Lana Wood Movies

This three-hour TV biopic of actress Natalie Wood emulates Citizen Kane by beginning at the end -- the tragically ironic drowning death of the water-phobic actress in 1981 -- then recounts her life story in flashback. Justine Waddell plays the adult Natalie, with younger performers Elizabeth Rice, Candice Moore, and Nadia Scappa portraying the actress in various stages of childhood, adolescence, and puberty. Although little Natasha Gurdin's Russian-born mother and father (here played by Colin Friels and Alice Krige) had drive and ambition, it was the girl herself who energetically and enthusiastically promoted her career as a child star named "Natalie Wood," and it was Natalie herself who demanded that producer stop casting her in cute-kid and ingenue roles and take her seriously as an adult -- even before she technically was one. Naturally, the film recounts Natalie's marriage to actor Robert Wagner (Michael Weatherley), the breakup of the union as she pursued affairs with the likes of Warren Beatty (Matthew Settle), and Wood and Wagner's ultimate reconciliation and remarriage. One might assume that the "mystery" of the film's title is Natalie's death by drowning -- to this day, no one quite knows how she managed to end up in the water -- but it also manifested in the enigma of Natalie herself, a woman who despite her aggressive and unending pursuit of fame and stardom might well have willingly given it all up just to be a wife and mother. In fine old Hollywood-biography tradition, the movie boasts an endless parade of celebrity lookalikes impersonating such friends and colleagues of Natalie Wood as James Dean, Edmund Gwenn, Marilyn Monroe, and directors Irving Pichel, Elia Kazan, and Nicholas Ray, as well as several real-life celebs offering their reflections on the film's protagonist, notably Margaret O'Brien, Robert Vaughn, and Henry Jaglom. Directed by no less than Peter Bogdanovich, The Mystery of Natalie Wood first aired over ABC on March 1, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This sex-filled exploitation favorite has bounced from one double-billing to the next, undergoing numerous re-titlings (including Bride of Satan and Fury of the Succubus) in the process. It stars Lana Wood as a frustrated housewife who begins having nightly trysts with a tall, dark stranger... who, of course, turns out to be Satan himself. Thus begins her descent into dementia, as she begins to distance herself even further from her husband and kids (if that were possible) while painting portraits of her enigmatic new lover. For reasons never detailed in the film, there is a fully-functional guillotine in the cellar, and it's only a matter of time before heads begin to roll. Assorted devil-worshippers pop up out of nowhere for a confusing climax. Not a bad little time-waster, this film relies more on nudity than scares, with a dollop of gore for good measure. Britt Ekland fans be warned: despite her prominent billing in the credits, her role barely amounts to a walk-on. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

This second made-for-TV movie features the Marvel Comic-book hero who must keep the villains from succeeding in accelerating the ages of government officials. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

A female cop and a male private detective team up to bring car thieves to justice in this actioner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Also known as Little Ladies of the Night, the story focuses on a teenager who runs away from home and finds herself in the sordid world of street-life prostitution. She gains help from a police officer, who is still connected to the underground since he formerly worked as a pimp. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Grayeagle is a barely disguised reworking of John Ford's The Searchers, with Ford stock company alumnus Ben Johnson essaying the John Wayne role, and Lana Wood playing a character not unlike the one portrayed by her sister Natalie in the earlier film. The major difference is that Grayeagle is told largely from the Indians' point of view. Johnson plays John Colter, who devotes his life to tracking down Cheyenne brave Grayeagle (Alex Cord), the kidnapper of his daughter Beth (Lana Wood). One of the new plot wrinkles is the revelation that Cheyenne Chief Running Wolf (Paul Fix), and not Colter, is Beth's real father, so who's rescuing whom from what? Other veteran performers participating in Grayeagle are Jack Elam and Iron Eyes Cody, while producer-director-writer Charles Pierce also shows up in a small role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The still-unsolved Black Dahlia murder case, fictionalized in the 1981 theatrical feature True Confessions, is handled on a more factual level in this made-for-TV movie. Lucie Arnaz plays Elizabeth Short, an aspiring starlet of questionable morals, who in 1947 was murdered by person or persons unknown. What made the case particularly unsettling was the fact that Elizabeth's body was sliced neatly in two, with every ounce of blood drained from her body. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. costars as the Los Angeles detective who ends up dedicating a lifetime to tracking down Elizabeth's killer. Who is the Black Dahlia? debuted March 1, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Syndicate boss Charles Rogan (Robert Webber) has salted away $5,000,000 in order to finance a mob-benefiting political coup in the Carribean nation of Camagua. Commandeering a Navy patrol boat, the IMF stages a characteristically elaborate scam (including the "murder" of agent Barney) in order to locate the key to Rogan's hidden millions. Barbara Anderson makes her second appearance as temporary IMF agent Mimi Davis. Originally telecast on September 30, 1972, "The Deal" was scripted by George F. Slavin and Stephen Kandel, from a story by Slavin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After George Lazenby portrayed James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Sean Connery returned to the tux, gimmicks, and catchphrases of Secret Agent 007 in his penultimate Bond outing, Diamonds Are Forever. Fragments of Ian Fleming's original 1954 novel remain, including the characters of the alluring Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) and fey hitmen Wint (Bruce Glover) and Mr. Kidd (Putter Smith). The remainder of Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz's script diverges dramatically from the novel, involving Bond in a scheme by the insidious Ernst Blofeld (Charles Gray) to force the world powers to disarm so that he can take over the globe. Folksinger Jimmy Dean shows up briefly as a Howard Hughes-like reclusive billionaire, while Lana Wood (Natalie's sister) participates in one of the film's edgiest cliffhangers. Agreeing to make Diamonds Are Forever only because of the money offered him, Sean Connery parted company with the role for 12 years after this film; he returned to the role once more in 1983, for Irvin Kershner's underrated Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Over the Hill Gang Rides Again is a TV-movie sequel to 1969's ratings-grabbing The Over the Hill Gang, which told of a group of retired Texas Rangers rallying to save their small town from criminals. In the sequel, the gang --Walter Brennan, Edgar Buchanan, Andy Devine, and Chill Wills (Pat O'Brien, seen in the first film, is absent this time around) -- team up to rehabilitate Fred Astaire, cast against type as The Baltimore Kid, a one-time ranger who has become a town drunk. Astaire is restored to the job of marshal of Waco, while the other old-timers end up as his deputies. Harmless fun for an undiscerning audience, Over the Hill Gang Rides Again lacks the easygoing charm of the original film. Both Over the Hill Gang entries, by the way, were designed as pilots for an unsold weekly series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Black Water Gold stars Aron Kincaid as a self-styled "scuba bum" living in Nassau. Kincaid teams up with marine archaeologist Keir Dullea and historian Ricardo Montalban in seeking out a gold-laden sunken Spanish galleon. With so many veteran movie villains involved, there has to be some dirty work afoot; in this instance, the fly in the ointment is wealthy (and deadly) treasure hunter Bradford Dillman. France Nuyen and Lana Wood supply the feminine angle in this made-for-TV effort, which premiered as an ABC Movie of the Week on January 6, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Written by Frank Chase, "The Gentle Ones" is the tale of two brothers, both in the horse trading business. Kindhearted Mark (Robert Walker Jr.) is a cowboy who loves horses; his brutal sibling Frank (Pat Conway) is a rancher who likes nothing more than to "break" his horses in the most sadistic manner imaginable. Because Mark has never stood up to his brother, he is regarded as a coward by his girl friend Dana (Lana Wood), but with the help of the Cartwrights Mark proves himself to be the worthier of the two siblings. "The Gentle Ones" originally aired on October 29, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Travelling under the name "Stu Manning", Kimble (David Janssen) takes a job at a Wyoming mountain lodge which is subsequently burglarized. Obliged to let the police take his fingerprints during the investigation of the crime, Kimble figures that he better get while the going is good, and boards the shuttle bus heading out of the mountains. When the bus is trapped by a landslide, Kimble finds himself entangled in the personal problems of the other passengers--a strange and motley crew indeed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide