Jim Rockford (James Garner) welcomes back some familiar faces in this week`s dual installment of The Rockford Files. Up first we have Just Another Polish Wedding. This episode originally aired 18 February, 1977, and was written by Cannell. The phone gag, featured a call from Malibu Space Watch, wondering if Jim had seen anything unusual…
Tag: blackmail
Touch of Evil (1958) – Orson Welles
The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my screening of Citizen Kane, is this noir film starring Welles, Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh. This film was stunning for the beautiful camera work alone. Everyone talks about the opening shot, but it’s always amazing to see it. And with…
Magnum, P.I. (1981) – Missing In Action & Lest We Forget
Thomas (Tom Selleck) takes on lost loves, broken hearts, and the military in this week’s two episodes. And while the theme isn’t in place yet (it doesn’t take over from the current them until Season 1 Episode 12 (next week)), it is woven throughout the episodes at this point. The first episode Missing In Action,…
Doctor Who (Patrick Troughton) – The Highlanders
The Doctor (Troughton) finds himself in 18th Century Scotland in the midst of the Battle of Culloden in this week’s trip in the TARDIS. The Highlanders, the last, purely historical story to be featured in the series was written by Elwyn Jones and Gerry Davis. This four-parter aired from 17 December 1966 through to 7…
Airwolf (1984) – Daddy’s Gone a Hunt’n & Bite of the Jackal
High-flying adventure continues this week as Stringfellow Hawke (Jan-Micheal Vincent) confronts some ghosts from his past, and has to rescue his pal Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine). There are also a couple of recognizable co-stars as well! Daddy’s Gone a Hunt’n was written by Burton Armus and aired 28 January, 1984. Hawke, still haunted by his…
Tales of the Gold Monkey (1983) – A Distant Shout of Thunder & Mourning Becomes Matuka
And just like that, we’ve come to the end of the run for Jake Cutter (Stephen Collins), Jack, Corky (Jeff MacKay), Sarah (Caitlin O’Heaney), Gushie (Les Jankey), Reverned Tenboom (John Calvin), Princess Koji (Marta DuBois) and Louie (Roddy McDowall). The series too-short run aired its penultimate episode on 8 April, 1983, with an adventure written…
The Rockford Files (1976) – The No-Cut Contract & A Portrait of Elizabeth
This week private investigator Jim Rockford (James Garner) is in trouble again. The first episode, written by Cannell, himself is a lot of fun. It originally aired 16 January, 1976, and features Wayne Tippit, back as Agent Shore, Becker (Joe Santos), Angel (Stuart Margolin) and Beth (Gretchen Corbett). The phone gag is all in Spanish,…
The Rockford Files (1975) – Pastoria Prime Pick & The Reincarnation of Angie
Poor Jim Rockford (James Garner), he really gets into it in this week’s installment of The Rockford Files, which puts us about midway through season 2. The first episode, Pastoria Prime Pick aired 28 November, 1975, and was written by Gordon T. Dawson. The phone gag features Becker (Joe Santos) calling to thank Jim for…
The Rockford Files (1974) – The Countess and Exit Prentiss Carr
This entry on the Bellisario and Cannell revisit has private eye Jim Rockford (James Garner) dealing with cases of blackmail and murder!! The Countess, with a teleplay by Cannell, based on a story by Roy Huggins (under the name of John Thomas James) originally aired the 27th of September, 1974. Jim has been hired…
The Philadelphia Story (1940) – George Cukor
Cary Grant makes another welcome appearance in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, this time in the recommendations for his film Bringing Up Baby, alongside Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart, who won an Oscar for Actor in a Leading Role for his performance. Katherine Hepburn is wealthy socialite Tracy Lord, and…
TIFF – The Dick Knost Show (2013) – Bruce Sweeney
Bruce Sweeney`s latest character piece, you`ll recall I highly enjoyed The Crimes of Mike Recket, is a look at the world of sports radio, specifically the acid-tongued, quick-witted, numbers-driven Dick Knost (a hilarious turn by Thomas Scholte). He is controversial, and after he sends a number of inflammatory tweets, his network higher-ups finally have the…
Seconds (1966) – John Frankenheimer
The 101 Sci-Fi movies brought an interesting if downer of a film for me to watch… John Frankenheimer the director of the original Manchurian Candidate and Ronin directs this black and white film based on David Ely’s novel. Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) is a middle-aged man, his wife (Frances Reid) and he are less than…
