Edward Byrnes Movies
Actor Edward Byrnes broke into films around 1957, playing a few bits (he can be seen as one of Jimmy Piersall's buddies in the 1957 biopic Fear Strikes Out) and minor roles. Signed to a Warner Bros. contract, Byrnes connected with the public in the role of a punkish villain in Girl on the Run, the 90-minute pilot episode of 77 Sunset Strip. Audience response to the young actor was so overwhelmingly positive that he was signed as a regular for the Sunset Strip series proper. As hipster parking lot attendant Gerald Lloyd Kookson III, aka "Kookie," he skyrocketed to teen idoldom via the simple expedient of combing his hair at least once per episode. He went on to parlay this schtick into a Top 40 song hit, "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb." During the second season of 77 Sunset Strip, Byrnes followed the example of fellow Warner contractees James Garner and Clint Walker, threatening to quit the series if he wasn't given more money and better scripts. Warners acquiesced to his demands: The studio also improved the social status of Byrnes' character on the series, promoting him to junior detective. After leaving the series in 1963, Byrnes moved to Europe, where he flourished as a star of spaghetti Westerns and espionage flicks. A pop-culture icon by the late '70s, Byrnes made occasional returns to Hollywood in such campy roles as Dick Clark-clone Vince Fontaine in Grease (1978). In addition, Ed Byrnes played "the Emcee" on the 1979 anthology series Sweepstakes, and in 1974, "Kookie" hosted the pilot episode of the evergreen quiz show Wheel of Fortune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Once again, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) joins forces with Chicago P.I. Charlie Garrett (Wayne Rogers), this time at a New York cultural museum. At first, Jessica and Charlie are on opposite sides as they bid against each other during an auction for a rare manuscript allegedly written by "Sherlock Holmes" creator Arthur Conan-Doyle. Before long, however, the two sleuths are following the clues surrounding the murder of a notorious art forger suspected of copying a stolen Degas painting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
On this occasion, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is at a recording studio, taping another of her "Mysteries for the Blind" album. During a break, she is invited to watch the recording of a heavy-metal rock video. In the course of the action, record producer Freddie Major (Edd Byrnes) is shot to death--and for the remainder of the episode, Jessica sifts through several suspects and miles of magnetic tape in hopes of finding a clue as to the murderer's identity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
For their 20th anniversary, Peggy (Katey Sagal) wants just one present from Al (Ed O'Neill)--and may get what she wants when the two of them are whisked off to Florida at the behest of their kids Kelly (Christina Applegate) and Bud (David Faustino). Unfortunately, the younger Bundys have an ulterior motive: having won a "My Dinner with Anthrax" award, the kids are anxious to get rid of their parents, and to do this have enmeshed Al and Peg in a shady time-share scam. Appearing as themselves, the rock band Anthrax performs "In My World" and "Bad to the Bone". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) shows up on Wall Street, there to make her very first personal investment in the stock market. As inevitably as night follows day, Jessica's stockbroker promptly turns up murdered. The police figure that the dead man's secretary is the culprit...but as usual, Jessica doesn't take stock (ouch!) in the conventional wisdom, and sets out to find the real murderer on her own. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
This low-budget action film from genre specialist David A. Prior stars Lynda Aldon as Rachael McKenna, the sexy blonde leader of a group of female prisoners hired by the CIA to bring down renegade agent John Mickland (William Zipp). The film presents itself as a distaff variation on The Dirty Dozen, as tough Sgt. Roberts (cult favorite Edy Williams) trains the convicts for jungle warfare in Colombia, but it cannot come close to its model in either excitement or spectacle. Peopled with a cast of former television actors including Edd Byrnes and Gail Fisher, Mankillers is the sort of film insomniacs might choose as an alternative to medication, but it offers little chance of success. Filmmaker Lizzie Borden appears as a drug smuggler. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Byrnes, Gail Fisher, (more)
- 1983
