Larry Hagman Movies
The son of Broadway actress Mary Martin, Larry Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas. After his parents divorced, he lived with his grandmother in California until the time of her death. Hagman, 12 years old at the time, then returned to his mother who was working on the Broadway stage. After attending Bard College in Anandale-on-the-Hudson for one year, his own early efforts at breaking into showbiz began at the Margo Jones Theatre-in-the-Round in Dallas, and soon after in The Taming of the Shrew at the New York City Center. While working as a cast member on his mother's hit show South Pacific, Hagman took up residence in England and ended up staying there for five years. During that time he joined the U.S. Air Force where he found time to produce and direct several theater productions. It was also during that time that he met and fell in love with Maj Axelsson, a young Swedish designer. They were married in December of 1954.Back in the U.S., Hagman began to make progress in his career, tallying up several TV guest-star appearances (including, presciently, a smiling villain on an episode of Sea Hunt), a regular role as lawyer Ed Gibson on the daytime soap opera The Edge of Night, and a beautifully played supporting role as a Russian/ English interpreter in the nuclear nailbiter Fail Safe. In 1965, Hagman received his most prominent acting assignment to date as eternally flustered astronaut Tony Nelson on the TV sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. After five years of Jeannie, Hagman took a few film and TV-movie parts, co-starred with Donna Mills on the 1971 sitcom The Good Life, co-starred with Lauren Bacall in the TV rendition of the Broadway musical Applesauce, acted and directed in the low-grade horror spoof Beware! The Blob. Hagman's best-ever TV stint was as the charming but conniving J. R. Ewing on the nighttime TV serial Dallas, a role he played from 1978 through 1990. At first reluctant to accept the role, Hagman acknowledges that it was his wife Maj's encouragement that convinced him to do the series. Proof of Hagman's drawing power as J.R. came when, at the end of the 1979-80 season, the character was shot down by a mysterious assailant--setting the stage for the "Who Shot J.R.?" episode, one of the highest-rated telecasts of all time.
After the cancellation of Dallas, Hagman was forced to slow down his busy schedule due to an ongoing battle with liver cancer, and in August of 1995 he was the recipient of a liver transplant, a procedure that saved his life. Hagman's public life has always included a variety of civic and philanthropic undertakings. A staunch non-smoker, Hagman acted as the chairperson of the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout for nine years, and since his 1995 surgery, he has become the National Spokesperson for the 1996 U.S. Transplant Games sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation and has been recognized by the foundation for his role in increasing public awareness in regards to organ donation. In 1997, Hagman had recovered sufficiently to make a television comeback as the Honorable Judge Luther Charbonnet in the critically acclaimed CBS series Orleans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Renowned fishing expert Curt Gowdy hosts this video about salt water fishing. Guest celebrities try their luck at catching fish fresh from the ocean. Larry Hagman, Terry Bradshaw, and members of the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team all reveal their favorite fishing techniques in this lighthearted salt water fishing guide. ~ Karla Baker, All Movie Guide
Based on the novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, Fail-Safe is set for the most part at Strategic Air Command headquarters, where a misguided transmission sends a squadron of bombers hurtling towards Russia, fully prepared to drop their atomic weaponry on Moscow. Air Force commander Frank Overton desperately tries to establish radio contact with the bombers, but once the pilots have passed the "fail safe" point, they've been instructed to disregard any reversal of orders. Racing against time, US President Henry Fonda, through his interpreter (Larry Hagman), informs the Russian premiere of the impending nuclear disaster. Working in concert with SAC, the Russians send up interceptors to shoot down the American bombers, while some of the planes run out of fuel and crash. Unfortunately, one aircraft, piloted by Edward Binns, manages to escape destruction and continues on its fatal mission. Realizing that Moscow is doomed, the President must decide how to avert World War III. Featured in the cast of Fail Safe are Walter Matthau as a hawkish scientist, Fritz Weaver as a round-the-bend colonel, and Dom DeLuise (billed as "DeLouise") as a weeping sergeant. Fail-Safe is followed by a government-dictated disclaimer insisting that the events leading up to the nuclear disaster depicted in the film could not possibly happen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, (more)
- 1964
The crew of the USS Reluctant is at it again in this comedy sequel to Mister Roberts. The story opens toward the end of WWII as the great ship drops her cargo at various island bases. Their captain is an unbending tyrant. Young Pulver aspires to become a doctor just like his hero and mentor, the ship's physician. A terrible storm erupts and the ruthless captain is knocked overboard by a rogue wave. Brave Pulver dives over to save the commander and together the two end up stranded on a deserted island. When the captain suddenly doubles over with appendicitis it is up to Pulver to save him via a radio and the ship's doctor's instructions. Fortunately, it all comes out well in the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burl Ives, Walter Matthau, (more)
Having crash-landed on a deserted island, astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) wonders if he'll ever be rescued. He doesn't have to wonder long; discovering a strange-looking bottle, Tony uncorks the vessel and releases a sexy female genie (Barbara Eden) who has been trapped therein for 2500 years! "Jeannie" promptly arranges for Tony to be located by the air force search copters, and before long he has been whisked back to his home base in Cocoa Beach, Florida--with Jeannie, vowing eternal devotion to her new "master", dutifully following along. Thus begins the first season of I Dream of Jeannie, filmed in black and white so that Jeannie's magical powers will register better on the small screen. In the first four episodes, Karen Sharpe is seen as Tony's fiancée Melissa, the daughter of base commander Gen. Wingard Stone (Philip Ober). Thanks to the mystical machinations of the jealous Jeannie, Melissa has soon exited the scene, just as Tony's subsequent lady friends will be scared off in future episodes. Frustrated that his life is now in the hands of a capricious sprite, Tony at first tries to convince base psychiatrist Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke) that there's a genuine genie in his house. Alas, Tony not only fails to make his case, but he convinces Dr. Bellows that he's crazy, a plot development that will dictate the action of many an episode to come. As it turns out, the only other person who is aware of Jeannie's true identity is Tony's astronaut pal Roger Healy (Bill Daily), who stumbles onto the secret in the episode titled "The Richest Astronaut in the World". Roger's efforts to capitalize upon Jeannie's peculiar talents will, of course, cause nothing but trouble for himself and Tony. Appearing in several episodes during Season One is veteran movie villain Barton MacLane as bombastic air force general Martin Peterson. The season I Dream of Jeannie ends with "I'll Never Forget What's Her Name", wherein Tony develops partial amnesia, which enables him to remember everything and everybody EXCEPT Jeannie! (Incident, if Jeannie appears most modestly garbed than usual in several episodes, it is because star Barbara Eden was pregnant at the time). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman, (more)
In Harm's Way, based on James Bassett's novel Harm's Way, has enough plot in it for four movies or a good miniseries (when it was shown on network television in prime time, it was broken into two very full nights). On the morning of December 7, 1941, a heavy cruiser, commanded by Captain Rockwell Torrey (John Wayne), and the destroyer Cassidy, under acting commander Lieutenant (jg) William McConnell (Thomas Tryon), are two of a handful of ships that escape the destruction of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Under Torrey's command, the tiny fleet of a dozen ships carries out its orders to seek out and engage the enemy fleet. But lack of fuel and a daring maneuver (but tragic miscalculation) by Torrey causes his ship to be seriously damaged. He's relieved of command and assigned to a desk job routing convoys in the shakeup following the attack, and his exec and oldest friend, Commander Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas), is reassigned after a brawl, the result of his anger after identifying the body of his wife (Barbara Bouchet) who was killed during the attack while cavorting with an Marine Corps officer.
Torrey's shore assignment leads him to reestablish contact on a very hostile level with his estranged son, Ensign Jere Torrey (Brandon de Wilde), from his long-ended marriage; he establishes a romantic relationship with Lt. Maggie Haynes (Patricia Neal), a navy nurse; and he also befriends Commander Egan Powell (Burgess Meredith), a special-intelligence officer. Partly as a result of his contact with Powell, Torrey is chosen by the commander of the Pacific Fleet (Henry Fonda) to salvage an essential operation called Sky Hook, which has become bogged down through the indecisiveness of its area commander, Vice Admiral Broderick (Dana Andrews). Promoted to rear admiral, with Eddington -- who'd been rotting away on a shore assignment, drunk most of the time -- assigned as his chief of staff, Torrey gets Sky Hook rolling and finally finds his purpose in this war, gaining the belated admiration of his son in the process. Eddington is similarly motivated but is still haunted by the violent, ultimately self-destructive demons that blighted his marriage and his life -- he is particularly attracted to a young nurse, Annalee Dohrn (Jill Haworth), not knowing that she is already involved romantically with Jere Torrey. Meanwhile, McConnell survives the sinking of his ship and is ordered to join Torrey's staff. Matters all come to a head when the Japanese begin a counter-offensive to Torrey's planned troop landing. And just at the time Torrey needs his men at their best, Eddington's violence and rage boil to the surface in a way that will destroy him and blight both men's lives. In a final attempt at redemption, Eddington provides Torrey with the information he needs to set up a battle that he has at least a chance of winning, pitting his small task group of destroyers and cruisers against the Japanese task force led by the Yamato, the largest battleship ever built. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Torrey's shore assignment leads him to reestablish contact on a very hostile level with his estranged son, Ensign Jere Torrey (Brandon de Wilde), from his long-ended marriage; he establishes a romantic relationship with Lt. Maggie Haynes (Patricia Neal), a navy nurse; and he also befriends Commander Egan Powell (Burgess Meredith), a special-intelligence officer. Partly as a result of his contact with Powell, Torrey is chosen by the commander of the Pacific Fleet (Henry Fonda) to salvage an essential operation called Sky Hook, which has become bogged down through the indecisiveness of its area commander, Vice Admiral Broderick (Dana Andrews). Promoted to rear admiral, with Eddington -- who'd been rotting away on a shore assignment, drunk most of the time -- assigned as his chief of staff, Torrey gets Sky Hook rolling and finally finds his purpose in this war, gaining the belated admiration of his son in the process. Eddington is similarly motivated but is still haunted by the violent, ultimately self-destructive demons that blighted his marriage and his life -- he is particularly attracted to a young nurse, Annalee Dohrn (Jill Haworth), not knowing that she is already involved romantically with Jere Torrey. Meanwhile, McConnell survives the sinking of his ship and is ordered to join Torrey's staff. Matters all come to a head when the Japanese begin a counter-offensive to Torrey's planned troop landing. And just at the time Torrey needs his men at their best, Eddington's violence and rage boil to the surface in a way that will destroy him and blight both men's lives. In a final attempt at redemption, Eddington provides Torrey with the information he needs to set up a battle that he has at least a chance of winning, pitting his small task group of destroyers and cruisers against the Japanese task force led by the Yamato, the largest battleship ever built. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, (more)
- 1965
Feeling neglected by Tony (Larry Hagman), Jeannie conjures up an exact double of her master (also played by Larry Hagman). The "Second Tony" is far more amorous and compliant than the "original", a fact that Jeannie hopes to exploit to put the real Tony in the mood for marriage. The plan had better work: It is just possible that NASA is about to enforce a new rule that all of their astronauts must have wives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
This claustrophobic WW II war drama chronicles the five months which six soldiers and one woman spent trapped within a deep cave in the Italian mountains. Two soldiers die while trying to escape. The survivors try to keep sane, but keep grating upon each other. The pressure reaches a fever pitch when the British general blows his head off. The gunshot creates an explosion and the others escape. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosanna Schiaffino, John Saxon, (more)
I Dream of Jeannie switches from black and white to color as the series enters its second season, enabling magical heroine Jeannie (Barbara Eden) to convey her various mood swings via the color of the smoke emanating from the bottle where she resides. Otherwise, it's the mixture as before: Astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) does his best to hide the fact that a genuine genie is living on his property; Tony's buddy Roger (Bill Daily) continues to try to capitalize on Jeannie's unique skills in order to fatten his bank account; and base psychiatrist Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke) is more determined than ever to prove that the strange occurrences in the Nelson household are proof that Tony is a few bricks shy of a full load. This season, the long-suffering Bellows is given an equally long-suffering wife named Amanda, played by skilled comic actress Emmaline Henry). The season opener "Happy Anniversary" features Michael Ansara, then the husband of series star Barbara Eden, as the Blue Djinn, who first trapped Jeannie in her bottle 2500 years ago. Other guest stars include Paul Lynde as a confused IRS agent in "My Master the Rich Tycoon"; veteran Hollywood musical arranger Frank DeVol in "My Master, the Great Caruso"; Butch Patrick, fresh from two seasons of The Munsters, as Dr. Bellows' bratty nephew in "My Master the Author"; and a cameo appearance by series creator Sidney Sheldon's longtime friend Groucho Marx in "Greatest Invention in the World". Also, this season features the series' first two-part episode, "The Girl Who Never Had a Birthday", in which Jeannie is in danger of disappearing forever because of the dilemma elucidated in the episode's title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman, (more)
- 1966
Based on the novel by Mary McCarthy, The Group was one of the slickest, and most highly publicized, cinematic soap operas of the 1960s. Filmed largely in New York, the story charts the exploits of eight young women, all of whom graduate from an exclusive Vassar-ish college in the middle of the Depression. Among the talented young actresses making their screen debuts herein are Candice Bergen as Lakey, the group's resident Lesbian; Joan Hackett as Dottie, a repressed socialite who takes up with bohemian artist Dick Brown (Richard Mulligan); Joanna Pettet as Kay, who marries philandering playwright Harald Peterson (Larry Hagman); and Kathleen Widdoes as Helena, the wealthiest of the girls who insists upon proving her value in the workplace. The other girls are Pokey (Marin-Robin Redd), who seems happiest when pregnant; Jessica Walter as Libby, the group's viper-tongued gossip and the darling of the Manhattan literary set (some have suggested that McCarthy based this character on herself); Elizabeth Hartman as Priss, the requisite heart-on-sleeve liberal; and Shirley Knight as Polly, whose bumpy love life culminates in a very colorful engagement party. Hal Holbrook, likewise making his first screen appearance, plays Gus LeRoy. Sumptuously produced, The Group is a bit empty dramatically, though the sheer volume of continuing characters manages to sustain audience interest. (Incidentally, here's a note for "blooper" spotters: wasn't the Pan Am building constructed in the 1950s? ) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Candice Bergen, Joan Hackett, (more)
Season Three of I Dream of Jeannie finds the magical Jeannie (Barbara Eden) still loyal and devoted to her mortal "master", astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman), while Tony's best friend Roger Healy (Bill Daily) continues to hatch schemes to exploit Jeannie's astonishing powers--and Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke), flustered Air Force psychiatrist at Cocoa Beach, Florida, persists in his efforts to discover the source of the mysterious occurrences in the Nelson household. This season marks the introduction of Jeannie's twin sister Jeannie II (played by Barbara Eden in a brunette wig) in the episode "Jeannie or the Tiger." As wicked and calculating as her sister is sweet and unassuming, Jeannie II immediately begins plotting and planning to nab Tony for herself, usually by posing as "Jeannie I", bare-midriff harem costume and all. Other episodes of note include the season opener "Fly Me to the Moon", wherein Jeannie transforms a NASA chimp into a human being, played by Larry Storch; "My Master,the Weakling", featuring Don Rickles as a sadistic athletic coach; "Jeannie, the Hip Hippie", a showcase for Screen Gems' resident tunesmiths Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart; "Meet My Master's Mother", with the delightful Spring Byington in the title role; "My Son, the Genie", with Gilligan's Island escapee Bob Denver as a klutzy apprentice djinn; and singer Don Ho as himself in "Jeannie of Honolulu." Plus: In "Who are You Calling a Genie", our heroine develops amnesia; and in the three-part "Genie, Genie, Who's Got the Genie", the duplicitous "twin" Jeannie locks the genuine article in a safe bound for the moon! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman, (more)
- 1967
Once again peeved by Jeannie's persistence, Tony (Larry Hagman) orders her to stop doing favors for him and to help someone else instead. Jeannie (Barbara Eden) tries to oblige, but the first people whom she "helps" turn out to be a pair of bank robbers! Veteran movie tough guy Mike Mazurki shows up as a bank guard, while popular LA radio personality and game-show host Geoff Edwards appears as a teller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Abraham Sofaer makes his first series appearance as Haji, master of all genies, in this episode, which is also the first one directed by series star Larry Hagman. Tired of merely wishing that Tony (Larry Hagman) would ask her to become his wife, Jeannie (Barbara Eden) casts a "forbidden" spell on her Master, whereupon he instantly drops to his knee and proposes. This enrages the all-powerful Haji, who casts his own spell...resulting in an severely accident-prone Tony and a Jeannie completely stripped of her magical skills. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Tony (Larry Hagman) learns that Jeannie (Barbara Eden) will lose all her powers if she marries a mortal. Hoping to expedite this matter, Tony immediately proposes to Jeannie, who of course immediately accepts. Our hero's triumph nearly turns to tragedy when, given a glimpse into the future, he learns to his horror that his children will turn out to be genies no matter what the status of their mother! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Season Four of I Dream of Jeannie opens with the episode "U-F-Oh Jeannie", in which the magical titular heroine Barbara Eden and her astronauts friends Tony (Larry Hagman) and Roger (Bill Daily) skirmish with a family of gun-totin' hillbillies. In the subsequent "Djinn Djinn Go Away", we are introduced to Jeannie's troublesome magical dog, who has a bad habit of making himself invisible after wreaking havoc. Also: Joe Flynn, late of McHale's Navy, plays the no-nonsense replacement of Tony's psychiatrist nemesis Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke) in "Dr. Bellows Go Sane"; "The Biggest Star in Hollywood" features guest appearances by several of the regulars from Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, as well as that series' producer George H. Schlatter; and still one year away from becoming the "new Darrin" on Bewitched, Dick Sargent shows up in "Jeannie for the Defense". The season's liveliest episode is the two-part "The Case of the Vanishing Master", wherein enemy agents plant a lookalike for Tony Nelson in his home, causing no end of mischief when the phony Tony tumbles onto Jeannie's secret identity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman, (more)
The fifth and final season of I Dream of Jeannie marks the long-overdue consummation of the romance between sexy genie Jeannie (Barbara Eden) and her "master", astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Nelson), with Tony finally popping the question in the two-part episode "Guess Who's Going to Be a Bride." The impending marriage of the two principals opens up all sorts of new plot developments: For example, Jeannie is unable to partake of the obligatory blood test because a genie's blood is green; and in the episode "The Wedding", an attempt to snap a picture of the happy couple comes a-cropper because genies can't be photographed! And even though Tony and Jeannie are still husband and wife, Jeannie's duplicitous twin sister (also Barbara Eden) has not given up her efforts to snag Tony for herself, as witness the episode "My Sister the Homemaker", which ironically boasts a guest appearance by Barbara Eden's real-life husband Michael Ansara. And so it goes until the series' 139th and final episode, "My Master, the Chili King". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman, (more)
- 1969
In the first episode of a two-part story, Dr. Bellows (Larry Hagman) sends Tony (Larry Hagman) to a secret location in order to work on some hush-hush Apollo 12 flight plans. To avoid arousing suspicion, Bellows plants a lookalike (also played by Larry Hagman) in Tony's house. The trouble begins when the phony Tony meets Jeannie (Barbara Eden)--and almost instantly proposes marriage! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Roger (Bill Daily) has tipped Jeannie (Barbara Eden) to the fact that man whom she thinks is Tony (Larry Hagman)--and who has proposed marriage to her--is actually a lookalike of the real Tony, who has been sequestered in a secret place by Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke). Thus it is that when the authentic Tony shows up, Jeannie refuses to believe his protestations of authenticity and subjects him to all manner of torture. The plot thickens when the Phony Tony turns out to be an enemy spy, much to Dr. Bellows' embarrassment! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
For some reason, the made-for-TV Three's a Crowd was rerun to death in the early 1970s. Perhaps it's because local TV station managers couldn't get ahold of the 1940 theatrical features My Favorite Wife or Too Many Husbands, the plotlines of which are strikingly similar to Three's a Crowd. Larry Hagman plays a pilot who disappears and is presumed dead by his wife. Seven years later, however, Hagman pops up in another city, married to someone else. Jessica Parker and E. J. Peaker costar as the pilot's two brides. The film's title tune was written by Bobby Hart and Tommy Boyce, the same team responsible for several of the Monkees' 1960s hits. Three's a Crowd debuted December 2, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
This comedy is comprised of three short stories. In the first, a spy leader sends his men on an assignment. In the second, a wealthy couple forsakes their opulent lifestyle to become a butler and a cook. In the final story, a village doctor hires a pretty assistant. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1970
A light, almost beach-party atmosphere pervades this comedy, based on The Late Boy Wonder, a novel by Angus Hall. Larry Hagman plays a college president with political aspirations who flunks out a college student (Wes Stern) and then has the temerity to save the boy from committing suicide. In revenge, the boy decides to bed the three women most important to the nefarious college head, including his wife (Joan Collins). Though he is a real bumbler, somehow he succeeds in wooing the man's wife, daughter, and secretary. This is one place where two of the more successful stars of America's night-time soap operas from the 1980s (Dallas and Dynasty) can be seen working together. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Collins, Larry Hagman, (more)
- 1970
Vanished earned a niche in video history as the first two-part TV movie. Based on Fletcher Knebel's novel, the story concerns the sudden disappearance of a top Presidential adviser. Grilled by the media, the President's press secretary (James Farentino) reveals very little, simply because he knows very little. But the chief executive himself (Richard Widmark) has more information than he's willing to make public; the FBI has proof that the vanished adviser was homosexual, and subject to blackmail. Based in part on the Lyndon Johnson/Walter Jenkins imbroglio of 1964, Vanished is given an aura of credibility via cameo appearances by Washington newscaster/journalists Chet Huntley, Herbert Kaplow and Martin Agronsky. The film was first telecast on two consecutive evenings: March 8 and 9 of 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Although advertised as a "reunion" of former I Dream of Jeannie stars Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman, the made-for-TV A Howling in the Woods is actually a vehicle for Eden, with Hagman contributing a glorified cameo role. The scene is a remote wooded area in Nevada, where disillusioned housewife Liza Crocker (Eden) has arrived for a solitary camping trip. It so happens that Liza's "sanctuary" is located near the small and cloistered town where she was born -- a town that does not necessarily want to have her back. As Liza's husband, Eddie (Larry Hagman), searches for her in hopes of a reconciliation, the heroine is terrorized by the mournful sound of a howling dog, which triggers painful and frightening memories that she had hoped were long, long buried. Based on a novel by Velda Johnston, the underrated and almost unbearably suspenseful A Howling in the Woods debuted November 11, 1971, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
In this drama, two middle-aged businessmen decide to chuck it all and get back to the land. Unfortunately, they too soon discover that living a "natural" life isn't all it is cracked up to be; they return to the rat race from whence they came. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1971
The regular stars of the TV series Name of the Game (Gene Barry, Robert Stack, Tony Franciosa) keep a low profile in this episode, titled A Capitol Affair. The emphasis is on Howard Publications journalist Suzanne Pleshette, who labors long and hard to win her politician boyfriend Monte Markham a presidential appointment. But Pleshette's efforts are threatened by vitriolic gossip columnist Mercedes McCambridge. For reasons left unknown until the end of the episode, McCambridge conducts a one-woman campaign to thoroughly discredit Markham. A Capitol Affair first aired February 12, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Meeting largely mixed reviews during its first run in 1971, counterculture icon Peter Fonda's directorial debut was restored and remastered for its 30-year anniversary. The film opens with three drifters greeting the morning by cavorting in a sun-dabbled mountain river. Harry Collings (Fonda) catches a fish and gives it to Arch Harris (Warren Oates) who grills it over a low fire, while Dan (Robert Pratt) -- the youngest of the three -- bathes in the swift moving current. Later, as they head into Del Norte, a small town in the middle of nowhere, Dan talks breathlessly about going to California while Collings suddenly decides to return home after a seven-year absence. After Dan runs afoul of a group of unsavory characters lead by McVey (Severn Darden), Collings vows vengeance for the lad's death and blows off McVey's feet. Collings and Harris bury Dan and flee from the town riding hundreds of miles to Collings' homestead. His wife Hannah (Verna Bloom) -- now called "Widow Collings" by the local townsfolk -- is none too pleased to see her wayward husband at her doorstep. Taking his wife's anger in stride, he asks only to be allowed to work as a hired hand. Just as Hannah and Collings start to move beyond the years of anger and estrangement, disaster strikes. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, (more)
