Roy Roberts Movies

The fourth presentation of Masterpiece Theatre's 1989-90 season, a four-part adaptation of Dickens' Tale of Two Cities, was so lavish an undertaking (especially for TV) that it ended up a Production of Two Cities. Part of the program was taped at London's Granada studios, while the remaining scenes were shot at the Dune Studios of France. Part One, telecast November 11, 1989, begins with the release of Dr. Manette (Jean-Pierre Aumont) from the Bastille in 1775. Five years later, dissipated attorney Sidney Carton (James Wilby) saves the life of Charles Darnay (Xavier DeLuc), the beloved of Dr. Manette's daughter Lucie (Serena Gordon). This expository installment ends with the observation that Carton and Darney closely resemble one another...and all of us who read Tale of Two Cities in high school know where this is going.

The second chapter of the four-part British/French TV adaptation of Tale of Two Cities was telecast November 18, 1989 on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre. We pick up the story with Lucie Manette (Serena Gordon) choosing to wed Charles Darnay (Xavier DeLuc). This leaves Sidney Carton (James Wilby) out in the cold, but also sets the stage for the "far far better thing" he'll do on Lucie's behalf in Part Four. Meanwhile, the seeds of the French Revolution are sown when Gaspard (Jean-Paul Tribout) avenges the death of his child at the hands of the callous nobles. Coming up in parts three and four: The storming of the Bastille, the fancy needlework of Madame DeFarge, and Sidney Carton's curtain speech at the guillotine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The breathtakingly beautiful Technicolor cinematography of Irving Glassberg is but one of the many small pleasures of the big-budget western Backlash. Set in post-Civil War Arizona, the film stars Richard Widmark as Jim Slater, who hopes to prove that his down-and-out father (John McIntire) was not involved in a gold robbery. To prove this, Slater has to find the money, which is also the goal of Karyl Orton (Donna Reed), the supposed widow of one of the thieves. Eventually, Slater discovers that his father is every bit as rotten as the law claims he is, though he can take some comfort in the fact that Karyl is now in love with him. As in his earlier Bad Day at Black Rock, Backlash director John Sturges is more concerned with building tension than with overt displays of wanton violence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this police drama, a busy precinct is thrown into chaos when the murdered corpse of a local detective is found in an abandoned car. Now the press is demanding to learn details. Meanwhile, an ambitious officer finds himself sorely tempted to use dishonest means to advance his political career. Things get even more muddled up when he falls in love with a female murder suspect. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Assuming that Samantha will name her new baby after him, Sam's father, Maurice, is outraged when Darrin declares that the child will be named after Darrin's dad, Frank. Not one to do things by halves, Maurice expresses his anger by trapping Darrin inside of a mirror. Sam saves the day by applying a bit of reverse psychology, and all viewers know, the Stephenses' new son is ultimately named Adam. Written by Ed Jurist, "Naming Samantha's New Baby" originally aired on October 23, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While entertaining Tabitha and Adam, Esmerelda goes into another of her magical sneezing fits and conjures up Mother Goose (Jane Connell), whose arrival coincides with a visit from Darrin's mother (Mabel Albertson). Passing Mother Goose off as Sam's eccentric aunt, the Stephenses find they have another dilemma on their hands -- Darrin's parents have quarreled, and are on the verge of divorce. Complication piles upon complication when Darrin's dad (Roy Roberts) seemingly takes quite a shine to Sam's "kooky relative." Originally aired on December 4, 1969, "Sam's Double Mother Trouble" was written by Peggy Chantler Dick and Douglas M. Dick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Invited to spend the weekend at the home of Darrin's parents, Tabitha is warned by Samantha not to use any of her magic. Little Tabitha tries hard, but her resolve is weakened when an argument breaks out between her parents and Sam's mother, Endora. Believing that she has caused the fight, Tabitha turns herself into a cookie. Written by Peggy Chantler Dick and Douglas M. Dick, "Tabitha's Weekend" first aired on March 6, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The TV-generated popularity of professional wrestling in 1950 inspired a brief cycle of inexpensive films on the subject. Columbia's C-plus Bodyhold borrows the old Kid Galahad formula of a naive young man becoming a wrestler by accident, only to be exploited by crooked promoters. Willard Parker plays a plumber who is forced to subdue a champion grappler. Duplicitous manager Roy Roberts promotes Parker as the successor to the ex-champ, who has been sidelined by a suspicious injury. When Parker refuses to throw a match, Roberts sees to it that Our Hero is incapacitated in the same manner as his predecessor. Thanks to Parker's girlfriend Hillary Brooke, Roberts is caught in the act, and banned from wrestling for life. Of historical interest in Bodyhold is the presence in the cast of real-life wrestlers Henry Kulky, Wee Willie Davis and Ed "Strangler" Lewis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nina Foch guest-stars as Clarissa, Ben Cartwright's snooty Eastern cousin. Swooping down upon the Ponderosa, the well-meaning but insufferable Clarissa manages to alienate all of the Cartwrights' friends-and even worse, causes ranch cook Hop Sing to tender his resignation. It has been suggested that Chester Krumholz' teleplay was specifically designed to prove that a regular female character would be disastrous for Bonanza. Whatever the reasons for its gestation, "Clarissa" originally aired on April 30, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This crime melodrama with humorous undertones involves the investigation of dope smugglers on the Mexican border. Americans Fred MacMurray and Claire Trevor enter the scene and find themselves embroiled in the illicit activities. Both are government agents, but each one thinks the other is a crook. The real bad guy is Raymond Burr, head of the smuggling ring. At one point, MacMurray and Trevor must pretend to be husband and wife, which weakens their mutual mistrust. Eventually, MacMurray and Trevor sort out the heroes from the villains, and the dope ring is scuttled...at least for the time being. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this big-budget historical adventure, Tyrone Power stars as Pedro De Vargas, a young and impetuous nobleman in 16th Century Spain. Pedro helps to free a slave who belongs to Diego De Silva (John Sutton), but this proves to be a mistake, as Diego is one of the leaders of the Inquisition. Diego soon brands Pedro a heretic, puts his family behind bars, and subjects his 12-year-old sister to torture so horrible it kills her. An outraged Pedro plots his escape, with the help of his friend Juan Garcia (Lee J. Cobb) and hot-blooded peasant girl, Catana Perez (Jean Peters). Pedro and his friends help his parents make their way out of Spain, and he soon joins forces with Hernando Cortez (Cesar Romero), who has an ambitious plan to sail to the new world in search of gold. However, a vengeful Diego uses his powers to foil Cortez, and when Diego is murdered, Pedro becomes the key suspect in the crime. Captain From Castile was shot on location in Morelos, Mexico, where the active volcano Paricutin slowed production, causing delays that expanded the film's budget to a then-extravagant $4.5 million. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Tough reporter Ed Adams (Alan Ladd) wants to get the full story behind the apparent suicide of a young woman. It seems that the girl left behind a notebook with a list of seemingly unrelated names. Adams tracks down each one of the persons cited in the notebook, slowly but surely putting the pieces together. Once the basic mystery is solved, however, there's one surprising loose end left to be tied up. June Havoc co-stars as Leona, self-styled best friend of the decedent, who helps Adams in his quest. As the victim, Donna Reed appears exclusively in flashbacks. Based on a story by veteran suspense scrivener Tiffany Thayer (of Thirteen Women fame), Chicago Deadline was remade for television in 1966 as Fame is the Name of the Game. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"You may think you know what you're dealing with, but believe me, you don't," warns water baron Noah Cross (John Huston), when smooth cop-turned-private eye J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson) starts nosing around Cross's water diversion scheme. That proves to be the ominous lesson of Chinatown, Roman Polanski's critically lauded 1974 revision of 1940s film noir detective movies. In 1930s Los Angeles, "matrimonial work" specialist Gittes is hired by Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) to tail her husband, Water Department engineer Hollis Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling). Gittes photographs him in the company of a young blonde and figures the case is closed, only to discover that the real Mrs. Mulwray had nothing to do with hiring Gittes in the first place. When Hollis turns up dead, Gittes decides to investigate further, encountering a shady old-age home, corrupt bureaucrats, angry orange farmers, and a nostril-slicing thug (Polanski) along the way. By the time he confronts Cross, Evelyn's father and Mulwray's former business partner, Jake thinks he knows everything, but an even more sordid truth awaits him. When circumstances force Jake to return to his old beat in Chinatown, he realizes just how impotent he is against the wealthy, depraved Cross. "Forget it, Jake," his old partner tells him. "It's Chinatown." Reworking the somber underpinnings of detective noir along more pessimistic lines, Polanski and screenwriter Robert Towne convey a '70s-inflected critique of capitalist and bureaucratic malevolence in a carefully detailed period piece harkening back to the genre's roots in the 1930s and '40s. Gittes always has a smart comeback like Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, but the corruption Gittes finds is too deep for one man to stop. Other noir revisions, such as Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973) and Arthur Penn's Night Moves (1975), also centered on the detective's inefficacy in an uncertain '70s world, but Chinatown's period sheen renders this dilemma at once contemporary and timeless, pointing to larger implications about the effects of corporate rapaciousness on individuals. Polanski and Towne clashed over Chinatown's ending; Polanski won the fight, but Towne won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. Chinatown was nominated for ten other Oscars, including Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costumes, and Score. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide