Walter Stocker Movies
- 1986
- R
Two young men hit the road to Hollywood, CA to look for money, fame, and the wild life in this youthful comedy. Tucker "Downer" Downs tires of his boring job as a clerk in a women's fashion outlet and heads West. He also hopes that he will find his father, who disappeared 24 years before. En route, Downs hooks up with wasted video addict/hustler Ben Frank. Together they have many adventures during their trek to Tinsel Town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Frank, De Waldron, (more)
- 1981
Jaclyn Smith trades the flimsy costumes of Charlie's Angels for the pink pillbox hat and white gloves of the former First Lady of the Land in the made-for-TV Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. The daughter of socialites "Black Jack" Bouvier (Rod Taylor) and Janet Lee (Claudette Nevins), Jackie spends her early adulthood at the posh Newport estate of her stepfather, Louis Auchincloss (Donald Moffat). In 1953, 24-year-old Jackie marries Senator John F. Kennedy (James Franciscus), himself a child of privilege. The film follows the King and Queen of "Camelot" through Kennedy's 1960 election as President, the tragedy of Jackie's highly publicized miscarriage in the summer of 1963, and the JFK assassination in the fall of that year. All things considered, Jaclyn Smith does a pretty creditable job capturing the "public" Jackie Kennedy, even if the "private" Jackie remains as elusive as she was in real life. (Sidebar: Though "Camelot" is heard on the soundtrack, the real Jackie Kennedy would later note that it was not her husband's favorite song, never mind the legend-weavers in the Kennedy camp). Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy was first broadcast October 14, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- PG
In this horror story, the happiness of two newlyweds is destroyed when they get into a fatal auto accident on their honeymoon. The bride dies and the groom is so badly injured that he is hospitalized for months. After healing he visits his wife's grave. There her spirit arises and she attempts to seduce him so he will join her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this 1975 adaptation of Neil Simon's stage play, director Herbert Ross presents the story of two old-time Vaudvillians played by Walter Matthau and George Burns in his first starring role since 1939's Honolulu. After decades apart, the cantankerous duo is persuaded to reunite for a television special despite the fact that they hate each other. Richard Benjamin co-stars as Matthau's nephew, who has the responsibility of making sure the comedians go through with the show and don't kill each other in the process. Nominated for four Academy Awards, Burns took home the statue for Best Supporting Actor. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, George Burns, (more)
- 1974
Judge Philip Mackie (John Randolph), a man long suspected of allowing favoritism to sway his courtroom decisions, dies under mysterious circumstances. The evidence points to suicide, but Kojak (Telly Savalas) suspects otherwise. The solution to the case rests in the hands of Mackie's son (Walter Stocker), likewise a judge--who may soon have to set a known murderer free to cover up for his father's misdeeds. Appearing as the killer is future Barney Miller costar Abe Vigoda, while showing up in a supporting role is soap-opera stalwart John Aniston, father of Jennifer Aniston. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
After his head is surgically removed and sustained, Hitler is, essentially, still alive and living on an island in the Caribbean. When a young woman and her husband goes in search of her scientist-father and sister, they find a group of Nazis--still under the command of Der Fuhrer--who plan to resume their atrocities upon humanity in a scheme of world domination. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Stocker, Audrey Caire, (more)
- 1966
Elaine Bayler (Mala Powers), the wife of small-town big shot Richard Bayler (Lloyd Gough), is being blackmailed by an unknown party who threatens to expose Elaine's romance with her protegee, musician Donald Hobart (Will Hutchins), unless she ponies up $10,000. While making the "drop", Elaine is murdered, whereupon Donald's girlfriend Cynthia Perkins (Luana Patten) is charged with the crime. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is forced to relinquish a long-awaited fishing excursion to defend Cynthia in court. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Hudson Bradshaw (Bartlett Robinson) is willing to use any means, fair or foul, to claim the rights to a revolutionary new antibiotic developed by ex-employee Randolph James (Lee Farr). When all else fails, Bradshaw persuades James' wife Natalie (Marian Collier]) to sell her controlling interest in her husband's chemical company--which would seem to be ample motive for murder when Natalie turns up dead. The only way that Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) will be able to free James is to prove that his client was on a fishing trip at the time of the murder...but alas, the witnesses to this trip are either missing or highly unreliable! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Science goes too far as one of the greatest villains of the 20th century makes a last stand in South America in this crackpot thriller. After government scientists develop a new and virulent variety of nerve gas, Professor John Coleman (John Holland) sets out to create an antidote until he mysteriously disappears. Coleman's daughter Kathy (Audrey Caire) and her husband, Phil Day (Walter Stocker), who works in U.S. intelligence, begin to suspect foul play; they're approached by a man named Teo (Carlos Rivas) who is trying to tell them about the professor and a strange place called Mandoras when he's suddenly shot to death. With no other clues to follow, Kathy and Phil travel to the tiny Latin American nation of Mandoras, where Kathy happens to meet her hepcat sister, Suzanne (Dani Lynn), at a nightclub. Suzanne tells Kathy and Phil that she and the professor had been kidnapped, and when they're introduced to Teo's brother Camino (also played by Rivas), they learn of a bizarre plot. According to Camino, scientists in a secret lab on Mandoras have kept the disembodied head of Adolf Hitler (Bill Freed) alive in a jar, and under the orders of "Mr. H" they're engaged in a deadly scheme to take over the world and resurrect the Third Reich. The film Madmen of Mandoras received a brief theatrical release in 1963; later, when it was sold to television, the movie (running a brief 74 minutes) was padded with additional sequences, reported shot by a group of film students, that feature a completely different cast and don't at all resemble the shadowy visual style of the original movie. The strange variant television cut of the film gained a cult following under its title, They Saved Hitler's Brain. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Stocker, Audrey Caire, (more)
- 1962
Lassie's Great Adventure is the feature-film version of a three-episode cliffhanger, originally presented on the Lassie television series. It all begins when the faithful collie accompanies his master Timmy (Jon Provost) to the market. While nosing around the vegetables, Lassie wanders into a van, which is promptly locked up. By the time she makes her escape, Lassie is hundreds of miles from home. Meanwhile, Timmy never gives up hope that his beloved Lassie will eventually return. Written by Sumner Long, Lassie's Great Adventure (original title: Lassie's Odyssey) was first telecast February 18, 24, and March 4, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Mob boss Big Jahnchek (Peter Whitney) escapes Federal custody and makes a beeline for his brother Gregory (R. G. Armstrong), who has managed to bury his connection to Big Steve by changing his name to John Gregory and establishing a successful fleet of tuna boats. Motivating Big Steve's getaway is the fact that the $100,000 trust fund of Helen Gregory (Susan Seaforth), whom each brother has at one time or another claimed as his own daughter, is being mismanaged by crooked Franz Moray (Steven Geray). When Moray is murdered, Gregory is charged with the crime, and a disturbing Jahnchek family secret is in danger of being exposed. It is up to Perry Mason to clear Gregory in court and to provide a happy ending for those who truly deserve one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
