Bart Patton Movies

Despite an effort by the Warner Bros. publicity mills to turn The Rain People into an instant cult film upon its first release (the ad campaign stressed the intimacy and humanity of the story), this early Francis Ford Coppola effort would have to wait several years to find its audience. Shirley Knight stars as Natalie, a housewife who, unable to cope with being "trapped" by impending pregnancy, deserts her husband and takes to the road. Eager to start life over, Natalie attaches herself to hitchhiker Kilgannon (James Caan). She is fully aware that Kilgannon, a former football pro, has incurred so much brain damage that he's practically a child but insists upon sticking with him. Along the way, she has a variety of offbeat experiences with such eccentrics as a snake-farmer (Tom Aldredge) and a widowed traffic-cop (Robert Duvall). An unexpectedly violent turn of events, triggered by the traffic cop's troubled daughter (Marya Zimmet), leaves Natalie virtually back where she started. Director Coppola was still laboring under the influence of the French New Wave in The Rain People; there are so many flashbacks and flashforwards that soon even the actors don't know where they stand. Yes, it's an example of youthful cinematic excess, but there's a streak of genius in The Rain People that is impossible to miss. Coppola based his screenplay on his own short story "Echoes." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical farce, a dim-witted fellow finally gets his chance to become a secret agent like his brother when the former receives an important phone call meant for the latter. He then begins looking into a conspiracy to sabotage an upcoming beach party. He learns of this plot from a concerned teen who over head a fellow who has been "driven mad by rock'n'roll" scheming with another. The film is filled with music from the day's popular stars including: "Malibu Run" (Jim Karstein, Leon Russell, Gary Lewis, T. Leslie, sung by Gary Lewis and the Playboys), "Out on the Floor" (Fred Darian, Al De Lory, sung by Dobie Gray), "She'll Come Back" (Nita Garfield, Howard Kaylan, sung by the Turtles), "Baby Please Don't Go" (Joe Williams, sung by the Astronauts), "It's Not Unusual" (Gordon Mills, Les Reed, sung by the Knickerbockers), "Funny over You" (Freddie Garrity, sung by Freddie and the Dreamers), "A Love Like You" (Quinn & Jones, sung by Freddie and the Dreamers), "What's Her Name," and "Hip City" (Darian, De Lory). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Several years removed from her most famous TV role as nurse Consuelo Lopez on Marcus Welby MD, Eleana Verdugo appears in this episode as former Hooterville resident Mary Jane Hastings. Now a prominent big-city executive, Mary Jane returns to her home town, impressing one and all with her sharp business acumen. She also proves to be quite adept at manipulating the local menfolk--which may or may not be beneficial to Kate (Bea Benadaret and her daughters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

TV actor Tom Poston stars as Prof. Jonathan Jones in this early feature-film appearance, a standard comedy-fantasy oriented to the youngsters. The good professor has come into possession of "zotz," a coin that has three magical properties. It can either cause intense pain if its bearer points an accusing finger at an intended victim or it can make things move in slow-motion, with the right command. If the accusatory finger and the command are used simultaneously, the victim dies. Naturally, just about everyone wants this coin. The hapless professor is soon involved in problems at school, at the Pentagon, and worse yet, with a group of commie agents who have their own designs on the coin. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This fast-paced, entertaining drama set in a high school is directed by Paul Wendkos who has a talent for turning teen-oriented movies into hits, as proven just before this release (his 1959 Gidget). The ever-young Dick Clark plays Neil, a new, dedicated history teacher who becomes involved with the lives of his students and always for the better. He also becomes involved with Joan (Victoria Shaw) the attractive secretary in the principal's office. In an era before cocaine, crack, and school shootings would destroy the nation's image of high schools forever, the problems of "delinquents" like Griff (Michael Callan), or Buddy (Warren Berlinger), whose mother is unfaithful, may seem archaic to some audiences. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide