Slim Pickens Movies

In this carefree children's adventure, a grandfather and his grandson fulfill the former's life-long dream and embark upon a cross-country ballon flight. Back on the distant ground, the flyers are pursued by the boy's mother, the cops, the Feds, and others. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This heartwarming Christmas tale contains a western twist as it tells the tale of a heavenly cowpoke who rides down to Earth to ride herd on a few people in need of some miracles. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Steve McQueen's penultimate film deals with a fascinating western legend, founded on an insightful script by Thomas McGuane and Bud Shrake. Unfortunately, the film was done in by the five directors --Don Siegel, Elliot Silverstein, James Guercio, William Wiard, and McQueen himself-- that were, at one point or another, attached to the project. The film deals with the infamous Texas gunslinger Tom Horn. Horn gained fame for a variety of exploits; he served with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders and was the Pinkerton detective who captured the notorious outlaw Peg Leg Watson. But as Tom Horn begins, something in Horn (Steve McQueen) has snapped. Tom quits the Pinkertons and hires himself out to rancher John Coble (Richard Farnsworth) to assist him in putting an end to his problems with the local homesteaders and rustlers. But Horn performers his job with a chilling intensity, killing so many people with such bloodthirsty rage that it is even too much for Coble and the ranchers to take. When Horn's violence cannot be stopped, Coble has to take the law into his own hands to put a halt to Horn's bloodbath. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

David Soul stars in the made-for-TV Swan Song as a former Olympic skiing champ. There is a consensus of opinion that Soul lost the Olympics when he withdrew due to a mysterious, possibly psychosomatic illness. Feeling that he was exploited and misused as an amateur, Soul stages a comeback at age 29, hoping to win the $40,000 Hawaiian Tropic Cup Race. Filmed on location at Sun Valley Idaho, Swan Song features a good performance by Jill Eikenberry as a "ski groupie" and some marvelously photographed downhill sequences. And that's about all there is to recommend Swan Song, which is merely one more of what Judith Crist used to call the "strive and succeed" school of TV movies. One of the three scenarists for Swan Song was future Miami Vice maven Michael Mann. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's December of 1941, and the people of California are in varying states of unease, ranging from a sincere desire to defend the country to virtual blind panic in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus begin several story threads that comprise the "plot" of this strange period comedy, a sort of satirical disaster movie, from Steven Spielberg. The stories and story threads involve lusty young men, officers (Tim Matheson) and civilians (Bobby Di Cicco) alike, eager to bed the young ladies of their dreams; Wild Bill Kelso, a nutty fighter pilot (John Belushi) following what he thinks is a squadron of Japanese fighters along the California coast; a well-meaning but clumsy tank crew (including John Candy) led by straight-arrow, by-the-book Sgt. Tree (Dan Aykroyd), who doesn't recognize the thug (Treat Williams) in his command; and homeowner Ward Douglas (Ned Beatty), who is eager to do his part for the nation's defense and, despite the misgivings of his wife (Lorraine Gary), doesn't mind his front yard overlooking the ocean being chosen to house a 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. There is also a pair of grotesquely inept airplane spotters (Murray Hamilton, Eddie Deezen) who are doing their job from atop a ferris wheel at a beachfront amusement park; a paranoid army colonel (Warren Oates) positive that the Japanese are infiltrating from the hills; a big dance being held on behalf of servicemen, being attended by a lusty young woman of size (Wendie Jo Sperber) eager to land a man in uniform; and General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell (Robert Stack), in charge of the defense of the West Coast, who can't seem to get anyone to listen to him when he says to keep calm. And, oh yes, there's also a real Japanese submarine that has gotten all the way to the California coast under the command of its captain (Toshiro Mifune) and a German officer observer (Christopher Lee), only to find itself without a working compass or usable maps. Its captain won't leave until the sub has attacked a militarily significant, honorable target, and the only one that anyone aboard ship knows of in California is Hollywood. By New Year's Eve, all of these characters are going to cross paths, directly or once-removed, in a comedy of errors and destruction strongly reminiscent of the finale to National Lampoon's Animal House (as well as several disaster movies from the same studio), but on a much larger and more impressive scale. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Irwin Allen's second water-logged disaster film picks up where The Poseidon Adventure left off; Salvagers Michael Caine, Karl Malden and Sally Field enter the Poseidon to take what they can, unaware that evil salvager Telly Savalas and his henchmen lie in wait. When an explosion rocks the ship, the enemies find themselves trapped inside in a battle for survival both against nature and themselves. The good guys pick up some survivors along the way, including Peter Boyle as a stereotypically hot-headed Italian, Mark Harmon as the All-American boy next door, and Slim Pickens as the ship's wine steward in what may be one of the most poorly-written parts of all time. Field looks good in the water, and Caine is charming despite a lack of material, but the merits end there. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

Designed for the regional family trade, Pony Express Rider is a fond harkback to the Saturday afternoon westerns of old. Stewart Paterson plays the title character, a young frontiersman hoping to avenge his father's death. He takes a job with the Pony Express mail service in hopes of running across his dad's murderer. The supporting cast is populated with such always-welcome reliables as Joan Caulfield, Henry Wilcoxon, Ken Curtis, Slim Pickens and Dub Taylor. Pony Express Rider was directed by Robert J. Totten, a specialist in episodic television horse operas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Also known as Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free, this TV pilot film stars Don Meredith in the title role. Banjo Hackett is a western horsetrader, circa 1885, who travels in the company of his orphaned nephew (Ike Eisenmann). While searching for a rare Arabian mare stolen from the nephew's late mother, Hackett occasionally pays a visit to Mollie (Jennifer Warren), a ranch owner whom Banjo would marry if he'd only admit he loved the woman. Millionaire Dan O'Herlihy and untrustworthy bounty hunter Chuck Connors are also after the stolen horse. The film's storyline is as rambling as Banjo Hackett himself, which was both its charm and curse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Former evangelist Marjorie Gortner had a brief flurry of activity as an actor in the early 1970s. Gun and the Pulpit was a made-for-TV movie designed as the pilot for a potential Gortner series. Marjoe plays a gunslinger who disguises himself as a preacher to escape a false murder charge. He finds that his somewhat direct proselytizing technique--wielding a six-gun whenever faced with hostile nonbelievers--makes him popular throughout the west. Gun and the Pulpit was filmed on location at the Old Tucson studios, originally built in 1940 for the Columbia feature Arizona and currently a major Southwestern tourist attraction. The film's premise was workable, but not with Marjoe Gortner; Merlin Olsen came along in 1981 with a more successful variation on the theme, Father Murphy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV family-Western Hitched is a sequel to the 1971 TV movie Lock, Stock and Barrel, with Sally Field stepping into the role originally played by Belinda Montgomery. Newly married couple Roselle and Clare Bridgeman (played by Field and Tim Matheson) head westward to seek their fortune, only to become accidentally separated. In their efforts to stage a reunion, both Roselle and Clare undergo a variety of exhilirating experiences involving outlaws, sharpsters, saloon gals, and a Native American or two. Originally telecast by NBC on March 31, 1973, Hitched was intended as the pilot for a weekly TV series, and as such was shown in tandem with another busted pilot, Savage, starring Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a raffle, Danny wins "F. Scott Fitzgerald"--not the writer, but a racehorse who suffers from insomnia. The whole family pitches in to lure F. Scott off to dreamland so that the horse will be fit enough to run in a big race that the San Pueblo County Fair. Slim Pickens (Dr. Strangelove, Blazing Saddles) is featured as the horse's trainer Will Fowler. Song: "Breaking Up is Hard to Do". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide