Sian Barbara Allen Movies
Dreamy-eyed leading lady Sian Barbara Allen was most active in the early 1970s. While she appeared in such theatrical films as You'll Like My Mother (1972) and Billy Two-Hats (1972), the bulk of her work was concentrated on the small screen. Sian played leading roles in several major TV movies, among them The Family Rico (1975) and The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976). Evidently, Sian Barbara Allen retired to private life shortly before the 1970s drew to a close. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1978
Ray Bolger guest stars as a once-famous comedian who has apparently been targetted for murder. The publicity attending the suspicious accidents that have recently befallen the aging comedian ironically enable him to make a spectacular comeback. Meanwhile, undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) suspects that there's more to this case than meets the eye. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
One of four dramatic miniseries carried by NBC under the blanket title Best Sellers, Captains and the Kings was adapted from a novel by Taylor Caldwell. Covering a time span from 1857 to 1912, this was the saga of the Irish-immigrant Armagh clan, with emphasis on the rags-to-riches career of Joseph Armagh (Richard Jordan). Achieving fame and prominence (if not full-fledged social acceptance) through a Byzantine series of investments in the oil industry, the elder Armagh was obsessed with the notion of having one of his sons become the first Irish-Catholic President of the United States (does this story sound vaguely familiar?). Along the way, Joseph and his offspring indulged in innumerable romantic liaisons, extramarital and otherwise. Featured in the all-star cast is Patty Duke Astin, who won an Emmy award for her portrayal of Bernadette Hennessey Armagh. Captains and the Kings was broadcast from September 30 to November 18, 1976 in seven installments, two of which ran 120 minutes, and the other six lasting 60 minutes -- a total of nine hours' air time in all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, based on newspaper coverage, court testimony and eyewitness accounts, was dramatized for television by J.P. Miller. Cliff DeYoung and Sian star as Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The couple's 2-year-old son Charles Jr. is kidnapped from the family's Hopewell, New Jersey home on March 1, 1932; though the ransom is paid, the child's body is found a few days later. All circumstantial evidence points to German expatriate Bruno Richard Hauptmann (Anthony Hopkins) as the kidnapper/murderer. While never seriously challenging the notion of Hauptmann's guilt, the film raises several questions concerning the fairness of his trial. The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case first aired in a three-hour timeslot on Febrary 26, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
In this fact-based made-for-TV tearjerker, the promising life of a talented teenage athlete is suddenly destroyed when he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Despite the bad news, the boy does all he can to fight the disease. His devoted mother supports him to the bitter, inevitable end. The story is based on the experiences of Doris Lund, the late Eric's mother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1975
In the first episode of Adam-12's two-part series finale, Officer Jim Reed (Kent McCord), frustrated that a heroin user he has placed in jail is now free and back on the streets, decides that the best way to handle druggies is through understanding and rehabiliation. With this in mind, Jim enrolls in a month-long narcotics course, hoping to be of better service to the community. Unfortuanelty, the dangers of Jim's regular job interfere with his good intentions--and at the same time, his partner Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) is seriously wounded in the line of duty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The eighth and final season of Ironside begins with the first episode of a two-part story. Believing herself possessed by the malevolent spirit of her dead brother, college coed Susan Todd (Sian Barbara Allen) confesses to the murder of her mother. Suspecting that Susan is not telling the truth, Ironside (Raymond Burr) consults a psychic to determine the murderer's actual identity. Meanwhile, Susan's somewhat sinister psychoanalyst Theodore Gallin Bill Bixby lurks ominously in the background. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
As a favor to pretty young sociologist Lindsay Walker (Sian Barbara Allen), Kojak (Telly Savalas) embarks on a search for her boyfriend, paroled convict Lou Giordino (played by a pre-Starsky and Hutch Paul Michael Glaser). But Lou has no intention of being located by Kojak or any other law-enforcement official. He has jumped parole in order to locate his ex-wife--and also settle accounts with his former cohorts, who had let him take the fall for a crime while they escaped scot-free. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Recuperating from a bullet wound in the head, Jim (James Garner) mulls over the events that led up to this critical moment. It all began when journalist Sandra Turkel (Sian Barbara Allen) hired Jim to locate her friend, statuesque redhead Charlotte Duskey (Susan Damente-Shaw). Skeptical over reports that Charlotte is dead, Jim follows the trail of clues to an empty grave--and to a self-proclaimed federal agent (George DiCenzo) who may not be anything of the kind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
In the conclusion of Ironside's Season Eight opener, Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr) now knows that college coed Susan Todd (Sian Barbara Allen) was not truly responsible for the murder of her mother. The real villain of the piece is Susan's deranged psychiatrist Theodore Gallin (Bill Bixby), who specializes in brainwashing his patients to do his bidding. The situation takes a truly sinister turn when Gallin "programs" policewoman Fran Belding (Elizabeth Baur) to kill Ironside! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Bette Davis stars in the TV movie Scream, Pretty Peggy. She isn't Peggy, but instead the secretive matriarch of a spooky household. Peggy, played by Sian Barbara Allen, is a goggle-eyed college student hired by Davis as a housekeeper. Ted Bessell plays Davis's son, a crazed sculptor; but no one ever sees Bessell's maniacal sister (where's Anthony Perkins when you need him?). Be assured that pretty Peggy takes up the invitation proposed by the film's title and screams loud and often. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
In the first half of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), John-Boy (Richard Thomas) is afforded the opportunity to qualify for a scholarship at Boatwright University--and, as icing on the cake, his former girlfriend Jenny (Sian Barbara Allen) is paying a return visit to Walton's Mountain. But joy turns to despair when John-Boy is injured in an accident, which may render him permanently blind. Meanwhile, Jason (Jon Walmsley) is beginning to have second thoughts about accepting a job from the dithery Baldwin Sisters (Mary Jackson, Helen Kleeb). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Though Desi Arnaz plays the title role, Gregory Peck is top billed in Billy Two Hats. Arnaz plays a thief who teams up with Scottish bank bandit Peck. A botched robbery results in a tiny amount of cash and an accidental killing. Peck rescues the captured Billy, enduring a leg wound in the process. While resting in the home of an old rancher, Peck goes off in search of a doctor, while Billy enjoys the sexual favors of the rancher's young wife. This interruption in the bandits' escape enables Indian-hating sheriff Jack Warden to catch up with Arnaz and Peck. A last-reel shoot-out ensues, involving sheriff's deputies, the rancher, and a band of Indian renegades. Billy Two Hats (reissued as The Lady and the Outlaw) was the first American western to be filmed in Israel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Desi Arnaz, Jr., (more)
- 1973
In the conclusion of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-part episode), John-Boy (Richard Thomas) refuses to reveal the seriousness of his accident, terrified that he will no longer qualify for a scholarship at Boatwright University. As John-Boy's eyesight grows weaker with each passing day, it is painfully obvious that the only way he can prevent permanent blindness is to undergo surgery. . .if it isn't already too late. Elsewhere, Olivia (Michael Learned) is outraged to discover that Jason (Jon Walsmley) has been dragooned into helping the Baldwin Sisters cook up their intoxicating "recipe"; and Ben (Eric Scott) and Grandpa (Will Geer) continue hunting for the family's Thanksgiving turkey. This episode earned an Emmy Award for scriptwriter Joanna Lee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Sian Barbara Allen makes her first series appearance as Jenny Pendleton, a runaway from her family in Richmond. Convinced that there is no room for her at home now that her widowed father (Gordon Rigsby) has remarried, Jenny hides out on a patch of her family's property on Walton's Mountain. It is here that the girl is found by John-Boy Walton (Richard Thomas)--who instantly falls in love with her and invites her to stay a while with his family. Luxuriating in the warmth and kindness of the Walton household, Jenny hopes to remain there permanently...but then tragedy intervenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Summoning the aid of Chief Ironside (Raymond Burr) is a nervous young woman named Jane Spencer (Sian Barbara Allen), who is sure that her father's "accidental" death was actually murder. The only clue the Chief has to go on is a cryptic Japanese ideogram, which may also explain the mysterious contents of a stolen package. Meanwhile, Ironside's assistant Ed becomes attracted to the profoundly troubled Jane. This episode features a neat, menacing peformance by a pre-stardom William Devane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
Though it sometimes looks like a TV "Movie of the Week' deflected to big screen, You'll Like My Mother is all in all a neat little nailbiter with a strong cast. Pregnant army widow Francesca Kinsolving (Patty Duke), conditioned by her late husband to expect a warm welcome, visits her in-laws in snowbound Minnesota. Mother-in-law Rosemary Murphy is not only resentful of Patty's presence, she refuses to acknowledge fact that her son ever married. There are other surprises in store for Francesca, including a homicidal son-in-law Richard Thomas and a mentally-challenged sister-in-law Sian Barbara Allen. In addition, Francesca's mother-in-law harbors a "little" secret: she's not Patty's real mother-in-law at all, but a scheming aunt who wants to inherit family fortune and wants no inconvenient relatives blocking her path. Slowly and deliberately, terror builds upon terror, right up to the bone-chilling finale. Jo Heims adapted the script from a Naomi A. Hintze novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy, (more)
- 1972
Even while on the lam from the Feds, brash bank robber Larry Kulhane (Gerald O'Loughlin) masterminds another major heist. This time, Kulhane's prospective victim is elderly Ardyth Nolan (Jessica Tandy), who has recently come into possession of $200,000. Planning his caper with meticulous care, Kulhane has installed one of his accomplices as Ms. Nolan's butler, and another as the bofriend of the woman's impressionable granddaughter. The final stage of the plan is to murder the feisty but frail old lady--unless Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) can get to Ms. Nolan first. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Made for television, The Family Rico was adapted from the same Georges Simenon novel that served as the basis of the 1958 Columbia theatrical feature The Brothers Rico. Ben Gazzara plays a powerful mobster put in an embarrassing position by younger brother Sal Mineo. When Mineo refuses to carry out a contract killing, Gazzara is ordered to rub out his own brother. Eventually he ascertains the identity of Mineo's "hit" and realizes that his brother was acting more out of loyalty than cowardice. While the original Brothers Rico concentrates on the one honest member of the Rico brood, The Family Rico adheres to Godfather tradition by dealing solely with the criminals in the family. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Sian Barbara Allen guest-stars as the tenacious-and very pregnant-Teresa Burnside. Despite the imminent birth of her child, Teresa defiantly stands up to a gang of outlaws, who plan to use her as a pawn in a holdup scheme. As the crooks hold Teresa's husband Vance (James Olson) hostage, Ben Cartwright assumes the responsibility of delivering her baby. Also in the cast are Murray McLeod as Zachariah and Albert Salmi as Stretch. First shown on October 24, 1972, "Ambush at Rio Lobo" was written by Joel Murcott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
