Jan Merlin Movies

A Day Of Fury stars Jock Mahoney as town marshal Alan Burnett, whose life is saved by a stranger he meets on the trail. His rescuer turns out to be Jagade (Dale Robertson), a gunslinger just returned after years away, who finds when he gets into town that he can't abide the peace that has been settled between "his" people (i.e. the saloon-keepers, gamblers, etc.) and the righteous, "respectable" folk. Jagade stirs up trouble by persuading the saloon owners to open on Sunday, which they'd voluntarily stopped doing years ago. Suddenly, the peace that had settled over the town is broken, and gambling and other vices that had been in check rise anew, drawing in many of the respectable townsmen and women in the process -- some of the men can't resist the lure of a good high-stakes poker game or a pretty woman, and even the spinster schoolteacher finds herself drawn to Jagade's dark charisma. An escalating cycle of vice and violence unfolds in barely 24 hours; Burnett won't back Jagade down, partly because the man has broken no laws and also partly due to his gratitude to the gunman for saving his life. None of the townspeople can comprehend his inaction, however, and this soon jeopardizes not only his job as marshal and his safety, but also the well-being of his fiancée, Sharmon Fulton (Mara Corday), who was a saloon girl before she was brought out of that life and given a home with a respectable family. Soon Jagade loses control of what he's started, and the town begins to destroy itself in a cycle of guilt, anger, betrayal, murder, suicide, and lynch law.
~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

A welcome exception to the slasher-stalker-kidnapper films usually seen on the USA cable network, After the Shock is a tribute to the courage and heroism of Bay Area residents following the San Francisco earthquake of October 17, 1989. Director Gary A. Sherman opts for a "cinema verite" approach, utilizing a hand-held camera to recreate the style of the original on-the-spot TV reporting. The cast includes Scott Valentine, Rue McClanahan, Yaphet Kotto, Jack Scalia and Richard Anthony Crenna as various firefighters, paramedics, law officials and private citizens. One of the best performances is offered by Nick Zaninovich, a real-life quake survivor who spent seven hours trapped in his car, which was buried under a collapsed stretch of the Nimitz freeway. After the Shock debuted September 12, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The hooded man who robbed and killed the manager of the Goat Springs bank line turns out to be Adam Cartwright's longtime friend Bill Enders (Jan Merlin). Even though Adam is certain that he saw Bill at the scene of the murder, another witness claims that Bill was 90 miles away when the crime occurred. Unsatisfied with this testimony, Adam takes it upon himself to prove (or perhaps disprove) that Bill could have ridden the 180-mile distance in and out of town in time to commit the murder. Also in the cast are Grace Gaynor as Mary Enders, Hal Baylor as Stewart, and Chubby Johnson as Toby Barker. Written by Ward Hawkins, "The Ride" was first shown on January 21, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced for cable TV, this pedestrian thriller (also known as Till Death Do Us Part) purports to be a riff on Edgar Allen Poe's "The Premature Burial" but actually bears more of a resemblance to Diabolique. It stars Tim Matheson as a cheated-upon husband who can't stay down after his wife's (Jennifer Jason Leigh) unsuccessful attempt to poison him results in his being buried alive. The film's one real moment of horror comes in a claustrophobic sequence where Matheson desperately claws his way out of his coffin. The story then settles into a standard revenge motif, capped with an admittedly potent payoff that, though intriguing, is probably not as shocking as the filmmakers had intended. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Saunders (Vic Morrow) and the squad are assigned to escort a group of German prisoners to a POW camp. But with the Germans outnumbering the Americans 18 to 5, it's a strong likelihood that the prisoners will overpower their captors and escape long before the mission is accomplished. Featured as one of the German captives is Ron Soble, then concurrently starring as renegade Indian "Dirty Jim" on the TV western series The Monroes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the ninth episode of Walt Disney's 17-part miniseries Tales of Texas John Slaughter, John (Tom Tryon) and his friend, Kentucky horse breeder Ashley Carstairs (Darryl Hickman), arrive in Tombstone, AZ, with their newly purchased cattle herd. Hoping to establish a new ranch on open land, Slaughter runs afoul of ruthless cattle baron Ike Clanton (James Westerfield). John and Ashley are also briefly taken prisoner by feisty Viola Howell (Betty Lynn), who accuses them of thievery. "Range War at Tombstone" originally aired as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, set in 1875, an agent for the National Detective Agency is assigned to find the murderous outlaw gang that has been breaking convicts out of prison and helping them to commit more crimes. The resulting crimes cause the bounties upon the fugitives' heads to rise. The outlaws then kill the convicts and reap the generous rewards. Fortunately, the agent succeeds in infiltrating the group and killing the leader. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Hell Bent for Leather is a standard western that features Audie Murphy in the role of Clay, a cowboy hunted by a posse out for blood. Clay deals and trade in horses in an honest way, and he does not suspect that a crooked U.S. Marshal (Stephen McNally) interested in furthering his career, is determined to nab him as a killer though he knows full well Clay is innocent. When first attacked, Clay grabs a hostage (Felicia Farr) who eventually sides with him and helps him in the long chase that follows. Clay's challenge is not only to get away from the Marshal and his posse but to somehow prove his innocence as well. Murphy, the most decorated soldier in World War II was still riding the popularity of his own real-life story in 1955's To Hell and Back when this western was released. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Once again Edward G. Robinson takes a script from the trash bin and makes it into a palatable movie. A remake of The Mouthpiece, this is the story of a district attorney with a conscience. When he discovers that a man he's sent to the electric chair was innocent, he takes to the bottle. His assistants encourage him to get off the booze, stop prosecuting and, instead, become a defense attorney. He agrees but his first client is a notorious gangster who has been in business for so long because of leaks from Robinson's own office when he was the district attorney. Push comes to shove and soon, through multiple machinations and mishaps, Robinson becomes the defender of his former assistant on charges of murder. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Little Olga Nordstrom (Kim Richards) is left out of her classmates' gangs because one of her legs is shorter than the other. After twisting her own ankle, Laura (Melissa Gilbert) awakens to Olga's plight and befriends the lonely girl. Convinced that Olga would have a happier time of it if she could "keep up" with the other kids, Laura persuades Charles (Michael Landon) to build Olga an elevated shoe -- an act of kindness that is greeted with outrage by Olga's father (Jan Merlin). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gregor Kamirov (Malachi Throne) has hired a double to pose as deceased East European premier Pavel Zagov. Having concealed Zagov's death from the public, Kamirov hopes to use the phony premier to install himself as dictator. In order to foil Kamirov's plans, Phelps must substitute a robot for the fraudulent Zagov. In the course of the action, Phelps impersonates a nightclub entertainer, while Paris adopts a dizzying array of master disguises. The supporting cast includes Lee Meriwether in her third appearance as IMF agent Tracey, and future MASH costar Larry Linville as Alexi Silensky. First telecast on November 23, 1969, "The Robot" was written by Howard Berk. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

High school student Alan Boyce has it all: looks, charm, popularity, excellent grades, a promising future. So why does Boyce abruptly commit suicide? As the shock waves of the boy's death reverberate through the halls of his school, the other students--particularly Boyce's best friend Keanu Reeves--ask themselves if they, too, are capable of self-destruction. As for the adults, Boyce's suicide is one more of a myriad of mysteries concerning "Generation X" (though it was not yet so labelled in 1988). While the film offers no easy answers, either for the characters or the audience, Permanent Record ultimately demonstrates that there are ways to cope with the pressures of life other than taking one's own life. An added bonus: the teenagers in the film act like genuine teenagers, not like TV sitcom wisecrackers or oversexed cretins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide