Mike Farrell Movies
Born in Minnesota, Mike Farrell was two years old when his family moved to LA; his father, a carpenter, had just gotten a lucrative movie-studio job. Exposed to showbiz from an early age, Farrell began acting in high school plays, hoping to pursue the theatre as a career. He was forced to put his thespic urges on the back burner during his hitch with the U.S. Marines, but upon being discharged he attended drama courses at Los Angeles City College and UCLA, and also studied at the Jeff Corey Workshop. He made his professional debut in a 1961 stage production of Rain, then spent several years playing bits in such films as Captain Newman MD (1963), The Graduate (1967) and Targets (1968). His first real break came in 1968, when he was cast as architect Scott Banning on the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives. Two years later, he put his John Hancock on a contract with Universal, playing supporting roles in such prime-times series as The Interns (1969) and Man and the City (1971).Unhappy with the type of roles offered him by his studio, Farrell asked for and received his release in 1975 when the opportunity came to audition for the popular sitcom M*A*S*H. Wayne Rogers had just left that top-rated series, leaving an opening in the category of "Hawkeye's Best Friend." Farrell read for the assignment, hit it off immediately with M*A*S*H leading-man Alan Alda (something Rogers had never been able to do), and was cast as wise-cracking army surgeon B. J. Hunnicutt, a role he'd fill until the series' final episode in 1983. Like Alda, Farrell directed several M*A*S*H episodes; also like Alda, he was a dedicated political and social activist, devoted to such causes as gay rights and prevention of child and spousal abuse. Since M*A*S*H's demise, Farrell has chosen to cut down on his acting appearances, preferring to direct; in addition to his series-TV work as director, he has also helmed the 1988 TV movie Run Till You Fall. In 1988, he co-produced the critically acclaimed theatrical feature Dominick and Eugene. Previously married to actress/documentary filmmaker Judy Farrell (nee Hayden), Mike Farrell is currently wed to Coach co-star Shelley Fabares. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Policewoman Fran Belding (Elizabeth Baur) has a new man in her life: Jim Marshall (Gary Lockwood), a police detective who is long on charm but dangerously short on temper. Marshall's well-known propensity for violence catches up with him when he is suspected of two murders. Ironside (Raymond Burr) wants to know if Marshall's current dilemma is linked to a case he once pursued with his former partner--a private detective who is no saint himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The science of "cryogenics" forms the basis of the made-for-TV Live Again, Die Again. Donna Mills plays a young woman who dies of rheumatic fever. At her deathbed request, Mills' body is frozen, in hopes of reviving her in the future. Thirty years later, Mills awakens, returning to the not-so-open arms of her doddering husband (Walter Pidgeon), her spiteful daughter (Vera Miles) and her mixed-up son (Mike Farrell). No, this was not produced by Walt Disney Studios. Adapted by Joseph Stefano from a novel by David Sale, Live Again, Die Again first aired February 16, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Louise Sorel plays a mild-mannered young woman saddled with a cruel and overbearing husband (John Vernon). Her slow, methodical solution to the problem is anything but mild. In hopes of permanently eliminating her domestic irritation, the harried Ms. Sorel creates far deeper problems for herself than she'd ever imagined. Don Stroud and a pre-MASH Mike Farrell costar in this taped suspenser. Nightmare Step was originally telecast on the late-night network anthology ABC Wide World Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
This sci-fi film chronicles the exploits of an incredibly strong android that is totally devoid of emotion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1973
In this murder mystery, a young model saw the crime, but is unable to get the authorities to believe her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
The Longest Night is a harrowing made-for-TV movie based on a real-life kidnapping. Sallie Shockley is abducted from the home of her parents and held for ransom. Her captors entomb her in a box buried several feet underground, with an air hose as her only conduit to the outside world. As the police close in on the kidnappers and search for the girl, she desperately tries to stave off hysteria and to prevent the cutting off of her air supply. She is rescued comparatively early in the storyline, which then switches to the trackdown of the culprits. The Longest Night effectively conveys the claustrophobic atmosphere of the story, even though it runs out of gas before the end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Circuitously commenting upon the drug culture of the 1970s, this Bonanza episode probes the dangers of the onetime "wonder drug" morphine. Future MASH regular Mike Farrell is cast as Dr. Will Agar, who is revealed to be a morphine addict after he inadvertently causes the death of a young patient during routine surgery. Also in the cast are Gary Busey as Dr. Agar's hapless victim Henry Johnson, David Huddleston as Henry's father, Melissa Murphy as Agar's wife Nancy, and Mons Kjellin (the son of director Alf Kjellen) as Agar's son Chris. Written by Stanley Roberts and Jack B. Sowards, "The Hidden Enemy" first aired on November 28, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1971
Destiny of a Woman is comprised of vignettes from the Man and the City TV series, which ran for 13 weeks in the fall of 1971. Anthony Quinn plays Thomas Jefferson Alcala, the Mexican-American mayor of a large southwestern city (possibly Albuquerque). The bulk of Destiny of a Woman concerns a disturbed woman (Lois Nettelton) who kidnaps a baby. When an extortionist complicates the rescue, Alcala steps in. This "TV movie" made the network and syndication rounds long after Man and the City bit the desert dust. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A murder investigation uncovers a plot that could destroy the world as we know it in this thriller. When a scientist doing research on nuclear weapons is murdered during a hospital stay, federal investigator Dave Pomeroy (Howard Duff) is called in to find out who killed him and why. With the help of Dr. Paula Stevens (Linda Cristal), the late scientist's assistant, Pomeroy learns that the scientist fell victim to a group of communist renegades whose members include two brilliant but unstable weapons experts, August Best (Nehemiah Persoff) and Myra Pryor (Anne Jeffreys). Pomeroy discovers that Best and Pryor have constructed an atomic bomb of their own -- and that they're threatening to use it to start World War III, forcing the detective to take swift action to prevent worldwide devastation. Panic in the City also features Dennis Hopper in the small role of Goff, just a year before Easy Rider would make him a star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Howard Duff, Linda Cristal, (more)
Together with Orson Welles' Citizen Kane and John Singleton's Boyz 'n the Hood, director Peter Bogdanovich's Targets is among the most impressive first features ever made. When Bogdanovich's cinematic mentor Roger Corman suggested that Bogdanovich might want to make his directorial debut, he offered to "donate" 20 minutes worth of footage of the Corman-directed The Terror and the services of Boris Karloff, who owed Corman two days' worth of work (at a cost of $22,000). Karloff became so caught up in the 29-year-old Bogdanovich's enthusiasm that he agreed to work an additional two days at a bare-minimum salary.
The script, by Bogdanovich and his then-wife, Polly Platt, was inspired by the 1966 shooting spree of Texas Tower sniper Charles Whitman. Karloff, as Byron Orlock, more or less plays himself: an aging horror star, consigned to low-budget drive-in fare. Unlike the workaholic Karloff, Orlock wants to retire from films, noting that his movies seem inconsequential in light of the real-life horrors occurring every day. As Bogdanovich, playing young-and-hungry director Sammy Michaels, desperately tries to convince Orlock to star in just one more picture, the film's attentions shift to Vietnam veteran Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly). An otherwise amiable, normal-looking lad, Bobby seems to harbor an inordinate fascination with guns, particularly high-powered rifles. One bright and sunny morning, Bobby suddenly and unexpectedly shoots and kills his wife, his mother, and an unlucky delivery boy. He leaves behind a note confessing to these crimes, noting that, while he fully expects to be captured, many more will die before the day is over. From this point onward, the film switches from Bobby's day-long bloodbath (from the vantage point of an oil storage tank, calmly picking off passing freeway motorists) to Orlock's grumbling preparations to make a personal appearance at a local drive-in movie.
Inevitably, Bobby also shows up at the drive-in, hiding himself behind the huge screen and shooting down the patrons as they sit complacently in their cars, watching the latest Byron Orlock film (actually The Terror, in which Karloff also starred). Once the reality of the situation sets in, panic ensues, leading to the ultimate confrontation between the escaping Bobby and the bewildered Orlock. ("Is this what I was afraid of?" Orlock ruefully exclaims as Bobby cowers at his feet.) The tension never lets up throughout Targets' jam-packed 90 minutes. The film was virtually thrown away by its distributor, Paramount Pictures, which was uncertain about packaging a film about a sniper in the wake of the King and Kennedy assassinations. Only when it was reissued to college campuses and film societies did Targets begin building up its much-deserved reputation. Though Targets was not, technically, Boris Karloff's last film, it serves as a worthy valedictory for this cinematic giant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The script, by Bogdanovich and his then-wife, Polly Platt, was inspired by the 1966 shooting spree of Texas Tower sniper Charles Whitman. Karloff, as Byron Orlock, more or less plays himself: an aging horror star, consigned to low-budget drive-in fare. Unlike the workaholic Karloff, Orlock wants to retire from films, noting that his movies seem inconsequential in light of the real-life horrors occurring every day. As Bogdanovich, playing young-and-hungry director Sammy Michaels, desperately tries to convince Orlock to star in just one more picture, the film's attentions shift to Vietnam veteran Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly). An otherwise amiable, normal-looking lad, Bobby seems to harbor an inordinate fascination with guns, particularly high-powered rifles. One bright and sunny morning, Bobby suddenly and unexpectedly shoots and kills his wife, his mother, and an unlucky delivery boy. He leaves behind a note confessing to these crimes, noting that, while he fully expects to be captured, many more will die before the day is over. From this point onward, the film switches from Bobby's day-long bloodbath (from the vantage point of an oil storage tank, calmly picking off passing freeway motorists) to Orlock's grumbling preparations to make a personal appearance at a local drive-in movie.
Inevitably, Bobby also shows up at the drive-in, hiding himself behind the huge screen and shooting down the patrons as they sit complacently in their cars, watching the latest Byron Orlock film (actually The Terror, in which Karloff also starred). Once the reality of the situation sets in, panic ensues, leading to the ultimate confrontation between the escaping Bobby and the bewildered Orlock. ("Is this what I was afraid of?" Orlock ruefully exclaims as Bobby cowers at his feet.) The tension never lets up throughout Targets' jam-packed 90 minutes. The film was virtually thrown away by its distributor, Paramount Pictures, which was uncertain about packaging a film about a sniper in the wake of the King and Kennedy assassinations. Only when it was reissued to college campuses and film societies did Targets begin building up its much-deserved reputation. Though Targets was not, technically, Boris Karloff's last film, it serves as a worthy valedictory for this cinematic giant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boris Karloff, Tim O'Kelly, (more)
- 1968
In the third episode of a four-part story, Jeannie (Barbara Eden) is still locked in a safe that is destined to be sent to the moon. Her lookalike sister Jeannie II (also Barbara Eden) shows up, intending to use the situation at hand in order to ensnare Jeannie's master Tony (Larry Hagman) for herself. Unfortunately, Jeannie II's own master Habib (played by Ted Cassidy, aka "Lurch" on The Addams Family) likewise appears--fully prepared to kill several characters whom we care about! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Joey Forman, who previously appeared as the title character in the Monkees episode "Captain Crocodile," returns as the villainous Dragonman in "Monkees Chow Mein." While dining at a Chinese restaurant, Davy inadvertently picks up a fortune cookie containing a top-secret message. Captured by the Dragonman's henchmen, Peter and Micky must rely on the "MonkeeMen" -- Davy and Mike -- to come to their rescue. Future MASH regular Mike Farrell shows up as FBI Agent Modell. Song: "Your Auntie Grizelda". First telecast on March 13, 1967, "Monkees Chow Mein" was written by the series' story editors, Gerald Gardner and Dee Caruso. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
This sci-fi drama is set aboard a nearly derelict spaceship about to fail. With little remaining supplies and little oxygen, only a few of the crew will survive to make it back to Earth, leaving them to decide which of them must die. The film is also known as The Doomsday Machine. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Kirby (Jack Hogan) begins to question his priorities when he risks life and limb to make certain that a deadbeat soldier pays off a poker debt of several hundred dollars. The situation worsens when it becomes obvious that Kirby's debtor is willing to let his "buddies" die so that he can stay alive. Featured in the cast is future M*A*S*H star Mike Farrell, presciently cast as an Army doctor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
