Mike Witney Movies

Retrograde even at the time of its 1980 release, this filmed version of the mid-'70s play by the same title stars Tom Smothers as Timothy Westerby, the bumbling father of the bride, and his imaginary dance partner, Polly (Twiggy). Events of the chaotic wedding day are told in flashback as Westerby is shown sweating over an advertising assignment from a bra company and hoping that a photo of Polly from the bygone '20s will inspire him. Instead, Westerby bangs into a door and Polly comes fuzzily to life, but only he can see her, causing all sorts of havoc at the wedding and among the guests. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This unsold pilot film was reminiscent of the 1956 syndicated TV weekly The Tracer. Michael Witney plays the "catcher" of the title, a former agent of the Seattle Missing Persons Bureau. Now in private practice with his new partner, Harvard grad Jan-Michael Vincent, Witney hires out to people looking for "vanished" friends and relatives. His first assignment is to locate missing coed Catherine Burns, a quest complicated by a cumbersome murder. Anne Baxter guest stars as a car dealer who pops up with the Vital Clue. The film was lensed on location in Boston, Memphis, Atlanta and Hot Springs, Arkansas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Michael Conrad, some ten years' removed from Hill Street Blues, co-stars in the excessively violent Head On. Conrad and Michael Witney play a couple of emotionally disturbed ex-soldiers who wander from town to town, wreaking havoc wherever they go. At one point, they rape Lori Saunders, who in less troublesome times was one of the Petticoat Junction girls. Finally, Conrad receives his comeuppance at the hands of a vengeful lumberjack. There may be a redeeming social value to Head On, but you might have to sandblast for it. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Julie Andrews made a bid to change her squeaky clean image with this elaborately mounted World War I musical. Lili Smith (Andrews) is a popular British music hall singer who is regarded as a femme fatale and has been known to throw a bit of striptease into her act. However, Lili has a secret: she's actually a German spy, and the uncle she dotes upon is really Von Ruger (Jeremy Kemp), a fellow espionage agent and her contact for the Huns. In hopes of gaining valuable information, Lili begins using her feminine wiles on Maj. William Larrabee (Rock Hudson), a top American pilot. However, Lili soon discovers that she's falling in love with Larrabee and can't find the courage to betray him; Larrabee discovers Lili's secret, but he refuses to turn her in. Darling Lili was a notorious box-office disappointment, grossing a mere $5 million on a budget that rose to $25 million due to a variety of production mishaps. Director Blake Edwards (Andrews' husband) was stung by the poor reception, and he later trimmed the 136-minute film to 114 minutes, downplaying its comic elements in favor of a more serious tone. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Originally telecast on May 26, 1968 as Bonanza's 300th episode, "The Stronghold" finds Joe Cartwright and Ponderosa hand Candy chasing Josh and Mike Farrell (Michael Witney and Paul Mantee), the two men who swindled them out of a herd of cattle. Joe and Candy catch up with the duplicitous brothers at their hideout in Arizona, where a deadly game of cat-and-mouse ensues. The only hope for a happy ending lies with the Farrells, who are slowly but surely growing sick of each other's company. "The Stronghold" was written by John Hawkins and W.R. Burnett. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The wife of vicious outlaw Jess Miller (Michael Witney), long-suffering Allie (Janet De Gore takes refuge at the Ponderosa, where she grew up. Jess wants to forcibly take Allie back-but he wants nothing to do with their son Tommy (Teddy Quinn, a deaf mute. Frank Puglia appears as the kindly Padre. Another Bonanza object lesson in tolerance and understanding, "Tommy" was written by Mort Thaw, Mary T. Taylor and Thomas Thompson, and first aired on December 18, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Virginia City welcomes new preacher Paul Watson (Glenn Corbett), a former gunslinger who'd "seen the light" five years earlier. But Watson's new lifestyle-and indeed, his life itself-is threatened by the arrival of Cliff Rexford (Michael Witney), who has not quite forgiven Paul for killing Cliff's brother. Sue Randall, best known as "Miss Landers" on Leave It to Beaver, makes another of her many Bonanza appearances as Paul's wife Sue. The teleplay by Thomas Thompson and Robert L. Goodwin manages to make a passing but pivotal reference to Adam Cartwright, who'd been written out of Bonanza when Pernell Roberts left the series during its eighth season. "Mighty is the Word" originally aired on November 7, 1965. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi