Bartlett Robinson Movies

Young and wealthy Jennifer Wakely (Joan Freeman) is heartbroken when boyfriend Brad Shelby (Bob McQuain) dumps her to marry the older and wealthier Madelon Haines (Jennifer Howard). As if this wasn't bad enough, Jennifer is told that she has lost all her money and possessions, save for a worn-out race horse named Tiger Lil. Subsequently, Brad purchases the horse for far more than it is worth, but Jennifer angrily rejects this apparent act of charity--and as a result, she finds herself the chief suspect when Brad is murdered. In order to clear the girl's name, Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) may have to get some new evidence straight from the horse's mouth...so to speak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Corning Company employee Susan Fisher (Kathie Browne) begins to suspect there's skullduggery afoot involving one of the company's holdings, the supposedly played-out Mojave Monarch Mine. Things get curiouser and curiouser when a woman claiming to be company owner Amelia Corning shows up, grabs two huge satchels of money, and then disappears--only to be followed by another woman, who insists that SHE is Amelia Corning. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is brought into the case when Paul Drake (William Hopper) is arrested while investigating the highly suspicious goings-on. Ultimately, the Mojave Mine's foreman Ken Lowry (Michael Harvey) is murdered, and Perry must defend the primary suspect--which brings us full-circle to Susan Fisher again! This episode is based on a novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jack Kelly plays a dual role in this episode, as frontier gambler Bart Maverick and his exact lookalike, vicious outlaw Red Claxton. Mistaken for Claxton, who has been systematically stealing army payrolls, Bart is arrested and thrown in the stockade. Sentenced to hang, our hero must somehow break out of jail to prove his innocence. Appearing as ingenue Caprice Rambeau is a young Dawn Wells, three years before her starmaking turn as Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Henpecked husband Leonard Thompson (Martin Balsam) shows up at funeral parlor, where he orders an expensive casket and makes arrangements for an even more expensive funeral. When asked who the "dear departed" is, Leonard replies that the future occupant of the casket has not died just yet. However, the funeral will go on as scheduled the following day...and Leonard will definitely be in attendance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After speculating on the possibility that a person can travel back in time and change history, Peter Corrigan (Russell Johnson) bids farewell to his friends and prepares to head home from his club. As he walks through the doors, he is unexpectedly transported from 1961 to 1865. Once he gets his bearings, Corrigan finds himself in a position to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln -- but this "wrinkle in time" turns out to have entirely different results. Scripted by Rod Serling, "Back There" is one of the lesser offerings of Twilight Zone's 1960-61 season, though it does boast an excellent musical score by Jerry Goldsmith, which would remain in the standard TV stock-music repertoire throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The episode first aired January 13, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While on a sea voyage with his family, the eminent Sir Richard Musgrave (Eric Portman) is unnerved by the presence of a fellow passenger named Keyser (Oskar Homolka), who looks just like Sir Richard's former prospecting partner. Of course, Keyser could not possibly be whom he appears to be -- especially since Sir Richard left his partner for dead 20 years ago. Indeed, when confronted, Keyser insists he has never met Sir Richard in his life...but enough doubt remains to force Musgrave into taking drastic action! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Little Egypt" is what they call the town of Morraine, Illinois, which is ruled with an iron hand by Major Charlie Byron, a former military officer turned mob boss. Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) sends his fellow "Untouchable" Cam Allison (Anthony George) undercover to get the goods on Byron, and to send messages back to Chicago via carrier pigeon. Meanwhile, exotic dancer Hazel Stanley (Susan Cummings) is ordered by Byron's flunkeys to play up to Allison to see if he can be trusted--and in the process, she finds herself falling for the big lug. Majel Barrett of Star Trek fame appears unbilled as a waitress in this episode, which was loosely based on the life of Charlie Birger, the last gangster to be hanged in the state of Illinois. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Warlock offers us a mean-spirited, mercenary Henry Fonda and an honest, peaceloving Richard Widmark. A Wyatt Earp-like frontier marshal, Fonda agrees to protect the small town of Warlock from an outlaw gang, but only if he's permitted to plunder the town's cash reserve. Widmark, the town deputy, is a reformed outlaw whose willingness to fend off the invading criminals is motivated by his fondness for his new neighbors. Looming large in the proceedings is Anthony Quinn as the glory-grabbing Fonda's sidekick. Adapted by Robert Alan Aurthur from a novel by Oakley Hall, Warlock is a good example of the "thinking man's westerns" prevalent in the late 1950s-early 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Grim, almost unbearably intense, I Want To Live is the story of the life and execution of Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward) a perjurer, prostitute, liar and drug addict. The product of a broken home, Graham works as a shill, luring gullible men into crooked card games. She attempts to go straight, marries the wrong man, and has a baby. When her life falls apart, she returns to her former profession and is involved in a murder. Despite her claims of innocence, she is convicted and executed. Robert Wise directs the uniformly fine cast with grim efficiency, telling Graham's story in a series of adroitly crafted scenes that won him a well-deserved Academy Award nomination. However, the film belongs to Susan Hayward who gives a intense, shattering performance without one false note. Her performance is so grimly focused that she is, at times, almost unbearable to watch. The final scenes, which lead up to Graham's execution, are exhausting in their emotional intensity as the audience is spared nothing of Graham's agony, despair and desperation when she finally loses the long battle to save her life. Whether one sees Graham as a murderer or a hapless victim of society, the power and relentless, sordid reality of her story leaves an indelible memory in the mind of the viewer. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

An old backstage legend is the source for this, the final episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents' third season. Herbert Marshall stars as over-the-hill actor Colin Bragner, who hopes to stage a comeback in a play written by Adam Longworth (Tom Helmore). For his part, Longworth wants nothing to do with Bragner, considering him to be a mediocre actor. Nevertheless, Bragner invites Longworth and his wife (Julie Adams) to dinner, where he ultimately moves them to tears by telling them of a profoundly tragic incident in his past. Naturally, there's a twist to the story...but no murder this time out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mac Hyman's hilarious barracks novel No Time for Sergeants was adapted for TV by Ira Levin in 1955, with newcomer Andy Griffith as bumptious Air Force draftee Will Stockdale. This TV version was soon afterward transformed into a Broadway play, and then a movie, again with Griffith in the lead. Brought to the Air Force base in handcuffs because his farmer father has been hiding his draft notices, good-natured Will becomes the target of ridicule for the other transcripts. Especially nasty is Private Irvin (Murray Hamilton), but Will is able to forgive him because he knows that Irvin is suffering from some mysterious disease called ROTC. Will's best pal is hot-headed private Ben (Nick Adams), who wants to be transferred to the Infantry and convinces Will to try for the same goal. Slowly becoming aware that the trusting, naïve Will may prove to be a troublemaker, career sergeant King (Myron McCormick), who wants nothing more out of life than a little peace and quiet, tries to keep Stockdale out of mischief by appointing him "PLO" -- Permanent Latrine Orderly, a dubious distinction in which Will takes enormous pride. Later on, King tries to pull strings to get Will transferred, succeeding only in losing his sergeant's stripes. The story goes off on a zany tangent when Will and Ben find themselves on a crippled plane in flight. They manage to escape with their lives, but all evidence suggests that they've been killed in the plane's crash. Imagine the dismay of newly reinstated Sergeant King when Will and Ben show up in his office -- just as the entire base is gathered for a memorial service for the two "fallen heroes." Featured in a minor role as a "coordination officer" is Griffth's future TV cohort Don Knotts, while Sammy Jackson, who played Stockdale in a 1964 sitcom version of No Time for Sergeants, shows up in an unbilled bit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bret and Bart Maverick (James Garner, Jack Kelly) bid on the salvage rights to a derelict cargo ship, the Apolonia. It turns out that someone is willing to commit murder to steal those rights away--which naturally arouses the curiosity of the Mavericks. In their efforts to determine why the sunken cargo is so valuable, our heroes find themselves up against a gang of drug smugglers. This episode is adapted from The Wrecker, a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Matt (James Arness) is caught in the middle of the violent property dispute between a family of settlers named Gabriel and a greedy rancher named McCready (Paul Fix). Things get worse when there's an outbreak of cholera at the Gabriel ranch, whereupon McCready has Doc (Milburn Stone) kidnapped so he won't be able to attend to the ailing Gabriel boy. But Mrs. Gabriel (Peg Hillias) manages to wreak vengeance upon McCready in a most unpleasant fashion. This episode is based on the Gunsmoke radio broadcast of December 4, 1954. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide