Joan Swift Movies

In one of their more peculiar assignments, Officers Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) answer a call from an irate homeowner whose meticulously groomed front lawn has been stolen. Elsewhere, the two cops search high and low for a particularly clever car thief. And finally, Pete and Jim set their sights on a brace of young punks who going wild with a cache of stolen credit cards. Among the supporting players is Margaret Field, the mother of Oscar-winner actress Sally Field. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Brainstorm is a somewhat contrived but still well done and frightening thriller written and well-directed by actor William Conrad. Jim Grayam (Jeffrey Hunter) is a young scientist who saves Lorrie Benson (Anne Francis) from committing suicide. They fall in love, but Lorrie's husband Cort Benson (Dana Andrews), who had driven her to the brink of suicide before, discovers that Jim has had a history of mental instability and fabricates obscene phone calls and other actions to create the impression that Jim is unstable. The pair decide to murder Cort, using insanity as a defense. The film has a series of interesting plot twists and a plausible ending, and the performances are generally excellent with Conrad's direction maintaining a good pace and an excellent visual style aided by a good, simple musical score by George Duning. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

This episode of the popular science fiction television series finds the Enterprise battling a contagious form of insanity that has already lead to the devastation of several planets. The starship finds the illness has spread further than initially feared when they discover that nearly all of the population of the planet Deneva -- including Captain Kirk's brother -- has wiped itself out. Further exploration reveals that the insanity is caused by an extraterrestrial parasite, which next infects Mr. Spock. Dr. McCoy must race against time and Spock's growing madness to analyze the creature and find a cure, even if it means sacrificing Spock's life in the process. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Based on filmmaker Samuel Fuller's short-story "Riata," this extremely bloody, excessively violent and long-running western centers on a vengeful sheriff's search for the murderous bank robbers who slaughtered his family. Originally Fuller was the director for the film, but severe artistic differences between himself and the film's star Richard Harris forced the studio execs to put in a new director, Barry Shear. They also dumped the million dollars worth of footage Fuller shot and started from scratch. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

To cover up a 48-cent bank shortage, Lucy (Lucille Ball) secretly takes the missing money out of her own pocket. Unfortunately, when the shortage is revealed, Mr. Cheever (Roy Roberts) becomes convinced that Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) is responsible for the coverup, and promptly fires Mooney. To get her boss' job back, Lucy concocts an elaborate ruse to convince Cheever that he will literally go insane if Mooney is not reinstated! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episode was designed as a lead-in for the CBS special Lucy in London, which aired on October 24, 1966. Having entered the winning jingle for the Arf Arf Dog Food company, Lucy (Lucille Ball) wins first prize: An all-expense-paid trip to London. This being her first overseas flight, Lucy is understandably nervous, which results in a truly bumpy ride for her unwilling travelling companion--Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon). Pat Priest of The Munsters fame is seen as a harried stewardess. The opening "conveyor belt" gag was written by longtime I Love Lucy scriveners Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll Jr., who also penned the script for the Lucy in London special. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tennessee Ernie Ford, who'd made three major guest appearances on the old [#I Love Lucy, is back for more on The Lucy Show. With Mr. Mooney's job in jeopardy unless he can land a big bank account, Lucy (Lucille Ball) tries to persuade millionaire country singer Homer Higgins (Ford) and his singing family (The Bank Porch Majority) to invest their savings in the bank. To expedite this plan, Lucy passes herself and her boss off as the countrified couple Irma and Josh Mooney--and then arranges for the bank to host an after-hours hoedown! Roy Roberts makes his first series appearance in the role of Mooney's boss Mr. Cheever, while Tennessee Ernie Ford sings "The Ladies' Auxiliary Barn Dance." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A bolt of lightning from Grandpa's machinery causes Herman (Fred Gwynne) to become horribly "disfigured"--at least by Munster standards. Specifically, Herman now looks exactly like actor Fred Gwynne without his Munster makeup. Horrified at the prospect of going through life in this fashion, Herman seeks the aid of a plastic surgeon, who turns out to be none other than his old friend Dr. Dudley (previously played by Paul Lynde, and now enacted by Dom DeLuise). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Toward the end of Jerry Lewis's Paramount studio period, Lewis slapped together this bitter comedy about Hollywood phoniness and fame that has to be the most rancid portrait of the Hollywood star system in the Rat Pack era this side of Clifford Odets. When a famous entertainer suddenly is killed in an airplane crash, his team of flunkies -- producer Caryl Fergusson (Everett Sloane), writer Chic Wymore (Phil Harris), press agent Harry Silver (Keenan Wynn), director Morgan Heywood (Peter Lorre in his final film role), valet Bruce Alden (John Carradine), and secretary Ellen Betz (Ina Balin) -- decide to continue their life style by finding a complete unknown and manufacturing him into a Hollywood star. That unknown turns out to be the nervous and inept bellboy Stanley Belt (Jerry Lewis). They train Stanley to become an over-night singing sensation, and despite a disastrous recording session and a failed nightclub performance, the public relations blitz makes Stanley's recording of "I Lost My Heart in a Drive-In Movie" a smash single. So much so that Stanley is given a shot at appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Expecting the worst, Stanley's management team abandons him right before his performance. But Stanley musters up enough confidence to go on the live program alone and manages to surprise his pessimistic ex-staff. A collection of Hollywood celebrities circa 1964 --George Raft, Ed Wynn, Ed Sullivan, Mel Torme, Rhonda Fleming and Hedda Hopper -- make cameo appearances. High spots include an apocalyptic music lesson with voice teacher Dr. Mule-rrr (Hans Conried), Ed Sullivan performing a bizarre impersonation of himself, and an ending that would make even Jean-Luc Godard blush. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide