Richard Monahan Movies

The chances of burned-out cabbie Reverend Jim (Christopher Lloyd) passing any sort of competency test is roughly equivalent to a snowball's chance of surviving in hell, but that's just what he must do in this episode. Upon learning that his late father has left him three-and-a-half million dollars in his will -- but with certain very rigid conditions: Jim must prove he is of sound mind, and fast! He must also dress and act like something resembling a normal human being, and for help in this matter he turns to the most "normal" people he knows: Alex (Judd Hirsch)...and Louie (Danny DeVito)? ~ Rovi

Downed Air Force pilots find themselves contending with scantily-clad female druids and stop-motion dinosaurs when they crash land upon an uncharted South Seas island. The castaways must also deal with man-eating plants and the island's dim-bulbed hairy males, who resent the intrusion of rivals. With dialogue such as "Shoot anything with hair that moves" and movie posters promising "Savage beauties who feared no animal...yet fell before the touch of men," you just know you're in for an evening of good campy '50s-style fun with Untamed Women. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Pier 23 was one of three hour-long mysteries produced by Lippert Productions for both TV and theatrical release. Each of the three films was evenly divided into two half-hour "episodes," and each starred Hugh Beaumont as San Francisco-based amateur sleuth Dennis O'Brien. In Pier 23, O'Brien first tackles the case of a wrestler who has died of a suspicious heart attack after refusing to lose a match. He then agrees to help a priest talk an escaped criminal into returning to prison. The film's two-part structure leads to repetition and predictability, but it's fun to watch TV's "Ward Cleaver" making like Philip Marlowe. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Writer and director Samuel Fuller enjoyed his first box-office and critical success with this hard-boiled but human tale of men at war, informed by his own experiences in the armed forces. Zack (Gene Evans) is a gruff U.S. Army sergeant who is the lone survivor of an attack on his outfit in North Korea. Rescued by a friendly Korean orphan he dubs Short Round (William Chun), Zack tries to make his way back to friendly territory with the boy as his guide. Zack crosses paths with Thompson (James Edwards), an African-American medic who like Zack narrowly escaped death after an enemy attack, and as they make their way through the jungle they encounter a platoon led by Lt. Driscoll (Steve Brodie), a humorless by-the-books type who has no use for Zack. Zack, Thompson and Driscoll's men -- among them Japanese-American "Buddhahead" Tanaka (Richard Loo), former conscientious objector Bronte (Robert Hutton) and nervous grunt Baldie (Richard Monahan) -- make their way to an abandoned Buddhist temple to set up an observation post, but they soon run afoul of the enemy. Shot in a mere ten days, with the battle scenes staged in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, The Steel Helmet captured the tension and gritty circumstances of war with commendable accuracy and Evans delivered a superb performance in his first starring role as Zack. The film proved controversial in some quarters due to scenes in which Fuller's characters discuss racism against Asians and Blacks in the United States, though the film manages to be resolutely patriotic at the same time. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The 62-minute GI Jane may well be the best of Lippert Studios' "pocket" musicals. TV producer Tim (Tom Neal) is in the midst of staging a special featuring WACS when he receives his induction notice. The shock of the news causes Tim to faint, whereupon he imagines he has been promoted to sergeant and shipped to an all-male desert radar command. Our hero then schemes to transfer the WAC officers to his post. In so doing, he falls in love with the titular "GI Jane" (Jean Porter) and runs afoul of tough-talking WAC lieutenant Adrian (Iris Adrian). Featured in the cast is future Mickey Mouse Club star Jimmy Dodd, performing two of his own compositions. Also on hand is famed Hitler imitator Robert (Bobby) Watson, here cast as a flustered Army colonel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed with the full cooperation of the U.S. Army, Breakthrough is a lean, no-nonsense war film set during the 1944 invasion of the continent. Led by Captain Hale (David Brian), a small group of infantrymen march through Normandy. The war-weary foot soldiers resent the presence of 90 Day Wonder lieutenant Joe Mallory (John Agar), but before long he proves his value to the platoon. The supporting characters are the usual aggregation of "types," though for the most part the usual cliches are avoided (so far as can be determined, nobody mentions the Brooklyn Dodgers). The only woman in the cast is Suzanne Dalbert, playing a Normandy villager with whom the GIs briefly dally. Near the beginning of Breakthrough, several scenes of actual combat training are deftly inserted into the dramatized sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi