Harold J. Stone Movies

Things get personal for Lt. Kojak (Telly Savalas) when an undercover cop is found murdered, gangland style. Figuratively tossing the rule book out the window, Kojak sets his sights on bringing elusive crime boss Franco "Six Bits" Donatello (Harold J. Stone) to justice. Actress Diana Hyland, whose stellar career was tragically cut short by cancer one year after "A Grave Too Soon" first aired on March 7, 1976, plays a key role in this final episode of Kojak's third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jim Rockford (James Garner) is hired by former countess Deborah Ryder (Susan Strasberg), who is being blackmailed about her less-than-savory past by Carl Brego (Dick Gautier). After filming Deborah meeting Brego at the drop-off point, Jim confronts the blackmailer and "leans" on him a little to persuade him to get lost. You guessed it: Brego later turns up dead, and Rockford finds himself facing a murder rap. Tom Atkins makes his first series appearance as police lieutenant Alex Diehl, who here as elsewhere would give anything to throw Rockford in the slammer for keeps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Upon his return from Vietnam, ex-POW Mike Doyle (Cliff Potts) is certain that he sees his police-officer father (Warren Kemmerling) waiting for him at the airport--just before disappearing in the crowd. But the Commissioner (Gene Lyons), and everyone else who knows and cares about Mike, insists that the elder Doyle was killed in a car crash two years earlier. Worried that he is losing his mind, Mike conducts a frantic search for his father...while Ironside (Raymond Burr), who knows the whole truth about the father's reported "death" but is honor-bound to remain silent, tries to prevent the hapless veteran from going off the deep end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lynda Day George joins the Mission:Impossible cast as agent Lisa Casey in the episode entitled "Blind." Guest star Tom Bosley is cast as government undercover operative Henry Matula, who has been infiltrated into the criminal empire of John Lawton (Harold J. Stone), and is in line for a Syndicate promotion. To protect Matula's cover, Phelps must take extreme measures to pose as a discredited, and blind, FBI agent. This episode was written by Arthur Weiss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a crime correspondent reports his findings at a Congressional committee hearing on addictive drugs. Later he finds himself entangled with a self-destructive, drug-addicted young girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A Florida numbers racket is Ground Zero for a bitter turf war between two mob families. Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) hopes that the battle will result in a rift in Mob security that will enable the FBI to smash the racket and bring several elusive criminals to justice. The guest cast is a 1960s TV buff's dream, ranging from veteran tough guys Harold J. Stone and Don Gordon to voluptuous starlet Francine York. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An undercover U.S. intelligence agent arranges for Hogan and his crew to be smuggled into Berlin. Disguised as members of a hospital staff, the heroes are ordered to kidnap a British defector before he reveals top-secret information to the Nazis. The supporting cast includes such frequent Hogan's Heroes drop-ins as Harold J. Stone (as Major Teppel), John Stephenson (Decker), and Edward Knight (Gestapo Major Metzger). Written by Laurence Marks, "Bad Day in Berlin" first aired on December 7, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Schlockmeister Roger Corman produced this graphically violent chronicle of the Chicago gangster wars of the 1920s and the events that lead to the bloody title showdown between rival mobsters Al Capone (Jason Robards) and Bugs Moran (Ralph Meeker) that marked a brutal end to a terrifying era. Fred Steiner's film score is effectively mixed with popular songs from the 1920s, and the re-creation of gangster-era Chicago is a credit to the set designers. Historic and insightful narration is dramatically provided by Paul Frees, giving the film the flavor of a docudrama. Jean Hale plays Moran's gun moll, who is mercilessly kneed in the stomach while arguing over a fur coat. Though The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was heralded by critics at the time of its initial release, their opinion of the film has changed with each decade as they waver on the cinematic value of all of Corman's work. Audiences continue to relish the film, which is often shown on the anniversary of the bloody executions. Watch for Jack Nicholson as one of the unfortunate victims. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Affair with a Killer stars Stephen Young as Nick King and Austin Willis as Admiral Fox. King is a security agent, assigned to patrol the St. Lawrence Seaway by Fox, the head of the Ship Owners Association. Right now they must contend with a ruthless US/Canadian dope ring. Affair with a Killer was culled from two episodes of the Canadian TV series Seaway, which ran in 1965 and was thereafter syndicated to the US. It is one of two ersatz Seaway feature films; the other was the less-lurid-than-its-title Don't Forget to Wipe the Blood Off. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Harold J. Stone guest stars as Alexi Gregor Dubov, an eccentric painter who has arrived on the island to escape civilization. It turns out that Dubov has a short-wave radio transmitter--but he has no intention of using it to help the castaways get of the island. In an effort to force Dubov to contact the mainland, the castaways devise a devastating blow to the painter's ego by convincing him that goofy Gilligan (Bob Denver) is an artistic genius. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) is aboard the newly-launched submarine Neptune, a sister-ship to the Seaview, for her shakedown cruise. The ship detects the presence of an unusual radioactive ore and the admiral and crewman Fowler go on a dive to investigate. Soon after leaving the ship, they see it approached, engulfed, and destroyed by a gigantic, jellyfish-like coelenterate. Making for the surface, the two men find themselves alone in mid-ocean on a sea filled with smaller versions of the same creature, which carry a painful and poisonous sting. Nelson makes a valiant effort to keep them both alive but Fowler succumbs during a storm that sweeps the area. Meanwhile, the loss of the Neptune results in an ocean-wide search for survivors under the command of Admiral Jiggs Starke (Harold J. Stone), an old friend of Nelson's but also a fierce martinet of a man. He gets the Seaview temporarily commissioned into the regular navy and comes aboard, intending to use it as his flagship -- but he immediately butts heads with the sub's captain, Commander Lee Crane (David Hedison), over the latter's more modern approach to command. While they square off over their philosophical differences, Nelson is rescued at sea. The sub makes a stop to pick him up, because he wants to return to the scene of the wreck and find the coelenterate before it can attack any other ships. Crane can't help notice, however, that Nelson is acting very strangely, at times even irrationally. His behavior -- which seems to match the symptoms that the ship's doctor (Richard Bull) has connected with fatal radiation poisoning derived from those smaller jellyfish -- and Stark's interference with Crane's command of the Seaview come to a head just as the sub's balast controls are jammed, and the coelentarate starts stalking the Seaview. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

A gang of four criminals-three men, one women-kidnap Ben and hold him for a $100,000 ransom. Tension mounts as Ben tries to formulate an escape plan by turning the crooks against each other. The guest cast includes Harold J. Stone as Chad, Jacqueline Scott as Willa, and Conlan Carter as Tip. Written by Donn Mullally, "The Hostage" originally aired on September 27, 1964 without commercial interruption, as part of an agreement between the Bonanza producers and their longtime sponsor Chevrolet to air one episode per season sans interior ads. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide