Vic Perrin Movies

Twenty-one years after ending its original ABC prime-time run in 1965, the Hanna Barbera animated adventure series Jonny Quest was revived with 13 brand-new episodes as a component of the weekend syndicated package "Funtastic World of Hanna Barbera." All of the original characters were revived: globetrotting research scientist, Dr. Benton Quest; his tousled-haired son, Jonny; Jonny's bodyguard-tutor, Race Bannon; his mystical young Indian friend, Hadji; and the pet bulldog, Bandit. Of the original voice actors, only Don Messick (as Dr. Quest and Bandit) and Victor Perrin (as perennial villain Dr. Zin) were heard on the later series. In the sixth of the "new" episodes, another member of the Quest team was introduced, a "Monolith Man" named Hardrok. Slightly better animated than the original -- and with markedly wittier dialogue as well as a refreshing increase in its sci-fi-fantasy content -- the Jonny Quest (1986 series) was later incorporated in the same package as the 26 "original" Jonny Quest episodes. Under the blanket title "Classic Jonny Quest," this manifest was seen on cable's Cartoon Network from 1992 to 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

An episode of the television series, with Buck, Wilma, Hawk, and the crew plunged into strange surroundings because of a mysterious green box. ~ Rovi

They've Kidnapped Anne Benedict is the rerun title for the made-for-TV movie The Abduction of St. Anne. Robert Wagner stars as detective who is hired by Vatican for $100,000. It's his job to find out if it's true that a mobster's 17-year-old daughter (Kathleen Quinlan) has miraculous and healing powers. If the rumors are fact, Wagner is expected to kidnap the girl on behalf of the Church, with the help of bishop E.G. Marshall. Before the film runs its course, all three principals--Wagner, Marshall, and Quinlan--find themselves up to their necks in life-threatening peril. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The setting is Atoka County, Alabama -- the time is somewhere after the peak of the civil rights movement, after cities such as Birmingham, Alabama were out of the headlines. The movement is coming to the sticks, including Atoka County, and a lot of the white residents don't like it and are prepared to commit felonious assault, rape, or murder to get their point across. In the middle of this powder keg are two men on either side of a very dangerous line -- County Sheriff "Big Track" Bascomb (Lee Marvin) and Mayor Hardy (David Huddleston). Each man is playing both ends against the middle in the impending race war -- Bascomb wants to keep the peace as best he can, blocking the local klavern of the Ku Klux Klan from their worst excesses and making sure that the Klan's business and the county's business remain separate; Hardy, who also owns the lumber company that employs most of the county and the bank on which most of the residents depend, wants a good environment for business, which includes keeping enough poor blacks around to do the most menial work for the miserable pay he's willing to fork over; this, in turn, requires that they be too scared to ask for too much, including better treatment, but not so scared that they leave the county altogether, which would wipe out his business. Between them is Breck Stancill (Richard Burton), an eighth-generation resident with lots of land but little money and even fewer friends; a wounded war veteran and loner, he still resents the lynching of his grandfather and no longer respects what the white south purports to stand for -- he's even allowed dispossessed blacks to live for free on his property, angering the poor whites around him even more. Bascomb would like Stancill to be a little less high profile, while Hardy would like him to sell out and disappear, and wouldn't mind it if the local Klan helped that process along by trying to kill him. Bascomb's balancing act fails because of two events -- Nancy Poteet (Linda Evans) is raped one night, apparently by a black man, which precipitates the murder of a black teenager and her being violently ostracized by the white community; and a civil rights rally is planned for the town, bringing in lots of "outside agitators" and getting the local klavern eager to act against them. The prime mover in all of this is Big Track's deputy, Butt Cut Bates (Cameron Mitchell), a hardcore klansman who won't be reined in by Hardy and who is not above raping a black woman prisoner (Lola Falana) that he's arrested illegally, or trying to kill Stancill; directly opposed to him is Garth (O.J. Simpson), a young black man who witnessed a Klan murder and, in response, gets a rifle and starts meting out justice on his own. Before it's over, a major part of the county is at war and the bodies are falling everywhere. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) poses as a caterer for a Syndicate wedding. In this capacity, Erskine hopes to gather information about a bloody internal power play instigated by Mob functionary Ed Haynes (Alex Cord). But the wedding may never come off--certainly not if Haynes is able to pull off his plan to murder the father of the bride, Boss Faber (Frank DeKova), just before the exchange of vows! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in 1966 (when screenwriter Richard Breen was still around), this made-for-TV feature marked the return of Jack Webb's classic 1950s cop series Dragnet after a seven-year absence. Ordered to cut his vacation short, Sgt. Joe Friday (played by Jack Webb) is assigned to investigate the mysterious disappeances of two beautiful models and a pretty young war widow. In concert with partner Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan), Friday does his best to follow the trail of evidence, only to be continually stymied by contradictory or reluctant eyewitnesses. Before arriving at the disturbing conclusion that the missing girls have been the victims of a voyeuristic serial killer, Joe and Bill manage to solve another, unrelated murder involving a visiting Frenchman. Several members of Jack Webb's radio and TV Dragnet stock company are cast in colorful supporting roles, including Virginia Gregg, Victor Perrin, and Herb Ellis, while L.A. Dodgers catcher John Roseboro is seen as a fellow cop. A powerful opening sequence and an thrilling action climax more than compensate for the unevenness of the script (the last such by veteran Webb collaborator Richard Breen) and the occasional pokiness of the direction. Although this 97-minute Dragnet was good enough to convince NBC to revive the vintage Jack Webb series on a weekly, half-hour basis (it ran successfully for three seasons), the film itself was shelved for several years, not making its network TV debut until January 27, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Steve Ihnat guest-stars as eponymous master spy Stefan Miklos in this psychologically complex Mission: Impossible episode. Discovered to be a double agent, Walter Townsend (Jason Evers) is fed false information by the Americans. In order to throw Miklos off the track, the IMF must convince him that Townsend's information is genuine. Once again, Rollin dons elaborate makeup and a thick accent to pose as the central villain--and once again, Barney and Willy pose as workers from the ubiquitious "Kompani die Gaz." Edward Asner also appears in this episode, as a man named Simpson. First telecast January 12, 1969, "The Mind of Stefan Miklos" was written by Paul Playdon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This sci-fi outing was originally released in 3-Dimensional "Spacevision" and tells the tale of a young couple who go for a fun day of flying and end up forced into a gigantic plastic bubble during a sudden violent storm. Inside the inverted bowl is an apparently empty ghost town, that on further inspection proves to be filled with old movie props and strange "residents" who seem to suffer from a bizarre form of echolalia. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter, "The Council" was the second multipart story of Mission: Impossible's second season. In their most ambitious assignment to date, the IMF must destroy a criminal empire that threatens to drain America's gold reserves. As part of the plan, Rollin concocts a dangerous strategy of his own, one that requires him to impersonate crooked businessman Frank Wayne (Paul Stevens). As it turns out, the success of the mission hinges upon a mob flunkey who has been targetted for extermination--and has already been buried alive. Part One of "The Council" was first broadcast November 19, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The F.B.I. begins its third season as Federal Inspector Lew Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) enters a poker game where the stakes are literally life and death. Working undercover, Erskine is playing with several high-ranking Mafia officers. His purpose: to prevent the assassination of mob chieftan Paul Nichols (Larry Gates)--and also to keep the unknown assassin from killing everyone else in the game! With this episode, William Reynolds becomes a regular as Special Agent Tom Colby. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Beau Bridges guest stars as a wounded young man who stumbles into the Justice Department Building in Virginia, carrying half a million dollars in stolen cash. Awakening from a brief coma, the boy can remember nothing about what has happened to him nor how he came into possession of the loot. Though they suspect that "John Doe" is a thief and a possible killer, the Feds go through an elaborate charade of alerting the public that they are holding the money for its rightful owner. Predictably, the FBI offices are swamped with dozens of phony claimants--including two shady-looking gentleman who are determined to silence "John Doe" permanently! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Quests head to the fjords of Norway, where something very strange is happening at Raklev Castle. According to the locals, the castle's gargoyles have come to life to terrorize the territory. Jonny and his friends soon discover, however, that the "monsters" are actually human spies, who dearly covet a new anti-gravity device being developed by a Norwegian scientist. The background art in this episode has been singled out by many reviewers as some of the finest graphic renderings ever to emerge from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon factory. "The House of the Seven Gargoyles" originally aired on February 18, 1965. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Jonny accompanies his dad, Dr. Quest, to the mountains India, where several sheepherders have succumbed to a mysterious illness. The bad guys responsible for this epidemic -- caused by a deadly nerve gas -- subsequently target the Quests for extinction, leading to a pulse-pounding climax wherein Dr. Quest's new Ultra High Frequency Sonic Amplifier is deployed to save the day. As an added bonus, the story of how Hadji became part of the Quest team is told by way of flashbacks. Written by future movie-of-the-week stalwart Jo Anna Lee, "Calcutta Adventure" was originally scheduled to air on October 16, 1964, but was moved forward to October 30. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi