Don Randolph Movies

Hoping to get in good with his employer, Mr. Sanders (Sorrell Booke), and thereby land a promotion to dispatcher, Archie makes a huge charitable contribution to his boss' favorite charity. Unfortunately, he also unknowingly signs a contract donating his body and vital organs to science -- and everyone knows how Archie feels about "giving" any part of himself to someone he doesn't know. Written by Bill Davenport and Larry Rhine, this was one of four sixth-season All in the Family episodes in which Sally Struthers did not appear due to a salary dispute. The episode first aired on September 22, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unable to recover valuable documents concerning America's missile system, the IMF must resort to a contingency plan. In order to convince enemy agents that the documents are worthless, Phelps and his cohorts work hand in glove with Susan Buchanan (Lee Grant), the wife of an American diplomat. Mrs. Buchanan's mission: To lure playboy-spy Roger Toland (Fernando Lamas) into a highly compromising situation. Originally broadcast on December 1, 1968, "The Diplomat" was written by Jerry Ludwig. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fifth episode of Walt Disney's eight-part miniseries The Swamp Fox, the guerilla forces under the leadership of Francis Marion (Leslie Nielsen) have succeeded in capturing British officer Col. Townes (Henry Daniell). Unfortunately, Marion's longtime enemy Col. Tarleton (John Sutton) has, at the same time, seized the home of Marion's brother Gabriel (John Sutton). As Marion prepares to escort Towne and his wife to Continental Headquarters, Tarleton lays a carefully planned trap for the elusive "Swamp Fox", using Redcoats disguised as American patriots. "Redcoat Strategy" originally aired as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On probation for car theft, young Jimmy Morrow (Peter Miles) tries his best to "go straight", only to be accused of stealing a priceless Spanish cross. Worse still, Jimmy is charged with the murder of the relic's owner, Curtis Runyan (Donald Randolph). Out of sympathy for Jimmy's beleagured parents, Perry (Raymond Burr) agrees to handle the boy's defense. (Trivia note: Peter Miles is the brother of actress Gigi Perreau, who'd played Perry's client in the first-season episode "The Case of the Desperate Daughter".) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While searching for a missing man named James Baker, Paladin stops for water at the lavish Mexican hacienda of wealthy Mexican silver miner Don Francisco (Donald Randolph). Impressed by Paladin's gunfighting credentials, Don Francisco hires him to escort a valuable silver shipment. But upon witnessing his host's cruel treatment of servant girl Lupita (Babara Luna), Paladin begins to harbor doubts concerning Don Francisco--and his suspicions are confirmed when he discovers that James Baker had died "accidentally" while laboring in the Mexican millionaire's silver mines! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is the one in which the "villain" is a huge, carnivorous praying mantis. After the titular insect has attacked several people in a remote Arctic region, Col. Joe Parkham (Craig Stevens) swings into action. Parkham and his associates, Dr. Ned Jackson (William Hopper) and Ned's assistant Margie Blake (Alix Talton), track the predatory mantis as it heads southward to Washington DC (how did it get past customs?) The green monstrosity meets its Waterloo in "Manhattan Tunnel", where it is bombarded with poison gas (a little Raid or Black Flag might have come in handy). Some of the Arctic scenes in The Deadly Mantis were clumsily culled from the 1933 drama SOS Iceberg and a handful of Air Force training films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This forgettable piece of 1950s sleaze stars Cleo Moore as a voluptuous blonde who becomes a successful commercial photographer. Richard Crenna, making a major break from his TV image as Our Miss Brooks' Walter Denton, plays a reporter who takes a special interest in Moore's career. The beauteous picture taker becomes involved in a blackmail plot when she goes to work for a Confidential-type magazine, nearly losing her life to mobsters. It was the opinion of many contemporary reviewers that the title Over-Exposed referred not to the photographs taken by Moore but to the generous amounts of cleavage displayed by the actress' low cut gowns. Though Cleo Moore has become a "cult" favorite thanks to her appearances in the turgid melodramas directed by Hugo Haas, Over-Exposed demonstrates that her minimal acting talent vanished altogether without Haas' guiding hand. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Reviled in his lifetime as a lunatic insurrectionist, Chief Crazy Horse has in recent years emerged as a Native American hero. In this off-beat western, unusual for its time in that it sympathetically presented the Native American viewpoint, Victor Mature plays the misunderstood Sioux leader while the treaty-breaking villain General Crook is played by James Millican (who had earlier portrayed an equally unsympathetic General Custer in Warpath). The battle of the Little Big Horn is staged with less bravura but more authenticity than in 1941's They Died With Their Boots On (a wildly inaccurate pro-Custer opus). Chief Crazy Horse falters only in its verbose dialogue sequences, wherein the native tongue of the Sioux seems to be Fluent Cliche. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tony Curtis was by 1955 an accomplished enough actor to get through the costumed derring-do of The Purple Mask minus the awkwardness he'd displayed in his earlier swashbucklers. Curtis is cast as Rene, a foppish 18th century French nobleman who doubles as the Purple Mask, a Royalist supporter who kidnaps officers of the Republic and ransoms them back to Napoleon (Stefan Bekassy) for a hefty fee. Managing to elude Napoleon's minions through most of the picture, Rene gives himself up only when the love of his life, the beautiful Laurette (Colleen Miller), is placed in danger. Even when facing the guillotine, however, Rene has a few tricks up his lacey, perfumed sleeve. The Purple Mask was based on La Chevalier au Masque, a play by Paul Armont and Jean Manouissi. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After several years of domestic squabbles, the marriage of Nina and Robert Tracy (Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon) goes "phffft"! Upon receiving their divorce papers, Nina and Robert are certain that they'll remain friends, no matter how many new lovers they pick up along the way. Nina dallies briefly with bombastic Charlie Newton (Jack Carson), while Robert has a fling with the luscious Janis (Kim Novak). These romantic episodes only serve to make Nina and Robert realize how much they're still in love with each other. According to costar Jack Lemmon, the original title of this film was Phfffft!, but after an all-night bull session at Columbia Pictures it was decided to take out one of the "F"s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the 1950s, historical spectaculars set in the Far or Middle East became the repository for exploitive tales of eroticism, pure lust, and concupiscent freedom. The "decadence" of previous times gave American filmmakers an excuse to satisfy viewers' libidinal and voyeuristic desires. All this holds true for The Adventure of Haji Baba, a racy, sex-soaked oasis of a film. John Derek stars as an Persian barber given a mission to escort the beautiful princess Fakzia across a desert to her wedding. Haji bets a friend that he will have succeeded in seducing her by the trip's end and the games begin. The two, elegant in their self-assurance, trade barbs and entendres until they're captured by robbers who are in turn captured by a group of renegade Amazons. The Amazons are all former harem girls who have taken to highway robbery and kidnapping to extract a measure of justice from the society that imprisoned them. Haji convinces the leader of the Amazons to let him live and she does as long as he can perform sexually. This buys him enough time to plan an escape with Fakzia and finally cross the desert. Haji, of course, collects on his bet. Redolent with offscreen hints of prodigious debauchery, The Adventures of Haji Baba is a unique, and unexpected, product of '50s cinema. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide

Vincent Price turns on his usual terrifying charm in the role of a homicidal magician in The Mad Magician, a satisfying thriller that was originally shown in 3-D. The actor best known for the luster he brought to many horror films stars as Gallico the Great, an inventor of magic acts who yearns to be the star of his own show. On the night of his first performance, he is shut down by his cruel manager Ormond (Donald Randolph) -- who wants to use Gallico's ingenious buzzsaw act for the famed magician Rinaldi (John Emery). Added to the knowledge that the wealthy Ormond had already stolen his wife Claire (Eva Gabor), Gallico goes mad and decapitates his tormentor with the buzzsaw. After a great sequence in which Ormond's head takes a mistaken trip with Gallico's assistant Karen (Mary Murphy) and her detective boyfriend Bruce (Patrick O'Neal), Gallico disguises himself as Ormond and rents an apartment with a mystery author (Lenita Lane). He manages to dispose of the body in another amusing scene, but he must kill again when Claire confronts him in his Ormond disguise. The author identifies Ormond as her killer and Gallico appears to be off the hook -- until Rinaldi appears with designs on stealing Gallico's latest trick: a crematorium illusion. Naturally, the illusion becomes reality and Rinaldi is burned to a crisp. Disguising himself as Rinaldi and taking over the magician's successful show, Gallico continues to fool the law until Bruce matches fingerprints from Rinaldi (who is really Gallico) to those of Ormond. Meanwhile, the author, realizing that the Ormond who stayed in her house was really Gallico, gathers Karen and the detective for a fiery confrontation. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide