Robert Reed Movies
A classically-trained lead actor, Robert Reed appeared onscreen from 1958. His most famous role was as the father on the TV series The Brady Bunch. ~ All Movie Guide
The most conspicuous change in The Brady Bunch during its second season is manifested in the series' familiar theme music. Whereas a rock group called the Peppermint Trolley chanted the "Story of a Lovely Lady" ballad at the beginning of each first-season episode, the shows seen during season two were heralded by the Brady kids themselves singing the now-familiar title theme. Need anyone be reminded that those "kids" consist of Greg (Barry Williams), Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Peter (Christopher Knight), Jan (Eve Plumb), Bobby (Mike Lookinland), and Cindy (Susan Olsen)? And can there be a TV addict alive who doesn't know that the kids' parents are Mike and Carol Brady (Robert Reed, Florence Henderson), or that the family's housekeeper is the kind-hearted, level-headed Alice (Ann B. Davis)? (And five points for everyone who remembers that the Brady's pet dog is named Tiger -- you know, the one who chased Fluffy the cat to parts unknown in the series opener.) The most memorable of the series' second-season episodes include "The Dropout," in which Greg Brady is talked out of forsaking college by no less than baseball legend Don Drysdale; "The Slumber Caper," which served to reunite series star Robert Reed with his former co-star on The Defenders, E.G. Marshall; "A Fistful of Reasons," wherein Peter Brady goes head-to-head with a school bully for the sake of stepsister Cindy; "Confessions, Confessions," a case study in misguided family loyalty; "Where There's Smoke," in which Greg Brady not only nearly picks up a nasty habit but also performs a song; "The Liberation of Marcia Brady," wherein the titular heroine strikes a blow for gender equality; and "Alice's September Song," a poignant tale of romance and remembrance focusing on the Brady housekeeper. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, (more)
- 1969
- G
Cashing in on the popularity of their comedy series Laugh-In, comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin team up ala Abbott and Costello in this spoof of old horror movies and mysteries. Rowan plays a pornographic film producer and Martin plays his star, who is having trouble sleeping at night and seriously suspects that he has become a werewolf. To verify this, the two travel to a "haunted" Gothic Long Island mansion and end up embroiled with Julie Newmar while searching, amidst a series of murders, for a missing diamond. Rowan and Martin's television show was hip and funny. Alas, this film is neither and bombed at the box-office. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, (more)
Season one of The Brady Bunch opens famously with the wedding of widow Carol Martin (Florence Henderson) and widower Mike Brady (Robert Reed), attended by Carol's daughters, Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Jan (Eve Plumb), and Cindy (Susan Olsen) and by Mike's sons, Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher Knight), and Bobby (Mike Lookinland). This occasion also serves as the first -- and last -- appearance of the girls' pet cat, Fluffy, and is quickly followed by a chaotic "family honeymoon." Certainly an auspicious start for five years' worth of warm-hearted hilarity. The first season's best-remembered episodes include "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," in which Alice the housekeeper (Ann B. Davis) gets the mistaken notion that her services are no longer required; "A Clubhouse Is Not a Home," the first of many episodes in which the Brady kids build an elaborate prop; "A-Camping We Will Go," the contents of which should be self-explanatory; and "Sorry, Right Number," in which Mike installs a pay phone to teach his family a lesson in economizing (this episode also marks the first appearance of Alice's off-and-on beau Sam [Allan Melvin]). Other memorable episodes include "Vote for Brady," a cautionary tale of campaign promises unfulfilled; "Is There a Doctor in the House?," dramatizing a medical "turf war" arising from the kids' measles; "The Undergraduate," wherein Greg Brady develops a crush on his attractive teacher; "Brace Yourself," the story of Marcia's dental misfortunes; "The Possible Dream," with guest star Desi Arnaz Jr.; and "The Grass Is Always Greener," the one where Mike and Carol switch jobs for a day. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, (more)
Those who worried that the Disney studio would collapse without the presence of the late Uncle Walt were put at ease when the profits starting rolling in for The Love Bug. The "star" is Herbie, a lovable little Volkswagen with a personality all its own. Abused by a bad guy race-car driver (David Tomlinson), Herbie is rescued by a good guy racer (Dean Jones). Out of gratitude, Herbie enables the luckless good guy to win one race after another. The real fun begins when the ruthless hot-rodder connives to get Herbie back through fair means or foul. Based on a story by Gordon Buford, The Love Bug inspired two equally lucrative sequels, Herbie Rides Again and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Jones, Michele Lee, (more)
- 1968
This dark drama is a combination of two episodes from a popular British TV show that centers on the supernatural. In the first a ruthless magnate, bored with his life, plays a terrifying game in which he is the one who decrees who shall live or die. The second episode centers around quadruplets, one of whom uses ESP to force the others to do his evil bidding. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Touted by 20th Century-Fox as a follow-up to their enormously successful The Sound of Music, Star! reteams that earlier film's leading lady Julie Andrews and director Robert Wise. Andrews plays legendary musical comedy star Gertrude Lawrence, while Daniel Massey appears as Lawrence's friend, co-worker and severest critic Noel Coward (Massey's real-life godfather). The film jumps back and forth in continuity at times, its transitions bridged by fabricated newsreel footage; essentially, however, William Fairchild's script traces Lawrence's progress from ambitious bit actress to the toast of London and Broadway. Her success is offset by a stormy private life, which is given some ballast when she falls in love with an American financier (Richard Crenna). The film is way too long for its own good, though the musical set pieces -- especially the Andrews-Massey duets -- are superb. Julie Andrews welcomed the chance of playing a character as far removed from her goody-two-shoes heroine in Sound of Music as possible; Gertrude Lawrence was temperamental, sarcastic, profane and at times self-destructive, and Andrews makes a meal of the role. Unfortunately, Andrews' fans, conditioned by the Fox publicity machine to expect a continuation of Sound of Music, rejected her outright in this "new" characterization. Star! was a huge box-office bomb, so much so that Fox desperately attempted a shortened re-release under a misleading new title, Those Were The Happy Times. They weren't: it remained a financial disaster, though it has developed a loyal cult following in recent years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Andrews, Richard Crenna, (more)
- 1967
Recently blinded in an accident, Norma Wales (Katherine Crawford) finds herself the wrong person at the wrong place--namely a murder scene. Inasmuch as the killer believes that Norma witnessed his crime, Ironside (Raymond Burr) decides to use her as bait to trap the miscreant. In the process, Ironside also endeavors to help the terrified woman readjust to her new world of darkness. Watch for future Brady Bunch patriarch Robert Reed in an unusual characterization. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Otto Preminger directed this star-studded adaptation of K.B. Gliden's novel about racial prejudice and emotional unrest in the Deep South. Henry Warren (Michael Caine) is a land owner obsessed with buying up all available land in a Georgia farming town. However, two parcels of land have escaped his reach, and he's determined to get them. The Scotts, an African-American family, own one of the lots that Henry is after; the matriarch of the family, Rose (Beah Richards), used to work as a servant for the family of Henry's wife, Julie Ann (Jane Fonda), so Henry sends Julie Ann to talk with her. However, not only doesn't Rose agree to sell, she gets so upset that she dies of a heart attack, and soon her headstrong son Reeve (Robert Hooks) is the owner of the land. Reeve refuses all of Henry's offers to sell out, and he even stands up to a racist lynch mob that tries to ransack his farm; when Henry attempts to prove that Reeve holds no legal deed to the property, Vivian Thurlow (Diahann Carroll), the town's black schoolmarm, is able to provide the documentation that the Scotts do indeed own their land. Meanwhile, Henry is also trying to buy some property farmed by Rod McDowell (John Phillip Law) and his wife Lou (Faye Dunnaway), a poor white couple who are Henry's cousins. The McDowell farm adjoins that owned by the Scotts, so Reeve and Rod agree to join forces against Henry, which leads to violent reprisals against them. While set in Georgia, Hurry Sundown was actually shot on location in Louisiana; it was the first film shot in the South with an integrated cast and crew, leading the producers to demand protection from State Troopers after members of the company received death threats. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, (more)
- 1966
Future Brady Bunch paterfamilias Robert Reed guest stars as high school psychology teacher Julian Hill. Idolizing the "deep-thinking" Mr. Hill, Cissy (Kathy Garver) endeavors to extend his lofty, erudite philosophy to the Davis household. But when Bill (Brian Keith) invites Mr. Hill to dinner, Cissy is shocked by the realization that her idol is merely another human being--and a petty, ill-tempered one at that! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
In this Italian WW II drama, seven courageous soldiers find themselves separated from their regiment after performing night maneuvers. Now they must somehow find their way back to Allied territory before tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
When the admiral's wife dies, he tries to begin again and get along with his son. ~ All Movie Guide
Richard Connell's story The Most Dangerous Game has offered a big, fat target for dull low-budget thrillers since the dawn of movie-making itself, and this is truly one of the dullest. The first (and apparently the last) directorial effort from Ralph Brooke was saved from cinematic obscurity only through its movie-trivia value, thanks to the presence of Brady Bunch dad Robert Reed as the thick, hunky non-hero in upsettingly-tight clothing. There is little variation on the timeworn theme of a wealthy madman (Wilton Graff) hunting shipwreck survivors for sport -- perhaps aside from this villain's tendency to store his human trophies in cleverly-designed, glass-walled dioramas which presaged the popular horror model kits of the 1960's. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
Directed with crisp efficiency by Dick Powell, The Hunters is a romantic melodrama with an aviation angle. Robert Mitchum plays veteran Air Force pilot Maj. Cleve Saville, in charge of a group of young flyboys in 1952 Korea. Among the men under Saville's command are cocksure Lt. Ed Peil (Robert Wagner) and timorous Lt. Abbott (Lee Phillips). Much against his better judgment, Saville falls in love with Abbott's gorgeous wife Kris (Mai Britt). When Abbott crashes behind enemy lines, Saville and Peil are sent out to rescue the downed pilot-and Peil has an inkling of the Major's feelings towards Mrs. Abbott. During their grueling journey back to their own lines, both Peil and Abbott benefit from the military expertise of the no-nonsense Saville, who knows where and when to separate his private life from his responsibilities. Distinguished by excellent aerial sequences, The Hunters is adapted from the novel by James Salter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, (more)
