, also played by Coleman. Finally coming to grips with the fact that the mythical Jack Flack cannot help him this time, Thomas takes on the spies with the help of his schoolmates, who are also "Cloak and Dagger" addicts. Cloak and Dagger is a heavily disguised remake of 1949's The Window; both are based on the Cornell Woolrich story The Boy Cried Murder. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Clint Eastwood put his tough-guy image on hold for this personal project, which follows a musician taking one final chance at the big time. Red Stovall (Eastwood) is a would-be country singer who has been bouncing around the margins of the music business for years. With nowhere in particular to go, Red arrives at the failing Oklahoma farm of his sister for an extended visit, where her son Whit (Kyle Eastwood) quickly bonds with his uncle. However, it's obvious that Red is in very poor health, drinking heavily and breathing with difficulty, and when Red is invited to audition for the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, Whit tags along for the road trip to keep an eye on his ailing uncle. En route, Red and Whit are joined by Whit's grandfather (John McIntire) and another hopeful vocalist, Marlene (Alexa Kenin), who like Red is chasing her own dreams of stardom on the Opry. Clint Eastwood performed his own vocals and guitar work for Honkytonk Man, and a number of Nashville legends appear in cameo roles, including Marty Robbins, Porter Wagoner, Ray Price, Merle Travis, and Johnny Gimble. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Officially premiering April 27, 1981, the weekly TV drama American Dream was preceded by a 90-minute pilot film, telecast April 26. The six-member Novak family, headed by Marshall Field employee Danny Novak (Stephen Macht), moves from the comfort of suburban Arlington Heights to inner-city Chicago (gosh only knows why). Danny's wife Donna (Karen Carlson) approves of the move, while sons Casey and Todd (Tim Waldrip and Michael Hershewe) want no part of it. The Novak's new neighbors include feisty, combatitive Paula Navarro (Helen Rubio), and old philosophical realtor Berlowitz (Hans Conreid). The American Dream series itself lasted two months; for details of the compromises and the broken dreams that led to its demise, see media critic Todd Gitlin's 1984 book Inside Prime Time. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this adventure, a mother ends up lost in a blizzard after she goes out in search of a Christmas tree. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Raymond Burr attempted a return to weekly television in this feature-length pilot for the proposed series The Jordan Chance. Having spent seven years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, attorney Frank Jordan (Burr) dedicates his life to defending others who have been falsely accused. To this end, he sets up "The Jordan Chance," a foundation for those who have been victimized by the imperfections of the American legal system. His first client is Elena Delgado (Maria-Elena Cordero), a young Hispanic woman who has been tried and convicted in the "court of public opinion" for murdering her lover. The Jordan Chance made its CBS debut on December 12, 1978. Unfortunately for Burr, a subsequent series failed to materialize. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ostensibly a six-hour miniseries adaptation of Bert Hirschfield's novel Aspen, the program actually used only the title of the Hirschfield work; the plot proper was lifted from another novel by a different author, Bart Spicer's The Adversary. Set in the titular Colorado ski resort in the 1960s, the story line incorporated equal amounts of sex, greed, ambition, and murder, with the trial of accused rapist-killer Lee Bishop (Perry King) at the center of the storm, and the efforts by a gangster to grab up the local land, coupled with the amorous misadventures of a jet-setting glamour girl, taking up the slack whenever the plot threatened to lag. Despite a huge and varied cast, Sam Elliott emerged as the star of the proceedings in the role of straight-arrow attorney Tom Keating. Originally shown by the NBC network from November 5 to 7, 1977, Aspen was rebroadcast under the more lurid title The Innocent and the Damned. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The third and final TV-movie in the "Joshua Cabe" saga, this ABC effort stars John McIntire as rascally rancher-turned-sheriff Joshua Cabe, a role played by Buddy Ebsen in the original The Daughters of Joshua Cabe) and by Dan Dailey in The Daughters of Joshua Cabe Return. This time out, Cabe is accused of a murder he didn't commit and carted off to jail, there to await hanging. Coming to his rescue are Joshua's "daughters"--actually three unrelated shady ladies named Charity (Liberty Williams), Ada (Renne Jarrett) and Mae (Lezlie Dalton)--who devise a brilliant and thoroughly unbelievable escape plan. The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe aired on May 29, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John Wayne returned to the role that won him an Oscar in this sequel to the western classic True Grit. Rooster Cogburn (Wayne) has once again been stripped of his badge after some questionable behavior with his gun, but he's given the chance to earn it back after an especially appalling crime demands an experienced lawman. A gang of violent and ruthless criminals, led by Hawk (Richard Jordan) and Breed (Anthony Zerbe), have stolen a shipment of explosive nitroglycerine and cut a swath through a village led by a preacher and his flock. The preacher died, along with many others, and his daughter, Eula Goodnight (Katharine Hepburn), is determined that the outlaws will be brought to justice. Cogburn is given the task of tracking down the criminals, but he's less than enthusiastic about the fact Goodnight insists on tagging along. Rooster Cogburn marked the first (and last) time John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn would work together on screen; it was also the final film from noted producer Hal Wallis. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The Healers is a soap opera-style affair starring John Forsythe as head researcher at a California medical center. Underfunded and understaffed, Forsythe tries his best to hold his humanitarian enterprise together. At home, Forsythe is plagued by a mercurial wife (Beverly Garland) and rebellious children (Shelly and Christian Juttner). So many "name" supporting players wander in and out of the proceedings that one might suspect The Healers was the pilot of a projected TV series...and one's suspicions would be correct. But with a Jackie Gleason/Julie Andrews special as its main competition, who was watching The Healers during its first telecast on May 22, 1974? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John McIntire is cast as Michael "Doc" Lacy, a lifelong criminal whose career stretches back to the Dillinger era. Having never truly succeeded in his chosen profession, Lacy escapes from prison in hopes of pulling off one last "dream" robbery. Inasmuch as the old man's target is a huge military payroll, the FBI takes a more than passing interest in his movements. Appearing as Lacy's wife Helen is John McIntire's real-life spouse Jeanette Nolan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi