Jeff Thompson Movies
- 1973
Filmed in the late 1960s, The All-American Boy was finally afforded a release in 1973, after its star Jon Voight had risen to worldwide prominence. Voight plays a young boxer who never has, and never will, achieve fame in the ring. Rather than find a new role in life, he prefers to hang around his old buddies, all losers like himself. Two hours too long, The All-American Boy carries "Age of Aquarius" disenfranchisement to the Nth degree. The film's main appeal lies in its cast: Jon Voight, Anne Archer, Rosalind Cash, Jeanne Cooper, Leigh French, Art Metrano and Jaye P. Morgan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Dina Merrill, who'd played a crime victim in the very first episode of The F.B.I., returns on the opposite side of the law as glamorous con artist Christine Minson. With the help of a male accomplice, Christine has masterminded a scam whereby gullible Dan Wheaton (Richard Anderson) will pay a fortune for some phony historical documents. The scheme begins to unravel when, against her better judgment, Christine falls in love with Wheaton. Featured in the cast is future Hill St. Blues star Daniel J. Travanti, here billed as Dan Travanty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Hooterville is thrown into a tizzy when Dr. Janet Craig (June Lockhart) announces her plan to leave town in order to study with a noted neurologist. In a twinkling, everybody in the Valley has cooked up a scheme to keep her from going, ranging from feeble attempts at matchmaking to phony illnesses. The title of this episode Petticoat Junction refers to a last-minute surprise revelation involving new parents Betty Jo and Steve--which, even more surprisingly, is not followed up at all during the subsequent season! Linda Kaye Henning (Betty) and Mike Minor (Steve) sing "No Two People." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- R
Barry Newman stars as Tony Petrocelli, a maverick Midwestern attorney. Petrocelli is hired to defend a wealthy doctor (Robert Colbert), accused of murdering his wife. In the tradition of Sam Sheppard, the truculent doctor insists that the killing was committed by a mystery intruder who knocked him unconscious. Thanks to the doctor's healthy extramarital life, the case receives a surfeit of negative press coverage. Since he's already been tried by the public, it comes as little surprise to the doctor that he's found guilty. But during the appeal process, Petrocelli manages to locate a witness who opens the possibility that the murderer was the husband of the doctor's mistress. Five years after the theatrical release of The Lawyer, Barry Newman would star in a TV-series spin-off, Petrocelli. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Newman, Harold Gould, (more)
- 1955
The jewel in the crown of the TV anthology Disneyland's first season was the phenominally successful three-part miniseries Davy Crockett, an entertaining mixture of fact and legend surrounding fabled frontiersman Davy Crockett (Fess Parker). All three episodes were originally introduced with series host-producer Walt Disney reading a chapter from Davy Crockett's Journal, whereupon a series of semi-animated tableaux faded into the live-action portion of the program. In Episode Two, Davy hopes to live a peaceful life as a farmer with his wife Polly (Helene Stanley) and their kids, but his old pal Georgie Russell (Buddy Ebsen) convinces him to head to Tennessee in search of more "elbow room." After routing a local bully and crook named Big Foot Mason (Mike Mazurki), Davy is asked to run for office, but he refuses--until word arrives that his wife Polly has died. Now bereft of marital ties, Davy is elected to the Nashville Legislature, then goes on to Congress under the patronage of his old commanding officer (and current presidential candidate) Andrew Jackson (Basil Ruysdael). But when he realizes he's being used by Jackson as a cat's-paw to rob the Indians of their land, Davy quits politics in disgust and returns to the Great Outdoors. In 1955, the three Emmy-winning Davy Crockett episodes were re-edited and released as the theatrical feature Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Cashing in on the surprise success of his 1954 Davy Crockett TV miniseries (first presented on the weekly anthology Disneyland), Walt Disney assembled the three hour-long "Crockett" episodes into a 93 minute theatrical feature. While the re-editing process has created a few noticeable continuity gaps, the results are by and large satisfying: certainly audiences in 1955 were satisfied, if box office returns are any indication (and, of course, they are). Fess Parker plays Davy Crockett, Tennessee-born frontiersman, while Buddy Ebsen (Disney's original choice for Crockett) co-stars as Davy's sidekick George Russell. The film is divided into three long episodes, each separated by a title card. Part one shows Crockett the Indian fighter (politically correct? Of course not!); part two finds Davy winning a seat in the Nashville legislature, where his heroism is rather cynically exploited by presidential candidate Andrew Jackson (Basil Ruysdael); and part three concludes at the Alamo, with a discreet cutaway just before Davy meets his doom at the hands of Mexican general Santa Anna. Also appearing in this jerry-built film are Hans Conried as Thimblerig and Helene Stanley as Davy's wife Polly. And who could forget "The Ballad of Davy Crockett"--not to mention those neato coonskin caps? Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier was followed in 1956 by a "prequel" (likewise cobbled together from three Disneyland episodes), Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fess Parker, Buddy Ebsen, (more)
