Robert Stack Movies

It's December of 1941, and the people of California are in varying states of unease, ranging from a sincere desire to defend the country to virtual blind panic in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus begin several story threads that comprise the "plot" of this strange period comedy, a sort of satirical disaster movie, from Steven Spielberg. The stories and story threads involve lusty young men, officers (Tim Matheson) and civilians (Bobby Di Cicco) alike, eager to bed the young ladies of their dreams; Wild Bill Kelso, a nutty fighter pilot (John Belushi) following what he thinks is a squadron of Japanese fighters along the California coast; a well-meaning but clumsy tank crew (including John Candy) led by straight-arrow, by-the-book Sgt. Tree (Dan Aykroyd), who doesn't recognize the thug (Treat Williams) in his command; and homeowner Ward Douglas (Ned Beatty), who is eager to do his part for the nation's defense and, despite the misgivings of his wife (Lorraine Gary), doesn't mind his front yard overlooking the ocean being chosen to house a 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. There is also a pair of grotesquely inept airplane spotters (Murray Hamilton, Eddie Deezen) who are doing their job from atop a ferris wheel at a beachfront amusement park; a paranoid army colonel (Warren Oates) positive that the Japanese are infiltrating from the hills; a big dance being held on behalf of servicemen, being attended by a lusty young woman of size (Wendie Jo Sperber) eager to land a man in uniform; and General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell (Robert Stack), in charge of the defense of the West Coast, who can't seem to get anyone to listen to him when he says to keep calm. And, oh yes, there's also a real Japanese submarine that has gotten all the way to the California coast under the command of its captain (Toshiro Mifune) and a German officer observer (Christopher Lee), only to find itself without a working compass or usable maps. Its captain won't leave until the sub has attacked a militarily significant, honorable target, and the only one that anyone aboard ship knows of in California is Hollywood. By New Year's Eve, all of these characters are going to cross paths, directly or once-removed, in a comedy of errors and destruction strongly reminiscent of the finale to National Lampoon's Animal House (as well as several disaster movies from the same studio), but on a much larger and more impressive scale. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Sharon Farrell stars as blues singer Jesse Boone in the 90-minute, made-for-TV Hard Case of the Blues. Jesse's business manager has just died under mysterious circumstances. He has also swindled Jesse out of $200,000. Thing of it is, Jesse couldn't care less--and Crime magazine editor Dan Farrell (Robert Stack) wants to know the reasons for her apathy. Originally telecast September 26, 1969 as an episode of the TV series Name of the Game, Hard Case of the Blues was one of the series' most highly acclaimed installments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a man and a priest try to clean up the slums and end up having a showdown with a powerful Mafioso. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This spoof of the Airport series of disaster movies relies on ridiculous sight gags, groan-inducing dialogue, and deadpan acting -- a comedy style that would be imitated for the next 20 years. Airplane! pulls out all the clichés as alcoholic pilot Ted Striker (Robert Hays), who's developed a fear of flying due to wartime trauma, boards a jumbo jet in an attempt to woo back his stewardess girlfriend (Julie Hagerty). Food poisoning decimates the passengers and crew, leaving it up to Striker to land the plane, with the help of a glue-sniffing air traffic controller (Lloyd Bridges) and Striker's vengeful former captain (Robert Stack), who must both talk him down. Along the way, we meet a clutch of stock disaster movie passengers like the guitar-strumming nun, a sick little girl, a frightened old lady, and two African-American travelers whose "jive" has to be subtitled. Leslie Nielsen portrays the plane's doctor, launching a new phase of the actor's career that carried him through the next two decades in several similarly comedic roles. The trio of directors Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker responsible for the film would eventually go on to solo careers, but not before making Top Secret! and Ruthless People. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Asylum for a Spy stars Robert Stack as a CIA agent who becomes an alcoholic, believing himself responsible for the death of two close friends. The Russians believe that Stack would be useful in fingering potential soviet defectors. The Americans plans to use Stack's inebriated state to get him into a mental hospital, and there locate an enemy spy. Stack's girl friend (Felicia Farr) merely wants to get him to pull himself together. Asylum for a Spy was originally telecast on April 2 and April 9, 1965, as Memorandum for a Spy, a two-part drama on NBC's Bob Hope Chrysler Theatre anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Up-and-coming Universal leading man Robert Stack made his western-movie debut in Badlands of Dakota. Set in the Dakotas during the days of the Great Gold Boom, the story finds brothers Jim and Bob Holliday (Stack and Broderick Crawford) dukeing it out over the affections of pretty Anne Grayson (Ann Rutherford). While all this is going on, Wild Bill Hickok (Richard Dix) does his best to neutralize the local criminal element-and to fend off the romantic overtures of boisterous Calamity Jane (Frances Farmer). The screenplay juggles the facts a bit, concluding with Calamity performing a self-sacrificing act straight out of Destry Rides Again to save her sweetheart from harm. Just to make sure that the audience doesn't mistake Badlands of Dakota for Real Life, Hugh Herbert is on hand with his patented "Woo woo!" comedy relief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is a full-length cartoon movie featuring the dim-witted obnoxious loser teens, Beavis and Butt-head. They are obsessed with sex, TV, heavy-metal rock 'n roll, sex, coolness and sex, in that order. The trouble begins when the couch-potato duo's beloved television disappears (they assume it was stolen). In the course of trying to get another TV, they get involved in a major arms-smuggling scheme and are chased all over the U.S. by mobsters and lawmen alike. In one of the movie's highlights, Butt-head tries to get Chelsea Clinton to go to bed with him. Apparently he believes that since they both wear braces, she will naturally want to have sex with him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Boxer Lazaro Perez is suspended when he punches out an obstreperous reporter. Feeling partly responsible, Crime magazine editor Dan Farrell (Robert Stack) tries to help the young fighter. Farrell soon learns that the boy's manager (Van Johnson) may be arranging a fixed bout. Brass Ring served as the TV debut for actor Lazaro Perez, who'd received critical adulation for his performance in the 1969 off-Broadway play Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? This drama originated as the January 9, 1970 episode of the TV series Name of the Game. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Historically important as one of the first 3-D feature film- the first was the 1922 film Power of Love- Bwana Devil is an otherwise amateurish film, redeemed somewhat by good performances and a reasonably interesting script (by director Arch Oboler). The thinnish story is built around some authentic African footage lensed by Oboler in 1948. Based on fact, the plot concerns two ferocious lions, whose man-eating propensities halted progress on the building of an East African railroad. Robert Stack, Nigel Bruce and Barbara Britton appear in the dramatized sequences, which look like they were filmed for an entirely different movie. The main attraction of Bwana Devil, then and now, is its gimmicky 3-D photography, replete with thrown spears and leaping lions assaulting the camera. Industry reaction to Bwana Devil resulted in the now-famous advertising blurb "What do you want? A good picture, or a lion in your lap?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 90-minute episode of the TV series Name of the Game features Robert Stack as Crime magazine senior editor Dan Farrell. This time, Farrell is investigating charges that the officials of a prison on the Mexican border are shipping out forced labor to local farms. It has been further charged that the officials are getting rich on kickbacks. Assuming a false identity and taking a job in the border town, Farrell runs afoul of hard-case Pernell Roberts and corrupt superintendent Sidney Blackmer. Dorothy Lamour rounds out the guest-star list in Chains of Command, which originally aired October 17, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This direct to video, youth-oriented comedy is about Chuck (Tate Donovan) and Wally (Grant Heslov), friends in their senior year at college. Graduation is fast approaching. A wealthy industrialist (Robert Stack) offfers them jobs after graduation if they'll do him a favor and deliver a car to the his daughter in Lake Tahoe. The car, a red Porsche, gets stolen for use as the prize in a beauty pageant. The lads wind up in San Diego attempting to recover the car and their preserve their future careers. Their efforts are complicated when they become involved with the pageant contestants, exposing them to undreamed-of oceans of feminine pulchritude. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Echo of a Nightmare is a 90-minute TV thriller involving a kidnapping. The crime in question occurred some 25 years ago. Now the kidnapper has been mysteriously murdered, compelling Crime magazine editor Dan Farrell (Robert Stack) to investigate. Curiously, the partner of the abduction victim's millionaire father tries to bribe Farrell to drop the case. This episode of the TV series Name of the Game first aired March 20, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Excellent Technicolor photography, principally in the aerial scenes, is the main asset of the cliché-ridden Fighter Squadron. Set in the months just prior to D-Day, the plot zeroes in on Marjor Ed Hardin (Edmond O'Brien) leader of a squadron of fearless combat pilots. In keeping with the conventions of the era, the training and flying sequences are counterbalanced with comic byplay involving wheeler-dealer Sergeant Dolan (Tom D'Andrea), whose flippant attitudes towards the opposite sex are a bit hard to take today. Far more effective is the performance of 15-year-old Jack Larson, making his screen debut in the role of a rookie pilot who grows up in a hurry after scoring his first kill (Larson later gained TV immortality as Jimmy Olsen on Superman). Also making his first screen appearance, in a role so small it isn't even billed, is a former truck driver named Rock Hudson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide