Richard Donner Movies

Taken from the popular television series, an enthusiastic reporter follows around bounty hunter Josh Randall in an episode entitled "The Twain Shall Meet." ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Jewish immigrants Nathan and Rivka Shotness (Martin Gabel, Roxane Berard), first seen in the fourth-season episode "The Fatalist", make return appearances in this entry. Paladin (Richard Boone) is invited to serve as best man on the occasion of Rivka's wedding. Unfortunately, the festivities may be interrupted--violently--by the arrival of Billy Buckstone (Noah Keen), against whom Nathan once testified in a murder trial. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Keith Andes guest stars as Franz Lister, a celebrated German musician who has been brought to the US by his wealthy sponsor, a social-climbing former saloon hostess named Mona Lansing (Gertrude Flynn). No sooner has Lister arrived than his priceless piano is "kidnapped" and held for ransom. Paladin (Richard Boone) is hired to bring the piano back in one piece--assuming that he can remain in one piece as well! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most popular and best-remembered adventure series of the 1960s, the weekly, hour-long The Fugitive made its ABC network premiere on September 17, 1963. David Janssen starred as Dr. Richard Kimble, a prominent physician who had been tried, convicted and condemned to death for the murder of his wife. In truth, Kimble was innocent, but he had never been able to convince the jury that he'd seen a "one-armed man" running from his home on the night of the murder. While Kimble was being escorted to prison by police lieutenant Philip Gerard (Barry Morse), the train on which the two men were riding was involved in a spectacular crash. Wriggling loose from the handcuffs that bound him to the unconscious Gerard, Kimble managed to escape. For the rest of the series, Kimble assumed a variety of new identities and took on innumerable odd jobs as he traveled throughout the country in search of the One-Armed Man who could prove his innocence. Meanwhile, the relentless Lt. Gerard dogged Kimble's trail, determined to recapture him. In the tradition of such previous quasi-anthology series as Wagon Train, Richard Kimble would wander into a small town and profoundly change the lives of several local citizens (as well as convince them that he wasn't a wife killer) before hastily departing for his next destination as Lt. Gerard closed in. Other than Kimble and Gerard, there were no other regulars, though Kimble's sister Donna Taft (Jacqueline Scott) made sporadic appearances, while the late Mrs. Helen Kimble (played by Diane Brewster) would show up in flashback sequences. Also, each episode was narrated by an uncredited William Conrad. As the series rolled onward, the One-Armed Man would pop in and out of the action with increasing frequency, always frustratingly just beyond Kimble's reach, and never long enough to be proven guilty in the eyes of Lt. Gerard. The elusive murderer was eventually identified as Fred Johnson, played by genuine amputee Bill Raisch, a veteran movie stuntman best remembered for his barroom brawl in Kirk Douglas in the 1961 theatrical feature Lonely are the Brave. During its fourth and last season on the air, The Fugitive entered the annals of pop-culture history with its final episode, telecast on August 29, 1967, in which Kimble finally caught up with Fred Johnson, just as new evidence surfaced establishing that there had been another witness to the murder. This episode, "The Judgement", was seen by more viewers than any single dramatic TV series episode in history, a record that would remain unbroken until the "Who Shot J.R." installment of Dallas in the fall of 1980. (Reruns of The Fugitive aired on ABC's daytime schedule from April 1967 to March 1968; while the series was highly rated during its original run, it fared less successfully in rerun form, possibly because viewers already knew the outcome of the story). Although neither confirmed nor denied by its executive producer Quinn Martin nor its creator Roy Huggins, The Fugitive was clearly inspired by the real-life case of Ohio physician Sam Sheppard, who in 1954 had been sentenced to death for his wife's murder despite his protestations that he'd seen a "curly-haired man" fleeing from his house on the fatal night. Ultimately, Dr. Sheppard was released from prison when it was determined that he had been a victim of judicial prejudice and "guilt by headlines", though at the time of his death in 1970 he had never been officially exonerated of the crime. In addition to inspiring a sub-genre of "hero on the run" TV series (notably Branded, Run for Your Life and The Invaders), The Fugitive served as the basis for a highly successful 1993 theatrical film, starring Harrison Ford as Kimble and Tommy Lee Jones as Gerard. And during the 2000-2001 season, an updated series version of The Fugitive, starring Tim Daly in the title role and Mykelti Williamson as his pursuer, was briefly telecast on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Under heavy fire during a mission with King Company, Caje (Pierre Jalbert) accidentally kills a French civilian. Racked by guilt, Caje tries to make things up to the dead man's niece Micheline (Andrea Darvi), ending up as the girl's surrogate father. Well and good--except that Saunders (Vic Morrow) begins to worry that Caje's devotion to Micheline may result in fatal dereliction of his Army duties. Directed by Richard Donner (Superman: The Movie et. al.), this is the final episode of Combat!'s first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Written by Bernard Schoenfeld, this moderately amusing Twilight Zone outing stars Wally Cox as nerdish computer technician James Elwood. Falling in love with secretary Millie (Sue Randall aka "Miss Landers" on Leave It to Beaver), Elwood begins receiving romantic advice from a most unlikely source -- his own giant computer "Agnes." Unfortunately, it turns out that Agnes has an agenda of her own. According to some reports, "From Agnes with Love" was intended as a pilot for a Wally Cox TV series; whatever the case, it first aired February 14, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John McGiver stars as ex-Navy man Roswell G. Flemington, who insists upon running his business, and his home, in strict maritime fashion. This includes an abundance of loud noises -- whistles, bells, cannon shots, and military music -- because Flemington, like nature, abhors a vaccuum. His obsession with noise costs Flemington his wife (Penny Singleton) and his sanity, though not necessarily in that order. Written Rod Serling, "Sounds and Silences" was networkcast only once, on April 3, 1964; because of a legal squabble with another writer, the episode was removed from the Twilight Zone syndicated package, remaining unseen until 1984, when it was included in a two-hour Twilight Zone anniversary package. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ruthlessly efficient businessman Wallace V. Whipple (Richard Deacon) runs roughshod over the feelings of his employees when he elects to fully automate his factory. Installing computers and robots, Whipple drives longtime worker Dickerson (Ted de Corsia) to take desperate measures to protect his job. Without giving away the ending, it is worth noting that Robby the Robot, of Forbidden Planet fame, makes a cameo appearance. Written by Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, "The Brain Center at Whipple's" was originally telecast on May 15, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sleazy movie producer Tony Fry (Richard Carlson) plans to raise money for his next picture by threatening to reveal the sordid past of Joanne Pennington (Constance Towers), the wife of millionaire J.J. Pennington (Paul Stewart). What Tony doesn't know is that his fiancee Kathy (Mimsy Farmer) is actually the daughter of a man whose career he ruined years earlier, and who hopes to use Tony's extortion scheme to destroy him. But things don't quite work out that way, and by the episode's halfway point Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is defending Kathy on a charge of bludgeoning Tony to death with a film-award trophy (no, it isn't an Oscar; evidently the Motion Picture Academy was not about to allow its sacred statuette to be used as a murder weapon!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sent to Yugoslavia to investigate the murder of a U.N. scientist, Solo and Illya are assigned to protect Marion Raven, who has witnessed firsthand the effects of a new fear-inducing gas. The trail of clues leads to a quartet of conspirators, led by the beautiful but lethal Gervaise Ravel, who intends to gain control of an Eastern European country on behalf of THRUSH. Jill Ireland, then the wife of series regular David McCallum, appears as Marion, while Anne Francis is cast as Gervaise; both actresses would repeat their roles in the sequel episode "The Giuco Piano Affair." Written by Alan Caillou, "The Quadripartite Affair" first aired on October 6, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As a hurricane approaches the island, the seven castaways build a community hut to shield them from the storm. Unfortunately, being under the same roof for a lengthy period of time results in everybody getting on everybody else's nerves. By the time the episode arrives at its conclusion, it's a toss-up as to whether the hurricane or the hostility poses the greatest threat to the castaways! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is in Reno, helping Pete Warren (Peter Breck) finalize his divorce from his wife Myrna. When an incriminating photo reveals that Myrna (Myrna Fahey) is mixed up in a counterfeit gambling-chip scam at a local gambling casino, Pete tells a pack of lies to the authorities to save his soon-to-be "ex" from prosectuion. Before long, Pete is facing a far more serious charge than counterfeiting: Myrna has been murdered, and all the evidence points to him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As "Bob Stoddard", Kimble (David Janssen) works as a bartender at the same restaurant where Susan Cartwright (Lois Nettelton) is a waitress. Recognizing Kimble from a police description, Susan's nephew Gary (Pat Cardi) and his pals decide to capture the fugitive and claim the reward, using a mail-order rifle for this purpose. Things become even stickier when a social worker arrives to determine if Susan is a fit guardina for the orphaned Gary--and likewise recognizes Kimble for who he really is. Featured in the cast are 16-year-old Kurt Russell and his actor father Bing Russell). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide