John Saxon Movies

In John Sturges' Americanized version of Sergio Leone's Man-With-No-Name films, Clint Eastwood is Joe Kidd, a cryptic stranger who arrives in the New Mexican town of Sinola, where Mexican bandito/revolutionary Luis Chama (John Saxon) has organized a peasant revolt against the local landowners, who are throwing the poor off land that rightfully belongs to them. When a posse -- financed by wealthy landowner Frank Harlan (Robert Duvall) -- is formed to capture Luis, Kidd is invited to join but prefers to remain neutral. Harlan keeps badgering Kidd to join up, and Kidd finally relents when he finds that Luis's band has raided his own ranch and one of his ranch hands has been injured. The bloodthirsty posse rounds up five Mexicans hostages and threaten to kill them unless Luis surrenders to them. One of the hostages is the attractive Stella Garcia (Helen Sanchez), and Kidd falls in love with her. Harlan notices this and throws Kidd in jail to prevent him from helping Stella and the Mexicans. Kidd decides the position himself as the voice of reason in this nest of disorder. He escapes and saves the Mexican hostages, determined to capture Luis himself and see that he gets a fair trial. But when Kidd captures Luis and delivers him to Sheriff Mitchell (Gregory Walcott), Harlan is in town waiting for him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

When the Italian and British armies are fighting in Africa at the beginning of World War II, a game warden and his wife have their hands full trying to defend the wildlife of Africa against the encroachments of the war. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Susan Saginor (Carla Borelli), the wife of bank executive Eric Saginor (John Saxon), is the victim of a kidnapping. Witnessing the crime is Susan's friend Eve (Barbara Anderson), who is also abducted. In his efforts to save the lives of both the banker's wife and his own assistant, Ironside is stymied by Saginor's lack of cooperation. Could the banker have engineered the kidnapping himself--or is there something even more sinister afoot? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Collector's Edition is a 90-minute episode of the TV series Name of the Game. Tony Franciosa stars as Jeff Dillon, investigative reporter for Crime magazine. Guest star John Saxon plays photographer Peter Max (no relation, we assume, to the poster artist of the same name). Max had once saved Dillon's life when the two were on assignment in Vietnam. Now Max is accused of murder, and he's counting on Dillon's help in clearing his name. Collector's Edition first aired in October of 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On trial for the murder of John Leggett, Candy comes before "hanging judge" Butler (Chick Chandler). The only eyewitness to the murder is Jacova (John Saxon), an Indian horse thief presently on the lam from the law. As the Cartwrights scour the countryside in search of Jacova, Candy is forced to put his life in the hand of defense attorney Theodore Scott (Woodrow Parfrey), who frankly doesn't seem to give a damn whether his client hangs or not. The script, by Jack B. Sowards and Stanley Roberts, makes a passing reference to the death of Custer-which, according the established chronology of Bonanza, was still several years in the future! "My Friend, My Enemy" first aired on January 12, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A made for TV movie, we follow an art dealer on the Istanbul Express across Turkey. The dealer is really on a secret mission for the government to buy some valuable and sensitive papers at an auction. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Magnificent Thief is the syndication title given the 90-minute premiere episode of the lighthearted espionage TV series It Takes a Thief. Robert Wagner stars as Alexander Mundy, a brilliant cat burglar serving a prison sentence. He is paroled in the care of Noah Bain (Malachi Throne), head of the fictional spy agency "SIA." Bain wants Mundy to steal on behalf of the government--in exchange for a bachelor pad, all the comforts and a retinue of pretty ladies. Mundy's first assignment is to retrieve an attache case, containing the names of SIA agents marked for death by America's enemies. Susan Saint James, who in the It Takes a Thief series would play kooky lady thief Chuck Brown, appears briefly as an airline stewardess. She is but one of several luminaries making cameo appearances in Magnificent Thief, among them Raymond Burr, Wally Cox, Joe Louis, Doug McClure and Leslie Nielsen. Following the January 9, 1968 debut of It Takes a Thief, the show ran until September of 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two escaped killers, Carter (John Saxon) and Bains (Don Stroud), burst into Ironside's office apartment, holding the Chief (Raymond Burr) and his policewoman assistant Eve (Barbara Anderson). The captives' only hope for survival rests with Ironside, who agrees to help the desperate fugitives formulate a foolproof escape plan. This nailbiting episode takes place entirely within the walls of Ironside's police-building headquarters (hence its title). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Saxon makes the first of three Bonanza appearances as Steve Friday, a former Ponderosa ranchhand turned gunfighter. Putting his own life on the line, Joe Cartwright tries to save an ailing Friday from a paid assassin, hired by the powerful and revenge-driven Judge Wyllit (Ford Rainey). Featured in the cast are Robert Phillips as Jakes, James Davidson as Cole Berry, and Robert McQueeney as Enos Low. Written by Herbert Kastle and John Hawkins, "Black Friday" was originally seen on Sunday, January 22, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV movie, a deadly bomb is concealed aboard a passenger jet in a devious plan to blackmail the airline company. With the bomb threatening to go off any minute, the passengers and crew aboard the plane must search to find and dismantle the deadly device. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

The Appaloosa is one of the more tolerable Marlon Brando westerns, if only because Brando seems to be aspiring to merely entertain rather than offer us a litany of Life Lessons. The title character is a beautiful horse, stolen from buffalo hunter Brando early in the proceedings. The thief is Anjanette Comer, acting on behalf of her nasty boyfriend, Mexican bandit chieftan John Saxon. In his efforts to retrieve his property, Brando is subjected to torture and humiliation by Saxon and his minions. A later foray into Saxon's camp results in a brutal wrestling match between Brando and the bandito. Again left to die, Brando is rescued by Comer, who despises her "lover" and prefers Brando's company. During the violence-laden climax, Brando his forced to choose between Comer and his beloved Appaloosa. Russell Metty's gritty photography does more to sustain the mood of The Appaloosa than Sidney J. Furie's showoffish direction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This claustrophobic WW II war drama chronicles the five months which six soldiers and one woman spent trapped within a deep cave in the Italian mountains. Two soldiers die while trying to escape. The survivors try to keep sane, but keep grating upon each other. The pressure reaches a fever pitch when the British general blows his head off. The gunshot creates an explosion and the others escape. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Tom Tryon plays the title role in this Otto Preminger version of the Henry Morton Robinson novel. In his matriculation from Monsignor to the College of Cardinals, Stephen Fermoyle (Tom Tryon) must undergo several grueling life experiences: standing up to bigots in Georgia, defying Nazis in Austria, and so on. The film boasts cameo appearances by Dorothy Gish, Cecil Kellaway, John Saxon, John Huston, Robert Morse, Burgess Meredith, Raf Vallone, Ossie Davis. Incidentally, Tryon eventually quit acting and became a popular novelist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide