Lee Philips Movies

Every prediction made by a fortune teller to Patricia Kean (Julie Adams) has come true, including her marriage to her wealthy boss Max Armstead (Jesse White). This is why Patricia begins worrying when the seer predicts "You'll wear white. . .then widow's black." Sure enough, Max ends up being fatally poisoned--and as he breathes his last, he accuses Patricia of being his murderer. This place Patricia's lawyer Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) in an uncomfortable position, inasmuch as both he and Lt. Drumm (Richard Anderson) were present when Max spoke his final words! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this touching drama, an abandoned young girl and a world-weary, embittered ex-prizefighter team up and hitchhike to California. There, he hopes to find the drug addicted deadbeat who has absconded with his life savings. As the two make the arduous journey, the boxer cannot help but find his bleak outlook on life lightened by his optimistic young companion who amuses herself by gazing at the world through the gaily colored wrappers of the suckers she always carries. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Billy De Wolfe guest-stars as a zany pet beautician (yes, pet beautician) in this canine spin on "Pygmalion." When a sketch on "The Alan Brady Show" involving a huge, ugly dog is cut just before air time, the staff is stuck with the aforementioned dog -- and of course no one wants to take care of the mutt. No one, that is, except Rob (Dick Van Dyke), who in moment of reckless abandon is convinced that the dog would make a wonderful pet for Laura (Mary Tyler Moore). When this turns out not to be the case, it's time for an "extreme makeover," doggie-style. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rob (Dick Van Dyke) is startled to hear a new song named "Bupkis" being played on the radio. It seems that, back in his Army days, Rob and his pal Buzzy Potter (Robert Ball) had written the song. When he picks up a record of "Bupkis," Rob discovers that he has not been given co-writer credit -- and he intends to do something about this oversight, not to mention claiming his piece of the royalties. Future Mission: Impossible regular Greg Morris is seen as a funky musician. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Too shy to ask a girl on a date, Deputy Warren envies the womanizing techniques demonstrated by the hero of his favorite TV spy show. Then, suddenly, Warren begins to emulate his TV idol-but only when he is walking in his sleep. Unfortunately, the bold "new" Warren has selected Andy's girlfriend Helen as the object of his affections. First telecast on December 20, 1965, "Girl-Shy" was written by Bill Idelson and Sam Bobrick. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lee Philips guest stars as Drew Patton, the suave, swinging bachelor publisher of the classy girlie magazine "Emperor." Impressed by Rob's writing talents, Patton offers Rob (Dick Van Dyke) a permanent gig with his magazine. Rob, of course, is delighted at the prospect, which is more than can be said for his wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore)! Listen for a neat inside joke involving a sexy female secretary named Sam (the role Mary Tyler Moore once played on the old TV series Richard Diamond, Private Detective). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This stark but interesting low-budget thriller stars Lee Philips as Elliot Freeman, a veteran of the Korean War who has returned home to New England and is following his muse as an artist. Freeman inherited a fortune from his wealthy father and is earning an impressive reputation for his paintings, but he remains a tense and moody individual. Freeman had a brief fling with one of his nude models, Dolores (Kaye Elhardt), but she's also been dating Charlie Perone (James Farentino), a beefy truck driver described as "the Stanley Kowalski of the laundry set." When Dolores is stabbed to death, both Freeman and Perone are suspects, and while brassy bar girl Silvia (Sylvia Miles) is willing to provide an alibi for Charlie, Elliot isn't so lucky, and things get even more complicated when a handful of students from a nearby women's college his sister attends turn up dead under the same circumstances as Dolores. Along with early screen appearances from Sylvia Miles, James Farentino, and Dick Van Patten (yep, the Eight Is Enough guy), Violent Midnight also features some fleeting nudity that probably kept it out of a few drive-ins in 1963 but insured big crowds for those that did screen it. Violent Midnight was also screened under the titles Black Autumn and Psychomania (not to be confused with Don Sharp's amazing 1972 film Psychomania, about a gang of undead bikers). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

After suffering a blow on the head, Phil Townsend (Richard Basehart) awakens to discover that he has long been suffering from amnesia. Realizing that he's slated to be married, Phil rushes to the house of his fiancée, only to discover that he is three years late. Soon afterward, he finds out that he has spent those three years living under the name of David Webber -- and as it happens, "David Webber" is suspected of murdering the wife of his ex-employer. This episode is based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich, previously filmed in 1942 as Street of Chance (with Burgess Meredith as the amnesiac protagonist) and thereafter adapted several times for the radio anthology Suspense. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lee Philips stars as con artist Ben Conant (alias Freddie Sheldon), whose latest pigeon is wealthy Mrs. Lisa Talbot (Gia Scala). Together, Ben and Lisa plot the murder of her husband, Peter (Les Tremayne), only to find that a private detective seems to be wise to their scheme. Not only that: the PI has been hired by an "interested party" determined to see that Ben and Ben alone feels the full weight of the law. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Scripter Paddy Chayevsky altered his successful stageplay for this routine cinematic version of Middle of the Night, emphasizing the self-centered interests of the relatives and friends who surround Jerry Kingsley (Fredric March). Jerry is a widower, a lonely but successful clothing manufacturer who falls in love with Betty Preisser (Kim Novak), one of his employees. The employee-boss relationship is one hurdle the erstwhile couple have to overcome, another is the thirty-year difference in their ages, and the last is the attitudes of the couples' relatives -- each close relative (mother, daughter, sister) feels marginated by the relationship, left out in the cold, forgotten. These attitudes do not bode well for any future walk up the aisle. Director Delbert Mann is best known for his 1955, award-winning Marty. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Grace Metalious' once-notorious bestseller Peyton Place is given a lavish -- and necessarily toned-down -- film treatment in this deluxe 20th Century-Fox production. Set during WWII, the film concentrates on several denizens of the outwardly respectable New England community of Peyton Place. Top-billed Lana Turner plays shopkeeper Constance McKenzie, who tries to make up for a past indiscretion -- which resulted in her illegitimate daughter Allison (Diane Varsi) -- by adopting a chaste, prudish attitude towards all things sexual. In spite of herself, Constance can't help but be attracted to handsome new teacher Michael Rossi (Lee Philips). Meanwhile, the restless Allison, who'd like to be as footloose and fancy-free as the town's "fast girl" Betty Anderson (Terry Moore), falls sincerely in love with mixed-up mama's boy Norman Page (Russ Tamblyn). And while all this is going on, "white trash" Selena Cross (Hope Lange) is raped by her stepfather, drunken school caretaker Lucas Cross (Arthur Kennedy). Other characters essential to the action are wealthy Rodney Harrington (Barry Coe), who must pay the price for his dalliance with Betty Anderson; Nellie Cross (Betty Field), Selena's long-suffering mother; and the town's Voice of Reason, Dr. Swain (Lloyd Nolan). This 166-minute soap opera (whittled down to 157 minutes before release) culminates in a spectacular murder trial which lays bare the deep, dark secrets of Peyton Place. Filmed on location in Camden, Maine, Peyton Place was a huge moneymaker (even those who felt that the film was but a heavily laundered shadow of the Metalious original were pleased with the professionalism of it all); it not only spawned a 1961 theatrical sequel, but also a long-running prime time TV serial. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Gangsters Georgie (Lee Philips) and Lucky (Chick Changler) despise one another, and it is this fact that keeps them both alive. Georgie knows that he would be blamed if Lucky was ever bumped off, and vice versa. Unfortunately, Georgie loses his head and kills Lucky, forcing him to blackmail his landlady (Argentina Brunetti) into providing him with an airtight alibi. What Georgie hadn't counted on was Lucky's uncanny ability to get even...from beyond the grave. Alan Reed, best known as the voice of Fred Flintstone, appears as Uncle Leo. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi