Walter Pidgeon Movies
MGM's resident "perfect gentleman," Canadian-born Walter Pidgeon was the son of a men's furnishing store owner. Young Walter Pidgeon planned to follow his brothers into a military career, but was invalided out of the service after a training accident. Pidgeon moved to Boston in 1919, where he worked as a banker until the death of his first wife. He gave up the world of finance to study singing at the New England Conservatory of Music, then in 1924 joined E.E. Clive's acting company. With the help of his friend Fred Astaire, Pidgeon (using the stage name Walter Verne) was hired as the touring partner of musical comedy star Elsie Janis; this led to his first Broadway appearance in Puzzles of 1925. Pidgeon was signed by film producer Joseph Schenck for a string of silent-film leading-man assignments in 1926, making his talkie debut in Universal's Melody of Love (1928). He starred or co-starred in several First National/Warner Bros. musicals of the early-talkie era, but this stage of his movie career ended when the musical craze petered out in 1931. Deciding to switch professional gears, Pidgeon returned to Broadway in order to establish himself as a dramatic actor. He returned to Hollywood in 1936, spending most of the next two decades at MGM, where he was cast opposite such stellar leading ladies as Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Rosalind Russell, and Hedy Lamarr. His most famous screen teammate was Greer Garson; the sophisticated twosome co-starred in seven films, including the Oscar-winning Mrs. Miniver. In the early '40s, MGM made the most of Pidgeon's popularity by loaning him out to other studios. It was on one of these loanouts to 20th Century Fox that the actor was cast in one of his favorite films, How Green Was My Valley (the 1941 Oscar winner). In 1955, the same year that he starred in the sci-fi favorite Forbidden Planet, Pidgeon hosted his home studio's TV anthology series The MGM Parade. After ending his 20-year association with MGM, Pidgeon returned to Broadway, where he starred in The Happiest Millionaire and Take Me Along. He continued accepting character assignments that intrigued him into the 1970s, notably the brief role of Florenz Ziegfeld in Funny Girl (1968). When asked if he minded that most of his screen and TV assignments were secondary ones in his last two decades, Walter Pidgeon replied that he always strove to follow the advice given to him by Lionel Barrymore: even when your character has nothing to do, do nothing magnificently. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Mae West (1892-1980) was perhaps the original comic sex goddess of American cinema. Originally a vaudeville performer, she became a national sensation following her 1926 Broadway show Sex, which she wrote, produced, directed and starred in. She continued to outrage the sensibilities of her time on Broadway before coming to Hollywood and doing the same there throughout the 1930s. She perfected her double entendre humor onscreen and gradually fell out of favor with an increasingly prudish film-going public, though her career underwent several brief revivals. Even as an extremely old woman, she affected the manners and dress of a reigning sex queen. The 1978 release of Sextette, based on her own original scenario, marked her final screen appearance. It was not well received by critics nor the public, and was an undignified note on which to end her sensational career. In this farcical and star-studded film, West plays the fading movie star Marlo Manners, whose attempts to consummate her marriage to Sir Michael Barrington (Timothy Dalton), her sixth husband, are humorously interrupted by the preceding five. Marlo is also dictating the unexpurgated story of her life, and when one of the tapes goes missing, it threatens to cause an international incident, as well as ruining a number of reputations (including her own). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae West, Timothy Dalton, (more)
- 1976
- PG
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This spoof makes fun of a certain famous German shepherd movie star from the 1920s. The mayhem begins when the head honcho of a financially struggling studio turns a lost dog into a legend. The story features a number of old stars making cameo appearances. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Dern, Madeline Kahn, (more)
Larry Peerce directed this tired disaster movie about a mad sniper loose in a football stadium. At the beginning, the sniper picks off a cyclist for practice and then takes roost in the top tower of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Sent in to stop the terror is Captain Peter Holly (Charlton Heston), who wants to get his hands on the sniper without endangering the lives of the people in the stadium. Unfortunately, there is a second group of law enforcement officers, a tactical commando group, who want to go into the stadium and rush the sniper -- regardless of the danger such an action would cause to the crowd watching the game. The sniper plans to start blasting at the two-minute warning signal of the football game. Holly has to find the sniper before the two-minute warning is given -- not merely to prevent the killings threatened by the sniper but to head off the tactical force before any other unnecessary deaths are incurred by the force's bulldog techniques. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, (more)
- 1976
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, based on newspaper coverage, court testimony and eyewitness accounts, was dramatized for television by J.P. Miller. Cliff DeYoung and Sian star as Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The couple's 2-year-old son Charles Jr. is kidnapped from the family's Hopewell, New Jersey home on March 1, 1932; though the ransom is paid, the child's body is found a few days later. All circumstantial evidence points to German expatriate Bruno Richard Hauptmann (Anthony Hopkins) as the kidnapper/murderer. While never seriously challenging the notion of Hauptmann's guilt, the film raises several questions concerning the fairness of his trial. The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case first aired in a three-hour timeslot on Febrary 26, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
While bound for London from New York, the occupants of a 747 are terrorized by a mad bomber. The jet's pilot (Robert Stack) and several brave passengers must thwart the plot. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Don Murray stars as slick network news producer William Martin in The Girl on the Late, Late Show. In addition to his administrative duties, Martin is a news reporter, and it is in this capacity that he investigates a series of Hollywood murders. The unifying link between the killings would seem to be faded movie queen Carolyn Parker (Gloria Grahame). Several Tinseltown veterans show up in key roles in this made-for-TV mystery, including Van Johnson, Cameron Mitchell, John Ireland, Walter Pidgeon and Frankie Darro. First telecast April 1, 1974, Girl on the Late, Late Show was designed as the pilot for a weekly Don Murray TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The science of "cryogenics" forms the basis of the made-for-TV Live Again, Die Again. Donna Mills plays a young woman who dies of rheumatic fever. At her deathbed request, Mills' body is frozen, in hopes of reviving her in the future. Thirty years later, Mills awakens, returning to the not-so-open arms of her doddering husband (Walter Pidgeon), her spiteful daughter (Vera Miles) and her mixed-up son (Mike Farrell). No, this was not produced by Walt Disney Studios. Adapted by Joseph Stefano from a novel by David Sale, Live Again, Die Again first aired February 16, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
An antacid pill, provided by Gwen Snoop, causes a basketball star to become ill prior to appearing on a television talk show. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1973
- PG
In this engaging crime drama with an undercurrent of subtle humor, James Coburn stars as Harry, a "cannon" (a top-flight pickpocket), who works in association with Casey (Walter Pidgeon), an older career criminal with a fondness for cocaine. Ray (Michael Sarrazin) and Sandy (Trish Van Devere) are two aspiring thieves who meet when he tries to steal her watch; eventually, they both come under Harry's tutelage, as he teaches them both the finer points of lifting people's wallets. Harry in Your Pocket was the sole theatrical film for television director and producer Bruce Geller, who died in a plane crash five years after this film was released. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Coburn, Michael Sarrazin, (more)
- 1973
- G
A research facility becomes a death trap, and only an untested Navy vessel can save the day in this adventure drama. A team of scientists led by Hal Hamilton (Michael J. Reynolds) is studying marine life in an underwater research station called Sealab. Shortly before the Sealab crew are scheduled to return to the surface, a massive underwater earthquake strands them at the bottom of the ocean. Project director Dr. Andrews (Walter Pidgeon), who had often fought to support the Sealab project against funding coordinator Norton Shepherd (Ed McGibbon), knows that he must act quickly to save the lives of those on board; he recruits Cmdr. Adrian Blake (Ben Gazzara) to use his new experimental submarine to find the Sealab and rescue the crew. Joining Blake on his mission are veteran sailor "Mack" McKay (Ernest Borgnine), his assistant Bob Cousins (Donnelly Rhodes), and Leah Jansen (Yvette Mimieux), a respected scientist and Hamilton's bride-to-be. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Gazzara, Yvette Mimieux, (more)
Sky Terror is the reissue title for Skyjacked, a 1972 MGM all-star adventure based on a novel by David Harper. Charlton Heston mans the controls of a Los Angeles-bound commercial airliner which is hijacked to Russia by an unknown miscreant. Even when the skyjacker, revealed to be passenger James Brolin, is subsequently subdued, the crew must contend with a hidden time bomb. The film is graced with a who's who of MGM contractees past and present, including Yvette Mimieux, Walter Pidgeon and Mike Henry. A flashback sequence contains one of the first examples of an American film coming to grips with how rudely our Vietnam veterans were ignored upon returning home; alas, this compassion quickly degenerates into the odious "crazed Vietnam vet" cliche. Footnote: The first network showing of Skyjacked was boycotted by TV stations owned by the Storer Corporation, which had a hard and fast rule against screening any film concerning a hijacked plane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, (more)
- 1972
Olivia De Havilland plays a middle-aged woman who has recently been released from a mental institution after suffering a breakdown. She insists one evening that she can hear the muffled scream of a woman emanating from beneath the ground. Since no one else can hear these screams, De Havilland is dismissed as a crank. But Ms. De Havilland is steadfast in her conviction that the screams are real, and to that end investigates on her own. She discovers--at the peril of her own life--that the screams are those of a woman buried alive at a construction site by her recluse husband. Losing credibility long before the denouement, The Screaming Woman is based on a vastly superior short story by Ray Bradbury, in which the protagonist is not an adult ex-mental patient but a precocious little girl with a reputation for lying. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
House on Greenapple Road was an off-length TV movie (135 minutes instead of the usual 100), first telecast on The ABC Sunday Night Movie on January 11, 1970. Christopher George heads a stellar cast as Lt. Dan August, probing a homicide case in suburbia. The accused, a meek clerk (Tim O'Connor), had plenty of motive to kill his faithless wife (Janet Leigh). Only there's no weapon...and no corpse. After a series of revelatory flashbacks, August deduces that there may be a lot more people and issues involved than a missing housewife. Audience response to House on Greenapple Road was positive enough to spin off into a Dan August TV series. But Christopher George was too busy to be involved, so the role of August went to a fellow who wasn't working all that often; a guy named Burt Reynolds, or something like that. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Rascal, the Sterling North novel that has been a longtime fixture of Scholastic Magazine book clubs, was given Tiffany treatment by the Disney studios in 1969. Bill Mumy plays young Sterling North, whose Wisconsin childhood is enriched through his friendship with a stray raccoon. Though lacking the emotional depth of the novel, the film is distinguished by the lovingly detailed outdoor photography that has always been a Disney hallmark. Likewise a "regular" in the Disney canon are scenes of animals wreaking comic destruction and wild chase sequences, and Rascal does not flag when offering these. A favorite of the Saturday matinee circuit, Rascal has in recent years become a standard weekend TV offering whenever a sports event is rained out or otherwise delayed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Forrest, Bill Mumy, (more)
- 1969
Mask of Sheba was the pilot film for a potential TV series titled Quest. Eric Braeden, Stephen Young and Corinne Camacho play three daring adventurers with a predilection for archeology. They are hired to locate a missing safari in Ethiopia. The safari had been searching for an ancient golden mask of the Queen of Sheba. Off our threesome goes to Ethiopia (which looks a lot like Mexico, where the film was shot), encountering dangers and double-crosses along the way. Mask of Sheba has enough plot for three TV movies--and none of them would have made it as a weekly series, either. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Shirley Eaton stars as Sumuru, the barbaric leader of an Amazon tribe, in Jesus Franco's uninspired adventure based on characters created by Sax Rohmer. Banker Ennio Rossini (Walter Rilla) hires a detective named Jeff Sutton (Richard Wyler) to travel from Barcelona to Brazil in search of his kidnapped daughter Ulla (Marta Reves). Sutton and a hotel manicurist (Maria Rohm) team up to save the girl from Sumuru's clutches but must deal with unexpected complications in the form of Sir Masius (George Sanders), a sadistic Great White Hunter out to steal Sumuru's gold. Sanders is wonderful (in one of his final roles before his suicide) but the numerous production problems (including a lawsuit by Rohmer's estate which led to Sumuru being renamed Sumitra in several prints) keep the film from being truly worthwhile. Typical of many European genre efforts of the 1960s, this was a Spanish-German-British-American co-production. All scenes involving the banker were cut from the American print, which also heavily trimmed the torture and sex, replacing some of the missing footage with stock Rio de Janeiro tourist scenes. Versions run 84 and 79 minutes. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
"Hello, gorgeous!" was Barbra Streisand's first comment to the Oscar statuette which she won for her performance in this biopic of entertainer Fanny Brice. This is also her first line in the film itself, the catalyst for a movie-long flashback. Repeating her Broadway role, Streisand stars as legendary comedienne Brice (1891-1951), whose life until the mid-1920s is romanticized herein. A gawky New Yawker, Brice fast-talks her way into show business, certain that she's destined to be "The Greatest Star." Hired as a "dramatic" singer by impresario Flo Ziegfeld (Walter Pidgeon), Brice defies orders to play it straight, turning a "Beautiful Bride" tableau into a laugh riot by dressing herself up as an extremely pregnant newlywed. The stratagem turns Brice into an overnight star and the toast of Broadway. But all is not roses for Brice, especially in her turbulent private life as the wife of big-time gambler Nicky Arnstein (Omar Sharif). Nicky at first finds it amusing to be referred to as "Mr. Brice," but he begins to resent his wife's fame and fortune and starts taking foolish risks with other people's money. The film was nominated for 8 Oscars, including Best Picture and Kay Medford for her portrayal of Brice's mother, Rose. Funny Girl was produced by Ray Stark, Brice's real-life son-in-law, who had enough material left over for a sequel, 1975's Funny Lady. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, (more)
- 1968
In this suspenseful caper, a sightless professor decides to steal jewels and relics from the Vatican. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1967
In this made-for-TV crime melodrama, Robert Wagner plays a handsome ex-GI determined to wreak vengeance on millionaire Peter Lawford, who caused Wagner to suffer public humiliation. Getting himself invited for a cruise on Lawford's yacht, Wagner dallies with the millionaire's bikini-clad daughter Jill St. John before returning to the matters at hand. It turns out that Lawford has been involved with an international political conspiracy, all evidence of which is destroyed by coconspirator Walter Pidgeon, to whom Wagner has been relating his story in flashback. The story ends with the destruction of Lawford's yacht, followed by a closeup of Robert Wagner winking at the audience. The film was released theatrically in Europe as Deadly Roulette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
In the conclusion of a two-part story, the FBI continues to exert pressure on La Cosa Nostra, even while a bitter turf war between two mob families threatens to destroy the organization from within. Things come to head when gangland boss Leo Roland (Walter Pidgeon) orders the murder of potential federal witness Ed Clementi (Telly Savalas)--and picks Ed's own nephew to pull the trigger. Fans of The Godfather will appreciate the presence of Robert Duvall in a supporting role. Originally telecast March 12 and 19, 1967, the two parts of "The Executioners" were later combined and released theatrically overseas as Cosa Nostra, Arch Enemy of the FBI. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
In the first episode of a two-part story, the FBI squares off against La Cosa Nostra (evidently J. Edgar Hoover had finally acknowledged the fact that Organized Crime really did exist!) Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is hoping that dissension within the ranks of the Mob will cause the hierarchy to collapse under its own weight. He may be right: A power struggle involving Mafia chieftan Ed Clementi (Telly Savalas) currently threatens to spark a full-scale turf war. Originally telecast March 12 and 19, 1967, the two parts of "The Executioners" were later combined and released theatrically overseas as Cosa Nostra, Arch Enemy of the FBI. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
LAPD detective Sgt. Tom Valens (David Janssen) is a ten-year veteran of the force who has had more than his share of hard luck lately -- his marriage is a wreck, and he hasn't fully recovered from a serious wound suffered in the line of duty a year ago. He and his partner, Sgt. Ed Musso (Keenan Wynn), are working a stakeout one night at the Seascape Apartments, in hope of catching a killer who has already claimed three victims in that part of the city, when he confronts a man seemingly trying to sneak off the premises. The man tries to run, stops when ordered but starts to pull a gun, and Valens shoots him dead. The deceased turns out to be Dr. James B. Ruston, a well-known humanitarian and pillar of the community -- worse yet, the police can't find any trace of the gun Valens says he saw Ruston pull. Valens' nightmare builds gradually, as he's first assigned to a desk, then hung out to dry by an indifferent coroner (Carroll O'Connor) at an inquest, suspended from the force, and then indicted for manslaughter by a crusading prosecutor (Sam Wanamaker) with a personal ax to grind. Villified in the press and by protesters in the street, Valens has few even slightly sympathetic ears around him -- his partner, his captain (Ed Begley Sr.), and his soon-to-be-ex-wife (Joan Collins) -- and even fewer allies. The one attorney (Walter Pidgeon) with enough juice to fight the case on an even footing with the DA says he would only plead him guilty and try for a deal, based on his understanding of the law and of juries; and the one public pundit (Steve Allen) who takes his part is doing so for the most cynical of reasons. Valens realizes that the only way to save himself is to first prove that the so-called victim wasn't quite the candidate for sainthood that he seemed -- why did he run? -- and to find the missing gun. To do all of that, he's got to confront the victim's aggrieved patients (Lillian Gish), his alcoholic widow (Eleanor Parker), and his employees (Stefanie Powers), all of whom have every reason to hate Valens. He starts to dig into the doctor's finances and finds some anomalies that no one can explain (or wants to look at -- they'd rather hang Valens), and as he puts together the pieces of the puzzle, helped by a sympathetic tenant at Seascape (George Grizzard), Valens finds himself pursued by the doctor's thug of son and his friends with mayhem on their minds -- and someone else with a deadlier agenda. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Janssen, Ed Begley, Sr., (more)
- 1966
Released theatrically in Europe, Cosa Nostra, Arch Enemy of the FBI originated as "The Executioner", a two-part episode of the weekly TV series The FBI. The series' usual stars Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Philip Abbott and Stephen Brooks are joined on this occasion by guest artists Walter Pidgeon, Celeste Holm, Telly Savalas and Susan Strasberg-and, way down on the cast list, Robert Duvall. The story concerns double-crosses within the inner circles of La Cosa Nostra. The story concludes as mob boss Pidgeon orders the death of witness Holm-with the victim's nephew Savalas as the hit man! "The Executioner" first aired on two consecutive Sundays: March 12 and 19, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
