Fay Spain Movies

Night watchman Clyde Matik has been stabbed to death in an appliance store warehouse. One of the dead man's fellow employees is convinced that the guilty party is Matik's girlfriend Bessie Rowan (Ann Doran), but Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are sent off on a different path thanks to evidence dug up by the crime lab. The guilty party turns out to be a huge surprise for all concerned--especially Bessie Rowan. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of August 16, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ubiquitous western villain (and future Oscar winner) Strother Martin is seen in an uncharacteristically sympathetic role as Dooley Delaware, a former circus acrobat fallen upon hard times. In need of booze money, Dooley wagers that he can cross a tightrope stretched across the roof of a salloon. Noticing that the man with whom Dooley placed the bet is willing to cheat to win his money, Paladin (Richard Boone) places a counter-wager, betting $3000 that Dooley will be able to cross a huge canyon by tightrope--an act designed not only to thwart the villain, but restore the acrobat's tattered self-respect. John Dehner, soon to be cast as Paladin in the CBS radio version of Have Gun--Will Travel, is cast as duplicitous gambler Ben Marquette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Convicted murderer Clete Overton (Ed Kemmer) escapes from jail on the eve of his hanging. Bart tries to prove Cleve's innocence when the fugitive insists that he was charged on circumstantial evidence. Unfortunately, someone is determined that Clete remain under the shadow of the noose--and that someone is willing to kill Bart to make sure that the execution goes on as scheduled. Featured in the guest cast is future Mannix star Michael Connors, former Make Room for Daddy regular Sherry Jackson, and soap opera diva Jeanne Cooper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Widow Ida Blythe (Beatrice Straight) insists upon spending the weekend alone in her remote cabin, despite news that an escaped lunatic is somewhere in vicinity. Ida's tranquility is shattered by a visit from a strange young woman named Madeleine (Fay Spain), who not only appears to be obsessed with violence, but is also a compulsive liar. Suspecting that Madeleine is the fugitive lunatic, Ida knocks her down and makes her escape -- seeking assistance from another stranger, a soft-spoken gentleman (Donald Buka) with a few problems of his own. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bart (Jack Kelly) feels particularly euphoric after he wins an enormous amount of money in a poker game. Returning to his hotel room to celebrate his good fortune, Bart is sidetracked by the woman down the hallway, Lana Cane (Fay Spain)--who appears to be on the verge of committing suicide. Needless to say, our hero is in for quite a few surprises, most of them dispensed by double-dyed villain Red Daniels (Edgar Buchanan). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This parody of Genesis caused an uproar before and during its release (the final version was reworked and cut) though its routine or worse cinematic level would not encourage large audiences. The story begins with a busload of men and women with hang-ups in the romance department, all heading for Reno. A sudden rainstorm brings on flooding, and the passengers have to hole up in a church. That setting, apparently, suggests the skewed "dream" of Genesis that follows. The Catholic Legion of Decency gave this film a Condemned rating. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a hit man is hired by a group of South American nationalists to kill their exiled ruler in his new Caribbean home. To get there, he hijacks a boat and its two frightened occupants. He keeps the boat-owner's wife as his hostage. When he gets to the island, the assassin misses his mark and suddenly finds himself targeted for death by the deposed dictator's henchmen and by the boat owner. It is the latter who finally kills the hit man and rescues his terrified wife. The story is filmed on location in Puerto Rico. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This adventure is set in the Philippines and chronicles the exploits of two men who survive a plane crash in the jungle. One of the men is an avaricious killer who has come to the islands to search for a fortune in diamonds. The other is an international adventurer. Now they must somehow overcome their vast personal differences and desires to survive in the steamy wilderness ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide