Raleigh Bond Movies

This lightweight and slightly ribald comedy marks the feature film debut of Elvira (Cassandra Peterson), a buxom seductress best known for hosting a popular syndicated television show that features wonderfully bad old horror movies. After losing her latest job for refusing to sleep with her new boss, Elvira tries to launch a Vegas career. Just before that scheme falls flat, she finds salvation when an aunt dies and leaves her a huge old New England mansion. When the black-clad and sexy Elvira, with her flamboyant make-up and acres of cleavage hit the town, she creates an instant scandal amongst the old folks and inspires lusty dreams in the minds of the young. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In any other circumstances, the biggest news occurring in the fourth and final season of Scarecrow and Mrs. King would be the promotion from recurring to regular player of Raleigh Bond in the role of T.P. Aquinas, the chief source of top-secret information for peripatetic espionage agent Lee "Scarecrow" Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner). Instead, this tidbit is eclipsed by several far more significant developments, beginning with the two-part season opener, in which Lee tells his fellow spy Amanda King (Kate Jackson) something the audience has known for years--that he is in love with her. Typically, this admission is made at a time when both Lee and Amanda are up to their necks in danger, and the situation hasn't improved much in the subsequent episode "Night Crawler", in which , while trapped by Arab kidnappers, Lee asks Amanda to become his wife. The couple is finally married in the appropriately titled "Do You Take This Spy?", but for reasons of security they have to keep their wedding a secret--even from Amanda's children and her inquisitive mom Dotty (Beverly Garland). Sadly, the marriage of "Scarecrow" and Mrs. King marks the beginning of the end of the series, and not simply because that the air of sexual tension and anticipation has been dissipated. In the middle of the shooting schedule, Kate Jackson had to undergo cancer surgery, and thereafter a slow and tortuous recovery. As a result, Amanda King is virtually written out of the series that bears her name in the title. The scripters contrive to have Amanda shot and wounded while on her honeymoon, obliging Lee to carry out his next few missions in the company of his former partner, Francine Desmond (Martha Smith). Although viewers understood the circumstance that required Kate Jackson to be absent from most of the final episodes, they dolefully concluded that "Scarecrow" without Mrs. King was H2 without the O, and the series was quietly cancelled. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Joan Collins tops the cast of the made-for-TV The Making of a Male Model. No, silly: Joan doesn't play the title role. Rather, she is cast as the barracudalike owner of a top modelling agency, while Jon-Erik Hexum (at the time, a real-life male model) costars as a Nevada rancher whom Joan selects for stardom-or, if you prefer, hunkdom. Watch for Rosemary Stack, the wife of actor Robert Stack, in a juicy cameo as Collins' chief rival. Making of a Male Model was originally telecast October 9, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Divided into four separate independent films originally made as a television pilot, Nightmares begins with "Terror in Topanga," a story about a young woman who goes out one night to buy a pack of cigarettes, knowing full well that the infamous "canyon killer" is on the loose -- and sure enough, a subtly menacing store clerk (Anthony James) begins to loom large in the woman's journey. The second story, "Bishop of Battle" is a sequence with animation that details the saga of a video games champion who comes up against a supernatural opponent. The next vignette, "The Benediction" is about a priest who gives up on his faith and takes off down the highway, only to be confronted with a demonic minivan and good reasons for remaining a believer. The last story, "Night of the Rat" has the rodent that ate Manhattan looming large over the home of a young couple, but never fear, the husband is blasé enough to handle anything, or so he thinks. As might be expected, the low-budget production and facetious scripting of a few of these sequences work against the intended scary effect of the stories. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Frank's army buddy Bullets (Robert Hogan) arranges for the unemployed Laverne (Penny Marshall) to get a job at Ajax Aerospace. At first, her new responsibilities prove to be a bit on the dull side--but all this changes when Laverne gets herself inextricably encased in a top-secret "antigravity" suit. Charles Fleischer, best known as the voice of cartoon star Roger Rabbit, makes his first appearance as Laverne's wacked-out boyfriend Chuck. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This 1981 sequel to the 1979 made-for-TVer Goldie and the Boxer once again stars O.J. Simpson and Melissa Michaelsen as, respectively, boxer Joe Gallegher and Joe's 10-year-old manager Goldie Kellog. When Joe incurs the wrath of an evil promoter, he and Goldie high-tail it to Hollywood. They take refuge in the home of Babe (Stubby Kaye) and Cuddles (Sheila MacRae) a pair of Tinseltown "fringies" distantly related to Joe's trainer Wally (Jack Gilford, taking over for the first film's Phil Silvers). Produced by Orenthal Productions (guess who ran that company?), Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood first aired February 19, 1981. It has been rerun incessantly since June of 1994, thanks to the latter-day notoriety of star O. J. Simpson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bob Rafelson's remake of 1946's The Postman Always Rings Twice, with a screenplay by the award-winning playwright David Mamet, stars Jack Nicholson as Frank Chambers, a depression-era drifter who ends up at a diner run by Nick Papadakis (John Colicos), who offers Frank a job. Frank takes him up on the offer, but quickly begins a torrid affair with Nick's wife Cora (Jessica Lange). The adulterous lovers soon hatch a plan to kill Nick and share in the insurance payout. The second big-screen adaptation of the James M. Cain novel, the film garnered a certain degree of notoriety for the explicit sex scenes between Lange and Nicholson. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

In order to pay for college, Tommy (Philip McKeon) takes a night job as a singer in a non-alcoholic bar. Unfortunately, Tommy's nocturnal duties are so demanding that he begins cutting classes in the daytime, prompting Alice (Linda Lavin) to take a hand in matters. This proves disastrous for both mother and son when Alice's well-meaning interference ends up getting her fired. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

If he wants to escort the (latest) girl of his dreams to the school Valentine's Day dance, Tommy (Philip McKeon) must get hold of a tuxedo. Of course, this requires money, and Tommy has next to none of that commodity. Alice (Linda Lavin) and the girls join forces to help the boy get his wish--and then disaster befalls both Tommy and tux. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

TV sitcom icon Eve Arden appears as a pscyhologist who runs a TV talk show for teenagers. Everyone at the diner is delighted when Tommy (Philip McKeon) appears on the show to air his opinions. But "delight" is not the operative word when the boy spends his air time telling embarrassing tales about his elders--including his mom Alice (Linda Lavin). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this feature-length TV series pilot, Andy Griffith stars as maverick junk dealer Harry Broderick (evidently a pun on Harry Brock, the junk-king villain of Garson Kanin's play Born Yesterday. Figuring that NASA has left millions of dollars' worth of discarded equipment on the moon, Harry hits upon a scheme to retrieve the paraphernalia and turn over a huge profit. Together with his youthful assistants Skip (Joel Higgins) and Melanie (Trish Stewart), Harry assembles his own ramshackle space ship and blasts off to the moon. Though the takeoff, landing, and Lunar scavenger hunt prove to be successful, getting back to Earth may not exactly be a bowl of cherries--or even scrap iron. Salvage made its ABC network bow on January 20, 1979, one week before the official premiere of the weekly series (renamed Salvage 1). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Adapted for the screen by novelist Joseph Wambaugh himself, The Black Marble stars Robert Foxworth as a burned-out, hard-drinking cop who is teamed with idealistic lady officer Paula Prentiss. These two polar opposites wade their way through a seamy urban world of corruption and hopelessness. The film is peppered with supporting players, of which include Harry Dean Stanton, James Woods, John Hancock and Barbara Babcock. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi