Chris Robinson Movies

The second season of 12 O'Clock High opened with a shocker of an episode, in terms of killing off a central character. That simply wasn't done on television in those days, even in a series set in wartime. In the pre-credit sequence of the first episode, "The Loneliest Place In The World" -- which was also one of the best-written shows of the entire series -- the plane on which Brigadier General Frank Savage is the pilot and mission commander, returning from a bombing raid, is shot down. We never see the general, who had been played in the first season by Robert Lansing, but are told that he has also been wounded -- and we are told later that only one man, navigator Alex ("Sandy") Kominsky (Chris Robinson), got out alive before it crashed, and that the Germans are burying the general with full military honors. Season two established Paul Burke as the star of the series, in the role of Colonel Joseph A. Gallagher, the new commander of the 918th Heavy Bombardment Group -- Frank Overton returned in the recurring role of Major Harvey Stovall, Barney Philips was back as Doc Kaiser, Andrew Duggan was back as Major General Britt, Gallagher's immediate superior, and Paul Newlan was back as Lieutenant General Pritchard, Britt's commanding officer. The second season generally featured more combat-oriented scripts, and the same level of acting with perhaps more intensity on the part of the performers. There were a few improbabilities in the stories, such as "Big Brother", in which Gallagher ending up landing at a desert base commanded by his infantry officer brother (played by Jack Lord). And the caliber of the guest stars was usually a bit lower than it had been in the first season. Chris Robinson was pushed heavily as a co-star in several scripts that played off of his character's rebel nature. Several episodes also played off of Gallagher's relationship with his father, established early in the season as a lieutenant general who has more or less run out his string, reduced to administrative functions and no chance of further promotion -- one episode ("Grant Me No Favor") dealt the efforts of the elder Gallagher (Barry Sullivan) to get his son a brigadier general's star as compensation for his own career dead-end. As with the first season, the second focused heavily on the psychology of the air officers, but had fewer espionage-related stories, and more that focused more precisely on combat operations. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Mickey Rooney stars in The Ace of Hearts as a zillionaire who offers a fortune to have himself killed. Down-at-heel Chris Robinson takes the job. Is that all there is to it, or is Rooney up to something? The plot isn't bad, but production values are spotty. Ace of Hearts was filmed partly on location in the South Seas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Director Monte Hellman (who would later direct a young Jack Nicholson on two low-budget westerns) earned his low-budget wings on Filmgroup's bizarre fusion of hostage/crime thriller and big-rubber-monster flick -- a quirky juxtaposition employed to similar effect 35 years later in From Dusk Till Dawn. The story begins with a team of gold thieves hiding out in a ski resort cabin after a heist, taking two people hostage as they prepare to smuggle their loot across the Canadian border -- unaware of the giant, icky-looking spider-monster lurking in a nearby cave, which preys on anyone unlucky enough to stumble near its lair. The film's woodland exteriors add a richness lacking in the typical dusty desert settings of this film's genre contemporaries. The cobwebby monster is played by Chris Robinson, later the star of General Hospital. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

In this film based on a true story, Burt Lancaster plays Robert Stroud, a withdrawn prison inmate who cures a sick bird that flies into his cell and eventually becomes a world-renowned ornithologist -- all while serving a life sentence. An overbearing warden (Karl Malden) eventually transfers Stroud to the notoriously brutal prison on Alcatraz, but he is able to continue his research, abort a riot, start a romance, and eventually get his story out through a determined reporter (Edmond O'Brien). Directed with his usual solid craftsmanship by John Frankenheimer, Birdman Of Alcatraz tells a quietly moving tale for which Lancaster, Telly Savalas (as one of Stroud's fellow inmates), and Thelma Ritter (as Stroud's mother) all received Oscar nominations. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

John D. McDonald was not altogether pleased with what Hollywood did to his novel Darker Than Amber, but audiences were generally satisfied. Private eye Travis McGee (Rod Taylor) and his cohort Meyer (Theodore Bikel) rescue the beautiful Vangie (Suzy Kendall) from drowning. Vangie has been targetted for death by a couple of disreputable types who, as it turns out, were her former partners in crime. When Vangie is murdered, McGee hires a lookalike (also played by Suzy Kendall) to corner the killers. As is usually the case in the ouevre of John D. McDonald, nothing is quite what it appears to be on surface. Jane Russell, reemerging from one of her period retirements, is fun to watch as "Alabama Tiger". Current prints of the R-rated Darker Than Amber have been modified to qualify for a "PG." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Society as we know it may have been lost, but sex and dancing are still in style in this outrageous post-apocalyptic satire. In a not-so-distant future where a variety of environmental disasters have led to the final collapse of Western civilization, sexually ambiguous hipster Ricky G. (Johnny Simone) leads an encampment of rave kids who have created a makeshift city on the outskirts of Winnipeg. One of the community's leading citizens is porn-merchant and disc jockey Sabu (Jeremie Yuen), whose inexhaustible sexual appetite has led him on a mission to seduce 2,000 men before a looming flood destroys the village. Sabu is close enough to hitting the magic number to have chosen the special man he wants to be Mister 2K -- Happy (Craig Sftanas), an attractive if socially inept science buff who is able to communicate with alien life forms. However, Sabu has a rival for Happy's affections -- body-modification advocate and hair stylist Spanky (Clayton Godson), who tries to foil Sabu's plans by abducting Happy. Hey, Happy! was the first dramatic feature from Canadian independent filmmaker Noam Gonick. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The November 22, 1963, assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy shocked the nation and the world. The brisk investigation of that murder conducted under the guidance of Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren distressed many observers, even though subsequent careful investigations have been unable to find much fault with the conclusions his commission drew, the central one of which was that the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone. Instead of satisfying the public, one result of the Warren Commission Report was that an unimaginable number of plausible conspiracy theories were bruited about, and these have supported a sizeable publishing mini-industry ever since. In making this movie, director Oliver Stone had his pick of supposed or real investigative flaws to draw from and has constructed what some reviewers felt was one of the most compelling (and controversial) political detective thrillers ever to emerge from American cinema. Long before filming was completed, Stone was fending off heated accusations of artistic and historical irresponsibility, and these only intensified after the film was released. In the story, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is convinced that there are some big flaws in the investigation of Oswald (Gary Oldman), and he sets out to recreate the events leading up to the assassination. Along the way, he stumbles across evidence that a great many people had reason to want to see the president killed, and he is convinced that some of them worked in concert to frame Oswald as the killer. Among the suspects are Lyndon Baines Johnson (the next president), the CIA, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Mafia. Over the course of gathering what he believes to be evidence of a conspiracy, Garrison unveils some of the grittier aspects of New Orleans society, focusing on the shady activities of local businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones). Garrison's investigations culminate in his conducting a show trial that he knows he will lose and which he is sure will ruin his career in order to get his evidence into the public record where it can't be buried again. This movie won two of the many Academy Awards for which it was nominated: one for Best Photography (Robert Richardson) and the other for Editing (Joe Hutshing). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

During a non-stop flight to London, a valuable necklace is stolen and the courier hired to guard the necklace is poisoned. One of the passengers is Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who of course offers her services to Scotland Yard as they try to retrieve the gems and catch the killer. Among the main characters in this melodrama are a famous actress, a taciturn former police officer, and a furtive-looking tourist couple. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A junior copy editor at a prominent New York publishing house must choose between starting a family and chasing her dreams when an unplanned pregnancy threatens to sideline her career ambitions. When Frannie (Joanne Kelly) landed author Michael Tate (Colin Ferguson) as a client, it was a dream come true. But almost as soon as she begins working with her favorite writer, Frannie makes a shocking discovery. She is pregnant, and the father is her new boyfriend Calvin (Lucas Bryant). Though they've hardly been together a couple of months, they both agree to leave the city and start a family. But almost as soon as they buy a house in the suburbs, a stranger appears with promises of sweeping Frannie back to the city to live the life she's always dreamt about. Even as the bright lights of New York beckon her, however, Frannie begins to sense that perhaps a life with Calvin is what she truly needed all along. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Savannah Smiles is a sweet little film that proved a surprising hit on the Saturday matinee circuit. Mark Miller and Donovan Scott play a pair of good-natured escaped convicts who cross the path of precocious runaway Bridgette Andersen. When Andersen explains that she's hit the road because her wealthy parents neglect her, Miller and Scott decide to hold the kid for a huge ransom. You and I both know that the crooks will turn soft before the end, and return Andersen to her folks without a dollar changing hands, but even predicting the film's outcome cannot diminish its charm. Star Mark Miller, who also scripted Savannah Smiles, is the father of actress Penelope Ann Miller. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this western, originally designed as the pilot of a television show that never made it to air, a self-designated preacher desires to control the Big Sag territory of Montana. To do this, he must first force two newly arrived Texans off of their land. Meanwhile, the preacher's wife knows that he is too yellow-bellied to actually do the dirty deed. She sends their lovely daughter to town with a note for the owner of the local saloon. During the journey, the girl is caught in a big storm. She weathers it out with the Texan's son. Naturally the two fall in love, but this does not stop the girl from continuing on to deliver the note to the lecherous proprietor who immediately begins making a play for the innocent young girl. His lasciviousness pushes his alcoholic wife over the brink and in a jealous rage she fatally shoots him. It is then revealed that the greedy saloonkeeper has hired a gunslinger. The gunslinger ends up killed by the preacher, who then officiates the wedding ceremony for his daughter and his rival's son. Afterward he solemnly swears to never again use a gun. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this exciting adventure, two slaves escape and along with a widow go searching for Spanish treasure in the potentially deadly Florida Everglades. The film is titled Black Rage on video. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

When his car runs out of gas on an oceanside road, Manuel Sanchez (Christopher Dark) shows up at the beach house owned by Karen Wilson (Inger Stevens), begging Karen to look after his girlfriend while he goes for gas. Not believing Manuel's story, Karen refuses -- and shortly afterward, Manuel's sweetheart is beaten to death. Suspecting that the killer is one of her neighbors, Karen ends up seeking protection from her friends, a group of handsome surfers. But as it turns out, Karen's fate rests in the hands of Manuel Sanchez -- who may be disinclined to accept such an "honor." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi