David Lewis Movies

James (John Amos) comes across an abandoned bag full of stolen money. At first tempted to pocket the cash, James is ordered to turn the bag over to the cops by his scrupulously honest spouse, Florida (Esther Rolle). Apparently conscience-stricken, James agrees to hand over the stolen 27,000 dollars -- but he neglects to inform Florida that the bag originally contained 29,000 dollars. Alvin Childress, who played Amos on the TV version of Amos 'n' Andy, appears as Reverend Gordon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stone (Karl Malden)and Keller (Michael Douglas) spring into action when a priest is killed in his Confessional. It turns out that the victim had attended the same seminary as three other priests who were murdered in similar fashion. To root out the killer, Stone goes undercover, donning the collar and robe of a Roman Catholic prelate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Eve (Barbara Anderson) is upset that her niece Kimberly (Susan O'Connell) has been arrested on a marijuana possession charge--especially since it is the girl's second offense. Though she knows she will be institutionalized unless she reveals her supplier, Kimberly refuses to talk. In order to save the girl, Ironside conducts an investigation which leads him to Kimberly's high school--and a near-impenetrable wall of silence. In typical late-1960s fashion, the adult "enablers" are proven to be just as culpable as the pot-smoking kids. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Boston Strangler adopts the split-screen technique then in vogue (see also The Thomas Crown Affair) to relate the true story of self-confessed mass murderer Albert DeSalvo. Adapted by Edward Anhalt from the book by Gerold Frank, the film covers the years 1962 to 1964, during which time a dozen women were raped and murdered in the Boston area. State-appointed officer John Bottomly (Henry Fonda) arrests as many known sex offenders as he can get his hands on in hopes of finding a clue as to the Boston Strangler's identity. As these things often happen, the police come across the necessary evidence through pure luck. Well-played by Tony Curtis (whose makeup is startling), DeSalvo himself does not appear until an hour into the film. When caught, the schizophrenic DeSalvo insists that he knows nothing of the murders. Under interrogation and hypnosis, his homicidal impulses are exposed. Meticulously cast, The Boston Strangler offers excellent vignettes by Sally Kellerman as the Strangler's only surviving victim and by Hurd Hatfield as an erudite sex pervert. When Boston Strangler was first shown on TV in 1974, a voice-over coda was added, noting that Albert DeSalvo was stabbed to death in prison on November 26, 1973, and that many experts were convinced that he was not the killer but that his confessions were the product of a delusional mind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bewitched entered its third season on September 15, 1966, with the series' first color episode, "Nobody's Perfect." Samantha discovers that her one-year-old daughter, Tabitha, is a witch, just like mom. The problem: How to break the news to hubby Darrin. Robert Q. Lewis guest stars as befuddled baby photographer Diego Fenman. "Nobody's Perfect" was the first of several episodes written by Douglas Tibbles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Luckless salesman Herbie Cornwall (Martin West) is envious of his wife Millie's success as a corporate secretary. Truth to tell, Millie (Susan Bay) is successful mainly because she is fooling around with several of the male executives. When Herbie finds out about his wife's peccadilloes, he has a nasty argument with her at her office, then grabs his sample case and storms out. Trouble is, he's grabbed the wrong case: the one in his hand is stuffed with money, thanks to an embezzlement scheme in which Millie is intimately involved. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) enters the scene when Millie is murdered and Herbie is arrested for the crime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Politics and sports clash in this occasionally funny spoof centered around a downed U2 pilot and an extravagant oil sheik. John Goldfarb (Richard Crenna), a former football player, now pilot, sent on a reconnaissance mission over the Soviet Union, is lost and crash-lands in the Middle Eastern kingdom of Fawzia. King Fawz (Peter Ustinov) is constructing a football team to defeat Notre Dame and demands that Goldfarb coach his team or be handed over as a spy. In the interests of international relations, the U.S. State Department not only complies with King Fawz's request to bring the Notre Dame team to his country but in true diplomatic form insists that they throw the game. The romantic interest appears in the form of Jenny Ericson (Shirley MacLaine), an American reporter on an undercover assignment in the king's harem. A pleasant view in scanty harem garb, she lends mild amusement to the story with attempts to avoid the king's amourous advances. Although the humor falls short of its potential, the film was fortuitously saved from obscurity due to publicity generated by an unsuccessful lawsuit brought agianst the studio by the University of Notre Dame, which objected to a scene involving Notre Dame players fraternizing with harem girls. The screenplay for John Goldfarb, Please Come Home was written by William Peter Blatty who was later known for his award winning novel and screenplay The Exorcist. ~ Lucinda Ramsey, All Movie Guide

William Keene is cast as the Rev. Hobart M. Tucker, a New York minister visiting Mayberry. Invited to deliver the Sunday sermon, Tucker advises the local citizens to "slow down" and start enjoying life. Taking heart, the locals prepare for a relaxing band concert-and in the process, end up working twice as hard as before! Written by John Whedon, "Sermon for Today" originally aired on October 21, 1963; though filmed as the 100th episode of The Andy Griffith Show, it was the 99th to be shown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wealthy Timothy Balfour Sr. (Otto Kruger) draws up a new will leaving a great deal of money to his namesake grandson Tim (John Washbrook), but the lad may not be worthy of such an honor. Well on the way to becoming a full-fledged "J.D.", Tim is shaken down by hoodlum crony Chick Montana (David Winters), who wants to boy to get his hands on his inheritance ahead of time, or else he'll tell the cops about Tim's involvement in a liquor-store holdup. When Chick is bumped off, Tim faces a murder charge, whereupon Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is galvanized into action. Featured in the cast is Roland Winters, formerly the movies' "Charlie Chan". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Since it was released in the same year as his masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), it is ironic that this drama was probably the least liked of director Robert Mulligan's films. A stiff adaptation of a novel by Dutch author Jan DeHartog, the film stars Rock Hudson as Dr. Anton Drager, an opportunistic atheist who travels with his wife Els (Gena Rowlands) to the jungles of Java in 1936. Drager is to become the new right-hand man of famed Dr. Brits Jansen (Burl Ives), a legendary humanist who works with lepers and is rumored to have done groundbreaking work that Drager believes could make him famous and wealthy. Trouble with a native witch doctor practicing black magic leads to a crisis of conscience for Drager, however, forcing him to reevaluate his self-centered philosophy. A former divinity student at New York's Fordham University, Mulligan may have been intrigued by the material's spiritual bent, but his direction is uninspired, and The Spiral Road (1962) was not considered a success. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

This episode is dominated by the presence of a pre-stardom Robert Duvall, here ironically cast as an unsuccessful actor named Bart Conway. When he finds out that fellow actor Jerry Lane (Charles Robinson) is his main competition for an upcoming role, he invites Jerry to his apartment to prepare for the audition -- hoping of course, to scare off the younger actor with his "method" histrionics. In the course of the evening, Bart gets carried away and ends up killing Jerry, leaving him with the problem of disposing of the body. The method hit upon by the methodical Mr. Conway is gruesome but efficient -- or it would have been had he not forgotten about a certain ice bucket in his living room. "Bad Actor" was remade for the 1985 revival of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, with Martin Sheen taking over for Robert Duvall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A valuable Matisse is stolen from an art museum and replaced by a forgery. Museum curator June Sinclair (Mala Powers) and her boyfriend David Lambert (Joe Maross) are suspected of the crime--and then charged with the murder of the actual thief, David's wife Lisa (Carmen Philips). Thus it is that Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) has two clients to save from the gas chamber. The huge supporting cast includes veteran radio actresses Isabel Randolph and Elvia Allman, and former B-western hero Jack Perrin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide