John M. Lucas Movies

Crocker (Kevin Dobson) is assigned to investigate the murder of mob boss Robert Austin (Fred Beir). In the course of events, the detective finds himself falling in love with Austin's beautiful widow Carol (Jennifer Warren). What he doesn't know is that Carol herself is the murderer--and is determined to use Crocker in any way she can to hide her guilt from her husband's bloodthirsty associates. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A mysterious female apparition begins to murder Enterprise crew members one by one in this third season episode of the well-known science fiction series. This beautiful but frightening creature with deadly powers first appears to Captain Kirk and the crew in the Enterprise transporter room, where her touch leaves one crew member dead. Unable to respond, thanks to the woman's ability to appear and disappear seemingly at will, Kirk and his landing party descend to the planet below in search of an explanation. However, the Enterprise is soon thrown into even more chaos when the being uses her powers to send the Enterprise far out of range, stranding Kirk and the others on an unknown world. She continues to appear, both on the planet and on the Enterprise, using her powers to effectively prevent any rescue attempts. Captain Kirk and his crew must discover the reason behind this seemingly magical apparition and find a way to defeat her, before they are killed off one by one. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Kirk's command ability is threatened when he falls victim to an alien woman's magical charms in this episode from the third season of the 1960s science fiction television series. The Enterprise is assigned to transport representatives of two warring cultures, Ambassador Petri of Troyius and Elaan of Elas. Petri's mission, with the help of the Enterprise crew, is to tame the primitive and uncontrollable Elaan. This proves to be a difficult task when she lives up to her vicious reputation, enacting violent fits of rage that culminate in the nonfatal stabbing of Petri. Elaan's reckless behavior increasingly frustrates Kirk, until she cries and Kirk unwittingly comes in contact with one of her tears. These tears prove to have mystical powers, causing Kirk to fall madly in love. His sudden obsession with Elaan may be deadly to the Enterprise, however, which comes under attack from a Klingon vessel -- a situation where Kirk's leadership is desperately needed. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

The Enterprise is chosen to participate in the secret experimental testing of the M-5, a supercomputer that is designed to replace the human leaders of a starship, in this episode of the popular 1960s science fiction series. Kirk reluctantly agrees to temporary hand over his command for the duration of a test exercise, to allow the computer to prove itself amidst Starfleet military drills. A programming oversight, however, causes the M-5 to mistake the practice exercises for actual combat, leading to the destruction of a friendly vessel. Additionally, the Enterprise crew discovers that the computer will not return power to human hands or allow communication with other vessels who are unaware of the experiment. Captain Kirk and the others must discover a way to regain control of the ship or else face destruction as a rouge vessel at the hands of their own colleagues. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

On an Indiana college campus, Professor Fritz Simpson is conducting a psychological experiment to determine the significance of dreams. Recognizing the man who has volunteered for this experiment as Fred Johnson (Bill Raisch), aka "The One-Armed Man", Simpson contacts his old friend, fugitive Richard Kimble (David Janssen). At the risk of his own freedom, Kimble rushes to Simpson's college lab, hoping that Johnson will at long last confess to the murder of Mrs. Kimble. Unfortunately, Simpson's neurotic wife Caroline (Geraldine Brooks) alerts Lt. Gerard as to Kimble's whereabouts. Featured in the small role of a coed is Jill Janssen, the sister of series star David Janssen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Starship Enterprise's five-year mission to "seek out new life forms and new civilizations" and "boldly go where no man has gone before" shifts into warp speed as Star Trek enters its second season. The biggest news this year is a fresh addition to the ensemble cast: Now taking his place alongside such TV immortals as William Shatner (Capt. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan) (Engineer Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Officer Uhura) and Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel) is Walter Koenig as young Russian-born ensign Pavel Chekov (a character added to attract more teenage viewers--and NOT to pacify the Soviet Union, as has often been claimed) The season begins with one of the series' best efforts, Theodore Sturgeon's "Amok Time", in which the half-Vulcan Mr. Spock must mate or die. Spock is also the focus in D.C. Fontana's "Journey to Babel", featuring Jane Wyatt and Mark Lenard as Spock's parents Amanda and Sarek. Other Season Two highlights include the return of intergalactic con artist Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel) in "I, Mudd"; Margaret Armen's superb "The Gamesters of Triskelon", in which the crew is forced to engaged in barbaric combat, and the thematically similar "Bread and Circuses", depicting an ancient Roman society decked out with 20th-century technology; "The Changeling", with Vic Perrin (best known as the "Control Voice" on The Outer Limits) supplying the voice of the lethally "perfect" computer Nomad; "The Deadly Years", in which the crew is subjected to an accelerated aging process; and Robert Bloch's "whodunnit in space", "Wolf in the Fold". And we can't forget David Gerrold's classic "The Trouble with Tribbles", all about those incredibly prolific little furballs; the supremely silly but enjoyable "A Piece of the Action", aka "Star Trek meets The Untouchables"; and the much-maligned "Mirror, Mirror", wherein the crew comes face to face with their barbaric doppelgangers. The season finale, "Assignment: Earth", was intended as the pilot for a spinoff series, starring Robert Lansing as altruistic time traveller Gary Seven. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

My Blood Runs Cold was a typically lurid horror chiller produced and directed by William Conrad during his 1960s tenure on the Warner Bros. staff. Heiress Joey Heatherton falls prey to the charms of a handsome young man (Troy Donahue) who claims to be the reincarnation of a legendary lothario. Troy further insists that Joey had been his lover in a previous life. Pretty soon Joey nearly has the opportunity to check out the veracity of Troy's story in the Hereafter, for Mr. Donahue is actually a psychopath who hopes to claim Ms. Heatherton's fortune and then bump her off. My Blood Runs Cold is silly enough to have been dreamt up by Bill Conrad while he was narrating Rocky and His Friends. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Wandering into the police station with a huge amount of money but absolutely no memory, a young girl (Cindy Robbins) sparks the interest and concern of detectives Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander). With the help of a police psychiatrist (William Henry), the pretty amnesiac is able to piece the past 48 hours together--with surprising results. This episode was cowritten by John Meredyth Lucas, later a principal contributor to the 1960s private-eye series Mannix (which, incidentally, also featured a number of "amnesia" stories). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Scarlet Hour was a relatively bold experiment for a mid-1950s Paramount release. The studio expended a great deal of money on the project and enlisted the services of top-flight director Michael Curtiz -- then populated the cast with young unknowns. It also used a series of experimental lenses called Fujinon lenses, which had the distinction of alllowing filming at reduced light levels given their larger than normal apertures. Carol Ohmart and Tom Tryon (yes, the future novelist) star as Paulie and Marsh, respectively the film's villainess and protagonist. Knowing that Marsh is hopelessly in love with her, Paulie uses him as a dupe in an upcoming jewelry heist. Only after a killing has occurred does Marsh come to his senses. Jody Lawrance, whose previous career as a Columbia contract player had led nowhere, is "introduced" as the good girl to whom Marsh eventually retreats. Other comparative newcomers in the cast include Elaine Stritch, James Gregory and Edward Binns. Nat "King" Cole turns up for a nightclub performance of the Ray Evans-Jay Livingston tune
"Never Let Me Go." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Corey Allen, who'd played James Dean's ill-fated "chickie run" opponent in the 1955 feature Rebel without a Cause (and who later became a prolific TV director), is the guest star in this episode. Allen plays Gil Dalliford, who deeply resents the fact that his widowed father Jonathan (Douglas Kennedy) has married the much-younger Rosina (Georgann Johnson). When Jonathan dies, Gil accuses Rosina of poisoning him. But the guilt lies elsewhere -- not only outwardly, but within the conscience of the actual culprit. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Emmy-winning episode of the TV anthology Disneyland was a blatant but entertaining plug for Walt Disney's newest live-action feature Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Host-producer Walt Disney explains that the film's gestation wasn't easy, then proceeds to illustrate his thesis with an extended underwater sequence, filmed in the Bahamas. Here it is shown that the director, actors and technicians managed to spend 12,000 man-hours beneath the waves during shooting, despite their archaic-looking diving costumes, severe limits to their stamina, and experimentation with new and untested filming techniques. Throughout, candid shots of the film's stars James Mason, Kirk Douglas and Peter Lorre are juxtaposed with glimpses of genuine sea life. Also included is a sprightly animated sequence, specially filmed for this episode, showing Man's efforts to explore the world of the sea. Operation Undersea was narrated, cowritten and codirected by Winston Hibler, a fixture of Disney's "True-Life Adventure" short-subject series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This above-average Louis Hayward swashbuckler was sumptuously produced by Columbia's resident western specialist Harry Joe Brown. Adapted from Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood Returns, the film stars Hayward as physician-turned-buccaneer Peter Blood. Now respectably retired in the West Indies, Blood is shaken out of his complacency when he is accused of returning to piracy. Given a chance to clear his name, Blood reassembles his old crew to track down the villain who's pilfered his good name. The excellent cast includes John Sutton, George Givot, Ted de Corsia, and, in larger roles than usual, Charles Irwin and Rex Evans. And what would a Columbia pirate picture be without leading lady Patricia Medina? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi