James Best Movies

As the sun rises on yet another uneventful summer, a spirited teen named Moondance Alexander finds her life taking an unexpected turn thanks to the appearance of a pinto pony named Checkers that appears to have leapt clear over the walls of his paddock. Always keen to do the right thing, Moondance returns the pony to its rightful owner -- the gruff Dante Longpre. But Moondance suspects that there's something special about Checkers, and that with a little encouragement, he could become a world-class jumper. Perhaps this summer won't be quite so dull and predictable after all. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The second of the Dukes of Hazzard "reunion" films (the first was broadcast in 1997), this one features five regulars from the original series: John Schneider and Tom Wopat as fast-driving Luke and Bo Duke, Catherine Bach as their leggy cousin Daisy Duke, and James Best as inept lawmen Rosco P. Coltrane and Enos Strate. Hoping to raise money for a new Hazzard County hospital, the Duke boys pile into the General Lee and head for Hollywood, there to sell recordings of their singing efforts. Upon arrival in Tinseltown, Luke and Bo are robbed of both the records and the money earned from a contract. In their efforts to retrieve the stolen booty, the superannuated heroes run afoul of a cartel of Russian gangsters and international loan sharks -- and of course, are continually flummoxed by Cletus Hogg (Rick Hurst), the son of their late and unlamented nemesis Boss Hogg. Amazingly, the film contains no car chases and only one brief fistfight; evidently the producers felt that the singing of stars John Schneider and Tom Wopat was attraction enough. The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood premiered May 19, 2000 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The seventh and final season of Dukes of Hazzard finds the familiar cast back in harness, with the exception of Don Pedro Colley in the recurring role of Chickasaw County Sheriff Ed Little. Once again, hot-rodding cousins Luke and Bo Duke (Tom Wopat, John Schneider), aided and abetted by sexy cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach) and Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle), spend half their time zooming around in their hopped up vehicle "General Lee," and the other half foiling the crooked machinations of County Commissioner Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and the less crooked but no less irksome interferences of Sheriff Coltrane (James Best) and Deputy Enos (Sonny Shroyer). Season Seven begins with a "flashback" episode, in which we learn for the first time how the Dukes came into possession of the General Lee. Subsequent installments feature guest-star turns by singer Waylon Jennings and pro racer Cale Yarborough, not to mention the usual run-ins with crooks, con artists and other assorted nemeses. The series finale, "Opening Night at the Boar's Nest, not only co-stars John Schneider but was also written and directed by him -- a first (and last) for Dukes of Hazzard, though series regulars Denver Pyle, Tom Wopat, Sorrell Booke, and James Best had all previously directed a few episodes here and there. ~ Rovi

NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough makes a return visit to Hazzard county, this time to provide words of comfort to a seriously ill youngster who is about to undergo surgery. Unfortunately, Yarborough somehow gets involved with bank robbers, who manage to frame both him and the Duke cousins for a high-profile heist. Wanna bet that the story is resolved by some fancy race-car calisthenics in the climactic chase scene? Oh, and look: Playing one of the bad guys is Saved by the Bell's "Mr. Belding", Dennis Haskins! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season six of Dukes of Hazzard finds hot-rodding cousins Luke and Bo Duke returning to Hazzard County for good and all, cueing the exit of another set of Duke cousins, Coy and Vance. This is because series stars Tom Wopat and John Schneider, who'd ankled the series during season five in the midst of a contract dispute, made their peace with the producers. Thus, it was back to business, with Luke, Bo, their sexy cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach), their farmer-moonshiner Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) and, of course, their souped up Dodge Charger "General Lee," making life miserable for crooked county commissioner Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and cloddish sheriff Roscoe Coltrane (James Best). As mentioned, Coy and Vance Duke (played during the previous season by Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer) had left for parts unknown. Also absent from the sixth season's 22 episodes are Nedra Voltz as postmistress Miz Emma and Rick Hurst as Deputy Cletus. Making up for this gap in more ways than one is actress Peggy Rea in the off-and-on role of Boss Hogg's hefty wife, Lulu. ~ Rovi

There are many Dukes of Hazzard fans who would just as soon pretend that the series' fifth season never existed. Although perennial co-stars Catherine Bach, Denver Pyle, Sorrell Booke, and James Best are back, and Sonny Shroyer has returned in his familiar role as Deputy Enos Strate (after a brief sabbatical on his own TV series), conspicuous by their absences are leading men Tom Wopat and John Schneider) as hot-rodding cousins Luke and Bo Duke. The two actors had walked off the series over a monetary dispute, obliging the producers to replace them with two more branches from the Duke family tree: cousins Coy Duke (Byron Cherry) and Vance Duke (Christopher Mayer), who according to the scriptwriters had come back to Hazzard country after a six-year absence to help Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle run his farm while Luke and Bo were tooling around the NASCAR circuit. To put it as nicely as possible, diehard Dukes fans did not warm up to Coy and Vance. Fortunately, Tom Wopat and John Schneider patched up their difference with the producers and returned to the series in the middle of season five. The "other" two Dukes hung on until season's end, then disappeared so totally that they might as well have never been born. ~ Rovi

The Dukes of Hazzard spends most of its fourth season entertainingly covering ground already traveled during the series' previous three seasons. Cousins Luke and Bo Duke (Tom Wopat, John Schneider) continue burning up the byways of Hazzard County in "The General Lee," their souped-up Dodge Charger; Luke and Bo's attractive cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach) continues to provide eye candy in her form-fitting short shorts--and to pursue her own car-racing career; their Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) persists in returning to the moonshining game, just to keep his hand in; and crooked country commissioner Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) never tires of cooking up new get-rich-quick schemes or devising ways to toss the Dukes into the pokey with the aid of non-villainous lawmen Roscoe Coltrane (James Best) and Deputy Cletus (Rick Hurst). Carryovers from season three include a brace of new semi-regulars, postmistress Miz Emma Tisdale (Nedra Voltz) and Chickasaw County Sheriff Little (Don Pedro Colley). Added to the cast lineup during season four are Lila Kent as Laverne and Charlie Dell as Emery Potter. Of the many guest stars appearing in the the 27 Dukes of Hazzard fourth-season episodes, special mention should be made of country & western impresario Mickey Gilley, adroitly cast as "himself" in the episode "The Sound of Music - Hazzard Style." ~ Rovi

Season three of Dukes of Hazzard is substantially the same as season two, with cousins Luke and Bo Duke (Tom Wopat, John Schneider) manning their hopped up hot rod "The General Lee" in order to confound and confuse crooked county commissioner Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and dumb-bumb sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (James Best), and the boys' sexy cousin Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach) and moonshiner Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) occasionally going along for the ride. The most significant third-season change was the promotion from recurring to regular character of Rick Hurst as Deputy Sheriff Cletus, all the better to fill the gap left when Sonny Shroyer, aka Deputy Enos Strate, left Dukes to star in his own TV series Enos -- the pilot of which found Daisy Duke in the clutches of kidnappers. This season opened with the two-part episode, "Carnival of Thrills," in which the machinations of carnival-owner Diane Benson (Robin Mattson) threatens to drive a wedge between Duke and Bo (the two parts were originally shown as a single "special," but have since been re-divided for syndication purposes). In the course of the next 20 installments, Dukes of Hazzard fans made the acquaintance of two new semi-regular characters: motorcycle-riding postmistress Miz Emma Tizdale (Nedra Voltz), and Chickasaw County Sheriff Edward Thomas "Big Ed" Little (Don Pedro Colley). ~ Rovi

So popular were the first 13 episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard that CBS ordered a full complement of 24 hour-long installments for the series' second season. Thematically, little changed from season one to season two: Hot-rodding cousins Luke and Bo Duke (Tom Wopat, John Schneider) continue manning the controls of their souped up Dodge Charger, "The General Lee," the better to foil the various crooked schemes of country commissioner Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and to keep one step ahead of Hogg's dopey henchmen, Sheriff Roscoe Coltrane (James Best) and Deputy Enos Strate (Sonny Shroyer) -- and on occasion, Coltrane's reserve deputy, Cletus (Rick Hurst). Meanwhile, the Dukes' sexy cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach) and moonshiner Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) continue cheering the boys' exploits from the sidelines, occasionally getting into the thick of things themselves. With so much fast action and rowdy slapstick going on, who needs plotlines? Well, actually, quite a lot happens during Dukes of Hazzard's second year on the air. Highlights include a grudge race between longtime rivals (and former partners-in-crime) Boss Hogg and Uncle Jesse, a con game involving three million dollars in phony gold bars, a misdelivered consignment of stolen TV sets, an encounter with elderly counterfeiter Granny Annie (played by veteran radio actress Lurene Tuttle), a visit from the Dukes' "veddy" British cousin Gaylord (Simon MacCorkindale), a Smokey and the Bandit-like entanglement with a runaway heiress (Suzy Holmes), and a brief and embarrassing period in which Daisy Duke "jumps the fence" and becomes a deputy sheriff. Probably the most famous second- season episode is "Find Loretta Lynn," in which the eponymous country & western singer is kidnapped by a trio of stupid outlaws demanding a ransom of 1136.15 dollars! ~ Rovi

At the beginning of The End, Wendell Sonny Lawson (Burt Reynolds) is informed by his doctor that he's dying from "the same thing Ali MacGraw had in Love Story." Lawson's first reaction is to cry uncontrollably, much to the discomfort of his fellow elevator passengers. He heads to a nearby church to confess all his sins, only to be distracted by the wide-eyed fecklessness of the novice priest (Robby Benson). Attempting to resolve a few issues with ex-wife Mary Ellen (Sally Field), daughter Julie (Kristy McNichol), and his parents (Myrna Loy and Pat O'Brien), Lawson finds that they're all too absorbed in their own problems to pay him any attention. At the end of his rope, Lawson decides to kill himself -- with the help of a nutty mental patient (Dom DeLuise). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The longest (26-1/2 hours), most expensive ($25 million) and most complicated (four directors, five producers, five cinematographers, almost 100 speaking parts, several hundred extras) project made for television up to that time, Centennial was shown in two- and three-hour installments over a period of four months. An adaptation of James Michener's best-selling novel, it told the story of the settling of the American West by looking at the founding of the fictional town of Centennial, Colorado, from the settling of the area in the late 18th century to the present. Emmy-nominated for film editing and art direction, it boasts of sterling performances from Richard Chamberlain as frontiersman Alexander McKeag, Robert Conrad as the French-Canadian trapper Pasquinel, and a surprisingly powerful performance from former football star Alex Karras as compassionate but iron-willed immigrant farmer Hans Brumbaugh. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi

Having already overrun most of South America, a swarm of vicious African killer bees prepares to descend upon the United States. Almost as if rehearsed, the tiny menaces converge on New Orleans during Mardi Gras. With revellers dropping left and right, thanks to the fatal stings of the bees, it is up to the local constabulary, represented by Sheriff McKew (Ben Johnson), and a team of scientists, commandeered by Dr. Mueller (Horst Buchholz), to end the deadly plague for good and all. As usual, however, it is such "civilians" as Jeff DuRand (Michael Parks) and Jeannie Devereaux (Gretchen Corbett) who are best equipped to ward off the buzzing scourges. An Emmy-award winner for Best Sound Mixing, The Savage Bees debuted November 22, 1976, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Peter Bogdanovich's early career as a film writer stood him in good stead for this comedy drama about the early days of the motion-picture industry, based in part on his interviews with pioneering directors Raoul Walsh and Allan Dwan. Leo Harrigan (Ryan O'Neal) is a lawyer and Buck Greenway (Burt Reynolds) is a cowboy and gunman. Both are sent to California to shut down a renegade group of silent-movie makers -- financed by blustery H.H. Cobb (Brian Keith) -- who are in violation of the Motion Picture Patents Co. Trust. Harrigan and Greenway somehow find themselves working with the movie crew instead of shutting them down; they join forces with cameraman Franklin Frank (John Ritter), leading lady Kathleen Cooke (Jane Hitchcock), and precocious prop girl Alice Forsyte (Tatum O'Neal). Greenway becomes a star and Harrigan a respected director, but both battle over the affections of Cooke. Incidentally, Cobb's big speech near the end is taken almost verbatim from a quote given to Bogdanovich in an interview with actor James Stewart. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi