Leonard Horn Movies
- 1976
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, based on newspaper coverage, court testimony and eyewitness accounts, was dramatized for television by J.P. Miller. Cliff DeYoung and Sian star as Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The couple's 2-year-old son Charles Jr. is kidnapped from the family's Hopewell, New Jersey home on March 1, 1932; though the ransom is paid, the child's body is found a few days later. All circumstantial evidence points to German expatriate Bruno Richard Hauptmann (Anthony Hopkins) as the kidnapper/murderer. While never seriously challenging the notion of Hauptmann's guilt, the film raises several questions concerning the fairness of his trial. The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case first aired in a three-hour timeslot on Febrary 26, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
The second made-for-TV movie based on Charles Moulton's classy comic-strip heroine Wonder Woman, The New Original Wonder Woman was the one that "sold", resulting in a popular and durable weekly series. Replacing Cathy Lee Crosby, who'd starred in the disastrous 1974 adaptation of Wonder Woman, is the statuesque Linda Carter. Having dwelled exclusively among females on Paradise Islandsince 200 BC, immortal Amazonian princess Diana comes in contact with the real world for the first time in her life when US Army Major Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner) crash-lands on the island during WWII. Falling in love with Steve, the Princess assumes the identity of mousy, bespectacled Diana Prince and returns with him to the mainland. Every so often, and unbeknownst to Steve, Diana occcasionally transforms herself into the scantily clad superheroine Wonder Woman (golden lasso, magic belt and bracelets, the whole bit) in order to save the world from the Nazi menace. On this occasion, Wonder Woman does her thing in order to prevent the Nazis from destroying the prototype of a revolutionary new bombsight. First telecast on November 7, 1975, The New Original Wonder Woman was seen on ABC; by the time the Wonder Woman series proper ran its course on September 11, 1979, the property had switched networks to CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lynda Carter
- 1974
Telecast April 17, 1974, Nakia was the pilot film for the shortlived ABC drama series of the same name. In the tradition of Billy Jack, Native American deputy sheriff Nakia Parker (Robert Fortier) tries to protect his people from the machinations of villainous whites. In this instance, Nakia stands up against an insensitive city council which plans to sell a historic mission to an evil land developer (is there any other kind on TV?) Nakia was filmed on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as was the weekly series itself, which ran from September 21 to December 28, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
In this made-for-TV pilot, a government agent must stop a rogue operative from releasing a lethal virus. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Actually, Hijack has nothing to do with the Wild Blue Yonder: instead, the story involves two truckers (David Janssen, Keenan Wynn) hauling a mysterious cargo from LA to Houston. The U.S. government won't tell our heroes what they're carrying in their eight-wheeler, but someone knows what it is, and that someone is well armed and very dangerous. Hijack was first broadcast September 26, 1973, while most of the country was watching a Bob Hope special on a competing network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Donna Mills was still in her "imperiled heroine" career stage when she starred in the made-for-TV The Bait. Mills is a policewoman who goes incognito to solves a baffling series of rape-murders. Almost as deadly as the rapist is the sexism Mills must suffer from her superior officer (Michael Constantine)--which at times is played for laughs. Based on a novel by former policewoman Dorothy Uhnak, who must have been appalled at the liberties taken with her work by this film, The Bait was the pilot for an unlaunched weekly TV series. Sidenote (courtesy of TV-movie historian Lee Goldberg): Noam Pitlik, a guest star in The Bait, would later direct several episodes of the police sitcom Barney Miller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
A grease monkey becomes so obsessed with stock-car racing that the rest of his life begins to fall apart in this character-driven drama. The one who suffers most from his fixation is his devoted wife whom he totally ignores until she gets a job and her husband begins thinking she is fooling around with her boss. In a jealous rage, he makes his accusation and during the ensuing scuffle kills his rival and takes off with the police in hot pursuit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Season Six of Ironside gets under way with the first episode of a two-part story. Wheelchair-bound detective Robert Ironside (Raymond Burr) travels from San Francisco to Los Angeles, where his assistant Sgt. Ed Brown (Don Galloway) lies seriously wounded in a hospital bed, the victim of an unidentified sniper. The situation becomes graver still when it develops that Ed may well be paralyzed for life, just like Chief Ironside. Ed's only hope for a completely recovery rests with an experimental procedure developed by a brilliant surgeon named Ritter (Vic Morrow)--whose daughter has been kidnapped to prevent him from performing the operation! The conclusion of this story was originally seen on September 19, 1972 as the fourth-season opener of the NBC series The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, with the latter show's stars E.G. Marshall (Dr. David Craig) and David Hartman (Dr. Paul Hunter) appearing in both Parts One and Two. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
The made-for-TV Climb an Angry Mountain revives the reliable "country cop vs city cop" concept, with Fess Parker and Barry Nelson on either side of the argument. New York City officer Nelson wants to use state-of-art methods to track down a fugitive Indian criminal (played by former football star Joe Kapp) who is hiding out on California's Mount Shasta. Local rancher/sheriff Parker wants to handle the case on his own, since his son (Clay O'Brien) is the fugitive's hostage. The rival authority figures eventually come to the "united we stand" understanding in trailing their quarry. Climb an Angry Mountain benefits mightily from extensive location shooting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Written by Dan Ullman, "The Miracle" focuses in on $8,000,000 worth of heroin. The IMF must determine the location of the heroin and put Syndicate operatives Taynor (Ronald Feinberg) and Kearney (Joe Don Baker) out of business. The gimmick: a phony heart transplant, which will convert the homicidal Kearney into a religious pacifist. Filmed at Southern California's Marineland, "The Miracle" was originally telecast on October 23, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Greg Morris, (more)
- 1970
- R
Don Johnson makes his acting debut in this way-out take on college life from 1970. He plays a college student searching for himself and his niche. Along the way he has lots of sex, takes drugs, and even appears in an underground film ("Headless"). It's all pretty dated, but still kind of fun. The soundtrack features such performers as Richie Havens, Eric Burdon, War, the BeeGees, and others. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Johnson, Linda Gillin, (more)
- 1970
In this drama, the second in the "Ironside" series, the Chief becomes marked for murder after he witnesses the execution of hospital security guard. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1969
In 1966, producer Frank Price came up with a TV series concept about a group of people lost on an uncharted island who are forced to carve out their own civilization. No, it wasn't Gilligan's Island, but a more serious endeavor titled Stranded. When the pilot episode didn't sell, Price put the idea on the back burner until 1969 when, in collaboration with writer Dean Riesner, he dreamed up the two-hour pilot film, Lost Flight. This time, an airliner captained by Steve Bannerman (Lloyd Bridges) crashes on a remote island in the Pacific. Among Bannerman's fellow castaways are Gina Talbot (Anne Francis), Merle Barnaby (Billy Dee Williams), Glenn Wallup (Ralph Meeker), Jonesey (Andrew Prine), Charlie Burnett (the character who gets killed off early, played by Michael-James Wixted), and, as the resident troublemaker, Eddie Randolph (Bobby Van). Given a one-shot telecast in early 1970, Lost Flight didn't fly as a series...nor did Price's like-minded effort, 1976's Stranded. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
In this second half of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Ironside (Raymond Burr) is in the hospital awaiting an operation that may cure his paralysis--or bring about his death if things go wrong. In typical fashion, the detective is able to put aside his own worries and solve a number of problems facing his fellow patients. Meanwhile, a homicidal drug thief steps up his efforts to bump off Ironside, who is the only witness to his most recent killing. The huge guest cast includes Joseph Cotten as the chief surgeon, Troy Donahue as a priest, former child star Margaret O'Brien as a patient, and future Jaws costar Lorraine Gary as a nurse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Ironside departs from its usual one-hour format with this extended episode, originally telecast in a two-hour slot and later syndicated as a two-parter. While witnessing a murder committed by a drug thief, Ironside (Raymond Burr) incurs a shock to his spinal chord which may enable doctors to operate and cure his paralysis. The bad news is that the operation might also kill the detective--if the homicidal thief doesn't knock him off first! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Written by Sy Salkowitz, "Trial by Fury" takes place in a South American dictatorship. When resistance leader Manuel Delgardo (Ernest Sarracino) is thrown into prison, his associate Santos Cardoza (Michael Tolan) has himself arrested so that he can pass on valuable information to Delgardo's followers. Unfortunately, his fellow prisoners suspect Delgardo of being a spy for the government, and plan to assassinate him. IMF agents Phelps and Barney pose as convicts to save Delgardo and expose the genuine traitor. Paul Winfield appears in the supporting role of Klaus. "Trial by Fury" originally aired March 10, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1968
Roger Smith plays private eye Richard Rogue in this cinematic revival of the old radio series. Rogue gallantly tries to help would-be suicide Greta Baldwyn. This selfless act enmeshes him in a murder scheme, with himself as the fall guy. The film's chief value is its veteran supporting cast, including Dennis Morgan, Farley Granger, Edgar Bergen, Mala Powers and Brian Donlevy. Never given a theatrical release, Rogue's Gallery premiered as an NBC network movie presentation in 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Powerful but gullible German industrialist Otto Kelmann (Wilfred Hyde-White) is on the verge of handing over his munitions empire to a "new Hitler" named Colonel Marcus Von Frank (Hans Gudegast), aka Eric Braeden). It is up to the IMF to smash Marcus' movement by forcing Kelmann to realign his thinking. This is the episode in which IMF agent Rollin Hand convincingly poses as the real Adolf Hitler. Written by Mann Rubin, the man responsible for the thematically similar first-season Mission: Impossible episode "The Legend", "Echo of Yesterday" first aired on December 10, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1967
Communist agent Stephan Gomalk (Michael Strong) intends to take control of the small European democracy ruled by his "friend", President Beyron Rurich (Pernell Roberts). Caught in the middle is archaeologist William Bennett (Aaron Fletcher), who stumbled onto Gomalk's scheme, suffered a heart attack, and has been placed under maximum security by the villain's henchmen. The IMF agents have only 24 hours to rescue Bennett and squelch Gomalk's plans--and this will require a convincingly staged assassination attempt. Written by John O'Dea and Arthur Rowe, "Operation 'Heart'" first aired October 22, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1967
Once more penetrating the Iron Curtain, the IMF agents attempt to rescue rocket scientist Helmut Cherlotov (Joseph Campanella), who has developed a high-tech antiballistic missle system. Unfortunately, Cherlotov, who was supposed to have defected to the West along with his wife Karen (Mala Powers), has had a change of heart, and doesn't want to leave. It is up to Rollin, posing as an East German official, to convince Cherlotov to join Karen in the U.S. Originally telecast January 14, 1967, "The Reluctant Dragon" was written by Chester Krumholz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1967
Eastern European movie mogul Miklos Klaar (J.D. Cannon) plans to combine genuine American newsreel footage with faked "re-enactments" to show US soldiers committing atrocities in Southeast Asia. The IMF's assignment is to discredit Klaar in the eyes of his government. Series regular Barbara Bain steals the show by posing as an aspiring young actress who will do anything to land a film role. "Action!" was written by Robert Lewin; the episode was first broadcast on March 4, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1967
A priceless collection of Inca gold treasures has disappeared, threatening the financial stability of Santales, a tiny Latin American republic. The IMF is assigned to retrieve the treasures from master thief Jack Cole (Dan O'Herlihy), a task made doubly difficult by the treacherous terrain of Santales and the presence of a traitor in the nation's government. Mark Lenard, best known as Spock's Vulcan father on Star Trek, appears as Colonel Cardoza. First telecast September 17, 1967, "Trek" was written by Laurence Heath. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
Mercenary anarchist Imry Rogosh (Fritz Weaver) has concocted a scheme to kill off most of the population of Los Angeles. With only 36 hours at their disposal, the IMF must "break" the unbreakable Rogosh to uncover his plans. Their strategy hinges upon convincing Rogosh that he has been imprisoned in his own country--two years after his arrival in L.A. Originally telecast on October 1, 1966, "Operation Rogosh" was written by Jerome Ross. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
The IMF is faced with an assignment that virtually requires them to be in two places at once. First, they must prevent the murder of Professor Napolsky (Edward Colmans), who has defected to the West. Simulatenously, they must discredit the more dangerous of the two enemy spy groups who are determined to kill the professor. Hans Gudegast, who later billed himself as Eric Braeden, appears as one of the chief assassins. First telecast December 17, 1966, "The Short Tail Spy" was written by Julian Barry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
- 1966
The IMF agents arrive in Austria, where widowed American scientist Dr. Martha Zubrovnik (Beartice Straight) has fallen under the influence of the Communists. Though Dr. Zubrovnik is not a traitor, she has been hoodwinked into cooperating with the enemy by phony medium Sigismund Poljact (Donald Davis), who claims to be in contact with the spirit of the scientist's husband Kurt. With the help of genuine psychic consultant Ariana Domi (Martine Bartlett), Rollin and Barney pose as a paranormal research team in order to convince Dr. Zubrovnik that her husband does not want her to cooperate with the enemy. Written by Robert Lewin, "Zubrovnik's Ghost" first aired on November 26, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Hill, Barbara Bain, (more)
