John D.F. Black Movies

Arriving on the idyllic planet of Rubicam Three for a much-needed vacation, Captain Picard and the Enterprise crew are endangered when Wesley Crusher unknowingly violates a planetary law. To save Wesley and three others from a death sentence, Picard must do the unthinkable and break the Prime Directive. Making matters worse, the Enterprise is attacked by a hostile vessel which objects to the presence of human beings in the vicinity. Cowritten by Worley Thorne and Ralph Wills, "Justice" originally aired November 14, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This first-season Next Generation episode finds Captain Picard facing a dilemma previously encountered some nine decades earlier by Captain Kirk and the original Enterprise crew. An insidious mind-altering disease, which prompted the crew of another starship to commit mass suicide, wends its way aboard the Enterprise. Before long, Lt. Geordi LaForge has become infected with the horrible illness. Brooke Bundy guest stars as MacDougal. Written by John D.F. Black and J. Michael Bingham, "The Naked Now" first aired October 10, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Angels, assuming the usual false identities, embark upon a luxury cruise to Hawaii in hopes of proving that their ship isn't "jinxed." Unfortunately, the passengers and crew members continue to be plagued by mysterious accidents -- and more unfortunate still, the mystery villain is aware of the Angels' true identities, and he isn't above killing them off, one by one. If the shipboard sets in this episode seem familiar, it is because they are the same ones that were later utilized on another popular Aaron Spelling-produced series of the 1970s, The Love Boat. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jessica Walter guest stars as Maggie Jarris, the wife of former Mob bookkeeper Ben Jarris (Harry Guardino). Slated to testify against her husband's criminal bosses, Maggie is forced to adopt several alias and move from one "safe house" to another to avoid being murdered. Placed in charge of Maggie's safety is detective Mike Stone (Karl Malden), who in so doing becomes a marked man himself! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On assignment, Stone (Karl Malden) kills a suspect who turns out to be an undercover cop. Though he insists that the killing was an accident, tests in the police lab would seem to suggest that he has committed murder. As the story develops, Stone realizes that he has been made the fall guy in an elaborate frameup. This episode was directed by Richard Donner, whose later film credits included Superman: The Movie and Lethal Weapon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Blake Edwards directed this murder mystery set against the backdrop of a busy metropolitan hospital. Dr. Peter Carey (James Coburn) is a pathologist who has signed on to work with Dr. J.D. Randall (Dan O'Herlihy) at a prominent hospital in Boston. When Randall's daughter Karen (Melissa Torme-March) dies after a botched abortion, another member of the hospital staff, David Tao (James Hong), is charged with her murder. Carey is convinced that Tao is innocent and sets out to prove his point. He also finds time for romance with beautiful Bostonian Georgia Hightower (Jennifer O'Neill). The Carey Treatment features Pat Hingle as police detective Peterson; Michael Crichton contributed to the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Helen Hayes, Mildred Natwick, Myrna Loy and Sylvia Sidney star as four elderly pranksters devoted to practical jokes. When one of the ladies gets hold of a computer-dating questionnaire, the others invent a mythical girl and feed the falsified information into the computer. Alas, the description matches a very real young lady, who becomes the target of a murderous rapist (Vince Edwards). Attacked at the time of its release for making light of a potentially deadly situation, Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate led to the casting of Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick in the weekly detective series The Snoop Sisters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Richard Roundtree cuts a startlingly new and powerful heroic figure as John Shaft, "the cat who won't cop out, when there's danger all about" in Gordon Parks' seminal action film, Shaft. John Shaft is a black private eye with a small office near Times Square. On his way there one day, he gets pumped for information by Lt. Victor Androzzi (Charles Cioffi), a friend of his on the police force, about something big going down in Harlem involving black crime kingpin Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn). Shaft can't help him and leaves, only to just miss being waylaid by two of Bumpy's strong-arm men at his office, one of whom ends up dead on the pavement eight floors or so below. Squeezed by the cops, who are holding a potential manslaughter arrest over his head, Shaft contacts Bumpy, who reveals that his teenage daughter, whom he's always kept away from his business, has been kidnapped. There's been no ransom demand and no clue as to who did it, and he wants Shaft to find the culprits, insisting that he start with a group of Harlem-based black militants led by Shaft's onetime friend Ben Buford (Christopher St. John). No sooner does he find Buford, holed up in a decaying part of Harlem, however, than his friend's comrades are mowed down by submachine gun fire, and Shaft and Buford barely escape. With Shaft angry and out for blood, everyone is forced to come clean -- Bumpy knows that it's the Mafia that kidnapped his daughter, as they want in on the Harlem drug trade that he controls; they're holding her somewhere else outside of Harlem, where his men are no good to him, which is why he wanted Shaft to hook up with Buford. Androzzi tells Shaft that a dozen Mob trigger men from out of town have been spotted in Greenwich Village. He doesn't know why they're there, but he does know that if fighting breaks out between Bumpy's men and the Mafia, it's going to look like a race war, and the whole city could erupt. Shaft doesn't like the way he's been manipulated, but he sees Androzzi's point -- he links the trigger men to the kidnapping and finds the girl, but loses her again, getting shot in the process. Even though he's wounded, Shaft heads for a final confrontation with the kidnappers, supported by Ben's friends in an armed assault on the building where they're holed up. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Mary's landlady, Phyllis (Cloris Leachman), takes great pride in her progressive, meticulously preplanned relationship with her 11-year-old daughter, Bess (Lisa Gerritsen). But circumstances change unexpectedly when Mary babysits Bess and chooses to improvise rather than map out the evening ahead of time. Surprisingly, Bess enjoys playing life by ear, and decides that she'd rather live with Mary than with Phyllis. Every fan of The Mary Tyler Moore Show can easily imagine what happens next. "Bess, You Is My Daughter Now" was originally broadcast on October 3, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a desperate effort to escape from his Mafia bosses, Walter Hazlett (Tim O'Connor) hijacks a plane and demands to be flown to Cuba. Hoping to save the life of a wounded man on board the plane, Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) tries to persuade Hazlett to give himself up. Meanwhile, Hazlett's daughter Ginny (Charlotte Stewart), who can't bring herself to believe that her father is a criminal, is targetted by Mob kidnappers who plan to use her to bring her father out in the open. Dabney Coleman is seen as the plane's beleagured pilot, while future M*A*S*H regular Larry Linville also plays a key role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

FBI Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) agrees to act as go-between for jeweler Victor Toler (played by eminent Shakespearian Maurice Evans), who wants to ransom a fortune in stolen diamonds. This requires the Inspector to take a crash course in the diamond business, the better to convince the villains that he is a genuine gem expert rather than a federal agent. Featured in the supporting cast is future Rookies star George Stanford Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Three Guns For Texas is a routine western. Taken from the television series "Laredo," three 30-minute episodes are strung together. The only continuity seems to be the plot of Texas Rangers fighting a renegade band of Indians led by Linda Little Trees (Shelley Morrison). Neville Brand, Peter Brown, William Smith, and Martin Milner also star. The viewer would have to be familiar with the television series, as no character development is given, assuming the public has seen the actors before and is well-versed in the plot. This plodding oater closely resembles the old Republic westerns. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Never once does Bobby Darin sing "Mack the Knife" or "Splish Splash" in Gunfight in Abilene. Instead, he plays a peaceable western sheriff, determined to stave off an outlaw invasion. The head outlaw is Leslie Nielsen, which makes this film very hard to watch with a straight face these days. The Universal City backlot gets a good workout in the blood-spattered finale of Gunfight in Abilene, which barely made the theatrical rounds before entrenching itself on late night television. The film should not be confused with Gunfighters of Abilene, a 1960 oater starring Buster Crabbe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide