Lillian Buyeff Movies
- 1964
Amy Scott (Sue Randall) engages the services of both detective Paul Drake (William Hopper) and professional psychic Madama Zillia (Lori March), claiming that she wants to locate a troubled young man named Tommy Stiller (John Napier). What Paul doesn't know is that Amy is actually Tommy's sister Arnell, and that she is really trying to gather evidence proving that Madame Zillia, whom Arnell holds responsible for the suicide of her father, is a fraud. Disturbingly, Zillia's prediction that there is a death in Arnell's future comes true when the girl's landlord Victor Bundy, who was in cahoots with the phony psychic, is murdered. From this point forward, Arnell's future is in the hands of defense attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In the opening episode of My Favorite Martian's second season, reporter Tim O'Hara (Bill Bixby) makes a startling discovery about his otherworldy "Uncle" Martin (Ray Walston). It seems that, whenever Martin dreams, his subconscious visions (which include harem girls and a sausage tree!) can be seen and touched by Tim! Moreover, these visions do not dematerialize when Martin awakes...and this could result in a literally explosive disaster for our heroes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
This sentimental children's film is based on the true adventures of author Albert Payson Terhune's collie dog, as immortalized in Terhune's early 1920's novel. The story about the dog Lad's saving graces is very much directed toward the youngest moppets whose love of animals has yet to be jaded by ruined carpets, chewed-up books, or all-night barking. Lad comes to the rescue again and again, implying in more than one instance that dogs can be smarter than at least a few people. The canine saves his little mistress Angela (a nine-year-old Angela Cartwright just before her role in TV's Lost in Space) from a poisonous snake bite and is mistakenly ill-treated as a consequence, his actions help cure her need for a wheelchair, and furthermore, the dog prevents a local troublemaker from torching the family's barn. A younger Carroll O'Connor of redneck Archie Bunker TV fame, plays a crotchety neighbor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Breck, Peggy McCay, (more)
- 1961
Framed for setting fire to a warehouse containing the famous Nathan Claver art collection, Claude Demay (Robert H. Harris) is released from prison after six years. With vengenace on his mind, Claude plans to use a forgery of a "lost" Panamaker tapestry to prove that Leonard Voss (John Holland) is the real culprit, and that the Claver collection, allegedly destroyed in the fire, still exists. Unfortunately, Voss is murdered, and it looks like Claude is going to be railroaded back behind bars for keeps unless Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) can prove him innocent. Veteran movie leading man Conrad Nagel appears as a dapper art connoisseur, who may know more than he is letting on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
- NR
American live-action footage frames this animated feature from the USSR, and the cartoon characters' voices are also dubbed in English. The Snow Queen is a Hans Christian Andersen fable about a cold-hearted queen of the frozen north (voice by Louise Arthur) who steals away young Kay (voice by Tommy Kirk) and takes him to her ice palace. Kay's friend Gerda (voice by Sandra Dee) gets worried when Kay does not come home, and so she sets out to find him. Along the way, she meets an eccentric flower woman, a Prince and a Princess, a magical reindeer, a talking Court raven, and many other fantastic characters. Once Gerda discovers that Kay is in the Snow Queen's palace, she has to find some way to save him in spite of the formidable Queen. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Maracaibo was actor Cornel Wilde's second directorial effort. Wilde casts himself as troubleshooting oil man Vic Scott, who has arrived in Venezuela to help put out a fire at an offshore well. It's a ticklish situation: if Scott fails, not only will he die in the blaze, but all of Maracaibo will likely be destroyed. When he isn't risking his life, Scott romantically pursues ice-princess journalist Laura Kingsley (played by Jean Wallace, at the time Mrs. Cornel Wilde). Joe E. Ross of Car 54 Where are You fame provides a few welcome laughs as a Brooklynese oil rigger. Filmed partially on location, Maracaibo was based on a novel by Stirling Silliphant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, (more)
- 1954
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are summoned to the office of a young lawyer, where an unknown vandal has trashed the place and sprayed the walls with green paint. While the detectives check out the neighborhood trash receptacles for empty paint cans, the vandal strikes again, setting fire to some palm trees. Ultimately the perpetrator is revealed to be a teenage boy (Arnold Waterman) with a laundry list of profound emotional problems--and when the case comes to juvenile court, the judge places the blame squarely on the shoulders of the boy's insensitive parents. This episode is based on the Dragnet) radio broadcast of August 17, 1950. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1954
- NR
MGM romantic Robert Taylor turns nasty in this low-budget crime melodrama. Taylor plays a cop who subsidizes his income with bribes and payoffs from various criminals and politicians. Taylor's brother (Steve Forrest), a rookie on the police force, is as honest as his brother is crooked. The younger brother witnesses a gangland murder; the killer goes to Taylor, demanding that he buy his brother off. When he realizes that his brother can't be corrupted, Taylor tells the Mob to lay off. An out-of-town torpedo is brought in to rub out both brothers, but he succeeds only in killing the honest sibling. His conscience aroused, Taylor goes after the mob leaders himself; though seriously wounded, he clears his family name. Rogue Cop set something of a schedule record at MGM, with only four months elapsing from the time the story was optioned to the time the film was released. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Janet Leigh, (more)
- 1954
A small LA business district has been plague by a series of jewelry store holdups, in which the perpetrator violently assaults his victim. Working on the slimmest of leads, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are finally able to determine that the criminal is carrying on an affair with a married woman. The bad guy makes the proverbial "One False Step" when he places a phone call to his paramour--with the cops listening in. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of November 29, 1951. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Working out of Homicide, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are dispatched to an old rail yard, where a dazed young man (Sam Edwards) has been found hiding in an abandoned freight car, holding the body of a middle-aged woman in his arms. Though there are no signs of violence, it appears that the dead woman was a heavy drinker. Refusing to talk at first, the young man finally identifies himself as Gordon Miller, and claims that he killed the woman. It turns out that Gordon is an aspiring pianist and that the woman was his music teacher--but that's not the end of the story by a long shot. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of July 10, 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Robbery victim Arthur McKinley is found strangled with his own necktie in a dingy alley. Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) find it odd that the well-dressed and apparently well-off McKinley would be hanging around in such a disreputable neighborhood. Suspects include a drunk, a store owner, and an ex-con who'd done some work for the dead man. Character actress Lillian Buyeff has a marvelously underplayed scene as McKinley's benumbed widow. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of November 23, 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Season Two of the original TV version of Dragnet begins with an episode adapted from a Dragnet radio program first heard on January 11, 1951. Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) is dispatched to a high-rise LA office building, where psychiatric patient Walter Harrison (Paul Richards) is threatening to jump off a ledge. All efforts to coax Harrison back into the building have failed--indeed, it appears as though the man is willing to kill anyone who tries to stop him. Can Friday defuse the situation with some improvised "reverse psychology." Herb Ellis appears as Sgt. Eugene J. Bechtel, the actual name of a detective who worked on the case which inspired this episode. Also appearing is Milburn Stone, Gunsmoke's future "Doc", as Captain Lohrman (a role ironically played by Stone's future Gunsmoke costar Dennis Weaver in the 1954 theatrical-movie version of Dragnet). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
