John HoytFilmography

Desperately Seeking Susan

Actors: Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn, Mark Blum, Robert Joy

Synopsis: A petite New Jersey housewife finds self-fulfillment through amnesia in this new wave comedy of errors set in New York's hip '80s downtown scene. Rosanna Arquette stars as Roberta, who turns to the personals for vicarious thrills after her four-year marriage to staid hot tub salesman Gary (Mark Read More

Gimme a Break!: Season 05

Actors: Nell Carter, Kari Michaelsen, Lauri Hendler, Lara Jill Miller, Telma Hopkins

Synopsis: With the death of co-star Dolph Sweet on May 8, 1985, the producers of the NBC sitcom Gimme a Break had no choice but to allow Sweet's character, suburban California police chief Carl Kanisky, to pass away as well. The opening episode of the series' fifth season finds the Kanisky household still Read More

Gimme a Break!: Season 04

Actors: Nell Carter, Dolph Sweet, Kari Michaelsen, Lauri Hendler, Lara Jill Miller

Synopsis: Casting a pall over the proceedings in season four of Gimme a Break is the serious illness of co-star Dolph Sweet, whose appearances as Glen Falls, CA police chief Carl Kanisky are for the most part limited to walk-ons, with very little dialogue. In the earliest episodes of the season, The Chief Read More

Forty Days of Musa Dagh

Actors: Kabir Bedi, Ronnie Carol, Guy Stockwell, Peter Haskell, David Opatoshu

Synopsis: Filmed in California, copyrighted in Turkey and enacted in Armenian, Forty Days of Musa Dagh is set in the decades following the Russo-Turkish war of 1878. Persecuted by their conquerors, a group of Armenian nationals form a resistance movement. The conquering Ottomans retaliate by committing some Read More

Gimme a Break!: Season 03

Actors: Nell Carter, Dolph Sweet, Kari Michaelsen, Lauri Hendler, Lara Jill Miller

Synopsis: Season three of Gimme a Break finds the Kanisky household of Glen Lawn, CA increased by two. In addition to curmudgeonly police chief Carl Kanisky (Dolph Sweet), his daughters Katie (Kari Michaelsen), Julie (Lauri Hendler), and Sam (Lara Jill Miller), and their sassy housekeeper Nell (Nell Read More

Gimme a Break!: Season 02

Actors: Nell Carter, Dolph Sweet, Kari Michaelsen, Lauri Hendler, Lara Jill Miller

Synopsis: The second season of Gimme a Break finds versatile character actor John Hoyt becoming a full-fledged regular in the role of Grandpa Kanisky, the peppery father of grouchy suburban California police chief Carl Kanisky (Dolph Sweet). Jane Dulo is also seen on a recurring basis as Grandpa's wife, a Read More

Battlestar Galactica: Baltar's Escape

Actors: Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene, Herbert Jefferson, Jr., John Colicos

Synopsis: The treacherous Baltar (John Colicos) joins forces with several captured villains from earlier episodes -- the three Borellian Nomens, the Eastern Alliance Enforcers -- to plot an escape from the Colonials' prison. Holding Adama (Lorne Greene) and the Council of Twelve hostage, Baltar demands that Read More

In Search of Historic Jesus

Actors: John Rubinstein, John Anderson, Nehemiah Persoff, Brad Crandall, Andrew Bloch

Synopsis: This documentary presents biblical and non-biblical information about the birth of Christianity, and the mystery behind Jesus Christ. The four different versions of the gospels are recreated in dramatizations of Jesus' birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The video also investigates Read More

The Winds of Kitty Hawk

Synopsis: This made-for-television film Winds of Kitty Hawk, chronicles the efforts of the Wright Brothers to become the first men to build a functioning, motor-powered airplane, as well as their rivalry with Glenn Curtiss. While the movie is a little too leisurely paced, the aerial sequences are excellent. Read More

Nero Wolfe

Synopsis: Rex Stout's corpulent, orchid-loving detective Nero Wolfe would eventually headline his own 1980s TV series, courtesy of star William Conrad. This earlier unsold TV pilot stars Thayer David, whom some Stout devotees consider the best of the many media Wolfes (which included Walter Connolly and Sidney Greenstreet Read More

The Rhinemann Exchange

Actors: Stephen Collins, Lauren Hutton, Claude Akins, Vince Edwards, José Ferrer, Larry Hagman

Synopsis: One of four miniseries comprising NBC's Best Sellers anthology, The Rhinemann Exchange was adapted from the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name. Stephen Collins stars as American intelligence officer David Spaulding, who under cover of his musician father's concert tours embarks upon a number of Read More

Hogan's Heroes: Hogan's Double Life

Actors: Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson

Synopsis: Hogan must discredit the testimony of Gestapo Major Pruhst (Malachi Throne), who has irrefutable photographic evidence of Hogan's sabotage operation. There is nothing else to do but convince the German high command that Hogan has an exact double -- a Nazi officer. Frequent series guest star John Read More

The Intruders

Synopsis: The year is 1876. The place is Medalia, MN. With the Jesse James and Cole Younger gangs cutting a murderous swath through the land, the citizens of Medalia brace themselves against an outlaw invasion. Normally, the townsfolk could turn to their marshal, Sam Garrison (Don Murray), for salvation; Read More

Hogan's Heroes: Cuisine a la Stalag 13

Actors: Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson

Synopsis: Hogan's Heroes entered its sixth season (meaning that the inmates of Stalag 13 were incarcerated approximately twice as long as any real American POW during WWII) with the episode titled "Cuisine a la Stalag 13." LeBeau's decision to escape may wreak havoc on the palates of both the Read More

The Flying Nun: Armando and the Pool Table

Synopsis: The nuns try to help a troublesome convent youngster named Armando (George Spell). The plan backfires when Armando turns into a pool shark, who cares about nothing but winning and isn't too particular how he wins. Sr. Bertrille comes up with the solution to the dilemma, but it takes her nearly the Read More

Hogan's Heroes: Operation Hannibal

Actors: Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson

Synopsis: Hogan infiltrates a party to steal secret information from German General Von Behler (John Hoyt). In this he is aided by an unexpected friend: Von Behler's daughter Hedy (Louise Troy), who happens to be an Allied agent. Realizing that her father's plans will prolong the war, Hedy agrees to Read More

Hogan's Heroes: Bad Day in Berlin

Actors: Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson

Synopsis: An undercover U.S. intelligence agent arranges for Hogan and his crew to be smuggled into Berlin. Disguised as members of a hospital staff, the heroes are ordered to kidnap a British defector before he reveals top-secret information to the Nazis. The supporting cast includes such frequent Hogan's Read More

Panic in the City

Actors: Howard Duff, Linda Cristal, Stephen McNally, Nehemiah Persoff

Synopsis: A murder investigation uncovers a plot that could destroy the world as we know it in this thriller. When a scientist doing research on nuclear weapons is murdered during a hospital stay, federal investigator Dave Pomeroy (Howard Duff) is called in to find out who killed him and why. With the help Read More

Winchester '73

Actors: Tom Tryon, John Saxon, Dan Duryea, John Drew Barrymore, Joan Blondell

Synopsis: John Drew Barrymore, Joan Blondell, John Dehner, and Dan Duryea star in this made-for-television remake of the 1950 James Stewart Western about a two brothers who both covet the titular repeating rifle. As the dedicated officer and the crafty ex-con face off to determine who will walk away with Read More

Hogan's Heroes: The Reluctant Target

Actors: Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson

Synopsis: Hogan hopes to spring French spy Pierre (Theo Marcuse) from Stalag 13. To do this, he must get Klink temporarily out of the way. The next step in the plan -- convincing Col. Klink to allow Hogan to pose as the POW camp's German commandant! Larry D. Mann rounds out the guest cast as General Read More

Petticoat Junction: Temperance, Temperance

Synopsis: John Hoyt, best known to TV sitcom fans as the capricious Grandpa on Gimme a Break, appears in this episode as stern temperance lecturer Jeremiah Priddy. Kate is quick to realize that Priddy is so dedicated to his cause that he is sorely neglecting his young son Clint (played by Buddy Foster, the Read More

Ironside: The Past is Prologue

Synopsis: Once again, Ironside (Raymond Burr) comes to the aid of an old friend, in this case an outwardly solid citizen who faces extradition to New York on a murder charge. Although Wally Stowe (Victor Jory) is a fugitive from justice who has been living under an assumed identity for nearly two decades Read More

The Monkees: I Was a Teenage Monster

Actors: Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith

Synopsis: Having escaped the clutches of mad scientist Vito Scotti in the previous week's episode "Case of the Missing Monkee," the Monkees find themselves at the mercy of another demented doctor in "I Was a Teenage Monster." This time, the boys are hired by Dr. Mendoza (John Hoyt), who wants them to teach Read More

Hogan's Heroes: D-Day at Stalag 13

Actors: Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson

Synopsis: As part of the Allies' plans to invade Normandy Beach on June 6, 1944, Hogan is ordered to place the German generals encamped at Stalag 13 out of commission. To accomplish this, Hogan miraculously pulls enough strings to get Col. Klink promoted to German chief of staff -- or at least, to convince Read More

Hogan's Heroes: An Evening of Generals

Actors: Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson

Synopsis: Hogan and his men draw up a plan to blow up a roomful of German generals during a secret banquet meeting. Posing as caterers, our heroes manage to plant several booby-trapped ashtrays in the banquet hall. The problem: London insists that the sabotage scheme be called off, because one of the Read More

Fame is the Name of the Game

Actors: Jack Weston

Synopsis: Originally telecast November 26, 1966, Fame is the Name of the Game was the first official entry in NBC-TV "Project 120" series of made-for-TV movies (after two false starts in 1964). Tony Franciosa plays a magazine writer investigating the suicide of a beautiful girl. He uses the girl's address Read More

Gunpoint

Actors: Audie Murphy, Joan Staley, Warren Stevens, Edgar Buchanan, Denver Pyle, Morgan Woodward

Synopsis: Gunpoint stars Audie Murphy as a Colorado sheriff -- and never mind that the film was shot in Utah. Sheriff Lucas (Murphy) sets out to bring bad guy Drago (Morgan Woodward) to justice. If the sheriff doesn't succeed, that will be fine and dandy with deputy Hold (Denver Pyle), who's out to get Read More

Duel at Diablo

Actors: James Garner, Sidney Poitier, Bibi Andersson, Dennis Weaver, Bill Travers

Synopsis: Frontier scout Jess Remsberg (James Garner) is crossing the desert when he spots a dead army scout and group of Apaches pursuing someone -- it turns out to be a white woman, Ellen Grange (Bibi Andersson); he gets her away from them and returns her to her home and her husband Willard (Dennis Read More

Star Trek: The Menagerie, Part 2

Synopsis: Spock faces the death penalty for receiving signals from planet Talos IV. With the agreement of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Fleet Captain Pike, the trial continues in closed session and the evidence -- the forbidden transmissions -- continues to be viewed by the trial board, as Kirk Read More

Petticoat Junction: Hooterville Valley Project

Synopsis: Homer Bedloe (Charles Lane) is back with yet another scheme to put the Hooterville Cannonball out of business. In fact, he's gotten pretty expansive since his last visit: Now he intends to put all of Hooterville out of business as well! It seems that Homer has convinced the stage legislators to Read More

Star Trek: The Menagerie, Part 1

Synopsis: The starship Enterprise is diverted to Star Base 11 by a message supposedly sent by the ship's former commander, Fleet Captain Christopher Pike, and received by the ship's first officer, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Upon arriving, however, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) discovers that Pike Read More

Two on a Guillotine

Actors: Connie Stevens, Dean Jones, Cesar Romero, Parley Baer, Virginia Gregg

Synopsis: A scary old haunted house provides the setting of this spooky thriller that centers on a psycho-magician who cut off his wife's head during a performance. Twenty years pass and he finally dies. His daughter is to inherit his estate, but before she can claim it, she must spend seven nights in his Read More

The Beverly Hillbillies: Military School

Synopsis: Aspiring to a military career, Jethro announces his intention to enroll at West Point. Not wishing to risk the loss of the Clampett millions, Drysdale persuades Jethro to sign up at a military academy closer to home -- with the usual chaotic results. Ubiquitous character actor John Hoyt is cast as Read More

Young Dillinger

Actors: Nick Adams, Robert Conrad, John Ashley, Dan Terranova, Victor Buono

Synopsis: This exploitation crime drama offers a fictionalized account of John Dillinger just before he became known as one of the most ruthless mobsters of the 1930s. The tale begins as Dillinger and his girlfriend try to rob her daddy's safe and get caught red-handed. Dillinger takes the fall and goes to Read More

Bonanza: Five Sundowns to Sunup

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Marie Windsor, James Davidson

Synopsis: Virginia City is held in a grip of terror by the vicious family of condemned killer Harry Lassiter (Jack Chaplain. Cold-blooded matriarch Ma Lassiter (Marie Windsor) promises to kidnap one citizen per day until Harry is set free. Things get personal for the Cartwrights when Little Joe is among Read More

Operation C.I.A.

Synopsis: Set during the Vietnam war before U.S. involvement, this political drama tells the gripping story of an American operative who is sent to Saigon to protect the U.S. ambassador from an unknown assassin's bullet. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Munsters: Herman's Happy Valley

Synopsis: Con artists Walters (John Hoyt) and Curtis (Bartless Robinson) sell Herman (Fred Gwynne) ten acres of Happy Holiday Valley--which turns out to be a deserted ghost town. Congratulating themselves for unloading their worthless land, the two crooks learn to their chagrin that a major aerospace firm Read More

Star Trek: The Cage

Synopsis: The pilot episode of the original Star Trek television series, "The Cage" features the familiar starship Enterprise, but under the command Captain Christopher Pike and a substantially different crew. The Enterprise answers a distress signal from the planet Talos IV, and Pike leads a landing party Read More

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Hail to the Chief

Synopsis: The President of the United States requires an emergency operation, which must be conducted in secret, after he is injured in a fall. The Seaview is chosen as the safest place for the surgery, but an enemy power has gotten an assassin aboard, as part of the surgical team performing the operation. Read More

Perry Mason: The Case of the Wednesday Woman

Synopsis: Although he no longer works for the insurance company that had hired him to track down the stolen Jokarta Diamond, shady private detective Jack Mallory (Michael Pate) has never given up the chase. Worming his way into the confidence of Katherine Stewart (Phyllis Hill), Mallory puts a tail on Read More

The Glass Cage

Crew: Producer, Screenwriter

Synopsis: In this experimental mystery film, a young woman is arrested for killing a burglar. A lovesick detective gets her acquitted. Later her older sister vanishes. Her cruel father gets even worse and so she runs away to the zoo where she falls into the bear exhibit. Just before she is to become a Read More

The Munsters: The Sleeping Cutie

Synopsis: Suffering from insomnia, Marilyn (Beverly Owen) takes a sleeping potion which, unbeknownst to her, has been "improved" by her Grandpa (Al Lewis). The result: Marilyn goes into a deep and possibly permanent slumber, prompting Herman (Fred Gwynne) to seek out a "Prince Charming" who will be able to Read More

The Outer Limits: I, Robot

Synopsis: In Volume 41 of a collection culled from the 1963-1965 science fiction anthology television series, a robot goes on trial following charges it killed its creator. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

The Outer Limits: The Bellero Shield

Synopsis: Richard Bellero (Martin Landau) is a brilliant but frustrated scientist, forever failing to find approval from his wealthy, pacifist-oriented father Richard Sr. (Neil Hamilton), even when he develops a practical high-energy laser. Much to the displeasure of his ambitious wife Judith (Sally Read More

The Outer Limits: Don't Open Till Doomsday

Actors: Miriam Hopkins, David Frankham

Synopsis: On the night of his wedding in 1929, Harvey Kry (David Frankham) is surprised by an anonymous gift, a box with a single hole containing a lens, through which a strange light emanates. He looks into it and sees a monstrous creature inside, that holds him in the gaze of its single eye -- and then Read More

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: The McGregor Affair

Actors: Andrew Duggan, Elsa Lanchester, Arthur Malet, Michael Pate, William Smith

Synopsis: The infamous story of 19th century grave robbers Burke and Hare is given a new slant in this episode, told from the point-of-view of dimwitted Scottish laborer John McGregor (Andrew Duggan). In order to provide gin money for his sodden wife, Aggie (Elsa Lanchester), McGregor takes a job hauling Read More

The Time Travelers

Actors: Preston S. Foster, Philip Carey, Merry Anders, John Hoyt, Dennis Patrick

Synopsis: After a nuclear holocaust, a group of scientists travel to the future and find a world in tatters, where the human survivors must constantly defend themselves against mutated beasts. Upon seeing the future of the earth, the men would like to return to 1964, but find it may not be possible. Read More

Perry Mason: The Case of the Libelous Locket

Synopsis: This is the second of four consecutive episodes in which Perry Mason appears only briefly, while a "guest" lawyer handles the case at hand (Raymond Burr was at the time recovering from minor surgery). Michael Rennie stars as erudite law professor Edward Lindley, one of Perry's best friends and Read More

X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes

Actors: Ray Milland, Diana Van Der Vlis, Harold J. Stone, Don Rickles, John Hoyt

Synopsis: Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland) is a brilliant but unorthodox researcher whose work with human sight has yielded an experimental chemical that may vastly increase the range of what we can see. Despite the misgivings and warnings of the two people closest to him, Dr. Diane Fairfax (Diana Van Der Vlis Read More

Petticoat Junction: Bedloe Strikes Again

Synopsis: Though he struck out rather spectacularly during his first visit to the Shady Rest, railroad troubleshooter Homer Bedloe (Charles Lane) has returned with a new scheme to put the Hooterville Cannonball out of commission. This time, Bedloe's fiendish plot involves a pair of VIPs, one of whom is Read More

Cleopatra

Actors: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall, Pamela Brown, George Cole, Martin Landau

Synopsis: In 1963, this colossal and opulent $60 million spectacular was epic in every sense of the word -- an epic investment, an epic in the annals of Hollywood gossip, and, ultimately, an epic flop that nearly dragged 20th Century Fox down the Nile along with Cleopatra's barge. Handsomely mounted by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Read More

Have Gun, Will Travel: The Bird of Time

Synopsis: While searching for an accused murderer named Ahab Tyson (George Matthews), Paladin (Richard Boone) is saddled with an unsolicited travelling companion, a religious zealot named Stryker (John Hoyt). It seems that Stryker's younger brother was killed by Tyson years earlier, and the rancher is Read More

Bonanza: The Decision

Actors: Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, DeForest Kelley

Synopsis: Seriously injured in a fall, Hoss Cartwright is in desperate need of medical attention. Alas, the only available doctor is a man named Jones (DeForest Kelley), who has been sentenced to hang for murder. Ben Cartwright's pleas to Judge Grant (John Hoyt) to temporarily release Dr. Jones so that he Read More

Merrill's Marauders

Actors: Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Peter Brown, Andrew Duggan, Luz Valdez, Will Hutchins

Synopsis: Jeff Chandler stars as American brigadier-general Merrill, commanding a regiment in Burma during World War II. Surrounded on all sides by the Japanese, Merrill's Marauders nonetheless accomplish their objective-only to be ordered into another mission with barely a chance to breathe. Again and Read More

Perry Mason: The Case of the Resolute Reformer

Synopsis: Peter Caine (Douglas Dick), the dissolute son of prominent building engineer William Harper Craine (John Hoyt), is being blackmailed by Debra Bradford (Diana Millay), who claims that Peter was involved in a hit-and-run accident while drunk. This act of extortion is somehow tied in with the murder Read More

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Summer Shade

Synopsis: In modern-day Salem, MA, Phyllis and Ben Kendall (Julie Adams, James Franciscus) purchase an old house from local eccentric Amelia Gastell (Charity Grace). The location of the house is perfect in every respect save one -- there are no playmates in the neighborhood for the Kendalls' 9-year-old Read More

Maverick: The Art Lovers

Synopsis: In an effort to help railroad owner Paul Sutton (James Westerfield) escape his financial woes, Bart (Jack Kelly) enters into a poker game with the somewhat shady San Francisco investors who covet Sutton's train line. Alas, his opponents cheat spectacularly, and Bart ends up even deeper in debt Read More

Maverick: The Devil's Necklace, Part 2

Synopsis: In the conclusion of a two-part story, Bart (Jack Kelly) and crooked peddler Cannonbaugh (John Dehner) have been captured by the same hostile tribe from whom Cannonbaugh had kidnapped the Indian girl Tawney (Sharon Hugueny). In order to secure his release, the peddler convinces the Indian chief to Read More

Maverick: The Devil's Necklace, Part 1

Synopsis: Season Four of Maverick concludes with the series' only two-part episode. In Part One, Bart (Jack Kelly) purchases a wagonload of merchandise sight unseen from silver-tongued peddler Luther Cannonbaugh (John Dehner). Bart's plan to sell the merchandise at a nearby Army post hits a snag when he Read More

The Twilight Zone: Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?

Actors: John Hoyt, Barney Phillips, Jack Elam, Morgan Jones, John Archer

Synopsis: Originally titled "Nobody Here but Us Martians," this darkly comic Twilight Zone episode was a rewrite of (and vast improvement upon) an unfilmed Rod Serling script from 1958, "The Night of the Big Rain." Having spotted what they think is a UFO, two highway patrolmen converge upon a roadside Read More

The Twilight Zone: The Lateness of the Hour

Actors: Inger Stevens, John Hoyt, Irene Tedrow, Mary Gregory, Tom Palmer

Synopsis: The scene is the magnificent but isolated home of scientist Dr. Loren (John Hoyt), his wife (Irene Tedrow), and their attractive young daughter Jana (Inger Stevens). To insulate himself from the world, Dr. Loren has created a household staff of robots, who cater to the Lorens' every whim. Read More

Have Gun, Will Travel: The Ledge

Synopsis: Paladin (Richard Boone) is one of four travellers who witness a man falling down a ravine and being trapped on a ledge by a landslide. It is highly likely that the man died in the fall, but there is also the likelihood that he is still alive. Paladin is all for making the perilous downward climb Read More

Spartacus

Actors: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov

Synopsis: Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is a rebellious slave purchased by Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), owner of a school for gladiators. For the entertainment of corrupt Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Batiatus' gladiators are to stage a fight to the death. On the night before Read More

The Untouchables: The Big Squeeze

Synopsis: This episode was written by W.R. Burnett of Little Caesar fame, so it shouldn't be a surprise that much of the story is told from the viewpoint of the nominal villain--in this case, dapper bank robber Larry "Ace" Banner (Dan O'Herlihy). As a clever as he is prolific, Banner is a master of disguise Read More

Leave It to Beaver: Beaver's Accordion

Actors: Ken Osmond, Stanley "Tiger" Fafara, John Hoyt, Rankin Mansfield

Synopsis: Without his parents' knowledge or permission, Beaver (Jerry Mathers) orders an accordion by mail for a ten-day free tryout. The trouble begins when the accordion arrives -- on the 11th day. Now, Beav must not only hide the accordion, but also prevent his parents from finding out that he owes money Read More

Riot in Juvenile Prison

Actors: Jerome Thor, Marcia Henderson, Scott Marlowe, John Hoyt, Dick Tyler

Synopsis: Conflicting views on how to handle juvenile delinquents are not convincingly brought across in this teen melodrama by Edward Cahn. Colonel Walton (John Hoyt) is the repressive head of an institution for young male juvenile delinquents. Responsibility for the deaths of two teens is indirectly laid Read More

Never So Few

Actors: Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen, Richard Johnson

Synopsis: Action director John Sturges had a few good films behind him (Bad Day at Black Rock, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral) and a few more to come (The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven) when he put together this colorful story of wartime romance. In addition to his talents as a director, this saga of an Read More

Curse of the Undead

Actors: Eric Fleming, Michael Pate, Kathleen Crowley, John Hoyt, Bruce Gordon

Synopsis: Dracula straps on a side-arm and goes West in this combination horror-Western movie. After a western town is terrorized by the gunslinging vampire, a brave preacher decides he must destroy him. The vampire has picked out an especially juicy victim, the woman rancher who hired him. The preacher Read More

Perry Mason: The Case of the Curious Bride

Synopsis: Perry (Raymond Burr) is suspicious when Rhoda Reynolds (Christine White) shows up in his office to ask advice on the legality of marriage, claiming she is doing so on behalf of "friends." As it turns out, Rhoda is being blackmailed by her shifty ex-husband Arthur Kane (Michael Emmet). When Kane is Read More

Perry Mason: The Case of the Prodigal Parent

Synopsis: Philip Larkin (Terry Becker) is murdered, and his stepfather Joseph Harrison (John Hoyt) is charged with the crime. A key piece of evidence for the prosecution is a home movie showing Larkin and Harrison quarrelling; could their argument have been about sexy Lorraine Stevens (Andra Martin), whom Read More

Attack of the Puppet People

Actors: John Agar, Michael Mark, Jack Kosslyn

Synopsis: Attack of the Puppet People is one of the few "mad scientist" opuses of the 1950s to be motivated by loneliness rather than megalomania. John Hoyt plays Franz, a seedy European doll-maker who harbors a crush on his secretary Sally (June Kenney). When Sally makes plans to marry Franz' top employee Read More

Leave It to Beaver: Wally's New Suit

Actors: Ken Osmond, John Hoyt, Stanley "Tiger" Fafara

Synopsis: Egged on by the irksome Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond), Wally (Tony Dow) insists upon being allowed to pick out his own new suit for an upcoming school dance. Reluctantly, Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June (Barbara Billingsley) allow him to do so. Sure enough, when Wally comes back from the clothing Read More

The Beast of Budapest

Actors: Gerald Milton, John Hoyt, Greta Thyssen, Michael Mills, Violet Rensing

Synopsis: This gripping drama uses archival footage combined with new footage to re-create the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. It is also the love story between a devout communist woman and the liberal son of a prominent professor. Because of their political differences, the two can never be together. Central to Read More

Leave It to Beaver: Part-Time Genius

Actors: Doris Packer, John Hoyt, Charles Davis

Synopsis: Everybody overreacts when Beaver (Jerry Mathers) gets an unusually high score on an IQ test. Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June (Barbara Billingsley) are all but bursting with pride, while principal Miss Rayburn (Doris Packer) is convinced that our hero should be enrolled in a school for gifted Read More

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: I Killed the Count, Part 3

Synopsis: Previously filmed as a theatrical feature in 1939, Alec Coppel's semi-serious mystery play I Killed the Count was adapted 17 years later as Alfred Hitchcock Presents' only three-part episode. In part three, Inspector Davidson (John Williams) is no closer to solving the murder of Count Martoni than Read More

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: I Killed the Count, Part 2

Synopsis: Previously filmed as a theatrical feature in 1939, Alec Coppel's semi-serious mystery play I Killed the Count was adapted 17 years later as Alfred Hitchcock Presents' only three-part episode. In part two, Inspector Davidson (John Williams) has his hands full trying to determine who murdered the Read More

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: I Killed the Count, Part 1

Synopsis: Previously filmed as a theatrical feature in 1939, Alec Coppel's semi-serious mystery play I Killed the Count was adapted 17 years later as Alfred Hitchcock Presents' only three-part episode. In part one, London police inspector Davidson (John Williams) hopes to find out who killed the much-hated Read More

Baby Face Nelson

Actors: Mickey Rooney, Carolyn Jones, Cedric Hardwicke, Christopher Dark, Leo Gordon, Anthony Caruso

Synopsis: Fittingly directed by Illinois native and bad-guy filmmaker Don Siegel, this action-packed film stars Mickey Rooney as the unflinching, trigger-happy member of the infamous Dillinger gang that besieged the Midwest circa 1933. Rooney is Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis and Carolyn Jones his gun Read More

Sierra Stranger

Actors: Howard Duff, Gloria McGhee, Dick Foran, John Hoyt, Barton MacLane

Synopsis: Shortly before committing himself to the TV sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve, Howard Duff starred in the dust-caked western Sierra Stranger. After rescuing Sonny Grover (Ed Kemmer) from a brutal beating, well-meaning Jess Collins (Duff) discovers that Sonny is the town no-good. The far-from-grateful Read More

Gunsmoke: The Bureaucrat

Synopsis: John Hoyt guest stars as Rex Proctor, a politically ambitious Washington bureaucrat. Arriving in Dodge City, Proctor insists that Marshall Matt Dillon (James Arness) is all wrong in his approach to law and order. Using his political clout, Proctor takes over as the town's peacekeeper, imposing Read More

Mr. Krane

Synopsis: The 60-minute Mr. Krane was originally telecast March 21, 1957 on the daily network anthology Matinee Theatre. The story is set in the future-that is, in 1962. A cabinet minister receives a phone call from the mysterious Mr. Krane. The caller claims to be a visitor from outer space....and he Read More

God Is My Partner

Actors: John Hoyt, Marion Ross, Jesse White, Nelson Leigh

Synopsis: Prominent surgeon Walter Brennan comes to the conclusion that his talents are on loan from God. He retires from his lucrative practice and moves to a small town, there to donate his money to charitable religious causes. Brennan's avaricious family maneuvers to have the old doctor declared legally Read More

Death of a Scoundrel

Actors: George Sanders, Yvonne De Carlo, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Victor Jory, Nancy Gates

Synopsis: A contemptuous and self-serving immigrant, Clementi Sabourin (George Sanders) pulls himself up by his bootstraps by instrumenting a series of cons and seductions which bilk several very wealthy persons out of most of their money. Most of the action is related in a series of flashbacks after Read More

The Conqueror

Actors: John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Pedro Armendáriz, Agnes Moorehead, Thomas Gomez

Synopsis: In the historical epic The Conqueror, John Wayne stars as Temujin, better known as Genghis Khan. Red-haired Susan Hayward costars as Bortai, the Tartar princess whom Temujin claims as the spoils of battle. Eventually, Bortai's hatred for her captor metamorphoses into love, while Temujin's hordes Read More

Forever Darling

Actors: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, James Mason, Louis Calhern, John Emery

Synopsis: When Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz beat the odds against TV stars succeeding on the big screen in The Long, Long Trailer (1954), MGM contracted America's favorite couple for a second theatrical feature. Forever Darling casts Desi as Lorenzo Xavier Vega, a brilliant scientist and Lucy as Susan, his Read More

Wetbacks

Actors: Lloyd Bridges, Nancy Gates, Barton MacLane, John Hoyt, Harold Peary

Synopsis: Per its title, Wetbacks deals with the smuggling into the US of illegal Mexican aliens. The villains are played by John Hoyt and, of all people, Harold "The Great Gildersleeve" Peary. Hoping to smash Hoyt and Peary's smuggling operation is fishing-boat skipper Lloyd Bridges, who, unbeknownst to Read More

Mohawk

Actors: Scott Brady, Rita Gam, Neville Brand, Lori Nelson, Allison Hayes

Synopsis: Though released by 20th Century-Fox, Mohawk was produced independently by Edward L. Alperson, who also doubled as the film's musical composer. Scott Brady stars as an 18th century Boston artist, sent to Mohawk Valley to paint landscapes and portraits of Native Americans. Brady is forced to pack up Read More

The Come On

Actors: Anne Baxter, Sterling Hayden, John Hoyt, Jesse White, Wally Cassell

Synopsis: In this convoluted thriller a manipulative woman gets entangled in her own web of deceit. The story is set in Mexico, where an unlucky wanderer has come to fish. There he falls for a woman that he spied on the beach. She begs the drifter to murder her domineering husband. The man refuses, but does Read More

Moonfleet

Actors: Stewart Granger, George Sanders, Joan Greenwood, Viveca Lindfors, Jon Whiteley

Synopsis: Director Fritz Lang was attracted to the British period piece Moonfleet because of the relatively unregenerate nature of its greedy "hero" Stewart Granger. Young Jon Whitely, who is in the legal custody of Granger, learns that he is to inherit a valuable diamond. Hoping to get his own hands on the Read More

The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing

Actors: Ray Milland, Joan Collins, Farley Granger, Luther Adler

Synopsis: Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, the real-life personality so brilliantly (albeit briefly) portrayed by Elizabeth McGovern in Ragtime (1981), is given the full biopic treatment in 20th Century Fox's The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing. Since the real Mrs. Thaw served as technical advisor for the film, it isn't Read More

Climax!: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Actors: Michael Rennie, Mary Sinclair, Lowell Gilmore, Cedric Hardwicke

Synopsis: Telecast live from Hollywood, this hour-long version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde stars Michael Rennie in the title role--or rather, roles. Obsessed with his theory that every man has two distinct personalities within him, the kindly Dr. Henry Jeckyll (Rennie) begins to Read More

Blackboard Jungle

Actors: Glenn Ford, Sidney Poitier, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern, Vic Morrow

Synopsis: In this gritty urban drama, war veteran Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) wants to begin his career as a teacher and is given an assignment at a boys high school in inner-city New York. However, he soon discovers the school is overrun by delinquents, led by Artie West (Vic Morrow), an insolent hood who Read More

The Purple Mask

Actors: Tony Curtis, Colleen Miller, Gene Barry, Dan O'Herlihy, Angela Lansbury

Synopsis: Tony Curtis was by 1955 an accomplished enough actor to get through the costumed derring-do of The Purple Mask minus the awkwardness he'd displayed in his earlier swashbucklers. Curtis is cast as Rene, a foppish 18th century French nobleman who doubles as the Purple Mask, a Royalist supporter who Read More

Trial

Actors: Glenn Ford, Dorothy McGuire, Arthur Kennedy, John Hodiak, Katy Jurado

Synopsis: Adapted by Don M. Mankiewicz from his own novel, Trial is a surprisingly timely story of how justice can sometimes be compromised by "special interests". It all begins when Mexican youth Angelo Chavez (Rafael Campos) is placed on trial for the murder of a white teenaged girl. Battling the Read More

The Big Combo

Actors: Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donlevy, Jean Wallace, Robert Middleton

Synopsis: Police Lt. Leonard Diamond (Cornel Wilde) is criticized by his superior Capt. Peterson (Robert Middleton) for his obsessive but fruitless investigation of organized crime boss Mr. Brown (Richard Conte). Peterson calls it a waste of the taxpayers' money motivated by Diamond's love for Brown's Read More

The Student Prince

Actors: Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, John Ericson, Louis Calhern, Edmund Gwenn

Synopsis: Edmund Purdom plays Prince Karl, but Mario Lanza sings the bold tunes coming out of Purdom's mouth, in this MGM remake of the 1927 Ernst Lubitsch silent picture based on the renowned 1924 operetta by Sigmund Romberg and Dorothy Donnelly, which itself was based on the novel and play by Wilhelm Read More

Sins of Jezebel

Actors: Paulette Goddard, George Nader, John Hoyt, Eduard Franz, John Shelton

Synopsis: Her days of cinematic glory behind her, Paulette Goddard was compelled to take whatever came along in the mid-1950s. Playing the title role in Sins of Jezebel, Goddard survives the ordeal armed with little more than grim determination. The wicked princess of Phoenicia, Jezebel hopes to expand her Read More

Casanova's Big Night

Actors: Bob Hope, Joan Fontaine, Basil Rathbone, Audrey Dalton, Hugh Marlowe

Synopsis: Bob Hope tries to capture the comic magic of his 1946 costume farce Monsieur Beaucaire with the splashy Technicolor romp Casanova's Big Night (filmed in 1952, released in 1954). Set in 18th century Venice, the film casts Hope as Pippo, the humble tailor of notorious ladies' man Casanova (an Read More

Desiree

Actors: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Merle Oberon, Michael Rennie, Cameron Mitchell

Synopsis: Director Henry Koster and writer Daniel Taradash speculate mightily in this historical tableau charting the rise and fall of Napoleon (Marlon Brando), all due to his unrequited love for noblewoman Desiree (Jean Simmons). The film takes a chronological view of Napoleon's reign and posits Napoleon's Read More

Julius Caesar

Actors: Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Greer Garson, Edmond O'Brien, Deborah Kerr

Synopsis: Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed this exquisite version of William Shakespeare's play. Louis Calhern is Julius Caesar, whose conquests have enabled him to rise to the status of Roman dictator. But his ascent to almost God-like status has given pause to influential members of the Roman Senate. Chief Read More

The Black Castle

Actors: Richard Greene, Boris Karloff, Stephen McNally, Lon Chaney, Jr.

Synopsis: Boris Karloff returns to his old Universal stamping grounds in the mild horror item Black Castle. The plot is motivated by a brace of 18th-century aristocrats, Beckett (Richard Greene) and Count Von Bruno (Stephen McNally). Invited to visit Von Bruno's castle in Austria, Beckett accepts, hoping in Read More

Loan Shark

Actors: George Raft, Dorothy Hart, Paul Stewart, Helen Westcott, John Hoyt

Synopsis: Loan Shark was one of several independently-produced films made by George Raft in the early 1950s. Raft plays Joe Gargan, a good guy who pretends to turn bad to trap a gang of usurious loan sharks. In order to convince the crooks that he's on their side, Gargan is forced to call it quits with his Read More

Androcles and the Lion

Actors: Jean Simmons, Alan Young, Victor Mature, Robert Newton, Maurice Evans

Synopsis: With George Bernard Shaw safely in his grave, RKO chief Howard Hughes had no qualms about twisting and bending Shaw's Androcles & the Lion to accommodate his own notions of entertainment. Happier, wiser heads prevailed before the Hughes-commissioned "Vestal Virgins" sequence, complete with Read More

The Lost Continent

Actors: Cesar Romero, Hillary Brooke, Chick Chandler, John Hoyt, Acquanetta

Synopsis: In this adventure-fantasy, an American rocket ship crashes upon a remote island in the Pacific and an Air Force pilot and a scientist are assigned to find it. They get to the island and suddenly discover that the island is populated by a myriad of extinct animals, including dinosaurs. Fortunately Read More

New Mexico

Actors: Lew Ayres, Marilyn Maxwell, Robert Hutton, Andy Devine, Raymond Burr

Synopsis: Filmed in Ansco Color (a fancy name for Eastmancolor), New Mexico stars Lew Ayres as Capt. Hunt, a U.S. Cavalry Captain stationed in Indian territory. Sympathetic to the plight of the long-suffering Native Americans, Hunt sets out to sign a peace treaty with the local chief (Ted de Corsia). En Read More

Inside Straight

Actors: David Brian, Arlene Dahl, Barry Sullivan, Mercedes McCambridge, Paula Raymond

Synopsis: Director Gerry Mayer, nephew of MGM-head Louis B. Mayer, proved that nepotism had nothing to do with his hiring by turning out the first-rate historical melodrama Inside Straight. The film begins in 1870 San Francisco, as the city is threatened with financial disaster due to overspeculation on the Read More

The Desert Fox

Actors: James Mason, Cedric Hardwicke, Jessica Tandy, Luther Adler, Everett Sloane

Synopsis: The Desert Fox is a superb filmed biography of German general Erwin Rommel, concentrating on the period between his retreat from North Africa and his government-decreed death. A brilliant tactician, Rommel earns the respect not only of his own men but of the enemy. Unfortunately, Adolph Hitler (Luther Adler Read More

Quebec

Actors: John Drew Barrymore, Corinne Calvet, Barbara Rush, Patric Knowles, John Hoyt

Synopsis: In keeping with the postwar trend of on-location shooting, Quebec was actually lensed in Canada, rather than on some Hollywood back lot or other. Set in 1837, the film recounts a skirmish between French and English factions over whether or not Quebec would remain a province, or split off into its Read More

When Worlds Collide

Actors: Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hanson, John Hoyt, Larry Keating

Synopsis: First published in 1932, Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer's speculative novel When Worlds Collide was immediately purchased by Paramount as a possible project for director Cecil B. DeMille. But because none of Paramount's scriptwriters were able to come up with an adequate screen treatment, the Read More

The Lawless

Actors: MacDonald Carey, Gail Russell, Lalo Rios, Johnny Sands, John Hoyt, Lee Patrick

Synopsis: The Lawless was director Joseph Losey's second feature-length film. The story concerns a group of Mexican-American migrant workers who are subjected to all sorts of abuse and intolerance by their California bosses. A violent clash between whites and Latinos at a dance results in a torrent of Read More

Outside the Wall

Actors: Richard Basehart, Marilyn Maxwell, Signe Hasso, Dorothy Hart, Joseph Pevney

Synopsis: Richard Basehart stars as an ex-convict who has problems finding employment on the outside. He takes a job as a lab assistant in a seedy sanitarium, bringing him in contact with a number of disreputable characters. Basehart learns that the sanitarium is a front for a robbery syndicate; will he Read More

The Company She Keeps

Actors: Lizabeth Scott, Jane Greer, Dennis O'Keefe, Fay Baker, John Hoyt

Synopsis: Jane Greer plays a hard-boiled dame so well in The Company She Keeps that the film's outcome remains in doubt right up to the end. Placed in the custody of parole officer Joan (Lizabeth Scott), Diane (Greer) immediately makes a play for Joan's boyfriend, newspaper columnist Larry (Dennis O'Keefe). Read More

The Great Dan Patch

Actors: Dennis O'Keefe, Gail Russell, Ruth Warrick, Charlotte Greenwood, Henry Hull

Synopsis: Though occasionally hampered by its tiny budget, The Great Dan Patch is a reasonably satisfying horse story. The title character was, of course, one of the greatest harness-race horses that ever drew breath. But since Dan Patch couldn't deliver dialogue or conduct an acceptable on-screen romance Read More

The Lady Gambles

Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Preston, Stephen McNally, Edith Barrett, John Hoyt

Synopsis: Barbara Stanwyck plays a woman whose addiction to gambling all but ruins her life. Stanwyck's husband Robert Preston tries to stand by her side, but even he is driven away by her gambling mania. Stanwyck lies, cheats and steals in order to raise capital for her addiction, descending from Read More

Trapped

Actors: Lloyd Bridges, John Hoyt, Barbara Payton, James Todd, Russ Conway

Synopsis: When nearly perfect counterfeit 20-dollar bills start turning up, the Treasury Department recognizes them as the work of Tris Stewart (Lloyd Bridges), a man already doing a long prison stretch. They offer Stewart a break on his sentence if he'll help them find out who got hold of his old plates Read More

The Bribe

Actors: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton, Vincent Price, John Hodiak

Synopsis: Federal agent Robert Taylor journeys to a mythical South American community, there to break up a war-surplus contraband racket. American playboy Vincent Price is the brains of the outfit, aided and abetted by the disreputable Charles Laughton and John Hodiak. Ava Gardner, Hodiak's wife, takes over Read More

Everybody Does It

Actors: Paul Douglas, Linda Darnell, Celeste Holm, Charles Coburn, Millard Mitchell

Synopsis: A remake of Wife, Husband and Friend (1938), Everybody Does It is a frantic satire of the opera world. Businessman Paul Douglas is forced to suffer in silence when his wife (Celeste Holm) decides to become an opera star. Compelled to bankroll a concert for his missus, Douglas meets genuine opera Read More

Sealed Verdict

Actors: Ray Milland, Florence Marly, Broderick Crawford, Ludwig Donath

Synopsis: In this wartime drama, an American officer is accused of secretly working as an SS man. Though all evidence is against the officer, one Army prosecutor is not convinced of the man's guilt and begins working to prove his innocence. He is assisted by a beautiful woman who knows the defendant is Read More

To the Ends of the Earth

Actors: Dick Powell, Signe Hasso, Ludwig Donath, Vladimir Sokoloff

Synopsis: The relatively relaxed movie censorship in the postwar years enabled Columbia to produce To the Ends of the Earth, a film which dealt with the previously taboo subject of drug smuggling. T-man Dick Powell is sent to several foreign locales to track down an Opium ring. The villains are subversives Read More

Winter Meeting

Actors: Bette Davis, Jim Davis, James Davis, John Hoyt, Florence Bates

Synopsis: The most memorable aspect of Winter Meeting, and the one that stirred up the most publicity, was its teaming of two Davises: Bette Davis and Jim Davis (whose only "A"-picture starring role this was). Bette D. plays disenchanted poetess Susan Grieve, while Jim D. is cast as disillusioned war hero Read More

The Decision of Christopher Blake

Actors: Alexis Smith, Robert Douglas, Cecil Kellaway, Ted Donaldson, John Hoyt

Synopsis: In this drama, a poor young boy must choose between his divorcing parents. With the help of a kind judge, he tries to get his parents back together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Unfaithful

Actors: Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden

Synopsis: Though not readily apparent at first, The Unfaithful is a remake of the 1940 Bette Davis vehicle The Letter, which in turn was adapted from the play by W. Somerset Maugham. The locale of the Maugham original has been shifted from the jungles of Malaya to the cozy confines of a middle-sized Read More

Brute Force

Actors: Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford, Yvonne De Carlo, Ann Blyth

Synopsis: Burt Lancaster had one of his first starring roles in this hard-hitting prison drama. Capt. Munsey (Hume Cronyn) is a cruel, corrupt prison guard who has his own less-than-ethical ways of dealing with inmates, enough so that Joe Collins (Lancaster) -- the toughest inmate in the cell block -- has Read More

My Favorite Brunette

Actors: Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney, Jr., John Hoyt

Synopsis: Just as Bob Hope's My Favorite Blonde (1942) was a takeoff on Alfred Hitchcock, Hope's My Favorite Brunette was a lampoon of the noirish "hard-boiled detective" school popularized by Raymond Chandler. Awaiting execution on death row, Hope tells the gathered reporters how he got into his present Read More

O.S.S.

Actors: Alan Ladd, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Patric Knowles, Richard Benedict, Richard Webb

Synopsis: Set during WWII, this taut and suspenseful espionage outing chronicles the courage of a brand-new cadre of specially trained American O.S.S. agents who parachute into France to destroy the vital Corbett Mallon tunnel to stop the German invaders from shipping supplies to their troops. One of the Read More