William Phipps Movies

Probationary angel Jonathan (Michael Landon) and his sidekick Mark (Victor French) to reconcile young construction-firm heir Arthur Krock Jr. (Jonathan Frakes) with his eccentric widowed father Arthur Sr. (Ron Moody). It seems that the elder Krock likes to fantasize that he is King Arthur -- and that his latest "quest" is to rescue the residents of an old building complex that Krock Jr. plans to demolish. In the course of events, "King Arthur" meets his "Guenevere" in the form of veterinarian Gwen Halstead (Jean Allison), one of the tenants whom Krock Jr. intends to evict...after seeing to it that his dad is declared mentally incompetent, that is. ~ Rovi

Arriving on Walton's Mountain to deliver a posthumous medal of valor to the family of Curtis Willard, Mexican-American paratrooper Eddie Ramirez (Enrique Castillo) almost immediately encounters hostility from the local bigots. Despite the all-pervading racial tension, Curtis' widow Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) finds herself falling in love with Eddie. Elsewhere on the romantic scene, Ike Godsey's wife Corabeth (Ronnie Claire Edwards) seems to be succumbing to "that old feeling" when her former beau Roger Westerby (Jordan Charney) pays a visit. Watch for a young Corbin Bernsen in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

First aired March 13, 1977, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years was the brilliant follow-up to the equally praiseworthy 1976 TV movie Eleanor and Franklin: The Early Years. The film is framed in a flashback experienced by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Jane Alexander) while accompanying the casket carrying the body of her husband Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Edward Herrmann) to its final resting place in Hyde Park. Elected in 1933, FDR endeavors to pull the country out of the Depression with the New Deal during his first term, while Eleanor emerges as a formidable public figure in her own right during the second term, tirelessly working on behalf of social change and reforms. Ever under the baleful eye of his mother Sara (Rosemary Murphy), Roosevelt tries to maintain family equilibrium in the White House as he seeks an unprecedented third term. Sara dies in December of 1941, two days before Roosevelt, in his "Day of Infamy" speech, declares war on Japan. Despite health problems, FDR successfully pursues a fourth term in 1944; he dies in office in April of 1945, a scant few months before the end of World War II. Despite her long-standing displeasure over her husband's long-ago affair with artist Lucy Mercer (Linda Kelsey), a stiff-lipped Eleanor puts on a brave front when Roosevelt dies in the company of Deakins at a health spa in Georgia. Based on Joseph P. Lash's Pulitzer prize-winning biography, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years earned Emmies for "Outstanding Special" and for director Daniel Petrie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The winner of 11 Emmy awards, the made-for-TV Eleanor and Franklin stars Edward Herrmann as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Jane Alexander as Eleanor Roosevelt. The film traces the first four decades of the lives of cousins Franklin and Eleanor, beginning with their marriage in 1905. Conflicts loom in the form of FDR's domineering mother (Rosemary Murphy) and Eleanor's discovery of an affair between her husband and artist Lucy Mercer (Linda Kelsey). After Franklin is stricken by polio in 1921, Eleanor emerges as a formidable and influential public figure. James Costigan wrote the teleplay for Eleanor and Franklin, which first aired as a two-parter on January 11 and 12, 1976. The film was followed several months later by a multipart sequel, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Working on behalf of Deputy DA Kimble, whom he has never met, Jim (James Garner) poses as a newspaper publisher to find out if the weekly poker game at an exclusive men's club is "fixed." What the detective doesn't know until after the game is that Kimble couldn't have been the one who hired him since Kimble has was murdered nearly three months ago. Assistant DA Kate Doyle (Blair Brown) asks Jim to stay on the case to expose both the crooked game and the killer...and, incidentally, to prove that the late Mr. Kimble was connected with the Mob. This is the only Rockford Files episode directed by series star James Garner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Making her second Bonanza appearance, Mercedes McCambridge is cast as wealthy widow Matilda Curtis, who helps Ben Cartwright establish a free school for the children of Ponderosa's employees and tenant farmers. When the schoolmaster is murdered, troublesome student Billy Burgess (a pre-Partridge Family David Cassidy) angrily confesses to the crime. To save Billy from being hanged, Matilda insists that he be placed in her custody without the formality of a court trial. But Ben, unconvinced by Billy's confession, demands that the boy get his day in court-even if it may cost him his life. Comedian Foster Brooks, aka "The Lovable Lush", plays the stone-sober role of Judge Rogers. Originally telecast on February 15, 1970, "The Law and Billy Burgess" was written by Stanley Roberts. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this adventure, a commercial plane crashes in a remote South American jungle. All but one of the passengers survive. Unfortunately, he was the sheriff in charge of taking a dangerous criminal to the executioner. During the excitement of the crash, the prisoner killed the lawman. Among the other survivors is a famous singer, a washed-up funnyman, a mentally ill teacher, and a writer looking for his sister who married a missionary and is now living in the jungle. Amazingly, she is rumored to live fairly close to the crash sight. The survivors manage to make it to the isolated village where she resides. There the writer learns that his sister's husband has gone insane and that she is dead. The megalomaniacal missionary now believes himself king of the natives and is preparing the author and a few others to become human sacrifices when a neighboring tribe intervenes and saves them. The amiable natives then take the survivors back to the wreckage where navy rescue helicopters are preparing to land. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This episode opens in a curious fashion as Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) is arrested by uniformed troops and placed in a prison van. Once incarcerated, he meets another prisonder: Former Confederate officer Randall Kirby (Harry Townes), who rambles on about overthrowing the government and establishing his own empire. It soon becomes obvious that Kirby will be able to set his plans in motion unless McCord--whose presence in the van may not be all that coincidental--intervenes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Saunders (Vic Morrow) is more dispirited than usual over the latest crop of replacements. One of the newcomers has been wounded in battle and walks with a limp; another is wallowing in homesickness; a third is a former politician who has never seen combat; and all three of them are rapidly approaching the age of 40. Now Saunders must lead these "oldsters" on a risky recon patrol to grab a German prisoner. Appearing as the over-the-hill combatants are three of Hollywood's best character actors: Simon Oakland, Tom Drake and William Phipps. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hardly the best of Hammer Studios' Frankenstein epics, The Evil of Frankenstein is too much the mixture as before to be truly memorable. Back in business once more is Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), who finds his fabled monster (Kiwi Kingston) frozen in a block of ice. Once the creature is thawed out, the Baron, worried that the big lug might develop a mind of his own, engages the services of a hypnotist (Peter Woodthorpe). Instead of keeping the monster docile, the hypnotist decides to use old "Frankie" for his own evil designs, and we're off and running again. At 84 minutes, Evil of Frankenstein was too short for a two-hour network TV slot, so Universal (the film's American distributor) tacked on 13 minutes of pointless additional footage, featuring timorous villagers Steven Geray, Maria Palmer and William Phipps. The film was followed by a vastly superior sequel, Frankenstein Created Woman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After a Philippine guerrilla soldier witnesses the benevolence of his American enemies during their military occupation in 1902, he changes his attitude. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Sequestered in an observation post, a tiny band of German soldiers commandered by dedicated Nazi Kessler (Gunnar Hellstrom) holds off the efforts by Hanley's platoon to capture them. Declaring "the merciful are weak", Kessler threatens to kill his French hostages--including a female librarian named Annette (Denise Alexander) and five children--if Hanley (Rick Jason) makes a move. The only way to break this stalemate and save the hostages is for Annette to play upon Kessler's one and only weakness. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This episode reunites the stars of the 1956 comedy film Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, Tony Randall and Jayne Mansfield -- but there's nothing funny going on here, not even in the surprisingly somber epilogue delivered by host Alfred Hitchcock. Randall is cast as hard-drinking advertising executive Hadley Purvis, who awakens one morning with a monstrous hangover, and no recollection of what happened the night before. All he knows for sure is that his long-suffering wife, Sandra (Dody Heath), is nowhere in sight...and that a strange blonde (Mansfield) is lounging around in his living room. As Purvis painfully tries to piece together the events leading up to this situation, the viewer bears witness to one of the most terrifying descents into alcoholism ever filmed. "Hangover" was adapted by Lou Rambeau from two separate short stories: Hangover, by John D. MacDonald, and Marian, by Charles Runyon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi