Elizabeth Montgomery Movies

Barbra Trent's Oscar-winning documentary takes a harsh look at a black period in 20th-century democracy, the late '80s and early '90s when during "Operation Just Cause," the U.S. invaded Panama, ostensibly to oust dictator and known arms and drug kingpin General Manuel Noriega, whom the U.S. aided for over a decade. Basing her information on eyewitness accounts, Trent alleges that U.S. troops killed up to 4,000 Panamanian men between the ages of 15 and 55, buried them secretly in mass graves, and then reported back home that only 250 civilians died. She also alleges that the troops destroyed untold amounts of buildings. Shocking photographs back up her stunning allegations. Trent spares neither the U.S. government nor the media -- that blindly accepted and reported anything released by the White House -- from blame in keeping the horror a secret. The film begins with a history of the U.S. relations with Panama, beginning with Panama's fight for independence from Colombia -- something the U.S. backed so it could build the Panama Canal -- to President Carter's 1977 treaty that would give control over the vital shipping lane back to Panama in the year 2000. One of the most shocking aspects of the story is that according to Trent, "Operation Justice" was really launched so that the U.S. could renege on the treaty and retain control. She also suggests the U.S. military used the invasion to test out sophisticated new weapons in preparation for the Gulf War. The photos and violence depicted are not for the squeamish. Elizabeth Montgomery narrated the events. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The bizarre relationship between an overbearing mother and her son, a convicted rapist, forms the basis of this dark drama based on a novel by Jack Olsen, which is in turn based on a true story. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This documentary of the Iran Contra affair consolidates the evidence and conspiracy theories of the incident after the 13-week Congressional hearings proved inadequate, acting merely as "damage control" and failing to show any sincere effort to get to the real truth of the matter. Illuminated are the delays by the Reagan-Bush ticket in releasing the American hostages until after the election -- after outgoing President Jimmy Carter worked tirelessly to free them. Accusations are levied that a "shadow government" regularly carries out covert activities at home and abroad, and the CIA is implicated in dealing in huge shipments of cocaine and with the profits supplying weapons to the right-wing activities of the Nicaraguan Contras. Also examined are the actions of Oliver North, who willfully ignored the Constitution in masterminding covert weapons deals with Middle-Eastern governments to additionally fund the Nicaraguan Contras. This documentary raised more questions than answers in a post-Watergate political climate where the public had become desensitized to scandal. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Stars Kirk Douglas and Elizabeth Montgomery manage to rise above the melodramatic trappings of Amos. Douglas plays the title character, a fiercely independent senior-citizen baseball coach, forced to live in a retirement home after an auto accident. During his stay, Amos conducts a battle of wills with overbearing head nurse Daisy Dawes (Montgomery). This Cuckoo's Nest-derived setup has an added wrinkle: Amos suspects, quite rightly as it turns out, that Dawes has been systematically murdering her more troublesome charges. Made for TV by Douglas' own Bryna Productions, Amos first aired September 29, 1985 ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Elizabeth Montgomery, the queen of the TV-movie "victims," plays a more take-charge role in Missing Pieces. Cast as a private detective, Montgomery has to deal with an unpleasant memory, a near-insoluble mystery, and a pursuing murderer. Drugs and political corruption are also part and parcel of this Chandleresque puzzler. In true noir fashioned, the story is narrated by Montgomery throughout. Based on a novel by Karl Alexander, Missing Pieces originally came together on May 14, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After a string of heavy "message" dramas, Elizabeth Montgomery opts for whimsical comedy in the made-for-TV When the Circus Comes to Town. She plays a repressed spinster in a turn-of-the-century Georgia town, captivated by the arrival of a seedy circus. Having never had a real childhood, Ms. Montgomery vows to fill that void by running off to join the show. Truculent ringmaster/owner Christopher Plummer puts Montgomery to work at the lowest rung of the job ladder: cleaning out the animal cages. As the story develops, Montgomery works her way up to the position of somersaulting acrobat--and incidentally falls in love with Plummer, a circumstance that both parties have strived to avoid. When the Circus Comes to Town is highlighted by its big-top sequences, in which Elizabeth Montgomery performs many of her own stunts. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Apparently weary of playing victim-of-the-week, Elizabeth Montgomery goes the Joan Crawford route playing a fabulously wealthy and stupendously bored matron who is about to be divorced by her wealthy husband. Hubby conveniently expires while dallying with his mistress. The upshot is that Ms. Montgomery is made executive vice president of the boat-building business that she'd helped her husband establish. Moral: Marry well, ladies, and you too can become a CEO. Basically a very slight TV movie, Jennifer: A Woman's Story is bloated way beyond its worth into a Ross Hunter-type sudser; the British TV series upon which it was based, The Foundation, was more austere, and frankly more enjoyable. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The eternally victimized Elizabeth Montgomery is the star of Act of Violence. She plays a recently divorced newswoman whose world is shattered by a gang mugging (an astonishingly brutal sequence for a TV movie). The injuries subside, but Montgomery must heal her emotional wounds--and also reassess her liberal attitudes towards the rights of criminals. She is incapable of rational thought under the circumstances, and transforms into a vengeful bigot. The working title of Act of Violence was The Victim...Anatomy of a Mugging. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ingredients essential to this made-for-TV movie are a famous former pro football player, an interracial romance, and a brutal murder. Yes, the football player is O.J. Simpson, but the film was made a full 17 years before the death of Nicole Brown Simpson. In A Killing Affair, Simpson is cast as police detective Woody York, who is partnered with white female cop Viki Eaton (Elizabeth Montgomery) to solve a mysterious killing. In the course of the assignment, Woody and Viki fall in love. Also known as Behind the Badge, A Killing Affair premiered September 21, 1977, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"Lizzie Borden took an axe/And gave her mother forty whacks/When she saw what she had done/She gave her father forty-one". New England spinster Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the charge of murdering her father and stepmother in 1892, but this made-for-TV movie, like most recreations of the murders and subsequent trial, adheres to the popular consensus that Borden was guilty. Elizabeth Montgomery takes a break from playing victims to portray the enigmatic Borden. The trial scenes are lifted directly from the original court records; scripter William Bast's speculation as to what really happened the night the elder Bordens were hacked to death is pure (but credible) conjecture. Accompanied by a "parental guidance suggested" tag, The Legend of Lizzie Borden was first broadcast February 10, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Fresh from her eight-season run on Bewitched, Elizabeth Montgomery embarked upon a whole new career as everyone's favorite TV-movie star in the ABC production Mrs. Sundance. Shamelessly promoted as a sequel to the movie megahit Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the film cast Montgomery as Sundance's schoolteacher widow Etta Place, the role played in the earlier movie by Katherine Ross. Like her outlaw husband, Etta finds herself on the lam from the law, with a $10,000 bounty on her head. Resigned to spending the rest of her life in hiding, Etta is ultimately flushed out by the rumor that Sundance is still very much alive (In truth, the authorities never found Etta Place, and even the date of her death is shrouded in mystery). Lensed on location near Lone Pine, California, the film represented the first on-screen teaming of Elizabeth Montgomery and her real-life future husband Robert Foxworth. Mrs. Sundance premiered January 15, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Dining out at a Chinese restaurant, Samantha downs an exotic drink called "The Heavenly Himalayan," and as a result, her face breaks out in red stripes. Worse still, Sam loses all her powers, and the only antidote is the tail feather of the extinct dodo bird. The ensuing complications lead Sam and Darrin on a circuitous route, ending up in the same restaurant where it all began. Janos Prohaska, an "animal impersonator," whose repertoire included gorillas and bears, is here cast as an oversized and very surly dodo bird. Written by Leo Townsend, "Sam's Witchcraft Blows a Fuse" first aired on March 18, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi