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
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

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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

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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

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1972  
 
Crime is committed wherever 2 expert criminals go. ~ All Movie Guide

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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

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Starring:
Dennis HopperStella 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

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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

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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

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Starring:
Lorne GreeneMichael 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

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Starring:
Lorne GreeneMichael 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

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Starring:
Rod CameronPierre 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

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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

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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

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Starring:
Dan DuryeaRod 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

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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

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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

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Starring:
Rory CalhounRod 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

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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

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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

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Starring:
Rod CameronMary Murphy, (more)
1958  
 
In this drama, a singer finds herself implicated in the fatal immolation of her husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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1957  
 
Every time Republic Pictures head honcho Herbert J. Yates starred his minimally talented wife Vera Ralston in a film, the studio's stockholders began trembling in their boots. Like most of its predecessors, the 1957 Ralston vehicle Spoilers of the Forest just barely made back its cost. Vera plays Joan Milna, who shares several thousand acres of valuable Montana timberland with her stepfather (John Alderson). Coveting Joan's property, lumber baron Eric Warren (Ray Collins) sends out his foreman Boyd Caldwell (Rod Cameron) to persuade her to sell. Instead, Caldwell falls in love with the girl, vowing to protect her trees from the eco-unfriendly Warren. Republic's wide-screen Naturama process is shown to good advantage throughout Spoilers of the Forest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Rod CameronVera Ralston, (more)
1956  
 
Passport to Treason was put together by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman, the same team who'd later collaborate on the TV series The Saint. Rod Cameron stars as an American private eye, stationed in London. For the sake of a murdered friend, the detective takes over the dead man's case, which turns out to have international ramifications. The villains are members of a phony pacifistic society, all of whom harbor plans for taking over the world. Aiding and abetting Cameron is Lois Maxwell, several years away from her duties as Miss Moneypenny in the "James Bond" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Rod CameronLois Maxwell, (more)
1956  
 
In this western, a Mexican bandit and an angry rancher team up and take on a crooked saloon keeper. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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1955  
 
This "modern" western stars Rod Cameron as opportunistic Korean war veteran Tully Gibbs. Posing as a friend of the late son of mine owner Kevin Russel (Chill Wills), Tully intends to work the mine for all it's worth and then pull out. By and by, Tully slowly turns honest, but the same cannot be said of rival miner Ben Hodes (John Russell). Coming clean with Russell, Tully takes it upon himself to protect the mine from Hodes' evil schemes. The feminine angle is provided by Joan Leslie as Sarah Moffit, the sweetheart of Russel's deceased son, who eventually finds happiness in Tully's arms. Of interest are two supporting players, Jim Davis and Kristine Miller; both were concurrently starring on the weekly TV series Stories of the Century. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Rod CameronJoan Leslie, (more)

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