Judson Pratt Movies

The hospital where Quincy (Jack Klugman) works is in full security-lockdown mode when President Sarejo (Rudy Solari), a Latin American dictator, is rushed to the emergency room for a serious operation. It soon becomes apparent that a group of radicals has also arrived in Los Angeles, possibly planning to assassinate the ailing leader. But before this can happen, two members of the President's cabinet die of apparent heart failure--whereupon Quincy swings into action to determine if the deaths were mere happenstance, or the result of a vast and insidious conspiracy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Meek-and-mild longshoreman Pete Thornwall (Robert Walker Jr.) steps forward to take credit for the murder of much-despised loan shark Jake Hennafy (Roy Jenson). Although he is taken into custody, Pete basks in the knowledge that he has become a hero amongst his fellow dock workers, who rationalize that Hennafy was a man who needed killing. But Quincy threatens to burst Pete's bubble when he uncovers evidence that Hennafy died under entirely different circumstances--and that the real killer's motive had nothing to do with heroism. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This follow-up to the successful 1973 thriller Westworld stars Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner as Chuck Browning and Tracy Ballard, investigative reporters. The team has been dispatched to the expensive theme park Westworld on the remote island of Delos, to find out what caused the park's robots to go berserk and begin killing the cash customers. They discover that Duffy (Arthur Hill), creator of Westworld, has retooled his park into Futureworld, a supposedly "fail safe" recreational mecca. In truth, he is scheming to replace all of the world leaders with robot clones, the better to take over the globe. Yul Brynner, the steely-eyed cowboy android from Westworld, makes a brief return appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this exciting adventure, the residents of a remote California community grow tired of having their lives disrupted by growing groups of rowdy oilworkers who have no respect for law and order. In desperation they hire a Vietnam veteran to clean up the town. The ex-fighter brings in a band of other vets and does just that. Unfortunately, the veterans then begin controlling the town until the leader's brother and his friends manage to oust him and restore peace to the sleepy little town. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Although he is locked up in prison on a tax-evasion charge, Syndicate boss Sam Dexter (Dane Clark) is still running his criminal operation with the outside assistance of his silent partner, a shadowy figure known only as The General. The IMF must determine the identity of the General, and also prove that Dexter murdered his mistress --- and to do that, another of the Force's celebrated prison breakouts is called for. Barbara Anderson again appears as on-and-off IMF agent Mimi Davis, who as an ex-thief is no stranger to life behind bars. First telecast on November 11, 1972, "Hit" was written by Douglas Weir. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

At last the secret has been revealed! Prime-time network programming is determined by a chimpanzee! That's the premise of Disney's The Barefoot Executive, a highly amusing spoof of the TV bizz. Kurt Russell plays a page boy at a bottom-rated TV network. Stuck with his girl friend's (Heather North) pet chimp, Russell discovers that his hairy friend has a genuine gift for picking hit TV series. Appointed head of programming, Russell keeps the fact that the chimp is doing all the work hidden from the public. But when his former boss Joe Flynn and his rival John Ritter find out, all heck breaks loose (we'd say "all hell", but this is a Disney flick). A strong supporting cast of comic "regulars"-Wally Cox, Harry Morgan, Alan Hewitt, Hayden Rorke et al.--keeps The Barefoot Executive moving at a fast clip ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Out of spite, Endora casts a spell that will make everyone hate and despite her son-in-law, Darrin. Unable to undo the spell, Samantha tries to set things right by giving Endora a taste of her own medicine. But Darrin, unaware that the spell is about to be lifted, nearly gums up the works with a boneheaded strategy of his own. Written by Jack Sher, "No More Mr. Nice Guy" originally aired on March 23, 1967, as the 100th episode of Bewitched. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on author James H. Tevis' Arizona in the 50s, The Tenderfoot stars Brandon De Wilde as young Tevis. With nothing more than a stetson, a gun, and three buddies, Tevis heads west to seek his destiny. Along the way, he befriends a crusty Army dragoons captain (James Whitmore), Kit Carson's black-sheep brother Mose (Brian Keith), and an itinerant musician-turned-trooper (Paul Durand). Tevis' adventures include the roundup of wild mustangs and a climactic horse race. Originally telecast in three parts on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color in October 1964, Tenderfoot was released theatrically overseas two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John Ford's last western film, Cheyenne Autumn was allegedly produced to compensate for the hundreds of Native Americans who had bitten the dust in Ford's earlier films (that was the director's story, anyway). Set in 1887, the film recounts the defiant migration of 300 Cheyennes from their reservation in Oklahoma territory to their original home in Wyoming. They have done this at the behest of chiefs Little Wolf (Ricardo Montalban) and Dull Knife (Gilbert Roland), peaceful souls who have been driven to desperate measures because the US government has ignored their pleas for food and shelter. Since the Cheyennes' trek is in defiance of their treaty, Captain Thomas Archer (Richard Widmark), who agrees with the Indians in principle, reluctantly leads his troops in pursuit of the tribe. While there was never any intention to shed blood, the white press finds it politically expedient to distort the Cheyennes' action into a declaration of war. Thanks to the cruelties of such chauvinistic whites as Captain Oscar Wessels (Karl Malden), the Cheyennes are forced to defend themselves--and whenever Indians take arms against whites in the 1880s, it's usually misrepresented as a massacre. Only the intervention of US secretary of the interior Carl Schurz (Edward G. Robinson) prevents the hostilities from erupting into wholesale bloodshed. Based on a novel by Mari Sandoz, Cheyenne Autumn is a cinematic elegy--not only for the beleaguered Cheyennes, but for John Ford's fifty years in pictures. It is weakest when arbitrarily throwing in a wearisome romance between Richard Widmark and pacifistic schoolmarm Carroll Baker, who out of sympathy for the Indians has joined them in their 1500-mile westward journey. When the Warner Bros. people decided that the film ran too long, they chopped out the wholly unnecessary but very funny episode involving a poker-obsessed Wyatt Earp (James Stewart). Contrary to popular belief, this episode was included in the earliest non-roadshow prints of Cheyenne Autumn; the scene was excised only when the film went into its second and third runs in 1966 (it has since been restored). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Slim Pickens makes his first appearance as the rogueish but lovable mountaineer Jim Leyton. Wounded while busting out of jail, Jim tries to steal Hoss Cartwright's horse for a quick getaway, then passes out from his injuries. When he comes to, Jim tries to beat his murder rap by claiming that Hoss was the guilty party. It may be, however, that neither man is guilty of the crime-but it is up to Hoss to prove it, and to look after the troubelsome Jim, whose has been paroled in Hoss' custody. Bing Russell, who later appeared semiregularly in the role of Deputy Clem, here plays the Sheriff. Written by Arnold Belgard, "Half a Rogue" first aired on January 27, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

California politics is the clinically dissected yet informative and interesting topic of this feature-length drama by co-directors Bernard Girard and Robert Lewis. Relegating any character development to secondary status, the two directors have opted for a mode more in keeping with a television educational drama (TV is their principle medium) than the dynamic, personal interactions of the larger screen. At issue is the mud-slinging involved in a campaign to stop legislation regulating the practices of collection agencies. A few California lawmen lead the legislation and are determined to succeed in spite of their underhanded detractors. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Ben Cartwright's suspicions are aroused when scruffy prospectors Cunningham (Parley Baer) and Furnas (Walter Coy) arrive in town, claiming to have struck a valuable silver lode at Thunderhead Mine. Investigating, Ben discovers that Jim Bronson (Judson Pratt), former owner of the mine, has been murdered. Could the two prospectors be responsible, or is there another sinister figure waiting in the wings? Also in the cast are Ross Elliot as Watkins and the ineluctable Vito Scotti as Leon Flores. Written by Gene L. Coon, "Thunderhead Swindle" made its network debut on April 29, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi