Kraft Mystery Theatre
Kraft Mystery Theatre is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from June 17, 1961 to September 25, 1963.
Robert Altman
Robert Ellis Miller
David Lowell Rich
Frank Fenton
Ted Post
George Schaefer
Bernard Girard
Casts & Crew
Frank Gallop
Also Directed by Robert Altman
Ensemble drama centered around a group of ballet dancers, with a focus on one young dancer who's poised to become a principal performer.
A successful Texas gynecologist finds himself amid a bevy of women and their problems – his wife’s breakdown, his daughter's fake marriage, his other daughter’s conspiracy theories, and his secretary’s crush. Craving time for himself, he finds solace in a kind outsider.
Bowie, a youthful convicted murderer, and bank robbers Chicamaw and T-Dub escape from a Mississippi chain gang in the 1930s. They hole up with a gas station attendant and continue robbing banks. Bowie, who is injured in an auto accident, takes refuge with the daughter of the gas station attendant, Keechie. They become romantically involved but their relationship is strained by Bowie's refusal to turn his back on crime. The film is based on the novel Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson. The novel is also the source material for the 1949 film They Live by Night, directed by Nicholas Ray.
Frances Austen, whose well-appointed apartment overlooks a park in Vancouver, one cold day, observes a rain-soaked young man on a park bench whom she assumes is homeless. Hoping to repress her loneliness, Frances invites ‘the boy’ inside her home to get warm and ends up encouraging him to stay. The young man accepts her every hospitality—food, clothes, profuse conversation, and a room of his own. Little does she realize that her guest is not the person he appears to be. Nor, for that matter, is Frances the woman that she appears to be.
A "home movie" by Robert Altman shot at his house in Mandeville Canyon.
Short humorous snippets of marijuana use.
Robert Altman's first film was this 26-minute short, which has a football coach explaining how to play the sport. This is basically an educational short where the viewer learns about the various rules of the sport as the narrator explains them while we see reenactments.
Combat! is an American television program that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American soldiers fighting the Germans in France during World War II. The program starred Rick Jason as platoon leader Second Lieutenant Gil Hanley and Vic Morrow as Sergeant "Chip" Saunders.
A recreation of 1934 Kansas City jazz jam session created by Robert Altman.
Popeye is a super-strong, spinach-scarfing sailor man who's searching for his father. During a storm that wrecks his ship, Popeye washes ashore and winds up rooming at the Oyl household, where he meets Olive. Before he can win her heart, he must first contend with Olive's fiancé, Bluto.
Also Directed by Robert Ellis Miller
A woman refuses to let her romances last longer than one month.
Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”.
Two adoptive brothers -- one a mob hit man, the other a Department of Justice investigator -- who are unaware of each other's existence until they become involved with the same woman, end up in a deadly triangle in this thriller.
A beautiful Russian ballerina falls in love with an American news correspondent. The KGB is most displeased and does everything it can to break them up.
Based on a novel by Peter De Vries. Story of an alcoholic, lecherous Scottish poet on a tour of New England Universities, where he goes from one bed and bottle to another.
Ellen Gordon, a New York executive's mistress falls for the executive's young business associate when the young man is accidentally sent to use the apartment where the executive and his mistress get together every Wednesday. More complications arise when the executive's wife shows up with plans to redecorate the apartment.
Two terminally ill patients in a hospital yearn for relief from their predicament. With little or no friends, they form an uneasy alliance and plot an escape for one last wild time.
A middle-aged truck driver travelling through the desert with his good-for-nothing nephew and a pretty nun, gets stuck and are forced to wait to be rescued.
Checkmate is an American detective television series starring Anthony George, Sebastian Cabot, and Doug McClure. The show aired on CBS Television from 1960 to 1962 for a total of 70 episodes and was produced by Jack Benny's production company, "JaMco Productions" in co-operation with Revue Studios. Guest stars included Charles Laughton, Peter Lorre, and Lee Marvin, among many other commensurately prominent performers.
The last of a northern California tribe tries to assimilate with the help of an anthropologist.
Also Directed by David Lowell Rich
Vietnam war veteran Merle is working as concierge. His small salary and the one of his wife Rindy are just enough to survive. Thus when Merle hears that there will be an amateur boxing fight he decides to participate.
The last of the 'Airport' series again stars George Kennedy as aviation disaster-prone Joe Patroni, this time having to contend with nuclear missiles, the French Air Force and the threat of the plane splitting in two over the Alps!
A commercial-jet captain (Chuck Connors) has ghosts on board from stones of an English abbey being shipped overseas.
A melodrama about young adults growing up and facing the pressures of life.
A man and his girlfriend plan to rob the mansion of the man's eccentric but wealthy aunt. However, the aunt keeps dozens of cats in her home, and the man is deathly afraid of cats.
A thinly disguised version of the life of Marilyn Monroe, detailing her ups and downs in life and how her erratic behavior contributes to her deteriorating career.
A group of skiers are trapped inside a runaway train hurtling down a mountainside.
Meant primarily as TV fare, this standard, song-filled romantic drama stars Louis Prima as himself, and his real-life wife Keely Smith as Dorothy Spencer, a devout woman with a good singing voice. Dorothy is active in her local parish which like all parishes, is constantly thinking of ways to raise funds. One of the needy projects is a boys' camp, so when Dorothy is approached by Louis Prima to sing with his band she agrees only on one condition -- that he perform a concert benefit for the parish church and boys' camp. The interactions between Dorothy and Prima lead toward romance and a happy ending, as well as a popular album with the same title song featured in this film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi (NY Times Review).
The publisher of a celebrity gossip tabloid sets out to destroy an aging actor, whose career is foundering and who is also facing a battle with alcoholism.
A rape case opens racial divisions in a small town. A black sheriff and his white deputy investigate allegations that a wealthy white businessman raped a black college student.
Also Directed by Ted Post
Go Tell the Spartans is a 1978 American war film based on Daniel Ford's 1967 novel "Incident at Muc Wa." It tells the story about U.S. Army military advisers during the early part of the Vietnam War. Led my Major Asa Barker, these advisers and their South Vietnamese counterparts defend the village of Muc Wa against multiple attacks by Viet-Cong guerrillas.
During a rescue mission to locate missing astronaut George Taylor, John Brent crash lands on the Planet of the Apes. Brent, along with Taylor's companion, Nova, find he has disappeared into an underground city known as the Forbidden Zone and attempt to track him down.
At fictional Harrad College students learn about sexuality and experiment with each other. Based on the 1962 book of the same name by Robert Rimmer, this movie deals with the concept of free love during the height of the sexual revolution which took place in the United States.
Elliott Gould steals Army nerve gas to help him rob banks when he’s kicked out of the military after 15 years of service as a human guinea pig in its chemical warfare experiments.
Four elderly ladies with a lot of time on their hands get the idea to create a fictional "girl" for a computer dating service. However, things take a turn for the worse when their description of the "girl" attracts a psychopath.
A down-and-dirty town is forced to shape up when a new sheriff (Clint Walker) comes to town. However, when a scheme is launched to destroy the lawman's authority, he must discover the perpetrators and preserve his reputation.
Beyond Westworld was a short-lived 1980 television series that carried on the stories of the two feature films, Westworld and Futureworld. It featured Jim McMullan as Security Chief John Moore of the Delos Corporation. The story revolved around John Moore having to stop the evil scientist, Quaid, as he planned to use the robots in Delos to try to take over the world. Despite being nominated for two Emmys, only five episodes were produced, and only three of them were aired before cancellation.
Combat! is an American television program that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American soldiers fighting the Germans in France during World War II. The program starred Rick Jason as platoon leader Second Lieutenant Gil Hanley and Vic Morrow as Sergeant "Chip" Saunders.
The wife of a wealthy industrialist finds herself caught-up in a web of intrigue & murder which was created by her own deceit. When she tries to escape the results of her actions, she too falls victim to deception.
Also Directed by George Schaefer
A small forest town is trying to promote itself as a place for tourists to come enjoy the therapeutic hot springs and unspoiled nature. Dr. Stockmann, however, makes the inconvenient discovery that the nature around the village is not so unspoiled. In fact, the runoff from the local tanning mill has contaminated the water to a dangerous degree. The town fathers argue that cleaning up the mess would be far too expensive and the publicity would destroy the town's reputation, so therefore news of the pollution should be suppressed. Dr. Stockmann decides to fight to get the word out to the people, but receives as very mixed reaction.
On the evening of his decoration for bringing a murderer to justice, Washington DC Police Captain Frank Matthews' wife, and her lover are murdered in bed. Jailed as the prime suspect, with the aforementioned murderer released on a technicality Matthews escapes in search of the man he believes to be the real killer.
A homeless woman named Florabelle becomes the unwitting guide to the streets for a New York social worker named Carrie who thinks she has lessons to offer the down-and-out clients she serves at the homeless shelter. Soon, however, Carrie realizes that she's the one who has much to learn.
Prospero, the deposed Duke of Milan, who lives in exile on a remote island as a sorcerer, uses his powers to shipwreck his usurper brother on the island.
After falling for Alicia, greedy and powerful Mexican landowner Carlos has her fiancé thrown in prison on a bogus charge. To trick Carlos into releasing her man, Alicia teams up with her Aunt Delfina and tries to convince Carlos that he's a ghost.
The Angel of God and an ordinary shepherd named Gideon debate obedience versus disobedience to God.
In 1620, the Assembly of the Pilgrims decides to emigrate to the young America because of the persecution they suffer by the English crown. The film tells the adventurous journey of the Pilgrims to an unknown land and future.
A teleplay adaptation of Gilbert & Sullivan's most serious opera presented on Hallmark Hall of Fame.
Thomas Jefferson has just returned from France, hoping to relax with his daughters at Monticello. George Washington however, has a favor to ask of him. Hit by tough political opposition, specifically afraid of rising monarch strength, he urges Jefferson to become his Secretary of State. Jefferson accepts, albeit grudgingly. Not long after, he is battling his archrival, Alexander Hamilton, a Federalist just before his election in 1800.
Hepburn plays an elderly woman whose house becomes a hideaway for an escaped convict (O'Neal), and the pair strike up an unlikely friendship.
Also Directed by Bernard Girard
Director Bernard Girard's 1957 film about teenage inmates at a girls' reformatory stars Susan Oliver, Melinda Plowman, Norma Jean Nilsson, Tommie Moore, Olive Blakeney, Betty Lou Gerson and Roy E. Glenn Sr.
A sophisticated con man mounts an intricate plan to rob an airport bank while the Soviet premier is due to arrive.
A man comes home after serving time in prison to claim his share of his deceased mother's estate. However, his stepfather, who holds him responsible for his own son's death, intends to fight him for everything.
Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry and the half-hour black-and-white shows ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961. The series was produced by Ziv Television Productions, the company responsible for such hit series as Sea Hunt and Highway Patrol.
Enlivened by the star turns from James Caan and Sammy Davis Jr., we follow the tale of a not-so-reputable hero. Jud McGraw and a less than innocent Native American maid, known as Little Moon. They have both come to the deserted town of Black Nullar to settle old scores. Out of the smoldering cinders of the town, love finds a way in this deligtful romantic western.
Expository internal affairs drama which brings to light the often unprincipled tactics used in negative "smear" campaigning, and its effects within the political arena.
Scandal erupts in a small town when a high school teacher is romantically linked with one of her male students. Newly minted teacher Kim (Pippa Scott) is thrilled to land her first job, even though the principal warns her that the school has a rough reputation. Before classes begin, Kim dates a local, Hank (Robert Harland), and is horrified to learn that he's one of her students.
Ellen Hardy gets a rude awakening when she discovers that her brother and sister are scheduled to leave their mental institution. As children, they were put there after killing their parents. Ellen, who now lives in the house of an old widow, Mrs. Armstrong, takes them in. But if their secret gets out, it could jeopardize Ellen's plans to wed Mrs. Armstrong's stepson. She struggles with anxiety -- until Mrs. Armstrong suddenly turns up dead.
Dissatisfied with the family architectural business, a man and his wife pack up and move out to his great-grandfather's old house in the country. While trying to patch it up, the house starts to make it clear to him that it doesn't want him there, but the local church (with some off-kilter practices of their own) seems to take a shine to him.