Ralph Taeger Movies
- 1982
The deaths of two teenagers alert Quincy (Jack Klugman) to the perils of deceptively harmless "lookalike drugs", which can be legally sold over any pharmacy counter. The crusading coroner is determined to ban these drugs and to punish those merchants who sell them to underaged customers. Unfortunately, neither the law nor human nature can be changed so easily--and it looks as though future tragedies are a foregone conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
After burying his victim in an underground box with a limited air supply, a kidnapper rushes to the location where the ransom is to dropped--only to be killed in a car crash. Racing against time, the police desperately seek out clues as to the victim's whereabouts before his oxygen runs out. Joining the hunt is medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman), who hopes that a discarded piece of apple will provide enough forensic evidence to save a life. This is one of a handful of second-season Quincy, M.E. episodes deemed worthy of two network rerun showings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- PG
In this action movie, based on a Mickey Spillane novel, a globe-trotting adventurer finds himself framed for a $40 million dollar robbery. He is convicted, but manages to escape. He is quickly caught. The authorities give him a choice of options: he can return to the joint, or he can help the CIA free a captive scientist being held hostage on a Caribbean island. He helps the CIA. To get to the dictator-run island, he is forced to marry another CIA agent and impersonate a drug dealer. He must then break into the dictator's fortress where the political prisoners are held. Meanwhile his "wife" is kidnapped by the old Army buddy that framed him. The hero succeeds at both tasks. He then goes looking for the cash so he can prove his innocence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Released theatrically in Europe, Hondo and the Apaches was stitched together from the first two episodes of the Hondo TV series, telecast September 7 and 15, 1967. Ralph Taegar plays the title role of western U.S. Army agent Hondo Lane, with Noah Beery Jr. as sidekick Buffalo Baker. Guest-star Robert Taylor is given top billing, but his participation is secondary to the main plotline: Hondo is told to help make peace with Indian Chief Vittoro (Michael Pate), whose daughter--Hondo's wife--had been killed by the Cavalry. Once the peace pipe is smoked, Hondo must deal with a renegade Native American who threatens the peace by randomly attacking settlers. The original TV series Hondo lasted only 13 weeks, knocked off in the ratings by the competing Star Trek. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In this western adventure, a sheriff prepares to retire and finds himself forced to deal with his past when he is assigned to round up a gang of outlaws comprised of the sons of the man who raised him after his own parents were killed. The sheriff has to kill one of the desperadoes. The other he will transport to jail on the stage coach. He ends up waiting at the station owned by the parents of his ex-lover. The hapless lawman is watched over by a hired gun who is to make sure the sheriff does indeed deliver the criminal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Sullivan, Marilyn Maxwell, (more)
- 1964
This drama tells the true story of one of Broadway's most successful madams in the 1920s. It is loosely based on the autobiography of Polly Adler. The story begins when young Polly is seduced and raped at her job by the sweatshop foreman. When her uncle, with whom she lived, learns of the act, he blames her and tosses her out. She then moves into an apartment owned by a racketeer. It is he who encourages her into her "helping" profession when he gives her money for bringing her pals to a gangster party. Soon she is beginning to build up her own clientele. As her business prospers, she begins to choose nicer locations. Her tiny cathouse becomes a haven for sleazy politicos, mobsters, and businessmen. The madame herself has a passionate romance with a young songwriter and she helps his career. He does not know of her vocation and she eventually breaks up with him to keep his reputation intact. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shelley Winters, Robert Taylor, (more)
- 1964
Written by Bernard Schoenfeld, this moderately amusing Twilight Zone outing stars Wally Cox as nerdish computer technician James Elwood. Falling in love with secretary Millie (Sue Randall aka "Miss Landers" on Leave It to Beaver), Elwood begins receiving romantic advice from a most unlikely source -- his own giant computer "Agnes." Unfortunately, it turns out that Agnes has an agenda of her own. According to some reports, "From Agnes with Love" was intended as a pilot for a Wally Cox TV series; whatever the case, it first aired February 14, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wally Cox, Sue Randall, (more)
Edward Dmytryk brings Harold Robbins' trashy, dirt-dishing Hollywood best-seller to the screen with George Peppard starring as Jonas Cord, a rancidly-sketched portrait of Howard Hughes. In 1925, when his father dies of a stroke, Jonas inherits the Cord Chemical factory, a manufacturer of dynamite and other explosives. Jonas proceeds with several cut-throat transactions, making a settlement with his sexy stepmother Rina (Carroll Baker) and liquidating the stock owned by cowhand Nevada Smith (Alan Ladd, in his final American film role). With the help of Mac McAllister (Lew Ayres), his father's attorney, Jonas builds his father's company into a multi-million dollar business, expanding into plastics and aeronautics. Meanwhile, Rina has become a top fashion model and movie star and Nevada Smith has parlayed his laconic demeanor into a career as a popular silent film cowboy idol. Jonas then marries, then ignores, the well-meaning Monica Winthrop (Elizabeth Ashley), and ruins her father's company in the process. Then, with the advent of sound films, Jonas helps Nevada Smith through the sound film crisis by offering financial backing for a film to star both Nevada and his ex-mother-in-law Rina. Jonas decides to direct the film himself, hoping to seduce Rina. But Jonas's insensitive and egomaniacal behavior causes Monica to leave him. Jonas invests all his time in film production but the alcoholic Rina dies in a car accident. The owners of the film studio -- Bernard B. Norman (Martin Balsam) and Dan Pierce (Robert Cummings) -- want to sell the studio to Jonas but hide the fact that Rina, the studio's biggest star, has died. Jonas buys the studio and when he finds his biggest asset is gone, he goes on a drunken binge. But Jonas quickly meets call girl Jennie Denton (Martha Hyer), who he decides to turn into a superstar modeled upon Rina. Despite having made her a star, Jonas's vile treatment of Jennie repulses both her and his old friend Nevada Smith, and Smith decides it's time to beat some sense into Jonas's head. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Peppard, Alan Ladd, (more)
This oddly technical drama about three test pilots for the X-15 devotes a great deal of time to scientific explanations and militarese, leaving slightly less time to examine the personal lives and motivations of the three pilots. The head honcho among the pilots is Lt. Col. Lee Brandon (Charles Bronson in a good performance), and Mary Tyler Moore makes her first feature-length film appearance as one of the Air Force wives who are in the background of their husbands' careers. Narrated by James Stewart, this drama was released just when the X-15 aircraft was breaking flight records. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David McLean, Charles Bronson, (more)
