Keenan Wynn Movies

This horror oddity tells the story of a well-networked throng of devil-worshipers populating a small Arizona town who possess a strange crystal icon which houses the captive souls of their sacrificial victims. The coven, led by the thick-browed Jonathan Corbis (Ernest Borgnine), are also determined to get their hands on a diabolical "Book of Names" which contains the identities of those victims. After the family of Tom Preston (Tom Skeritt) are murdered by the coven for concealing the book, Tom sets out to avenge them. During an outrageous climax -- in which none other than William Shatner is offered up in sacrifice and Borgnine is transformed by a lightning bolt into a chunky horned demon -- the receptacle of souls is shattered, releasing the title storm and causing the congregation to melt into puddles of multicolored goo (a scene which seems to last forever). Produced in 1975 but released two years later, this film touted John Travolta's name at the height of his popularity, though his role is remarkably small (he does melt nicely at the end, however). ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Feeling that both his life and career are worthless, Bob consults his college mentor, distinguished psychologist Professor Albert (Keenan Wynn). Chuckling at Bob's discomfiture, Albert insists that the "shrink" business is all an elaborate fraud. These soothing words succeed only in making Bob feel more insignificant than ever. Featured in the cast are Tom Fitzsimmons as Webb Franklyn and Bobby Eilbacher as David. Written by Phil Davis, "What's It All About, Albert?" originally aired on November 1, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bo Svenson plays a bonded courier whose girlfriend Meredith Baxter is kidnapped while the two of them are out on a date. The villains demand that Svenson participate in an elaborate scam. He is to fake a diamond robbery, so that the bad guys can collect a huge insurance settlement. But Svenson turns the tables on the crooks and saves Meredith from an untimely end (else she wouldn't have been able to play straight woman to Michael J. Fox on Family Ties). The pilot for an unsold Bo Svenson TV action series, Target Risk was originally telecast January 6, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This ABC Wide World Mystery entry revives the old "Orient Express" format with a large (and largely middle-aged) cast. Two murders are committed on a San Francisco-bound train. There are plenty of suspects with plenty of motive for investigating detective Keenan Wynn to sift through. Except for leading man David Steinberg and supporting player Elliot Street, most of the suspects are such over-40 veterans as Hildy Brooks and Logan Ramsey. Originally telecast in 1973, Night Train to Terror was lensed on videotape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

James Coburn stars as Robert Eliot, an opportunistic entrepreneur destined to become a key Presidential advisor -- if his murky past isn't brought to light first. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

The title of this Bob Hope vehicle Cancel My Reservation is a multiple pun, referring to elements in the story. The ever-youthful Hope plays Dan Bartlett, a late-night TV talk show host. Frazzled, he takes a much-needed vacation in Arizona. There, he stumbles upon a murder and a conspiracy by local rancher, John Ed (Ralph Bellamy) to defraud a local Native American group of part of its reservation. Dan is a suspect in the murder, and must investigate in order to clear his name. Though the story is rather light, celebrities of all sorts have either small parts or cameos in this film, and much of the film's entertainment value comes from spotting them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Charles Bronson re-teams with director Michael Winner -- sandwiched between their first pairing in the underrated Chato's Land and their seminal collaboration in Death Wish -- in this Lewis John Carlino-scripted actioner. Bronson plays Arthur Bishop, a "mechanic" or hired killer, famed for his efficient and unfeeling contract executions. The young and eager Steve McKenna (Jan-Michael Vincent) teams up with him, hoping that Bishop will teach him the bounty-hunting business. Imparting words of wisdom to Steve like, "Murder is only killing without a license and everybody kills -- the Army, the police," the two undergo a series of adventures as Bishop shows Steve the ropes. Between action scenes, Bronson's wife Jill Ireland makes an appearance as a sexy hooker. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This cheapo melodrama was filmed in 1971, long before Mickey Rooney's celebrated comeback via The Black Stallion. Rooney plays a looney film director who acts out his fantasies before an audience of one: an ingenue whom he has kidnapped and spirited away to a deserted movie warehouse. "B"-film perennial Luana Anders also appears in this R-rated thriller. Evidently never released theatrically, B.J. Lang Presents found a home on cable television in the mid-1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television feature (which premiered on the ABC Movie Of The Week) attracted slightly more interest than usual, due in part to the presence an unusually recognizable supporting cast (including several players, such as Joseph Cotten, Keenan Wynn and Dewey Martin, who'd had real film careers, going back to the 1940's), and Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy in the lead. Nimoy plays Commander Phil Kettenring, the captain of the nuclear submarine Wayne, which has been assigned a critical, top-secret mission involving a less than completely cooperative scientist (Malachi Throne). What Kettenring doesn't know is that the Eastern bloc enemy (this being the middle of the Cold War) is already on to the mission. They've not only got a fairly clever trap set for the sub in mid-ocean, but have also infiltrated the crew at key points. As the Wayne's and her commander's problems mount, the crew begins to lose confidence in Kettenring, threatening not only the mission, but the safety of the sub. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

William Conrad stars as corpulent private eye Frank Cannon in this 2-hour pilot for the subsequent Cannon series. He responds to a plea for assistance from ex-flame Vera Miles (an actress who was in practically every pilot film made between 1965 and 1975). She is the prime suspect in the murder of her husband, and has also become the target of vicious anonymous phone calls. Cannon's investigation unearths a hotbed of small-town corruption. Cannon was first telecast March 26, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ocean View High is an upscale suburban school in an otherwise unidentified community. It's 1971, the point when the sexual revolution started moving into full swing and even a lot of Middle America, at least on the two coasts, admitted the existence of same revolution. It seems like the guys and girls at Ocean View are all loving pretty freely, and that extends to the school's resident faculty hero, football coach/guidance counselor "Tiger" McDrew (Rock Hudson), who -- despite his being married, with a child -- has been bedding many of the prettiest girls at the school. The only kid seemingly not "getting any" is Ponce de Leon Harper (John David Carson), who is starting to get neurotic and suffer academically, so much so that he seeks advice from McDrew, especially where his new substitute teacher, Miss Smith (Angie Dickinson), is concerned. But then various girls start turning up at the school dead, in various states of undress, with cryptic notes pinned to intimate parts of their anatomy. The lunkhead county sheriff (Keenan Wynn) is forced to defer to a state police investigator (Telly Savalas), who starts nosing around the school and uncovers more than he bargained for in terms of libidinous students, among other problems. Meanwhile, Ponce finds his problem taken care of by Miss Smith, at McDrew's request. But there's still a killer stalking the school.

If the plot and ambience of this movie seems shocking today, that's because it would be. Made at the outset of the sexual revolution, this was MGM's desperate attempt to run with the times, in terms of depicting a high school where sexual relations between students are considered routine and even those between faculty and students are accepted as long as they're kept quiet. Anyone trying to make such a movie in 2006 would face threats of prosecution, investigation, etc., and probably find it impossible to get the movie booked into theaters; MGM didn't have that easy a time in 1971, though (amazingly) the movie has been shown on television. Precisely what director Roger Vadim brought to Gene Roddenberry's screenplay (based on a novel by Francis Pollini) is difficult to tell, though he at least makes the sleazy and tawdry, smirky sex scenes and leering camera shots flow smoothly -- screenplay, director, and cameraman alike are fixated on the female anatomy throughout, though not in as distinctive a manner as Russ Meyer and his attachment to breasts. The presence of a couple of Star Trek co-stars and supporting villains, James Doohan and William Campbell, also makes this especially weird to watch. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide