Angela Cartwright Movies

Michael J. Fox is among the young sitcom stars enlisted for this made-for-TV teen film, about a battle between the rich, popular kids and their average counterparts. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Irwin Allen's second water-logged disaster film picks up where The Poseidon Adventure left off; Salvagers Michael Caine, Karl Malden and Sally Field enter the Poseidon to take what they can, unaware that evil salvager Telly Savalas and his henchmen lie in wait. When an explosion rocks the ship, the enemies find themselves trapped inside in a battle for survival both against nature and themselves. The good guys pick up some survivors along the way, including Peter Boyle as a stereotypically hot-headed Italian, Mark Harmon as the All-American boy next door, and Slim Pickens as the ship's wine steward in what may be one of the most poorly-written parts of all time. Field looks good in the water, and Caine is charming despite a lack of material, but the merits end there. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi

Captured by the mysterious Captain Kraspo (Robert Foulk), Penny (Angela Cartwright) is told that she is not a member of the Robinson family, but instead the long-lost Princess Alpha of the planet Beta. As the plot runs along its Anastasia-like course, Penny finds that the duties of royalty also include vanquishing a horde of hostile computers! The supporting cast includes a pre-Laugh In Arte Johnson and producer Irwin Allen's actress wife Sheila Matthews--and as a bonus, Angela Cartwright dons a blonde wig to portray the real Princess Alpha in the final scene. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Switching from black-and-white to color for its second season, Lost in Space also abandons all pretense of being a serious space opera, opting instead for the "camp" approach popularized by the previous season's big TV hit Batman. As a result, the Space Family Robinson (Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Marta Kristen, Bill Mumy, and Angela Cartwright), their pilot Don West (Mark Goddard), duplicitous and cowardly stowaway Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris), and the steadfast Robot are visited by a cornucopia of outrageous characters ranging from a clumsy magician (played by "Grandpa Munster" himself, Al Lewis) to a misplaced Don Quixote type (Hans Conried) to a scurvy space pirate (Albert Salmi) -- complete with a robot parrot on his shoulder! In keeping with the general frivolity, Dr. Smith has become a much broader and more clownish figure, utterly divesting himself of the cold-blooded villainy he briefly displayed at the beginning of season one. Having spent all of the past season on a single planet, the travelers manage to get the Jupiter II in working order, blasting off into the void again -- only to be marooned on still another uncharted world! Of the 30 episodes telecast during season two, several stand out, among them "The Golden Man," a well-intentioned if a bit heavy-handed lesson in tolerance and "appearances are deceiving"; and "A Trip Through the Robot," wherein a miniaturized Will Robinson (Bill Mumy) and Dr. Smith embark upon a "fantastic voyage" to repair the robot's damaged innards. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

As originally conceived by executive producer Irwin Allen, the weekly, 60-minute Lost in Space was to have been a relatively serious sci-fi opus called The Space Family Robinson. Set in 1997, the series focused on astrophysicist Dr. John Robinson (Guy Williams), his wife, Maureen (June Lockhart); and their children, Judy (Marta Kristen), Will (Bill Mumy), and Penny (Angela Cartwright), all of whom were blasted into space on the "Jupiter II." Placed in suspended animation, the family was on a mission to colonize a planet in the Alpha Centauri star system four light years from Earth. But the Jupiter II's computer malfunctioned, the ship was thrown way off course, and the family woke up several years ahead of schedule to find themselves lost in space. In the series pilot, the main characters were joined by Jupiter II's pilot, Don West (Mark Goddard) -- and no one else. CBS was impressed by Space Family Robinson, but the network insisted upon a title change and also demanded that a villain be added to the proceedings. Thus the project was re-christened Lost in Space, and the pilot episode was reshot so the Jupiter II's malfunction was due to the treachery of an enemy spy named Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris), who had sabotaged a robot aboard the ship and programmed it to kill the Robinsons and abort the mission. Unfortunately for Dr. Smith, he was accidentally trapped in the Jupiter II and hurtled into space along with the Robinsons, hence the new title of the pilot show, "The Reluctant Stowaway" (portions of the original pilot, which was top-heavy with expensive special effects, were edited into the series' first five episodes). It had been planned that both Dr. Smith and the killer robot would be eliminated from the series after its inaugural five-episode story arc, but CBS saw potential in both characters and insisted that they be retained.

The network's decision proved to be a brilliant one in terms of the series' ratings: gradually morphing from a cold-hearted assassin to a supercilious, cowardly buffoon, Dr. Smith was easily the show's most popular character -- next to the now-benign robot, who turned out to be a veritable cornucopia of useful technical information and also came in handy when warning the Robinson family of impending danger. Between the Lost in Space pilot and the series proper, it had also been decided to drop the original intention of serializing the episodes, though each installment ended with a coming-attractions "cliffhanger." Finally, what started out as a straightforward, straight-faced endeavor gradually evolved (or, in the minds of less enchanted viewers, devolved) into a semi-humorous exercise in Batman-style camp, replete with such colorful guest villains as a scurvy space pirate (with a robotic parrot), a Brandoesque space-cruising cycle bum, and even a huge talking carrot! The first season, filmed in black-and-white, found the Robinsons stranded on an uncharted planet. The series switched to color for the second season, in which the "Jupiter II" was repaired and the space travelers blasted off -- only to be marooned on another mysterious planet. Season three did a more efficient job of living up to the series' title, as the Jupiter II hopped from planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy, though no closer to "home" than before. The 83 episodes of Lost in Space have flourished in syndication and on such cable-TV services as The Sci-Fi Channel ever since the series' initial CBS run, which lasted from 1965 to 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This sentimental children's film is based on the true adventures of author Albert Payson Terhune's collie dog, as immortalized in Terhune's early 1920's novel. The story about the dog Lad's saving graces is very much directed toward the youngest moppets whose love of animals has yet to be jaded by ruined carpets, chewed-up books, or all-night barking. Lad comes to the rescue again and again, implying in more than one instance that dogs can be smarter than at least a few people. The canine saves his little mistress Angela (a nine-year-old Angela Cartwright just before her role in TV's Lost in Space) from a poisonous snake bite and is mistakenly ill-treated as a consequence, his actions help cure her need for a wheelchair, and furthermore, the dog prevents a local troublemaker from torching the family's barn. A younger Carroll O'Connor of redneck Archie Bunker TV fame, plays a crotchety neighbor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Make Room for Daddy was the first modern family sitcom, although, to see it at any time since the 1960s, one would think that it was hopelessly dated. In fact, it was the most important 1950s sitcom after I Love Lucy -- and has a production history closely connected to that show -- and it spawned more than a decade's worth of hit sitcoms in its wake. Danny Thomas was the star and co-owner of the production company behind it, along with actor-turned-producer/director Sheldon Leonard. The series itself was based on Thomas' experiences as a standup comedian and father, trying to juggle a career and his responsibilities as a husband and parent. The series' original title, Make Room for Daddy, came from a phrase that Mrs. Thomas used to use on their oldest daughter, Marlo, who often slept in the master bedroom when Danny Thomas was out of town performing, reminding her to move back her own room, telling her "We must make room for daddy." As it went on the air in the fall of 1953 on ABC, Thomas portrayed Danny Williams, a New York-based standup comic and nightclub singer married to Margaret (Jean Hagen), with two children, daughter Terry (Sherry Jackson) and son Rusty (Rusty Hamer). Louise Beavers played their housekeeper, Louise; Horace McMahon played Danny's agent, Phil Arnold; Mary Wickes played Liz O'Neal, Danny's publicist; and Hans Conried played Danny's uncle Tonoose, the patriarch of Danny's Lebanese family back in Toledo, OH. Jean Hagen wanted to leave the series after three seasons and was written out of the show by having her character die of an illness.

During the 1956-1957 season (by which time the series had been renamed The Danny Thomas Show, which was what most people called it anyway), the series introduced Marjorie Lord as Kathy O'Hara, a nurse who takes care of a seriously ill Rusty; a romance was written in, and Danny Williams proposed marriage at the end of the season. The couple were married, and Kathy's daughter by a previous marriage, Linda (Angela Cartwright), joined the Williams clan as the youngest member. The following season, the series moved to CBS and opened with the Las Vegas honeymoon of Danny and Kathy, with their three children in tow. Other characters came and went, including Sid Melton as Charlie Halper, an excitable family friend and the owner of the Copa Club, where Danny was often booked, Pat Carroll and Charlie's wife Bunny, and Penny Parker, who took over the role of Terry after 1960. The series ran until 1964, and there were more than a few notable guest stars and cameo appearances, including Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy, Bill Dana, and comedy legend Joey Faye, among numerous others. Annette Funicello was also a regular on the series during the 1959 season. The theme song for the run of the show was a big band version of "Londonderry Air," also known as "Danny Boy." ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi