Harold J. Stone Movies

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

John "The Cropper" Cropsey (Don Gordon) is fed up with doing the dirty work for bootlegger Jules Flack (Harold J. Stone), so he cooks up a plan to go into business for himself. Stealing 50,000 gallons of industrial alcohol, Cropsey sells it to Flack for a cool million bucks. What "The Cropper" doesn't know is that every move he makes is being closely monitored by Elliot Ness (Robert Stack). And there's another small detail: Cropsey is now in business with Belle Alpine (Jeanne Cooper), who hasn't forgotten that Cropsey and Flack were the men who orchestrated the murder of her husband. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western adventure set in a Mexican border town, two prisoners Foster and Pickett (Audie Murphy and Charles Drake), who are chained to a stake, somehow escape with other prisoners. They are led by cruel outlaw Lavalle (Harold J. Stone) who steals $12,000 in securities. Later the two fugitives try to steal the securities from the gang-leader. Unfortunately, they are caught by Lavalle. He holds Foster hostage and sends Pickett to town to cash the securities. The fugitive gives the resulting loot to his ex-girlfriend Estelle (Kathleen Crowley), and returns with nothing. The enraged Lavalle then lets Foster go to get the money. He meets the newly wealthy dance-hall girl who explains that Pickett gave her the money to make up for his losing her life savings gambling. She then grudgingly hands Foster the money. But as he returns to the outlaw lair, he is unaware that Estelle pursues him. Unfortunately, Lavalle sees her, and in the ensuing scuffle Pickett dies trying to protect Foster and the girl. Later the two flee with the angry Lavalle in hot pursuit. In the end, fugitive Foster kills the gang leader. He and Estelle then settle down and lead a peaceful life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After suffering a blow on the head, Phil Townsend (Richard Basehart) awakens to discover that he has long been suffering from amnesia. Realizing that he's slated to be married, Phil rushes to the house of his fiancée, only to discover that he is three years late. Soon afterward, he finds out that he has spent those three years living under the name of David Webber -- and as it happens, "David Webber" is suspected of murdering the wife of his ex-employer. This episode is based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich, previously filmed in 1942 as Street of Chance (with Burgess Meredith as the amnesiac protagonist) and thereafter adapted several times for the radio anthology Suspense. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Boxing manager Barney Jurow (Harold J. Stone) smells a rat when one of his fighters is killed in the ring--and an autopsy reveals that the kid was pumped full of morphine. Unfortunately, Jurow can't go to Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) with his suspicions without running the risk of having his wife (Viveca Lindfors) deported as an illegal alien. So, Barney keeps his mouth shut--but this isn't enough for the mobsters who ordered his boy's death, who proceed to kill the trainer responsible for the doping and framing Jurow for the crime. This episode was originally scheduled to air on April 6, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Riding into a dusty Arkansas town, Paladin is greeted with the spectacle of a man chained in the street. The hapless prisoner turns out to be Dr. Simeon Loving (Donald Randolph), accused of murder by self-appointed "hanging judge" Elroy Greenleaf (Harold J. Stone). At the risk of his own neck, Paladin offers to act as Dr. Loving's defense counsel to save the man from the gallows--even though the wily Judge Greenleaf has pretty much stacked the deck against the prisoner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

FAA investigator Grant Sheckly (Harold J. Stone) is called to the scene when Flight 107 from Buffalo makes an unscheduled landing. Inasmuch as the plane arrived with no luggage, passengers, or crew members, Sheckly really has his work cut out for him. Even allowing for the other-worldy nature of Twilight Zone, this Rod Serling-scripted episode has logic holes one could drive trucks through. Watch for Bing Russell, father of Kurt Russell, in a featured role. Originally filmed for the series' second season, "The Arrival" didn't make its arrival until Season Three, on September 22, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Untouchables launches its second season with one of the series' most celebrated episodes. Elizabeth Montgomery earned an Emmy nomination for her bravura performance as Rusty Heller, a scheming chorus girl who has a personal vendetta against the mobsters who've done her dirt all her life. Using every feminine wile at her disposal, Rusty hopes to use an upcoming gang war between two bootlegging operations to her own advantage by cozying up to the leaders of both operations. Meanwhile, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) hopes to appeal to Rusty's last vestige of decency to enlist her aid in bringing the criminals to justice. Paul Picerni joins the regular cast in the role of "Untouchable" Lee Hobson. Fans of Bewitched will particularly enjoy the now-famous scene in which Elizabeth Montgomery makes passionate love to David White, long before the two actors were cast respectively as Samantha Stevens and Larry Tate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Don Murray stars as a humble cowboy with aspirations for bigger things. He borrows money from his dance-hall girlfriend Lee Remick to buy a ranch, then dumps Remick in favor of banker's daughter Patricia Owens. Murray runs for political office, and in so doing is compelled to join a posse in search of his best friend Stuart Whitman, who has turned rustler. Anxious not to compromise his climb to the top, Murray stands by in silence as Whitman is lynched. In the end, however, Murray regains his essential decency when he is shot while trying to protect his ex-girlfriend Remick from bullying land baron Richard Egan. Based on a novel by A. B. Guthrie Jr., These Thousand Hills may look and sound like a western, but it has "film noir" written all over it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This classic Emmy-nominated episode stars Barbara Bel Geddes as Mary Maloney, the wife of philandering police chief Patrick Maloney (played by former cowboy star Allan Lane, best known to TV fans as the voice of Mister Ed). When Patrick comes home to tell his wife that he is leaving her for another woman, the outraged Mary clubs her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb. She then calls the police to announce that she has come home to find her husband dead, with no murder weapon in sight. Eventually the cops arrive to comb the Maloney apartment for evidence -- little realizing that the solution to the crime is literally under their noses. Arguably the most famous Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode of all, "Lamb to the Slaughter" is one of those rare murder yarns which can be enjoyed repeatedly even after the viewer knows the outcome. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide