Fay Spain Movies

Francis Ford Coppola's legendary continuation and sequel to his landmark 1972 film, The Godfather, parallels the young Vito Corleone's rise with his son Michael's spiritual fall, deepening The Godfather's depiction of the dark side of the American dream. In the early 1900s, the child Vito flees his Sicilian village for America after the local Mafia kills his family. Vito (Robert De Niro) struggles to make a living, legally or illegally, for his wife and growing brood in Little Italy, killing the local Black Hand Fanucci (Gastone Moschin) after he demands his customary cut of the tyro's business. With Fanucci gone, Vito's communal stature grows, but it is his family (past and present) who matters most to him -- a familial legacy then upended by Michael's (Al Pacino) business expansion in the 1950s. Now based in Lake Tahoe, Michael conspires to make inroads in Las Vegas and Havana pleasure industries by any means necessary. As he realizes that allies like Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) are trying to kill him, the increasingly paranoid Michael also discovers that his ambition has crippled his marriage to Kay (Diane Keaton) and turned his brother, Fredo (John Cazale), against him. Barely escaping a federal indictment, Michael turns his attention to dealing with his enemies, completing his own corruption. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Also known as A Dangerous Friend, this real-life-based drama tells of a young man with a penchant for sex and violence. In addition, he seems to possess a kind of mental control over a group of peers who protect the charismatic murderer from authorities. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Amazingly, Sgt. Schultz actually knows the location of an atomic bomb plant. Unable to wheedle the information out of Schultz using the standard methods (including bribing the corpulent sergeant with LeBeau's gourmet food), Hogan relies on a vial of truth serum, courtesy of the Underground. Dave Morick, Hogan's Heroes' all-purpose supporting player during the series' final two seasons, is again cast as an officer. Written by Laurence Marks, "At Last -- Schultz Knows Something" first aired on December 26, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Long before he scored with the epic Ragtime, novelist E.L. Doctorow wrote a minor novel upon which this stark 1967 film is based. It was adapted for the screen by veteran western director Burt Kennedy. In a forlorn town called Hard Times in the Old West, a cowardly mayor, Will Blue (Henry Fonda), does little to protect the citizens from the rampages of a ruthless criminal known as The Man from Bodie (Aldo Ray). The cold-blooded killer gets away with murder -- and then he burns down the town as he leaves. The citizens rebuild, and a newcomer named Zar (Keenan Wynn) injects some life into the desolate place by opening a saloon that attracts a bevy of interesting women, including Molly Riordan (Janice Rule) and Adah (Janice Paige). However, things again look bleak when The Man from Bodie returns to town. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

In this drama, a troubled 17-year old socialite runs away from her home in New York to Rio. There she falls for a troubled architect. The architect, devastated since his girlfriend was killed, is unable, or unwilling to speak. The girl tries to help him by suggesting he see a psychiatrist, but he, believing that she only wants him to rejoin the fast life, refuses. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A group of wildcatting oil drillers battle an Oklahoma oil baron for the rights of a potentially high yield field. The roughnecks fight on the job and in the saloons while hoping for the big gusher that will make them all rich. A catastrophic accident threatens to wipe out the hard work of the speculators. Their progress is monitored by the local oil magnate who waits for the right time to step in and take credit for the potentially big discovery. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) would love to nail mobster Brian O'Malley (David Brian) on tax-evasion and interstate-smuggling charges; unfortunately, O'Malley has an irksome habit of murdering anyone who can testify against him. Worse still, O'Malley obviously has a number of corrupt officials in his pocket, as proven when Federal witness George Davas (Johnny Seven) "accidentally" falls from a heavily guarded hotel room to his death (a tragedy inspired by the similar demise of real-life hoodlum Abe Reles). Understandably, the only surviving witness, Stan Wolinski (Jack Elam) goes into hiding--from both the bad guys and the good guys. Michael Parks (Then Came Bronson) appears unbilled as an elevator operater. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hercules (Reg Park) and King Androcles (Ettore Manni) are on an ocean expedition when Androcles is washed overboard during a storm near a mysterious island. Making landfall, Hercules finds that the island is the kingdom of Atlantis, ruled by a beautiful, cruel, and ambitious queen, Antinea (Fay Spain), who controls a mysterious source of power. She has transformed her personal guard into super-strong warriors -- each nearly a match for Hercules, put Androcles under her spell, and inflicted terrible wounds on her people, all in preparation for her plan to conquer the world. Hercules finds that her power stems from a source older than the gods on Olympus, one over which he has virtually no power. He must save his friend, release Antinea's people, and prevent her from carrying out her plans. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

This episode marks an early directorial effort by Robert Altman, who also wrote the script. After befriending prospector Eben Bolt (Tim Graham), Beau (Roger Moore) is accused of being a horse thief and sentenced to hang. It turns out that Beau has been mistaken for Eben's partner Benson January (Owen Bush), who's been "dehorsing the countryside". Handling Beau's courtroom defense is a hick lawyer who acts a lot like another Warner Bros. western hero, Tom "Sugarfoot" Brewster--as well he may, since the character is played by Sugarfoot leading man Will Hutchins. Unfortunately, the lawyer's courtroom tactics prove distressingly clumsy, and Beau stands a good chance of being guest of honor at a "necktie party". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Set within the popular bohemian coffee houses of the late '50s where beatniks gathered to recite poetry and perform, this sensationalistic detective drama centers upon the attempts of an insensitive police detective to catch an arrogant serial rapist, a rich young man who believes himself mentally superior and therefore beyond the law. His favorite victims are married women. When he learns that the detective is after him, the rapist targets the cop's wife. Later the poor wife discovers she's pregnant and cannot be sure who fathered her child. The film is alternatively titled This Rebel Age. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Caught in a "goose-drownder" (a heavy rainstorm, that is), Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly) and his friend Gentleman Jack Darby (Richard Long in his last Maverick appearance) seek shelter in a strange town occupied by only one man. Then the stagecoach arrives, carrying four passengers--one of them Bart's former lover Stella Legendre (Fay Spain). As the rain continues to fall, the little party finds itself held captive by the Arapaho Kid (H.M. Wynant), a notorious outlaw. Can this be a western variation of the classic Humphrey Bogart film Key Largo--and what is the significance of supporting actor Robert Nichols' character name "Red Herring?" ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rod Steiger is the screen's first "method mobster" in the title role of Al Capone. The film traces Big Al's progress from a torpedo in the hire of Chicago gangster Johnny Torrio (Nehemiah Persoff) to Capone's takeover of the Windy City's bootlegging operations, and his ultimate downfall at the hands of the IRS. Rod Steiger delivers every line with maniacal gusto, as though it will be his last; sometimes he sounds like Frank Gorshin doing a Rod Steiger impression, but for the most part it is a dynamite performance. Featured in the cast are Murvyn Vye as Bugs Moran, Joe De Santis as Big Jim Colosimo, Lewis Charles as Hymie Weiss, Robert Gist as O'Banion, and James Gregory and Martin Balsam as composite characters, respectively based on honest Chicago cop John Siege and duplicitous newspaper reporter Jake Lingle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A sweet but scatterbrained old lady named Nora Mae Quincy (Lenore Shanewise) comes to Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) with the slightly garbled story that her employer George Gordon (Edward Norris is a murderer--and will soon murder again. Nora is the nurse of Gordon's second wife Louise (Susan Dorn), whom Nora suspects is being poisoned by Gordon, offering as evidence the fact that man's first wife also died from an "accidental" poisoning. As it turns out, however, it is Nora who is accused of the second Mrs. Gordon's murder--but that doesn't necessarily mean that she's been framed by her boss. Based on a 1951 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner, this episode would be refilmed in 1964 as "The Case of the Woeful Widower". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi