Gig Young Movies

In this pilot for a TV series. Robert Culp stars as a top criminologist and dabbler in the occult. Gig Young is a drunken doctor who is "magically" cured of his alcoholism by Culp's housekeeper. Culp and Young decide to team up as the Holmes and Watson of the exorcist set. Their first assignment: Get the goods on a licentious, megalomaniac financier (James Villiers), who seems to have achieved success through literally diabolical means. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Day New York Turned Blue stars Dennis Weaver as Sam McCloud, a Western marshal "at large" in New York City. The title is drawn from two plot elements: the fact that Manhattan is blanketed by a snowstorm, and the man-hating activities of a hooker (portrayed by Bernadette Peters) who has a habit of painting her clients blue! Somehow all this ties in with a labor union accountant (Gig Young) who is in danger of being killed by the Mafia. A bureaucrat (William Daniels), anxious to conduct an audit on the accountant's union, seems a little too eager to spring the targeted man from protective custody. This two-hour McCloud episode was first broadcast February 22, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marina Malfatti stars as Deborah in this low-wattage horror piece. A childless bride, Deborah begins suffering bizarre hallucinations regarding her barren state. She also possesses psychic powers, which take on dangerous dimensions as she drifts into insanity. American leading men Bradford Dillman and Gig Young make token appearances. Barely released in the US, Deborah (aka A Black Ribbon for Deborah) found a home on the Late Show in the mid-1980s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV Neon Ceiling top-bills Gig Young as a disenfranchised gentlemen who operates a remote desert gas station/diner. Enter Lee Grant, who has driven into the desert with daughter Denise Nickerson in hopes of escaping a bad marriage. Young resents their presence and is as rude as possible--leading Lee to conclude that Young is the first honest man she's ever met. Ultimately (and inevitably), the two lost souls begin a new life together. Critically praised upon its first telecast, Neon Ceiling plays like the rough draft of a forgotten William Inge play when seen today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another semi-successful attempt to adapt the works of American fantasist H.P. Lovecraft to the screen, this is loosely based on the short story The Shuttered Room (also an alternate release title for the film), a story which is purported to be more the work of "posthumous collaborator" August Derleth. The story involves a couple's return to the creepy old ancestral home, located on an island in New England, in which they soon discover the dark secret hidden behind a heavily-locked door in the attic... a door the fearful townsfolk declare "must never be opened." Oliver Reed delivers one of his patented gruff, over-the-top performances as the local nutcase, and director David Greene creates a suitably moody atmosphere, but much like the Roger Corman-produced The Dunwich Horror, this film fails to act on the spooky potential of its theme. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

This romantic comedy stars Rock Hudson as Carter Harrison, an executive rising through the ranks of a major oil company. When he meets Toni Vincente (Gina Lollobrigida), a beautiful but hot-tempered artist, it's love at first sight and they quickly marry. The bloom is soon off the rose, however, and, five years later, Carter and Toni are about to finalize their divorce. However, just as the final paperwork is about to go through, Carter learns that he's up for a major promotion which would hinge on his being married. Carter is able to engineer a reconciliation with Toni with the help of his friend Richard Bramwell (Gig Young), a PR agent with the firm who hopes that a happy marriage will improve Carter's reputation. Since his separation from Toni, Carter has become known as something of a lothario, a reputation that the family-oriented company would like to avoid. But even though the couple patches things up, Richard has his work cut out for him when Toni announces that she'll be reenacting Lady Godiva's naked ride as part of a protest organized by an artists' group. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This light romantic comedy finds a young widow with three young boys investigated by the Navy. Amy Martin (Shirley Jones) has a curious child who inadvertently sends out a distress signal in Morse code by the blinds on his upstairs bedroom window. Commander Weedon (Gig Young) and crew observe the signal from their ship and investigate. The commander falls for the young mother and proposes marriage. Amy is reluctant to have her family live out of a suitcase and initially declines. Gramps (Edgar Buchanan) tries to bring her on board to sail the sea of love with the commander, but it's the youngest son Alex (Billy Mumy) who flies high an hits the mark as Cupid. Alex sets sail with some helium balloons and floats out over the ocean. The commander must save the boy and return him to his mother, creating another opportunity for his mother to be captured by the romantic suitor. Red Buttons and Carolyn Jones also find romance in this feature directed by George Sidney. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

When people refer to Doris Day as "the world's oldest professional virgin," they generally have the 1962 comedy That Touch of Mink in mind. It isn't that Cathy Timberlake (Day) is above a bit of hanky-panky; it's just that she wants such tangibles as a marriage license and wedding ring first. Thus, when playboy businessman Philip Shayne (Cary Grant) begins actively pursuing Cathy (they "met cute" when Philip's limo splashed mud on the hapless Cathy), she won't say "I will" until he says "I do." She is of the idealistic opinion that she can bring out the best intentions in him, even when he repeatedly tips off his worst intentions by inviting her to accompany him to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Bermuda. After not a few complications and misunderstands, Cathy finally finagles a proposal out of Philip. The film is essentially much ado about nothing, but it is so well-acted and attractively photographed that the audiences are willing to go along for the ride. The high-powered supporting cast includes Gig Young as Roger, Philip's moralistic financial advisor; Audrey Meadows as Connie, Cathy's wise-cracking roommate; Alan Hewitt as Dr. Gruber, a confused psychiatrist; John Astin as Beasley, Cathy's slimy would-be beau; Dick Sargent as a neurotic honeymooner; and an unbilled Richard Deacon as an all-around letch. Best scene: the baseball-dugout rhubarb involving New York Yankees Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Yogi Berra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One the finest of all Twilight Zone episodes, "Walking Distance" benefits not only from a superb Rod Serling script and a magnificent starring performance by Gig Young, but also from an evocative musical score by Bernard Herrmann (which would be cannibalized many times on subsequent episodes). Young is cast as 35-year-old businessman Martin Sloan, who, while waiting for his car to be repaired, takes a sentimental journey to his home town of Homewood. Gradually, Martin begins to realize that the town has not changed one bit in 25 years: In fact, his parents are still alive, and there's a young boy running around who is the living image of 10-year-old Martin Sloan. Watch for Ron Howard in a three-line bit role. "Walking Distance" was first telecast October 30, 1959. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A suspenseful courtroom drama, The Story on Page One was the second and last film directed by the distinguished American playwright Clifford Odets (who also wrote the screenplay). Jo (Rita Hayworth) and Larry (Gig Young) are lovers accused of murdering Jo's husband. Their trial lawyer, Victor Santini (Anthony Franciosa) has his work cut out for him on two different fronts. For one, he has to overcome his own tendency to hit the bottle, and for another, he has to somehow win this case. As revealed in the beginning, Jo's husband died accidentally. Yet the unpredictability of the courtroom proceedings indicate that a verdict of "not guilty" is going to be anything but automatic. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Though very tame by contemporary standards, Tunnel of Love was considered the last word in racy comedy back in 1958. Adapted from the Broadway hit by Peter DeVries and Joseph Fields, the film stars Doris Day and Richard Widmark as suburbanites Isolde and Augie Poole. Isolde and Augie desperately want a child, but for diverse reasons have never been able to conceive. They decide to adopt a child, prompting a visit to the Poole home by pretty adoption-agency officer Estelle Novick (Gia Scala). Through a series of misundertandings, Estelle decides that Augie isn't a likely candidate for fatherhood, a notion he tries to dispell by taking her out to dinner. One thing leads to another, and the next morning Augie wakes up in a strange motel room with a monstrous hangover. Months later, Estelle pays a visit to Augie, informing him that she's pregnant and in dire need of a great deal of money. Certain that he's the father, Augie goes to great lengths to hide his "indiscretion" from his wife. But Isolde begins to suspect that something is amiss when the adoption agency shows up with a baby that looks disturbingly like her husband. Nothing is quite what it seems, of course, but neither the characters nor the audience find this out til the very end. As comic contrast to the childless Pooles, Elizabeth Fraser co-stars as the couple's eternally pregant next-door-neighbor Alice Pepper, whose husband Dick (Gig Young) looks appropriately worn out. Tunnel of Love was Gene Kelly's first directorial assignment on a film in which he himself didn't appear. (As a footnote, it's worth noting that during the original Broadway run of Tunnel of Love, Augie Poole was briefly portrayed by Johnny Carson). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel and play by Joseph Hayes, which in turn was inspired by an actual event, The Desperate Hours is the prototypical "family-trapped-by-criminals" drama. Escaped convicts Humphrey Bogart, Robert Middleton and Dewey Martin, seeking an appropriate hideout until they can make contact with their money supply, deliberately choose the suburban home of Fredric March and his family. The cold-blooded Bogart wants no trouble with the police, and he knows he can cower a family with children into cooperating with him. The convict orders March, his wife Martha Scott, and their children Richard Eyer and Mary Murphy, to go about their normal activities so as not to arouse suspicion. Young Eyer, upset that March won't lift a hand against Bogart, assumes that his father is a coward. The authorities are alerted when March, at Bogart's behest, draws money for the convict's getaway from the bank. Pushed to the breaking point, March begins subtly turning the tables on the convicts. Bogart's character in Desperate Hours was originally written for a much younger man, which explains why Paul Newman was able to play the part in the original Broadway production. The film was slated to co-star Bogart with his old pal Spencer Tracy, but this plan fell through when the two actors couldn't agree on who would get top billing. Desperate Hours was remade in 1991 with Mickey Rourke in the Bogart role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide