Robert Wagner Movies

The anguished testimony of ex-prisoners-of-war is often pushed to the margins of military history and effectively silenced -- something that no one wants to hear about, much less look at. But now, Oscar- and Emmy-winning producer Arnold Shapiro re-visits the hellish ordeals of captured U.S. soldiers in this third and final episode of his Trilogy of Tribute. Drawing on personal testimony and gut-wrenching, never-before-seen archival footage, Shapiro and director Carol L. Fleisher focus on the stories of nine men in three different wars -- World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam. In frank discussions of their capture, surrender, torture, and survival in places ranging from the dark forests of Southeast Asia to the agricultural fields of France, these ordinary soldiers bear witness to the amazing strength that carried them through unimaginable hardship. ~ Sarah Welsh, All Movie Guide

First telecast on September 21, 1985, the 2-hour pilot for the TV series Lime Street stars Robert Wagner as James Greyson Culver, an investigator for a prestigious London insurance company. His assignment is to get to the bottom of a plot to assassinate the royal family of a British principality. With three successful previous series to his credit, Wagner was money in the bank to Lime Street, which at its inception seemed a shoe-in for a long run. But the series was doomed before its premiere by an unforeseen tragedy. Wagner's daughter was to have been played by Samantha Smith, a young girl who'd risen to fame by writing a friendly letter to Soviet boss Yuri Andropov. Alas, just one month before the premiere of Lime Street, Smith was killed in a plane crash. Only four episodes of Lime Street had been filmed; out of respect for Samantha Smith, star Robert Wagner and the ABC network agreed to shut down production forever. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Teri Garr and Robert Wagner play a cafe owner and nightclub singer who vacation in Lisbon in 1940. They discover and attempt to waylay a Nazi plot to kidnap the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Roger O. Hirson wrote the teleplay, which he adapted from the novel by Harry Patterson (the pseudonym of Jack Higgins). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

In this interesting drama based on a novel by Robert Cormier, flashbacks to two different periods of time mixed with scenes from the present slowly unveil the mysterious circumstances surrounding a lonely teen (Robert MacNaughton) who meets regularly with a psychiatrist delving into his past. The boy is in an institution and often rides around the grounds on his bicycle, pretending that the guards, groundskeepers, and personnel are his enemies. As the psychiatrist probes deeper, more of the boy's family's past comes to light. His father (Don Murray) had been a successful journalist until he testified in a criminal court case that made him a target of assassins -- and so he faked his death in an accident, changed his name, and moved out to Vermont. He never told his son who he was, and when he and his wife (Hope Lange) are killed one day in an "accident" the boy sees it and goes into shock. Now as he continues in his treatments at the institution, he begins to suspect that his psychiatrist and the institution's staff are, in fact, his father's enemies and orchestrated the assassination of his parents. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Two years after the death of Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards tried to exhume his corpse in this pastiche of clips and out-takes from the old Pink Panther films. The plot concerns the legendary "Pink Panther" diamond which is once more stolen. Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) is again enlisted to find the stolen bauble. When he follows the trail of the diamond to another country, he leaves on an airplane that is soon reported missing. Television reporter Marie Jouvet (Joanna Lumley) then sets out to interview old acquaintances and associates of Clouseau, including Lady Litton (Capucine), Inspector Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) and Sir Charles Litton (David Niven), who recall their experiences with the bumbling inspector. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This martial arts action film is about Tom, a man conned into joining the CIA and then forced into fighting against it when his ethics lead him to protect those connected with an exposé of the agency. Danny has written the exposé and when he is taken into custody by the CIA, Tom sees his partner kill off an innocent witness -- and decides to join forces with Danny's side. From that moment onward, there are chase scenes and martial arts displays, as Tom and Danny's sister and the accusatory manuscript all fight for survival. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Season Two of the lighthearted adventure-mystery series Hart to Hart opens with Jennifer Hart (Stefanie Powers, the glamorous journalist wife of millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner), once more mired in peril when she comes to the rescue of a bride whose new husband has vanished and left both ladies at the mercy of mobsters. Then it is Jonathan's turn to look death in the face when he witnesses a murder, only to promptly develop amnesia--forcing the killer to cook up an appropriate demise for Jonathan lest his memory come back. Later, the Harts' gravel-voiced chauffeur Max (Lionel Stander), forever unlucky in matters of the heart, gets bollixed up in a sinister scheme involving a stolen necklace when his supposedly dead wife shows up hale and hearty after 10 years. And the Harts' pet dog Freeway is the unwitting catalyst of a plot revolving around a secret formula and a mad doctor. Other episode highlights this season include "This Lady is Murder", in which Jennifer is mistaken for her lookalike Dominique (also Stefanie Powers) by a gang of cutthroats; and "Murder in Paradise, wherein series star Powers is reunited with her former Girl From UNCLE vis-à-vis Noel Harrison. Robert Wagner gets to show off his versatility when he impersonates a cold-blooded hit man in "Murder is a Drag"; and both stars adopt disguises in another episode to trap a band of counterfeiters. The season ends when, while cleaning up after a robbery in their absence, Mr. and Mrs. Hart discover a hidden vault in the recesses of their home--only to be promptly sealed up inside. Just another average day in the lives of Jonathan and Jennifer Hart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No sooner have millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his journalist wife Jennifer (Stefanie Powers) have been introduced in the feature-length pilot episode of Hart to Hart than the couple is indulging in their favorite hobby, amateur sleuthing; it's all for a good cause of course, inasmuch as the Harts are hoping to solve the murder of an old friend at a so-called health spa. One week after the pilot aired on ABC, the Hart to Hart series proper got under way with its first 22 episodes. Frequently in harm's way during this inaugural season is the glamorous Jennifer Hart, who in the official season opener is targeted for death by a person claiming to be her cousin; a few weeks later, a looney lady (Kathleen Lloyd) who has long fantasized about being Jennifer decides to eliminate the "original"; and further down the line, Jennifer unwittingly signs her own death warrant when she commissions a portrait of herself. Both Jennifer and Jonathan are neck-deep in peril on several occasions, usually when they try to get away for a bit of rest and relaxation: for example, a vacation in Mexico goes sour when the Harts find themselves fugitives from both the local constabulary and a gang of drug dealers; a skiing weekend in Vail goes downhill when Jonathan and Jennifer are marked for death by electrocution; and a luxury cruise culminates with the Harts stuck in the middle of a blood feud between two rival teams of jewel thieves! And on separate occasions, an antique auto and a Buddha statue plunge the protagonists into the world of international espionage. In other adventures, the Harts adopt clever disguises to hunt down a killer of prostitutes; Madelyn Rhue guest stars as the latest girlfriend of the Harts' crusty chauffeur Max (Lionel Stander), and like most of Max's amours she turns out to be a crook; Jonathan is forced into a "duel a mort" with a sadistic fencing champ; the couple's pet dog Freeway dashes off to parts unknown with vital murder evidence clamped between his teeth; and a psychic employee of Hart industries bids fair to send Jonathan and Jennifer to the next world a bit ahead of schedule. Somehow or other, Jonathan and Jennifer survive to appear in the season finale, which concerns a scheming playboy who literally "plays" people like chess pieces. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Critical List divides its four-hour running time between a big city hospital and a courtroom where the hospital heads are battling numerous malpractice suits. Medical director Lloyd Bridges is obliged to juggle the travails at the hospital with his own deteriorating marriage. Prosecutor Buddy Ebsen seems obsessed with bring medicos to justice; his reasons are deep and complex. Prosecutor's assistant Barbara Parkins compromises her objectivity of entering into a romance with Bridges. And head doctor Robert Wagner has a colorful past that he'd like to keep buried. The story concludes with a major health-fund scandal that threatens Bridges' appointment as the first Secretary of National Health. Advertised as a "world premiere movie", Critical List was actually two TV-series pilot films strung together. Both were based on novels by Marshall Goldberg MD. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This TV adaptation of Tennessee Williams' prize-winning play stars Robert Wagner as Brick, a college sports champion who hasn't made it in the real world, and Natalie Wood as Brick's wife Maggie, the sexually frustrated "cat" of the title. Brick and Maggie are staying at the home of Brick's wealthy parents, Big Daddy and Big Mama, as are Brick's successful brother Gooper and Gooper's eternally pregnant wife Mae. Big Daddy (Laurence Olivier) has been seriously ill, thus his offspring are concerned over the size of their inheritance. It has been hinted that Big Daddy will leave his fortune to Brick provided Maggie produces a child, but the marriage has been plagued by Brick's refusal to sleep with his wife, and by a dark secret in Brick's past life that has brought about impotence and alcoholism. The reason for Brick's insecurity is his past friendship with school buddy Skipper, a homosexual who'd committed suicide. Brick believes that Big Daddy is convinced that Brick and Skipper "had sodomy together", and Gooper delights in taunting Brick over this. Big Mama learns that Big Daddy has inoperable cancer, and determines to keep the truth from her husband. She also knows that Brick is Big Daddy's favorite son, thus rejects Gooper's cold-blooded attempts to set up a trusteeship for Big Daddy's estate. In the final scene, Maggie lies to Big Daddy that she is pregnant, and Big Daddy (unaware of his imminent doom) chooses to believe her. Brick will get the estate, and Maggie will hopefully convince her husband to makes theirs a "real" marriage. A made-for-TV production, the 1976 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is more sexually explicit than the censor-ridden 1958 Hollywood version, but isn't quite as strong dramatically despite its powerhouse cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV film, a screenwriter (Robert Wagner) begins writing the biography of the dead movie queen who had a brief affair with his father. After work on the project has commenced, he becomes obsessed with her spirit and gets a response from the other side of the grave. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

They've Kidnapped Anne Benedict is the rerun title for the made-for-TV movie The Abduction of St. Anne. Robert Wagner stars as detective who is hired by Vatican for $100,000. It's his job to find out if it's true that a mobster's 17-year-old daughter (Kathleen Quinlan) has miraculous and healing powers. If the rumors are fact, Wagner is expected to kidnap the girl on behalf of the Church, with the help of bishop E.G. Marshall. Before the film runs its course, all three principals--Wagner, Marshall, and Quinlan--find themselves up to their necks in life-threatening peril. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide