Ken Annakin Movies

Precocious Pippi Longstocking (Tami Erin) falls off her father's pirate ship and washes up in a small coastal town in Florida. She causes social worker Miss Bannister (Eileen Brennan) no end of trouble and influences two neighbor kids with her mischief-making and infectious attitude. Pippi uses her magic powers to beguile the locals but also to help save some orphans from a burning building. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Marred by prejudice and derogatory stereoptypes of gays and Hispanics, this subpar drama by Ken Annakin does not treat women or men well either. Bill (Mac Davis) is a detective who has just been hired by a tough lawyer, K.D. Locke (Tovah Feldshuh) to check up on some deadbeat ex-spouses who are ignoring their alimony payements. Soon Bill is caught in two complicated investigations, one focuses on a storekeeper, and the other on a sex doctor who just happens to be Locke's husband. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This four-hour TV movie is one more of novelist Harold Robbins' "guess who everyone is supposed to really be?" wallowfests (with nary a Jolly Roger in sight). The "pirate" is Baydr (Franco Nero), an anti-Semitic Lebanese oil sheik, who, unbeknownst to himself, is actually an Israel-born Jew fathered by Ben Ezra (Eli Wallach). Baydr marries a haughty American WASP, Jordana (Anne Archer as a blonde), whom he meets at JFK's 1960 presidential campaign, and fathers a son by her. Meanwhile, Leila (Olivia Hussey), one of Baydr's two daughters from a prior marriage, trains to become a PLO terrorist and plots to kidnap Jordana and her son by Baydr. The modern viewer is luckier than those poor TV fans of 1978 who had to sit through two nights of this nonsense: the currently available syndicated version of Harold Robbins' The Pirate (retitled simply The Pirate) runs a mere 150 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The story in this lavish cinemadaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Man in the Iron Mask remains faithful to the original novel: the right heir to the throne of France is imprisoned in a dungeon by his evil twin brother, his identity kept secret with an uncomfortable iron mask. It's up to the aging D'Artagnan and his three Musketeer companions to set things aright. Though the action takes place in France, the film was rather obviously lensed in Austria, adding an exotic touch to the proceedings. Beau Bridges does double duty as the "right" and "wrong" King Louis, while Beau's dad Lloyd Bridges plays Aramis. Alan Hale Jr. essays the role of Porthos, just as he'd done in 1951's At Sword's Point; also carried over from the 1951 film is Cornel Wilde as D'Artagnan. Other seasoned veterans in the cast include Jose Ferrer (Athos), Ursula Andress (Mme. De la Valliere), Olivia DeHavilland (Queen Anne) and Rex Harrison (Colbert). The Fifth Musketeer was also released as Behind the Iron Mask. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Ken Annakin and an international cast including Charlton Heston and George Eastman try to breath life into Jack London's often-filmed wilderness adventure. The story follows the adventures of John Thornton (Heston) and Pete (Raimund Harmstorf) as they brawl their way through the Alaskan wilderness mushing around in dog sleds and hunting for gold. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Vittorio De Sica delivers a full-blown comic performance as Cesare Celli, an American gangster exiled to Italy and kidnapped by a collection of inept crooks. These incompetents are headed by Harry Price (Robert Wagner), who demands a ransom from Cesare's friends for his safe return. When none of Cesare's friends send money to rescue Cesare from the kidnappers, Cesare is outraged and concocts a scheme for a five-million-dollar platinum robbery as a way to pay Harry's gang back for their efforts and to get his revenge on a world that has ignored him. Cesare trains his collection of nincompoops for the robbery and imports the famed Professor Samuels (Edward G. Robinson) to plan the heist. After a series of problems raising the money for the robbery and obligatory bumblings by the gang, Cesare and his men are ready to proceed with the heist. But then, right before the robbery, Harry and his girlfriend, Juliana (Raquel Welch), decide to betray Cesare and abscond with the platinum themselves. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Ken Annakin's large-canvas comedy Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines is set in 1910. In order to boost circulation of his newspaper, Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley) offers 10,000 pounds to the first person who can fly across the English Channel. A huge number of hopefuls enter the contest, including the scheming Sir Percy Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas), who, with the help of his henchman Courtney (Eric Sykes), attempts to sabotage the other entries. There is also a love triangle featuring Orvil Newton (Stuart Whitman) and Richard Mays (James Fox) competing for the heart of Patricia Rawnsley (Sarah Miles). ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

In December of 1944, the Allied high command is convinced that German forces in Belgium are in a low state of readiness, and perhaps even about to withdraw. Only one officer on the front lines, intelligence specialist Lt. Col. Kiley (Henry Fonda), believes otherwise -- that the Germans are actually planning an attack. His opinion is rejected by his immediate superior (Dana Andrews) and his commanding general (Robert Ryan). Kiley spots several suspicious signs of German activity behind enemy lines on a reconnaissance flight, and he is at the front looking for evidence when the German counter-offensive starts. Taking advantage of Allied unpreparedness and a weather front that grounds all aircraft, their heavy tank units, supported by infantry, roll over the American forces, assaulting the lines at five different points in an attempt to ultimately divide the Allied forces in the west. The German top tank officer, Colonel Hessler (Robert Shaw), has planned his operation perfectly, but he is in a race against time, to take as much territory as possible before the weather front moves out and American aircraft can fly again, and to capture the American fuel supplies so that the offensive can continue right to the port of Antwerp. He has the total dedication of his men, but engenders doubts from his aide, Conrad (Hans-Christian Blech), who is weary of the fighting and wonders what it is all for. Meanwhile, Kiley is trying to uncover the weak spot in the German offensive, and he crosses paths with several other key players in this drama: Charles Bronson as a combat officer charged with the defense of the collapsing American position, James MacArthur as a neophyte lieutenant who becomes a leader, and Telly Savalas as a conniving sergeant in command of a tank who unexpectedly finds a nobler, less mercenary side of himself. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

This comedy features a 12-step Program for habitual hoods. The recovering criminal takes a job as a department store Santa, and again finds himself confronted with temptation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this western-style film, set in South Africa, circa the late 1900s, a local police sergeant finds himself pursued by the "The Hellions"--a man and his four sons. Unfortunately for the sergeant, the townspeople will not help to save him and his wife. He ignores his wife's plea that he quit his job and leave. After some time, he finally forces a storekeeper to assist him. Soon the rest of the townsfolk begin lending their assistance. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

None of the many cinemadaptations of Johan Wyss' The Swiss Family Robinson are as relentlessly enjoyable as this 1960 Disney feature. The film wastes no time getting down to business, with the shipwreck of the Robinson family occurring as the credits flash across the screen. Fashioning a raft, the family heads to a lush tropical island. While the mother (Dorothy McGuire) isn't too happy about being a castaway, the father (John Mills) and the sons (James MacArthur, Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran) are thrilled at the prospect of carving out a new life for themselves. In short order, the industrious Robinsons have constructed a treehouse with all the creature comforts and "utilities" of their home in Switzerland. Later on, the little party is joined by Janet Munro, the daughter of a sea captain who has been captured by pirate Sessue Hayakawa and his band. After a series of adventures calculated to arouse the envy of every man, woman and child in the audience, the film comes to a rousing conclusion as the Robinsons resourcefully fend off Hayakawa and his pirates with a variety of jerry-built booby traps. A box-office winner to the tune of $30 million, The Swiss Family Robinson proved beyond doubt that Disney's decision to emphasize the humor and adventure of the Wyss original, while downplaying the sociopolitical undertones, was a sound one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, a young woman spends all her time caring for her ailing mother. The one bright spot in her life is her African pen pal. Her mother finally dies, and the woman immediately sets off for Africa to meet the pen pal. There she finds that he is too busy chasing elephants to notice her. Instead she ends up falling for his brother.The two brothers find themselves entangled in various adventures involving African wildlife. The film was shot on location in Africa. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide