Albert Salmi Movies
Brawny, Brooklyn-born Albert Salmi was trained in the late '40s at the Actors Studio and American Theatre Wing. Extremely busy on-stage and live TV in the 1950s, Salmi was seen in such roles as the dimwitted "doom-ded" ballplayer in the 1956 TV adaptation of Mark Harris' Bang the Drum Slowly. His first significant Broadway appearance was as the overexuberant rodeo star in William Inge's Bus Stop. Salmi made his film debut as the epileptic Smerdyakov in The Brothers Karamazov (1958). Equally adept at buffoonery and brutality, Salmi often found himself cast in the 1960s as comic relief on one TV program, only to appear later in the week as a sadistic gunslinger or slavering serial killer on another show. He was also seen on a weekly basis as Yadkin on the Daniel Boone series of the 1960s and as Pete Ritter on the 1970s cop series Petrocelli. Albert Salmi apparently killed both himself and his estranged, terminally ill wife in 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1971
- PG
In this western, an outlaw anxiously awaits the arrival of his betrothed, who is under the false impression that her fiancé is worth a fortune. Unfortunately, the fellow has earned nothing during his stint in the West. Desperate to keep her, he begins plotting the theft of a Mexican bandit's loot. But before he can, he will need a Gatling gun. He knows a man who has one, but the gun owner refuses to part with it unless the outlaw agrees to find him a woman. The outlaw then kidnaps a likely candidate from a stage coach. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize that the woman is a colonel's wife. Later as he is hauling his heavy gun, he runs into the colonel who is looking for his missing wife. A shoot out ensues and things look bleak for the outlaw until the colonel's wife intervenes and suggests to her husband that since he is about to retire, he ought to allow the fellow to take the chance and try to pull off the heist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- PG
A captain convicted of deserting his cavalry (Bekim Fehmiu) is released to lead a band of deputized renegades. Together, the force must defeat a band of Apache braves. The film was released to video as Ride to Glory. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1971
In a plot reminiscent of such "perfect crime" films as The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing, three strangers are brought together to commit a $900,000 bank robbery. Much of the preliminary footage is devoted to establishing the personalities and motives of the three crooks. Playboy Eliot Fielding (Peter Haskell) has turned criminal in hopes of wooing and winning his wealthy girlfriend; George Whelan (Richard O'Brien wants to use his cut to open a hardware store; and lifelong loser Roy Mills (Albert Salmi) desires to fulfill his pathetically childish dreams of luxury. As expected, the best-laid plans go horribly awry when the three thieves end up as reluctant kidnappers (appearing as the father of the kidnap victim is former movie Tarzan Lex Barker). This is the final episode of The F.B.I.'s sixth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In Lawman, Burt Lancaster is Jered Maddox, a dedicated marshal with an inflexible adherence to upholding the law at all costs. Riding into a nearby town to pick up a group of local carousers who, during a drunken spree, killed an old man, Maddox meets up with Vincent Bronson (Lee J. Cobb). Bronson is the local town boss, and Maddox discovers that the men he is looking for work for him. Unlike most western heavies, Maddox, although he is powerful and unscrupulous, abhors violence. But violence is something Maddox cultivates. A major confrontation between the reluctant Bronson and the intransigent Maddox builds -- particularly when Maddox enlists the help of weak-willed local sheriff Cotton Ryan (Robert Ryan). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, (more)
- 1970
A father-and-son team battle to protect their Southern farm from military deserters during the Civil War. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Over the protests of the Cartwrights, the Carttlemen's Association hires range detective Marcus Alley (Albert Salmi) to round up a gang of rustlers by any means necessary. Unfortunately, Alley is a psycho who shoots first and asks questions later-and as a result, several innocent people are killed. Also in the cast are Richard Carlson as Hollenbeck, Kenneth Tobey as Heath, Anna Navarro as Prudence and Myron Healey as Johannsen. First shown on January 21, 1968, "The Thirteenth Man" was written by Walter Black. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1968
Three Guns For Texas is a routine western. Taken from the television series "Laredo," three 30-minute episodes are strung together. The only continuity seems to be the plot of Texas Rangers fighting a renegade band of Indians led by Linda Little Trees (Shelley Morrison). Neville Brand, Peter Brown, William Smith, and Martin Milner also star. The viewer would have to be familiar with the television series, as no character development is given, assuming the public has seen the actors before and is well-versed in the plot. This plodding oater closely resembles the old Republic westerns. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neville Brand, Peter Brown, (more)
John Sturges directed this sequel to his Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which is more of a melancholy character study than an action Western. The Edward Anhalt screenplay (based on Douglas D. Martin's Tombstone's Epitaph) traces Wyatt Earp's (James Garner) moral decline from a lawman with high ideals to a mean-spirited vigilante bent on personal revenge. Ironically, Doc Holliday (Jason Robards), an admitted lawless gambler, reacts to Earp's vengeful turnabout by becoming the moral force that Earp has rejected. When Earp's brothers are killed by goons employed by Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan), Earp becomes obsessed with vengeance and organizes a posse to track down the killers. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Jason Robards, Jr., (more)
- 1967
In this, the third in the Matt Helm special-agent series, Dean Martin plays Helm who's called to save those aboard a hijacked U.S. spacecraft. Ambushers is generally regarded as the weakest of the Helm films, lacking inspiration at most levels. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Martin, Senta Berger, (more)
- 1967
Michael Sarrazin plays Curley, a young man gone AWOL from the Army who soon makes the acquaintance of Mordechai (George C. Scott), a veteran confidence man. Mordecai takes a liking to Curley, and offers to show him the tricks of the trade as they drift through the American South, pulling one scam after another. But when Curley meets Bonnie Lee Packard (Sue Lyon), romance rears its head and Curley decides to go straight. Mordecai is not so easily convinced to leave his trade behind, however, and when a car theft goes spectacularly wrong and Mordecai ends up in jail, Curley has to pull a fast one to got his pal out of stir. The Flim Flam Man also features a host of notable character actors, including Slim Pickens, Alice Ghostley, and Strother Martin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, Sue Lyon, (more)
- 1967
Albert Salmi returns in the role of rascally space pirate Alonzo P. Tucker (you remember: the guy with the robot parrot on his shoulder). This time, Tucker and his crew are on an intergalactic search for the treasure of Billy Bones. Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) gets mixed up in the swashbuckling when is mistaken as the "master" of Billy Bones--who exists in the form of a hideous mechanical head. Arrr, mateys! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Albert Salmi chews the scenery as space pirate Alonzo P. Tucker, self-styled "terror of the spaceways" who has been plundering the universe ever since he'd been abducted from his home planet Earth way back in 1876. Taken hostage by Tucker (who carries a robotic parrot on his shoulder!), Will (Bill Mumy) befriends the lovable reprobate and tries to protect him from another alien from whom Tucker has stolen a mind-reading device. This is the first Lost in Space episode to showcase an essentially comic "guest" villain; it will not be the last. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
After meticulously planning a Baltimore bank robbery, four men--Hogan (Ralph Meeker) Collins (Don Quine), Cowboy (Albert Salmi and Breese (Paul Bryar)--steal only a few thousand dollars. Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) wants to know why the thieves were willing to settle for so paltry a sum. Doing a bit of digging, Erskine learns of a legendary bank robber who would likewise pull small robberies just for practice, in preparation for one big, spectacular heist. Now the Inspector must second-guess the thieves and prevent them from making their final haul. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Meanest Men in the West is basically a pair of episodes of The Virginian, chopped up by Universal Pictures' editing department and mashed together (with help from some voice doubles) into what could almost pass for a coherent plot. Judge Henry Garth (Lee J. Cobb), owner of Shiloh ranch, becomes the object of a revenge plot by Kalig (Lee Marvin), a criminal whom the judge sent away to prison for ten years. In the recut version of the two shows (of which the first was directed and written by Samuel Fuller), Kalig sends his half-brother (played by Charles Bronson, in footage from a completely unrelated episode of the show) to kidnap Garth's ranch foreman, the Virginian (James Drury). Not all of it makes sense, but since the two stories were never supposed to be related, that's understandable. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Kelly and Scott are ordered to attend a medical convention in Japan, where it is rumored that a deadly bubonic plague developed by Communist Chinese scientists is about to be unleashed. The agents' task is complicated by the presence of overanxious, novice spy Vicki (Marlyn Mason), whose well-intentioned assistance could spell disaster for all concerned. Also appearing are veteran character actors Albert Salmi as Dr. Curlock and Rex Ingram as Dr. Bingham. Written by Robert Lewin, "Weight of the World" was first telecast on December 1, 1965. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Derived from the classic 1951 Japanese film Rashomon, director Martin Ritt's The Outrage attempts to modernize the original story of rape and murder, transporting from medieval Japan to the American Southwest of the 1870's. The story is told within the framework of three men waiting at a railway station. A con-man (Edward G. Robinson) listens to the account of a trial held recently in the town as told by a prospector (Howard Da Silva) and a preacher (William Shatner) suffering from a crisis of faith in humanity. Three witnesses at the trial of a Mexican outlaw give conflicting testimony. Each version is shown in flashback. The outlaw, Juan Carrasco (Paul Newman), confesses that he bound the husband (Laurence Harvey), raped the wife, and killed the husband in a duel of honor. The wife (Claire Bloom) claims that the outlaw raped her, and then she stabbed her husband when he contemptuously blamed her for inviting the assault. The third witness, an old Indian (Paul Fix), declares that he found the dying husband who stated that he stabbed himself because he couldn't live with the humiliation. As the story continues to unfold, the validity of each of the stories is questioned before the truth is finally revealed. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey, (more)
- 1963
A Mexican honeymoon turns into a nightmare when Laura Needham (Eileen O'Neill), the young wife of tourist Mark Needham (Peter Graves), is murdered. The police suspect that the crime was committed by wealthy businessman Theodore Bond (Albert Salmi), but they lack the evidence to make an arrest. Taking matters into his own hands, Mark vows to bring the elusive Bond to justice -- but it is another tourist couple, Louise and Alex Trevor (Sarah Marshall, Ed Nelson), who finish what Mark has started. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Albert Salmi, (more)
- 1963
In the first episode of a two-part story, Kimble (David Janssen) is forced to go on the lam again when he is recognized in a Nevada gambling emporium. En route to California, Kimble makes the acquaintance of feisty nun Sister Veronica (Eileen Heckart), who agrees to provide him safe passage through a police dragnet if he'll repair her wreck of a car. This very odd couple then embarks on a series of strange adventures, beginning when Kimble goes to work for a cheap chiseler named Chuck Mathis (Albert Salmi). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Kimble (David Janssen) continues his westward journey to California in the company of the redoubtable Sister Veronica (Eileen Heckart). Along the way, the mismatched pair runs afoul of some motorcycle punks, and have another run-in with crooked Chuck Mathis (Albert Salmi), during which they find a new ally in the form of Chuck's sister-in-law Janet (Ruta Lee). Throughout this picaresque adventure, Kimble tries to figure out a way to persuade Sister Veronica from renouncing her vows and turning her back on the Church--while simulatenously avoiding arrest at every turn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
This 60-minute Twilight Zone entry was adapted by Rod Serling from Malcolm Jameson's short story "Blind Alley." Wearing thick "age" makeup, Albert Salmi stars as ruthless millionaire Feathersmith, who would give anything to relive his carefree youth. Enter Miss Devlin (Julie Newmar) -- actually the Devil, but a very shapely Devil -- who offers to strike a deal with the decrepit tycoon. Curiously, Devlin doesn't want Feathersmith's soul (which he had already lost several years earlier), but she will settle for cold, hard cash. Another cautionary "Be Careful What You Wish For" yarn, "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" originally aired April 11, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Salmi, Julie Newmar, (more)
- 1963
Though worn to the breaking point by recent fighting, Saunders (Vic Morrow) is selected to guide a reconnaissance patrol headed by Sgt. Jenkins (Albert Salmi). Complicating matters is the embittered Jenkins' refusal to hide his resentment over Saunders' presence, feeling that the higher-ups are giving him a message that he can't be depended upon. Things come to a head when, while seeking out top-secret German documents, both men are trapped in an old mill where the enemy has set up command. Typical of the Combat! episodes directed by Robert Altman, this one is capped by a grimly ironic finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) joins forces with Willard Thornton (Wendell Corey), newly appointed Special Crime Commissioner of Chicago, to ferret out the brains behind a huge criminal combine. What Ness doesn't know (but the audience does) is that Thornton himself is a member of the combine, in cahoots with crooked lawyer Barney Lubin (a pre-All in the Family Carroll O'Connor). Thornton and Lubin ultimately precipitate their own downfall when they try to rub out fellow hoodlum "Country Boy" Parrish (Albert Salmi)--who, after escaping with his life from the traditional "one-way ride", finds himself in even greater danger at the hands of lovelorn hash-house waitress Emmy Sarver (Mary Fickett). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
In the last days of WWII, "90-day wonder" Lieutenant Katell (Dean Stockwell) takes charge of a battle-weary American squadron somewhere in the Pacific Theater. With the arrogance of inexperience, Katell demands that Sgt. Causarano (Albert Salmi) lead an attack against a group of wounded and dispirited Japanese soldiers -- "They are the enemy! First day of the war or the last day of the war!" But a sudden wrinkle in time causes Lt. Katell -- or should we say "Lt. Yamuri" -- to experience an epiphany. Future Star Trek stalwart Leonard Nimoy plays a small role as a radio operator. Scripted by Rod Serling from an idea by Sam Rolfe (Have Gun, Will Travel, Man from U.N.C.L.E. et al.), "A Quality of Mercy" was Twilight Zone's Yuletide offering for the 1961-62 season, making its first appearance on December 29, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Stockwell, Albert Salmi, (more)
- 1960
After a brief production hiatus, the Twilight Zone staff resumed the series' first season with this episode, scripted by Rod Serling from a story by George Clayton Johnson. The story begins in 1880, as western outlaw Joe Caswell (Albert Caswell) is about to be hanged. Before the startled eyes of his executioners, Joe suddnely disappears from view. He rematerializes in 1960, in the laboratory of experimental scientist George Manion (Russell Johnson). Joe's sudden "invasion" of the 20th century has disastrous results on several people, including a modern-day murderer named Johnson (Than Wyenn). "Execution" first aired April 1, 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Salmi, Russell Johnson, (more)