In an episode clearly based on a well-documented event in the life of comedian Richard Pryor, Roger Miller guest stars as JJ Chandler, a country-western entertainer whose act is rife with "humorous" drug references. But no one is laughing when, while freebasing cocaine between shows, Chandler sets himself afire and is nearly killed. In his efforts to get past the wall of silence erected around Chandler by his friends and handlers, Quincy (Jack Klugman) tackles the greater challenge of curbing wholesale drug use in the entertainment industry--and somewhere along the line, manages to find time to propose to his sweetheart Emily (Anita Gillette). Featured in the pivotal role of Ginger Reeves is a young actress named Kelly Palzis, better known in later years as Kelly Preston. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Where the Action Is stars Edd Byrnes as a high-stakes gambler who gets wind of a big game in a faraway resort. Once he's arrived, Byrnes discovers that the stakes are the highest ever--his own life. Swedish actress Ingrid Pitt is on hand as the enigmatic leading lady. Where the Action Is was videotaped in England and Europe with a cast of TV regulars from both sides of the Channel. This 75-minute suspenser was first telecast in the US on the ABC late-night anthology Wide World Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Stardust was the sequel to That'll be the Day, a 1973 film à clef about the rise of a Beatles-like rock group. Real-life rock star David Essex plays singer Jim Maclaine (read: John Lennon), whose sudden rise to fame has enriched him beyond his wildest dreams. His perspective and sense of values skewered by sex, drugs, and booze, Maclaine becomes little more than a singing cipher, outwardly successful but hollow inside. Ironically, Keith Moon of the Who, whose own life paralleled the fictional Maclaine's in many ways, appears in a supporting role. Dave Edmunds, who appears in as Alex, co-wrote the film's pulsating musical score with Lord David Puttnam (the film's producer). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Essex, Adam Faith, (more)
- 1973
One Life to Life regular Denise Alexander briefly left her day job to star in the late-night videotaped spine tingler A Gift of Terror. Denise plays a woman given to strange, foreboding visions of death. As her friends begin dropping like flies, the girl realizes that the gift of prophecy is no gift at all. This point is driven home (several times, in fact) when Denise begins conjuring up premonitions of her own demise. Gift of Terror was a 1973 entry in the ABC anthology Wide World Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Season Five of Adam-12 gets under way with a typical Jack Webb-style scrutinization of the community-relations activities of the LA County Police Department. While going about their goodwill rounds, Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) encounter some bad will from a gang of purse-snatching motorcyclists. The episode concludes with a tense cycle race between Malloy and a would-be Brando named Skinner, played by former 77 Sunset Strip costar Edd Byrnes. And yes, that is ex-"Monkee" Micky Dolenz as Skinner's toadying sidekick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
When Confederate Army regulars take to robbery and murder, a bounty hunter masquerades as a Southern sympathizer to join the renegades. Led by Colonel Blake (Guy Madison), the group terrorizes the border between Texas and Mexico, striking fear into the hearts of people in both countries. Stuart (Ed Byrnes) risks his life by joining up with the gang in order to bring the killers to justice and collect on the reward money in this violent spaghetti western ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Byrnes, Guy Madison, (more)
Gilbert Roland and Edd "Kookie" Byrnes star in this spaghetti western. Bounty hunter George Hilton is dispatched to track down a wily criminal. Hilton decides to wait until the crook leads him to a fortune in buried gold; at that point, the so-called hero intends to stake his own claim. Naturally, not everything works out as planned. Go Kill & Come Back features a Francesco De Masi musical score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Byrnes, Gilbert Roland, (more)
- 1965
It's music, mayhem and fun in the sun as three aspiring rockers attempt to scare up enough money to get their instruments out of hock. To do this, they pose as women, enter a contest and find themselves competing against such acts as the Righteous Brothers, the Supremes and the Four Seasons. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Byrnes, Chris Noel, (more)
Producer/director Roger Corman briefly abandoned Edgar Allan Poe for The Secret Invasion, a commendable attempt to make a war epic on a "B" budget. The story is a scaled-down precursor to The Dirty Dozen: Five criminals are given a chance at a pardon by agreeing to participate in a suicide mission for British Intelligence. They are smuggled into Yugoslavia (where this film was made) to conduct several commando raids against the Nazi invaders. The quintet is comprised of veterans of internationally-produced war films: Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Henry Silva (observe the cast and guess who gets killed first). Corman's skill at generating excitement through quick cutting and careful camera composition is given an exhilarating workout in The Secret Invasion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stewart Granger, Mickey Rooney, (more)
- 1964
Career criminal Paul Perry (Edd Byrnes) has earned a measure of fame for his daring escapes from various jails and prisons. But it looks like Perry's luck has run out when he sentenced to serve a 15-year sentence in a maximum-security prison farm, where head guard Captain Tollman (Stephen McNally) is determined to keep Perry behind bars for keeps. Undaunted, Perry hatches a "foolproof" escape plan with an unlikely accomplice: an old "lifer" named Doc (Robert Keith), who works in the prison infirmary...and also prepares the coffin whenever an inmate dies. This literally claustrophobic episode was written by John Resko, a former death-row inmate who managed to parlay his last-minute reprieve into a lengthy literary career upon his release from Sing Sing in 1949. "Final Escape" was remade as an episode for the 1985 revival of Alfred Hitchcock Presents -- with actress Season Hubley in the Edd Byrnes role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Byrnes, Stephen McNally, (more)
- 1960
Bart (Jack Kelly) is framed for crimes he didn't commit by sadistic sheriff Horace Hadley (Edgar Buchanan) and his equally odious deputy Jones (played by future Oscar winner George Kennedy). The two crooked lawmen specialize in hunting down and murdering innocent men, then claiming that their victims are outlaws in order to collect the reward. In his efforts to expose Hadley and Jones' racket, Bart turns bounty hunter and solicits the aid of several familiar Warner Bros. TV-series stars--who prove to be no help whatsoever. Appearing in cameo roles are Clint Walker from Cheyenne, Will Hutchins from Sugarfoot, John Russell and Peter Brown from Lawman, and Edd "Kookie" Byrnes from 77 Sunset Strip (a title given a cute "westernization" in the context of the story). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
In this western a good-hearted fur trader finds himself embroiled in a Sioux revolt after some European men took one of their women hostage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Lt. (jg) Ken Braden (James Garner) is a US Navy frogman and underwater demolitions expert who is assigned to a vital mission, and to a submarine captained by Commander Stevenson Edmond O'Brien. But Stevenson is a CO who may have seen too many men die -- the two immediately come into conflict over Braden's presence on the boat and his mission, a top secret foray into Japanese waters that jeopardizes the boat. The captain, in his strict adherence to regulations, makes it as difficult as possible for Braden to carry out his assignment, and Braden doesn't make matters easier between them by speaking his mind. And the crew's low morale only makes matters worse as the voyage progresses and the dangers around them mount. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Edmond O'Brien, (more)
- 1959
Based on a book by Clay Fisher, this 1959 western has a cast loaded with television stars of the era. Clint Walker of TV's Cheyenne appears as the title character, a trapper who befriends the American Indian tribes in his hunting territory in 1867. When the U.S. cavalry is attacked by Kelly's Sioux friends, Kelly is caught between his friendships and loyalty to his country. The troops are slaughtered by the Sioux. Kelly moves in to rescue Wahleeah (Andra Martin), an Apache Indian girl who is being held prisoner by the Sioux because she refuses to marry their chief. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Walker, Edward Byrnes, (more)
- 1958
James Garner stars as WWII hero Major William Darby in this characteristically gusty William Wellman combat film. Darby organizes a highly-trained group of rangers, to be deployed in behind-the-lines activities in Italy and Northern Africa. The first portion of the film details the training, with time out for a few comic and romantic interludes; the second part shows Darby's Rangers in full, ferocious action. In addition to Garner, Warner Bros. used Darby's Rangers to spotlight another of its TV stars, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes; Bill Wellman Jr. also shows up in the supporting role of Eli Clatworthy. The film was adapted from the book by Major James Altieri. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Etchika Choureau, (more)
- 1958
Life Begins at 17 in this all-too-typical example of the "art" of quickie producer Sam Katzman. Plain little Carol Peck (Luana Anders) is wooed by arrogant punk Russ Lippincott (Mark Damon). What Carol doesn't know is that Russ is only interested in her knockout older sister Elaine (Dorothy Johnson). When she finds out she's being used, Carol exacts a typically feminine means of revenge ("typical" by 1950s B-movies, that is). Meanwhile, Elaine finds happiness with true-blue boyfriend Jim (Edd "Kookie" Byrnes). Ann Doran, who played James Dean's mother in Rebel Without a Cause, does same for the two heroines of Life Begins at 17. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Damon, Dorothy Johnson, (more)
