David Nelson Movies

Forget about the arena, because in this sequel to the 2002 slam-dunk basketball hit Like Mike, it's all about the quest to become the King of Concrete. Jerome Jenkins Jr. is a pint-sized street-ball player with larger-than-life dreams of dominating the open-air court. Vertically challenged, uncoordinated, and decidedly lacking in speed, Jerome fails to earn the respect of his peers on the court until he discovers a mysterious pair of sneakers that instill him with the power to make his dreams of winning become reality. Now, as Jerome's newfound talents send him rocketing to street stardom and his swelling ego eclipses his youthful sense of wonder, it's up to the street-ball superstar's family and friends to show him what it really means to be a winner on the court as well as off. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

John Waters does a quirky spin on '50s nostalgia in Cry-Baby, his musical homage to Rebel Without a Cause and Romeo and Juliet. Set in Baltimore in 1954 at the birth of rock & roll, the film features Johnny Depp as Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker. Depp is pure charisma as a juvenile delinquent with a permanent tear slithering down his cheek, a reminder of his state-executed parents. In the depths of his despair appears goody-goody girl Allison (Amy Locane), who has a sexual crush on Cry-Baby. But Allison's Pat Boone-like boyfriend, Baldwin (Stephen E. Miller), the leader of the squares, is dead set against Cry-Baby and the rest of the juvenile delinquents and leads a revolt against them. In the resultant riot, the juvenile delinquents are blamed for the chaos, and Cry-Baby finds himself dispatched to reform school. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This largely autobiographical story written and directed by Michael Landon stars Timothy Patrick Murphy as Gene Orowitz (Landon's real name was Eugene Orowitz), a frail teenager with a talent for throwing the javelin and a close relationship to his father Sam (Eli Wallach), the manager of a movie theater. Sam's real love in life is writing fiction, and he pounds the keys of his typewriter well into the night as he tries to finish a major opus. One day when Gene sees Samson and Delilah (1949) at the theater where his father works, he becomes certain that whatever strength he has is due to his long hair and he refuses to cut his hair, even though long hair turns the school principal apoplectic and has to be disguised when Gene is at a sports meet. Gene's life is not a bed of roses, yet when he is dumped by his girlfriend Bonnie for Robert (Alan Hayes), an arrogant football player who has bullied him whenever the chance arose, his good friend Cathy (Hallie Todd) stays by his side. Later, he has his own revenge with Robert by connecting with a right to the jaw, shocking everyone, perhaps even himself. Gene has been working out to get ready for a big school meet and is a bit stronger in his javelin-tossing arm. As the day of the big meet approaches, life changes dramatically for him -- and the movie's climax, though it appears contrived, actually happened to Landon in real life. Landon also plays a small role in the film as a movie star visiting his hometown -- and in some ways, he was "Sam's son" because he himself took to writing -- including the script for this movie, in fact. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Controversial Nicaraguan leader Somoza is treated with inordinate kindness in the propagandistic adventure The Last Plane Out. As played by Lloyd Battista, Somoza is a pussycat compared to those "nasty" insurgents. The story is based on the somewhat slanted memoirs of former journalist Jack Cox, who produced the film and is personified herein by Jan-Michael Vincent. Even at its best, the film runs a distant second to its obvious inspiration, Under Fire. The Last Plane Out is energetically directed by David Nelson--who, as we all may know, is the non-singing son of Ozzie and Harriet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The House of Death is bland, early-'80s slasher fare featuring a gallery of obnoxious, over-sexed teens (the kind who think cemeteries are a real turn-on) who are pursued and systematically disembowelled by the standard faceless, black-clad psychopath. The killer's weapon of choice here is the garden-variety machete, which he puts to prodigious use on many nubile nymphettes (former Playboy Playmate of the year Susan Kiger among them) in the sleepy Southern town of Shelby, NC. Though plentiful, the killings are neither original nor convincing (with the exception of a two-for-one decapitation special), and the film's production values are virtually nonexistent. This film was also released to home video as Night Screams and Death Screams. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and his wife Jean go out on a dinner date with Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and his girlfriend Judy (Aneta Corsaut). Unfortunately, this pleasureable outing nearly ends before it begins when the Reeds witness a holdup. Further messing up the evening is an incident involving three escaped bulls, to say nothing of a nasty bar fight. Taking over from Mikki Jamison as Jean Reed in this episode is Kristin Nelson--who happens to be the niece of the episode's director, former Ozzie and Harriet costar David Nelson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Actor Don Murray wrote, produced, and starred in this drama about an alcoholic former serviceman who falls in with gangsters until he has a spiritual awakening and decides to devote his life to helping others. The supporting cast includes Linda Evans, Logan Ramsey, and Angelique Pettyjohn. Also shown under the titles Childish Things, Tale of the Cock, and Cockadoodle-Do. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Season 12 of the ABC sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet opens with a brace of "leftover" episodes from season 11, "Torn Dress" and "Secret Agent." The remainder of the season consists of 25 new episodes, interspersed with classic reruns from seasons past. Ozzie Nelson remains the series' nominal star (not to mention producer and director), with Harriet Nelson as level-headed and deadpan as ever in the role of "Harriet." As for the Nelson sons, David Nelson, now a lawyer has moved into his own home with wife June (played by David's real-life spouse June Blair); and Ricky Nelson does not seem inclined to ever leave college, though he has begun squiring an attractive co-ed named Kris -- played by Kristin Harmon, who will join the regular cast upon becoming Mrs. Ricky Nelson both on- and off-camera. By mid-season, Ricky has taken a job as a clerk at David's law firm, though he still hangs around with his increasingly aging fellow college students -- notably Wally (Skip Young), who has apparently found his life's calling as a soda jerk at the campus malt shop. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Greedy family members engage in bitter infighting over the ownership of a circus. It all begins as a ruthless, corrupt father gets in trouble with the law leaving all but his youngest sons to begin a vicious battle over the business. This is the third variation of Jerome Weidman' novel I'll Never Go There Any More. The other two are Broken Lance, a western version, and House of Strangers, set in the big city. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Whether it was known by its official title The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet or its temporary on-screen title The Adventures of the Nelson Family, the fact remained that the sitcom about "America's favorite family" entered its ninth season in the fall of 1960. Still in charge of the proceedings both on and off camera is paterfamilias Ozzie Nelson, with wife Harriet Nelson subtly providing the real power behind the throne. Oldest son David Nelson (who in real life was prepping for a career as a director) is now a junior partner in a law firm; and youngest son Ricky Nelson is presumably working his way through college with his many local gigs as a pop singer -- several of which are televised, and thus pop up on the TV set that Ozzie and Harriet install in the wall of their bedroom during this season. New additions to the series' supporting cast include Joe Flynn as David's boss Mr. Kelley, Constance Harper as legal secretary Connie Edwards, Roberta Shore as Ricky's off-and-on girlfriend Joyce, and future My Three Sons regular Barry Livingston as Barry, a neighbor kid. Oh, and let us not forget June Blair, real-life wife of David Nelson, who this season makes her first appearance in the role of David's fiancée -- also named June. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in an isolated, snow-covered town in the far West, this story has a renegade army officer named Jack Bruhn (Burl Ives) and his henchmen riding into the town threatening their worst to the men and women there. Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan) decides to agree to Bruhn's demands for someone knowledgeable to lead them away from the law and the town, to safety. Mortally wounded himself, Bruhn opts to take Starrett up on his offer in one last act of generosity toward the townspeople, sparing them the mayhem threatened by his men. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Halfway through its eighth season on ABC, the popular domestic sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet briefly underwent a title change -- at least in the on-screen credits -- to The Adventures of the Nelson Family. This was a reflection of the fact that fewer and fewer episodes are devoted to the "adventures" of paterfamilias Ozzie Nelson and his wife Harriet Nelson, and that more and more time is afforded to the exploits of sons David Nelson and especially Ricky Nelson -- "especially" inasmuch as college-boy Ricky is by now a bona fide pop music idol, with more people listening to his records than tuning in to his TV show. Meanwhile, David has graduated college and become a law clerk, after briefly considering a life on the high seas. (This, of course, occurs on-camera; in real life David was pursuing a career as a dramatic actor in such films as The Big Circus, and preparing to follow in dad Ozzie's footsteps by becoming a director.) Memorable episodes this season include "David the Sleuth," an especially funny takeoff of the private eye series Peter Gunn; "Rick Gets Even," in which Rick (he's seldom billed as "Ricky" anymore) performs "It's You" and romances a very young Tuesday Weld; and "The Circus," in which both Nelson boys show off their remarkable acrobatic skills. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season 14 of The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet is the series' first season in color -- and its last on the air. Diminishing ratings were only one of the many factors motivating the decision to pull the plug. Series star Ozzie Nelson and his wife Harriet Nelson wanted to explore new and different professional vistas; oldest son David Nelson was now pursuing a prolific career as a director; and Ricky Nelson would rather have been singing than acting. (And his fans agreed!) The end of the series also effectively put an end to the acting careers of David's wife June Blair and Rick's wife Kris Nelson, both of whom had, for the past several seasons, been afforded star billing along with the rest of the Nelsons. Rather surprisingly, two new semi-regulars are added to the show during its terminal season: Greg Dawson and Sean Morgan, cast respectively as Greg and Sean, two of perennial college student Ricky's frat brothers. The series ends quietly and amusingly with episode number 435, "The Game Room," in which Ozzie wants to convert his sons' former bedroom into a den for himself, much to the dismay of the sentimental Harriet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide