Earl Rowe Movies
Earl Rowe was long a familiar figure to members of the New York theater community, as well as to science fiction cultists. A veteran of Broadway, off-Broadway, and industrial shows since the 1950s, he appeared in only two movies, one of which was the Irvin S. Yeaworth classic The Blob (1958). Born in 1920, Rowe auditioned successfully for 20th Century Fox in the summer of 1941, but the worsening war situation caused studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck to cancel the hiring of any new male contract players, thus short-circuiting his film career before it started. Rowe served in the infantry during World War II, commanding a mortar squad, and returned to acting after the war. In addition to work on the New York stage and in Philadelphia (some of it in association with the Hedgerow Theater Company in Rose Valley, PA), he appeared in industrial shows, on television, and in commercials; he was very visible in the late '50s in an Armor Ham television ad in which he voiced the emphatic tag line, "Now that's good ham." In 1957, Rowe was chosen to play the role of the sympathetic police chief in The Blob, an unusually good sci-fi thriller that had the special attributes of being shot in color and on location on the East Coast; it also starred a young Steve McQueen in his first major movie role. As a result, the film has been re-shown and re-released theatrically for decades, and on television, home video, and, more recently, on DVD. After The Blob's release, Rowe looked into doing more film work but was told that his heavy-set build would probably limit him to villainous roles, so he chose to remain on the stage and television. He worked for three years on the NBC soap opera The Doctors, and his next and final film appearance was as a guard captain (in a role written specifically for him) in the docudrama Attica (1980), directed by Marvin Chomsky. Rowe recalled in a 1988 interview that, because of The Blob and the sympathetic role that he played in it, whenever he appeared before audiences of sci-fi fans, he always received a positive reception. Rowe passed away in 2002 from Parkinson's disease. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide- 1980
Attica is a probing, no-nonsense TV-movie re-creation of the tragic events which followed the Attica (New York) Correctional Facility rebellion of September 9, 1971. Inmates demanding better food and living conditions used jerry-built weapons to take 38 guards as hostage. Negotiations begin immediately, only to continually break down thanks to uncompromising stubbornness on both sides. Four days into the crisis, the rebellion ends in a bloodbath, with state troopers firing on the prisoners-- killing several of the guards in the process. Based on the eyewitness reporting of the New York Times' Tom Wicker (here played by George Grizzard), who was one of the civilian negotiators during the stalemate, Attica was first telecast on March 3, 1980. (Perhaps significantly, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, whom many hold responsible for the climactic carnage at the prison, is never seen in either factual or fictional form during the film). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
In the conclusion of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Kojak (Telly Savalas) steps up his efforts to help Karen Foster (Marybeth Hurt), whom he believes has been falsely charged with murdering her mother. At the same time, powerful politician Edna Morrison (Geraldine Page) continues pulling strings and calling in favors to prevent Kojak from uncovering the whole truth about the murder. Ultimately, Kojak is framed for another crime to shut him up. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
In the first episode of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour "special"), Lt. Kojak (Telly Savalas) tackles a case of matricide that has remained unsolved from two years. Unfortunately, he meets stiff opposition in the form of Edna Morrison (Geraldine Page), a powerful politician who is determined that the whole truth about the murder will never see the light of day. Featured in the supporting cast as a deputy district attorney is a pre-Murphy Brown Charles Kimbrough. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In his first starring role, Steve McQueen plays a typical oversexed, car-lovin' highschooler who can't get anyone to believe his story about a huge meteor, which crashes to earth and begins exuding a pink, gooey substance. Affixing itself to the body of an old man, the "blob" begins parasitically sucking the life out of several unfortunate humans, growing to an enormous size. Problem is, the disappearances of the victims can all be explained (one is supposed to be out of town, another is attending a convention), so the cops still won't believe McQueen or his girlfriend Aneta Corsaut (the future Helen Crump of The Andy Griffith Show). Rallying his teen pals, McQueen finally manages to get the adults' attention-but by now, the Blob is consuming entire city blocks. In 1972, the sequel Beware the Blob followed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve McQueen, Aneta Corsaut, (more)
