Lorna Thayer Movies
- 1980
The science-fiction and detective-story genres are combined in the made-for-TV The Aliens are Coming. Tom Mason plays an astrophysicist who is convinced that malevolent extraterrestrials are in our midst. It is Mason's contention that the invaders have assumed human form, in preparation for world conquest (sound familiar?) Originally telecast March 2, 1980, The Aliens are Coming later showed up in an expanded version as a two-parter, shown on NBC over two consecutive weekends. The project began as a TV pilot film titled Alien Force. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Flatbed Annie is played by Annie Potts; her sidekick Sweetiepie, aka Ginny La Rosa, is played by Kim Darby. Annie is a hard-bitten veteran, Sweetiepie a starry-eyed novice. Harry Dean Stanton co-stars as a mean, nasty, awful bad guy who wants to repossess the girls' truck. The plot is further complicated by a gang of hijackers. Fred Willard plays Sweetiepie's hubby, while Arthur Godfrey, of all people, is the lovable Special Guest Star. And they hoped that this thing would graduate into a weekly TV series, did they? Flatbed Annie & Sweetiepie: Lady Truckers was first telecast February 10, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Fresh from her eight-season run on Bewitched, Elizabeth Montgomery embarked upon a whole new career as everyone's favorite TV-movie star in the ABC production Mrs. Sundance. Shamelessly promoted as a sequel to the movie megahit Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the film cast Montgomery as Sundance's schoolteacher widow Etta Place, the role played in the earlier movie by Katherine Ross. Like her outlaw husband, Etta finds herself on the lam from the law, with a $10,000 bounty on her head. Resigned to spending the rest of her life in hiding, Etta is ultimately flushed out by the rumor that Sundance is still very much alive (In truth, the authorities never found Etta Place, and even the date of her death is shrouded in mystery). Lensed on location near Lone Pine, California, the film represented the first on-screen teaming of Elizabeth Montgomery and her real-life future husband Robert Foxworth. Mrs. Sundance premiered January 15, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Photographer Christopher George is mistaken for an assassination target by paid killers. Since the actual victim-to-be is now safe, George cannot count on the protection of the authorities, so he takes it on the lam. He is sheltered by former girlfriend Judy Carne, who is kidnapped and threatened with death for her troubles. George decides to take matters in his own hands when it becomes impossible for him to separate the good guys from the bad. Made for television, Dead Men Tell No Tales would dearly love to be a Hitchcock film; it falls short of this goal, but is diverting fun all the same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Rob (Dick Van Dyke) has thrown his hat in the ring for the local city-councilman election. As part of his campaign, Rob is slated for a TV debate with his opponent, the deceptively nerdy Lincoln Goodheart (Wally Cox). As the telecast progresses, Goodheart proves that he is by far the better candidate -- so much so that Rob is all but prepared to vote for Goodheart himself! The ending of this episode indicates that the producers of The Dick Van Dyke Show were contemplating story possibilities for the series' next season -- even though star Van Dyke had already decided that there would be no next season! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wally Cox, Ann Morgan Guilbert, (more)
- 1963
When she comes to work in a Southern California hospital so she can be near her beloved sister, a nurse finds herself in a sordid situation. Upon her arrival, she learns that her sister inexplicably killed herself. Not believing this for a moment, she enlists the help of her former brother-in-law and soon gets involved with a drug-addicted smuggler engaged in illegally selling babies to childless parents. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
In this curiously Brechtian drama, a government official (Lewis Martin) secretly hires Paladin to bring murder suspect Billy Joe (Martin West) to trial. The reason for the secrecy is that Billy Joe is the son of Paladin's client. Upon capturing Billy Joe, Paladin is unable to turn over boy to the authorities thanks to the interference of a wandering band of saloon bums (male and female). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
The Cartwright boys' fraternal horseplay takes a painful turn when they accidentally injure their hired hand Jebediah Milbank (John Carradine). As Milbank recovers in Ben Cartwright's bedroom, Ben orders his rambunctious sons to tend to Jeb's unfinished responsibilities-and to that end, he dispatches Adam, Hoss and Joe to three different directions. Also appearing are Jena Engstrom as Ann, Claude Johnson as Paul, Denver Pyle as Theodore and John Qualen as Parley. First telecast October 1, 1961, "Springtime" was written by John Furia Jr.. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1961
Now that the U.S. Government has come up with a method to denature industrial alcohol so that it cannot be used in the manufacture of whisky, bootlegger Wally Baltzer (a decidedly pre-Kojak Telly Savalas) orders his chemists to work day night to come up with an antidote. Finally, Baltzer minion Russell Shield (Joseph Wiseman), an embittered cripple determined to "get even" with the world, develops a formula that will reclaim the alcohol and allow business to proceed as usual. Ultimately, Shield utilizes his evil genius to take over Baltzer's business--only to meet his Waterloo in the form of a two-timing woman. (Incidentally, actor Joseph Wiseman's limp is not an affectation, but was the result of an injury sustained during his previous Untouchables appearance in the episode "The Tommy Karpeles Story"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Jack Klugman guest stars as Morton Halas, an unethical but supremely successful criminal lawyer whose services are highly coveted by the Underworld. Now Halas has taken Big Mike Probitch (George Tobias) on as a client--and Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) determined to put Probitch away, no matter how many legal loopholes Halas is able to pull out of thin air. As it turns out, rival gangster Larry Coombs (Martin Landau) succeeds where Ness has failed, filling Probich full of lead while his flunkey Whitey Metz (Gavin McLeod) stabs Big Mike in the back. Almost immediately, Coombs hires Halas to defend him in court--while Ness puts the screws on the sniveling Whitey, hoping to sweat out a confession that will send both Coombs and his "mouthpiece" to the Big House. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Paladin (Richard Boone) is summoned by the US Army to seek out Col. Nunez (Shepperd Strudwick), who had made a name for himself (and not a good one!) during the Civil War. Rumor has it that Nunez and his Native American wife Serafina (Lorna Thayer) have become renegades, aligning themselves with the hostile Apaches. Tracking down Nunez, Paladin finds out that the deranged colonel is arming and training the Indian for an all-out war against the whites--but the gunslinger may not live long enough to relay this information to the authorities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Future Gunsmoke regular Ken Curtis makes a return appearance as Monk, the seedy, unkempt trail bum first introduced in the third-season episode "The Naked Gun". Arriving in San Francisco, Monk once again attaches himself to the reluctant Paladin (Richard Boone), once again seeking out the gunslinger's help. This time, Monk has inherited half of a Frisco saloon, and he wants to live long enough to enjoy his legacy--and, hopefully, to squire the beautiful Augusta (Lorna Thayer). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
The oft-filmed Gene Stratton Porter novel Freckles was given its last screen treatment to date by 20th Century-Fox in 1960. Filmed on location in Northern California, the story concerns the title character, a self-effacing young man, played by Martin West. Though handicapped by a missing hand, Freckles hopes to prove his worth in timber country. He does so by rounding up a gang of lumber thieves headed by Duncan (Jack Lambert). Veteran western heavy Roy Barcroft is effective in the sympathetic role of a timber baron, while Carol Christensen is appealing as Barcroft's daughter and West's love interest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin West, Carol Christensen, (more)
- 1959
Paladin (Richard Boone) rides to Arizona to investigate rumors of the existence of a valuable Indian relic known as the Golden Toad. Along the way, he finds himself in the middle of a bitter turf dispute between a male homesteader named Ben Webster (David White) and a female rancher named Doris Golemon (Lorna Thayer). Ostensibly, the battle is over water rights: in truth however, Ben and Doris are both convinced that they are within arm's reach of the elusive Golden Toad--and they're willing to kill anyone who gets in their way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Grim, almost unbearably intense, I Want To Live is the story of the life and execution of Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward) a perjurer, prostitute, liar and drug addict. The product of a broken home, Graham works as a shill, luring gullible men into crooked card games. She attempts to go straight, marries the wrong man, and has a baby. When her life falls apart, she returns to her former profession and is involved in a murder. Despite her claims of innocence, she is convicted and executed. Robert Wise directs the uniformly fine cast with grim efficiency, telling Graham's story in a series of adroitly crafted scenes that won him a well-deserved Academy Award nomination. However, the film belongs to Susan Hayward who gives a intense, shattering performance without one false note. Her performance is so grimly focused that she is, at times, almost unbearable to watch. The final scenes, which lead up to Graham's execution, are exhausting in their emotional intensity as the audience is spared nothing of Graham's agony, despair and desperation when she finally loses the long battle to save her life. Whether one sees Graham as a murderer or a hapless victim of society, the power and relentless, sordid reality of her story leaves an indelible memory in the mind of the viewer. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, (more)
- 1957
Original slated for release through United Artists, the Wisberg-Yarborough production Women of Pitcairn Island was ultimately distributed by 20th Century-Fox. The film purports to detail the aftermath of the mutiny on the Bounty in the late 18th century. When the last of the male mutineers dies, the wives and daughters of the Bounty crew are left behind to make the best of things on Pitcairn Island. Trouble arises in the form of a band of pirates, who've landed on Pitcairn with the intention of hiding a cache of stolen pearls. After dallying with the ladies, the pirates come to grief by fighting amongst themselves. James Craig hams it up as the bearded pirate captain, while second-billed Lynn Bari seems grimly determined to get the film over with as quickly as possible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Craig, Lynn Bari, (more)
- 1957
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are on the prowl for a man suspected of pulling a holdup. An anonymous tip leads the two detectives to the Full Moon, a cocktail bar which the suspect is known to frequent. But will the crook be scared off by the presence of The Law? Featured in one of his standard old-codger characterizations is William Fawcett, best remembered by baby boomers as grizzled ranch-hand Pete ("who cut his teeth on a branding iron") in the TV series Fury. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
The "Bridey Murphy" craze of the 1950s was the catalyst for I've Lived Before. Jock Mahoney plays a contemporary pilot who survives a plane crash. Upon awakening, he is under the delusion that he is another airman, who died during the first World War. The authorities pass this insistence off as delirium, until Mahoney starts recounting events and intimacies that only the long-dead pilot would know. Ann Harding portrays the ageing former lover of the soul trapped within Mahoney's body. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jock Mahoney, Leigh Snowden, (more)
- 1956
The higher-ups exert a great deal of pressure on Sgt. Friday's boss Captain Donahoe (Walter Sande) to nab the two men who beat city councilman Jeffrey Hanks to death outside a bar. Working on a tip provided by a drunken witness, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) take into custody one Derwin Holbrook--but they've been led up the entirely wrong path. This episode was adapted from the Dragnet radio broadcast of March 15, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Notable only for the presence of former silent film great Chester Conklin, this silly sci-fi flick from legendary producer Roger Corman is a murky blend of alien-invasion fare such as It Came from Outer Space and sundry "animals-run-amok" movies. When an invading alien (possessing far less than a million visual organs) touches down in a desert township outside of Indio, California (in a spacecraft that resembles a kitchen appliance), it begins its plan of world domination by controlling the minds of various animals, which subsequently attack the townspeople. The animal attacks are numerous but dull -- except for a scene of homicidal birds that beat Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds by a full five years (not that Hitch had cause for alarm). ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Birch, Lorna Thayer, (more)
- 1955
With the exception of the vastly superior Caged, Columbia's Women's Prison was the quintessential "babes behind bars" drama of the 1950s. Ida Lupino (who else?) stars as Amelia VanZant, the sadistic supervisor of the titular prison. Unable to establish any sort of relationship with a man, Amelia takes it out on her long-suffering inmates. When prison psychiatrist Clark (Howard Duff) tries to improve conditions for the women, he too is targetted for destruction by the vituperous Ms. VanZant. The cast includes such perennial "hard-boiled dames" as Jan Sterling, Cleo Moore, Audrey Totter, Phyllis Thaxter, Gertrude Michael and Mae Clarke. Not taken very seriously in the first place, Women's Prison was elevated to the level of "high camp" by youthful film buffs of the 1960s and 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ida Lupino, Jan Sterling, (more)
- 1954
Charles Bronson guest stars as a neurologist trying to assess a boy's brain damage with a team of specialists, while the boy's family deals with guilt and anger over the car accident that caused it. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Johnny Mack Brown substitutes brains for brawn during most of Texas City. Cast once more as a U.S. marshal, Johnny investigates when several government gold shipments are hijacked. Someone has been tipping of the outlaws as to when and where the supposedly secret shipments will take place. The principal suspect is dishonorably discharged cavalry officer Kirby (James Ellison), but Johnny has a gut feeling that Kirby is innocent on all counts. Besides, someone has to romance leading lady Lois Hall, and Brown is frankly too mature and portly to handle this aspect of the story. Way down on the cast list as a cavalry sergeant is John Hart, who at the time Texas City was filmed was subbing for Clayton Moore on TV's The Lone Ranger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Mack Brown, James Ellison, (more)
Terrence McNally's stage play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune was a two-character piece, which starred Kathy Bates and F. Murray Abraham on Broadway. Garry Marshall's film version of the McNally play streamlines the title to Frankie and Johnny, expands the dramatis personae to include at least a dozen fascinating characters, and "glamorizes" the decidedly unglamorous Frankie and Johnny in the forms of Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino (their first co-starring stint since Scarface). Purists carped at the changes, but overall the film is likeable enough to transcend these carps. While serving an 18-month sentence on a forgery charge, Johnny (Al Pacino) discovers the joys of cooking and classical literature. Upon his release, he is hired by gruff but good-hearted New York diner owner Nick (played by Garry Marshall "regular" Hector Elizondo). Also working for Nick is a waitress named Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer). When Johnny expresses interest in Frankie, she keeps him at arm's length, her mistrust of men stemming from an unmentioned but obviously traumatic experience in her past. Eventually, however, Frankie and Johnny do get together, their curious relationship setting the stage for a dramatic denouement wherein both lovers bare their souls. The bulk of the original McNally play is concentrated in the film's final 20 minutes; the rest of the picture is a kaleidoscope of comic and poignant vignettes and quick-sketch character studies. Of the newly minted characters, the standout is Nathan Lane in the traditional "gay best friend/severest critic" role: he plays the character so effectively that one forgets he's essentially a cliché. As for the stars, Al Pacino is ideally cast as Johnny, but Michelle Pfeiffer, superb though she is, seems a bit ill at ease as the emotionally tattered Frankie; she totally wins the audience's hearts, however, in the film's memorable bowling-alley sequence. Smoothing over the rough spots in Frankie and Johnny is the evocative musical score by Marvin Hamlisch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
