A scheming police chief wants the mayor out so he can gain control, so he hires a ridiculous bunch of misfits to fill the local police force. His plan is that the city look so bad the mayor will get the bounce. The city’s real policemen all get food poisoning at a party and the misfits must take over and get the job done.
Year: 2020
Columbia’s Spirit of Stanford is built around the talents of a real-life college football star, in this instance all-American quarterback Frankie Albert. Albert’s arrogance gets him into all sorts of trouble before he gets his head on straight. Columbia contractee Marguerite Chapman is the love interest, while another Stanford gridiron great, Ernie Nevers, shows up in a cameo role.
The film focuses on a hound dog named Paco. Paco lives with some Mexican ranchers in Sonora, where he is employed as a hunting dog who hunts mountain lions. Mountain lions are a scourge against ranchers, but Paco has a hard problem focusing on his work. Instead, Paco keeps running off and chasing after harmless deer.
Movie version of the original TV series follows the show’s format of multiple stories blended together. The lead story involves the ship’s bookkeeper who becomes the driver by accident for a trio of jewel thieves. A suspended police lieutenant trails the group onto the boat in disguise. The ship’s captain, reclusive since his wife’s death, is pushed by his daughter to return to the hotel in Bermuda where the couple originally honeymooned. The new cruise director sets her eyes on a passenger who is a TV star, but another ship employee is interested in her.
Philip and Alexandria Marcus are a young couple who decide to take a vacation to a friend’s house in the Arizona desert to rekindle their passion, only to have their vacation turn into a nightmare when they cross paths with a homicidal ex-con named Randall and his seductive hitchhiking partner/lover Maggie whom they hold Philip and Alex hostage in their house which begins a web of mind games, deceit and lust among all four involved.
Finally back on his feet after a lengthy sickness, Matt finds himself searching for more meaning in his life. Accepting a position at a summer camp for autistic kids, Matt struggles to determine the best method for dealing with his two campers. Matt quickly develops a friendship with Rachel, one of the other counselors. Through her, he meets mute camper Jessica, and they form a mysterious bond that provides Matt with a deep insight into autism.
Jack comes back to town for his brothers funeral and finds things have changed. His brothers suicide is a little suspicous and he begins to investigate. A developing relationship with his brothers girl and some eye-opening revalations about his fathers new business arrangements drive Jack to the edge.
The last novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson revolves around a freezing plant worker (Peter McCauley) in an interracial marriage. For this little seen movie adaptation, the role of an English remittance man was expanded in an attempt to cast Peter O’Toole (New Zealand-born Bruce Spence got the role). Morrieson’s view of small-town Aotearoa is a dark one, as he explores racism, violence, suicide and blackmail. Bruno Lawrence contributes to Jonathan Crayford’s jazz-tinged score, and features in the wedding band. The freezing works scenes were shot at the defunct plant in Patea.