Rod Cameron Movies
Rugged Canadian-born leading man Rod Cameron entered films as a stunt man and stand-in, doubling for such actors as Fred MacMurray and Buck Jones. His earliest speaking part, in 1939's The Old Maid, ending up on the cutting room floor; within one year, however, he was a busy Paramount contract player, his roles increasing in size with each passing year. After wrapping up his Paramount responsibilities in 1942, Cameron was starred in the Republic serial Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943). He spent the rest of the 1940s as a western leading man at both Republic and Universal. In 1953, Cameron and producer Richard Irving collaborated on the first of three syndicated television series, City Detective. The 65-episode series was sold to 117 markets, a record at the time, and made more money for Cameron than any of his movie endeavors. The second Cameron/Irving TV project, 1956's State Trooper, was even more successful, clocking in at 104 episodes. Cameron's third syndicated series, Coronado 9, was released in January of 1960. Rod Cameron's last professional years were spent in such potboilers as Evel Knievel (1971), Psychic Killer (1975) and Love and the Midnight Auto Supply (1978). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1978
- PG
An auto-theft ring decides to help out migrant workers from Mexico with the proceeds from their racket. The film is also known as Love and the Midnight Auto Supply. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Parks, Linda Cristal, (more)
- 1976
Jim's former girlfriend Karen Stiles (Susan Strasberg) sweet-talks the detective into delivering a briefcase full of escrow papers to a real estate office. Only when it is too late does Jim (James Garner) discover that he has been conned into transporting $100,000 worth of counterfeit money. And that's not all: Karen may also be involved in a diamond-fencing operation. The stakes are suddenly raised when Karen is kidnapped by her confederates--but who, exactly, is double-crossing whom? This is the final episode of The Rockford Files' second season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
- R
Three female prisoners are liberated by a vengeful woman in this thriller. The woman is angry after her husband is murdered; she uses the fugitives to find the murderers and slay them one-by-one. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1975
- PG
In this thriller, an innocent man is wrongfully committed to an asylum for the criminally insane. While there he learns how to tap into his psychic powers and to affect the lives of others via astral projection. These skills come in mighty handy after he is released and he heads out for revenge against those who framed him. This movie was originally filmed as The Kirlian Force. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Burke, Jim Hutton, (more)
- 1975
1950s western star Rod Cameron appears in this episode as Martin Broule, the owner of a riding academy. Several horses have been stolen from Broule's establishment, and Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) investigate accusations that Broule himself is the thief. Elsewhere, the two mobile cops set a trap for a burglar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Adam-12 takes on an "Old West" flavor in this episode, as Officers Pete Malloy (Kent McCord) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) investigate the theft of valuable riding equipment from a rancher. Later on, the two cops temporarily abandon Adam-12 and mount a pair of horses to pursue a gang of car thieves. The supporting cast includes former B-western heroes Rod Cameron and Donald Barry, and celebrated Hollywood reporter Army Archerd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
With a barrage of cinematic distancing devices at hand (flashbacks and flash-forwards, super-imposed titles, missing frames, projectionist cue-marks placed in the wrong locations in a film reel), Dennis Hopper concocts a hallucinatory acid-trip concerning an American movie company making a western in Peru. In a remote mountain village in Peru, a Hollywood film company wraps up shooting a western and returns to California. Staying behind is a young stunt man, Kansas (Dennis Hopper). In the village, he takes up with the resident whore, Maria (Stella Garcia). At this point, the film flash-forwards to Kansas being crucified by the villagers. Back in the old time frame, the Peruvians decide that they want to make their own movie. Not having the necessary film equipment, but plenty of local raw material, the villagers construct the needed cameras, microphones, and sound recorders out of bamboo, and although the equipment is faked, the villagers substitute real, bloody violence for the make-believe violence of Hollywood. During this eruption of violence in the Peruvian village, the local priest (Tomas Milian) blames Kansas for the carnage. The priest decides that movies are the root of all worldly evil and convinces the villagers to seize Kansas. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Stella Garcia, (more)
- 1971
Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) investigate a series of baffling thefts at a fancy riding school run by a washed-up cowboy star (Rod Cameron). Elsewhere, the two cops bust up a drug ring, and confront the problem of a young girl who has been hoodwinked into driving the getaway car at a robbery. The guest cast includes Oscar winner Strother Martin, former Petticoat Junction leading lady Linda Kaye Henning, and future Emegency! star Randolph Mantooth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
George Hamilton produced and stars in this appealing bio-pic about real-life stunt daredevil Evel Knievel. Knievel's famous motorcycle stunts and early life are remembered in flashback by the performer in the moments before a big jump. The cast includes familiar drive-in movie faces like Vic Tayback, Sue Lyon, Cheryl Rainbeaux Smith, and Dub Taylor, and much of it was filmed on location in Knievel's hometown of Butte, Montana. Though Hamilton is quite good in the lead, most fans prefer the real thing -- Knievel portraying himself in the later Viva Knievel! (1978). ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Hamilton
- 1969
Civilized Men first saw the light of day as an episode of the TV series Name of the Game. Dan Farrell (Robert Stack), two-fisted editor of Crime magazine, heads to Florida to probe into a cattle scam. Someone has been selling tainted meat, the end product of a rustled shipment of government livestock. Could the Mob be involved? Jill St. John, Jack Kelly and Rod Cameron guest star in this 90-minute mystery, originally broadcast November 28, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
In Part Two of "Ride the Wind", Curtis Wade (Rod Cameron takes over from the late Charles Ludlow as head of the new Pony Express service. Determined to keep the service running and to finish the route despite attacks by the Paiutes, Wade is driven not so much by duty as by his ego, which has been fuelded by exploitive Eastern journalist Tully (DeForrest Kelley. Wade's delusions of grandeur may prove fatal for Joe Cartwright, who has signed on as a Pony Express rider despite the protests of his father Ben. Tom Lowell appears as Charles Ludlow's son Jabez, who ends up as the story's eleventh-hour problem solver. Written by Paul Schneider, the second half of the two-part "Ride the Wind" was originally broadcast on January 23, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1966
Written by Paul Schneider, "Ride the Wind" was Bonanza's first two-part story. Ben Cartwright is willing to provide Charles Ludlow (Victor Jory) with money to help finance the new Pony Express service, but isn't keen on allowing his son Joe to join Ludlow's riders. Nor is the Paiute Indian tribe amenable to allowing the Pony Express to go across their land. Exacerbating the problem is Ludlow's assistant, Curtis Wade (Rod Cameron), who hopes to make a name for himself as an Indian fighter. The story is sufficiently exciting to make one forget that the real Pony Express had been disbanded some three years before the events depicted in this episode. Part One of "Ride the Wind" first aired on January 16, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1966
In this western, a brave cowboy and his loyal partner Winnetou agree to help Mexican villagers defend their home from a vicious bandito gang. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Cameron, Pierre Brice, (more)
- 1966
This western is the movie-length pilot for the long-running television series Bonanza. The story follows the Cartwright clan as they help keep the nearly bankrupt Pony Express from going under. They also work to keep the angry Paiute Indians at bay. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Leif Erickson and Rod Cameron guest star in this episode as two headstrong men on opposite sides of a bitter range war. Erickson plays Roy Beckwith, a cattleman who hires Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) to string barbed wire around his property. This puts Jason on a blacklist compiled by the local farmers, headed by Holland Thorp (Rod Cameron), who deeply and violently resent Beckwith's closing of their open range. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Dan Duryea plays a Western bounty hunter, expert in his job, but ill at ease with his conscience. He is shunned by the "good" townsfolk until they need him to track down and kill a criminal; the gratitude doesn't last long, and it's back to outcast status for Duryea. At one juncture, the embittered bounty hunter delivers a condemnation against the "hypocrites" who hire him -- but nonetheless takes one more job. Ultimately, Duryea meets his end at the hands of a younger man (Peter Duryea, Dan's son), who becomes a bounty hunter himself, starting the cycle all over again. Produced very economically by B-Western specialist Alex Gordon, The Bounty Killer is distinguished by Dan Duryea's superb performance and by the presence in the supporting cast of several cowboy film veterans -- including Hollywood's very first Westerner, Billy Anderson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Duryea, Rod Cameron, (more)
- 1965
In this western, a gunfighter finds himself mistaken for a judge when he journeys to a beleaguered town that is under the oppressive influence of an outlaw and his evil gang. One couple knows the gunslinger's true avocation and they talk him into working as a lawman and putting one of the crooks on trial. Things go well until one of the outlaws recognizes him and tells all during the trial. This leads to a classic showdown in which the gunfighter shoots the gun from the villain's hand. He then discards his own weapon and literally rides off into the sunset to pursue a more peaceful life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
In this drama a greedy lumber baron tries to harvest the sacred Cherokee forest by tormenting the tribe. Instead he loses his beloved daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Allied Artists' Gun Hawk puts Rory Calhoun through his usual paces as an aging gunman. Calhoun has pretty much retired from shoot outs, and now runs a small town populated by outlaws. He befriends hotheaded fast gun Rod Lauren, who behaves as impulsively as Calhoun had in his earlier days. When the outlaws turn on Calhoun and shoot him down, the mortally wounded gunslinger tries to goad Lauren into a fight so that he can die with a modicum of dignity. Producer Richard Bernstein co-wrote the screenplay of Gun Hawk from his own story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rory Calhoun, Rod Cameron, (more)
- 1963
Eula Johnson (Diana Millay), the bored young bride of rancher Grover Johnson (Rod Cameron), begs her husband to sell his bleak desert spread, but he refuses. Enter wealthy Texas Nelson Barclift (a pre-Gilligan's Island Alan Hale Jr), who offers to pay Johnson four times what his property is worth. As it turns out, Barclift may be Eula's co-conspirator in a major swindle--but this becomes a moot point when both Barclift and Eula turn up dead. Accused of murder, Johnson puts his life in the hands of Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
The scene is Las Vegas, where William Benson (Arthur Hill) has dropped a bundle at the gaming tables. But Benson's luck seems to change when he finds a fancy money clip containing 92,000 dollars. Ultimately determining that honesty is the best policy, Benson turns the clip over to the authorities -- only to find that it originally contained 102,000 dollars, and thus he is now suspected of stealing the missing ten grand. Surprisingly, the clip's owner, Curtis Newsome (Rod Cameron), gets Benson off the hook by telling the cops that he'd only lost the original 92,000...but as it happens, Newsome is not quite the generous glad-hander he appears to be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
When a movie star dies mysteriously, insurance investigator Jeff Keenan (Rod Cameron) is put on the case. It seems that the dead man was attending a private psychiatric clinic on the Riviera. Keenan learns that one of the staff doctors has been tinkering with an experimental "dream machine," designed to soothe his more disturbed patients. But Paul Zakon (Peter Illing), the ex-Nazi owner of the clinic, has been using the machine for brainwashing purposes. There's really no "monster" to speak of, but there's plenty of Frankenstein-style electric bolts and sparks in the climactic melee. Charles Eric Mayne adapted the gimmicky screenplay from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Cameron, Mary Murphy, (more)
- 1958
In this drama, a singer finds herself implicated in the fatal immolation of her husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
