Walter Mathews Movies

Weapons expert Cooper (Robert Ginty) travels to Central America to help deliver arms to a rebel force, but his friend (Cameron Mitchell) is killed by a mercenary force. Cooper takes over command of the rebel army, determined to finish what his friend started. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

In an unusual comedy by Joan Darling, Brian Dennehy and Anne Archer star as the Richard, a druggist, and his wife Peggy, a pair of debt-ridden parents who rebel against the system. Nothing goes right while they try to uphold the system, then things get even worse when they leave it. Richard decides to pull the plug on modernity when he cannot meet his utility bills and creditors are at his door like wolves. He shuts off the electricity and sets up candles, buys a goat, and digs a well in the back yard. He finally does hit water, but it happens to be the city's water main. Peggy is not quite as crazed as her husband so she goes to see a shrink -- who promptly dies on her. If anything can go wrong for Richard and Peggy, it will. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Deke DaSilva (Sylvester Stallone) and Matthew Fox (Billy Dee Williams) are New York police officers specially assigned to a special multi-national team dedicated to tracking down terrorist Wulfgar (Rutger Hauer). Wulfgar planted a bomb in a London department store, killing several children and he is now an outcast, hunted by both the police and his fellow gang members. He has extensive plastic surgery and resumes his activities aided by Shakka (Persis Khambutta), a completely psychotic fellow outcast. Soon DaSilva and Wulfgar are engaged in a violent battle of wits as Wulfgar resumes his terrorist activities and threatens New York . This very effective thriller features a chilling performance by Rutger Hauer as the handsome, ruthless cold-blooded killer who charms women into helping him and then kills them. Sylvester Stallone gives an unusually understated emotionally vulnerable performance as a man trying to save lives while he saves his own marriage. The film makes excellent use of New York locales, particularly during a terrifying hijacking of a cable car where Wulfgar coolly decides which of the hostages will live or die. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

As a once-famous fashion designer prepares to make her big comeback, a mysterious killer begins stalking the beautiful models who gather for the gala celebration in his made-for-television thriller starring Eleanor Parker, Clive Revill, and Jessica Walter. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Mel (Vic Tayback) battens down the hatches and gets ready for a big-business bonanza when a busload of hungry customers are slated to arrive at the diner. But the event turns into something less than festive when the bus driver speeds off, leaving his passengers stranded. Contrary to several published reports, this episode was not originally telecast on March 26, 1978; on that occasion, CBS was running the first part of a week-long network retrospective. The actual debut date has been obscured by the fact that "The Bus" is shown out of sequence in the current Alice syndication package (it might have been seen on March 28, as a last-minute replacement for the cancelled variety series Shields and Yarnell). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first of Charlie's Angels' Las Vegas episodes finds our three heroines heading to Nevada to find out why the happily married wife of a successful businessman is embezzling funds from her husband's firm and gambling them away. Even more puzzling: The woman seems to want to lose all of her husband's money. To get to the bottom of this mystery, Sabrina (Kate Jackson) poses as a casino auditor, Jill (Farrah Fawcett-Majors) and Kelly (Jaclyn Smith) doll up as aspiring showgirls, and Bosley (David Doyle) impersonates a high-rolling gambler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gary Crosby makes his first series appearance as Officer Ed Wells, a hothead who subscribes to the "shoot first and ask questions later" theory of law enforcement. Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) is not happy that Wells is teaching several rookies the same philosophy, nor does he hestitate to call Wells down for taking too many risks on the job. But the headstrong cop refuses to listen--until a fateful (and nearly fatal) encounter with a sniper. Future Brady Bunch regular Barry Williams appears in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The key prop in this episode is an antique porcelain doll, used by Communist agents DeBecker (William Smithers) and Linker (Robert Wolders) to transport stolen microfilm. Once alerted to the doll's existence, Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) conducts a search for the precious plaything which takes him all the way from Oregon to New York State. This episode is distinguished by the superlative performances of veteran actresses Josephine Hutchinson and Viveca Lindfors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having stolen $10 million, Albert Jenkins (Donnelly Rhodes) allows himself to be arrested for another offense under an assumed name, secure in the belief that, by the time his 14-year sentence has been served, the statute of limitations will have expired and he will be able to recover his stolen loot. It is up to the IMF to persuade Jenkins to reveal the whereabouts of the money. This assignment requires a phony medical diagnosis, which will convince Jenkins to allow himself to be cryogenically frozen: The next step is to convince him that he has awakened in the year 1983. Written by Paul Playdon, "The Heir" was originally broadcast on December 22, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peg Beale (Anne Francis) is fed up with her marriage to wealthy toy manufacturer Ted Beale (Robert Strauss), a boorish, thick-witted practical joker. Nor is Peg happy when Ted hires as his new assistant the handsome, college-educated John Cochran (Donnelly Rhodes) -- mainly because John has already seen Peg in the arms of another man. Before long, however, Cochran himself has fallen under the spell of the promiscuous Peg, who hopes to use John as a pawn in her scheme to murder her husband. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "Candy Queen" is Claire Armstrong (Nancy Gates), who has become quite wealthy after inheriting the famous candy-manufacturing formula that has been in her family for generations. But it is not so sweet when Claire's secretary is poisoned by a box of her boss' candy. And things really go sour after Claire's brother Mark (John Napier) steals the formula to pay off his gambling deaths--not to mention when the "Candy Queen" is framed for the murder of blackmailer Harry Arnold (John Archer). Perry Mason probably has a feeling of deja-vu when he agrees to handle this case: "The Case of the Candy Queen" is a remake of the earlier Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Silent Partner" (both episodes are based on the same 1940 novel by series creator Erle Stanley Gardner). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is the third of four consecutive episodes in which Perry Mason appears only briefly, while a "guest" lawyer handles the case at hand (Raymond Burr was at the time recovering from minor surgery). Subbing for Perry on this occasion is Bruce Jason (Hugh O'Brian), a lawyer who normally specializes in cases involving the entertainment world. But there's nothing "entertaining" about the death of Iron-curtain dignitary Franz Schreck, who turns up murdered shortly after making a big-money deal to sell some top-secret papers to columnist Elihu Laban (Abraham Sofaer). Ultimately, Jason must defend Laban on a double-murder charge, and in the process ends up chasing "himself" in the form of a lookalike assassin (also played by Hugh O'Brian). Removed from the original Perry Mason syndicated rerun package in 1966, this episode remained on the shelf until it was telecast on cable TV in the mid-1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide