Leo PennFilmography

The Crossing Guard

Actors: Jack Nicholson, David Morse, Anjelica Huston, Robin Wright Penn, Piper Laurie

Synopsis: Sean Penn wrote and directed this tale of loss, guilt, and revenge. The daughter of Freddy and Mary Gale (Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston) was killed by a drunk driver, John Booth (David Morse). The death of their child took a heavy toll on the Gales; their marriage broke up, and, while Mary Read More

Matlock: The Fortune

Crew: Director

Actors: Brynn Thayer, Warren Frost, Michael Horton, Daniel Roebuck

Synopsis: While trying to keep the disowned nephew of a slain millionaire out of prison, America's wiliest Southern lawyer stumbles upon clues to an additional pair of murders. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Matlock: The Picture

Crew: Director

Actors: Don Knotts, Christina Pickles, Reiner Schöne, Denice Duff

Synopsis: Gentleman lawyer Matlock investigates adultery charges against his cousin's husband and ends up solving a murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Christine Cromwell: Only the Good Die Young

Crew: Director

Synopsis: In this episode of the series, defense attorney Cromwell thinks that the bizarrely murdered members of an investment club were killed for money. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Columbo: Columbo Goes to the Guillotine

Crew: Director

Synopsis: After an absence of nearly a decade, Peter Falk returns to the role of dishevelled detective Columbo in Columbo Goes to the Guillotine. The special guest murderer this time out is professional psychic Anthony Andrews. The victim is magician Anthony Zerbe, a onetime cellmate of Andrews' who had Read More

Judgment in Berlin

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Martin Sheen, Sam Wanamaker, Max Gail, Jürgen Heinrich, Heinz Hoenig, Harris Yulin

Synopsis: In 1978, an East German waiter used a toy gun to hijack a Polish airliner heading for East Berlin and forced the pilot to land at an American Air Force base in West Germany. The best-selling book about the ensuing trial of the hijacker -- written by the presiding judge, Herbert J. Stern -- is Read More

Matlock: The Don, Part 1

Crew: Director

Synopsis: In part one of this two-part episode, Matlock raises eyebrows when he defends a paroled crime lord who was charged with murdering the man who framed him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Magnum, P.I.: This Island Isn't Big Enough

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Rick (Larry Manetti) sets sail on a chartered fishing excursion with several suspicious-looking customers. Hours later, Rick's boat drifts back to the dock with no one on board. The authorities are certain that Rick and his passengers have been lost at sea, but Magnum suspects otherwise. Assisting Read More

Magnum, P.I.: Torah, Torah, Torah

Crew: Director

Synopsis: When a priceless Torah is stolen by a particularly mean-spirited smuggler, Magnum (Tom Selleck) teams with Higgins' old friend, Rabbi Asher Solomon (Nehemiah Persoff), to retrieve the sacred document. A battle-scarred survivor of European persecution against the Jewish race, Rabbi Solomon had Read More

North Beach and Rawhide

Synopsis: In this socially conscious drama, an ex-con meets constant opposition from avaricious land owners who want the land on which he has set up a ranch-style juvenile correctional facility. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Wild Life

Actors: Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Eric Stoltz, Jenny Wright, Lea Thompson

Synopsis: Comprised of classic teen movie elements scattered like croutons over a salad, this undistinguished high school drama involves several inconsequential stories at once, set in a seven-day period before the beginning of school. Tom Drake (Christopher Penn, Sean's brother) is a high-school wrestler Read More

Magnum, P.I.: Heal Thyself

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Marcia Strassman (Welcome Back, Kotter) guest stars as Karen Harmon, a military nurse whom Magnum had known in Vietnam. Now a full-fledged doctor, Karen has been accused of poisoning three of her patients. Naturally, Magnum is anxious to clear her name--but neither Karen nor her husband want him Read More

Hellinger's Law

Crew: Director

Synopsis: In his first major TV project since Kojak, Telly Savalas stars as maverick Philadelphia criminal lawyer Nick Hellinger. He heads to Houston to defend a syndicate accountant accused of murder. The government seems inordinately interested in the case, as well it should be: The accountant is actually Read More

Murder in Music City

Crew: Director

Synopsis: A couple find the body of a detective in their apartment, and follow the trail of his killer to Nashville. The film is also known as Country Music Murders. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

The Dark Secret of Harvest Home

Crew: Director

Actors: Rosanna Arquette, Bette Davis

Synopsis: This television miniseries is based on Thomas Tryon's complex and suspenseful occult thriller Harvest Home, delving into the forbidden rituals of the small New England township Cornwall Combe, whose residents offer annual human sacrifices to pagan gods in return for a bountiful corn harvest. The Read More

Columbo: The Conspirators

Crew: Director

Synopsis: The Conspirators was one of four Columbo feature-length TV specials irregularly scheduled during the 1977-1978 TV season. The titular conspirators are Irish political terrorists, funded by Americans. Clive Revill is an Irish poet who murders an arms dealer (Bernard Behrens) while the poet is Read More

Kojak: Cry for the Kids

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Determined to avenge the death of his brother, racketeer Hackford (Jack L. Ging) recruits teenager Billy Sherbak Jr. (Barry Miller) to do his dirty work. Hackford knows that even if Billy is arrested, he will serve a light sentence because he's a minor. After two men are killed, Billy is charged Read More

Sixth and Main

Actors: Leslie Nielsen, Roddy McDowall, Beverly Garland, Leo Penn, Joe Maross

Synopsis: Sixth and Main is the Los Angeles street corner where on any given day you might find itinerant local "character" John Doe (Leslie Nielsen). Elegant authoress Monica (Beverly Garland) discovers that the supposedly derelict Doe has in his possession several manuscripts, all brilliantly written. Read More

Kojak: The Queen of Hearts Is Wild

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Kojak returned to its familiar Sunday-night network berth for its fifth and final season. Things get off to a rousing start with this opening episode, with Lt. Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas) determined to nail the murderer of a fellow cop. Unfortunately, the only witness to the crime, Janet Carlisle Read More

Testimony of Two Men

Crew: Director

Synopsis: The inaugural presentation of the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" anthology, the three-part, six-hour miniseries Testimony of Two Men was based on the 1968 best-seller by Taylor Caldwell; it originally aired in three separate two-hour installments. Sprawled over the course of several generations Read More

Little House on the Prairie: Money Crop

Crew: Director

Actors: Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Melissa Gilbert, Karl Swenson

Synopsis: The farmers of Walnut Grove place their faith -- and their future -- in the hands of Joseph Coulter (Alan Fudge), a college-educated agronomist. Coulter has told the farmers of a new hybrid that would yield rich crops, and he has been sent to Minneapolis, with a large sum of cash, to purchase Read More

Little House on the Prairie: Ma's Holiday

Crew: Director

Actors: Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Melissa Gilbert, Victor French

Synopsis: The Ingalls children are left in the care of Mr. Edwards (Victor French) when Charles (Michael Landon) takes Caroline (Karen Grassle) on a second honeymoon in the city. Alas, Caroline has no fun at all, worrying as she does about leaving her daughters in the hands of an inexperienced adult. And Read More

Little House on the Prairie: The Voice of Tinker Jones

Crew: Director

Actors: Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Melissa Gilbert, Karl Swenson

Synopsis: Chuck McCann guest stars as Tinker Jones, a mute, itinerant coppersmith. When he wanders into Walnut Grove, Tinker also finds himself in the middle of a community tiff over purchasing a bell for the church. Haughty Mrs. Oleson (Katherine MacGregor) offers to purchase the bell, but only if it is Read More

Kojak: Down a Long and Lonely River

Crew: Director

Synopsis: As a favor to pretty young sociologist Lindsay Walker (Sian Barbara Allen), Kojak (Telly Savalas) embarks on a search for her boyfriend, paroled convict Lou Giordino (played by a pre-Starsky and Hutch {$Paul Michael Glaser). But Lou has no intention of being located by Kojak or any other Read More

Kojak: Die Before They Wake

Crew: Director

Synopsis: A particularly vicious gang is using heroin to lure young women into prostitution. Investigating this sordid business, a prominent TV reporter is murdered by the criminals. The only hope Kojak (Telly Savalas) to smash the ring and avenge the unfortunate reporter is in the hands of Audrey Norris Read More

Kojak: Therapy in Dynamite

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Kojak (Telly Savalas) and his colleagues are perplexed by a mad bomber who has been striking various targets on Manhattan island. Not only are clues virtually nonexistent, but the bomber doesn't seem to be following any sort of pattern. However, the audience knows something Kojak doesn't: the Read More

Kojak: The Best Judge Money Can Buy

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Judge Philip Mackie (John Randolph), a man long suspected of allowing favoritism to sway his courtroom decisions, dies under mysterious circumstances. The evidence points to suicide, but Kojak (Telly Savalas) suspects otherwise. The solution to the case rests in the hands of Mackie's son (Walter Read More

Columbo: Any Old Port in a Storm

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Any Old Port in a Storm is another two-hour TV cat and mouse session with Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk). Donald Pleasance portrays a winemaker whose covetous brother plans to sell the family vineyard. Pleasance puts the kibosh on this transaction by killing his sibling. He tries to make it look like an Read More

Bonanza: Shanklin

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Mitch Vogel, Charles Cioffi

Synopsis: Charles Chioffi plays the title character in the thrill-packed Bonanza installment Shanklin. Hoss Cartwright is shot by a band of ex-rebel soldiers who want Ben Cartwright to finance the formation of a Second Confederacy. Only Shanklin, the man who pulled the trigger, can save Hoss' life-and he Read More

Bonanza: Search in Limbo

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Albert Salmi, Pamela Payton-Wright

Synopsis: Having suffered a blow to the head, Ben Cartwright awakens to discover that he has lost track of a whole day. During that period, Ben's longtime enemy Sid Langley (Lawrence Montaigne) was murdered. The local sheriff (Albert Salmi) arrests Ben-who doesn't know if he is guilty or not! Others in the Read More

Bonanza: New Man

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, David Canary, Mitch Vogel, Tim Matheson

Synopsis: Having saved Ben Cartwright's life during a prison riot, convict Griff King (played by new Bonanza regular Tim Matheson) is released into Ben's custody. In hiring Griff as a Ponderosa ranchhand, Ben faces the challenge of convincing the former prisoner to forsake his deep and abiding grudge Read More

Bonanza: The 26th Grave

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, David Canary, Mitch Vogel, Ken Howard

Synopsis: Humorist Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, makes his third Bonanza appearance, this time in the person of actor Ken Howard (fresh from his Broadway and Hollywood triumph in the musical 1776). As editor of the Virginia City Enterprise, Clemens is determined to prove that a government assayer is Read More

Bonanza: First Love

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Mitch Vogel, Tim Matheson, Pamela Franklin

Synopsis: Young Jamie is once more riding for a fall when he falls in love with the much-older Kelly (Pamela Franklin). Making things worse is the fact that Kelly is the wife of Jamie's schoolteacher Dan Edwards (Jordan Rhodes), whose jealousy borders on insanity. Featured in the cast are Lisa Eilbacher as Read More

Bonanza: Shadow of a Hero

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Dean Jagger, Laurence Luckinbill

Synopsis: Dean Jagger guest-stars as General Ira Cloninger, a legendary Indian fighter. The General hopes to ride into the Nevada governor's office on the coattails of his long-standing friendship with Ben Cartwright. The fly in the ointment is San Francisco reporter Freed (Laurence Luckinbill), who in Read More

Bonanza: The Iron Butterfly

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Mariette Hartley, Peter Whitney

Synopsis: In her fourth Bonanza appearance, Mariette Hartley is cast as Lola, a temperamental touring actress. When Lola is forced to kill her abusive boyfriend, Hoss Cartwright gallantly shoulders the blame. This brings down the wrath of Senator Carson (Peter Whitney), the ruthlessly powerful father of the Read More

Bonanza: A Home for Jamie

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Mitch Vogel, Will Geer

Synopsis: Having unofficially adopted Jamie, Ben is poised to make it official in court. His plans are scuttled by the arrival of Jamie's actual grandfather Callahan (Will Geer, who wants to take the boy back with him to Boston. Written by Jean Holloway, this Bonanza episode served as a reunion for Will Read More

Bonanza: The Silent Killer

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Mitch Vogel, Meg Foster

Synopsis: "The Silent Killer" is the deadly influenza epidemic that has swept through the territory around the Ponderosa. To combat the disease, tradition-bound Doc Martin (Harry Holcombe) and Harriet Clinton (Louise Latham) set up an emergency hospital on the Cartwright spread. Further complications ensue Read More

Bonanza: The Weary Willies

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Mitch Vogel, Richard Thomas

Synopsis: Robert Pirosh's teleplay for this Bonanza episode was based on an actual 19th century phenomenon. In the years following the Civil War, many young and disillusioned ex-soldiers formed nomadic groups called the "Weary Willies", who roamed throughout the west living off the land and avoiding Read More

Quarantined

Crew: Director

Actors: Gary Collins, John Dehner, Sharon Farrell

Synopsis: Quarantined is set in a clinic maintained by a famous family of physicians. Dr. John Dehner and his son Dr. Gary Collins struggle to control a widespread cholera epidemic. One plot complication involves a testy movie star (Sharon Farrell), who refuses treatment when she exhibits the symptoms of Read More

Bonanza: The Power of Life and Death

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Mitch Vogel, Rupert Crosse

Synopsis: Rupert Crosse guest-stars as Davis, a fugitive killer. While searching for Davis, Joe and a seriously wounded Ben are stranded at a desert water hole with the escapee. As Ben's life slowly ebbs away and a band of renegade Indians close in, Joe heads into the desert on foot to seek help-forcing him Read More

Bonanza: Yonder Man

Crew: Director

Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, David Canary, John Vernon

Synopsis: Beaudry (John Vernon), an old army buddy of Ben Cartwright, is just a man who wants to have fun. Unfortunately, his idea of fun is to steal Hoss' horse, pick fights with the townsfolk, and seriously injure Candy. But there may be even worse in store: Tired of a life as vagabond, Beaudry plans to Read More

The Fugitive: The One That Got Away

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Kimble (David Janssen) uses the alias "Bill March" when he signs up as a deckhand on the Mexico-bound yacht skippered by Ralph Schuyler (Charles Bronson). The yacht's only passenger is Felice Greer (Anne Francis), who is heading toward a rendezvous with her embezzler husband Oliver (Charles Read More

Ironside: The Leaf in the Forest

Crew: Director

Synopsis: A serial killer is on the loose in San Francisco, and five victims--all women--have already been claimed. Ironside (Raymond Burr) suspects that the most recent killing was not committed by the same maniac who bumped off the previous four victims, but by a different person who was using the murder Read More

Deadlock

Crew: Director

Synopsis: This 60-minute drama was originally telecast May 17, 1967 on The Bob Hope Chrysler Theatre. Lee Grant plays Virginia Cloyd, the widow of notorious criminal. Early one morning, Virginia calmly walks into a police precinct office--armed with a pistol and vial of nitroglycerine. In a measured voice Read More

The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.: The Little John Doe Affair

Crew: Director

Synopsis: UNCLE agent April Dancer is assigned to protect Mob witness Joey Celeste (Pernell Roberts). She spends the rest of the episode protecting Joey from a mild-mannered assassin named Little John Doe, played by the inimitable Wally Cox. Things get personal when Joey falls in love with April -- and she Read More

Star Trek: The Enemy Within

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Thanks to a freak accident involving the Enterprise's transporter device, Captain Kirk is split into two separate bodies, each with its own personality, in this installment of the popular television series. The two Kirks represent opposite aspects of the Captain's personality: one who is Read More

A Man Called Adam

Crew: Director

Actors: Sammy Davis, Jr., Louis Armstrong, Ossie Davis, Cicely Tyson, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Peter Lawford

Synopsis: A star-studded cast invigorates this film of a jazz trumpeter (Sammy Davis Jr.) who experiences both the prejudices of the music industry and terrible guilt following the traffic accident that killed his family, a tragedy he feels personally responsible for. Co-stars include several giants of jazz Read More

I Spy: Dragon's Teeth

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Joanne Linville guest stars as Alicia Cavanaugh, an old friend (and former sweetheart) of Agent Kelly. Attending a party in Hong Kong, Kelly is introduced to Alicia's fiancé -- who instantly drops dead at the agent's feet. Investigating, Kelly and his partner Scott follow the trail of evidence to Read More

I Spy: So Long, Patrick Henry

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Outspoken American Olympic star Elroy Browne (Ivan Dixon) has defected to China. Although the U.S. government would sooner wash their hands of the troublesome Browne, it is forced to go through the motions of persuading him to return to America. Agents Kelly and Scott are given the assignment to Read More

Lost in Space: There Were Giants in the Earth

Crew: Director

Synopsis: The Robinson family starts to explore the planet where they've crash-landed, but still face the threat of Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) and the robot, which he has set out to kill anyone it finds. Will Robinson (Billy Mumy) interrupts its attempt to kill him by getting it to play chess until Smith Read More

I Spy: No Exchange on Damaged Merchandise

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Sue Randall, who played Miss Landers on the classic sitcom Leave It to Beaver, appears in this I Spy episode as Louise Richards, the wife of an American pilot captured by Communists. Louise exhorts agents Kelly and Scott to agree to the captors' demands and turn over double agent Eric Thorsten Read More

I Spy: A Cup of Kindness

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Secret agent Kelly Robinson is ordered to kill a double agent -- who turns out to be his old friend Russ Conley. When Kelly catches up with his target, Conley insists that he has been framed and begs Kelly to help prove his innocence. But does Conley mean what he says, or does he have a hidden Read More

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Anyone for Murder?

Crew: Director

Actors: Barry Nelson, Patricia Breslin, Edward Andrews, Richard Dawson, Richard X. Slattery

Synopsis: As an experiment to find out if spouses are truly capable of murder if given the chance, psychology professor James Parkerson (Barry Nelson) places a newspaper ad offering the "ultimate solution" for domestic discord. When the authorities protest, Parkerson assures them that his experiment is Read More

The Untouchables: The Tommy Karpeles Story

Synopsis: Once a big shot in the criminal world, Tommy Karpeles (Harold J. Stones) cuts quite a pathetic figure as a jury convicts him on a mail-theft charge. Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) is convinced that Tommy is innocent, and that he is taking the fall for a trio of clever hoodlums named Mendoza (Joseph Read More

Have Gun, Will Travel: The Poker Fiend

Synopsis: Jack Weston guest stars as Mr. Neal, a poker addict who has lost $500,000 in a marathon card game. Using the last of her money, Mrs. Neal (Betsy Jones-Moreland) hires Paladin (Richard Boone) to join the game, cut Mr. Neal's losses and bring her husband home. But the other players aren't about to Read More

One Step Beyond: Make Me Not a Witch

Synopsis: (Patty McCormack), the brilliant young star of the 1956 psychological thriller The Bad Seed, appears in this episode as Emmy Horvath, who lives in a remote rural community with her highly superstitious parents. When Emmy suddenly develops the ability to read minds, her mother and father are Read More

The Story on Page One

Actors: Rita Hayworth, Gig Young, Anthony Franciosa, Mildred Dunnock, Hugh Griffith

Synopsis: A suspenseful courtroom drama, The Story on Page One was the second and last film directed by the distinguished American playwright Clifford Odets (who also wrote the screenplay). Jo (Rita Hayworth) and Larry (Gig Young) are lovers accused of murdering Jo's husband. Their trial lawyer, Victor Read More

Shame

Synopsis: In this drama, a young woman is mortified to discover that she is pregnant. Fortunately, a good friend helps her straighten out her life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Streets of Sin

Actors: Sally Forrest, Keefe Brasselle, Leo Penn, Dorothy Adams, Wheaton Chambers

Synopsis: First love leads to unexpected responsibilities and difficult decisions in this well-crafted drama. Sally Kelton (Sally Forrest) is a free-spirited young woman who is chafing at the restrictions of living at home with her folks and wants to make something of herself. One evening after work, she Read More