Walter Pidgeon Movies

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

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

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

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

In this suspenseful caper, a sightless professor decides to steal jewels and relics from the Vatican. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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

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

This is the last of four consecutive episodes in which Perry Mason appears only briefly, while a "guest" lawyer handles the case at hand (Raymond Burr was at the time recovering from minor surgery). Walter Pigeon stars as corporation lawyer Sherman Hatfield, who in Perry's absence tackles his first murder case. Hatfield's client is scatterbrained Hollis Wilburn (Joyce Bulifant), charged with the murder of her uncle John Wilburn (Carl Benton Reid), a high-profile industrialist who was being blackmailed by someone who knew of his illegal Swiss bank account. Excluded from the original Perry Mason syndicated rerun package in 1966, this episode would not be seen again until it was shown on cable TV in the mid-1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Big Red is one of several Disney pictures filmed in Canada during the 1960s. Orphaned Gilles Payant goes to work for wealthy Walter Pidgeon, who raises prize dogs. Pidgeon's particular favorite among his canines is Big Red, who unfortunately resists all efforts to be trained. Young Payant manages to "reach" Big Red, to such an extent that Pidgeon is worried: if the boy and dog become too close, Red will never behave anyone else. Pidgeon orders Payant to stay away from Red until after an upcoming important dog show. The boy disobeys his boss, resulting in a near-tragedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Glass Slipper is a charming retelling of the Cinderella story, eminently suitable for both kids and adults. Leslie Caron plays Ella, the plain-Jane stepsister of beautiful but mean-spirited Birdena (Amanda Blake) and Serafina (Lisa Daniels). While stepmother Widow Sonder (Elsa Lanchester) arranges wealthy marriages for her natural daughters, poor Ella hasn't got a chance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Loosely based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's Paradise Revisited, MGM's The Last Time I Saw Paris is a star-studded soap opera, luxuriously lensed by director Richard Brooks. In his last film as an MGM contractee, Van Johnson plays reporter Charles Wills, who while covering the VE Day celebrations in Paris, meets and falls in love with the gorgeous Helen Ellsworth (Elizabeth Taylor). Soon afterward, Charles and Helen are married. Charles supports his wife with a low-paying wire service job, devoting his evenings to writing a novel. After numerous rejections, Charles is more than willing to give up writing and live off the revenue of a Texas oil well in which he'd invested. As he squanders his newfound riches on creature comforts, he loses his literary ambitions and, slowly but surely, the love and devotion of his wife. His self-destructive behavior is halted only by a devastating tragedy. Donna Reed costars as Charles sister-in-law Marion, who carries a torch for him throughout the picture, and Eva Gabor contributes a supporting role. Since lapsing into public domain in 1982, The Last Time I Saw Paris has become a cable-TV and video-store fixture, though print quality varies sharply. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide