Cliff Osmond Movies

Taciturn Faye Dunaway insists upon drilling for oil in her small, unpromising patch of Oklahoma land. Drifter George C. Scott signs on to work the derrick, but only after Dunaway, who for unspecified reasons hates all men, warns him to stay at arm's length. Jack Palance, the strong-arm representative for a huge oil firm, dearly covets Dunaway's land, and when she refuses to sell he sends his hooligans to beat both her and Scott to bloody pulps. Driven from her land, Dunaway can't expect help from the "bought" courtrooms, so she fights fire with fire: together with Scott and her ne'er do well father John Mills, she takes back the land by force of arms. As they sit guarding the derrick, Dunaway and Scott draw closer, and when Mills is killed by a fall, Dunaway turns to Scott as her one last pillar of strength. Just as Palance and his goons are about to rush the land, the long-awaited gusher comes in. The oil surge lasts just long enough for every oil company within two hundred miles to bid for pumping rights. Once the well runs dry, however, Dunaway and Scott are left standing alone in their grimy field. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this women's prison exploitation item from director Michel Levesque (Werewolves on Wheels), sexy Phyllis Davis stars as Sugar, framed for drug possession and sent to a Costa Rican sugar plantation. There, Sugar encounters sadistic guards including The Hills Have Eyes' James Whitworth and a mad scientist (Angus Duncan) who injects the inmates with hallucinogens. The usual violence and copious nudity are on display for devotees. Blaxploitation fans will recognize prisoner Ella Edwards from Detroit 9000 and Timothy Brown from The Dynamite Brothers Co-writer Stephanie Rothman later directed Terminal Island, also starring Davis. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

What would a late-1960s detective series be without the obligatory "flower child" episode? After Detective Ed Brown (Don Galloway) busts a Haight-Ashbury drug house, he is accused of beating a hippie to death. To clear Ed's name, Ironside (Raymond Burr) follows a trail of clues to a group of outwardly clean-cut students in a private school--and runs up against a vast and sinister conspiracy of silence, involving not only "the kids" but also a few grownups. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the absence of the other nuns, Sr. Betrille nervously holds down the fort at Convent San Tanco all by herself. Meanwhile, Police Captain Fomento dogged pursues fugitive criminal Ignacio Ferrente (Cliff Osmond). Inevitably, once Fomento has left the premises Ferrente takes refuge in the convent, terrorizing Sr. Bertrille and a sick child left in her care. First shown on November 21, 1968, "All Alone by the Convent Phone" was written by Michael Morris. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The British title of Billy Wilder's classic comedy was Meet Whiplash Willie -- for, despite Jack Lemmon's star billing, the movie's driving force is Oscar-winning Walter Matthau as gloriously underhanded lawyer "Whiplash" Willie Gingrich. CBS cameraman Harry Hinkle (Lemmon) is injured when he is accidentally bulldozed by football player Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson (Ron Rich) during a Cleveland Browns game. Willie, Harry's brother-in-law, foresees an insurance-settlement bonanza, and he convinces Harry to pretend to be incapacitated by the accident. To insure his client's cooperation, Willie arranges for Harry's covetous ex-wife Sandy (Judi West) to feign a rekindling of their romance. Harry's conscience is plagued by the solicitous behavior of Boom Boom, who is so devastated at causing Harry's injury that he insists on waiting on the "cripple" hand and foot. Meanwhile, dishevelled private eye Purkey (Cliff Osmond) keeps Harry under constant surveillance, hoping to catch him moving around so the insurance company can avoid shelling out a fortune. Wilder and usual co-writer I.A.L. Diamond were at their most jaundiced and cynical here, even if, after a sardonic semiclimax, the last ten minutes succumb to the sentimentality that often marred Wilder's later movies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Catholic League of Decency gave Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid! a "condemned" rating. The Moral Majority charged the picture with debauchery and movie theaters across the nation discontinued its run. The bed-trick comedy had America's panties tied in a knot; one could not imagine a story so distasteful. Dean Martin is Dino, a Las Vegas crooner, alcoholic, and celebrity playboy. Dino requires women like oxygen -- a companionless night leaves him with a headache. Ray Walston is Orville, a provincial piano teacher, aspiring songwriter, and jealous husband. Orville violently obsesses over his wife Zelda's (Felicia Farr) fidelity -- any man she encounters becomes his sworn enemy. When a chance detour brings Dino to Orville's hometown of Climax, NV, it is the perfect opportunity for the piano teacher and his songwriting partner, Barney (Cliff Osmond), to pitch their tunes. Yet, Orville predictably fears the possible combination of Dino's libido with Zelda's childhood crush on the singer. Before the two can meet, Orville deceitfully bullies Zelda out of their house and Barney hires local roadhouse prostitute Polly the Pistol (Kim Novak) to pose as Orville's wife. Zelda turns to drink for solace, ending up at the exact bar where Polly plies her trade and, eventually, in the call girl's empty trailer. By the next morning, Orville is with Polly and Dino (looking for a prostitute) finds his way to Zelda -- and husband, wife, hooker, and Barney will all reap the benefits of infidelity. This tale may be tasteless, but Kiss Me, Stupid! is now a cable favorite. Its modern rating? PG. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide

In this western, an ex-officer for the confederate Army becomes a Texas cattle rancher. He and his fellow ranchers are dismayed when they learn that the coming railroad intends on bypassing their ranches. The rancher then leaves his land to begin fighting the railroad. Meanwhile the railroad executives have hired Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Calamity Jane to defend their decision against the rancher and his guerrilla gang. When the marauders are finally surrounded by the Army and it looks as if they will die, the three western legends suddenly ride in to save them. They then all band together to convince the railroad that the Texas ranchers desperately need their services. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Bruce Gordon makes his final series appearance as Frank Nitti in this episode. Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) would like to find out how Nitti was able to smuggle a drug shipment from the Orient without arousing any suspicion whatsoever. Likewise interested in Nitti's "magic trick" is one of his disloyal lieutenants, who wants to get his hands on the narcotics and peddle them himself--even if it means double-crossing his best friend. Prominent among the supporting players is Barry Morse, who appeared in this episode just before signing on as the relentless Lt. Girard in the original TV-series version of The Fugitive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

To improve the taste of his beer, Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon) brings several expert German "braumeisters" into the country. This doesn't rest well with Nitti's rival Joe Kulak (Oscar Beregi), whose own revenue from bootleg beer takes a big hit. Caught in the crossfire are the hapless brewers, several of whom end up at the wrong end of a tommy-gun. To end the bloodshed, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) is forced into an uneasy alliance with mob widow Mady (Dolores Dorn), who has been renting her country home to the German "visitors"--and whose loyalties are, to say the least, somewhat in doubt. Warren Kemmerling takes over from both Lawrence Dobkin and Robert J. Wilke as Dutch Schultz in this final episode of The Untouchables' third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide