O'Brian made a cameo appearance as Wyatt Earp in the Bob Hope western comedy ALIAS JESSE JAMES. Norman Z. McLeod directed the 1959 film. Joseph J. Lilley provided the unreleased score.
After a six-year run, the "Wyatt Earp" television series was cancelled at the end of the 1960-61 season, a casualty of the overabundance of westerns on television and stiff competition in the show's timeslot from "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." Hugh O'Brian did guest shots on various television shows for the next few years until landing a co-starring role in the 1963 romantic comedy COME FLY WITH ME. O'Brian played airline 1st Officer "Ray Winsley," who gets involved with new stewardess "Carol Brewster" (Pamela Tiffin). Henry Levin directed the MGM production. Lyn Murray's score has not had a release.
Hugh O'Brian co-starred with Lana Turner and Cliff Robertson in the 1965 melodrama LOVE HAS MANY FACES. O'Brian plays "Hank Walker," an aging beach-boy gigolo, in this tale of marital infidelity set in Acapulco. Alexander Singer directed the Columbia release. David Raksin provided the unreleased score.
Hugh O'Brian and Cyd Charisse co-starred in the 1965 Italian-French-Spanish co-production ASSASSINATION IN ROME. O'Brian plays "Richard Sherman," an expatriate American living in Rome as editor for the Rome-American Daily. He comes to the aid of vacationing fellow American (and Sherman's former lover) "Shelley North" (Charisse), whose engineer husband goes missing the same day a man is found murdered in front of Trevi Fountain. The thriller was directed by Silvio Amadio and had an unreleased score by Armando Trovajoli. The film did not get a U.S. theatrical release, but was sold to television in 1967.
O"Brian headed an all-star cast in the 1966 filmization of the Agatha Christie who-done-it TEN LITTLE INDIANS. O'Brian played "Hugh Lombard," the sole American among eight strangers who are invited to spend the weekend at an Austrian castle in the Alps. George Pollock directed this Seven Arts release.
I don't think I've ever heard a note of Malcolm Lockyer's music, for this or any other film. His most famous film is probably "Dr. Who and the Daleks" (1966), which he did with Barry Gray. He also composed the scores for the spy films "Our Man in Marrakesh" [aka "Bang! Bang! You're Dead!"] (1966) and "Deadlier than the Male" (1967).
In AMBUSH BAY, nine U.S. Marines land secretly on a Philippine island in 1944 on a mission to contact a spy who has information to convey concerning General MacArthur's planned invasion of the islands. Hugh O'Brian plays "Sergeant Steve Corey," who takes charge of the group when their captain is killed. (Charlton Heston had turned down the role.) Ron Winston directed the 1966 United Artists release. Richard La Salle provided the unreleased score.
In 1967's AFRICA--TEXAS STYLE!, O'Brian plays rodeo champion "Jim Sinclair" who is hired by "Howard Hayes" (John Mills) an English rancher in modern-day Kenya, to provide food for the starving Masai natives by the herding and domestication of wild game. Andrew Marton directed the Paramount release. Malcolm Arnold provided the unreleased score.
The Universal film STRATEGY OF TERROR was originally presented on NBC's "Kraft Suspense Theatre" as a 2-part episode titled "In Darkness Waiting." The parts were broadcast on 14 January and 21 January 1965. Hugh O'Brian played police lieutenant "Matt Lacey." Jack Smight directed the mystery, which went into theatrical release in February 1969. The unreleased score was by Lyn Murray.
In 1967's AFRICA--TEXAS STYLE!, O'Brian plays rodeo champion "Jim Sinclair" who is hired by "Howard Hayes" (John Mills) an English rancher in modern-day Kenya, to provide food for the starving Masai natives by the herding and domestication of wild game. Andrew Marton directed the Paramount release. Malcolm Arnold provided the unreleased score.
And served as the pilot for the "Cowboy In Africa" television series of which Chuck Connors took over the title role and of which Arnold's main title was retained for the series.
Here's the film up on YouTube, which does not list Baxter in the credits, but Leon Klatzin as music supervisor. Perhaps there is some piece of Baxter music tracked into the film?
In 1972, O'Brian starred in a television film called PROBE, about a high-tech investigations company, World Securities, who uses agents, called Probes, to solve various international cases. The agents are aided by implanted audio receivers and carry tiny cameras and telemetry units which can be attached to tie tacks or rings. In this film, the pilot for a series, O'Brian played "Hugh Lockwood," who is assigned to retrieve a famous diamond collection stolen by the Nazis during World War II. The film was directed by Russ Mayberry and had a well-liked theme and score by Dominic Frontiere.
When it was decided to convert the film into a series, NBC found that PBS was already airing a weekly program called PROBE, so the series was dubbed "Search", and when the TV movie re-aired as the pilot of the TV show, the credits for it were shortened and redone to use the "Search" title.
And here are the main titles for the regular weekly series:
The show was created by Leslie Stevens, and produced by Stevens, Robert Justman, John Strong and Anthony Spinner. In the series, O'Brian was joined by Doug McClure as "C.R. Grover" and Anthony Franciosa as "Nick Bianco," who alternated in the weekly stories. Burgess Meredith played the "director" of the investigations, who as leader of the expert team remained at headquarters monitoring and providing the agents with intelligence. The series could not compete against CBS's "Cannon," which in its second year was the 14th highest rated show on television. "Search" was cancelled after 23 episodes.
Here's the film up on YouTube, which does not list Baxter in the credits, but Leon Klatzin as music supervisor. Perhaps there is some piece of Baxter music tracked into the film?
In the 1976 action-adventure KILLER FORCE, O'Brian plays "John Lewis," the mastermind of a heist on a South African diamond mine located deep in the desert. Val Guest directed the film. Georges Garvarentz's score was released by Music Box in 2013.
In John Wayne's last film, THE SHOOTIST, O'Brian plays gambler "Jack Pulford," who believes that he is a superior shooter to Wayne's "J.B. Books." Don Siegel directed the 1976 western. Elmer Bernstein's score was released by La-La Land in 2013.
In Bruce Lee's final film, GAME OF DEATH, O'Brian plays "Steiner," one of the henchmen of the evil "Dr. Land" (Dean Jagger), a crime syndicate head. Robert Clouse (ENTER THE DRAGON) directed the 1978 film. John Barry's score was last released in the U.S. by Silva America in 2003.
O'Brian had a small role in the 1988 comedy TWINS. Ivan Reitman directed the film. Georges Delerue and Randy Edelman provided the score. One track from each composer made it onto the CBS soundtrack CD.
In the 1990 television movie GUNSMOKE: THE LAST APACHE, Hugh O'Brian played real-life Gen. Nelson Miles, who served in the American Civil War, Indian Wars, and the Spanish–American War. Charles Correll directed the film, which was scored by Bruce Rowland.
Hugh O'Brian reprised his most iconic character in his final television film WYATT EARP: RETURN TO TOMBSTONE. In the film, the legendary former Marshal returns to his old stomping grounds. He visits old friends, teaches bad guys some manners, and reveals secrets about his early life. The film was made up of old colorized footage from the original television series, showing Earp's recollections, along with newly shot footage, showing Earp some years later. In order to seamlessly combine the two types of footage, the new material was shot in black-and-white and then was colorized using the same techniques that were used on the original series footage. The new sequences co-starred Bruce Boxleitner, Paul Brinegar, Harry Carey, Jr., and Bo Hopkins. Paul Landres and Frank McDonald directed the film. Sources differ as to who provided the new music, with the IMDB citing Dana Walden, and SoundtrackCollector listing Roger Scott Craig.
In 1957, ABC-Paramount Records released the LP "Hugh O'Brian - TV's Wyatt Earp Sings," which had O'Brian vocalizing on a dozen ballads and western-related songs, backed (or more appropriately, fronted) by Ken Darby's Orchestra and Chorus. Here are two cuts from the album that were also released on a 45: the extended version of the Wyatt Earp theme song ("Legend of Wyatt Earp") and "Down In the Meadow."
