Francis Cockrell Movies

In this dark drama, filmed in the Mojave Desert, a conniving wife and her lover leave her husband, who broke his leg, alone in the desert to die. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A mysterious hulking figure prowls a university campus at night and yanks the door off of a locked storage room to steal chemicals -- a guard spots the intruder but before he can react, the man knocks him cold and kills him, carrying the body as if it weighed nothing. The police investigation, led by Lt. Branch (James Doohan), can't figure out how the door was removed or the guard was asphyxiated -- and the materials that were stolen are fairly mystifying as well, chemicals used in experiments with consciousness-expanding ("CE") drugs. Dr. Peter Wayne (Keith Andes), the head of the drug experimentation program, and his associate (and brother-in-law) Dr. Roy Clinton (Skip Homeier), insist that there's nothing missing that was worth a burglary, much less a murder, but the lieutenant insists on checking out a possible connection between the crimes and a group of students and faculty members who were previously dismissed from the university for their CE experiments. This leads to new puzzlements -- including a man (Aki Aleong) who turns up, seemingly dead, for no apparent reason -- and the murder of a philanthropist associated with the university, apparently committed by a man that no one except Dr. Wayne remembers seeing. And of what significance is one student's claim that he saw Dr. Clinton on campus, at the science building, on the night of the burglary, which Clinton insists can't be true? Or Clinton's suggestion that CE drugs may be at work on others around them, affecting their judgement and their abilities? The story poses lots of questions, as well as momentarily waxing poetic on the potential of consciousness-expansion, and then answers them very slightly too early and quickly, in this otherwise eerie and suspenseful mystery. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Heavily in debt, John Manbridge (Denholm Elliott) cannot wait to inherit the money promised him by his wealthy uncle Felix (Torin Thatcher). Hoping to speed up the process, John kills Uncle Felix, and then arranges a "perfect alibi." Only when Felix's body is found does John discover that the murder was entirely unnecessary -- but by then, he too has suffered his uncle's curious fate. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is intrigued when he receives a $2500 check from one Lucille Allred (Anna Lee), with no explanation why. Contacting Lucille's husband Bernard (Neil Hamilton), Perry is told that the woman has run off with another man. The situation becomes even more vexing when Bernard turns up murdered, not long after being in a highly suspicious car accident which also involved his business associate Bob Fleetwood (Harry Townes). Now Perry will be able to earn that $2500 as defense councel for Lucille Allred, who has been charged with her husband's murder. In an interesting bit of casting, Yvonne Craig appears as Bernard Allred's stepdaughter, some nine years before Ms. Craig and Neil Hamilton respectively played Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl) and her dad Commissioner Gordon on TV's Batman. This episode is based on a 1947 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Roald Dahl's classic short story A Dip in the Pool has been dramatized numerous times on both radio and TV, though never more memorably than in this episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. While taking an ocean voyage, chronic gambler William Botibol (Keenan Wynn) bets every penny to his name on a shipboard contest, predicated on the number of miles the ship will travel each day. When it appears as though he will lose his wager, Botibol hatches a desperate scheme: he will jump into the ocean, forcing the captain to turn the ship around and save him, thereby remaining within the "proper" mileage. But first, Botibol needs to find a friendly stranger who will witness his overboard leap and immediately report it to the captain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While enjoying a leisurely ocean cruise in the company of secretary Della (Barbara Hale), Perry (Raymond Burr) is approached by passenger Anna Houser (Lurene Tuttle), who is worried about the wellbeing of her husband Carl (Theodore Newton). Not long afterward, Carl is seen jumping off the ship, an apparent suicide--but when the body is recovered, it turns out that he was shot. Accused of murder, Anna puts her fate in the hands of Perry, who in the course of piecing things together unearths the fact that Carl had once accepted a huge bribe while serving on a jury. And how does that mysterious wheelchair-bound passenger, whose face is completely wrapped in bandages, figure into the story? This episode is based on a 1938 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A strangler is plaguing fog-bound London, and each time the culprit strikes, two men are the first to arrive at the murder scene. One of them is Ottermole (Theodore Bikel), the police sergeant investigating the murders; the other is an obnoxious newspaper reporter (Charles Davis). Trouble is, the reporter always manages to beat the detective to the crime scene -- a fact that will result in tragedy for at least one of the two protagonists. Generally regarded as one of the best mystery stories ever written, Charles Davis' The Hands of Mr. Ottermole had previously been dramatized on both the radio and TV versions of Suspense. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Previously filmed as a theatrical feature in 1939, Alec Coppel's semi-serious mystery play I Killed the Count was adapted 17 years later as Alfred Hitchcock Presents' only three-part episode. In part two, Inspector Davidson (John Williams) has his hands full trying to determine who murdered the much-hated Count Martoni. No sooner has one suspect confessed to the crime than another suspect comes forward with another confession! Making matters worse for Davidson, there is not enough evidence to convict either one of the confessors. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While vacationing in Bear Valley, Perry (Raymond Burr) is pressed into service when wheelchair-bound water skiier Mark Cushing (Eric Sinclair). It seems that Belle Adrian (Sylvia Field) had sworn vengeance against Mark for assaulting her daughter Carla (played by a pre-I Dream of Jeannie Barbara Eden). The key evidence in the case turns out to be something as simple as a lipstick sample. Paul Fix makes the first of several appearances as William Hale, the small-town district attorney with whom Perry matches wits whenever outside the jurisdiction of his tradtional nemesis Hamilton Burger. This episode is based on a 1951 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Newly arrived in Heaven, mystery writer Alexander Arlington (John Williams) asks permission from Recording Angel Wilfred (Alan Napier) to return to Earth so that he can find out who murdered him. The list of suspects is formidable indeed, including not only Arlington's faithless wife Carol (a pre-Gunsmoke Amanda Blake), but also his nephew and his secretary. In his efforts to reconstruct the crime, Arlington succeeds only in getting himself bumped off all over again -- and it looks for a while as though he'll never discover "whodunit." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A short story by once-notorious novelist Michael Arlen is the basis for this episode, in which a pair of British practical jokers place a bet with visiting American Howard Latimer (Biff McGuire) that he won't be able to spend an entire night in a supposedly haunted mansion. Though he does not scare easily, Latimer is aghast when he is seemingly confronted by the "ghost" of a young murder victim named Julia. Two years pass before Latimer again crosses paths with the men who made the bet -- and the results aren't pretty. An earlier version of "The Gentleman from America" was released in the U.K. as the 1948 theatrical feature The Fatal Night. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The men behind America's first venture into space are honored in this drama that paid special emphasis on historical accuracy and obtained much input and assistance from the US Air Force. The story centers on an Air Force doctor who performs many detailed test to discover how the human body will respond to the rigors of space travel including its reactions to being ejected in a space capsule from 45,000 feet, to traveling 1,000 miles per hour in a rocket sled, and ascending to 100,000 feet in a balloon. His devoted wife supports him all the way even though he sometimes insists on using himself as a guinea pig. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

When he takes a voluntary pay cut to help out his financially strapped boss, Dick Paine (Skip Homeier) must face the wrath of his nagging wife Beth (played by no less than Joanne Woodward). Demanding that Dick stand up for his rights, Beth tells him to go back to the office and confront his pinchpenny boss. Alas, Dick returns empty-handed, leading to a tragic denouement. This final episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents' first season was previously heard on the radio anthology Suspense under the title "Too Little to Live On," starring Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi