Morgan Sterne Movies

The first of two efforts by Universal to launch an Ellery Queen TV series in the 1970s, Don't Look Behind You stars Peter Lawford as intellectual private eye Ellery Queen. Based on the novel Cat of Many Tales, the film finds Queen investigating a series of murders. The male victims were strangled with blue cords, the females with pink ones. In addition, the killer is working his (or her) way down the age scale, knocking off older people first. E.G. Marshall and Stefanie Powers are among the special guest suspects, while Harry Morgan is on hand as Ellery's police-inspector father. The best scene, involving a flooded apartment house, has very little to do with the mystery at hand. Originally telecast November 11, 1971 (after several months on the shelf), Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You failed to yield a weekly series; a 1975 "Ellery Queen" pilot film starring Jim Hutton was, however, more successful. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though he has been accused of killing his wife, mental patient Walter Carr (Earl Holliman)--who has no memory of the crime--is certain that she is still alive and that he has been framed for her murder. Escaping custody, Walter goes on a tortuous odyssey to find the truth, committing various small crimes along the way. As Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) pursues Walter, even he begins to wonder if his quarry is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. As it turns out, however, a murder has indeed been committed--and the killer is a lot closer than Walter ever imagined. Directed by series costar Philip Abbott, this is the final episode of The F.B.I.'s fifth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Conspiracy to Kill was one of two pilot films for the Jack Webb-produced TV series The D.A. Robert Conrad stars as LA deputy district attorney Paul Ryan. This time around, Ryan reopens a case that he's already won. New evidence indicates that a supposedly victimized drugstore owner (William Conrad) was the brains behind a robbery and murder that occurred at his own establishment. The D.A. series proper ran from September 17, 1971, through January 7, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gordon Parks' adaptation of his own novel The Learning Tree stars Kyle Johnson as Newt, a black teenager living in 1920s Kansas. He is an intelligent even-tempered young man who meets the many racial prejudices he faces with composure and pride. His best friend Marcus (Alex Clarke) is hot-headed and prone to react emotionally when confronted with life's problems. Newt gets into a difficult situation when he witnesses a murder and must decide if he should come forward to clear the man being framed for the crime. Doing so would forever change his own life, as well as Marcus'. In 1989, the film was selected to the National Film Registry in the Library of Congress. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, an American gangster heads to Athens to find his ex-wife whom he abandoned nine years ago after his son was born. He finds her married to a wealthy architect who is interested in inheriting his wife's family fortune. Unfortunately, that is what the gangster is also after--and he will stop at nothing to get it. He then meets his little son and learns that the boy dislikes his step-dad. The gangster then promises to help the boy find his real dad; he further convinces him to put poison in step-daddy's thermos. The boy then realizes that this was terribly wrong; he enlists the aid of a deaf-mute friend who runs to the construction site to keep him from drinking it. Unfortunately, the boys are caught by the gangster, who tells the boy the truth. Somehow the lads escape with the gangster in hot pursuit. He follows them up 15 flights of scaffolding to the architect's favorite lunch spot. He and the gangster get into a fight, and the architect is wounded. The deaf-mute takes up the fight and ends up falling. Eventually the gangster turns himself in leaving the boy to make peace with his step-father at his friend's funeral... ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide