Gregory Morton Movies
American actor and violinist Gregory Morton played character roles on stage, television, and screen. With his white hair and severe angular features, Morton was often cast as a commanding character. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie GuideIn this TV creation, a couple can't conceive (the husband is impotent) and they hire a stud man to solve their problem. ~ All Movie Guide
Adapted from a Fred Mustard Stewart novel, this offbeat occult thriller stars Alan Alda (just prior to his eleven-year stint on M*A*S*H) as journalist and burgeoning musician Myles Clarkson, whose long-sought interview with ailing concert pianist (and closet Satanist) Duncan Ely (Curt Jurgens) leads to a mysterious ritual in which Ely's soul is transferred into Clarkson's body at the moment of the elder man's death. Further complications ensue when Myles' wife Paula (Jacqueline Bisset) discovers the none-too-subtle change in her husband's behavior, and she is pulled deeper into Ely's twisted circle. The plot thickens as further soul-swapping, dark family secrets, and demonic possession come into play. A heavy sense of doom pervades this bizarre film, thanks to some offbeat cinematography and eerie music, as well as some truly shocking setpieces courtesy of prolific TV director Paul Wendkos, who helmed the excellent Legend of Lizzie Borden. The prosaic Alda lacks the dangerous edge his character demands, but Bisset's performance is chillingly effective. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Jacqueline Bisset, (more)
A murder investigation uncovers a plot that could destroy the world as we know it in this thriller. When a scientist doing research on nuclear weapons is murdered during a hospital stay, federal investigator Dave Pomeroy (Howard Duff) is called in to find out who killed him and why. With the help of Dr. Paula Stevens (Linda Cristal), the late scientist's assistant, Pomeroy learns that the scientist fell victim to a group of communist renegades whose members include two brilliant but unstable weapons experts, August Best (Nehemiah Persoff) and Myra Pryor (Anne Jeffreys). Pomeroy discovers that Best and Pryor have constructed an atomic bomb of their own -- and that they're threatening to use it to start World War III, forcing the detective to take swift action to prevent worldwide devastation. Panic in the City also features Dennis Hopper in the small role of Goff, just a year before Easy Rider would make him a star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Howard Duff, Linda Cristal, (more)
National Intelligence Agent Dan Street (Richard Egan) is on the trail of some stolen laser rubies. It is assumed the agents will come after the raygun itself for their evil purposes. Count Romano (Michael Ansara) is the swimsuit-import mogul who tries to keep his head from going under while working for the enemy agents. The key to the mystery lies with Dutch (John Ericson), a Korean War veteran who fell into the hands of the brainwashing communists. Patricia Owens is Dan's love interest in this plodding suspense film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Egan, Patricia Owens, (more)
The beauty of classical music confronts the ugliness and treachery of war in this unusual drama. Lionel Evans (Charlton Heston) is the director of a well-respected symphony orchestra touring European concert halls in 1944. In the midst of one concert, the city where they are playing is attacked by German troops, and as Evans and his musicians try to escape, they are captured by Nazi soldiers led by Col. Arndt (Anton Diffring). Evans and the orchestra are taken to a castle where they are to bide their time before being executed; but it turns out that Arndt's superior, Gen. Schiller (Maximilian Schell), is a classical music buff. Schiller commands Evans and his symphony to prepare a special concert for the Nazis, but Evans realizes that the moment the concert is over, he and his musicians will be killed. The orchestra's performances, which include works by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, and Schubert, were performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Maximilian Schell, (more)
The Robinson party is arrested and brought before the Galaxy Tribunal Justice, there to be tried for various crimes that they have supposedly committed while lost in space. Curiously, Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) is not apprehended, on the assumption that he is guiltless. But after a series of black-and-white "flashbacks" culled from the series' first-season episode, it is proven beyond doubt that Smith and Smith alone is responsible for all the trouble allegedly caused by the Robinsons. This poses a problem for the series' "good guys" (and good girls): Should Smith be rescued from the Tribunal, or should he be left behind for punishment? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Injured after falling down a hole in a cave, John (Guy Williams) awakens to find himself a changed man. Specifically, the spirit of the centuries-old alien warrior Canto now possesses John's body and a good portion of his mind--a portion which increases every time John falls asleep. Thus enslaved by Canto, John imprisons the rest of his family and prepares to murder his own son Will (Bill Mumy)! Listen as the Robot sums up the cowardice of Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) by paraphrasing "The Prisoner of Zenda" in this, the final episode of Lost in Space's first season, and the last one filmed in black and white. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The difficulties faced by drug addicts attempting to kick their habits provide the basis of this gritty, realistic drama that was filmed at a real rehab house in Santa Monica, California. The story centers on Zankie (Alex Cord), an ex-con who is having trouble following the strict rules of the house. Soon he finds himself involved in an affair with another inmate, an ex-hooker (Stella Stevens). She is only supposed to monitor and assist with his recovery, not get emotionally involved. When Zankie gets into a fight with another patient (Chuck Connors) both he and the girl leave the center. Soon after leaving, he begins looking for more drugs and dies of an overdose in a cheap hotel. The ex-hooker then returns to the rehab house to resume her own treatment. Synanon, the model for the rehab-house of this 1965 feature, was a large ex-addict-run (and ex-con-run) enterprise which expanded its operations steadily over the next decade. It was famous for its harsh "tough-love" policies and its high success rate and would have continued its high-profile role in the rehab industry except that it became embroiled in several scandals in the late 1970s, effectively closing its doors well before the Reagan era. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmond O'Brien, Chuck Connors, (more)
Quitting the police force when his father dies of a heart attack, detective Danny Talbert (Robert Quarry of Count Yorga, Vampire fame) holds his shiftless brother Carl (Chris Robinson) responsible for their dad's demise. Up to his ears in debt, Carl has begged his father to get him off the hook with mobster Steve Radom (Gregory Morton)--and it was the stress of this situation which, Danny believes, brought about the fatal coronary. Later on, Radom is murdered with Danny's gun, prompting Perry Mason (Perry Mason) to plunge into this unpleasant situation and ferret out the facts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this Cold War time-capsule, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) and Della Street (Barbara Hale) venture behind the Iron Curtain to save the life of Emma Ritter (Jeanette Nolan), the wife of expatriate East German physicist Hans Ritter (Wolfe Barzell). Emma and Hans have been lured back to East Berlin with the promise that their granddaughter Elke (Eileen Baral) would be released from an orphanage and allowed to emigrate to the U.S., but things go awry and Emma is charged with the murder of Franz Hoffer (Ronald Long). It doesn't take Perry long to realize that the cards have been stacked against Emma from the get-go, and that he will have to do some clever and fancy maneuvering to outwit the Communist legal system. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two years after the success of The Interns (1962) came this follow-up tale of medical interns during their first year working in a hospital. Ranging from comedy to melodrama, three main stories are woven around the principal characters. Functioning as the group's advisor, Dr. Alec Considine spends much of his time chasing women--one of which (an early role from Barbara Eden) may or may not wrangle a ring from him. Then there is a struggling married couple (played by Stefanie Powers and Dean Jones) who must face the possibility of never having children. Thirdly, Dr. Tony Parelli (George Segal in his film debut), coming from a gritty past, falls in love with social worker Nancy (Inger Stevens). Unfortunately Nancy has recently been sexually brutallized by three violent men and does not respond favorably to Dr. Parelli's attentions. Also starring are Telly Savalas and Kay Stevens, who, with Powers and Callan, appeared in the original and more successful Interns. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Callan, Dean Jones, (more)
In this offbeat crime drama, Mafia boss Johnny Colini (Marc Lawrence) has run afoul of the law and is being deported back to his native Sicily. Colini is not at all happy about this, and after he saves the life of a young thug, Johnny Giordano (Henry Silva), he knows the perfect way for Giordano to pay him back. Colini teaches Giordano the fine art of being a hit man, then sends him to America as Johnny Cool, with a long list of people who he believes informed on him to the police. Johnny Cool begins knocking off Colini's old enemies with a brutal violence that betrays the cool detachment of his personality; along the way, he meets Dare Guinness (Elizabeth Montgomery), a beautiful but promiscuous woman with whom Johnny falls in love. Several gangsters wanting to stop Johnny Cool's reign of terror rough up Dare as a warning to the hit man, but this only serves to make him all the more bloodthirsty. Produced in part by Peter Lawford, Johnny Cool features an interesting variety of notables as Johnny's associates and victims, including Telly Savalas, Mort Sahl, Joey Bishop, Jim Backus, and Sammy Davis, Jr., who also sings the theme song. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Silva, Elizabeth Montgomery, (more)
George Sidney's adaptation of the satiric Broadway musical smash by Michael Stewart, Charles Strouse, and Lee Adams -- about an Elvis Presley-inspired rock star, who is drafted into the army and who creates a near-riot in a small Midwestern town when he stops there for one last publicity junket -- takes good-natured swipes at popular culture, rock n' roll, and American family life. Dick van Dyke re-creates his Broadway role of Albert Peterson, a down-on-his-luck songwriter for the rock-n'-roll idol Conrad Birdie (Jesse Pearson). When Birdie is drafted into the army, Peterson is worried about his future as a songwriter. His secretary, Rosie (Janet Leigh in a brunette wig), with whom Albert has long been romantically attached, convinces Albert to write a farewell song for Birdie that he will sing on The Ed Sullivan Show to a specially selected fan. The lucky fan turns out to be Kim McAfee (Ann-Margaret) of Sweet Apple, Ohio. When Birdie arrives in this hick town, the population goes crazy and in the ensuing madness, Albert must deal with the celebrity-fawning population, Kim's manic father (Paul Lynde, also re-creating his Broadway role), and his own domineering mother (Maureen Stapleton), while he loses Rosie to the Shriners. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, (more)
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
When Todd Baylor (Robert Harland) inherits an equal partnership in his family's successful chain of clothing stores, his brother Martin (Peter Walker) is outraged. It seems that Martin wants the whole business to himself, and he is determined to force Todd out of the picture. In the end, however, it is Martin who is "forced out" courtesy of a sharp knife. It falls to Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) to prove that Todd is not guilty of fratricide. Featured in the cast are two prominent "celebrity spouses": Patrice Wymore, the former Mrs. Errol Flynn; and Nancy Kovack, future wife of conductor Zubin Mehta. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Perry (Raymond Burr) and Della (Barbara Hale) return to their office to find that someone has left a four-month-old baby on Perry's desk. Soon thereafter, Ginny Talbot (Kaye Elhardt), claiming to be the child's mother, shows up--and not long after that, Perry receives evidence that the infant may be heir to the celebrated Kerrick fortune. The key to the child's true identity is the St. Christopher medal around its neck, but before this matter can be cleared up, Perry must defend Ginny on a charge of murdering one Lester Menke (Corey Allen). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Using a technique that involves the kind of ensemble acting seen in later long-running, large-cast television programs, director David Swift has tried to tie together the stories of five young interns in this routine drama. One of the interns is a woman who is at odds with the chief surgeon (Telly Savalas), another is involved in an ill-advised abortion simply because he has fallen in love with the patient, a glamorous model (also in real life, played by Suzy Parker). Other stories involve romances that turn out well or ill, depending on the case. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Callan, Cliff Robertson, (more)
Flight that Disappeared sugars its Vital Message with a sci-fi/fantasy coating. Three nuclear scientists prepare to deliver their report on the potentials of atomic weaponry to the President. En route to Washington, the scientists' plane disappears from view. They awaken to find themselves in the presence of benign aliens, possibly residents of the Afterworld. Before the scientists are permitted to leave, they have been persuaded that their nuclear report will need a healthy dose of anti-bomb rhetoric. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Craig Hill, Paula Raymond, (more)
It looks like suicide when hasbeen concert pianist David Carpenter (Gregory Morton) plunges off a cliff. Then the suspicion arises that Carpenter was actually murdered so that his wife Anita (Virginia Field) could collect his life insurance. But Anita is not the client of Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) in the subsequent preliminary hearing: instead, Carpenter's sexy protegee Donna Ross (Kathie Browne) has been charged with the murder. (Trivia note: the original TV Guide listings identify the suspect as "Donna Loring", a name presumably changed at the last minute for legal reasons). Robert Karnes makes his first appearance as Deputy DA Chamberlin, one of several temporary replacements for absentee regular William Talman (DA Hamilton Burger). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Three explorers are hopelessly lost in the desert, their water supply all but depleted. Suddenly, a young man calling himself Eric Borgner (Jeremy Slates) appears out of nowhere, offering to guide the explorers to safety. Sadly, though the three men survive their ordeal, Eric does not. Years later, one of the explorers pays a visit to Eric's parents, to offer condolences and thank them for their son's help. But Mr. and Mrs. Borgner have quite a surprise for the nonplussed survivor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This off-beat western is a freely-adapted remake of the violent film noir Kiss of Death. The story centers on a naive thief, Dan Hardy, who is captured after a bank robbery and placed in a jail cell alongside the maniacal, vicious Felix Griffin. O'Brian gets himself into deep trouble when he tells Griffin where he hid the loot, a location that only O'Brian's partner knows. As soon as Griffin is released, he begins a shocking, and graphically depicted, killing spree as he tries to get to the cache of cash. In desperation, the lawmen arrange to release Hardy so he can find the psychotic O'Brian and stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh O'Brian, Robert Evans, (more)
The Rudolf Friml operetta The Vagabond King was first filmed in 1930, with Dennis King in the lead. On both sides of this adaptation, audiences were treated to non-singing versions of the story, bearing titles like The Beloved Rogue and If I Were King. In all instances, the plot remained the same: in 15th-century France, irreverent beggar poet Francois Villon, crowned "king for a day" by capricious Louis XVI, patriotically rallies his fellow beggars to pick up their weapons when Paris is invaded by the Burgundians. In the 1956 remake of Vagabond King, new "singing sensation" Oreste (of whom little was heard afterwards) stars as Villon, with Cedric Hardwicke as the droll, doddering King Louis, Kathryn Grayson as the high-born heroine, and Rita Moreno as the lusty low-born wench whose love for Villon eventually costs her the use of her life. Vincent Price narrates the film, which if nothing else is elaborately mounted and colorfully photographed. Sharp-eyed viewers will be able to spot Phyllis Newman, whose meaty supporting role was pared down to a one-line bit in the release prints. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathryn Grayson, Oreste, (more)















