Jack Weston Movies
Born Jack Weinstein, he began training for the stage at the Cleveland Playhouse at age ten. Weston dropped out of school at 15, working occasionally as a stage actor before serving in World War Two; during the war he often performed with the USO. At war's end he moved to New York and studied at the American Theater Wing, meanwhile working in odd jobs. In 1950 he began getting featured roles on Broadway and TV, then entered movies in 1958; with intermittent breaks, he remained busy in films throughout the next three decades. In the mid '70s he gained new popularity as the star of Neil Simon's play California Suite. He married actress Marge Redmond. ~ All Movie Guide- 1977
The formal title for this TV mini-series was Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue, just in case you might mistake it for William Makepeace Thackeray's 79 Park Avenue. Originally presented in three parts, this adaptation of the Robbins best-seller stars Lesley Ann Warren as Marja Fludjicki, a Depression-era tenement girl who is accused of murdering her drunken stepfather. Part One details how Marja's "crime" was justifiable; she'd been raped by the bounder. Parts Two and Three would trace Marja's progress from teenaged prostitute to elegant, high-priced Park Avenue Madam--and mob mistress. Forced by circumstance into a life of prostitution, Marja marries Las Vegas high-roller Ross Savitch (Marc Singer). Ross is bumped off by the Syndicate, leaving Marja in the lurch. Marja rebounds from tragedy to become a federal witness against the Mob. 79 Park Avenue was first telecast on October 16, 17, and 18, 1977. Though all the names are changed, it isn't hard to discern the Bugsy Siegel story in this video equivalent to eating a whole box of chocolates in one sitting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- G
Elaine May wrote and directed (credits May attempted to have removed after the studio made extensive cuts in the film) this dark and funny comedy about marriage, murder, and money. May also stars as Henrietta, a shy and clumsy wallflower, who is also heir to a large pile of money. Indigent playboy Graham (Walter Matthau), who has squandered his inherited trust fund and needs to get a new source of money, begins to ply his affections upon Henrietta. When his butler (George Rose) recommends that Graham should marry Henrietta and gain control of her funds, Graham borrows money from his miserable uncle (James Coco) and wines and dines Henrietta. Graham's dastardly plan is to marry Henrietta, take her off on a trip to the mountains, and murder her. Graham can then return from her funeral and inherit his wealth. But thrown into his path toward the perfect murder are a collection of Henrietta's loyal -- and not so loyal -- retainers and the small dim light of Graham's own conscience. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Elaine May, (more)
- 1960
It has been ten years since the wife of Munro Dean (George Mitchell) was murdered, and during this period Munro has hired 39 detectives in a futile effort to track down and destroy his wife's killer, an elusive gent named Otto (Jack Weston). The 40th detective turns out to be a young man named William Tyre (James Franciscus), who in his own way is as embittered and frustrated as Dean. The question is whether Tyre will accept the assignment, which will also oblige him to kill Otto once he has found him? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Tony Ryder (Dean Martin) thinks that Katie Robbins (Shirley MacLaine) was the mistress of a recently deceased millionaire. On this fragile plot peg hangs the rest of All in a Night's Work. The millionaire died with a smile on his face, and Tony, who stands to inherit the dead man's publishing business, suspects that Katie, who has been left a fortune, administered the "favors" that pushed the old coot into the great beyond. Katie, wholly innocent, resents Tony's implications and gives him the brush-off. All turns out for the good when Tony realizes that he loves Katie for herself and not for her legacy. It took three writers (five, if you count the authors of the play upon which this film is based) to cook up the tickle-and-tease souffle that we've come to know as All in a Night's Work. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, (more)
- 1972
Archie gets into an argument with Syrian laundry owner Girgis (Jack Weston) when each blames the other for breaking a washing machine. When it becomes clear that neither side will back down, Edith finds herself arbitrating between her husband and the owner. Naturally, Archie is convinced that Edith will decide in his favor -- but don't be too sure that she will put loyalty above honesty. Written by Lee Kalcheim, "Edith the Judge" first aired on February 26, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
- 1987
American Ninja 2: The Confrontation spotlights Michael Dudikoff and Steve James as a pair of combustible U.S. Army Rangers. Dudikoff and James are ordered to find out why so many Marine guards have been disappearing from their posts at the US Embassy in a mythical Carribean country. Turns out that villain Gary Conway has been kidnapping the Marines and forcing an abducted engineer to reprogram the captive Leathernecks so that they'll join Conway's army of zombielike assassins. Naturally, the scientist has a beautiful daughter (Michelle Botes) whom Conway uses as leverage. Battling not only Conway's minions but the corrupt local authorities, martial arts experts Dudikoff and James effectively lay waste to the villain's previously impenetrable stronghold. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Steve James, (more)
- 1966
Jack Weston guest stars as Gladys Kravitz's brother, Louis. A former musical prodigy, Louis gave up the violin after an embarrassing Carnegie Hall debut 30 years earlier. Samantha takes it upon herself to restore Louis' self-confidence. This episode marked the final appearance of Alice Pearce as Gladys Kravitz; Pearce died on March 3, 1966, "Prodigy" aired three months later, on June 9, as the last episode of Bewitched's second season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, (more)
Goldie Hawn won an Oscar for her performance as a Greenwich Village free spirit in Cactus Flower. Middle-aged dentist Winston (Walter Matthau) is enjoying an affair with Toni (Goldie Hawn) but doesn't want to be hemmed in by marriage. He prevails upon his non-glamorous assistant Stephanie (Ingrid Bergman) to pose as his wife so as to keep from campaigning for a ring. Then, to justify his "infidelity," Winston talks his pal (Jack Weston) into pretending to be Stephanie's illicit lover. Flattered by all the attention, Stephanie begins to "doll up." Confronted by a newly gorgeous Stephanie, Winston realizes that his Dream Girl has been right there in his office all along. As for Toni, she ends up in the arms of a writer (Rick Lenz), who has loved her since Reel One. Cactus Flower was adapted by Billy Wilder's frequent collaborator I.A.L. Diamond from the play by Abe Burrows -- which in turn was adapted from a French farce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, (more)
Glitz producer Allan Carr tries to cash in on the late-'70s disco boom with Can't Stop the Music -- a film of such Brobdingnagian banality that it almost in itself stopped the disco movement cold. Comedienne Nancy Walker directed this musical chronicle, purporting to relate the legend of the formation of the disco group The Village People. Valerie Perrine is Samantha Simpson, a helpful ex-model who attempts to get her roommate, Jack Morrell's (Steve Guttenberg), songwriting career off the ground by assembling a motley group of her Greenwich Village friends (The Village People) together to cut a demo tape of Jack's ditties. All Samantha has to do is charm the square lawyer Ron White (Bruce Jenner) in order to get him to listen to The Village People's scintillating disco strains. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valerie Perrine, Ray Simpson, (more)
- 1967
Code Name: Heraclitus is an expanded version of a TV drama first seen in January of 1967 on Bob Hope Chrysler Theatre. Stanley Baker stars as a British spy who investigating the past of Signe Hasso, the widow of secret agent Kurt Kasner. Hasso is suspected of selling cold war secrets to the Communists. To ascertain the truth, it is necessary to "rebuild" Kasner and send his living counterpart behind the Iron Curtain. Though originally advertised in TV Guide as a two-part Chrysler Theatre drama, it appears as though Code Name: Heraclitus was whittled down to 60 minutes for its first telecast, then later released in its uncut form to European movie houses. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In director Richard Lester's Cuba, Sean Connery plays British soldier-of-fortune Robert Dapes, sent to Havana during the last days of the Batista regime. He is supposed to train Batista's soldiers for their upcoming confrontations with Castro's followers. As Dapes becomes increasingly sympathetic towards the rebel cause, he takes a few precious moments to renew his romance with Alexandra Pulido (Brooke Adams), who is now married to Juan Pulido (Chris Sarandon). The basic thrust of the film is that unchecked capitalism is perfectly capable of collapsing under its own weight -- and that lofty idealism can be easily forgotten once absolute power is within one's grasp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Brooke Adams, (more)
- 1973
In this action adventure, five wilderness greenhorns on a hiking trip stumble across the remains of a skyjacker. They also find a fortune in cash. This causes nothing but grief as the greedy quintet battle their way back to civilization. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A teenage girl learns about love, adult responsibility, and how to do The Dirty Boogie in this romantic drama. In 1963, "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey) is a 17-year-old spending the summer with her family at a resort hotel in the Catskills; she plans on being in the Peace Corps next summer, so this is expected to be her last summer as a carefree adolescent. Baby doesn't get along with her older sister, Lisa (Jane Brucker), and she's bored to tears by most of the older guests at the resort. However, one night Baby hears what sounds like a party going on in the employee's dormitory, and she pokes her head in to discover most of the hotel staff enjoying the sort of close dancing that would get you kicked out of the senior prom in no time flat. Baby is particularly struck by handsome Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), a dancer in the resort's floor show, and falls head over heels in love, wanting to be near him. When Johnny's dance partner, Penny (Cynthia Rhodes), finds herself pregnant after a fling with one of the waiters, Baby volunteers to learn her steps and take her place; however, Baby's father, Dr. Jake Houseman (Jerry Orbach), will have none of it, convinced that Johnny is a low life and that his daughter is too young to understand her own feelings. Dirty Dancing was a surprise box-office hit, and the soundtrack album was an even bigger success, spawning several hit singles and inspiring a top-drawing concert tour featuring several of its artists. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, (more)
- 1966
Originally telecast November 26, 1966, Fame is the Name of the Game was the first official entry in NBC-TV "Project 120" series of made-for-TV movies (after two false starts in 1964). Tony Franciosa plays a magazine writer investigating the suicide of a beautiful girl. He uses the girl's address book as a key to piecing together the mystery of her self-destruction--and in so doing discovers that she'd actually been murdered. Advertised as an "original" for television, Fame is the Name of the Game was actually a remake of the 1949 Alan Ladd melodrama Chicago Deadline, right down to the identity of the mystery killer. Jill St. John and Jack Klugman co-star, with Jack Weston, Robert Duvall, Nanette Fabray and Jay C. Flippen popping up in supporting roles. This film served as the pilot for the 1968-71 TV series Name of the Game, with cast members Tony Franciosa and Susan St. James retained for the series proper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Fuzz treads the line between raucous comedy and gut-churning melodrama. Based on an "87th Precinct" novel by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter), the film stars Burt Reynolds and Jack Weston as, respectively, detectives Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer. Their current assignment is to bring in Deaf Man (Yul Brynner), a mad bomber who has been targeting politicians. A subplot concerning a couple of punks who get their kicks by setting fire to sleeping winos is dramatically justified by the main storyline, but it was this element that caused a lot of trouble for the producers of Fuzz when a pair of real-life teenagers decided to imitate the film. On a lighter note, Raquel Welch co-stars as Detective Eileen McHenry, who is obliged to go undercover -- and under covers -- with fellow officer Bert Kling (Tom Skerritt). And as a bonus, viewers are treated to Burt Reynolds' first "drag" scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Jack Weston, (more)
Having created the character of Gator McKlusky in 1973's White Lightning, Burt Reynolds reprises the role in the appropriately titled Gator. Once again, ex-convict McKluskey is strong-armed into helping the feds nab a dangerous criminal, who turns out to be an old high-school chum (Jerry Reed). He is aided and abetted by TV reporter Aggie Maybank (Lauren Hutton) and comedy-relief FBI agent Irving Greenfield (Jack Weston). Talk-show host Mike Douglas makes his film debut as a Jimmy Carter-style governor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Jack Weston, (more)
- 1960
Paladin (Richard Boone) is among those startled when Miss Macintosh (Paula Raymonds) walks into the lobby of the Hotel Carleton and begins firing a rifle. It turns out that Miss Macintosh had been gunning for Rudy Rossback (Jack Weston), the man who killed her brother during the Civil War. Subsequently failing in her efforts to hire Paladin to knock off Rossback, Miss Macintosh then engages the services of a sadistic gunslinger (Ron Soble) who intends to kill both Paladin and Rossback in a grimly unique fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Jack Weston guest stars as Mr. Neal, a poker addict who has lost $500,000 in a marathon card game. Using the last of her money, Mrs. Neal (Betsy Jones-Moreland) hires Paladin (Richard Boone) to join the game, cut Mr. Neal's losses and bring her husband home. But the other players aren't about to give up their prize patsy--not without a bit of bloodshed. Featured in the cast in a "heavy" role is a young Peter Falk, while future perennial game-show celebrity Brett Somers also has a sizeable role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
I Love a Mystery was a campy TV revival of Phillips Lord's old radio series. The three adventure-loving heroes are Jack, Doc and Reggie (Les Crane, David Hartman and Hagan Beggs), insurance investigators hired to tackle a mystery at a remote island mansion. Ida Lupino plays a domineering matriarch whose billionaire husband is missing, and who seems to know more than she's letting on. The mystery's ingredients include the eerie nocturnal sound of a crying baby and a series of related murders and kidnappings. The heroes are occasionally distracted from their work by Lupino's nubile daughters Faith, Hope and Charity (Karen Jensen, Deanna Lund and Melodie Johnson). The script for I Love a Mystery was based on Philips Lord's classic radio serial "The Thing That Cries in the Night," but there's nothing classic or even remotely entertaining about the derisive, patronizing treatment of the source material herein. This made-for-TV "busted pilot" gathered dust for seven years before its 1973 premiere, and not without just cause. A further note: Though Don Knotts is advertised as one of the "stars," he shows up to sputter one miserable line at the end of the film! ~ 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)
This glamorized remake of the 1934 film Imitation of Life bears only a passing resemblance to its source, the best-selling novel by Fannie Hurst. Originally, the heroine was a widowed mother who kept the wolf from the door by setting up a successful pancake business with her black housemaid. In the remake, Lana Turner stars as a would-be actress who is raising her daughter on her own. She chances to meet another single mother at the beach: African-American Juanita Moore. Moore goes to work as Turner's housekeeper, bringing her light-skinned daughter along. As Turner's stage career goes into high gear, Moore is saddled with the responsibility of raising both Turner's daughter and her own. Exposed to the advantages of the white world, Moore's grown-up daughter (Susan Kohner) passes for white, causing her mother a great deal of heartache. Meanwhile, Turner's grown daughter (Sandra Dee), neglected by her mother, seeks comfort in the arms of handsome photographer John Gavin. When Moore dies, her daughter realizes how selfish she's been; simultaneously, Turner awakens to the fact that she hasn't been much of a mother for her own daughter, whose romance has gone down the tubes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lana Turner, John Gavin, (more)
- 1987
- PG13
Considered one of the great box-office turkeys of its decade, Ishtar was an attempt by writer/director Elaine May and stars Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty to do a modern-day road picture in the style of the much-loved Bob Hope and Bing Crosby comedy classics. Beatty is Lyle Rogers, a dimwitted songwriter who befriends and partners with Chuck Clarke (Hoffman), who is only slightly more intelligent but every bit as untalented. Together the duo dreams of becoming a big-time lounge act, but their songs, with titles like "That a Lawnmower Can Do All That," are unintentionally hilarious. Chuck becomes suicidal, but just when it seems they'll never strike it rich, the boys are offered a shady gig at a North African hotel, entertaining U.S. troops stationed in the tiny nation of Ishtar. On their way to accept the job, Lyle, Chuck, and their blind camel are sidetracked by a mysterious woman (Isabelle Adjani) and a scheming CIA agent (Charles Grodin), who are involved in a rebellion against the country's emir. The memorable songs crafted by Chuck and Lyle were written by actor and composer Paul Williams. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, (more)
- 1962
Jerry Lewis stars in this broad slapstick comedy as Lester March, a TV repairman who dreams of some day being a private detective like his friend and role model Mr. Flint (Jesse White). One night, Lester sees a report on television about Cecilia Albright (Mae Questel), the elderly owner of a successful electronics empire. Cecilia is looking for her missing nephew, who will be the heir to her estate, and Lester decides that this is a case he should try to crack. However, when Lester pays a visit to Cecilia's estate, more than one person remarks that he looks an awful lot like the missing person in question -- including Gregory DeWitt (Zachary Scott), Cecilia's money-hungry attorney who would just as soon the nephew not be found so he could have the fortune to himself. Gregory attempts to kill Lester, but he turns out to be much harder to get rid of than anyone expected. It's Only Money was directed by Frank Tashlin, who after directing a number of classic animated shorts for Warner Bros. moved on to live-action films and made several classic Jerry Lewis vehicles, including two features with onetime partner Dean Martin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Lewis, Joan O'Brien, (more)
- 1973
This colorful, lively musical employs a combination of live action and animation to chronicle the great journey of Marco Polo to the mysterious Orient. Much of the story centers on Polo's relationship with the powerful Kublai Khan. Songs include: "By Damn," "Walls," "A Family Man," and "Spaghetti." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
