Don Porter Movies

Originally intended as the pilot for a never-sold cop series titled Battles, this made-for-TV meller stars William Conrad as William Battles, a retired Los Angeles police detective spending his golden years in Hawaii. Somewhat bored by inactivity, Battles takes a job at a local college as assistant football coach and security chief. Not unexpectedly, our corpulent hero is soon up to his neck in a murder investigation, this time with a recent homicide bearing a remarkable resemblance to a similar killing in the 1940s (as described in a mock newsreel narrated by no less than Lowell Thomas). Assisting Battles in bringing the culprit to heel are his niece Shelby (Robin Mattson), collegiate football star Deacon Joe Jackson (Lane Caudell) and his own boss, Dean Mary Phillips (Marj Dusay). The Murder That Wouldn't Die debuted March 9, 1980, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made for television, this little gem was based on a novel by Patrick Anderson. The title character, the sister of a government courier, barely has time to acquaint herself with the audience before she is murdered - leading us to wonder who did it, and if it is, in fact, true that the dead woman was a Soviet spy. Beau Bridges, Karen Grassle, Susan Blanchard, Larry Hagman, Don Porter and Gail Strickland are among those present. The President's Mistress was "World Premiered" on February 10, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this action film, trucker Carrol Jo Hummer (Jan-Michael Vincent) borrows money to purchase a truck of his own, only to discover that part of his "payment plan" includes smuggling goods on his trips. When Carrol refuses to participate in the underhanded scheme, a group of thugs threaten his wife, leading Carrol to fight back with a vengeance. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a greedy millionaire takes a Las Vegas showgirl for his new bride and no one in his family is terribly pleased. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Dick Van Dyke put his image and his career on the line with this searing TV movie about a "social drinker" who becomes a full-fledged alcoholic. Van Dyke plays a loving husband and father with a solid job and an excellent reputation, who blows it all with his excessive drinking. His wife (Lynn Carlin) tries to be supportive, but even she throws in the towel as Van Dyke's illness worsens. The film refuses to cop out with a happy ending, leaving Van Dyke as low as he can get short of sleeping in the gutter. Morning After was something of a public "A.A." testimonial for Dick Van Dyke, who had recently come to grips with his own real-life alcoholism. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted by Jay Presson Allen from the French farce by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, Forty Carats is a standard-issue sex comedy elevated by the performances of its stars. Fortyish Realtor Ann Stanley (Liv Ullman) finds herself attracted to Peter Latham (Edward Albert) - a man literally half her age. After a summer fling in Greece, Ann and Peter come to a parting of the ways, and that, Ann supposes, is that. Imagine her surprise when Peter comes to visit her back in New York. Though at first dismissed as a fortune hunter, Peter turns out to a financial whiz with a lot more in the bank than his lady friend. Both Ann's mother (Binnie Barnes, whose husband Mike Frankovich produced the film) and daughter (Deborah Raffin) are delighted at the prospect of Ann's romance with Peter -- the only one unsure is Ann herself. Lending his considerable comic expertise to Forty Carats is Gene Kelly as Liv Ullman's ex-husband-who also takes a liking to the personable Edward Albert and encourages the May-December romance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A daughter is the recipient of a wonderful wedding quickly organized by her mother in this comedy. ~ All Movie Guide

A million dollar theft from a Las Vegas casino gains the attention of an insurance investigator in this film. ~ All Movie Guide

Versatile composer-conductor-comic actor Frank DeVol (remember him as "Happy Kyne" on Fernwood 2-Night?) is cast in this episode as Stew, an old friend of Prof. Russ Lawrence (Don Porter). Called out of town on business, Russ invites Stew to spend the weekend as his house guest. Unfortunately, Russ' daughter Gidget (Sally Field) is unaware of this--and when she begins hearing strange noises on a dark and stormy night, she's convinced that the Lawrence house is haunted! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gidget began life as a novel by Frederick Kohner, who used his own teenage daughter as inspiration. The novel was filmed in 1958 with Sandra Dee as California high-schooler Francie Lawrence, known to her friends as "Gidget" because of her diminutive size ("girl midget"). According to both novel and film, Gidget lived only for surfing and boys, in that order. The property proved popular enough to yield two additional theatrical features, with Deborah Walley and Cindy Carol succeeding Sandra Dee in the title role. Finally in 1965, Gidget was transformed into a weekly, half-hour ABC sitcom starring a 19-year-old newcomer named Sally Field. Fifteen-and-a-half-year-old Gidget narrated most of the episodes, in which she spent the bulk of her time swimming and surfing off the California coast and hanging out with her best friend Larue (Lynnette Winter). Don Porter co-starred as Gidget's widowed father, Professor Russ Lawrence, who would have preferred that his daughter spend more time with her schoolwork and less time on the high waves. Others in the regular cast included Betty Conner as Gidget's overprotective older sister Anne, Peter Deuel as Anne's bookish psychology-student husband John Cooper, and Mike Nader as another of Gidget's surfing chums, Peter "Siddo" Stone. The Gidge's steady boyfriend Moon Doggie, aka Jeff Matthews (played by Steven Miles), wasn't seen too often because he was away at college. Although Gidget posted respectable ratings, it ran only for one season, from September 15, 1965 through September 1, 1966. Reportedly, its cancellation came about because ABC had decided to pick up only one of its Screen Gems-produced sitcoms for renewal, and that one was the proven favorite Bewitched. However, Gidget performed extremely well in off-network syndication, its 32 episodes remaining in active circulation well into the late '70s. Later incarnations of the Gidget package starred such actresses as Karen Valentine and Monie Ellis; and in 1986, a long-overdue sequel to the original TV series, The New Gidget, debuted in syndication, starring Caryn Richman as the now-grown, now-married Francie "Gidget" Lawrence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gidget Goes to Rome was the third film to be inspired by the beach-happy characters created by Frederick Kohner back in the mid-1950s. This time, surfer gal Francie "Gidget" Lawrence is played by newcomer Cindy Carol. Per the title, the film finds Gidget vacationing in the Eternal City with faithful boyfriend Jeff, aka Moondoggie (James Darren). Chaperoning the pair is Aunt Albertina (Jessie Royce Landis), but that doesn't stop Gidge and Jeff from experiencing brief extracurricular flirtations in Rome. The question: how do the producers get Cindy Carol into a bikini without diverting from the plotline? The answer: a slapstick setpiece during a fashion show. The last of the theatrical Gidget features, Gidget Goes to Rome was followed by a handful of TV-movie sequels and two separate weekly sitcoms. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Our Miss Brooks had been a radio and TV sitcom hit thanks to the considerable input of star Eve Arden. The film version of Our Miss Brooks was not quite as successful (why pay for something that you can get at home every week for free?), but it admirably captures the spirit of the original audio and video versions. As ever, high school teacher Connie Brooks (Arden) carries a torch for handsome but clueless biology professor Phillip Boynton (Robert Rockwell, taking over a role created for radio by Jeff Chandler). Connie is finally able to arouse Boynton's attention when she is courted by the father (Don Porter) of a student (Nick Adams) she is tutoring. A subplot involving petty crime can easily be ignored, but there's no avoiding the hilarious fingernails-on-the-blackboard rendition of It's Magic sung by the adenoidal Walter Denton (Richard Crenna). And of course, there's principal Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon), blowing his top at the slightest provocation. Our Miss Brooks was directed by Al Lewis, who was the chief writer for the radio and TV editions of the property. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide