Cameron Mitchell Movies
The son of a Pennsylvania minister, actor Cameron Mitchell first appeared on Broadway in 1934, in the Lunts' modern-dress version of Taming of the Shrew. He served as a bombardier during World War II, and for a brief period entertained thoughts of becoming a professional baseball player (he allegedly held an unsigned contract with the Detroit Tigers until the day he died). Mitchell was signed to an MGM contract in 1945, but stardom would elude him until he appeared as Happy in the original 1949 Broadway production of Death of the Salesman. He re-created this role for the 1951 film version, just before signing a long-term contract with 20th Century Fox. Throughout the 1950s, Mitchell alternated between likeable characters (the unpretentious business executive in How to Marry a Millionaire [1952]) and hissable ones (Jigger Craigin in Carousel [1956]); his best performance, in the opinion of fans and critics alike, was as drug-addicted boxer Barney Ross in the 1957 biopic Monkey on My Back. Beginning in the 1960s, Mitchell adroitly sidestepped the IRS by appearing in dozens of Spanish and Italian films, only a few of which were released in the U.S. He also starred in three TV series: The Beachcomber (1961), The High Chapparal (1969-1971), and Swiss Family Robinson (1976). Mitchell spent the better part of the 1970s and 1980s squandering his talents in such howlers as The Toolbox Murders, though there were occasional bright moments, notably his performance as a neurotic mob boss in 1982's My Favorite Year. A note for trivia buffs: Cameron Mitchell also appeared in the first CinemaScope film, The Robe (1953). Mitchell was the voice of Jesus in the Crucifixion scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1980
In this drama, a famous criminologist draws from his amazing bag of scientific and technical tricks to locate a psycho-killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1980
- R
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When the on-campus accommodations are all taken, a group of college students are forced to take rooms in the spooky house of Mrs. Engels (Yvonne De Carlo) and her strange son, Mason (Brad Reardon). When one of the kids turns up dead, the police launch an investigation, uncovering the bloody history of the mansion and its owners. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rebecca Balding, Cameron Mitchell, (more)
- 1979
"Master of disaster" Irwin Allen was so confident of his talents in 1979 that he actually thought he could stretch out a suspense tale for a full 200 minutes. Originally telecast in two parts, Allen's Hanging by a Thread concerns a group of friends and tourists, trapped in a sightseeing tram that dangles precariously over a yawning chasm. You might start yawning as well during the film's entirely dispensable flashback sequences. The "suspense" scenes themselves aren't bad, permitting an all-star cast (Sam Groom, Patty Duke Astin, Joyce Bulifant, Donna Mills, Burt Convy et. al.) to alternate between screaming and looking terrified. Hanging by a Thread was first broadcast on May 8 and 9, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
In this made-for-TV western, sudden pulp-novel fame drives gunslinger High Cardiff (Sam Elliott) to make good use of his new-found notoriety ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- PG
Spanish director Juan Piquer Simon (Pieces) took elements of current box-office hits like Superman and Star Wars and came up with this campy adventure-fantasy. Michael Coby is Kronos, a strange visitor from another planet who, disguised as a mild-mannered private eye, fights crazed mad scientist Dr. Gulk (Cameron Mitchell) and flirts with Lois Lane-manque Diana Polakow. Much of the film resembles those old Mexican wrestling movies, with some mildly impressive special effects to spruce it up. It's not really campy enough to be fun, but there is enough action to keep kids and undemanding genre fans interested. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Coby, Cameron Mitchell, (more)
- 1978
Anna Sewell's 1906 novel Black Beauty was given its most elaborate and thorough filmization to date in this five-part TV presentation. The scene has been shifted from England to Maryland, but otherwise Sewell's story about 13 years in the life of the beautiful and headstrong colt Black Beauty remains intact. In part one, telecast January 31, 1978, we see how Black Beauty is raised from a foal by the family of farmer Tom Gray (Martin Milner). When Tom suffers a stroke, his wife (Eilleen Brennan) sells both farm and colt. Filmed in Kentucky, Black Beauty was narrated throughout its run by David Wayne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Produced for the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" series, The Bastard is the first of John Jakes' "Kent Family Chronicles" (followed by The Rebels and The Seekers). Presented in two parts, the story begins in 1771, with 17-year-old French commoner Philippe Charboneau (Andrew Stevens) discovering that he is the illegitimate son of a British Duke. He goes on a long journey, girdling several countries, to claim his birthright, with his mother (Patricia Neal) along for the ride. Settling in America in 1772, our hero--now known as Phillip Kent--becomes involved with the American Revolution. The all-star cast includes Buddy Ebsen, Barry Sullivan, Harry Morgan, Lorne Greene, Donald Pleasence, Tom Bosley (as Ben Franklin), William Shatner (as Paul Revere) and William Daniels (as Samuel Adams). Distributed nationally beginning May 22, 1978, The Bastard was re-titled Kent Family Chronicles in the more conservative TV markets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
After a tense, bloody beginning, The Toolbox Murders takes a turn first into TV movie-style suspense and then stumbles towards an incredibly silly conclusion. Despite a sensational reputation amongst splatter fans (including Stephen King, who provides a promotional blurb for the video release's packaging) the only gore occurs within the first 30 minutes, as a ski-masked maniac cuts a bloody swath through an apartment complex. Four attractive young women are dispatched in harrowing style with a variety of power tools, indicating a killer taking extreme sadistic pleasure in his work. It's no surprise when the apartment owner (Cameron Mitchell) is revealed to be the monster, but his claims of putting the "dirty" women out of their misery quickly doesn't jive with what's been presented earlier. He murders in order to avenge the unrelated car accident death of his only daughter, and to this end, kidnaps a virginal 15- year-old girl to replace her. Unfortunately, his nephew is also fixated on the dead girl, and has his own obsessions. Director Dennis Donnelly did most of his work in TV, thus the preponderance of familiar television faces on display: his brother Timothy Donnelly from Emergency!, Wesley Eure from Saturday morning's Land of the Lost, and Pamelyn Ferdin, a '70s sitcom perennial with many guest shots including The Brady Bunch and The Odd Couple. The incongruity of these appearances, along with the clumsily expressed psychosis of the villains, destroys any sense of dread created at the outset of The Toolbox Murders, and as a result, the only enjoyment that can be obtained from the film is ultimately derisive. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cameron Mitchell, Pamelyn Ferdin, (more)
Killer bees migrate to the United States from Africa via South America in this disaster film produced and directed by the genre's chief architect, Irwin Allen, and written by Stirling Silliphant, scribe of The Poseidon Adventure. Haughty entomologist Brad Crane (Michael Caine) shows up at a secret military base full of dead soldiers, shocking the attendant General Slater (Richard Widmark). Crane announces that the soldiers are the victims of killer bees with amazingly potent venom; he's been tracking huge swarms of the things and fears they'll kill millions before they're through. Eventually, the president asks Crane to lead the battle against the killer insects and he assembles a team of crack scientists. Meanwhile, the bees overpower a family picnic in nearby Marysville; only the son, Paul (Christian Juttner), escapes with his life. Crane and military physician Helena Anderson (Katherine Ross) head to Marysville to warn the populace about the impending danger. Among the citizens in the direct path of the bees are schoolmarm Maureen Schuster (Olivia de Havilland) and her competing suitors, Felix (Ben Johnson) and Clarence (Fred MacMurray). Eventually, the bees stage a massacre in Marysville and then set their sights on Houston. Neither pesticides, firebombing, nor the heroic sacrifice of scientist Dr. Krim (Henry Fonda) seems to offer a solution for the impending disaster. Universally reviled by critics, The Swarm failed to continue Allen's winning streak at the box office. Caine would re-team with his director the following year for Beyond the Poseidon Adventure. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, (more)
In this exciting actioner, a former Army Ranger sits in prison awaiting his execution when an international peacekeeping organization frees him and assigns him to bust up a deadly spy ring. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This hokey Italian monster movie -- distributed in the U.S. through Roger Corman's New World Pictures under the title Screamers -- was rescued from certain cinematic obscurity thanks to New World's hilariously misleading one-sheet campaign, which boldly declared "WARNING! You will actually see a man turned inside out!" Caveat Emptor, viewers... there is nothing of the sort on display in the film itself. All that's available is a silly sci-fi story about diabolical mad scientist Joseph Cotten busily turning the inhabitants of a remote island into water-breathing "fishmen" to serve the island's sadistic overlord (Richard Johnson), who is trying to uncover the lost treasures of Atlantis. On hand as the nominal sex interest is Barbara Bach as Cotten's daughter, who possesses some sort of telepathic contact with the fishmen, but mainly just poses as seductively as possible while feeding and tending to the rubber-suit mutants. Corman inserted some new prologue footage with Mel Ferrer for the New World print, as well as a few gory scenes intended to snag some R-rated exploitation appeal, but the end product is still laughable as ever. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Bach, Claudio Cassinelli, (more)
Gordon M. Douglas' kitsch masterpiece starts as Evel Knievel (as himself) sneaks into an orphanage at midnight to distribute Evel Knievel action figures. Miraculously, one little boy casts aside his crutches and begins to walk. The plot kicks in as Evel, heading to a performance in Mexico, finds himself waylaid by nefarious drug dealers, headed by Stanley Millard (Leslie Nielsen), who plans to murder Evel in Mexico and then ship the body back across the border, loaded with drugs. Gene Kelly, of all people, is on hand as Will Atkins, Evel's sloppy-drunk sidekick. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evel Knievel, Gene Kelly, (more)
- 1977
Set in 19th-century Africa, this film chronicles the horrors of the slave trade and the relationship between an Arab slave-trader and the people he sees as goods to be bought and sold. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Trevor Howard, Ron Ely, (more)
- 1977
An Australian timber company payroll is robbed. An investigator (Cliff Rowan) is brought in to help recover the dough (it was take in a strongbox) and he thinks that the box has been hidden in a lake. He's probably on the right track, for when the search posse heads in that direction some dangerous stuff starts happening. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1977
- R
In this exciting adventure, three California kids are traveling cross country when their van is stolen. They ask a small-town sheriff for help, but he refuses, so they decide to bring the thief to justice themselves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
A sequel to the 1977 TV movie Fantasy Island, this film was originally titled Fantasy Island II and slated to air on November, 1977, but was instead re-christened and broadcast as the initial episode of the weekly Fantasy Island series. Once again, six people spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to fulfill their dreams on a lavish island resort overseen by the enigmatic Roarke (Ricardo Montalban) and his dwarf assistant, Tattoo (Herve Villechaize). This time, "de plane" arrives on the island with a passenger roster including Charles Fleming (Horst Buchholz), who allegedly wants to restore the memory of his amnesiac wife, Janet (Karen Valentine); love-struck executive, Benson (George Maharis), and his bitchy boss, Margo Dean (Adrienne Barbeau), whom Benson hopes to woo and win Taming of the Shrew style; and long-married couple Brian and Lucy Faber (Joseph Campanella and Pat Crowley), who yearn to be reunited with the child they gave up for adoption years earlier. Return to Fantasy Island premiered January 20, 1978, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
When a billionaire checks into the hospital for a heart operation, he becomes the object of a massive terrorist attack, as they hold him for $10 million ransom. Complicating the problem is his absolute obsession with his privacy, a la Howard Hughes. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1977
The inaugural presentation of the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" anthology, the three-part, six-hour miniseries Testimony of Two Men was based on the 1968 best-seller by Taylor Caldwell; it originally aired in three separate two-hour installments. Sprawled over the course of several generations following the Civil War, this epic begins in 1865. It covers the saga of idealistic, straight-arrow Pennsylvania surgeon Jonathan Ferrier (David Birney) and his irresponsible, hot-headed and slightly effeminate younger brother Harald (David Huffman). The Ferrier boys battle over professional ethics (Jonathan campaigns for medical reforms, Harald is interested only a quick financial turnover) and personal peccadilloes. The drama heats up when the philandering wife of one of the Ferriers is charged with murder, precipating a scandal that threatens to rock the medical profession to its foundations. In the climax, a group of envious physicians try to destroy Jonathan when he lobbies for antiseptic operating conditions--and the truth comes out about Harald's dalliance with Jonathan's late wife. Made available for syndication in May of 1977, Testimony of Two Men was seen in most markets on May 9, 16 and 23. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Rugged Hollywood movie star Will Preston (Chuck Roberson), a longtime idol of Dr. Quincy (Jack Klugman), is found dead under mysterious circumstances. It might have been murder, and there is no shortage of suspects: prominent among the "possibilities" is a disgruntled stuntman and a pair of suspicious houseboys. Interfering with Lt. Monahan's investigation of the case, Quincy unearths forensic evidence that leads in a most startling direction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- PG
Despite bearing the earmarks of a cheap slasher outing, this quirky little thriller emerges a surprisingly original murder mystery with some well-executed twists. May Britt (formerly Mrs. Sammy Davis Jr.) plays a seemingly innocent farm girl (with more than a few toys rolling loose in the attic) convinced that her slovenly uncle (played by a delightfully grumpy Cameron Mitchell) is the man responsible for the grisly scissor-murders of several local girls. The validity of her suspicion has little bearing on the story's outcome, however, as the plot takes a rather unexpected turn halfway through. This seedy but fun horror film is buoyed by Britt's enjoyably loony performance coupled with the cranky antics of Mitchell and the town's drunken sheriff, Aldo Ray. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Having already exhausted the dramatic possibilities of fire with The Towering Inferno, producer Irwin Allen turns to water in the made-for-TV Flood! The film is set in a small community, conveniently (for the purposes of the plot) located near a huge earthen dam. As the flood waters rise and the dam threatens to collapse, we are made privy to the individual reactions of such all-star victims-to-be as Robert Culp, Martin Milner, Richard Basehart, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Hershey, Teresa Wright and Carol Lynley. As in Inferno, helicopter pilots come to the rescue. Most of the film was shot in Eugene, Oregon. Flood! first aired on November 24, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Longest Drive is the syndication title for the network TV movie The Quest, which first aired May 13, 1976. Evidently inspired by John Ford's The Searchers, this western concerns the search by two brothers, Quentin and Morgan Baudine (Tim Matheson, Kurt Russell), for their sister, who as an infant was kidnaped by Indians. Morgan himself had spent time as an "adopted" Cheyenne tribesman; his Indian name was, appropriately enough, Two Persons. Breaking up the main storyline is a subplot involving desert rat Brian Keith and a race between a horse and a camel! Written by Tracy Keenan Wynn (Tribes), The Longest Drive served as the pilot for the subsequent Quest weekly series, which ran from September 22 to December 29, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Cameron Mitchell guest stars as police officer Bo Pritchard, a Vietnam War buddy of SWAT team leader Hondo Harrison (Steve Forrest). When team member Deacon Kay is sidelined by an injury, Bo begs Hondo to let him join the unit. Hondo agrees, even though he hasn't forgotten that Bo was a reckless hotshot back in Nam, whose insistence upon being a lone warrior frequently imperiled the lives of his fellow soldiers. What Hondo doesn't know, until it is almost too late, is that the troubled Bo is an emotional ticking bomb. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Forrest, Rod Perry, (more)
