Robert Blake Movies
Wide-eyed little Bobby Blake began his acting career as an Our Gang kid and eventually matured into one of Hollywood's finest actors. Born Michael Gubitosi, the boy was two years old when he joined his family vaudeville act, "The Three Little Hillbillies." The act was doomed to failure, as were most of the pipe dreams of the Gubitosi family. Relocating from New Jersey to California, Michael's mom found work for her kids as extras at the MGM studios. The young Gubitosi impressed the producers of the Our Gang series, and as a result the six-year-old was elevated to star status in the short subjects series. Little Mickey Gubitosi whined and whimpered his way through 40 Our Gang shorts, reaching an artistic low point with the execrable All About Hash (1940). During his five-year tenure with the series, the boy anglicized his professional name to Bobby Blake. Freelancing after 1944, Blake's performing skills improved immeasurably, especially when he was cast as Indian sidekick Little Beaver in Republic's Red Ryder series. He also registered well in his appearances in Warner Bros. films, playing such roles as the younger John Garfield in Humoresque (1946) and the Mexican kid who sells Bogart the crucial lottery ticket in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). Though sporadically happy in his work (one of his most pleasurable assignments was the otherwise forgettable Laurel and Hardy feature The Big Noise, 1944), Bobby Blake was an unhappy child, weighed down by a miserable home life. At 16, Blake dropped out of sight for a few years, a reportedly difficult period in his life. Upon claiming a 16,000-dollar nest egg at age 21, however, Blake began turning his life around, both personally and professionally. He matriculated into a genuine actor rather than a mere "cute" personality, essaying choice dramatic roles in both films and TV. He starred in the Allied Artists gangster flick The Purple Gang (1960), played featured roles in such films as PT 109 (1963), Ensign Pulver (1964), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), and guest starred on dozens of TV shows. In 1963, he was one of 12 character actors amalgamated into the "repertory company" on the weekly anthology series The Richard Boone Show; he spent the next 26 weeks playing everything from agreeable office boys to fevered dope addicts. His true breakthrough role came in 1967, when he was cast as real-life multiple murderer Perry Smith in Richard Brooks' filmization of In Cold Blood. Even after this career boost, Blake often found the going rough in Hollywood, due as much to his own pugnacious behavior as to typecasting. He did, however, star in such worthwhile efforts as Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) and Electra Glide in Blue (1973). Blake achieved full-fledged stardom at last with his three-year (1975-1978) starring stint on the TV cop series Baretta, adding to his already sizeable fan following via several lively, tell-all guest appearances on The Tonight Show, The Merv Griffin Show, and several other video chat fests. Despite his never-ending battles with the ABC executives during the Baretta run, Blake stuck out the series long enough to win an Emmy, and even got to direct an episode or two.
Forming his own production company, Blake made several subsequent tries at TV-series success: Hell Town (1985), in which he starred as a barrio priest, lasted 13 weeks, while the private-eye endeavor Jake Dancer never got past its three pilot films. He has been more successful with such one-shots as the TV miniseries Hoffa (1983), in which he played the title character with chilling accuracy, and the 1993 TV biopic Judgment Day: The John List Story, which earned him another Emmy. His later film appearances were in hard-nosed character parts, such as 1995's The Money Train, and he landed a plum (albeit terminally odd) lead role in David Lynch's postmodern thriller Lost Highway (1997), as a clown-faced psychopath who plays bizarre mind games with a suburban couple. Though he's managed to purge some of his personal demons over the years, Robert Blake remains as feisty, outspoken, and unpredictable as ever, especially when given an open forum by talk show hosts.
In 2001, Blake generated headlines once again, though this time off-camera and in an extremely negative vein. The mysterious murder of wife Bonnie Lee Bakely sent the tabloids into a furious frenzy of speculation and accusation. Arrested for the murder of Bakely in April 2002, Blake's future looked increasingly grim as evidence continued to mount against him. Nevertheless, in March 2005 the actor was completely exonerated of all accusations surrounding Bakely's death and narrowly escaped a life sentence in prison. His on-camera activity remained extremely infrequent, however. Late in 2005, the press reported the outcome of a civil trial involving Bakely's homicide, in which Blake was required to pay an estimated $30 million to her children. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- PG
After being blacklisted from Hollywood for 21 years, writer/director Abraham Polonsky made a healthy comeback with Tell Them Willie Boy is Here. The title character, played by Robert Blake, is a Paiute Indian living in 1909 California. After several years in the White Man's world, Willie Boy returns to his reservation, hoping to renew his romance with tribeswoman Lola (Katherine Ross). Old Mike (Mike Angel), Lola's father, strongly disapproves of her relationship with Willie Boy and attacks the youth. Acting in self defense, Willie Boy kills Old Mike. Under tribal rules, Willie Boy is now permitted to claim Lola as his woman. But white lawman Christopher Cooper (Robert Redford) is forced to charge Willie Boy with murder. The Indian and his girl escape the reservation, pursued by the essentially decent Cooper and a less-than-decent crowd of white vigilantes. What begins as comparative minor incident, snowballs into a huge political crisis, with the bewildered but defiant Willie Boy as the catalyst. Tell Them Willie Boy is Here is distinguished by the fine performances of leading players Redford, Blake, Ross and Susan Clark, and by the haunting cinematography of Conrad Hall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, (more)
Richard Brooks wrote and directed this stark black-and-white (with brilliantly evocative cinematography by Conrad Hall) study of two drifters who murder a family, based on Truman Capote's non-fiction novel In Cold Blood. The film takes place in Holcomb, Kansas, where four members of the Herbert Clutter family are roused from their sleep and brutally murdered. The killers, Perry Smith (Robert Blake) and Dick Hickock (Scott Wilson), are two ex-cons who plan to rob the Clutters of $10,000 kept in a safe in their home. But Dick and Perry find no safe and no $10,000 and end up leaving the murder scene with only $43. The police, led by Alvin Dewey (John Forsythe) of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, try to track down the killers. Meanwhile, Dick and Perry take off to Mexico, where Perry has fantasies of prospecting for gold. But when his dreams of prospecting come to naught, Dick insists that they return to the United States. Confident that they have left no clues, they cash bad checks, and the police track them down in Las Vegas. During questioning, their alibis are broken when they are separated and tell conflicting stories. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, (more)
- 1966
Season Two of The F.B.I gets under way as Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) receives an anonymous tip that teenager Paul Wallace (David Macklin) has been kidnapped and returned unharmed once the ransom was paid. But when Erskine interviews Wallace's father (John Larch), the man steadfastly denies that any kidnapping took place. It turns out that the abductors, Casey (Scott Marlowe) and Junior (Robert Blake), have threatened horrific consequences to the Wallace family if they talk to the authorities. Unfortunately, Mr. Wallace's silence may prove fatal for the kidnappers' latest victim(Dennis Joel Olivieri)--a diabetic in desperate need of insulin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Sydney Pollack's tawdry potboiler, adapted from a one-act play by Tennessee Williams, was rife with production problems, culminating in Williams' failed attempt to have his name removed from the credits. The story is set by a framing device as thirteen-year-old Willie Starr (Mary Badham) sits on an abandoned railroad track with her friend Tom (Jon Provost) and relates the tale of her deceased older sister Alva (Natalie Wood). Alva is a beautiful woman living in a small Mississippi town in the 1930s with her manipulative mother Hazel (Kate Reid), the owner of a boarding house. Hazel wants Alva to marry the well to do Mr. Johnson (John Harding), but Alva has fallen in love with a good-looking stranger from New Orleans, Owen Legate (Robert Redford), who is in Mississippi to lay off railroad workers. Hazel is opposed to their love affair and when Owen is beaten to a pulp by a gang of workers, he decides to leave town and take Alva with him. But Hazel fools Owen into thinking Alva is engaged to Mr. Johnson. In retaliation, Alva marries Hazel's loutish lover J.J. (Charles Bronson). The next day, she abandons J.J. to meet Owen in New Orleans. Her mother, incensed at Alva's betrayal, sets out to ruin her daughter's reputation by exposing her marriage to J.J. to the world. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natalie Wood, Robert Redford, (more)
- 1965
Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) receives a frantic call from Joe Cloud (Alejandro Rey), an Apache Indian who served under Erskine in Korea. Having returned to his reservation to find a man trying to rape his wife, Cloud has killed the attacker and taken it on the lam. Since the murder occurred on Federal property, Erskine has no choice but to hunt down and capture Cloud--all the while taking extraordinary precautions to make certain that the fugitive does no further harm, either to others or himself. Robert Blake makes his first of several F.B.I. guest appearances as Joe Cloud's brother Pete. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmmaker George Stevens chose Monument Valley, Utah for his exterior sequences in The Greatest Story Ever Told, this ($20 million) adaptation of Fulton Oursler's best-selling book. The "Greatest Story" is, of course, the life of Jesus Christ, played herein by Max Von Sydow. The large supporting cast includes Dorothy McGuire as Mary, Claude Rains as Herod the Great, Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas, Charlton Heston as John the Baptist, Donald Pleasence as Satan (identified only as "The Dark Hermit"), David McCallum as Judas Iscariot, Sidney Poitier as Simon of Cyrene, Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate and Martin Landau as Caiaphas. Even Robert Blake as Simon the Zealot, Jamie Farr as Thaddaeus, and motorcyle-flick veteran Richard Bakalyan as Dismas, the repentant thief, are well-suited to their roles. Originally roadshown at 260 minutes, Greatest Story Ever Told was later available in a 195-minute version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max von Sydow, Dorothy McGuire, (more)
- 1963
This WW II adventure chronicles the real-life courage of President John F. Kennedy when he was a Navy lieutenant in charge of the illustrious PT 109. Among the adventures they had was the courageous rescue of Marines stranded upon the isle of Choiseul. As they flee, their little boat is split in half by a Japanese destroyer. The survivors then make a long, dangerous swim to an island. One of them is too badly injured to do it, so Kennedy helps him. Later, the future leader braves many dangers to get to another island to radio for help. This video also contains a newsreel chronicling the President's assassination and a cartoon short featuring Foghorn Leghorn. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Robertson, Ty Hardin, (more)
- 1962
Paladin (Richard Boone) receives a summons for help from Abel Hix, a legendary gunfighter nearing the end of his life. By the time Paladin arrives in Hix's home town, he finds that the old man's life has already ended, and not in a pretty fashion. It now falls to Paladin to make certain that Abel gets a decent funeral and burial, despite protests from certain less savory representatives of the local populace. Actor-songwriter Paul Tripp, former host of the classic TV's children's show Mr. I. Magination, appears as Reverend Harper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Gene Pitney's hit title song for this courtroom drama became a bigger and more enduring success than the film in which it was repeatedly sung. The story takes place in postwar Germany in the village of Neustadt. A group of four drunken American soldiers come upon a teenage girl, Karin Steinhof (Christine Kaufmann), in the woods outside town. She had been trying to seduce her boyfriend, Frank Borgmann (Gerhart Lippert), but the inexperienced young man got flustered and left. The soldiers take advantage of the situation and are charged with rape. Karin's father Herr Steinhof (Hans Nielsen) wants the death penalty. Major Steve Garrett (Kirk Douglas), the attorney whom the military brings in to handle the defense, bullies Karin's parents, warning that he will put her on the stand. He also talks to townspeople and finds out that Karin has a reputation for standing undressed in front of windows as people pass by. Garrett builds a strong case, leading to a dramatic trial and a shocking conclusion. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, E.G. Marshall, (more)
- 1961
Experimental director Shirley Clarke's first feature film is a no-compromise look at the dead-end world of drug addiction in Manhattan. Awaiting their next "connection", eight dopers sit in a bleak New York loft. The addicts agree to allow filmmaker William Redfield to shoot a documentary of their lifestyle--for a price. When their connection arrives, he suspects the filmmaker of being a narc and abruptly runs away. The film ends with Redfield agreeing to try some heroin himself in order to more thoroughly understand his "actors". While it appears totally improvised (especially a supposedly impromptu jam session with four musician junkies), The Connection was adapted from a play by Jack Gelber. Roscoe Lee Browne appears in the cast in one of his earliest movie roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Finnerty, Garry Goodrow, (more)
- 1960
Seeking revenge against those who lynched his Rebel father during the Civil War, young gun Jesse May Turnbow (Robert Blake) has cut a violent swath throughout the frontier, killing ten men in cold blood. Hired to bring Turnbow to justice, Paladin (Richard Boone) conducts a search which ends up in an isolated shack occupied by Southerner George Jundell (William Talman) and ex-slave Ansel James (Hari Rhodes). Though he befriends the two men, Paladin cannot shake the feeling that they know more about Turnbow's whereabouts than they're letting on--and in fact the outlaw may be hiding on their property this very moment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Although this story of the making of a gangland hoodlum reflects only some of the real history of the Detroit Purple Gang in it, the violence portrayed is completely truthful. The sense of reality here is increased by the use of newsreel footage. Robert Blake is "Honeyboy" Willard, a juvenile delinquent always in trouble for petty thefts and similar deeds. (The actual Purple Gang started that way just before 1920, led by the youthful Bernstein brothers.) Cop Bill Harley (Barry Sullivan) is convinced that Willard's violent side can only be tamed by a stint behind bars. Opposing him is a social worker who wants to use modern methods of therapy to correct the teen's problems. When the social worker is found brutally murdered, the cop knows that Willard is responsible. He decides to stick with the case -- in spite of the fact that the gang eventually has a lot of city and union brass in its pocket. Just as a note, the gang got their name because one citizen commented that they were tainted, like the purple color of bad meat. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Sullivan, Elaine Edwards, (more)
- 1960
Have Gun, Will Travel opens its fourth season with an ethnic slant, a particular specialty of scriptwriter Shimon Wincelberg. Martin Gabel is seen as Russian-Jewish immigrant Nathan Shotness, who after witnessing a murder is pressured to keep quiet by a tough town boss. Nathan's daughter Rivka (Roxanne Berard) asks Paladin (Richard Boone) to provide protection for her father until the murder trial. The situation worsens when Rivka is kidnapped by the killer, a particularly vicious customer named Smollet (played by Robert Blake at his pre-stardom nastiest!). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Answering a call from a prison warden (Addison Richards, series host John Newland) is told a strange story about a young convict named Tom (played by a pre-Baretta Robert Blake). In flashback, we learn that Tom had wanted to participate a jailbreak masterminded by a hardened con named Gypsy (Johnny Seven), who has already agreed to take his pals Abe (Murvyn Vye) and Folger (John Kellogg) "over the wall." But Gypsy has had a premonition that a fourth escapee will bring bad luck--and as it turns out, he's right. Seriously wounded during the breakout, Gypsy tries to persuade Tom to give himself up...leading to a surprising denoument. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Pork Chop Hill was based on the eyewitness essays of ex-soldier S. L. A. Marshall. The film is set during the Korean "police action." While diplomats argue pointlessly over the shape of the negotiation tables at Panmunjon, United Nations troops bleed and die. Lieutenant Gregory Peck leads a 135-man unit on the attack of the Chinese-held Pork Chop Hill. When reinforcements finally arrive, only 25 of Peck's men survive (and they aren't the usual survivors we've come to expect from earlier, cliché-ridden war films). Among the American troops are such dependable performers as Harry Guardino, Woody Strode, Rip Torn, Barry Atwater, George Peppard, Robert Blake and Martin Landau. Former cowboy-star Bob Steele also shows up briefly as an American general. According to director Lewis Milestone, Pork Chop Hill was cut by nearly twenty minutes because the wife of star Gregory Peck felt that her husband made his first entrance too late into the picture. True or not, the film does show signs of post-production tampering, with flashes of several excised scenes showing up under the main title credits. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, (more)
- 1959
This routine and somewhat trite war movie develops slowly until a group of five nurses are captured by North Korean troops and quite clearly need to be rescued. At the head of the rescue task force is Lt. Frank Davis (Scott Brady). Frank has a special interest in freeing the women because one of them, Mary (Elaine Edwards) is more than just a pretty face in a uniform. Even though she is engaged to a Navy surgeon she is falling in love with the young lieutenant, and vice-versa. In the meantime, there is the little matter of the rescue itself. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Brady, Elaine Edwards, (more)
- 1958
Revolt in the Big House stars Gene Evans as a prison "lifer" who rules the roost in his particular cell block. With the help of such loose cannons as prison psycho Timothy Carey, Evans engineers a jailbreak. As the cons and the cops sweat through a standoff, it becomes clear that Evans doesn't care how many of his fellow prisoners die so long as he busts out. Conscience-stricken inmate Robert Blake saves his cell mates from the consequences of Evans' recklessness. Revolt in the Big House is excessive violent at times, but never so much as to become "Revolting in the Big House". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Evans, Robert Blake, (more)
- 1958
This gripping drama uses archival footage combined with new footage to re-create the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. It is also the love story between a devout communist woman and the liberal son of a prominent professor. Because of their political differences, the two can never be together. Central to the story is the conflict between the father and the son. It is only after his father dies, that the son sees the ugly reality of communism. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gerald Milton, John Hoyt, (more)
- 1957
This gritty crime drama is based on the true story of a Mexican news reporter who single-handedly takes on a crime syndicate. The journalist begins by publishing the names of several prominent, corrupt politicians. The syndicate retaliates and the journalist is killed. The locals rebel and the reporter's son takes up his father's cause. By uniting, the community routs the crooks from their home. The story is narrated by the actual journalist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rodopho (Rudy) Acosta, James Darren, (more)
Set in the American West after the Civil War, this drama is the pull-no-punches story of a lethal family feud. Colt Saunders (Charlton Heston) fought for the Confederacy in the war, and he returns to his family's Texas cattle ranch after impulsively marrying Lorna Hunter (Anne Baxter) following a very short courtship. During the war, Mexican foreman Innocencio (Gilbert Roland) and his sons have run the ranch. Colt's one-armed brother, Cinch (Tom Tryon), who hasn't been much of a help, wants Colt to give him money for his part of the land. When Colt refuses to give him gold in exchange for his share of the inheritance, Cinch launches a scheme to sell the place to a wealthy Northerner. Colt chafes at the notion of selling to a former enemy. Lorna gets pregnant with their first child, and Colt then discovers that she once worked as a prostitute. Soon after, a plot to kill Colt is unleashed. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Anne Baxter, (more)
- 1956
- NR
The Korean conflict of the early '50s saw widespread use of psychological torture by the North Korean communists on enemy prisoners of war. That young American GIs cracked under this brainwashing at higher rates than the troops of our allies led to much soul searching within the military and the nation during that era. In Hollywood, this was most famously reflected in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and lesser-known films like Time Limit (1955) and The Rack. The failure of all three films at the box office suggests that the public didn't care to be reminded of this painful issue. Paul Newman stars as Captain Edward W. Hall Jr., a career soldier being tried by a military court for collaborating with the enemy. As the son of a highly distinguished career officer (Walter Pidgeon), and with a brother who had been killed in the war, he is especially tormented by the accusations which have been brought against him. Although reluctant to take the case, Major Sam Moulton (Wendell Corey) elicits incriminating testimony from Hall, comparing him unfavorably with soldiers like Captain John Miller (Lee Marvin), who were able to withstand similar punishment. But defending attorney Lt. Colonel Frank Wasnick (Edmond O'Brien), makes the case that this new type of torture is a new and barely understood weapon, to which some will be more innately immune than others. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Wendell Corey, (more)
- 1956
The D-Day invasion of 1944 provides a backdrop for the Allied Artists actioner Screaming Eagles. Tom Tryon plays Private Mason, an ill-tempered member of the 101st Airborne Infantry division. Mason makes plenty of enemies with his negative attitude until good-guy lieutenant Pauling (Jan Merlin) straightens him out. The 101st' s main objective (once all personal travails are swept away, that is) is to capture and hold a vital bridge in Normandy. Jacqueline Beer, later one of the costars of TV's 77 Sunset Strip, provides the feminine interest as an attractive resistance fighter (were there ever any unattractive resistance fighters?) Featured in the cast are TV favorites Martin Milner and Alvy Moore and second-generation thespian Edward G. Robinson Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tryon, Jan Merlin, (more)
- 1956
This tense tale of waterfront corruption was clearly inspired by the success of On the Waterfront; there's even a character named Joe Brindo, played by Michael Granger. Newcomer James Darren plays Jimmy Smigelski, a budding juvenile delinquent who is hired as a "muscle man" for corrupt union leader Brindo. Kicked out of his house by his father, who despises all forms of gangsterism, Smigelski begins regarding Brindo as a surrogate dad. Thus, it takes a lot out of him when Jimmy discovers that his father-figure is a no-good louse. Agreeing to testify before an investigating committee, Jimmy is marked for death by his former benefactor. Once again, producer Sam Katzman uses a timely topic and lurid title to turn a quick profit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Darren, Laurie Carroll, (more)
