Jack Albertson Movies

In this carefree children's adventure, a grandfather and his grandson fulfill the former's life-long dream and embark upon a cross-country ballon flight. Back on the distant ground, the flyers are pursued by the boy's mother, the cops, the Feds, and others. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Terror at Alcatraz indeed! This 1982 TV movie is comprised of two never-shown pilot episodes for the short-lived TV series Fitz and Bones, which was telecast for a couple of months in 1981. Tom and Dick Smothers star as Fitz and Bones, a TV news team with a penchant for getting involved in causes. The main plotline concerns an old man (Tom Ewell) who, disgusted at the ill treatment afforded the elderly in the United States, begins bombing several San Francisco landmarks, including Alcatraz--hence the barely relevant title. A secondary plot (remember that this is a cobbled-together TV movie) concerns a shooting at San Francisco International airport, where the target may have been either the President or a notorious mob boss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, the screenwriters behind the highly successful Alien, turned their attention to earthbound terrors with this creepy horror tale. Dead and Buried focuses on Dan Gillis (James Farentino), a man who has recently returned to his hometown of Potter's Bluff to be its sheriff. His job becomes difficult when a series of strangers who visit Potter's Bluff begin dying in violent and mysterious ways. To make matters worse, his wife, Janet (Melody Anderson), has begun to act strangely, taking an odd interest in voodoo and acting like she might be having an affair. As the murder victims pile up, Gillis discovers that all his troubles have an occult origin that has to do with the town's elderly mortician, Dobbs (Jack Albertson, in his final feature film role). Gillis gets to the bottom of the mystery, only to discover that the truth is much worse than he imagined. Despite effective direction and solid acting, Dead and Buried got lost in the shuffle of the early '80s horror boom and failed to click with the movie-going public. However, it later gained an audience via home video and cable and remains a minor cult favorite today thanks to its singular blend of creepy atmosphere and gruesome shocks. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide

Valentine stars Mary Martin, making her TV movie debut as a septuagenarian, terminally ill widow. She falls in love with Jack Albertson, a 70 year old charmer with a history of breaking female hearts. Casting propriety to the four winds, Martin and Albertson shack up together, then take a picaresque cross-country trip. While there's opportunity aplenty for sticky sentimentality, Mary Martin and Jack Albertson cagily avoid the Obvious in their marvelous portrayals. Unfortunately, they are let down by the condescending script of Valentine, which suggests that the only way for old folks to "think young" is to behave like irresponsible schoolchildren. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Many viewers were astonished (and some were offended!) when the NBC sitcom Chico and the Man returned in the fall of 1977 for its fourth season. After all, how could the show include the name "Chico" in the title when everybody knew that the young comedian who'd played garage mechanic Chico Rodriguez, Freddie Prinze, had killed himself earlier in the year? But both NBC and producer James Komack were grimly determined that the show would go on--even if it meant shoehorning a new and entirely different "Chico" into the proceedings. Filmed at the tail end of the third season but aired as the opening installment of Season Four, the episode "Who's Been Sleeping in My Car" introduces 12-year-old Gabriel Melgar as 11-year-old Mexican orphan Raul Garcia, who stows away in the car of LA garage owner Ed Brown (Jack Albertson) while Ed and his friend Louie (Scatman Crothers) are on a fishing trip in Mexico. Feeling lonely after the death of his former mechanic Chico Rodriguez, the crotchety-but-softhearted Ed decides to adopt Raul--who, fortuitously enough, insists upon being referred to by his nickname "Chico"! Also welcoming Raul with open arms is Ed's landlady Della Rogers (Della Reese), while in a later episode flamboyant South American entertainer Charo joins the cast as Raul's fun-loving Aunt Charo. For the most part, the Ed-Raul teaming doesn't come off, with audiences feeling uncomfortable watching a TV series that, by rights, should have ended with Freddie Prinze's death. Even so, this season yields one of the series' most memorable and moving episodes, the 2-part "Raul Runs Away", which boldly addresses the issue of Gabriel Melgar's inadequacy as a Prinze substitute by having the tearful youngster run back to Mexico when he feels he can't measure up to the memory of the "original" Chico. The episode was not only the only Chico and the Man installment to be filmed rather than videotaped, but was also the only one to be shot on location in Mexico. Despite this high point, Chico and the Man was doomed to extinction at the end of its fourth season, wrapping things up with a finale which finds Ed Brown anxiously preparing for a visit from President Jimmy Carter (not to give anything away, but Carter doesn't appear). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Freddie Prinze (Chico Rodriguez) and Jack Albertson (Ed Brown) are still on hand as the title characters in the warm-hearted ethnic sitcom Chico and the Man as the series enters its second season. Likewise, Scatman Crothers is back in the supporting role of ebullient neighborhood garbage collector Louie Wilson. Missing from the scene this season are such first-series semiregulars as Bonnie Boland, Rodolfo Hoyos and Isaac Ruiz). The one newcomer to the cast is Ronnie Graham (an accomplished farceur and director, then best known as "Mr. Dirt" in a series of popular commercials), as Reverend Bemis, the new curate in the Mexican-American neighborhood where curmudgeonly Ed Brown owns a garage, with Chico as his best (and only) employee. Appearing in guest roles during the season's 24 episodes are impressionist Rich Little in the opener "Paint Job", comedian and future informercial personality Avery Schreiber in "Play Gypsy" and "Misfortune Teller", a post-Star Trek George Takei in "Mister Butterfly" and a pre-Laverne and Shirley Penny Marshall in "Chico and the Van", singer Tony Orlando in "The Big Brush-Off" and the ubiquitous Joey Bishop in "Too Many Crooks". The most unexpected of the guest performers is former silent screen star Carmel Myers in "Bird in a Gilded Cage"; the most prescient is Della Reese, soon to be a series regular in the role of landlady Della Rogers, but for the time being cast as an acerbic judge in "The Juror". Although Chico and the Man still had millions of faithful fans, the series suffered a considerable ratings drop-off during its second season, descending from 3rd to 25th place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced by James Komack (Welcome Back, Kotter), the weekly, half-hour NBC sitcom Chico and the Man was built around the talents of 20-year-old standup comedian Freddie Prinze, who had scored a sensation during his first appearance on The Tonight Show. Born in the LA barrio, the "Hugarican" (Hungarian-Puerto Rican) Prinze based his comedy act upon the eccentricities of various ethnic groups, peppering his routines with such catchphrases as "Looking Goooood" and "Is not MY job!" Cashing in on Prinze's gift for dialects and his inherent likability, producer Komack cast him as Chico Rodriguez, a flamboyant, good-hearted Latino youth who sweet-talked his way into a mechanic's job in the garage owned by crusty Ed Brown, the only Anglo-Saxon in a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood. To help teach Prinze the pacing and rhythm of TV situation comedy, Komack cast Jack Albertson, veteran vaudevillian and Oscar-winning film actor, as Ed Brown. Despite old Ed's grouchiness and disdainful opinion of anyone who spoke with an accent and wasn't lily-white, Chico knew deep down that his boss had a heart of gold--and, of course, he was right. Even before the series debuted on September 13, 1974, Chico and the Man was under fire from several prominent Chicano organizations, who complained that, although Ed's garage was supposed to be in an Mexican-American area, there were no Mexicans in the cast or on the crew. This was quickly remedied when Komack hired two semi-regulars of Mexican descent: Rodolfo Hoyos as Ed's buddy Rudy and (Isaac Ruiz) as Chico's pal Mondo. Also, certain pressure groups complained that the name "Chico" was considered derogatory in many Chicano circles, resulting in a number of hastily added closeups in which Chico Rodriguez explained his true ethnic heritage and the "harmless" origin of his nickname. Finally, the writers were chastised for Ed Brown's occasional racial slurs, and as result such lines as "Get outta here--and take your flies with you" were carefully weeded out of late scripts. Eventually, a handful of African American organizations chimed in with their casting "suggestions", but Komack beat them to the punch by hiring veteran black showman Scatman Crothers to play affable neighborhood garbage collector Louie Wilson. During the second season, only Prinze, Albertson and Crothers remained of the original cast; added to the lineup was Ronny Graham as Reverend Bemis. Season three began with a two-parter introducing Della Reese as Della Rogers, an old "friendly enemy" of Ed Brown's who'd become his landlady. Things proceeded along smoothly thereafter until tragedy struck on January 27, 1977, when Freddie Prinze, who despite his "carefree" TV persona suffered from a variety of personal problems, committed suicide. Since Prinze had already taped most of the season's episodes, his death would not be addressed on the show until the beginning of Season Four (surprisingly those media pundits who assumed that, without Chico, there would be no Season Four for Chico and the Man!) At that time, Ed Brown adopted an 11-year-old Mexican orphan named Raul Garcia (played by 12-year-old Gabriel Melgar), who'd stowed away in Ed's car when he and his pal Louie had gone on a south-of-the-border fishing trip. Conveniently enough, Raul preferred to be called "Chico", enabling the series to retain its title. But audiences, already depressed by the devastating loss of Freddie Prinze, did not warm up to the Ed-Raul combination, nor did the addition to the cast of flamboyant entertainer Charo as Raul's eccentric Aunt Charo help matters any. The final episode of Chico and the Man was telecast on July 21, 1978. Throughout its run, the series had been introduced by a lively theme song, written and performed by Jose Feliciano. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Last seen on Bonanza in the 1968 episode "A Girl Named George," Jack Albertson paid a return visit to the series in the December 5, 1972 episode "The Sound of Loneliness." Albertson is here cast as elderly widower Jonathan May, who goes to great lengths to make sure that two orphan boys will not be separated when the older boy (but not the younger) is adopted by a childless couple. Also in the cast is another frequent Bonanza guest star, John Randolph, this time in the role of Mr. Dawson. "The Sound of Loneliness" was written and directed by series star Michael Landon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this counter-culture melodrama, a youthful hitcher teams up with an aging vagabond on a lonely Southwestern road. The two are given a lift by an unemployed rocker. Soon the three find themselves at odds with assorted "establishment" characters until the old hobo has a fatal heart attack. As he dies, he asks to be buried on his old farm. Unfortunately, the newest owner refuses, so the rocker and the hitcher have the old guy cremated. They then scatter his ashes over the farm. Songs include: "Echos of the Road" (Stu Phillips, Bob Stone), "Electric Ethel" (Murphy and Castleman), and "Flowers For My Bed" (Nino Candido). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Once Upon a Dead Man was the pilot film for the TV series McMillan and Wife. The stars are Rock Hudson as wealthy San Francisco police commissioner Stewart McMillan and Susan Saint James as his inquisitive young wife Sally. The plot at hand starts out with a theft at a charity auction. This snowballs into the disappearance of a an Egyptian sarcophagus. Want to bet that a body will tumble out of that sarcophagus before the film is over? Once Upon a Dead Man was telecast as the first McMillan and Wife episode on September 17, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Dick Ross melodrama stars Anne Baxter as an alcoholic socialite who beats her addiction by finding strength through religion. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

The Bold Ones was the umbrella title given a group of rotating hour-long TV series, which ran from 1969 to 1973. Joining established Bold Ones components The Doctors and The Lawyers in 1970 was The Senator, starring Hal Holbrook as RFK-like Senator Hays Stowe. The pilot for The Senator was A Clear and Present Danger, which first aired March 21, 1970. In this 2-hour "problem drama", Senator Stowe tackles the issue of air pollution after a close friend dies of emphysema. The Emmy-nominated Hal Holbrook, Sharon Acker (as Erin Stowe) and Cindy Eilbacher (as Norma Stowe) carried their roles over to the "Senator" series proper, while Michael Tolan was cast as Stowe's aide Jordan Boyle, the role played in A Clear and Present Danger by Joseph Campanella. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Brother George (Walter Chiari) is the Italian monk who is the only one who knows the secret recipe of a popular liqueur. When he feels the local wine merchant won't give him a fair price, he moves to Australia. He meets Alfredo Brazzi (Jack Albertson) and the two agree to a partnership to make the liqueur. Alfredo is unaware George is a monk and that he sends 50% of the money back to his Italian monastery. Alfredo and his son-in-law Tim (Dave Allen) constantly try to steal the secret recipe. They recruit June (Rowena Wallace) for their underhanded cause, but she falls in love with George, also unaware of his religious calling. Finally, the Italian wine merchant travels to Sydney, willing to make a deal with Brother George. The merchant ends up paying double the price he had previously rejected in this amusing comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide